Or real???
I don’t know, but I’d be planning for a real event… FWIW…
If you’re out and about, make sure you keep your heads on a swivel, and carry if you can. Better to be safe than sorry.
Nuff said…
This administration will NEVER take responsibility for F-ing up the Afghanistan withdrawal…
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was pressed by Rep. Jim Bank (R-IN) about the botched 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan during a House hearing on Wednesday and said he has no regrets with how the evacuation was handled.
“Do you have regrets about the withdrawal from Afghanistan?” Banks asked.
“I support the President’s decision,” Austin replied.
“Do you have regrets about the withdrawal or how the withdrawal occurred from Afghanistan that cost the lives of 13 of our service members?” Banks followed-up.
“I don’t have any regrets,” said Austin.
Full article, HERE from Townhall.
These people DESERVE answers and accountability for the administration/DOD’s actions, or lack of them…
The dead Marines are:
Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, out of Camp Pendleton, California;
Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, with 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Naval Support Activity Bahrain;
Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, with Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit;
Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, with 2/1;
Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, with 2/1;
Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, with 2/1;
Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, with 2/1;
Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, with 2/1;
Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, with 2/1;
Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, with 2/1;
Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, with 2/1.
Navy corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, assigned to 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California
Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, assigned to 9th PSYOP Battalion, 8th PSYOP Group, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
RIP each and everyone of you. You paid the ultimate price.
The Blue Angels have their first female F-18 demo pilot for the 2023-24 show season!
LT Amanda Lee! She is the second female pilot to join the team after Marine Major Katie Higgins, who flew Fat Albert back in 2016.
The famed Navy flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels, selected their first female F/A-18E/F demo pilot this year following the completion of the Pensacola Beach Air Show on July 9.
Navy Lt. Amanda Lee was named alongside five other officers as the newest members of the 2023 Show Season for the Blue Angels.
Full article, HERE.
Even better, from my point of view, she is a ‘Mustang’! She’s prior enlisted, having served four + years as an Aviation Electrician (that little red ribbon left on middle row)! It’s nice to see prior enlisted personnel getting the chance at the ‘good’ billets, unlike what happened to us back in the early 90s.
And she’s going to be flying #3, so she will be in the thick of every demonstration. Congratulations to her!
And scary too!
GenX — those lucky enough to have come of age before political correctness and its totalitarian offspring, wokism, took hold — might prove to be the last Americans, according to a new Wall Street Journal survey.
“Patriotism, religious faith, having children and other priorities that helped define the national character for generations are receding in importance to Americans,” the Journal reported in Monday’s edition.
Full article, HERE from PJ Media.
And when you throw in the latest trends in ‘wokism’, destroying history, rewriting what they can’t destroy, and everything being raciss, sexiss, etc. along with the splits going on in the country between blue and red, it’s going to get interesting, and not in a good way…
This little infographic from a few years ago might be more applicable than we thought, especially with what is happening with needed drugs, baby formula, and other things that are ‘necessary’…
Good little con! Small turnout compared to last year, but the panels were good, learned some things, had some interesting conversations with some folks, an confirmed once again that hotel conference room chairs SUCK! Sigh…
By Sunday, my back was not happy with me, and I know I got a little grumpy, so if I grumped at anyone, I apologize.
The North Texas Troublemakers and ‘adjacents’ held down the bar Friday and Saturday, much to the delight of the bartender!!! LOL
Six panels over two days is about my limit, and ended up moderating three of them, which is more work than one would think, but I sent out questions ahead of time, which helped.
BUT…a couple of times I had to cut people off so I could ask the question to the rest of the panel after the person answered it…LOL
In news that just pisses me off, HarperCollins is now going after Agatha Christie! Note the headline!!!
Agatha Christie novels reworked to remove potentially offensive language
Several Agatha Christie novels have been edited to remove potentially offensive language, including insults and references to ethnicity.
Full article, HERE from the Guardian.
Of note- This quote is included in the article!
Sensitivity readers had made the edits, which were evident in digital versions of the new editions, including the entire Miss Marple run and selected Poirot novels set to be released or that have been released since 2020, the Telegraph reported.
WTH??? I guess I might as well try something other than writing if THIS CRAP is the way things are going… I don’t/won’t use a ‘sensitivity’ reader, because I try to write honest portrayals of people, places, and the language used…Grrrr…
Fun was had and we got through all of our panels OK and we did a little book launch party in one of the rooms which meant we all stayed up way too late and I’m fighting a losing battle with the hotel Internet. So, in lieu of a real blog post please go read the folks on the side bar and I’ll attempt to get a real blog up and a final report on the con up when I get home.
Posted from my iPhone,
I have a ‘requirement for one good meal a trip… And was joined by 7 other North Texas Troublemakers! Many thanks to Tom B for the intro to Angus Barn out by the airport. Great steaks!!!
Half of the crew-
Good times, old friends, new friends, and readers! And panels… Three down yesterday, and three more today!
And many thanks to those who have spent that hard on Shekels on my little novella nothing but time. For the second day in a row it has stayed at one new release in short stories so thank you very much I really appreciate it, and I appreciate the excellent reviews it’s received so far.
We’re at FantaSci through Sunday! We’ll be in the bar as usual… LOL
My schedule for panels! Note- These panels don’t get video, so I won’t be able to post them for later viewing. Sorry! The full FantaSci site is HERE!
| Jim Curtis | Friday | 1-2pm | Azalea | The other 98% of the Military | |
| 2-3pm | Azalea | Cross-Discipline Collaboration | Moderator | ||
| 8-9pm | Camellia | Military Strategy | |||
| Saturday | 11am-12pm | Azalea | Assassins | Moderator | |
| 4-5pm | Azalea | Weapons And What They Do | |||
| 9-10pm | Camellia | No $*~!,There I Was… |
It should be fun!!!
It will be good to catch up with friends, readers, and make some new friends! If you’re in the area, drop by and look us up! As I said, the NTTM group will be in the bar! LOL
I put a little 20000 word novella up on Amazon yesterday! It’s a generic MilSF novella, not tied to Rimworld or any ‘specific’ universe.
Click the cover for the Amazon link!
The blurb-
Old habits die hard.
Life at the Frog Pond Bar was usually quiet, aside from a few Marine versus SEAL fights. Its owner, Hal Gleason, referred to it as the best way for him to slowly go broke in retirement.
But trouble doesn’t just happen on deployment, and when the wife of an active duty SEAL comes to him after some toughs try to kidnap her daughter, he starts getting the team back together again.
The more he digs, the more he finds that the kidnapping attempt was just the tip of a star-spanning criminal cartel. They have untold money, guns, and drugs… and Hal has old age, treachery, connections, and more than a few tricks up his sleeve.
They shouldn’t have disturbed the still waters…
I’ll be out of pocket for a few days, off to FantaSci in Raleigh Durham, NC. Regular blogging will resume Monday.