Joe's Back with a Good Rant on the GI Bill

Long ago silenced by his superiors for having a milblog that was deemed too risque (although brutally honest), Joe joins us again with some great criticism on VA healthcare and the GI Bill backlog, which seems to be a recurring theme with vets heading off to college.

Change of Venue

I'll be over blogging at This Ain't Hell for the weekend, so come on by and shoot your mouth off, in case you have nothing else going on for a holiday weekend.

No Balls Washington Times Neglects To Mention "The Sniper" Was at Milblog Conference

Why Was the Media Not Interviewing This Guy

I made it to the last milblog conference, but couldn't make it to this one due to a prior engagement. I hear some nice folks were there, and KY Woman, Tankerbabe, and the USO gals have a decent recap. The conference even got media attention from the Washington Times (h/t JP):

They are passionate, committed and courageous. They work long hours without much hope of fame or fortune. They believe in their cause and are united by a strong urge to serve the troops. These are the military bloggers who attended the 2009 milblog conference at the Westin Arlington Gateway hotel Friday and Saturday.

Many milbloggers are former or current members of the armed forces; others are spouses and parents who are familiar with the issues and want the rest of America to understand their concerns. They come from all walks of life. Yet they share a camaraderie that is instant and infectious: If you are present, you immediately feel welcome.

Thanks for the puff piece, ma'am, but those goons in the MSM missed the most important blogger there: The Sniper. Overlooking the beloved, drunken lout who brings offensive military humor to the masses is a slap in the face to offensive bloggers everywhere (a sub-genre I'm working up to). This injustice will not stand. Oh, and they thought TSO was Paul Rieckhoff. But that's just funny.

Mark Penn's Weird Article About an Alternate Universe Where Bloggers Are Filthy Rich!

Livin' the Blog Life: Big Pimpin', Bling Blingin' And Shit

Hillary Campaign knucklehead Mark Penn has an extremely erroneous article today in his MicroTrends WSJ article about how easy it is for bloggers to make 6 figures. The entire premise for the claim that >100K visitors/month equals $75K/year is based on a pretty shoddy looking Technorati survey taken in 2008 (the website that has a vested financial interest in more people blogging and using it's services). The "median" is actually 22K/year for those over 100K hits/month (which is right about at the poverty line), and most bloggers I've met have made very little if they try to monetize their product. McArdle, Gateway Pundit, and Gawker all called bullshit, and Mark Penn had to issue a correction the same day. From WSJ by way of Wonkette:

As far as the $75,000, the Technorati report says that of those bloggers who had 100,000 or more unique visitors, the average income is $75,000. True, it's not the median, but it is the average. We can quibble about how easy it is to make this kind of money -- but the point is, the huge potential is there.

Yeah, the "huge potential" was there for pets.com too. The fact is that blogs are a hobby for most people, and we shouldn't delude ourselves with promises of benjamins growing off sitemeter and trackbacks. So, sneaking in a post that's been running around your head while your boss' back is turned at your crappy "real job" is still the way to go. It's probably for the best that blogs (at least the political ones) remain an unprofessional rabble, as it gives it that "townhall" feel where you can get pissed off at Washington instead of having to deal with your own personal life.

For the people that think that they got what it takes to make money bloggin', check out Tough Girl 101 who helps put her way through college . Or you can go jump the shark and start posting nastiness about all your old friends like Charles Johnson. That always boosts the traffic!

Bonejob: Suspect Gets Stop-Lossed

Even though SECDEF Gates said the DoD was trying to curb the controversial Stop-Loss program, it seems angry infantryman and raunchy milblogger, The Usual Suspect, has gotten the proverbial bone. His writing was always very interesting, as he was much more concerned with exposing the bullshit and madness of Iraq than showing photos of himself smiling with Iraqi kids like some hometown press release. I can only imagine what his blogging is going to be like now, but it's gonna be good. But sorry, Suspect, that kind of blows for you, man.

His new blog is here: Stop Loss and a Wake-Up.

Nixon Out-of-Office Reply

The Horror...The Horror (uh, I Hope Not actually)

I'll be in Southeast Asia interviewing for a job at a non-profit for the next two weeks, and hopefully it goes well. Sounds like a good opportunity, and now's not the best time to be looking for a job in America considering I'd probably just get laid off 6 months later. Anyhoo, I'll have internet access where I'm staying, but I probably won't have time to do much blogging. So please peruse the archives or some of the links on the sidebar (they're all pretty good!). I'll post some pics as they become available. Thanks!

They Won't Have Nixon to Kick Around Anymore!

Me After One Day as a "Civilian"

Considering my political leanings, it would be a "convenient truth" if I were getting out of the Navy because of Obama's inauguration, but I made this decision long ago in about 2006 while on my second deployment somewhere underwater in the Pacific. I'm grateful there's people that stay in and go on to become senior officers, but it's not for me. I don't hate the Navy or anything, and I hope people out there consider serving in the Armed Forces or consider making the military a career. The best way to describe it is kind of like the Zipper ride at the state fair: Lots of ups and downs, you vomit up corn dogs, some angry carney yells at ya, glad to see it in the rear view mirror, but you're happy you did it. Tomorrow is where I get to hear the two sweetest words in the English language: "Honorable Discharge".

America Goes On - A Short Story

Finally got the short story I was working on done (with some editing help from Sisu). It's about an ex-marine driving from California to NYC in sort of a negative American dream type tone. I got the idea after seeing some Marines coming through Kuwait back in June 2007. I vowed to get it done within the month I got back from Iraq, but better late than never. It's about 30 pages single-spaced 12 pt, but it's broken up into chapters using the blogger format with embedded tunes! Figured it'd be a more interesting and convenient format than just pdf-in' the thing and emailing it around. Hope you enjoy it. Links are always appreciated!

Read it right here.

Should We Write the Epitaph on Lefty Blogs?

Provocative Liberal Photoshopping Maybe Be Out of Vogue

The reason I gave up any other semblance of a hobby to blog the weekday nights away is because it's enjoyable to see regular people gripe about everything from politics to the decline of American porn industry. Indeed, we live in some interesting times, and lurking in RSS feeds and writing a few posts now and then forces someone to at least be somewhat aware of what the fuck is going on. I attempt to not just read sites I'm probably going to agree with (Hot Air, Mudville, etc.), but venture into liberal land to get some perspective.

My fundamental political beliefs come from the fact that I believe politicians (and tyrants) will attempt to subvert the public consciousness with false rhetoric. I also believe that patriotism is important for a cosmopolitan nation like America to prevent internal strife based on factional rivalries and that mankind has "natural rights". From there I take a pragmatic approach and end up in the libertarian-conservative camp somehow, but that doesn't mean I hate liberals or anything. I grew up in a liberal city (Ann Arbor) and have spent most of life in liberal states (California, Hawaii, Washington, etc.), so categorically hating lefties would mean I'd have to board up all my windows and live on a diet of canned goods. Sometimes their ideas really piss me off, particularly when they pull stunts like using dead soldiers to get a political point across, but that hatred is probably necessary in a modern democracy.

So I was pretty bummed out when some of the big liberal blogs read like a press release from the Obama camp today. Whatever happened to eternal vigilance?!? Anyways, many of the big lefties were plugging the new Whitehouse.Gov site about two seconds after it went live in some diabolic, orchestrated plot. Daily Kos, Yglesias, and Sullivan were a few of the culprits. Crooks and Liars actually had this to say:

The entire Whitehouse.gov website has been renovated to reflect our new President, Barack Obama. It is a thing of beauty and nearly brought tears to my eyes - again.

Shit, this ain't North Korea, feel free to criticize once in awhile. And the only thing that should make you cry on the internet is 2 Girls, 1 Cup, only because available women shouldn't do such hideous acts. These sycophantic blegs are really advancing the cult of personality that The Obama somehow transcends criticism. He even tried to squash any muckraking during his inaugural speech [Reason]:

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them—that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply."

Scared yet? But, at least Spencer Ackerman and David Weigel are explaining why they laughed at Wheelchair'd Cheney and booed Bush. And Wonkette had some funny pics of tourists leaving trash all over the place in DC. Maybe cynicism and snark aren't totally crushed yet, but give it a few months...

Naval Milblogger Goes Down After One Week

It Was Fun While it Lasted

The submarine JO blog Don't Call Me Sir has been taken down after only a week. No idea why. I plugged it a few days ago after hearing about it at The Stupid Shall Be Punished. The Navy has the following rules on blogs [SECNAVINST 5720.47B, pg 8]:

There is also no prohibition on blogs operated by individual members as private citizens. The DON recognizes the value of this communication channel in posting current information and supporting the morale of personnel, their family and friends. As long as personnel adhere to specific restrictions on content, the DON encourages the use of blogs and recognizes this free flow of information contributes to legitimate transparency of the DON to the American public whom we serve.

Not sure what the reason was for Spinnaker deep-sixing his blog, but it's very possible that his XO wanted his musings to be a private affair. This Naval instruction does not necessarily prevent the command from doing what they see necessary. If you think military members have some inherent "right" to blog, well you've probably never been in the military.

While deployed in Iraq and A-stan, you have to inform your chain-of-command if you choose to blog, but it's not required elsewhere (run down of the rules are here). I recommend using a handle, not referring to your ship or unit specifically, and not talking about it with your buddies/co-workers. Best not to make waves. I've never had a problem with this issue like some other bloggers have, and please contact me if you're military and have any questions about this [ltnixonrants (at) gmail].

All The Rage That's Fit to Print

To not scare off the 71% of people that support Obama, I generally get my anti-messiah rage on over at the other blog. Drop by if you like to read (or leave menacing comments) about the inauguration being interrupted by sham-wow commercials, Brownshirts 2.0, and other brickbats.

Also, a new blog from a sub Junior Officer (my old community) has started up called Don't Call Me Sir, which I have high hopes for. There's some pretty solid blogging from senior officers about strategic Naval policy out there already. This is more to revel in the mountains of work controls paperwork, re-live 6 hours of standing watch in a box, and learn about what it's like to have your skin flake off while underway. Fun for the whole fam! I fear he might be subjugated by the "hoo-yah brigade" to write more "upbeat" musings about the submarine force, but I stand by the policy that if you're not pissing off someone with your blog, you're fucking up.

Breitbart's Big Hollywood: Where You Been All My Life

If for some strange reason you enjoy reading this humble blog, then you're probably as obsessed with movies, politics, and jokes in poor taste as I am. That's why Andrew Breitbart's new project "Big Hollywood" is an interesting new internet hangout for a blogosphere that is being rapidly taken over by pointy-headed think-tank nerds from DC.

The site got launched today, and it's already got one of my favorite celebrities, Greg Gutfeld, discussing in his usual satire how Pink Floyd incited an anti-communist revolution with The Wall. It is also has a lengthy rant against liberalism from actor Gary Graham. Who is this Graham you ask yourself? Oh, he was just in a little-known movie called Robot Jox, quite possibly the greatest movie evah!

Anyways, here's what he had to say:

I don’t want to get along with the Left. I want to take them down. I want to expose their idiocy for what it is and reveal it as a harmful, dangerous succession of lies and deceptions. My friends say that that effort, aside from being fruitless, will cost me work. It will cost me my career. And I say Wait-a-minute, Bucko. Those folks who founded this country were willing to risk not only their careers, but their property, their families, their very lives…the least I can do in standing up for our precious freedoms is risk a silly television career. Not to compare myself with the brilliant thinkers who declared themselves independent of England and framed our Constitution…but those were some pretty pissed off dudes too. Compared to that, loss of a little TV or movie work seems pretty inconsequential. So in honor of Pissed Off Americans past and present, I rant.

Not very subtle, but it's a nice change of pace from the usual anti-American rabble you hear from Hollywood snobs. Consider me in the tank for the Big H!

Typealyzer Makes Blogging Even More Megalomaniacal

To hell with politics, wit, and intellectual discussion, blogging is primarily for the purpose of elevating your delusional visions of self-celebrity to compensate for shortcomings in your dreary "real life". That's why it's great to see a web tool like Typealyzer, which analyzes the "personality of your blog". LT Nixon Rants and The Obacalypse are both considered "The Mechanics", which is defined as:

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

I prefer to write ill-informed commentary about current events, so I guess that's where I get that label. It's truly an honor, since "The Mechanix" was Metallica's little known precursor to "The Four Horsemen", which is one of the greatest metal songs of all time (listen below):

Conversely, smarter people's blogs like VetVoice and This Ain't Hell are characterized as "The Thinkers". As for my internet chums at The Sniper, they get slapped with "The Doers" personality type which entails:

The active and playful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

I dunno, sounds a little "fruity" if you ask me. When do they start singing showtunes? Anyways, what blog type are youse guys and gals?

The Coveted LT Nixon Blog Endorsements

1st-Prize Blogs for 2008

Not since Queen Victoria blessed off panteloons for her subjects has an endorsement been so important. So without further adieu, here's who I'm voting for in the much-anticipated 2008 Weblog awards:

Best Blog: Hot Air - No one has a better grasp of the day-to-day issues that AllahPundit and Ed Morrissey. It's news and commentary from a conservative point of view, but not the crazy kind talking about Obama's birth certificate and "feriegners" taking our jobs. It's sharp, insightful, and they usually tap out lengthy posts right when news break across the wire. Not sure how they do it, but you almost have a "we're not worthy" moment whenver you see these guys in action. Hope they keep up the good work.

Best Liberal Blog: Wonkette - As far as I know, they are two kinds of liberals. Urban hipsters who watch the Daily Show and are moderate in most cases, and aging hippies wearing berets still talking about impeaching Bush and thinking that the overall tenets of socialism weren't that bad. Wonkette is the cool, snarky commentary, and many of the other blogs on the list probably want to put me on trial for the war crime of serving in Iraq and eating meat. Wonkette, FTW!

Best Conservative Blog: The Next Right - In case you haven't noticed, the Republican party and the overall conservative movement is in serious trouble. This blog is trying to fix all that...not an easy endeavor.

Best Milblog: The War on Big Tobacco - A tough category since all the nominations are pretty decent. This Ain't Hell is one of my favorite reads, but I consider it more of a "conservative blog" than specifically "military". SGT BT is out in Iraq and he has a pretty sharp sense of humor, whether he's talking about boning chicks or his chain of command being dumbasses. A very consistent narrative on the "awesomeness" of being deployed (lemme tell ya from personal experience, it totally rocks!), and it's an enjoyable read.

Auld Lang Syne

Amazing, civilization made it another year! Now turn off the computer, poindexter, and get your party on.

Last Week of 2008

New Year's, the greatest holiday of all, is upon us. That means more boozing and more reminiscing on what a lousy year 2008 has been. Later this week we'll be rolling out the Terl awards to celebrate the worst of the worst in '08. In the meantime, don't forget to partaayy.

Haloscan Purged

Sorry, I had to kill the haloscan comments due to significant problems many readers were having. I apologize if your comments were deleted.

New Milblogs To Conquer the Internet

You've probably noticed that even though I'm a Navy dude, this blog isn't strictly about maritime affairs. As a matter of fact, it probably reads like a drunken 17-year old's MySpace page, but it's the only format I know. But fear not! The new blog at the US Naval Institute is like a who's who of the heavies, including Chap, CDR Salamander, Eagle1, Galrahn, and even the Coast Guard Commandant. The only person I didn't see was Yankee Sailor, but he's an XO now so he's probably too damn busy or something.

Check it out...right here!

Also, David M found a new one called Sorority Soldier. It's like Legally Blonde in Baghdad, I dig it.

She takes on the tough issue of sexual assault of women in the military and lightens things up with tales from her training. Good stuff!

Be a Cool Kid, Follow This Blog

There's strength in numbers, and it's a rough world out there, so follow this blog and prevent yourself from getting shanked by the mean people out there in the blogosphere. Technically, I'm not really sure what "following" does, except the blogs show up in your blogger profile. But I added a widget on the sidebar so your avatar will be forever associated with this wretched cesspool. Cheers!

Getting Tagged

Army Wife Toddler Mom tagged me in one of those blog loopdy-loops. Not gonna be a pariah after almost getting beat up for being slow on supporting VALOUR-IT, so here goes. I'm supposed to write a couple sentences on page 56 from my nearest book. It happens to be Paul Rieckhoff's Chasing Ghosts. From pg. 56:

Walls were collapsed and missing; the windows were all blasted. The looters had stolen anything of value before U.S. forces had arrived. The locals knew where the money was. The ministry building was one of the tallest in the city, and the stairs seemed to last forever...