Around the Web in 60 Seconds. Or however long it takes to read this...

First up, I got a little free publicity with my Podcast Interview at The Kindle Chronicles, where I talk about everything I'm reading on my Amazon Kindle electronic book reader. I can't even count the number of times I've been stopped and asked about my Kindle in the past week--it's been that popular a Christmas present (in fact, it's sold out until February). The only problem I had was when I had to hitch a ride back in another battalion's UH-60 Black Hawk a few days ago--it's so light that I can't read it while sitting behind the crew chief's door for fear of it blowing away (there would go a hard-earned $350).

Next, Small Wars Journal linked to an interesting article on Counterinsurgency Warfare in the Phillipines, a forgotten counterinsurgency that's been going on for some time.   

SWJ also brought up a book that I might pick up called "In a Time of War:  The Proud and Perilous Journey of the West Point Class of 2002" (Hey!  It's in Kindle format!)  I'm not a West Pointer, but I graduated from ROTC in 2002, and that year group represents a fascinating turning point in the development of our Army, so much so that I noticed a marked difference between captains from the 2001 year group and the 2002 year group.  I will probably turn this into a full-blown article one day, but the Army's graduating class of 2002 (regardless of where they graduated from) was the first year group that effectively joined an Army at war.  

The class of 2002 was trained by an Army which was still doctrinally determined to fight massive battles against fixed militaries, and believed that the solution to victory on the battlefield was more robust, high-tech equipment (e.g., the RAH-66 Comanche).  When the class of 2002 graduated from their service schools and deployed to fight counterinsurgencies, they noticed a massive disconnect between what they were taught in their schooling and their actual combat experience.  They were further confused when, after one or two deployments, they went to their respective captains' career courses, which focused mainly on--once again--fighting massive fixed battles against large armies, as if the schools hadn't changed a bit in the last six years.  Clearly, I'm not the only person that's had this experience (page 3 in particular).  

And finally, I'd always heard rumors that, in the late '80s, George Lucas was considering a Star Wars Broadway Musical, due to the fact that he thought he'd tapped out the Star Wars franchise.  Most of us look back on this event and thank God that Timothy Zahn published a series of novels that started pulling in revenue for Lucasfilm, thus cancelling this project.  Well, with the Star Wars movies finished, it's time for George Lucas to officially destroy our childhoods (as if Jar Jar Binks weren't bad enough) with the official Star Wars Musical.