Patrick Shrier

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Spaceplanes

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In addition to being a historian and political junkie I am also a Space nut. I was hugely disappointed to see the shuttle program shut down with its replacement being cancelled because we plan to rely on the private sector. I do plan on buying SpaceX stock if they ever have an IPO though. I ran across the below infographic on Space.com and decided to pass it along because I think the whole spaceplane concept is intriguing. Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Book Review: A Rising Thunder by David Weber

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This is the latest installment in the Honor Harrington series of books that Davd Weber first started publishing in the 1990s with On Basilisk Station.  He is now on book Thirteen in the main series with another ten books based in the same universe that enlarge the main story-line.  Eventually I will get around to rereading them al and reviewing them.  The books in order are: On Basilisk Station The Honor of the Queen The Short Victorious War Field of Dishonor Flag in Exile Honor Among Enemies In Enemy Hands Echoes of Honor Ashes of Victory War of Honor At All Costs Mission of Honor A Rising Thunder The other ten … More after the Jump…

Surgery Update

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OK, this a quick update because I can only type with my left hand. The surgery went well yesterday and now i am sitting around learning that i am definitely not left-handed.  the drain gets removed today and i should find out how long until i can use both arms again.  i will guess 2-3 weeks.  i have some book reviews i will put up in the meantime but nothing substantive.  i have big one about the Marian reforms of the roman army that will get [posted once i can really type again and get it finished.

Posting Hiatus

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I will have shoulder surgery today and will probably not be doing a lot of typing for at least the next two weeks when I will have to be in a sling.  Unfortunately, it is my right shoulder getting operated on and I am right handed.  I am very curious to see how well I operate a mouse left handed.  I will still be checking and approving comments but there will not be any new posts until my shoulder heals up enough for me two type with two hands.

Book Review: Military or civilians? The curious anomaly of the German Women’s Auxiliary Services during the Second World War by Alison Morton

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[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] I was contacted by Ms. Morton about reading and reviewing her book: Military or civilians? The curious anomaly of the German Women’s Auxiliary Services during the Second World War and jumped at the opportunity as the subject matter of the book, German Woman serving with the Wehrmacht is one that has been virtually ignored in English scholarship as she rightly points out in her introduction and demonstrates by including the text of an email she received from the director of the Imperial War Museum in which he demonstrates total ignorance about any female auxiliaries used … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Carnifex by Tom Kratman

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This is the second installment in the Legio del Cid series of books. It is another hit out of the ballpark my Mr Kratman for fans of combat SF. Carnifex continues the story of the Legio del Cid and it’s ruthless commander Patrick Hennessy nee Carrerra in his battle to see the murderers of his wife and children brought to justice. The story line is developed more and does not rely as much on pure combat to move the story along. The part I like the best is the tale of the UN Peace Fleet’s intervention in the war and the cynical, self-serving logic behind their intervention. The UN realizes … More after the Jump…

The Grave of Richard Wagner

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I recently visited the grave of Richard Wagner behind the Wagner Museum in Bayreuth, Germany and thought I would share the photos I took while there.  The grave itself is not very remarkable and the only way you know it is is his is because there are signs pointing to it.  There is no marking on the grave itself saying it is where Wagner and his wife are buried.  There is an outstanding site with a wealth of information on the composer at the Richard Wagner Archive.   The gravestone for the dog says Here rests and guards Wagner’s Russ.  Russ was the name of his dog.  

The Tyranny of the Good Intentioned

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“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” ― C.S. Lewis

 

I could not say it any better myself.  Lord, deliver us from those that think they know better than we do.

Honey or Salt?

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There is an old adage that “you can catch more flies with honey than with salt.” The truth of that adage is being put to the test daily in Afghanistan and being to shown to be false under certain circumstances at least. ISAF is not winning currently, but they are not exactly losing either. At best from what I read, see, and hear ISAF is fighting a delaying action against the inevitable fall of the central government and rise of whatever Islamic extremist group bubbles up out of the morass of internal Afghan politics. I can almost guarantee it won´t be the Taliban, but probably someone very much like them. … More after the Jump…

Book Review: Kirov by John Schettler

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[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the author. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own] Kirov by John Schettler is the Philadelphia Experiment in reverse.  It is the tale of a Russian cruiser that through some anomaly that is never fully explains finds itself catapulted eighty years backwards in time from 2021 to 1941 to just weeks prior to the meeting of Roosevelt and Churchill at Argentia Bay in Newfoundland.   The cruiser in the novel is the resurrected, upograde, and fully modernized guided missile cruiser Kirov that currently exists in the Russian Navy today.  Of course the cruiser used in the book is a fictionalized version but … More after the Jump…

Some Videos from Iraq in 2004

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I figured I would embed both of the videos I took in Iraq in 2004 on the site.   I have included brief captions below each video.   plus, I took them all personally, none of them are graphic and I don’t have and would not post any pictures of dead bodies.   The videos are pretty bad quality because the camera I had in Iraq was a very basic 3 megapixel POS. I will give it one thing though, it made it through the deployment where expensive cameras did not. Tripod, one of the coolest dogs I ever met is below.   How you can be so happy with only three legs I do not know, but his tail literally never stopped moving.

Tripod outside the Mess Hall on our FOB in Sep 2004.


The controlled detonation of an IED we found in the Ad-Dawr police Chief’s office in Dec 2004


Controlled detonation of an IED on the main road road through town 22 Nov 04

I have a whole bunch of pictures I took while deployed and if I get some interest I will post more with better descriptions.

Book Review: The Anabasis by Xenophon

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I read part of this work in High School over twenty years ago and decided a few weeks ago to finish reading it. Now that I am done, I wonder why I waited so long. The book was written by Xenophon, and ancient Greek soldier and general, in the late 4th Century BC. Xenophon’s account in The Anabasis is one of the first true (in several senses of the word) adventure stories to be transmitted from antiquity. There is as much adventure here as will be found in any modern day work of fiction. One of the things that makes this book so great is that as I was reading … More after the Jump…

Tactical Aspects of Battle: A Discussion

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There is a very interesting pair of essays in the Baen free non-fiction compendium for 2011. The essence of these two pieces is the geo-strategic position of the United States in the early 21st Century and what the American prospects for maintaining global dominance are. This piece is not necessarily about geopolitics but it did get me thinking about another idea I have been tossing around in my head for the past few years, and that is tactics. Specifically tactics and the way their use affects the course of battles both classical and contemporary. Too often, tactical considerations are given short shrift in accounts of battle. For example, it is … More after the Jump…

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