Month: October 2011

Book Review: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

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I figured this was an appropriate topic for a book review I am posting on Halloween.  Happy Halloween to all my readers Bloggers who would like more time to celebrate or read the following book can find time by letting Article Writing Services write for them. Image from: http://www.yourcommentcodes.com/funny-halloween-2.html I was not sure if I was going to like this book at first, I somewhat expected it to be like the vampire garbage that has gotten so popular in the last few years (yes, I mean Twilight). To my surprise, Max Brooks has written an outstanding book, I could not put it down until I finished it. The tale is … More after the Jump…

The Decline and Fall of the United States?

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There has been much talk and discussion both in editorials and on various internet forums about the pending decline of the supposed US “empire” or the USA itself. I was thinking about this on the way back from dropping my wife off at work this morning and the more I think about it, the more I think it could only possibly happen if America lets it happen. The USA is not comparable to the UK prior to their fall from Great Power status post WWII. The disparity between the size of the two nations both physical and in population is too great for their to really be a valid comparison. … More after the Jump…

Saint John of Nepomuk in Prague

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I went to Prague last weekend with my family and took the opportunity to walk across the Charles Bridge where St. John of Nepomuk was martyred. There are two shrines to St. John on the bridge and both are crowded.   I took some photos while I was there and they are blow with description sin the captions.   It was interesting to walk across the Charles Bridge because it is full of statuary and shrines along its entire 520m length.   Man are difficult to interpret and the inscriptions are so worn that it is difficult to make out what they say.   Well, the pictures are below.   … More after the Jump…

The Combat of the Thirty

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Here is an interesting episode that occurred in March, 1351 during the Hundred Years War.   It occurred during the Hundred Years War but was only really a peripheral part of it.   The combat occurred between the French garrison of Josselin Castle and the English garrison of Ploërmel Castle Brittany, part of modern day France. It was instigated because the English were not abiding by the terms a truce that had been made locally. The challenge to combat was issued by the French commander Jean de Beaumanoir to Robert Bramborough. On 26 or 27 March, 1351 the challengers met each other midway between the two castles with 29 retainers … More after the Jump…

Endorsing Herman Cain

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This piece by Charles Kradlec is one of the most ringing well written endorsements of Herman Cain I have seen.   It is well worth reading your self.   The conclusion of the piece says it all: When we vote for an individual to be president, it is an act of trust.   I choose Herman Cain because his policies would lead to a more prosperous, more secure America and a more just society. I trust Herman Cain to be president because he trusts liberty and the American people to move America forward to the great nation it aspires be. I could not agree more.   I heartily hope and … More after the Jump…

Oompa Loompa in My Garden

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As my wife and I were harvesting the carrots from our garden yesterday we pulled up an Oompa Loompa. I am wondering if I should use this as my profile picture. The Oompa Loompa Song This is just a picture of my dog enjoying a beef rib bone

Book Review: What Distant Deeps by David Drake

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This is the eighth book in the RCN series by David Drake and it continues the story of the adventures of Daniel Leary, an extremely competent and lucky starship captain in the Republic of Cinnabar Navy. This book finds CAPT Leary escorting a Cinnabar Commissioner to a world allied with the alliance of Free Stars shortly after the end of the recent war between the Alliance and Cinnabar. Once he gets there he discovers a plot that could drag the two exhausted star nations back into war and with the able assistance of his crew sets about to derail it. Along the way there is plenty of intrigue and adventure. … More after the Jump…

Book Review: The Age of Total War: 1860-1945 by Jeremy Black

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The notion that a book is “thought-provoking” is often thrown out there for works of non-fiction, and of those that are described as such that I have read most very seldom are.   This book is different, Dr. Black has written not so much a history as a treatise challenging historians, particularly military historians, to reexamine the history of conflict in the examined period with the idea of total war uppermost in their minds.   It seems a counter-intuitive thing to do at first, but he provides plenty of examples of why the wars under consideration were not total or were only partially total at best.   This includes World … More after the Jump…

Photo Essay – Langenbruck Cemetery – Rose Barracks, Vilseck Germany

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There is an old German cemetery on Rose Barracks that I have driven past hundreds of times and never stopped to look at. I finally did today and was surprised. I thought it was a military cemetery like the POW cemetery in Grafenwohr but it is not. It is a village cemetery from one of the villages that was moved when the training area was established in the early 20th century. There are several other abandoned villages on Grafenwohr Training Area, most of them are inside the impact area and off limits, there is one other in the maneuver area that still has the shell of a church and has been a reference point that anyone who has ever trained at Graf knows about. Ask anyone who trained at Graf about the Hofenohe Church and they have probably walked through the ruins.

The Cemetery on Rose Barracks is for the village of LangenBruck. As the information panel states, the village dates back to 905. Someone visits the cemetery as there were candles on several of the graves and some of the graves have what looks to be fairly new headstones on them.

I will post the photos below with short explanatory captions.   The photos are compressed due to their large size but if anyone wants the original photos email me and I will be happy to send you a copy of the originals.

Information panel at entrance to the cemetery.

There are more photos below the fold.

More after the Jump…