(no subject)

[coldblossom.livejournal.com]

U.S. Soldier Walks Off U.S base in Afghanistan, Kills Afghan Civilians.

According to a government representative for southern Afghanistan and a member of the delegation that went to investigate the incident, a U.S. service member stationed at a U.S. base in the southern Kandahar province walked off the base around 3 a.m. local time and walked into three homes and started shooting. He then returned to his base where he was arrested.

[...]

Reports are conflicting as to the number dead as Afghan villagers showed to press photographers bodies covered in blankets as well as burned. Nine children and three women are said to be among the dead. It was unclear how or why the bodies were burned.

As horrible as this is, I am not completely shocked that it has happened. I am getting the impression that the soldiers over there have hit rock-bottom in their morale. They don't believe the Commander in Chief or lately even the American public support them anymore. The issue with the Koran burning and the subsequent murders of U.S. soldiers and other personnel by their Afghan "allies" certainly did not help, and President Obama offering apologies for the "offense" caused by the accidental burning of compromised Korans (note that no lives were in danger here) while demanding nothing--not an apology and certainly not accountability--from the Afghans when they started killing our men in retaliation probably only cements the feelings of abandonment.

Of course this soldier's motives are completely unknown to the public at this time. He may have acted in retaliation or he may just be mentally unhinged. For the Afghans, this incident will likely push them over the top and I am concerned that it will become open-season on our soldiers and contractors stationed there and, due to our incredibly restrictive ROE, they will not be able to adequately protect themselves despite having the benefit of superior arms, armor, and tactical intelligence.

Sarah Palin: The Undefeated (2011)

[dreadfulpenny00.livejournal.com]

Sarah Palin: The Undefeated (2011)
Written and directed by Stephen Bannon
With appearances by Andrew Breitbart, Tammy Bruce, Mark Levin, Tom Irwin, and more
Narrated by Sarah Palin (using audio from her book Going Rogue)



( From here, I can see November )

Suggestions for conservative reading?

[mosellegreen.livejournal.com]

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine emailed me asking if I knew of, or if indeed there exists such as thing as, contemporary conservative fiction. She'd searched a lot and couldn't find any; the only books she could find that fit were classics, which is all very well but sometimes she wants to read modern works. For context, this friend is more of a cultural/social conservative than a political one.

I immediately wrote back with some suggestions and also bought a copy of S.M. Stirling's Conquistador for her Kindle. (I highly recommend it. It's a parallel universe story. In the 40's a WWII veteran figures out how to get into a parallel universe where Europeans never discovered the Americas, and he and some of his friends create their own society/empire there, one which is in many ways a 1950's time capsule, with a few touches from even further back.)

It just occurred to me that you guys could probably come up with more recs for her, and I would like to have more as well. So if anyone can make some good suggestions of conservative leaning contemporary fiction, she and I would like to hear them!

Here are my recs to her, for anyone who needs more reading material:

First, a few years ago I made a brief excursion into chick lit and discovered quite a few conservative authors in the genre. MaryJanice Davidson is a conservative, and her "Undead and ____" series features a conservative heroine. Julie Kenner wrote a few as well, good books that seem to have had the chick-lit elements kind of tacked on to ensure publication. In The Diva's Guide to Selling Your Soul by Kathleen O'Reilly, the heroine works for the devil and thus has certain magic powers - of course, she reforms over the course of the book. At one point, for reasons I forget, she induces a miscarriage on a woman, and later feels guilty for having killed a baby. Not for having basically performed an unwanted abortion; she feels guilty for killing a baby.

Here's an obvious one: Russell Kirk. Yes, he wrote fiction.

Jeffrey Archer is a bestselling British author (I really liked his first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less) and a Tory.

The mysteries by Emma Lathen. OK, they're a few decades old, but still.

As for scifi, that's easy: Baen Books. I suppose not all of what they publish is conservative, but most of it is. Military SF in general is conservative. A few SF authors to look for: John C. Wright, John Ringo, Larry Niven, Orson Scott Card, L. Jagi Lamplighter, John Scalzi.

I haven't read the historical novels of Catherine Delors, but I used to read her blog and I think she's conservative.