Weekend Reading

Here are a few suggested links that I've run across this week in case you'd like to inform yourself of some interesting topics.

The New Yorker published a fascinating piece about the struggle going on within al Qaida itself about terrorism. I'll admit, I'm only a short way into it since I received the link earlier today. (Hat tip to NitWit in St. Paul for that.) You should print this one out and nibble at it this weekend. Click here.

Charles Krauthammer chimes in with some sensible thoughts in the whole environmental debate about carbon footprints and offsets and other items. Click here to read "Confessions of a Global Warming Agnostic."

"Got Airlift?" The new geographical command AFRICOM, which I mentioned here, continues its rush to be operational by 1 October. AFRICOM will need heavy amounts of airlift capability as it takes some of CENTCOM's and EUCOM's areas of responsibility, which John T. Bennett writes about here.

Speaking of airlift, Northrup Grumman continues its aggressive public relations campaign after winning the competition for billions to manufacture the Air Force's new tanker, the K-45. The new plane will replace the aging KC-135s, some of which are 50 years old. Boeing won the original contract with their KC-767. But an annoying Senator investigated the rampant corruption, cheating, and bribes that gave Boeing the deal. Senator McCain's actions probably resulted in a cancellation of Boeing's win and required a new competition. I don't think McCain would win Seattle & Washington State anyway, but I'm sure he'll try and avoid going near there for fear of a disgruntled Boeing employee somewhere... Click here to see Northrup Grumman's PR website.

And, for something lighter, try Google Maps new "Street View" function here. Just look at the map and find the "Street View" button and follow the directions. As you play with the capabilities, you will be amazed.

And finally, I'm going to try and get another look at a shuttle launch Wednesday afternoon (about 4pm CT). A couple of us may drive over to Melbourne, Fla. to see the spectacle. Cheers!

I'll be in touch this weekend. HF1

Friday Update & Some Background

Greetings folks. Two days in and it's comfortable being back on the job here in Tampastan. My office, lodging location, and coworkers are about 95% unchanged from 2007. I have to knock out some required inprocessing classes Mon-Wed and then it's really back to work.

Florida has really been dry. If you haven't seen the news, it's been over 30 days since some areas have seen any precip. The authorities arrested a suspect in the case of those terrible fires ravaging the Space Coast. Tampa is also very dry, with the locals doing rain dances to stretch our 30% chance of rain into greater odds. Speaking of odd and dancing, perhaps we could snag John Travolta to do the rain dancing. He'll be across the bay in St. Petersburg visiting Scientology world headquarters sometime soon. What would Olivia think?

For anyone interested in what's going on in my Centcom worldview, here are some solid links of authors and news stories that cover this often tense part of the world.

Start with Centcom (U.S. Central Command's) website. It's greatly improved over 2007. Take some time to look through the tabs about the mission, the humanitarian work, and the geography.

There are a few articles about the temporary commander, Lt. Gen. Martin Dempsey and his recent trip to the region. I've been fortunate to sit in on some of his staff update meetings. Like many general officers, he's got a 200 terabyte mind and a good relationship with his people.

Gen. Dempsey is in command until Gen. David Petraeus takes over late this summer or early fall.

AFRICOM, or Africa Command, is the U.S. Government's new plan to merge military and diplomatic resources by fall 2008 to quietly help African nations train their people to resist Islamic militant terrorism spreading into Africa. Here is AFRICOM's official site. Here is a short article by reporter Robert Kaplan of The Atlantic magazine that overviews the new organization. There's a lot of work to do, but it's going to happen.

Well, I have to get back to work on a short paper for my course through American Military University. Take care! HF1