Do It For The Children

If you feel so inclined, please vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished as the "Best Up and Coming Blog" in the 2008 Weblog Awards by following these simple steps:

1) Click on this link

2) Click the circle to the left of "The Stupid Shall Be Punished"

3) Check out the other categories, and vote for your other favorite blogs (including A Blog For All in the Best Small Blog category and Argghhh! in the Best Midsize Blog poll)

4) Repeat every 24 hours through January 13th

Thank you very much. My kids will appreciate it, and you'll know you've made an old submariner happy.


Update 0931 06 Jan: Thanks to everyone's hard work, I've moved into 2nd place, but I'm still 50 votes behind Savage Politics (rumors are that they're working with ACORN). Vote for me!

Update 0535 07 Jan: This is turning into a really good three blog race. As of now, I'm in 2nd place, with 301 votes; I'm 37 votes behind Savage Politics, but 34 votes ahead of McClatchy Watch. (Rumors that both of these blogs are fronts for the International Communist Conspiracy should be completely discounted, IMHO.) Today's my "Friday" at work, so tomorrow I should return with more actual blog content, rather than just this pathetic bleg for votes.

BZ To The Battle "E" Winners!

Congratulations to all the 2008 Battle "E" winners in SUBPAC, listed below:

CSS 1: USS Los Angeles (SSN 688)
CSS 3: USS Chicago (SSN 721)
CSDS 5: USS Connecticut (SSN 22)
CSS 7: USS Columbus (SSN 762)
CSS 11: USS Topeka (SSN 754)
CSS 15: USS Buffalo (SSN 715)
CSS 17: USS Pennslyvania (Blue and Gold) (SSBN 735)
CSS 19: USS Ohio (Blue and Gold) (SSGN 726)
Submarine Tender: USS Frank Cable (AS 40)
Drydock: Arco (ARDM 5)
Special Category: Swamp Fox (TWR 821)

My old boats did well; USS Topeka earned her 2nd consecutive award, and USS Connecticut took over the CSDS-5 flag from my other old boat, USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23), who had to be satisfied with the Engineering "E" this year.

I'll post the SUBLANT winners as soon as I find the list.

Bell-ringer 0928 06 Jan: Blunoz has the SUBLANT (actually SUBFOR, but I'm Old School) results over at his place.

Update 0755 08 Jan: Here's the official SUBFOR announcement. Winners from LANTFLT are:

CSS 2: USS Providence (SSN 719)
CSS 4: USS Virginia (SSN 774)
CSS 6: USS Montpelier (SSN 765)
CSS 8: USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723)
CSDS 12: USS Alexandria (SSN 757)
CSS 16: USS Florida (SSGN 728)
CSS 20: USS Maryland (SSBN 738)
Special Category: NR-1

Los Angeles, Topeka, Frank Cable, Arco and Florida are repeat winners.

New Russian Boomer Misses Sea Trials Deadline

As expected, sea trials for the new Russian Borei-class SSBN were pushed back until this year. Check out this article from Strategy Page discussing the problems the Russians have been having with their boomer program, particularly the substandard performance of their new Bulava missile. While it's likely the new submarine will get to sea sometime this year, I'd predict it'll be closer to this fall when it finally submerges.

Another Election Already?!?

Yes, it's that time of year again -- time to vote for your favorite blogs at the Weblog Awards. For the third year in a row, TSSBP is in the running; this year, it's in the "Best Up and Coming Blog" category. Voting starts sometime today; I'll have more information when it does. As always, you can vote for your favorite blogs every 24 hours, so vote early and vote often!

Update 1855 05 Jan: Voting is now open; click here to go to the voting page, and please vote for The Stupid Shall Be Punished. I'm currently in 3rd place, but I'm getting my butt kicked by Savage Politics and McClatchy Watch. I need your help!

Back To Work!

Now that I'm done with radiation and chemo, I'm heading back to work this morning for the first time in a few weeks; I'll work up until my surgery, which should be in 4-8 weeks. For some reason, I'm really, really excited to go fill out my TPS reports.

While I'm at work, check out this "Op-Ed" piece submitted by an enterprising Navy Nuclear Power Officer recruiter to his local newspaper about the benefits of a career as a Navy officer in the nuclear power field. It makes me want to sign up!

(Interesting note for those who get here by Googling "recovery from chemo" or "side effects of chemo" -- both times I had chemotherapy for a tumor of the G-E Junction [one bag of Cisplatin followed by one bag of 5FU pumped in over 96 hours] I ended up "violently ejecting" the contents of my stomach 102 hours after the 5FU finished up. I know it's only two data points on one test subject, but it's interesting to me that it happened both times within a +/- 1 hour period after completion of treatment. In both cases, I felt immeasurably better immediately after the "purge" of the sloughed-off dead cells.)