Bad News From BAF

These type of attacks happened several times while I was at Bagram - we never had fatalities, although we did have wounded.

Damn.

Father's Day

Hurray for Dads everywhere (and everywhen):

As seen on Army Knowledge Online

Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, intercept illegal timber as it is smuggled through the Narang Valley in Afghanistan's Konar province. Donkeys are the primary way that timber smugglers are able to export the timber without detection over the rough terrain of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. (Photo by Courtesy photo ).

When I saw this, all I could think was "those poor donkeys..."

Reminded me of one I saw in Charikar in late 2004:

Your Business-Speak Example of the Day III

"The D&RM launch was supported by the *********** philosophy,
the ******* approach which defines enhanced processes to promote greater
consistency and streamline distributor interactions. The now flourishing
organization started out as – and remains focused on being -- the sales force to
execute business strategies utilizing this underlying philosophy. "

The "philosophy" and company names have been redacted to save them shame (and me trouble).

Translation: We told our sales people to do things a certain way. We make sure that they do what we told them to do.

Queen of the Blues Has Left the Building

Koko Taylor died yesterday at 80. I didn't know her work well enough, and in truth (I'm ashamed to admit it as a Chicagoan) I only started appreciating Blues a few years ago. I guess you do have to live before you can sing the Blues.

Well, I will be making a trip to the library today and get some of her albums in tribute.