shesafish

	Friday, March 28, 2003

 Understanding the war: military rank

I really want to understand the news about the war. I care deeply about the men and women from the United States, Britain and other coalition countries sent over there to fight. I care very deeply about the men and women living in Iraq who deserve a better life, a life they are currently unable to live because of their brutal dictator and his regime. Unfortunately, I didn't listen in history class and I have trouble keeping track of who does what in the military and presidential administration in times like this. So I made up this little cheat sheet card to keep track, to start understanding things, to be informed about the facts. I need to form my own opinions before someone has a chance to feed them to me.

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Currently, General Tommy R. Franks is the Commander in Chief, United States Central Command...

During Gulf War I, Colin Powell was as the 12^th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense. (Question: is the Chairman always a former General?)

Also back in Gulf War I, it was Norman Schwarzkopf who had Tommy Franks' current position Commander in Chief, United States Central Command, and Colin Powell was his boss. (Incidentally, Mr. Schwarzkopf questioned the legitimacy of the current war as recently as January)...

Who is the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff?

General Richard B. Meyers.

That guy with the squinty eyes plastered on your tv screen is Donald Rumsfeld the Secretary of Defense. Colin Powell is Secretary of State. (What are the job descriptions of these two cabinet posts?) Hey - I just noticed there is a Secretary of the Army. Is he part of the cabinet? (Yes, I am a little ignorant, I am trying to catch up)

In Gulf War I, Dick Cheney was Secretary of Defense. James Baker had Colin Powell's job as Secretary of State. Who had Dick Cheney's job then? A guy we all remember....

Or we can flip it sideways and look at it like this:

I am getting dizzy...

7:18:57 PM  comment [] |

 So warblogging actually has to do with war?

Since starting this weblog thing last July, I have seen the term 'warblogging' many times. I have yet to find the origin or a current definition. I always thought it had to do with warbling, or werbling, or something (whatever that is). Initially, one would think the term refers to something that involves weblogs and war. But that can't be right, can it? I am starting to get the feeling it is....

6:45:11 PM  comment [] |

 Quick Links on Government's need for Data Synchronization

One chink in the US strategy for the war (not a fatal chink, but one that will grow to become fatal over time if not addressed), is the lack of an infrastructure for deBaathification of Iraq...DeBaathification is much more similar to a police or intelligence problem than a military problem.  It is also very much an information problem, which incidentially plays into our technological strengths. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

If you're watching everybody, you're watching nobody. John Gilmore's written a great post for Farber's Interesting People list analyzing the failings with the universal surveillance proposals of the current regime. Link Discuss [Boing Boing Blog]

1:32:09 PM  comment [] | Topics: databases GoldenGate 

 Quick Links

anacubis™ has integrated the Google Search API and the anacubis™ Viewer to deliver an innovative and powerful new way to explore Google’s 3 billion plus web documents. [via HubLog]

Google.ac is some kind of fake Google site that seems to return nothing but sponsored results. Is it supposed to fool somebody? [MetaFilter]

Jeremy Allaire reports on Esther Dyson's interview with Google's Sergey Brin. [Scripting News]

Google on Indexing Your Hard Drive: Interesting tidbit here from the interview with Sergey Brin. [The FuzzyBlog2: user blogs]

How Google Grows...and Grows...and Grows - Ever wonder about the story behind Google? Why the interface is so elegant in its simplicity, yet so powerful in its operation? This is an interesting read into workings of the little company called Google, which is perhaps the best run technology company today. [Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes]

1:24:29 PM  comment [] | Topics: Google