Mid Week Reading

BostonMaggie recently returned from a routine physical where test results indicated something wasn't quite right. Further testing has produced a preliminary diagnosis of Multiple Myeloma. I have been part of building and working in internet communities dating back to 1990, or as we say before DNS.

My favorite part about blogging is neither the content nor the discussions, rather the people I get to meet and interact with, and Maggie has been a genuine friend. The Navy blogging community is a small group, and for this newbie blogger BostonMaggie is the angel on the shoulder always giving smart advice and quiet guidance, and she accepted our title as the goddess of the Naval Blogging Strike Force and still runs with it today. Maggie has a special trip she does not intend to miss that begins in about 10 days, a trip we expect to discuss on the blog as it is relevant to our discussions. Treatment will begin after that. Maggie we love you, you are in our prayers.

Over at OP-FOR, Townie 76 lays into the Air Force. We would normally not highlight an assessment like this, regardless of whether we agree or disagree, but service cultures and leadership are two issues very much part of our discussions over the last few weeks. Townie 76 concludes his discussion by making a good case for the leadership in the Navy, specifically in how the Navy has 'gone to war' while the sea is at peace. This subject has been something on our mind lately, although the topic may not be covered on the blog for several weeks.

Speaking of the Air Force, this is a very interesting idea.

Information Dissemination friend David Axe, who we will be trying to raise money for soon in our support of independent journalists who cover the Navy and how the Navy executes the Maritime Strategy, has a great article up on Wired Magazines Danger Room regarding the development of the Iraqi Navy. David participated in this bloggers roundtable, one I regret being unable to attend. The full transcript of the roundtable is here.

We think this story is interesting. For the record, this is the best official Navy website in existence, and it isn't close. Whoever is behind that website should be high on the promotion list, because that person is doing a fantastic job. If it was up to us, we would put that person in charge of marketing the Maritime Strategy to the American people. The way we see it, they already sell submarines better than anyone else today, and that isn't easy to do. The Navy is looking for the next Mahan to talk to America, but they should be looking for whoever the web nerd is operating that site who appears to understands how to leverage the internet as a message medium. They get that over at RDML Michael J. Connor's place. Amazing how The Sub Report promotes that place more than the Navy does.

What you think nerd is an insult? As a nerd myself let me define the term. Geeks have quarks of personality and do jobs centric to science, math and or technology. Those jobs can often be sexy, for example a geek might an astronaut, or might design some really interesting product. A nerd is a geek without the "sexy" job, but a similar job that isn't interesting enough to talk about on a hot date.