Ish's Cyber Wolf Den

Yes I know I've been slacking....

2009-06-13T12:44:00.002-05:00

Yes I know I've been slacking but I've been busy. Lat Nov I was informed that I would attending the new Air Force Cyber Weapons School: UNWT (Undergraduate Network Warfare Training) Jan-March 2009. Well I survived the course and even managed to get a new certification: Sans GSEC. I also met a few new friends. Though the one downer is that I tried to carry a full college load, bad mistake I got Bs in the spring. Well the summer is looking up I received orders to a new station, so we'll be moving in Aug. And the Piggy is going to have a sibling due in early Jan. Well thats all for now more later.

Ish.

Election Day 08, GO VOTE!!!!!

2008-11-04T08:22:00.003-06:00

I've been quiet for a last couple of weeks because I've just been too busy.

Today is election day and make no mistake, America, you are voting for change no matter who you vote for President. One candidate will have you believe that voting for his opponent is voting for more of the same and frankly he is wrong. Any one who has read some or all of my posts can probably tell how I am leaning, but then again I've never tried to hide that I'm a firm believer in personal responsibility and a capitalist way of life.

Whether you agree with me or not what is really important is that you my readers, simply do your own research and not let the Main Stream Media (yes even Fox News) tell you how you should vote. Do your own homework on the issues and candidates and GO VOTE!

Ish

Congress of Broken Promises

2008-10-10T16:50:00.003-05:00

As you think about who you are going to vote for this November ask your self are you better of then you were 2 years ago? If the answer is no then take a look at Congress both the House and Senate are in fact controlled by the Democrats who failed to live up to their campaign promises, increased deficit spending, and has the lowest EVERY approval ratings. But but but it's all President Bush's fault you say. I reply that the CONGRESS holds the power of the purse not the President. Also take a look at WHO received money from whom. You will find that the very people who are/were tasked by US the PEOPLE to monitor and safeguard our economy were the same people taking money from the very people they were supposed ot safeguarding it FROM!

So while it may be a historical belief that Democrats are good for the economy I charge you to look at the current mess and see who are the very ones who failed to safeguard our economy this time the answer: A Democratic Party controlled House and Senate, thats who.

Ish

Begining of The United Socialist States of America?

2008-10-10T14:18:00.002-05:00

For me things have reached their boiling point or as Heston once said "I'm mad as Hell! and I'm not going to take it any more."
I've been home all week watching the piggster, while the wife is off with the mother in law in Vegas, and this has allowed me time to catch up with the news, research, and homework. All I can say is everything I have been hearing on news truthfully is scaring me to death. As just about every one with a pulse knows our economy is in a down turn and our Government's solution to turn things around? Nationalization. Well my fellow Americans all I can say is what they are talking about doing is not Capitalism but the beginning of a down ward spiral into Socialism. Capitalism rewards people for making smart decisions and succeeding, Socialism on the other rewards people who make bad decisions and failing. Now which system would you rather work under?

Now for the most part I have tried to be non-partisan in any article I write about the Presidential Candidates. However the time has come when I can no longer stand by and listen as one candidate would have us spiral even further down the road of Socialism and according to recent news stories not only has questionable ties to extremists (who some would call domestic terrorists) and others who hate this great country (relationships he has never really been truthful about), but who has now been linked to ACORN who has been implicated in VOTER FRAUD in over 13 states. But you may ask "Ish isn't this guit by association?"
To this I answer: My grandparents and parents have always told me "You are judged by the company you keep."

The candidate I have been talking about is of course Senator Obama, who's call for change may seem appealing to many people, these same people need to stop and ask themselves: Change to WHAT???? He has never answered this question and I will submit the change he calls for is really for a bigger swing towards SOCIALISM.

He has said he wants to give everyone making below $250,000 a year a tax cut. Well to me this means he wants to punish successful people and business. Last time I checked poor people didn't hire people or create new jobs. Many will say but he is calling for a tax cut for 95% of people how can that be a bad thing. Well 40% of those people don't pay any taxes already, so does this mean he will be giving them a free check? And who is going to pay for all this? The backbone of the economy and country: the middle class that's who! Now you may say and ask how can that when he is saying he wants to help the middle class... Let me tell you how he wants to help the middle class: by raising their taxes! When he ran for the Senate he promised a middle class tax cut. Not ONLY did the NOT even propose a single tax cut for ANYONE, he voted to increase taxes.

WAKE UP AMERICA! For too long the Democratic party has tried to use class warfare against the middle class. Well I, SAY NO TO SOCIALISM and NO MORE to using my fears against me! While I may not always agree with Senator McCain, at least he knows the meaning of personal responsibility and sacrifice! Before going to the polls this Nov, DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH! Do not be fooled by empty promises and simple bumper sticker slogans of change. Actually take the time to look at the records of BOTH candidates and ask you self honestly who has the record they are open and honest about and who has an empty record and only real accomplishment has been running for office. I am a person of facts and at the end of the day the facts speak for themselves.

If you believe in a strong America and want someone of integrity to be running this great country vote McCain/Palin in Novemeber.

On the other hand if you believe in SOCIALISM and want someone who has been less than honest about their past and current ties to people of questionable character then by all means be the dumb sheep and vote Obama/Biden.

As with my sites main disclaimer: these thoughts and feelings are MY OWN and not in anyway those of the US Air Force and I am simply expressing them in accordance with my 1st Amendment Rights.

Till next time read and study your history for those that fail to learn it are doomed to repeat it. (Look and remember at what the people who lived under the last major attempt at national socialism, the USSR, went and are still going through. There is a reason the US won the cold war -> Capitalism, Democracy, and LIBERTY)

Ish

Personal Responsibility

2008-10-07T16:49:00.003-05:00

Since my last post about the bailout fiasco I've taken a little time off to focus on school. Well the bail out was passed last week and the markets are still in the drink. Tonight is the 2nd debate of the main candidates and I was going to write a post about my thoughts on the new muck slinging by both sides, until I opened my e-mail to the following comment: (BTW thanks for the comment! I'm alweays glad to receive feedback.)

"majgross has left a new comment on your post "Starship Troopers Redux":

I recently needed a quote regarding authority and responsibility and your blog was the first item in the google search. I only read your first blog, but I enjoyed it. Good work!
"

This comment got me thinking about Starship Troopers what I had said in that post about responsibility, especially personal responsibility. I also heard some of the AIG testimony and well frankly it made me sick. It wasn't our fault it was accounting rules. It wasn't my fault it was predatory lending. B.S. You made bad decisions/gambles and you lost. DEAL WITH IT! Right now the wife is in Vega with her mom celebrating her mom's 60th, while I'm home watching the piggybutt. Now the wife and I had set aside a set sum for her to play the tables with. Are we going to whine, complain, and demand our money back if she should lose? Heck no, we are going to accept the loss and move one. Basically the bailout is the opposite of this mentality. It is exactly what true socialism would have us do: REWARD the LAZY and PUNISH the hard working. Where is the help for the hard working people who made smart decisions, who accepted the need to get a second or third job to pay the bills? The answer from Washington: Crickets! WTF! I understand the need to help people but lets be real for a moment. Only about 6% are defaulting on their home loans, so we are going to make the other 94% work harder to foot the bill, rather then making them take responsibility for their bad decisions???

So going into the 2nd debate I have the following message to the two candidates:
To the Obama campaign I have the following comment: "Man, up. Accept personal responsibility for your past/current associations, stop dodging and give truthful answers when ask. My two debate questions for you would be: 1. How exactly do you plan to increase spending without increasing taxes across the board? Because let's face it the rich as you call them can't pay for it all. 2. What is you plan for getting us energy independent NOW not 10 years from now."
To the McCain campaign: " While I will agree with you and that it is important to know who a candidate and what they really stand for. Man up and give some details about how you would like to fix things. Also if you really want to attack your opponent confront them about their Fannie/Freddi connections. My two debate questions for you would be: 1. How exactly do you plan to get us out of this financial turmoil? 2. What is you plan for getting us energy independent NOW not 10 years from now."

Ish
Thanks again for your comment majgross, I'm glad you liked it.

Define: Sacrifice

2008-09-24T21:30:00.003-05:00

Dictionary.com defines it as: A forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.

McCain defines it by suspending his current campaign for the Presidency to go back to Washington D.C. to work with the current President and the rest of Congress because doing his current job and role of Senator is more important than a campaign to be President.

Obama defines it by by suspending his current job as a Senator and representing the people who elected him and continuing to campaign and further his desire to be President.

Now, I ask which one of these two is acting closer to the true spirit of what the word means? Which one is showing they have the quality and strength of character you would prefer as a President?

I also have to point out and question something as reported by the MSM.
McCain in his announcement asked for Obama to join him in suspending his campaign. Obama responed with the following statement: “Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time,” Sen. Obama said. “It’s not necessary for us to think that we can only do one thing and suspend everything else.”

My response to Sen. Obama is that while you are right in that Presidents do have to deal with more than one thing at a time, we the people expect them to do their job and deal with it! Not continue to campaign or further some legacy building project. We also hold these same expectations of our Senators and Congresspeople. Further, while I am not a registered voter of the great state of Illinois on their behave let me say: "Senator" Obama would you please get your personage back to Washington D.C. and do the job for which you were elected before campaigning for another!

Actually it may have been unfair of me to signal out Senator Obama so let me reiterate this statement in a more neutral fashion:

"Would all Senators and Congresspeople please drop what you are doing, get back to Washington D.C. and make sure the hard earned tax dollars of the people who elected you into office are used wisely and not squandered in a $700 billion goat rope. Set a side your partisan ship and safe guard not the CEOs, companies, committees, regulations, legacies that got us into this mess BUT the American people who will have to foot the bill!"

To those that are not in Washington D.C. because they have to campaign to keep their seat. Maybe you should think ask your self what the voters in your state/district are thinking when the person who THEY elected thinks holding on to their position of power is more important than doing the job the people gave them! Nov isn't that far away AND absentee voters are ALREADY in the process of filling out their ballots and sending them in.
I know from experience as I'm one of those absentee voters and to my Congress person: Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher I say the following: I received my ballot in the mail and will be watching the Daily Republic and Vacaville Reporter on-line editions to see how you "as a member of the NYSE and former Wall Street senior executive" handle this situation before filling out my ballot. On this is for sure, while I'm not going saying how I intend to vote what I will say is that the easiest way to LOSE my vote and guarantee I vote for someone else is for me to read about campaign events you attended in California while this mess is going on when you could be in Washington D.C doing the current job WE elected you to do. Especially since your NYSE and Wall Street experience would make you uniquely qualified to provide valuable input to the only going effort.

Ish

sacrifice. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved September 24, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sacrifice

Why HR 6899 ( Proposed Energy Bill) should be stopped

2008-09-16T16:15:00.002-05:00

Okay here are some details about this bill:
Bans 88% of domestic oil
Bans all oil shale (estimates are 1.8 trillion to 8 trillion barrels in CO, WY, UT)
Raises taxes on the evil oil companies
Doesn't allow states to share any of the revenues, only the Feds
While it allows offshore drilling, it only allows it more that 100 miles from shore and only between 50 and 100 miles with states permission. (So Cuba could tap certain oil pockets off OUR shore but not us.)

While we need a comprehensive energy reform bill, this is one we don't need. What we really need is a bill that opens up offshore drilling as close as 1 inch and exploration of oil shale production WITH states permission. That being said the States who have those oil/shale reserves should logically benefit along side the Federal Government.
Regardless of how close you drill at least 5% of the revenue from any new drilling should go directly into the pockets of residents of those states and 10% should immediately invested into X Prize type competitions to help jump start research, development, and mass market productization of cost effective alternative energy sources that do not impact the cost of food! These can include but not limited to better battery technology for plug in cars, lower cost ways to product solar/wind/geo-therman power, low cost efficient natural gas/methane powered cars, etc.

Ish

Earmarks and pork barrels

2008-09-16T11:22:00.002-05:00

I'm not talking about the Piggy toy boxes here. I'm talking about the trend in Washington to earmark special projects in the budget bills. I'm home again baby sitting the Piggy while the wife is at the dentist again and listening to the McCain talk on Fox News.
Now I've been a big advocate of stopping earmarks for a long time now and while McCain has just said that he will Veto any bills with earmarks and loudly expose those people who are trying to force them through. All I can say to this is I'll believe it when I see it. Not saying he won't but I'm also a realist and unless WE the people start holding out Congressional and Senators accountable and start voting OUT the ones who do not live up to our expectations and campaign promises then earmarks are going to be alive and well for the foreseeable future. And by voting out our officials I mean voting them out regardless of party affiliation.

Though the one nice item in his talk today was it was the first time I have heard him or any other candidate say the words "Drill here. Drill NOW" and lets invest the increased earnings in technology and projects would create true energy independance.

So to the Maverick I say nice talk, I like what your saying. I hope you can follow through.

In this same vain to give equal time to Obama's talk:
I'm listening to this talk and for some reason all I keep hearing is I"m going to enact legislation to protect people who made bad decisions and use tax payer money to bail them out.
Although some of the regulatory ideas have some merit. Like force full disclosure by any agency/business who borrow from the government. I also completely agree that we need regulators to enforce the rule rather then over look them. But the key question here is WHY are we not holding the regulators feet to the fire when they don't aren't enforcing the rules. On that same note I would say lets start holding states, counties, and cities accountable to Federal immigration laws and withdraw Federal funding for the so called sanctuary cities. Don't get me wrong I'm all for people coming to this great country and taking apart int he American dream BUT DO IT LEGALLY!

This being said Obama has now said he is against corruption and against special interest group funding. But what about his ties to ACORN? I also have to cry foul when he says that he wants to reward people and small businesses with tax credits. But the very people who he is talking about generally fall into his above $250,000 yearly income and need to be taxed more category. Also economics 101: Businesses DO NOT PAY TAXES. Any tax burden a business has is passed directly on to the customer/consumer.

More if I get the time later.

Ish

Obama ad faults McCain for being injured Vet

2008-09-12T21:30:00.002-05:00

Okay so my title may not be completely honest but its just as honest as many of the headlines in the MSM lately.

With that let me explain my logic. The recent Obama ad faults McCain for not being able to use a computer. Well Michelle Malkin user powerpro and others have uncovered an interesting fact: "McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes." and guess when this was written?

March 4 2000 by Mary Leonard of the Boston Globe. Talk about not doing your homework!

So when one takes this little fact into account you can easily understand my title. In case you can't follow my logic here goes step by step.

1. The lasting affects of the injuries McCain's suffered while a POW prevent him from using a keyboard.
2. Obama and crew fault McCain for not using a computer.
3. So Obama and crew's ad faulting McCain for not using a computer is really faulting him for being an injured Vet.

Unless they honestly suggest that he partake in an action that physically hurts him. What other message can we take from this? I mean would you bother learning to use a computer when it physically hurts you to do so? Or would you have others do it on your behalf?

Ish

Resources:

Goldberg, Johna (Sept 12 2008) Wonder no more. the Corner. Retrieved: 12 Sept 2008 site: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTliMTNiZjg5ZDEwZWNiZDYwZWFjN2JlNjNjNjkxZmM=

Leonard, Mary (March 4 2000)McCain character loyal to a fault. Boston Globe. Retrieved: 12 Sept 2008 site: http://graphics.boston.com/news/politics/campaign2000/news/McCain_character_loyal_to_a_fault+.shtml

Three thoughts on the latest Obama ad.

2008-09-12T16:02:00.004-05:00

As I sit here in San Antonio, watching piggy while the wife is at the dentist, and watching the news coverage of IKE and the constant replays of the new Obama ad, I can't but help wonder about three things about this ad:

1. What does pictures of McCain from the 80’s have to do with how he dresses and acts today in the 2000's?
Especially the picture of him and President Reagan. In my mind these pictures help reinforce the fact that McCain has more experience than Obama.

2. So what if McCain doesn’t like using a computer?
I’m an IT professional and while I will admit I love computers, networks, and technology, at the end of the day I would much rather meet with people in person or talk to them over the phone than exchange e-mails. In my opinion one can lose the closeness and real compassion/understanding that can only come from real in person human interaction.

AND last but not least (and in my opinion most importantly)

3. Why is Obama and crew picking on the Rubik’s Cube?
Is it that they don’t have enough brain power to figure one out, so many other things they would rather hate on it and disparage anyone who does like it rather then seek understanding and acceptance? I’m a geek and love logic and other brainy puzzles so in my eyes nothings wrong with playing with a Rubik’s Cube in fact it is quite good for at exercising not only the brain but flexibility in the hands and wrists. So, to me by Obama and crew say McCain plays with Rubik’s Cubes, means that McCain is an intelligent person who understands that it is important to stay mentally sharp and have fun doing it. Also the Rubik’s Cube also offers a physical and often over looked benefit: it helps exercise and maintain flexibility in the fingers and writs. Maintaining joint flexibility is very important, but is probably difficult for McCain with his POW injuries. So using a Rubik’s Cube would provide a good two-in-one activity for McCain.

Ish

(Note most of this post was taken from my posting/comment [#151] over at Michelle Malkin's blog)

A little levity for this solemn day, word of the day, and question

2008-09-11T21:28:00.005-05:00

Yes I know it's Sept 11, but I also know that some levity is needed to balance out the memorials. Unlike the Gilbert Gottfried Hugh Hefner roast, which took place shortly after that fateful day in 2001, I will not be doing the Aristocrats. (If you haven't seen it you should! Gilbert Gottfried the Aristocrats joke WARNING ADULT Language @ link :)

What I will do on the other hand is present a word of the day: tartuffery [tahr-toof-uh-ree].

Why did I pick this work you may ask? Well besides the fact that it is fun to say it it is really an appropriate word for some of the treatment of the Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin has been getting lately from the MSM (main stream media).

Can someone please explain to me how one can: support the position that a woman has equal rights in the work place, celebrate women who balance having a family and a career, and in the next breath question and criticize a woman for attempting who is doing the SAME thing as VP but happens to have an opposing view point?

Maybe I have just too much common sense and that think that all people regardless of gender should be treated equal. So in my mind if you celebrate/applaud one woman for balancing work and a family then you should be celebrate/applauding all women who can do this and especially one who's career may lead her to the second highest office in the US.

If its good for the gander it should be good for the goose. Or in this case if it is good for one goose it should be good for another!

In case you are wondering:
Tartuffery = A show or expression of feelings or beliefs one does not actually hold or possess: hypocrisy, pharisaism, phoniness, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, two-facedness. See honest/dishonest.

Resource:
Tartuffery. (n.d.). Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition. Retrieved September 12, 2008, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/tartufferyhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tartuffery

The conventions are finally over.

2008-09-08T21:47:00.002-05:00

One thing I have noticed in the military blogging arena in specific and blogging sphere in general is that to be successful you need to either champion a cause of some sort or get political. Because it is a major election season, I would like to iterate two key points about this blog:
1. All opinions I express are just that, MINE, and in no way are that of the Air Force or any other US Gov organization/agency. I also take no responsibility for comments people post to this blog. While I will not out right censor postings because of differing opinions, I do however reserve the right to edit, censor, and/or delete comments that are liable and/or offensive in nature/content.
2. I will do my best not to champion/push any particular party but rather present issues that are important to me and that I wish to spread the word about.

Also the fall term is starting and looks to be a rough one, so while I may not post every day or every few days, I will endeavor to post at least once a week.

Until then check out some interesting happenings over at the EFF site.

Ish

Price of Books not included...

2008-08-22T20:46:00.003-05:00

As any regular reader to this blog knows, I'm working on my Master's degree. I've been used to high tuition rates and have even come to expect them as I am in a graduate program. After I filed my tuition assistance paperwork and G.I.B. top-up to pay for the tuition bill, I hopped over to the on-line book store to get my books. As I logged in I froze momentarily. It was as if hundreds of voices all screamed out at once, and then where gone forever. No it wasn't mystical cry felt through the Force as some evil galactic empire showing off some new planet destroying weapon but rather my wallet and bank account screaming in abject terror at the price of books.

I'm taking two classes this semester and each class is requiring two books, that's four books total. Not usual at the graduate level, but I'm expecting the average cost of each book to be around $40 may be $50. No such luck. the total cost for this semester's books over $350.00 and that's finding them on sale via Amazon.com rather then from the school book store. (BTW not to plug the site but if you are a college student and have to buy books, you really need to check them out!)

Having to pay tuition is one thing I understand this but getting further raked over the coals via needing a special book?

But wait the coal raking continues. I've convinced a co-worker to go back to school and get his Master's as well (same major/program). He start's this semester and is taking one of the classes this fall that I took in the spring. We did some figuring and it looks like he would be one semester behind me the whole way through the program. Since we're both low payed NCOs made what we though would be a smart economical gentleman's agreement that if I didn't want any book from the current semester, I would be careful and not mark up the books much and sell them to him at half the book store price. (It's just a little more than what the book store would give me but less then he could buy the for.) Great sound like a very great plan for both of us right? And you would be correct except for one minor problem, they decided to change books between semesters, so no such luck.

As I sit here seething, since there is not much I can do about this issue since well I like my school for the most part and really want to get my Master's, all I can do is help publicize the Open Text Book Project.

Well till next time,

Ish

P.S. in case you haven't heard the MBTA's motion's have been denied and the MIT students have been cleared. If I get the time I'll expand on this topic later, in case you don't want to wait check out Groklaw . Here's a link to the PJ's article containing the decision: Judge Lifts Restraining Order: MIT Students Win - Updated. The short of it according to the EFF is:
"The judge today correctly found that it was unlikely that the CFAA would apply to security researchers giving an academic talk," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "A presentation at a security conference is not some sort of computer intrusion. It's protected speech and vital to the free flow of information about computer security vulnerabilities. Silencing researchers does not improve security -- the vulnerability was there before the students discovered it and would remain in place regardless of whether the students publicly discussed it or not." Judge Lifts Unconstitutional Gag Order Against MIT Students

MBTA vs MIT Students

2008-08-16T22:14:00.003-05:00

A lot has already been written about this subject so I'll try not to repeat it.

My only real bone on contention with the decision by the Judge to grant the TRO. A little background is in order, the TRO motion was filed on Aug 8th and granted on Aug 9th. The students in this case were set to present on Aug 10th. All seems okay right? Here's my bone of contention: Defcon pre-registration began on Aug 7th about noon.

Why is this important? For those that have never attended Defcon, when you pay your fee, you get this year's badge, a schedule, and a CD containing: most of the presentations slides, some music samples, some art work, some of the tools/source code being released, and some other tidbits.

This year, the Defcon folks ordered about 8,000 badges and they ran out of them! That means Defcon had over 8,000 people in attendance this year, WOW, but I digress. (NOTE this figure is probably very conservative since I saw plenty of folks walking around with paper badges, and this figure doesn't include Goons, staff, press, and vendors.) While there was a slight hick-up with the badges (yes besides them not having enough for every one, and some bugs in the code), there was no shortage of CDs.

This year's Black Hat Briefings attendance is estimated to have been around 4 to 5 thousand people all of whom received free tickets to Defcon. Even assuming only people from Black Hat took advantage of pre-registration and only half of which did so. This would mean that on Thursday Aug 7th about 2.5 thousand people (me included), pre-registered at Defcon and received CDs. Lets say that half to three fourths of the rest of the Defcon attendees registered on the 8th.(about 2.75 to 4.125 thousand people) Adding these two figures together you have probably a very conservative estimate of the number of people who received a Defcon CD by midnight Aug 8th. This would mean that: before the motion was even filed about 2.5 thousand people had Defcon offical CDs and about 5.25 to 6.625 thousand people had them before the Judge ruled in the case. (Note this doesn't take into account all the copies being made and sent out to friends, colleagues, etc.)

Why is all this important information and just where am I going this with this line of thinking you ask? I'll tell you: As mentioned previously the Decfcon CDs contain most of presentation slides, and a quick look at the CD by even the average noob/computer user, 5th grader, etc, that the slides from the MIT students WERE one of the presentations included. So, before the TRO motion was brought the court about 2.5 thousand people already had most of the information the MBTA sought to suppress and about 5.25 to 6.625 people had it, before the Judge was able to rule.

To summarize: before any TRO motion was filed, about 2.5 thousand of the very people the MBTA didn't want to have the information contained in the MIT students slides, had it and about 5.25 to 6.625 thousand people had it before the Judge OK'ed the suppression.

Talk about trying to close the barn door after the horses have been already escaped.
(We won't even get into the rapid speed these slides would have been copied, sent out, and posted to as many people/web sites as possible, by pretty much every Defcon attendee, once word got out that someone was trying to suppress the information).

Till next time.

Ish

Defcon 16 Days 1-3

2008-08-13T21:53:00.002-05:00

As mentioned previosuly I'll be posting information concerning specific talks later as I get the time. I would like to mention however for more information about the legal events surrounding the MIT students and the injunction on their Defcon talk go to Groklaw. (Funnest part about this whole affair is that the geniuses over at the Mass Bay Transit Authority, in their zealous attempt to stifle the free speech of some college students, released way more details about the vulnerabilities in open court, which made their way on to Pacer, than the students intended. Again to get the full 411 go to Groklaw, also support the EFF!!!!)

The badges this year were pretty cool: TV turn off with limited file transfer/receive capability. Also of note according to a few people I talked too over 8,000 badges were ordered and despite a hang up in customs, they still ran out! WOW! Only real items of note for me was that I was introduced to Major Majfunction, DT, and Priest by a friend. Despite the Federal injunction this years Defcon seemed to run pretty smoothly. I defiantly like the Riv better than the AP.

Lets see other items of note... Saturday the stillsecure and IO Active Freakshow at the top of the Riv was pretty cool. We left there early and headed to the Edgeos party. Again I played DD and had water most of the evening, not drinking so others
could :) This party was pretty cool except it got crowded quick. We quickly took over a booth in one of the back corners and just chilled out most drinking lots of free drinks. Some noob was snapping pictures with out asking till we schooled him other wise. Word to the wise, if/when you attend Defcon, proper etiquette (yes even at Defcon there is etiquette)states that you ALWAYS ask before taking pictures, EVEN if you are holding a Press badge. The guy was pretty cool about the whole affair and even let us screen the pictures he had taken to delete any we objected to. We called it an early night and on the way out said hi to Major Malfunction as he and a few others were arriving. Sunday was spent going to more talks and simply chilling, packing and getting ready to head home.

Take care and check back in later because over the next few days/weeks I'll be posting more in depth information about the talks from both Black Hat and Defcon that felt were especially interesting.

Ish.

Black Hat Days 5-6

2008-08-13T20:50:00.004-05:00

Yes I know the lights have been turned off and even Defcon has come and gone but I was busy and my Internet access limited. I'll summarize the major happenings and post info about specific talks after spending more time reviewing my notes and going through the slides/white papers.

Day 5 well sucked, the reason food poisoning. Not sure where I caught it but I did. The parties last night went by just fine. Me and a few others started at the Secure University get together, where they gave out a free test. We then headed to the Qualys party in the Absolute suit. It started off decently. We then headed out to a third party. At this unnamed third party much silliness ensued. One friend earned a new handle of H1ghh33lz after someone dared him to walk around the party with in them. Not wanting to back down the friend promptly set out to find a pair to borrow, he found a pair and completed the dare. But wait there is more, the person he borrowed the heels from happens to be an editor at a well know magazine.

Waking up with food poisoning sucked. Now many would say it was a hangover, I on the other hand have medical proof other wise. (yes I broke down and went in to a clinic). I spent the rest of the day taking it easy. While I hung out at some other get togethers (the Cisco one was very nice BTW), I simply drank lots of water and played DD.

Day 6: I woke up feeling much better. The talks to day were interesting and I'll post some highlights later. To day was also the final day at Black Hat. The vendor parties were okay, I started out at the Core meet and greet and soon moved on to the IO Active one after the Core one became too crowded. After the IO Active meet and greet me and a few others went over to the Shadow Bar where H1ghh33lz put the nail in his coffin about avoiding the new handle, when him and another friend jokingly walked around the Shadow Bar in another pair of Highheels. The shoes in question were provided by a weeding party that had broken and looking to spend the rest of the night out on the town. Only difference is that this time not only did we get pictures of the event (well the weeding party did and will hopefully be sending them on) but H1ghh33lz kept the shoes.

Finally on to Defcon. As with the rest of Black Hat I'll summarize the major events and expand on specific talks/topics as time permits.

Ish

Black Hat Day 4

2008-08-05T19:28:00.000-05:00

Today started slow, but things picked up around 10 when I got a call that a bud had a line on a few extra invites to the Cisco party and wanted to know if I wanted to go,. responded with a resounding YES, so hopefully he was able to get the names in, in time. The class I've been taking for the most has been pretty cool, it was the Advance Malware Deobfuscation class, my one biggest complaint with this class is a lack of good step by steps for the student exercises, so we can go back later and re-work through the exercises if we want. I don't know about any of you but after taking two heavily compressed and very technical IT courses, followed by 5 days of in-depth technical briefings, and various Vendor parties, I'm going to need a few days to decompress and the ability to re-run through the course materials when I'm more well rested. I'm probably not alone in this so.....

To say lunch sucked would be giving it a compliment, it was that bad. Of course this just means I'm going to be "forced" to grab something quick from the Caesars snack area before the Qualys get together, then again that might be what Caesars had in mind in the first place.

Last break of the day found us attendees rushing to grab our delegate bags. This year they had multiple colors not just the typical Red/Black bag (three to be exact: Red/Black, Orange/Black, and Blue/Black are the three bag color combos that I can see.). I'm not sure what if any difference there will be between the bags but I did notice a larger number of Red/Black bags than the other two. While standing in line I over hear one of the people near the front ask for a specific color, the guy handing them out said they couldn't do that and they we had to take what we got. Well as I reached the front I notice a nice Blue/Black bag after the typical Red/Black I was a bout to receive... thinking quick I turn to the guy behind me and say go ahead man. He buys it, steps right up and gets the Red/Black bag. I then smile as I step up for the nice Blue/Black bag. The guy handing them out just smiles back and says: thats the sweetest hack I've seen today, that's getting it done! So now I have a nice Blue/Black bag. As I look through the bag I notice not only have the goodies improved over years past the number has have increased a little (guess they found out they save lots of weight and money by not printing out the big red books).
Besides the usual program/schedule, conf DVD there is a rather nice, hard cover flip up book journal (kind of like a steno pad but hard bound and much better looking, an especially welcomed for this southpaw), a highlighter that also includes a two color ball point pen, and a nice new PayPal/ebay Security Key fob. Again not sure how this differs from the other colored bags, but I'll do some schmoozing and find out.

Well class is over so it a quick call to the other half, a snack and then the Qualys!

Ish

Black Hat Dat 3 post 2.

2008-08-05T10:06:00.001-05:00

The after noon class went a little slower then the morning portion did, mainly because many people in class were not already familure with OllyDbg. Once we got passed the intro to OllyDbg the class picked up a little more as we explored how to find the original entry point in a program. Day three ended early for me, by legs and back were ache from the uncomfortable chairs and since Monday is one of the most dead nights in Vegas I figured I'd just spend a quiet night watching a little Mythbusters and reviewing the days exercises. Besides tomorrow starts the real fun... Vendor parities :)

Ish

Black Hat Day 3 (up to lunch anyway)

2008-08-04T16:06:00.002-05:00

At breakfast this morning we had a Jackalope sighting. For those not in the know, DJ Jackalope is probably one of the best spiners/mixers who are regulary asked to play Defcon. She has mad skills with the turn table and can crank out the tunes.

Today's class defiantly seems a lot better that my weekend class. We started off straight into how executable Windows binaries look in a hex editor then started from the beginning and stepped through what things mean inside that binary. Next we stepped through the PE header information and how to find certain items in side the header. So far this class looks to be a new must attend for any one interested in getting into Reverse Engineering or binary analysis. It's lunch so I don't have much time left.

More Later

Ish

Black Hat Day 2

2008-08-04T16:04:00.001-05:00

I'm taking back something I said yesterday, Responder is cool but what really sets it apart is the wicked graphing feature that allows you to pull items on to the graph, as well as set layer colors (much like in adobe photo shop or Gimp graphics editing). You can turn off and on the layers so you can focus on a few items at a time. The graph also has a handy feature that allows you to "grow up" and "grow down" from an item on the graph. This means that you can add new items in the graph by following the associated function calls.

Tonight found a few us trying to answer the age old question: "Whats for dinner?". So we walked of Caesars and took a right and stated walking down the Strip towards the Luxor. After much indecision we finally wound up at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone at Planet Hollywood's Miracle Mile stores. We had passed over the place because of the price but finally decided to stop in because we acquired a buy one get one free entree. While higher priced the food was GREAT and it wasn't little portions either, they were huge! After dinner we were kinda wiped so we headed back to Caesars so we could slpit off and enter into food commas.

Ish

Black Hat Day 1

2008-08-04T16:01:00.002-05:00

First things first, while my Internet access will be a little spotty, I'm going to be keeping a running journal of the events as the happen or soon after they happen, but I may not always be able to post to the blog on any given day or at any set time. I will post in order of occurrence but this means that some days there may be no postings, some there may be multiple (one for each day) and others may have multiple postings are continuations of the same day. Training today was okay wasn't exactly was I was expecting from the class description but by the end of the day it had picked up some. While Hogland and Cummings are very smart, the class was more geared tword using HBGary Responder for things rather then hard core rootkit reversing. One item of note they did present something they call Malware Analysis Factors (MAFs). These MAFs break down program functions into six categories. While these MAFs are cool and all, it remains to be seen if the rest of the class will improve. Don't get me wrong Responder is a cool tool and all its just I was expecting a little more from one of the founders of rootkits.org.

Dinner tonight was very disappointing, it was over priced and just kinda of anh. After dinner found me a few others at the Seahorse lounge in Caesars near the Pure night club. A few years ago it was a pretty good spot for people watching and reasonably priced for drinks. My how things have changed, they updated the part out side of Pure so that now they have the "Pussycat Dolls Casino" basically a just a small card table pit with a roulette wheel and craps table. While still a good place to people watch they jacked up the prices by almost triple so we probably won't be going back.

Ish

Vegas Here I come... BlackHat 08 /Defcon 16

2008-07-31T00:18:00.003-05:00

In case any one is wondering why after my July 8 post I have been quite its because the wife, piggy, and I were taking a much needed break. I was also busy working a travel training issue at work so I could attend the upcoming Black Hat 08 and Defcon 16 conferences. While I can't promise I'll give a daily play-by-play I'll try to at least do a summary every few days.

If your also going to be there and wanna hang out or have some inside scopes on some of this year's unofficial events drop me a line.

Ish.

I'm Back

2008-07-08T15:39:00.002-05:00

Sorry for delay but starting work on my master's, having a full time job, and taking care of the piggy hasn't left a lot of free time lately. Well all that is about to change, now that I'm more used to going to school again I can better manage my time and energy... So Ish's Cyber Wolf Den is back!!!!!

I'm hoping to continue with my weekly book reviews, along with posting on topics that interest me. So for those of you who have been checking in to find new content I thank you for hanging in there.

One item of note, with in the last couple of weeks Congress and the President passed a new MGIB program, and it looks to be a great new benefit that has been a long time coming. That said they still have a long way to go to better compensating our men and women who are now serving or have served.

Stay tuned to the wolf den more to come.

Isnala

Spread the Word.

2007-12-14T22:01:00.000-06:00

All,

Saw this on both Blackfive and OPFOR and want to share it and help make it viral.

The Gratitude Campaign Website.
Full Movie

The Gratitude Campaign YouTube video

Please Share it!

Ish

The best layed plans....

2007-12-14T21:24:00.000-06:00

OK so I was planning on doing a book review a day since the wife was gone... that was until I came down with a nasty stomach bug that is...so now that I've recovered I have a whole lot of homework for school and lets not forget x-mas shopping...though I will note here it is the 14th of December and Congress still has yet to fund our troops.
But enough about that little irritant.

As I have mentioned, I'm currently working on my Master's Degree in Information Assurance from the University of Maryland. This is my first semester so I thought I'd take Intro to grad level writing. I will have to admit it has been a great class. The final for the class is a rather lengthy term paper, which is due in final draft form on Monday. While I'm not going to post the whole thing on here as well, after I have turned it in, I'll be posing a little snippet. What I discovered while researching the paper was informative enough that I think the info should be shared.

Until then...

Ish

This weeks book review: Ender's Game

2007-11-28T22:09:00.000-06:00

This weeks Book Review is
Orson Scott Card Ender's Game

From Wikipedia: The story starts with "mankind having made contact with an insectoid alien race known to humanity as the "Buggers", or more formally as "Formics". The buggers have attempted to invade Earth twice; having been narrowly defeated the second time by a man named Mazer Rackham, and the threat of a third bugger invasion looms large over the Earth.

Enter Ender Wiggin, christened Andrew Wiggin, his nickname given to him by his sister Valentine, a six-year-old boy and third child of his parents, an audacity under the population restriction laws, permitted only by special sanction by the government hoping he will be a combination of his violent older brother Peter and his kind hearted sister Valentine. The International Fleet (IF) is seeking the next brilliant military commander among Earth's children. Young Ender is approved by the government for training at the elite Battle School, a space station where children are trained. Ender chooses to accept Colonel Graff's offer to attend, leaving behind his world for the hope of the future."

The story only gets better from there, the story follows Ender through his time at battle school. While there are sequals that follow Ender's story, I would recomend getting the parallel story which has its own set of sequals following one of other children at Battle School rather then the Ender sequals, but I'll save that book for next week. This Hugo award winning story is a must have for any science fiction fan. It is also a great book to introduce book young readers to the world of science fiction. So if you are Holiday Shopping and in need of ideas of what to get the school age reader or all-round science fiction lover, check out Ender's Game.

Also for those of you who like these reviews, I have good news. Piggy and her mom will be in flying out Saturday to visit the in-laws for two weeks SO I will have some free time on my hands, about two weeks worth. So I'm going to under take a challenge just for you all, I'm going to try to do a review a day while they are gone. Besides giving me material to post, if just one of you reads a review and buys the book as a present for a loved one, I will have done my small part of helping spread the joys of reading.

The Forever War : A Ish's Cyber Wolf Den Rewiew

2007-11-20T23:01:00.000-06:00

This weeks book review is on Joe Haldeman The Forever War

Here's the excerpt from the back of the book:
The Earth's leaders have drawn a line in the interstellar sand - despite the fact that the fierce alien enemy they would oppose is inscrutable, unconquerable, and very far away.
A reluctant conscript drafted into an elite military unit, Private Mandella has been propelled through space and time to fight in the distant thousand-year conflict;
to preform his duties without rancor and even rise up through the military ranks. Pvt. Mandella is willing to do whatever it takes to survive the ordeal and return home. But "home" may be even more terrifying than battle becasuse, thanks to time dilation caused by space travel,
Mandella is aging months while the Earth he left behind is aging centuries.

This was a great book. It also falls inline with my current topic of Veteran-Americans or current and former mlitary and their families as a cultural minorities.
May have said this book was about unending war and never being able to go home again, but it is more than that. This book, through science fiction helps to illistrate the bonds military members form.
Also while exaggerated by time dilation, this book does a great job of describing what it like and the affects of being assigned to a remote or deployed away from your family and friends and why it can be hard to deal with for you and them during and when you return.
The ordeals cab be especially when the deployment or assignment ends and its time to come home. what are you coming home to? What life changing events may have happened to you or thm during this time?
People don't live in a vacuum, they change, you change, the experiences you and they have are completely different and sometimes unless you have been through similar experiences it is very difficult to express them.
You would be surprised how much people can change in as little as 3 to 6 months. For example I have a good friend missed a lot of his first child's memorable moments because he was deployed. I'm not saying that his deployed mission wasn't important or that it was a waste of time and he should have been home. Far from it.
The work assigned to the men and women in the military by our government is important. what I'm talking about here is the bonds of family and the sacrifices military families go through that few other groups of people do.

So this thanksgiving take a moment of your time, hug your loved ones and give thanks for the men and women at home and abroad searing in the military who take up the personal responsibility and make the sacrifices to ensure your can have a holiday season in this great country. And take just one more moment to think about the families of the men and women who are apart from their loved ones.

So while your out shopping the Black Friday sales pick up a copy of The Forever War for the sci-fi or military member of the family (then borrow it for your self it is a great read.) Also while your out at the Black Friday Sales pick up something small and donate it to toys for tots. (Yes I know what your thinking: But your Air force and its mainly sponsored by the Marines. SO WHAT its a great program, give them a hand/donation anyway, unlike the current S-CHIP debacles, this actually for children!)

Take care and in case I don't post again: have a great thanksgiving.

Ish

I AM A Veterian-American!!!

2007-11-16T20:29:00.000-06:00

Two posts in one day? Yes my friends I'm working hard to catch up. Ive been working on this post the last two days, I wanted to get my research right before I went on a limb. So with out further ado....

This has been building for some time now but after this past weekend I finally had to say enough is enough. I have been on the sidelines of the military blogging scene for a while now and what other have said have made sense to me. One web site Old War Dogs, particularly hit a nervy. While I'm not going to repeat the entire posting, I will say that after this past weekend not only do I agree with it I would like to pass it on in an attempt to help spread this message.

OK, lets get you caught up with me, here is some background and definitions to get you up to speed:

Ethnic group:

Lectric LawLibrary's Lexicon US Code 18: ETHNIC GROUP - A set of individuals whose identity as such is distinctive in terms of common cultural traditions or heritage.

Answer.com Ethnic: Of, relating to, or characteristic of a sizable group of people sharing a common and distinctive racial, national, religious, linguistic, or cultural heritage.

ABC World Net An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. This boundary may take any of a number of forms â€” racial, cultural, linguistic, economic, religious, or political and may be more or less porous. Because of this boundary, members of an ethnic group are often presumed to be culturally or biologically similar, although this is not in fact necessarily the case. Another characteristic of ethnic groups is continuity in time, that is, a history and a future as a people. This is achieved through the intergenerational transmission of common language, institutions, values and traditions. It is important to consider this characteristic of ethnic groups if we are to distinguish them from a group of individuals who share a common characteristic, such as ancestry, in a specific point in time. On the political front, ethnic groups are distinguished from nation-states by the former's lack of sovereignty.

Lets take a look at the "boundaries" step by step to see if Veterans past/prestent(Active Duty) and our dependents could qualify under these definitions:

Members identify with each other? Yeah I think Veterans, active duty, reserve, guard and our dependants identify with each other. NEXT.

Distinct group with common cultural heritage/traditions? I have heard this term used several times when referring to the military life style and our enlisted, officer, service heritage i.e. cultural history. Also believes and traditions: Never leaving our fallen behind, promotion, retirement, change of command ceremonies. So, yeah I would say we have our own traditions and heritage! Next.

Distinct linguistics? Rodger, 5by5, Whuwah, Sir Yes Sir, Skull F*&k (sorry had to include it :), Wall to wall counseling, Exchange, Class 6, Bingo Fuel, RTB, Incoming, Wingman, munition,
boat, ship, Air Boss, TACON, say again-Over. SecDef, SOCOM, etc. Yup we're good here, Next!

Distinct economic? Paid poorly, BAH, BAS, have our own grocery stores, shopping centers, and stores that cater to our unique needs (commesaries, exchanges, clothing sales). Heck we have a section of tax law just for us. so..... Next!

Polictical? Um couldn't you call defending the rights of others political? What about defending the Constitution. Heck we even have our own uniques laws ala UCMJ, So Next.

Religious? well this one we don't meet full unless you call our the belief that we include everyone regardless of what they believe. After all we do have our own chaplains who cater to our special needs.

So we pretty much meet the definition. So what does this mean? If we could be or are considered an ethnic group then a whole set of laws that are designed to help us and prevent oppression like say hate speech laws. If we soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen past and
present and our families are an ethnic group then there would be no difference between the penalties that could and SHOULD be brought against someone who holds up a sign that says “Thank god for dead soliders.” than there would be for some one who held up a sign that said “Thank god for dead Whites/Blacks/Hispanics/Jews/Christians/Muslims/Pagans/”!!!!

Also if we were recognized as a ethnic group it would only take simple math to figure out that we would be considered “minority” ethnic group.

I have no clue how to get this recognized in a legal/official manner, so any Veteran-American lawyers out there reading this who wants to take up some pro bono work drop me a line/e-mail I would line to find out how we could move this effort forward.

Just a disclaimer I am not a lawyer, which is why I asked for one's opinion, so before you go taking what Ish says as legal advice I ask you to take a moment and think and contact a real lawyer before acting in any way which might lead you down a possible run in you local, state, and/or ferderal police departments.

Have a good Friday and weekend (just in case I don't get a chance to post again this weekend).

Ish

SecDef Plays Hardball!

2007-11-16T16:28:00.000-06:00

Cdr. Salamander wrote: "Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that unless Congress passes funding for the Iraq war within days, he will direct the Army and Marine Corps to begin developing plans to lay off employees and terminate contracts early next year.

Gates, who met with members of Congress on Wednesday, said that he does not have the money or the flexibility to move funding around to adequately cover the costs of the continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"There is a misperception that this department can continue funding our troops in the field for an indefinite period of time through accounting maneuvers, that we can shuffle money around the department. This is a serious misconception," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon.

As a result, he said that he is faced with the undesirable task of preparing to cease operations at Army bases by mid-February, and lay off about 100,000 defense department employees and an equal number of civilian contractors. A month later, he said, similar moves would have to be made by the Marines."
Go here to see here for the rest of the article: Cdr. Salamander

I think this is a great idea! I personally think he needs to start in the states/districts that have representatives who rely heavily on defense jobs/dollars but continue to not support our troops. However, the military is not supposed to be partisan, so, the SecDef should select either two states/districts one Democrat one Republican or one state/district with both, say Nevada: Senators Reid(D) and Ensign(R). This way it hits both parties get hit with one cut. I also think he should make one cut a week from from these states/districts until the troops are fully funded. See how Congress likes being held hostage for one!

Ish

Mia Copa I know I'm late

2007-11-15T16:55:00.000-06:00

This weeks been busy for me and I know that excuses have about zero range. But here is Tuesday's book review on Thursday.

This weeks been busy for me, with a first draft of a 20 page paper due in one of my Master's classes due. But as the author of this weeks book review has said "excuses have about zero range." So, here is Tuesday's book review on Thursday.
As mentiontioned last week I'm restarting John Ringo's Posleen War Series with A Hymn Before Battle. This book starts off strong and doesn't ease up. In fact it grabs you by the shirt and doesn't let go untill the very end. Even then leaves you wanting more!

The back of the book and Mr. ringo's web sight say the following about the book "With the Earth in the path of the rapacious Posleen, the peaceful and friendly races of the Galactic Federation offer their resources to help the backward Terrans-for a price."

The concept behind the book is intresting and the story arc well thought out. Mr. Ringo writes well thought out characters that make you want to read more to find out what happens to them. Also at the time of this review Amazon is offering this book as apart of its 4-for-3 promtion, so if you have a sci-fi reader in the family and they don't have this book I would highly recomend it as a great buy for christmas!

If you want to read more go to the Baen web sight they sometimes offer chapters and prolgue one line. In fact in the Baen library they some times have this book as am on-line freebie.

So whether your a sci-fi fan or know someone who is this book would be a great and welcomed addition to any collection.

Well its the 11th of Nov and guess what?

2007-11-11T08:57:00.000-06:00

Still no appropriations bills passed or send to the President. Dull, Shock, Surprise. And where is Congress you ask? probably enjoying the nice three day week end. This will be the last time I rant on this particular subject for a while. Its not that I'm running out of steam its just there there are so many other things to chat about/bring to your attention that continuing on this one very narrow topic may bore the snot out of some people.

So as I sit here watching the Piggy play with her little mat gym I can't help but wonder what the future will bring. Not just for her generation but in the up coming years. This country's leaders continue to ask a great many things of its military personnel and they are most of the time all to happy to answer the call. But where are these same leaders when it comes time to keep their implied promise of supporting those brave men and women who answered their call? Either at home enjoying a nice cook out or holding those bills hostage to pork barrel spending, ear marks, and/or political agendas.

So this weekend I only ask two simple things, if you know a vet please take the time out to thank them it doesn't take long but it will/can make a big difference in their lives. and two take some time out and think about what your elected leaders in Washington D.C. and respective State Capitals are doing. Are they supporting those same brave men and women? Are they doing the job you helped elected them to do? Are they proposing/supporting legislation that you support and/or think is good for this country? If you answered no to any or all of these questions, please take some time and shoot them a message of some kind, e-mail, letter, phone call and let them know. After all they work for YOU not the other way around!

Ish

It's Friday.. but all is not well and definatly not quiet on the D.C. Front.

2007-11-09T07:38:00.000-06:00

Just thought I would post a quickie this morning since I didn't the chance last night to post. TO day is the 9th of November. In just two short days is the day, Nov 11, the U.S. has set aside to recognize the brave men and women who are/have serving/served in our military i.e. Veteran's Day. And just how has Congress chose to celibate this year? By not having passed either the Defense or Veteran's Benefits Appropriation bills AND by proposing cut and run surrender bills.

To the other Men and Women in our Military both past and present, serving at home or abroad, THANK YOU.

To the men and women in Congress: STOP holding Veteran's Benefits hostage with your political agenda, get them the funding to carry through with implied promise this country made to take care of them!
Also pass the Defense Appropriation bill WITH OUT the PORK or artificial with drawl time table requires. Last time I checked the Constitution of the U.S. only recognized ONE commander in chief and the members of Congress are not it (if you want to try for the job good news we have an election coming up throw so your hat in the ring). Also stop trying to play Monday morning quarterback, unless you are/were there and are/have gone through the same situation you can not and will not ever know what its like. We have the best trained, best equipped, and most professional Military in the world bar none. So I ask you to please pass our funding and benefit bills, get out of our way, and let the Military do the job handed to us by the duly elected commander in chief i.e. The President and his appointed and confirmed by Congress, representative: Secretary of Defense.

You can't claim you support us if you are willing to hold the funding of our benefits, weapons, and equipment hostage to YOUR political agenda!

If you have a little time today or this weekend (heck even if its not this weekend) please check out the The Wounded Warrior Project they run a tight ship and try to ensure that at least $.80 of every dollar donated goes directly to the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen you want to help.

That is all for now, in case you don't hear it else where have a good weekend and if you could spare just 5 seconds thank a troop past or present.

Ish

New Public School No Flunk Policy?!?!?!?!?

2007-11-07T21:31:00.000-06:00

I was looking around wondering what to talk about to day and it didn't take me long to find a topic. On Fox news there is a video report about a new "No Flunk, Three chances to pass a test policy" in a town called Wyoming in Michigan. Basically if the student fails to pass the test the first time they get two more chances to pass it, the second time they can only get a maximum of 80%, the third time a 60%. Keep in mind this isn't for special education classes, it's for EVERYONE.

(There was no talk of whether a student who received less than an 70% but not quite failing, if they could retake it the second time to try to improve.)

Whiskry Tango Foxtrot OVER!!!! How is this policy fair to the student who worked hard, took the time to study, and/or prepare for the test? Also where is the accountability for the student who failed? Can someone please tell me how this is preparing the student for the rigorous college environment where if you fail, your out? Or the job market where not doing the job right the first time, or when it counts can get you well canned.

Its no wonder we are falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to preparing our children for college and giving them the tools we need for success.

Implementing Liberal school policies like this that do 3 things:

1. It teaches children its okay to fail. While its okay to teach a child that you can't will all the time, this is different from saying it is okay to fail!!! Also saying you'll always get a second chance just teaches children not to give their 100%. Well sorry but some of life's tests you don't get a second chance, and the only way to win/succeed is to give your 100%. How does this policy help prepare a child/student to eventually make these tough decisions?

2. Indoctrinates our young with the liberal beliefs:its okay its not your fault, it doesn't really count, and I'm going to give you anther do-over at an early aga. Indoctrination of a belief system to be most successful needs to begin at an early age. Ideals such as these or even worse more extreme (all must die) ideas if taught young enough become ingrained into who someone is whether these ideas have any real basis in truth/fact or not.

3. Help to dumb down the future middle/lower class Americans. I say this because most if not all upper-class Americans send their children to private schools, that put most public schools to shame. Basically helping to ensure the elitist attitude of the liberal rich because lets face it most of the education system in this country is being co-opted by the liberal left.

The public education system has been hijacked by the liberal far left. I think as parents and the general tax paying American its time to hold our local, city, state, and federal government responsible for our failing public education system. I know the Piggy is just over 6mo. old, so why am I complaining now for you ask? The reason is very simple: change in this country takes a long time so maybe if I get involved and start helping out now, you and I can might just be able to put a halt on any further hijacking and possibly even help reverse course so that by the time Piggy has reached school age, some of these problems have been corrected.

Ish.

How to follow up yesterday....

2007-11-06T18:31:00.000-06:00

Truthfully I'm going to cheat. After all as they say if you ain't cheating you ain't trying. I going to cheat for two very good reasons 1. because I can and 2. I'm really trying to maintain a consistent blog and I have set Tuesday's as book review day. Unlike most weeks I haven't had that much time to devote to my book habit, especially since the meds from the car accident make me a little loopy and any functioning brain cells need to be devoted to other things like work, wife and of course the Piggy, and try to squeeze in some homework.

So this week I'm going to cheat twice, the first way I'm going to cheat is by leaving you hanging from yesterday's /last weeks build up. BTW have/did you vote????? and the second way I'm gong to cheat is by only giving you a preview of next week's book.
All this talk of Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers has me wanting to read more power armor stories. So I'm going to restart John Ringo's Posleen War Series with A Hymn Before Battle . So pick up a copy or wait till next weeks review to see why you should if you haven't already.

Ish

Remmember, remember the 5th of November.....

2007-11-05T20:35:00.000-06:00

The real deal. As mentioned this week's post have been leading up to today. Even though the 5th of Nov is typically a British holiday, thought I would borrow it for a bit as it fits in to feelings I've been having a for a while now.

Like in the movie V for Vendetta, I thought I would take some time out to have a little chat. You see I've been having the feelings for sometime now that something is very wrong with this country. Unlike the character, I'm only going to express these feelings with words, hoping some of my comments will sparking debate and conversation. The only violence I propose is that allowed under the Constitution the exercise of franchise or the vote (read my Starship Troopers review and redux posts to understand why I put it this way)

I look at the news and the headlines at things like the SCHIP debate and just get frustrated and begin to wonder: When did this country change from a society of people who constructed great things like the Hover Dam and send man to the moon turn into whinny, greedy, want every thing handed to them, sea gulls screaming the question "Mine? Mine?" from animated Disney movie Finding Nemo.

It seams like today's society would rather sit around and wonder why the government isn't giving them MORE handouts, then take some personal responsibility for their own lives and do something about their situation,. It isn't just people from Generation X and later either, it's the Baby Boomers too. The really scary thing is there are people in power who want to make the American public even more dependent, not less on Government handouts. The thing that really bakes my noodle is that these same leaders are Baby Boomers. The people who should have some clue what an honest day's work is because they the greatest generation of our time to look up to and serve as examples. You know who I'm talking about the people who won World War II and put a man on the moon. WHERE DID WE GO WRONG?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Prime example of the difference between now and then: Just two generations ago Americans, signed up in droves and liberated Europe. Those that couldn't sign up worked to enable those that did. In fact the call to duty and sense of national pride was so strong people actually killed them selves if they weren't accepted into the Military. These same people and their parents practically built this country out of almost nothing after the great depression and wouldn't think of sitting around waiting for the government to help them out.

Who's to blame for this I ask? Truthfully most of this country need only look in a mirror. Where do people think the money for these social hand out programs comes from? I'll tell you where from the backs and pocket books of hard working people trying nothing more than to improve things and be successful. Congress, more importantly the Liberal side of congress have some how got it into their minds that Marxism in this country can succeed, even though it has or is failing every where else to include the Soviet Union. The reason it failed is because by heavily taxing those people who are the most successful, you will suck the life right out of them and teach others to do just enough to get by rather then trying to do and be better. Congress in general and the Liberals in specific are trying to slowly turn American society into one big cliche from Office Space!!!! Capitalism defeated Marxism for a reason! Partly because Capitalism rewards those that work hard and punishes those that don't. (more on punishment later)

The other reason Capitalism won over Marxism is the simplest of truths: man is a selfish and self serving creature and contrary to what Liberals would like us to believe IS NOT born with some innate Moral instinct. But rather we acquire morals over time through education, training, and experience. Capitalism takes this into account because unlike Marxism, it punishes not rewards those who do not work to the best of their ability.

As mentioned above Liberals would like us to believe man is born with some sort of innate Moral instinct. No where is this more apparent than in the way they think convicted criminals should be treated. They would like us to believe the Constitution says something completely different then it actually does. Amendment VIII says the following: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
While I wasn't there when it was written but plenty of people where, including the founding father themselves, and enough of these people wrote about what they were thinking for us to know. What they intended by the cruel and unusual punishment provision was as a way to prevent excessively cruel things like branding the letter A on someone for the relatively minor act of committing adultery. Truth be told punishment should be cruel and unusual. By this I mean punishment should fit the crime and not excessive, but at the same time punishment should be harsh i.e cruel because it is punishment. It should be unusual in that it deters crime to the point that it is rarely needed i.e. unusual.

Tomorrow is election day and all next year we, the American people will be bombarded with ads and messages to vote a certain way and for a certain person. Unlike these ads all I ask is that you take the time to get to know the items and people running for office and that you will be voting on, then ask your self the following questions and make up your own mind. (Don't be a lemming/zombie think for your self!!)

1. What is this person or item really going to do? In the case of a person: what have they done in the past. It is true that a leopard does not change its spots, like that leopard so too of people, it takes a very dramatic event to truly change someone, so 9 times out of 10 how someone behaved in the past is likely how they will continue to behave. In the case of an item/bill, don't just take what someone else tells you what it is about as fact, actually look it up. It's like my grandfather and parents used to tell me when I asked them what some word meant. They would tell me to go look it up. This is what I am asking of you.

2. In the case of a person also ask your self and find out if what the person is telling you actually what they believe in, or are they just saying what they think you want to hear and actually believe something else. I would seriously question their motives if after searching you can't determine what they believe in. This screams of them either not knowing themselves OR needing to hide the truth and the truth should never need to be hidden.

3. In the case of an item someone is proposing or actually on the ballot ask yourself how is this item going to be funded and at the expense of what? You don't get something from nothing, the money has to come from some where, SO either something else has to be cut back or they are going to have to make YOU pay more taxes.

Now this is the most important thing: After asking yourself these thing if you still support the person and item then be sure to show up on election day and vote!!!! Even if you only support one issue and don't like any of the candidates. You don't have to vote on every item, simply leave those sections where you can't decide or don't support anyone blank. But above all VOTE!
If you believe like I believe it is one of the only true ways to affect change in this country. Heck even if you think I'm out of my mind VOTE anyway! And after election day hold the person elected ACCOUNTABLE!!!!!!!!!

Thats all for now, venting done, I now return you to the regular wolf den channel. (until the kettle boils over again that is)

Ish

Remmember, remember the 4th of November.....

2007-11-04T20:51:00.000-06:00

OK I know it's supposed to be the 5th of Nov but thats only tomorrow and that post is likely to be a long one (and most of you will probably wind up reading it on the 6th anyway), so I thought it might be a good idea to get a head start on things and give you all something to read as a warm up. (Not that the last couple of days haven't been.)

As I sit here this evening watching the movie "V for Vendetta" again I can't help but find my self agreeing with code name V. Not what he did or how he did it mind you but some of the stated reasons he gave during his T.V. speech to the people of London. As tomorrow is the 5th of Nov. and while I am not British, I don't think you need to be to understand the principles behind the movie and character. In America tomorrow holds its own special meaning this year, its the day before election day and I ask all my readers to take up the task of finding at least finding out how to vote if you don't already know and if you don't/can't vote on the 6th this year then at the very least register for next years election. If you are already registered and can vote then I ask you with the task of looking over the issues that will appear on your ballots in two days and find out more information about them so that you can make an informed decision.

Next year, today will be the day that this country comes together to elect a new President. So I like the character in the movie, if you are an American: One year from today I ask all of you to join me in reading up on the issues and casting your vote, at your local polling place. On the 5th of November next year my fellow Americans and I will be waking up to the news of who we have elected as our next leader.

So this 4th of November for me marks the even of a personal campaign to help inform others of issues affecting my fellow service members as well as pointing out the hypocrisy of our current congressional body and the bills being proposed. (I will try to be equal opportunity pointing out examples from both sides when I can but no promises.)

See you tomorrow.

Ish

What is Congress doing and WHY is it doing it???

2007-11-03T17:38:00.000-05:00

So, I wake up this morning and decide to get caught up on home work and news. (I've been at a slight disadvantage at both since the car accident, the pain medication is making me a bit loopy). Any way so I begin to catch up by reading the usuals: Blackfive, Op-for, Michelle Malkin, etc., when I come across the following article on Michelle Malkin's sight: Kucinich leads the impeachment circus: Introducing a Cheney impeachment resolution next week

Let me get this straight and see if I have my facts right. Congress rather then approving government budget and spending bills including the Defense Appropriation and Veteran's Benefit Bill is going to waste its time trying to impeach the VP for no other reason then he supports the President's policies about Iraq?!?!?!?!?! But wait it gets better congress also last week spent more time on a modified SCHIP bill that, didn't change much from the one that was already veto'ed once by the president because it tried to include benefits for both illegals and adults!!!!! Can some one please explain to me why a bill/program that is supposed to help poor/lower income children get health insurance has provisions helping adults and people who are continually breaking the law by remaining in this country illegally? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot OVER!

The President rightfully so vetoed the first attempt of this bill, not to mention that once the general public found out they began to speak out against it as well. SO why is congress spending more time on it????

Also before the moonbats, code pinkers, and other liberals start to scream that I'm anti child/immigrant, let me correct them preemptively. I would support a bill that helps poor/lower income children buy private health insurance BUT NOT if it includes benefits for ANYONE who is NOT a poor/lower income child!!!!!
Also I love immigrants. I think we need more of them to come to this country, learn English, and join our way of life. HOWEVER I believe that they should do so LEGALLY!!!!! Why does congress continually try to give benefits and special treatment to this particular criminal segment of the population. Thats right I said criminal. Whats the definition of criminal again, o yah: "One that has committed a crime or breaks the law." So why don't we stop pussy footing around and call these people what they really are, the U.S. has laws concerning immigration so anyone who breaks these laws would be, by the very definition of the word: a criminal. We don't give people who steal, rape, or murder special benefits, in fact if you do these things genreally we take away benefits.

To recap rather then keep its promise to take care of our Veterans who served this country honorably and fund the current people serving and protecting this great country, Congress would rather fund and give special treatment to criminals?!?!?!?!?!

I say again: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot OVER!

Ish

Starship Troopers Redux

2007-11-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

As mentioned yesterday there was a reason I choose Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers for this week's review Part of the reason are items that have stuck with me since the first time I read the book and part of the reason I like to re-read the book every now that then. The other reason is because it helps with the build up for next Monday's post. Keeping in mind that I am not saying that I agree 100% with the book's system of government merely using it as an example to facilitate conversation and though leading up to Monday's post.

The first quote from the book that has always stuck with me and one that I would challenge any code pinkers/peace-nics to respond to:

"...Anyone who clings to the historically untrue - and - throughly immoral - doctrine that 'violence never settles anything.' I would advise to conjure up the ghost of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."

While I'm not certainly saying violence is the answer to every problem. To all those who believe that violence never solves anything: "I'm sure the city fathers of Carthage would be glad to know that. " O' wait Carthage was destroyed. So while violence should not be the only option, it should never be ruled out, especially when your adversary believes and will stop at nothing less than your complete and udder destruction.

The second quote from the book is directly related to the first but takes place later in the book:

"... Bear in mind that this is science, not wishful thinking; the universe is what it is, not what we want it to be. To vote is to wield authority; it is the supreme authority from which all other authority derives - such as mine to make your lives miserable once a day. Force, if you will! - the franchise is force, naked and raw, the Power of the Rods and the Ax. Whether it is exerted by ten men or by ten billion, political authority is force.

But this universe consists of paired dualities. What is the converse of authority? Mr. Rico.

He had picked one I could answer. "Responsibility, sir."

Applause. Both for practical reasons and for mathematically verifiable moral reasons, authority and responsibility must be equal - else a balancing takes place as surely as current flows between points of unequal potential. To permit irresponsible authority is to sow disaster; to hold a man responsible for anything he does not control is to behave with blind idiocy. The unlimited democracies were unstable because their citizen were not responsible for the fashion in which they exerted their sovereign authority... If he voted the impossible, the disastrous possible happened instead - and responsibility was then forced on him willy-nilly and destroyed both him and his foundation less temple..."

This section goes on to later describe the thinking behind the book's system of government.

" Since sovereign franchise is the ultimate responsibility in human authority, we insure that all who wield it accept the ultimate in social responsibility - we require each person who wishes to exert control over the state to wager his own life - and lose it, if needs be - to save the life of the state. The maximum responsibility a human can accept is thus equated to the ultimate authority a human can exert. Yin and yang, perfect and equal."

The last two quote that have always stuck with me and I would like to bring to everyone's attention because even though this book is a work of science fiction, these two quotes are 100% accurate, especially in the U.S. at this point in history with our 100% all volunteer military. AND in light of the recent court victory by Albert Synder against the foul people who had the despicable nerve of disrupting with hate speech and signs, this family's mourning of their hero son, I wish I could require every to read and memorize this first one:

" " What is the moral difference, if any, between a solider and the civilian?"
"The difference," I answered carefully," lies in the field of civic virtue. A soldier accepts personal responsibility for the safety of the body politic of which he is a member, defending it, if need be, with his life. The civilian does not.""

So for those of you who think you are more morally superior than the brave men and women past, present, and future who have/will under taken "the civic virtue", accepting the "personal responsibility" by serving in our Armed Forces and who protest those very men and women with signs that say:"thank god for dead soldiers". I invite you to STFU!!!!!!!

You can take your so called moral superiority and shove it! While I understand and cherish the 1st Amendment to our Constitution and value free speech, protecting it is part of why others like me serve in the Military in the first place. Protesting the men and women who make the free speech possible, , especially at their funeral, while ironic and sad, is personally sickening. If you disagree with what the contry is asking of its Military to do, write your congress person, Senator, President and/or get out and VOTE.

And the final quote I will leave you with today and wish to remind the code pinkers and others of:

"Man is what he is, a wild animal with the will to survive, and (so far) the ability, against all competition. Unless one accepts that, anything one says about morals, war, politics - you name it - is nonsense. Correct morals arise from the knowing what Man is - not what do-gooders and well-meaning old Aunt Nellies would like him to be."

Ish

* All quotes have been taken from the Starship Troopers, Ace Books edition/May 1987, Copyright 1959 by Robert Heinlein.

Tuesday's Book review a day late.

2007-10-31T18:52:00.000-05:00

I know I'm behind in my postings. well truth be told the reason for this is due to a car accident I was in last Wednesday. I'm fine with just a few bumps and bruises, but my medication was made me a little loopy and not up to my usual self.

For this weeks book review I'm going to hit on an old stand by and classic: Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Not the POS Hollywood tried to pass off as a movie, the real deal honest to goodness book.

The book centers around a singular character, who is also the story's narrator. The controversial part of the book was not the power armor, or even the military's way of conducting operations but the background system of politics/government. In the alternate universe of the book, in order to hold political office or even vote you must first become a citizen. And just how did the one change from the average person into a citizen? Serve at least one term in the military or public service organization. The thinking behind this was that before one was given the privilege and important responsibility of running the government or voting one must first take on the task of protecting and defending it, to prove your commitment to the important responsibility that comes with voting. To find out the reason behind this you'll read the book.

Even if you don't care, this book is a must read, the narrative style allows the reader to feel apart of the story. Also while John Ringo hasn't out right said it (to my limited knowledge) Heinlien's M.I. and power armor form the basis for Ringo's ACS units. Not to mention the deployment method of the M.I. is totally awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until tomorrow.

Ish

P.S. There is a secret reason I chose Heinlein's Starship Troopers for this weeks book, tune in Monday to find out why.

An example of just how the media just doesn't understand the military.

2007-10-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

I was scanning my daily list of blogs: Black Five and OPFOR among others, and I discovered a posting at the Blackfive about Sacramento Bee reporter Bobby Caina Calvan and his recent blog post that just boiled my blood. Now I'm not going to rehash what other have said but after a title wave of negative comments this reporter rather then apologize for his comments, decides to take the cowardly way out and deletes his whole blog pretending like it didn't happen. Well thankfully many people had to foresight to copy the entire posting to include the comments.

The best archive I have found can be found at Doc Weasel's blog at Bobby Caina Calvan article

Let me just say that in my humble opinion this is prime example of not only the cowardliness and shear arrogant better that you attitude of some in the media, but also a perfect example of just how well the media DOESN'T understand the men and women in the military. Rather then realize that this solider is simply doing his job as ordered, this reporter thinks that not only can he circumvent the safety and protection procedures (set up to protect others including him) because he is a reporter, but that somehow the rules shouldn't and don't apply to him. Does he take a step back and say hum there might be a better way, like following the rules? NO and in his own words he "decides to get pushy" with a guy who is only doing his job protecting people inside the Green Zone in Iraq.

Also rather then apologize when when called to the carpet by readers of his blog, he tries to make edits to his original post and delete comments that don't agree with his opinion. After a while the negative comment tide is such that he decides, rather then simply taking a look in the mirror and saying "you know I might be in the wrong here" and issue an apology, to delete his blog in its entirety. What a coward.

For any readers in the Sacramento Bee distro area (which includes my home town of Fairfield) I would ask that you: 1) visit Doc Weasel's sight and read the archived posting and 2) if you are of like mind and agree with myself and others to write or call the Sacramento Bee and let them know just how displeased you are with this reporter. Heck you don't have to be in the Sacrament Bee distro area, as this guy said (rather pompously in my opinion) "he works for Knight Ridder", so you can write/call you local Knight Ridder paper and let them know what you think of this guy.

Ish

One Day On Mars: a Cyber Wolf Den book review

2007-10-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

This week I'm going to review the new book by Travis S. Taylor, One Day On Mars.

This is Dr. Taylor's third solo effort from Baen books and let me start out with the book's singular negative attribute: It's too short! I mean Dr. Taylor is like a drug dealer giving his readers the first sample and provide just enough to whet their appetites!!!!! I mean I wanted to scream can't be over yet it was getting so good! This negative attribute is tempered by the fact that this book is the prequel to Travis S. Taylor, The Tau Ceti Agenda.

Right from the start Dr. Taylor hooks the reader and doesn't go, not even at the end, as I mentioned above, I'm still hooked and a little bumed that the next book doesn't come out till May 2008. However this book has it all and a must read for any military sci-fi fans: space battles, power armor, interesting characters, and transforming mechas. As Dr. Taylor described his Marine FM-12 strike mechas and their three fighting modes, I was floored, the little kid in me screamed "O' MY GOD HE HAS Veritechs." Well they aren't really Veritechs but the concept is very similar. Over all I would have to say, I agree with Dr. Taylor's fellow author, John Ringo when he said "You won't want to put it down", I know I didn't and if you are a fan of military sci-fi or Dr. Taylor, you probably won't either.

The start of the Den book review Tuesdays

2007-10-23T20:04:00.000-05:00

Hello my name is Ish, and I have a problem. Well I wouldn't call it a problem, the wife on the other hand claims I've passed the problem stage and progressed to full blown addict. And as they say the first step in recovery is to admit you have a problem so .... I guess for the sake of argument I'll go ahead and admit it, I have an addiction, an addiction to books that is. Science fiction and fantasy in general but especially, military and space based science-fiction. OK, your probably wondering, so you read big deal, well lets just say I probably go through at least one book every two to three days (depending on the length and subject of the book I may just finish it in one sitting.) Some times it drives the wife nuts especially since I don't get rid of most of the books because I re-read them. Not only do I re-read them over and over again, the wife can pretty much tell what type of mood I'm in based on who and what I'm reading.

For this reason I think I've come up with a therapy that just may help with the problem, namely posted book reviews. So, I'm setting for myself the goal of posting at least one book review a week, kind of like DVD release Tuesday, I'm going to try to post these reviews on Tuesdays.

For the first review I'm going to to start with the book I picked up during Sunday's family outing and finished last night. Review to be posted soon...

Air Force releases B-52 munitions transfer investigation results

2007-10-20T23:56:00.000-05:00

Articles :
Official Air Force Story

Military.com Seventy Punished for Nuclear Flight

One of the best commentaries is from a former AF Spook and available here:
In from the Cold

Here's my personal feelings/take on the situation: Door, Airman. Airman, Door. Now that the two of you are acquainted don't let Door hit you on the way out! And by Airman I mean both officers and enlisted! I wouldn't go so far as a dishonorable or big chicken dinner (bad conduct discharge), an administrative discharge and/or forced retirement should be good enough with court marshals all around for any one who decides not to take the hint.

This may sound harsh but these weren't your average run of the mill missiles, they were nuclear armed munitions. NUKES for those in the cheap seat. You know two person controlled, mandatory multiple sets of eyes on them at all times, "Danger Will Robinson!", duck and cover, kiss your butt good bye, nukes! Also according to the official accounting of what happened, there were multiple times when these special munitions should have been discovered earlier to include right before take off by the aircraft flight crew, if the Airmen had paid attention to detail, done their job correctly, and by the numbers.

However, on the flip side, the munitions Airman at Barksdale A.F.B. who discovered the munitions and every one in the chain from that point on who diligently followed procedure, and declared the "Bent Spear", deserve a nice cold one, if not a day off, and possibly a medal.

So to the guys that screwed up, thanks for serving our country but it's time for you to go. To the ones who did right and didn't try to cover it up, good on ya, atta boy!

ArrrrrhhhRRRRoooOOOOOooooo

2007-10-20T15:48:00.000-05:00

This if the first post of what I hope will be a rather interesting experience, as this is my first blog. I've posted many times to user groups and other blogs but could never quite get up the nerve to step up one of my own until that fateful day when the wife said, honey.. we're expecting.... Well that was almost a year ago now and I've finally got the time to set somethings up.

In order to separate church and state so to speak I've created not one but two blogs, the first one named The Piggy Files: where the wife and I will talk about our little one who was born at only 28.5 weeks (to find out why it's called the Piggy files go there and check it out before commenting) and the Cyber Wolf Den: where I'll talk about every thing else under the sun thats on my mind (to include stubjects the wife probably won't want on the Piggy's site). This is especially important as the wife and I have very different view points on certain subjects, such as politics, sci-fi etc (okay honey I'll admit it for the world in a nut shell I'm a geek and the wife isn't). Actually this isn't a completely true statement I'm more of a cross between a your average military member, computer professional, grad student, and a 10 year old with the attention span of a Kinder (Thank Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis for Uncle Tas).

Thats all for now maybe more later but more then likely more tomorrow. Take care all,

Ish