Asymmetric Military

Wouldn't that make private insurance more expensive for everybody? It seems pretty simple to me: War injuries are in service to the country. The country pays for their treatment.

Here

In the letter, the groups said they have been told by sources on Capitol Hill and at the VA that the idea under consideration would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to bill health insurance for a treatment of a disability or injury that was a result of military service.

The argument for the proposal is that it frees up money for the VA by charging the private insurers, allowing the VA to spend on more services, said Joe Violante, legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, who opposes the idea. While there could be savings, Violante warned it also could lead to an increase in premiums for veterans with private coverage.

I went to Camp Pendleton Marine base this weekend with my reserve unit for weapons qualification. I shot my Beretta M9 pretty well, with about thirty of the forty 9mm rounds they gave me finding their target.

I called my commander, "Mission accomplished, sir."

"Go back on the 11:30 bus."

I must have been playing on my Blackberry because I missed the bus. I'm glad I did.

I went over to the supply truck, sat in the front seat, and started reading Watchmen. I read the part where the protagonist in the comic within, Tales of the Black Freighter, straps his dead comrades onto a raft and heads out to sea. Hunger forces him to lure seagulls close to his raft, catch them, and eat them.

I love my fellow soldiers: The diversity of experience is genuinely fascinating and the general level of honor amongst them is very high. I went to the back of the truck for a cola. I say "cola" because the sergeant only buys generic colas- Sam's Club, etc. We teased her about it. I made up a story about her being traumatized by a Coca Cola accident as a kid. She turned to me with her thick Vietnamese accent, which is relevant because in Watchmen's alternative 1985, Dr. Manhattan wins the Vietnamese war (something we could have done without a naked super dude, by the way) for the United States after being asked to intervene by Richard Nixon. Author Alan Moore suggests that an actual American victory in Vietnam would have been a bad thing.

She tells me, "That's a good story" (it wasn't, really).

Then, after being prompted by somebody else, she started telling me how she escaped from Vietnam:

In 1976, because of her father's association with C.I.A. and the general horror inflicted upon South Vietnam by the North- re-education camps, confiscation, execution- she fled from Vietnam on a raft. Everybody had to stand on the tiny hand-made freedom square as there was no room to lie down. When hunger set in, people died. The survivors sliced off pieces of those who weren't and ate them.

The survivors eventually landed in Malaysia and burned the raft. The Malaysian authorities found them and separated the men from the women. The policemen stripped the men and boys of their clothes and beat them with fish skeletons. The Malaysians asked the survivors if they worked with pigs (Malaysia is a Muslim country). The raft survivors quickly learned to say "no" after the authorities punished those who had.

The Vietnamese refugees contacted the American embassy and arrived in the United States a few weeks later. That little girl is now serving our country in the military.

Her uncle wasn't so lucky. The North Vietnamese captured and placed him in a prison where they fed him tablespoons of soup a day. Twenty-five years later, he reunited with his faithful wife. The sergeant said that her aunt was afraid of him for years after because he'd get up at night and "go crazy."

By the end of the sergeant's short story, I had alternately felt gratitude, pride, and humility, although for brief moments I may have felt all at the same time.

Anyways, isn't it funny how the most unrelated things tie together?

Who says that Barack Obama's bad for business:

NEW YORK - The election of President Obama and a Democratically controlled Congress has been a boon to U.S. handgun makers, with sales of one pistol manufacturer climbing enough that an analyst Wednesday upgraded its stock to "Strong Buy" from "Accumulate."

CL King & Assoc. analyst Jim Barrett upgraded shares of Sturm, Ruger & Co. after the Southport, Conn.-based company reported its firearm revenue soared 81 percent in the fourth quarter.

"We are raising our rating, recognizing that sales are benefiting from what is clearly a one-time surge in gun sales due to the arrival of the new Democratic administration," Barrett said.

Since President Obama's Nov. 3, 2008, election, Sturm's shares have climbed more than 20 percent. And shares of rival Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., based in Springfield, Mass., have shot up about 40 percent.

Why would people buy guns at this time? How about the prospect of social unrest (S/T corner):

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The beginning of my blog coincided with the purchase of a Springfield Arms 1911 Loaded, and that 1911 had the honor, therefore, of being the subject of my first post. Well, the 1911 is no more, traded in for a Ruger GP100 revolver with a four inch barrel. I liked the 1911 except for the fact that one batch of re-manufactured ammo gave it fits, but my wife had trouble with the slide so I sought-out an easier-to-use weapon. When I saw a used Lady Smith and Wesson 357 with a three inch barrel, I purchased it immediately. It was the perfect gun for my wife-medium sized and relatively easy to handle (the gun, not my wife). "This is so much easier. Why would anybody want the other kind?" she asked after comparing the two guns.

"Well," I began to explain and then I couldn't think of anything to say, "I don't know."

At first I thought about keeping the 1911 for myself, but I felt two guns were overkill at the time and I chose, instead, to give it to my father. Alas, my father also had trouble working the slide. I finally decided to sell the 1911 back to the store and purchase my dad a revolver, the GP100 you see below. My father was much happier and he too asked, "Why use an automatic?"

Here's the point of this story: I'm not a super-expert on guns, but I've come to the conclusion that in almost every instance, it's better to have a revolver than an automatic. Here's my take:

1. Revolvers are easier to use. An automatic pistol needs to be loaded and cocked before use. You just pick up a revolver and squeeze the trigger. To an experienced user, an automatic isn't a big deal, but as I pointed out above, for some, that one action causes great frustration.

2. Ammunition use and storage is easier with revolvers. If you keep the rounds in an automatic's clip for a great length of time, the clip's spring begins to deteriorate. The clip may also become damaged if you drop it or bang it against something hard. For a revolver, you just keep the rounds in the gun or on a speed loader and you're all set. In addition, it's much easier to slide the bullets into a revolver's wheel than into an automatic's clip.

3. Revolvers are easier to maintain. After practicing with an automatic I don't look forward to taking it apart, wiping it down, lubricating it, and then putting it back together. I'd rather spend that hour doing something else. In contrast, after using a revolver, you usually only have to clean the barrel and grease the moving parts.

4. Revolvers are more reliable. Revolvers have only one sensitive part, the wheel, and as long as that works, you're in good shape. An automatic, on the other hand, can malfunction with certain ammunition even if you do your best to maintain it.

So why do automatics exist? In combat situations, automatics are easier to reload and, because they're thinner, easier to conceal, but I don't anticipate reloading in a self-defense scenario, and I live in California where concealed weapons permits are nearly impossible to get.

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I received the following email:

The site just went up, honoring everyone in the US military all around the
world. Dog tags are sold on it, of which 15% of all proceeds goes to charity
(Soldier's Angels) which helps injured soldiers or families of those that
lost their lives in the military. The tags could be personalized with either
your name or someone you know in the military and would make great gifts
with great respect. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm hoping you can
perhaps add a link or make a minor mention somewhere in your blog about my
friend's site. I think it's a great idea and trying to help where I can.

Of course! No problem. This site is new, but I'm familiar with Soldier's Angels and they're legit, last I heard.

Link here.