I genuinely try to keep it light around here, but this story seemed both unique and poignant enough to share. Two British soldiers made a pact: if either man died, and the other survived, he would wear a dress to his comrades funeral. And that’s the harsh reality that Barry Delaney faced after Private Kevin Elliot was killed in action. Delaney showed up to the funeral in a green dress and pink leg warmers.  Good friend. FULL STORY.

On this date 62 years ago, the AK-47 was invented by Mikhail Kalashnikov.  He was inspired to become a weapons maker during World War II, after listening to wounded Russian soldiers complaining about the poor quality of Soviet-made small arms.  More than 60 years later, it remains the standard infantry weapon in numerous armies, and a mainstay in the arsenals of rebels, drug traffickers and terrorists worldwide.  Kalashnikov, now 89, has expressed regret that his AK-47 has become the weapon of choice in the terrorist world, but he suffers no pangs of guilt. “If someone asks me how I can sleep at night knowing that my arms have killed millions of people, I respond that I have no problem sleeping,” he said. “My conscience is clean. I constructed arms to defend my country.”

via: wired

It was Sunday night in Baghdad, and President Obama was ordering Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of the American troops here, to shave Stephen Colbert’s head.  Colbert is taping four episodes of “The Colbert Report,” the Comedy Central show featuring his egotistical, fake-macho, nationalist blowhard alter ego, in Baghdad this week. It’s the first time in the history of the U.S.O. that a full-length nonnews show has been filmed, edited and broadcast from a combat zone.

read the full article:  thenewyorktimes