Happy New Year, from the Donuts

I feel free to speak on behalf of all the Miserable Donuts (even the complete slackers like the Running Dog and Amiga3000) in wishing all of our readers a Happy New Year.

And now from me:

To CSM Bones and the Inner Prop, an extra toast to my comrades in arms. As CSM Bones chided and reminded me, gently, the other day - we did some amazing things in Afghanistan. And even if my New Orleans experience left me a bit, well, bitter, it was a worthy effort too. So, raise a glass, to ... ourselves!

To The Mighty Quinn and Running Dog, you all had quite a bit to deal with. Better days are here, and you are making them so. A toast to both of you and your families.

To Tempus42, we have to get together for more than a pint or two every 5-6 months. We have no excuses. Er, harrowing experiences with the Soul Crushing Corporation aside...

TO Amiga 3000, we have been trying to get ahold of you for New Year's Eve. Like we used to do for many years - I have champagne and good food available. Heh.

More MINES in the winter wonderland

Pakistan will add more mines to the mix by laying them along parts of their border. What is a few more thousand P-1 and P-2s among friends. Keep Halo Trust busy. Central Afghanistan had 6 inches of snow giving all the Christians a White Christmas at Bagram and Kabul compound.

News of Afghanistan ٣٥

A bit early, but here it is nonetheless:

Oh, this should be be fun.

UN? We'll count that as a "no"

Afghanistan? Another "no"

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, 28 Dec 2006

This is no surprise.

I am not sure I understand one of the three choices... And I don't mean Syria or Sudan.

Uh, if express a little skepticism, is that OK?

photo: PeopleDaily Photo

Better than things were, they still have a looooooong way to go.

Another windy movie star...how do you say "shut up and act" in Hindi?

Yet here is a reason to like India.

Every little bit helps.

A kind gesture - a better one would be to cut off the flow of money to the radicals in Pakistan.

I always try to keep up with Zarar, God bless 'im.

Shirt of Mongolia

I was getting ready to put one of my Christmas gifts (a long sleeve shirt by VanHeusen) into the wash, when I saw the tag.... "Made in Mongolia". Hmmm. Hadn't seen that before. I have seen clothing made in the US, China, Mexico, other various and sundry Asian and Latin American places, even Madagascar. Mongolia? Nope.

Looked at the company website, and sure enough - a "source" dot in Mongolia.

My only experience with Mongolia (besides the shirt, that is) was the team of Mongolian Army soldiers that were at Bagram AF to help the Afghans with demining and training on artillery. I suppose if any country has a long time military tradition, it would be Mongolia, heh heh.

An interesting place, if you care to learn a bit about it, start with this.

Ethiopia steps into the arena

Darn that Muslihoon, he went and made me think, as he often does. Ethiopia (see also), has decided that enough is enough, and pushed her army (and her airforce sorties) into Somalia.

And it isn't just Ethiopia that is worried - The African Union is backing Ethiopia [see statement, in French, here]. It seems that Islamist conquest isn't something many African governments want to see.

I am able to honestly plead ignorance as to what our involvement is, if any, in this push. I have no experience with, or sources in the JTF Horn of Africa [CENTCOM maintained site here]. Djibouti borders both Somali and Ethiopia. Draw your own conclusions...

COL Bay is keeping an eye on this situation too. Logistics will be extra important to this campaign. These folks are fighting over some ground that has absolutely no infrastructure or resources.

And now for my $.02... Ethiopia has our tacit support, probably in more, uh, material terms too. Ethiopia really didn't need that much goading, either. She lost her coastline when Eritrea split away, and she isn't about to watch an Islamist Somali state try to gnaw the Ogaden off of her too. It surely figured into Ethiopian calculations that her own population is almost half Muslim as well. Radicalization of half your people might just prompt you to send a few soldiers and planes out on a mission or two...

Gift wrapped for the Devil

Early gift for us and the incredible people of Afghanistan. Taliban leader is sent to his Fate, he was also close to our old friends with the HIG.
Good riddance
Merry Christmas and Happy Eid

Happy Holidays to all everybody....

Be safe everyone and continue mission as always. Here is a blast from the past. This will bring back memories to all who grew up with WGN in Chicago watching BOZO, Garfield Goose, Ray Rayner etc. Enjoy!

Old Bones still coming to the surface...Where is the Wehrmacht?

Poli Charki will always be an evil place. It would be nice to at least find half of the millions who vanished in some kind of grave. You cannot leave the side of he road without stumbling upon UXOs or a shallow grave. A few grave areas of Russian dead are said to be on and around Bagram. When ever we broke ground for construction on Bagram I would get calls about more Human remains found.

Looks like the Germans are hangin' out with the French to much. They are worried about the safety of support personnel for Tornadoes they may send to fly Recon missions. WTF? Has NATO in the West been totaly deballed? I think we may want to talk to the Poles or others in the old East Block.

News of Afghanistan ٣٤

I have Christmas shopping to do, and kids to play with, so let's get rolling!

If you are in as big a hurry as I am, try this.

Politician targeted.

Remember, it's Pravda, so take this with a grain of salt...a big grain of salt.

"Who, us? Never!"

photo: NATO file/WO2 Fiona Stapley

A helping hand - thanks folks!

I hate to keep picking on the French, but if they are so "elite" why are they scooting?

A reminder of how bad things were back in the Communist Era.

photo: U.S. Army by Sgt. 1st Class Dexter D. Clouden

"Darn you, Pakistan!" So says Karzai.

Um, if you are ever near Pleasanton or Antioch. Please stop by one of these two places. Myself, I am partial to this one.

What do those in the Afghan Diaspora owe, if anything?

As always, a great editorial cartoon from e-ariana.com

Tajikstan: "Psssst, wanna buy some power?"

Connectivity gets a boost.

To hear him express contentment is startling to me.

Yea! Someday I may land on it.

Trust me, this patch o' road really needed it.

33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team "Golden Cross"

After a year of reorganization and hard work, Illinois has it's own separate modular Infantry Brigade on-line. Most of the units existed prior to the re-org and some have lineage going past the Civil War to the Blackhawk War where Abe Lincoln fought in the 2-130 Infantry Battalion as a Militia Captain. We share the Patch and history of the 33rd Division which fought in WWI and in the Pacific in WWII. I serve the 1-178 Infantry Battalion which was an historic Black regiment from Bronzeville in Chicago which had to fight alongside the French in WWI because Pershing did not want them. They then fought their way up the boot in Italy in WWII. We fought for old man Daley in Grant Park in 68'.

Spy vs Spy The same old players in the Great Game

Seems the Paki Intel folks just cannot stay out of the Border lands. According to this article Osama is alive in Pakistan and an Afghan Army General is involved.

AJ in the USA

From Left to Right - the Mayor of Charikar, me, Engineer Zarar (then Parwan governor, now Interior Minister) Squadron Leader Matt Radnall, RAF Regiment, and AJ.

Adjmal, or "AJ" as he preferred it, was one of the more skillful intepreters I met in Afghanistan. He helped me out in one of my most uncomfortable situations.
Our Task Force intel officer e-mailed me that AJ had found a sponsor (another officer) and was currently a sophmore in college here in the Midwest! He should go far, as he is a sharp guy. I suppose it doesn't hurt that he is a smooth and charming fellow too.

Go Read Now

Whell, it's done. I posted all I'm gunna post of Guya Principal on Illini 6.

I put up chapters Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. I don't want to post more because I don't want to have it considered a publishing credit (that could be trouble later when I try to get it published by a real publisher who might actually pay me).

It is the comedy book that I wrote during the thirty days of November 2006. It's a fantasy/Sci Fi about a blob of dark matter that decides gee will take a chip off the old Earth and build ger own world.

Go, Read, Comment, Have fun!

If you would like a copy of the whole thing (without editing) just let me know and your email address.

BTW, it's not a parrot, it's a Chilean Sea Bird.

News of Afghanistan ٣٣

Alokozay Tea in hand, I present edition ٣٣ of the News:

Your Daily Briefing

Pakistan says "we are helping"

Oh, really?

Two boys push a wheelbarrow full of water containers in Kabul December 14, 2006. Relief agencies say the amount of street children working for a living in the country is on the rise. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (via e-ariana.com)

An editorial that is correct in what it asks donors to do - but is wrong in almost every particular (they are right about Pakistan being a problem). Note the same old lazy themes; "resurgent Taliban" (unlike when they ran the country, eh?) "opium, yada yada yada". Anyway, read for yourself...

A call for a magic wand to be waved...really, what is it with all the warped thinking going on lately?

So, um, Pakistan.... what about this then?

Task Force Falcon medic Spc. Hannah Campbell draws blood Nov. 20 from an Afghan aviator undergoing a flight physical at the Camp Albert Aid Station, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Photo by Sgt. Stephanie van Geete

But remember, the "resurgent Taliban" are winning. Except that they would talk, if asked, and really want all those darn foreign troops that keep killing them to go away...

If you can follow this, you know more about film than I do...by far.

A Canadian scolding.

© IRIN
A recent rally demanding justice for victims of Afghanistan's decades of conflict

India and the Afghan refugees. And this related post...

Remember, this is what the enemy is all about.

Take this poll, like any other, with a grain of salt.

Coal miner at Pul-e-Khumir (see here for more)

Cha-Ching?! How would you say that in Euro?

This guy sounds like their Attorney General...I hope it works out.

Sports day! Photos here.

RIP Mr. Boyle

Peter Boyle has died. I will remember him for "Young Frankenstein" more than anything else he did...

It really is a Zionist plot!!!!!

There was a conference in Tehran about the denial of the Holocaust and the killing of over 12 million people. This meeting of the minds happened to include many Islamic scholars, the Leader of the free and wonderful country of Iran, and many western old fashioned anti-semites. Ex KKK Grand Pubaw David Duke also made an appearance. Remember this Representative from Louisiana? I love that state, and the fact that they just re-elected Rep. Jefferson " It's not my $90,000 in the freezer!". Anyway, I guess all the stories told to me from my in-laws and from survivors in Skokie are all part of this clever Zionist plot. I remember going to Buchenwald and Dachau as a young soldier, they were just work camps. More clever set design.

Terrorists Go for the Heart(land)

Dateline -- Rockford, IL

Due to the dilligence of some hard-working feds, a bone fide, Islamic, fundamentalist, terrorist, whack-job was captured before he could follow through on his plot to plant four hand-grendades in garbage cans at Cherryvale Mall in Rockford, IL (the ancestral homeland of several miserable donuts). The liberal media's coverage can be found here.




Locally, Rockfordian's are pretty rattled. Such events usually only beset big-city folk. Nonetheless, Rockford has increased it's local Homeland Security Threat Level to RED - severe risk of terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, anti-Rockford sentiments in the Middle East are on the rise, as a sock monkey, Rockford's symbol of community pride, was burned in effigy.

Local residents have begun to stockpile potable water, install metal detectors at the grocery store and pay closer attention to suspicious people, especially muslims, hindus, asians, mexicans, eastern Europeans and, of course, the Irish.


Public spaces in Rockford deemed to be 'high-value' targets have been closed off, including Rockford's art beacon to the world, the beloved Symbol.

To date the federal agents aren't saying anything about the would-be terrorist, but stay tuned as long-moribund Miserable Donut MightyQuinn becomes your Special Correspondent from terrror-torn Rockford, Illinois.

Operation Mag-Neato...beyond the HMMWV

Iowahawk updates the latest from Operation Mag-Neato

Remember, all your spare unusual/weird fridge magnets go to:

Dr. Lee
PSYOP
FOB Brassfield-Mora
APO AE 09349

Freaking out bad guys, one magnet covered vehicle at a time.

Jogged Memory

When I saw this it jogged my memory a bit. Finally, I remembered Anecdote #243 [Frank Wilkerson] of the Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes:

On one of those six Cold Harbour days, when my battery was in action, I saw a party of horsemen riding towards us from the left. I smiled as the absurdity of men riding along a battle-line for pleasure filled my sense of the ridiculous; but as I looked I saw that the party consisted of a civilian under escort. The party passed close behind our guns, and in passing the civilian exposed a large placard, which was fastened to his back, and which bore the words, 'Libeller of the Press'. We all agreed that he had been guilty of some dreadful deed, and were pleased to see him ride the battle line. He was howled at, and the wish to tear him limb from limb and strew him over the ground was fiercely expressed. This man escaped death from the shot and shells and bullets that filled the air. I afterwards met him in Washington, and he told me that he was a newspaper war correspondent, and that his offence was in writing , as he thought, truthfully, to his journal, that General Meade advised General Grant to retreat to the north of the Rapidan after the battle of the Wilderness.

[a footnote reads; the correspondent was Edward Crapsey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. General Meade later claimed that his punishment delighted the army 'for the race of newspaper correspondents is universally despised by the soldiers'.]

Please stay safe, and God Bless Mr. Roggio.

News of Afghanistan ٣٢

Day off from work(and a mug of Alokjozay Tea, thanks to the World's Greatest Military Contractor™, Haji-o-matic) = a happy Major John, and an earlier edition of the News!

Afghan Proverbs. I actually heard the first one listed more than one time!

Suicide bomber - once again the innocent suffer. Bastards.

The British are squabbling.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri talks with President Hamid Karzai during a meeting in Kabul, Dec. 7, 2006. Kasuri arrived Thursday in neighboring Afghanistan for talks on border security amid acrimony over alleged infiltration by Taliban militants causing havoc in the war-wracked nation's south and east, officials said. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

And the last thing that remained in the box that Pandora opened was "Hope".

Open the dictionary to "commitment", and possibly "art", and you'll see these people.

I don't know why, but the phrase "Unlike here..." leaps to mind.

Clear the Salang? See above for a 2005 effort. [Warning - naughty words are said...]

AG Abdul Jabbar Sabit continues to kick corrupt butt.

As I have harped on repeatedly, Afghan ties to Iran are deep – people don’t want to wait to be able to travel there…

Hey, I saw how these A$$holes lived - mistreated my a$$.

Aw, nuts.

Chamber of Commerce types, look here.

Learn your Dari and Pashto alphabet right here.

Refugee returns?

But how many registered?

Bah. Tell me when something comes of it, huh?

General Afghan info - right here.

Findings in Blackwater Aviation crash out of Bagram

A CASA 212 aircraft disappeared from Bagram on the way west to Shindand in Nov 2004. Without accurate flight plans it took costly hours to even realize the flight was lost. It was located by a predator UAV. The crew was lost and a young specialist who survived the crash died waiting for rescue. 25th ID lost its Cavalry Squadron Commander (TF Sabre) which was operating in the west. Pilot error and an overloaded aircraft met its end in a high pass in the Hindu Kush. It was a mess, I remember the somber atmosphere at the small morgue at the south end of the air field. In another way we were connected to Blackwater, SSG Teague who served with the 213th ASG who we took over for was one of the contractors who was killed and hung from that bridge in Fallujah in April of 2004.

CENTCOM and Blogger cooperation

Some bloggers (milbloggers in particular) had a bit of a beef about DoD and CENTCOM cooperation with bloggers. When I opened my e-mail this evening, I saw this:

Credit where credit is due...CENTCOM is trying harder.

I Warned Ya!

I warned ya, and now they've gone and done it. That scary transfat has been declared an outlaw in Gotham! I guess the ape was the lesser of two evils.

I just hope that now that the Big Apple has outlawed transfats they don't try it here at the Hog Butcher of the World!

Don't these lawmakers have anything better to do?

Go to Illini6 to read my latest book excerpts and learn about surfing on Mars!

The most wonderful time of year

Because of Christmas, the celebration of the birth of the Savior? Well, sure. But in the insurance industry it is a wonderful time of year, as my boss put it, "because the Premium Fairy comes around in the 4th quarter."

Come little premium payments! Make Zurich super-profitable!

Dear Ratko, I haven't forgotten you.

Noted human crap-sack, "General" Ratko Mladic is still 'at large'. It has been 9 years since I was in your neck of the woods...but I haven't forgotten what an appalling beast you were.

Remember your "handiwork"? I do.

Sarajevo - former parking lot of Zetra Ice Arena, the old Olympic venue.

Oh, and your "civilian" pal, Radovan Karadzic... you'll get yours someday too, pal.

Donut Rising

I am trying to move the Donut of Misery from the bottom of the page to the top - if I can only get the thing to not be so, uh...dominant.