Hey, check it out:

“Jungle Walkers,” the story I wrote with Tobias Buckell for the Armored anthology, edited by John Joseph Adams, is featured as a teaser/sample thingy on io9.com. You can read it here. Of course, I’d still love for you to buy the book, as there’s a ton of great stories in there, but if you just can’t wait until next Tuesday, ( Read more... )

So, my friend Matt-who was my best friend in the Marines (and is still a pretty awesome guy)-asked me for my reaction to the news that Marines were seen on video apparently urinating on the corpses of dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

As with all of these types of stories, my initial reaction is the same: What a bunch of dumbasses. Really, I ( Read more... )

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This is a couple months old-two months old today in fact-but I happened upon it the other day in a comment thread about the war in Afghanistan or somesuch:

A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility [PDF]

This reminds me, kind of sideways, of a story I think I’ve told before: we were driving north through the desert of southern Iraq and talking ( Read more... )

Last week, I came to a sudden and startling realization: I subconsciously sabotage virtually any attempt and building routines, and I know why. Somehow, for some reason, I am still rebelling at the Marine Corps, six years after I last put on the uniform. Six years later, and I’m still lashing out at forced and/or group exercise by nuking any ( Read more... )

So, the notion that Pakistan must have known Bin Laden was living among them (in some degree of “palatial comfort”) continues to make the rounds, sparking some serious issues between the US and Pakistan. Since it broke, I’ve been…somewhat puzzled by the certainty a lot of people show. One of my first thoughts in all this, in fact, was that if it ( Read more... )

So, just wanted to register my thoughts quickly on the DADT repeal. Not exactly timely in the internet frame, but hey, I get around to it, as usual.

Primary thought, it’s about damn time. The arguments against (and I know, I made them myself, once upon a time) boil down to, “Some troops might not like it.” And I’m sure that was more true back in ( Read more... )

Day 17 - Favorite mini series

Okay, hands-down no brainer on this one. The only mini-series I’ve ever watched as it happened, the only one I own, and the only one (obviously) I’ll rewatch at the drop of a hat:

Lonesome Dove.

Ha! Just kidding. What I meant to say was Band of Brothers. The series aired on HBO in late 2001, which was a very ( Read more... )

Russian photographer Sergei Larenkov has done a rather interesting thing, taking pictures shot from the same angle as photos shot during WWII and photoshopping in elements of the older photos. Soviet troops marching in Germany, a “victory garden” outside a cathedral, and bomb damage, bomb damage, bomb damage.

The “huh” moment for me came when I ( Read more... )