MILBLOGGIES

Fifth Annual Milbloggies Schedule Unveiled

Last year we got our good buddy from Israel DoubleTapper nominated and awarded Best Foreign Military Blog - I'd like to hear YOUR suggestions which miltary blog STORMBRINGER should promote - foreign or domestic - or go straight to the Milblog Site and get involved all by yourself! - S.L.


April 12, 2011

It’s that time of year again, for the Milbloggies.

This is the fifth year running and this year, things will work a little bit differently. Rather than run the Milbloggies on the Milblogging.com database, the nominations will be handled separately much like the popular Weblog Awards of years past where people left comments saying who they wanted to nominate.

The layout, rules and FAQs, nominations and voting, will all take place over at the Milblog Conference website. The site will have all the information, like if a blog isn’t nominated in the comments, no matter how popular you think it is, it won’t be considered. Of course, spam comments and comments that leave names of blogs that have nothing to do with that category will be deleted.

This year’s awards will be presented by USAA at the 2011 MILblog Conference being held April 29 and 30 in Arlington, VA.

You will not be required to attend the Conference in order to nominate a blog, vote for a blog, or to receive an award if your blog wins in its category.

Voices Heard Media will be handling voting for this year’s Finalists. Finalists in each category will be uploaded to VHM to ensure the best voting platform possible on the web. To learn more about VHM and its Multimedia Contests applications, refer to voicesheardmedia.com.

How it’s going to work:

Wednesday, April 13. Nominations open.

Sunday, April 17. Nominations Close.

Up to 10 Finalists will be selected in each category.

Friday, April 22. Voting Starts.

Thursday, April 28. Finalist voting closes.

Saturday, April 20. Finalists receiving the most votes in their respective category will be designated as the winner for that category. Milbloggie Winners will be announced at the 2011 Official Milblog Conference hel d in Arlington, VA.

In addition to the 2011 Milbloggie winners, USAA will also present a “Fan Favorite Award”.


Dates, times and rules are subject to change.

Stay tuned to the Milblog Conference website for more news and information on the Milbloggies beginning on the evening of April 13.

"You WILL go to the MIlbloggies site and you WILL nominate your favorite Military Blog, do you hear me Private Joker ? ! ? ! ?"


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BATTLE OF AMMUNITION HILL

This is so heroic I HAVE to post it . . . from DoubleTapper . . . via Theo Spark's Last of the Few . . .

Throughout history, the Jewish People has maintained a presence in Jerusalem, ever since King David established the city as his capital nearly 3,000 years ago. Except for a very few periods, when they were forcibly barred from living in the city by foreign conquerors, Jews have always lived in Jerusalem. Throughout millennia, and in the face of conquest, forced exile, violence and discrimination, Jews have maintained their direct link to Jerusalem, returning to live in their city again and again.

Between 1949 and 1967, while Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan, there was an Israeli enclave about a mile to the east of the border, in the Jordanian section. This was Mount Scopus, with the campus of the Hebrew university and Haddassh hospital. There was an agreement whereby every two weeks 200 Israelis would cross Jordanian territory to the enclave, and sit there until the next group replaced them two weeks later.

Throughout the whole period everyone knew that sooner or later the war would resume, and that when that happened Israel would try to reconnect the mountain with the city. To prevent this the Jordanians built a series of fortifications in that mile, and its centerpiece was Ammunition Hill, an apt name borrowed from the days after the British conquered the city in 1917 and General Allenby stored his army's ammunition there.



Map of Battle of Ammunition Hill:



On the night between June 5th and 6th 1967 the IDF paratroopers, backed by a few tanks, made their attack, directly on the Jordanian fortifications. The battle on Ammunition Hill raged from...

Read more on the amazing Battle of Ammunition Hill, and a ballad; on DoubleTapper


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NEW FOR YOUR GLOCK

OK Ladies & Gentlemen enough "fluff" for now, lets get back to the all-important business of Milblogging. We've got some catching up to do; this week in honor of the stand Tiny Israel is taking against the Evil that's out there in this world, I want to post as much good stuff I can find about our only true Ally in the Middle East, and arguably in the world. Today's subject - WEAPONS REVIEW:

From DOUBLETAPPER:




It's called the KPOS Rifle Pistol Platform and it gives your Glock the feeling of a submachinegun:






THIS is COOL - I have GOT to get me some of this for my Glock.


There's even a disclaimer on the Zahal websight that sells this coolness:

"US citizens: If you own a Glock handgun, and you are about to buy this product, your handgun will become a Short-Barreled Rifle. You must register your weapon with ATF."

. . . then they have a link for where you can download the ATF form.





It's been a long, cold lonely winter for Uncle Stormy but as we progress into summer, I intend to get out to the range and start putting my shooting irons through their paces. My project to build the ultimate 1911 is still in it's infancy, but that is also moving to the front burner. Stay tuned for updates on what I'm calling OPERATION SLABSIDES.

Thank you all for your support during this busy time, and a special thank you to my good friend DOUBLETAPPER for turning me on to this cool accessory for my Glock.

LINNANE SENDS



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DOUBLETAPPER is a WINNER ! ! !

2010 Milbloggies Award in the Foreign National Military category


Thank you to all the members of Team STORMBRINGER who took the time to go over to the MILblogger site to register and vote for this worthy soldier from the Land of Israel, DoubleTapper.

On the DoubleTapper site there is a remarkable Letter of Acceptance that was read at the MILblogger Convention on his behalf.

Thanks Again, Team - S.L.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MILBLOGGER

OK I'm up on the MILblogging site . . .

If you go there . . . you gotta register & sign in to vote for DoubleTapper (it takes a minute and it's painless) and BLACKFIVE - they're both nominated for Military Blog of the Year in their categories.

MILblogging is having their convention in Arlington, Virginia this week - if I was in town I'd be there, for sure; Arlington is one of the places I haunt. MILblogging contacted me, told me I'm up on their site - now I need readers like YOU to go there and list me as a favorite, too.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

STORMBRINGER SENDS



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MILBLOGGING DOT COM

Online Voting Started in the Fourth Annual MILbloggies

Israeli milblogger and friend of this site DOUBLETAPPER is right now leading the pack for Foreign National (military) - to vote for him, click on the Milblogging link below and register (it's quick, easy and painless).


DoubleTapper gettin' his bad on with the with the IWI Negev LMG SAW


Milblogging.com is the world's largest index of military blogs - a visitor can find the right milblog that interests them generally in fewer than five clicks. Registration is free, and users can submit military blogs. Milblogging is affiliated with Military.com and is a premier sponsor of the 2010 Milblog Conference, April 9/10 at the Westin Arlington Gateway in Arlington, Virginia.


My journalist counterparts are loathe to admit it, but the blogosphere phenomena is changing the entire news genre. The newspapers are going the way of buggy whips and high-button boots, due to classified ads shifting to the Internet, and consumers of news are becoming jaundiced at the daily dishings-up of the mainly liberal "Mainstream Media". It used to be the Big Three - ABC, NBC, CBS - owned the news and told us what to think; nowadays the Drudge Report and web log ("blog") journals like the ones mentioned above are replacing the evening news talking heads.






Modern journalists are everyday citizens; they are subject matter experts in their respective fields and more often the war correspondents are military men and women themselves. This tradition goes back more than a hundred years; professional soldier Winston Churchill covered the Boer War as a correspondent for The Morning Post (as depicted in the excellent 1972 film Young Winston).







Milblogging is how you can support your favorite warrior scribes out there; the Top 100 Milblogging.com favorites is based on the number of registered users that have added the blog to their favorites. I added Blackfive, DoubleTapper (of course), The Fourth Rail a.k.a The Long War Journal, Iraq the Model, Michael Yon, Mudville Gazette and Neptunuslex to my list of favorites - the rest of the milblogs that I support were not listed, but I will get on to them to "Get on board the team for the Big Win!" (Extra credit if you know what movie that line is from.)


Why is it you don't see STORMBRINGER listed? That's because I registered only just now - put in my vote for Doubletapper - and I'm waiting the approval process; you'll see my site up there soon enough.


UPDATE: It's already be too late to nominate a favorite milblog to the 2010 Milbloggies - that stopped yesterday (Saturday) at midnight - BUT YOU CAN STILL VOTE ! ! !



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IDF OFFICER PUSHES BAR REFAELI BOYCOTT

Major General Avi Zamir of the Israel Defense Forces has called for a boycott of products advertised by 24-year-old Bar Refaeli, sometime-girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio.



. . . as close to a Page 3 Girl you'll ever get on Blog STORMBRINGER . . .



Bar Refaeli is avoiding military service and applying for non-resident status in her native Israel so she can pay less tax.



I had a Sergeant Major - 'Nam Vet, Son Tay Raider - who used to growl, "What have you done for God and Country today?"

Somehow I never felt worthy when he asked me that question . . .S.L.



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NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHER's UZI

As originally seen on DOUBLETAPPER

Take a standard configuration UZI:




Add a Picatinny Rail, Fore Grip, Flashlight, Scope, Drum Magazine, and what do you get?












How about an IDF Custom silencer?














What about full amphibian warfare capabilities?




Not your Grandmother's UZI!

IDF Women Cadet 1970's with IWI UZI SMG



IDF Women have been issued the UZI SMG since it's creation.




These IDF Women are about 69 years old now.
Some of them still like to shoot


Let me know what you think . . . S.L.

DOUBLETAPPER

DOUBLETAPPER is a Friend of STORMBRINGER. He serves in the IDF; I served in Israel 1984-1986 (US Army 82d Airborne, Multinational Force & Observers, Sinai). It was the proudest episode of my career, what a great honor to be an American soldier in the Holy Land.



ISRAEL FACTS
تنسيق-ا

I get lots of emails from readers asking about Israel.

What it's like to live here, Israel's history, the Arab-Israeli conflict, dealing with Islamic terrorists on a daily basis, how it feels to serve as a reserve officer in the IDF, what it's like to live in the only democracy in the Middle East, etc.

I always try to email back with answers and sometimes post the information here.

Here are some undisputed facts about Israel that may help you understand what we deal with.

1. Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C.E. the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 C.E. lasted no more than 22 years.

5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, from 1948 until 1967, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Old Testament, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran, ever.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

10. Since 1948, over 630,000 Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000.

12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.

13. The Arab - Israeli Conflict: The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the self named Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

14. The PLO's Charter, and the PA's constitution still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.

15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

16. Of the 175 UN Security Council resolutions passed before 1990; there were 97 directed against Israel.

17. Of the 690 UN General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.

18. The UN was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.

19. The UN was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

20. The UN was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

Let me know if you have any questions.


Originally posted on DOUBLETAPPER 14 June 2009: