Holidays

The one consistent annoyance about working on a holiday is dealing with the rest of the world , since they aren't.

The wheel of history...

It really bothers me when I watch a news program, or even talk to someone, and they propose a position on something ("Get rid of the department of education!") without giving any argument or supporting facts or references. This has led me to always try to do so in my own writing. The problem with this is that it makes writing harder and takes up more time, and this often contributes to me never finishing a certain piece. It also tends to suck the enjoyment out of writing. One of the most enjoyable things about writing for me (especially when writing fiction, which I have also gotten out of the habit of,) is the ability I have to control all elements, and to say what I like as I see fit. Want the sky to be green? Done. Want to write as though Russia went to war with China in 2013? Fine.

All of which is getting around to me saying this: While I like to be rigorous in my writings, especially when making arguments, I'm tired of it getting in the way of actually finishing. So, sometimes I'm going to make statements with no backup whatsoever.

Regarding China: As the 20th century was the story of the United States, so the 21st century will be the story of China. Fifty years from now, when historians are writing books, they will point to the war in Iraq as the last gasp of American foreign policy as a superpower.

I have a friend who mentioned she was taking Chinese. She said when she told people about this, she invariably got one of two responses. One: "Oh really? Why?" Two: "Wow, good for you, I need to do that too."

Body of Lies

Eh, thumbs down. No particularly inspiring writing, and since I didn't really care that much about the characters played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, it was kind of hard to care what happened to them.

It was interesting to see some UAV stuff (which they didn't screw up as badly as other movies). However, it was downright retarded to see them talking classified information back and forth over not just unsecured phones, but out in the open in front of their families, or on the streets of a foreign nation. I've never been a spy, so I can't tell you if that's how they do business, but I can say I'd never be allowed to do such things in the military. And we never handle classified material in a room with windows, much less the glass boxes they spent much large parts of the movie in.

Thanksgiving

I won't be home for Thanksgiving this year, and that's annoying for the following reason (besides the obvious): I had a really good thing to be thankful for this year.

Last year, I was thankful for the Internet. That isn't sarcasm, and it isn't meant to be shallow either. I didn't have something specific in mind when we started talking about our things to be grateful for, but I started on the fact that I was able to stay in touch with friends and family throughout all my travels, and that the Internet was a big part of that.

This year, I am grateful for the fact that the presidential race was not as bloody (metaphorically) as it could have been. Since really becoming aware of politics in college, it has seemed as though the level of discourse in the nation has dropped off, and that the most radical elements of both parties were gaining hold, increasingly creating a rift between groups of citizens (and often doing so over incredibly small issues, things that are beginning to affect smaller and smaller parts of the population, that are taking precedence over much larger issues).

In a time of such divisiveness, it would be easy to unleash the hounds, and really play to the baser human instincts, but this didn't happen. Both candidates fought for what they thought was right, and did so without true viciousness, and I truly feel that the way they both chose to campaign has bettered the country. I had conversation via email with a friend recently regarding the candidates, and I said of McCain, "There are few people in Washington I have as much respect for as John McCain; he has sacrificed more than most people can imagine. I think his true colors have shown lately in his rallies where he has been defending Obama to McCain supporters..."

John McCain had to pause in the middle of a rally, and tell to his own supporters, people (right or wrong) full of anger and fear, that they had no need to be fearful of or angry at Barack Obama.
This was a terrible political move. But it was the correct moral thing to do, and truly was good for our country, and I again reaffirm my respect for McCain's character and leadership. Sadly, his choice will be seen by lesser men both as weakness and as a failed political choice. No one remembers Cincinnatus or Scipio Africanus, but it was men such as these who made Rome great, in their willingness to set aside their own power for the benefit of the nation.

So I am thankful for John McCain and Barack Obama, and the choices they made. It is easy to find politics gone badly wrong. Look to Zimbabwe, or Myanmar, where the "bloody" is not metaphoric. Or try this one out for a change, for myself and others my age: ask your parents about American politics in the 1960s and 70s. They were there, and it was much worse in America then than now. I think of the way I have felt watching our government in action over the last several years, and I think I have only a small inkling of what it was like in the 60s, and none whatsoever of things like Myanmar, and I am thankful.

Kudos

Welcome to the kudos list: people or events getting a thumbs up.

Craig Ferguson

Counterinsurgency

I don't have time to go into the details, unfortunately, so here's the big picture: It isn't a guerrilla or terrorist attack that brings down a nation. It is that nation's overreaction to it. This is a well established principle of counterinsurgency warfare, and it's the reason Al-Qaeda would like to see John McCain elected president.

Time article

Promotion rates for USAF officers

Another email I got recently. I'm not sure where the formatting comes from, but I have gotten messages in this format (all caps, spacing, date+time formats) my whole career. Perhaps it comes from the old teletype message days. I'm also not certain on all the vocabulary and acronyms used. There must be a massive dictionary of such things in the basement of the Pentagon, or somewhere.

~~~

252100Z SEP 08

FROM: HQ AFPC RANDOLPH AFB TX//DPS//

TO: AL 8106

AL ALPERSCOM

AL 10607

SUBJ: DAY 66 - CY08D COL (CHAP), CY08C LTC (CHAP/LAF-J) & MAJ (LAF/LAF-J) PRF ALLOCATION DATE

1. 26 SEP 08 IS DAY 66 FOR THE SUBJECT CENTRAL SELECTION BOARDS. THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE PROVIDES DP ALLOCATION RATES FOR ALL COMPETITIVE CATEGORIES. ALSO INCLUDED ARE THE NUMBER OF AGGREGATE AND CARRY-OVER DP RECOMMENDATIONS AVAILABLE FOR AWARD BY THE AF NON-LINE MLR, BEING HELD 21 OCT 08 AT HQ AFPC.

2. THE DP ALLOCATION RATES FOR THIS BOARD ARE AS FOLLOWS:

GRADE COMP PROM IPZ DP BPZ DP

CAT OPP RATE RATE

COL CHAP 40% 10% 10%

LT COL CHAP 75% 50% 10%

LT COL LAF-J 85% 45% 10%

MAJ LAF 95% 75% N/A

MAJ LAF-J 95% 75% N/A

NOTE: REMEMBER THAT PROMOTION OPPORTUNITY FOR THE MC/DC TO MAJOR AND LT COL I/APZ IS 100% AND PRFS ARE NOT REQUIRED. EXCEPTIONS: SENIOR RATERS WILL PREPARE PRFS ON ALL OFFICERS WHO RECEIVE A "DO NOT PROMOTE" (DNP) RECOMMENDATION AND ON ALL OFFICERS WHO RECEIVE A "PROMOTE" (P) RECOMMENDATION, BUT HAVE DEROGATORY INFORMATION (ARTICLE 15, COURT-MARTIAL, REFERRAL REPORT, LOR, ETC.) FILED IN THEIR OFFICER SELECTION RECORD (OSR).

3. AGGREGATE AND CARRY-OVER DP RECOMMENDATIONS AVAILABLE FOR THE AF NON-LINE MLR (21 OCT 08) ARE:

AGGREGATE CARRY-OVER

GRADE COMP CAT DPS AVAIL DPS AVAIL

COLONEL CHAP 1 N/A

LT COL CHAP 4 1

LT COL LAF-J 2 4

MAJ LAF-J 6 3

4. MANAGEMENT LEVELS (MLS) WHICH CAN AGGREGATE (I.E., DO NOT HAVE THE MINIMUM GROUP SIZE TO AWARD A DP RECOMMENDATION) OFFICERS TO THE AF NON-LINE MLR MAY SUBMIT A NUMBER OF OFFICERS EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF DPS AVAILABLE THROUGH AGGREGATION AND CARRY-OVER. EXAMPLE: THE MAJ LAF-J CATEGORY HAS 6 DPS IN AGGREGATION AND 3 DPS IN CARRY-OVER; THEREFORE, MLS THAT AGGREGATE CAN SUBMIT UP TO 9 I/APZ OFFICERS TO THE AF NON-LINE MLR.

5. MLS WHICH DO NOT AGGREGATE (THAT IS, THEY DO HAVE THE MINIMUM GROUP SIZE TO AWARD A DP RECOMMENDATION) MAY ONLY SUBMIT OFFICERS TO COMPETE FOR CARRY-OVER DPS AVAILABLE. USING THE ABOVE EXAMPLE AGAIN, SINCE THE MAJ LAF-J CATEGORY HAS 3 DPS AVAILABLE IN CARRY-OVER, THE MLS MAY SUBMIT UP TO 3 I/APZ OFFICERS TO COMPETE.

6. PLEASE REMIND SENIOR RATERS THAT AFI 36-2406, OFFICER AND ENLISTED EVALUATION SYSTEMS, PROHIBITS UNDERLINING, CAPITALIZING, ETC., TO MERELY EMPHASIZE COMMENTS (E.G., CAPITALIZING "DEFINITELY PROMOTE" ON SECTION IV). SENIOR RATERS ARE PROHIBITED FROM MENTIONING PREVIOUS PRF RATINGS, FAMILY ACTIVITIES, AND OTHER ITEMS INCLUDED IN PARA 3.7. ADDITIONALLY, COMMENTS ON SELECTION STATUS ON THE SCHOOLS LIST, SELECTION FOR, COMPLETION OF, OR ENROLLMENT IN DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION OR ADVANCE ACADEMIC EDUCATION ARE PROHIBITED (EXCEPTION: THOSE OFFICERS WHO HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED TO ATTEND SCHOOL ARE AUTHORIZED TO HAVE COMMENTS "ON THE WAY TO IDE/SDE" OR "FOLLOWING SDE MAKE HIM MSG/CC" ON THE PRF/OPR THAT CLOSES OUT JUST PRIOR TO DEPARTURE PER MPFM 07-45.) FURTHERMORE MPFM 07-45 STATES NO MENTION OF SPECIFC SCHOOLS ARE AUTHORIZED ON ANY EVALUATION, ONLY "BDE, IDE OR SDE" MAY BE USED FOR DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION. PRFS NOT IN COMPLIANCE SHOULD BE RETURNED TO SENIOR RATERS FOR CORRECTION. IT REMAINS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THE SENIOR RATERS YOU SUPPORT KNOW THE RULES.

7. MANAGEMENT LEVELS SHOULD GIVE SPECIFIC ATTENTION TO THE "GROUP SIZE" BLOCK ON ALL PRFS TO ENSURE ACCURACY. THE GUIDELINES IN DETERMINING GROUP SIZE CAN BE FOUND IN AFI 36-2406, TABLE 8.2.

8. SINCE AFPROMS (FORMALLY PRISM) WILL BE USED TO BUILD THE FILES ON CANDIDATES MEETING THE AF NON-LINE MLR, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT MLS UPDATE THE APPROPRIATE CODES INTO AFPROMS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THEIR MLRS HAVE ADJOURNED. MLS MUST ENTER A PRF RATING OF "A" FOR AGGREGATE CANDIDATES AND "C" FOR CARRY-OVER CANDIDATES IN AFPROMS. AS A REMINDER, PRFS PREPARED ON OFFICERS WHO WILL BE SUBMITTED FOR AGGREGATION OR CARRY-OVER SHOULD NOT BE MARKED IN SECTION IX, OVERALL RECOMMENDATION. FORWARD ONLY AGG/C-O PRFS TO HQ AFPC/DPSIDEB, 550 C STREET WEST, SUITE 7, RANDOLPH AFB TX 78150-4709, TO ARRIVE NLT 28 OCT 08. ALL OTHER PRFS WILL BE FORWARDED TO AFPC/PBSE NLT 2 NOV 08.

9. POC FOR THIS MESSAGE IS AFPC/DPSIDEB, DSN 665-2697/2753 (COMM 210 565-2697/2753), FAX DSN 665-2326 (COMM 210 565-2326). E-MAIL ADDRESS IS: AFPC.MLR@RANDOLPH AF.MIL

//SIGNED//

DIRECTOR, PERSONNEL SERVICES

~~~

published 26 oct 08