Book Review: Battle of the Lomba 1987

"And then the yelling began"

Another one of those historical events completely ignored in the US was the Angolan Civil War which lasted for nearly 20 yrs.  Roughly it was the Communist MPLA/FAPLA vs the loosely western/SA supported UNITA. Needless to say it is somewhat difficult to get any material on this so anything I find is eagerly picked up.

This is the story of an armored unit from South Africa during 'Operation Modular' of the largest armored battle in Africa since WWII, the Battle of Cuito Cuanevale. 4 Brigades of Soviet, East German, and Cuban supported forces including MiG's, T-55 tanks, APC's, and anti-aircraft vs a battalion of South African Ratel IFV's.

Written by one of the vehicle commanders, David Mannell, this is a 'soldier's point of view' book and not a history of the entire conflict, just his two years of service focused on his units' actions during the Battle of the Lomba river.  Clear, descriptive narration makes this a comfortable and easy read for even those not versed in military jargon.  The regular use of 'Afrikaans' is offset by the English definition next to it in parenthesis.

I really enjoyed this book not only for the history but also for the writing style.  It's hard enough to find information on this area of the world nevermind a book that I actually LIKE to read, not a boring textbook style. 

5/5 stars. 

The Kind Of "Journalist" .@CSGV Supports

So Ladd Everitt and his lily-white group of race-baiting bottom feeders want to get a reporter fired for 'repeated violations of journalism ethics', none of which they actually point out.  Just like when they claimed I was an "Insurrectionist" for making 'Threats' but scurried away like cockroaches in the light when called on to show them.  



Well while they're completely ignoring the bought and paid for 'journalists' that Bloomberg's puppets are training, they put up an example of the type of journalistic integrity they find acceptable:



This truly unbiased rant was spouted out in 2012, while Moyers was still working. He used his position to "advocate aggressively, not to offer objective, balanced coverage." but instead of calling for him to no longer work, they celebrate his hateful, violence-enabling speech.  I also suspect that the CSGV paid money to 'promote' this post on FB just emphasizing their double standards and lack of ethics. 

Worth The Paper They're Printed On

Orders of Protection that is.  When you have a long, abusive relationship w/ a known nutball, then marry the guy, then try to leave him after he continues to be violent, a piece of paper isn't going to do anything to stop him nor can you rely on the police. 

Beginning in March, police were called multiple times to incidents involving the couple. There were claims of a suicide attempt, threats, suspicious incidents, domestic trouble, battery, verbal abuse, trespassing, stalking, a hidden gun and an order of protection, according to Arlington Heights police records.
But Cristian Loga-Negru, 38, was never arrested, nor was he charged with any crimes in Arlington Heights, where he lived with his at-times-estranged girlfriend-turned-wife Roxana Abrudan, 36.

Prosecutors have said that as Abrudan approached her boss's home that night, Loga-Negru confronted her, hitting her several times in the head with a black hatchet.

Sorry but there were a lot of things that the police could have arrested him for but they chose not to, nevermind that the SA probably wouldn't have done anything about it if they had.

The only thing that would have had the chance of saving this woman was her defending herself. 

Censorship: Nothing New From .@CSGV

So Ladd Everitt and his merry band of misfits are demanding the firing of Pro-rights reporter Emily Miller .  This is really nothing new from them.  They've long censored any opposing view on their website and FB page and block people regularly on Twitter.  In the past they've attempted to censor other pro-rights authors, regularly libeled bloggers, accusing one of abusing his son and encouraged their supporters to call child services. They've published personal and work information of bloggers in attempts to intimidate them off of the web. They opposed due process through the use of secret gov't 'watch lists'. My personal favorite (although I am biased) is when they denounced me to the US Senate as an 'Insurrectionist'.

They hate anything to do with the COTUS and firearm owners and will go to any length to silence us.

I Can Has Home Improvement

I've been in the 'Trailer' for over 10 years and, outside of a spate of putting up shelves many moons ago, have finally gotten around to doing some decorating of my man cave.  I've been putting up pictures and prints that some have been sitting for decades to be displayed.  For me, getting stuff like this done is an accomplishment.  This is not my area of expertise.


A signed print of a 'Great Woolly Dragon" from Palladium FRPG which I had signed by author Kevin Siembieda at GenCon last year. This one I actually put up a few months ago and it was my inspiration to get the rest of them up.

Next up was my OGRE DE custom sheet display I had made.  This is been leaning against the wall for near a year. Top is the front and back of the sheet itself, middle is the insert that I had made to accompany it w/ history and some vehicle specs, and the bottom is the signed by Steve Jackson thank you card sent with all the KS orders .

Comments have already been made on the antique hardware in the pic.

Last weekend I put up a piece of original art that a shipmate drew for me about 18 yrs ago.  It's a representation of the character I've been running on and off for PFRPG 1st ed. for about 25 yrs, an Elf Longbowman. 

The stocks on the side are two K98k Mausers.

The final is a print I got at my first 'Con, WorldCon '91, signed by one of my favorite fantasy artists, Keith Parkinson (who passed away in 2005).  I picked up the print from a booth and noticed it wasn't numbered like it was supposed to be.  I went up to the artists tables to question it and, being young and stupid, didn't even look at the names.  I just happened to walk right up to Mr. Parkinson.  His response.. "Oh, my wife packed the wrong ones", at which point my jaw dropped getting the chance to meet the artist of my favorite book cover. The painting's title is called 'Arcane Summons' and depicts a Wolfen Shaman raising the corpses of long dead human heroes to fight for him.  It has spent most of the intervening time in storage and has suffered some damage but it is still in decent condition:

The next project is a puzzle that was finished probably near 30 yrs ago.  Now I hate doing puzzles, always have. So what I did was I started it on the dining room table and then left it. My mom, however, loves puzzles and can't stand seeing one unfinished.  Every time she'ld walk by, a few more pieces got added to it.  After a short while... voila... I had a complete puzzle.  It depicts a trio of greedy, thieving dwarves about to get their come-uppance by the rightful owner of a treasure.

Yes, there's a definite theme.