Comments on Boys at Arms

that was the most interesting, well-written slog post i've seen in, well... that i've ever seen. well done, unpaid intern.

I'd be kinda proud if he was my kid brother. It took me til my teens to recognize the intricate relationship between our economic imperialism and the punitive military expeditions that were used to back it. It seems like your brother knows it instinctively.

If they had then used the leaves generated by selling sticks to third world countries to finance R&D on the new generation of pinecones only available to the U.S. then it would have been an almost perfect simulation of how military procurement actually works.

Well written, Mr. Van Wing.

A lovely post and excellent view of boy culture. But may I ask where you were camping? Where are blackberries available for picking during winter break? (Australia? Argentina?) It's winter. In my day we picked blackberries during summer.

Bravo!

Excellent story, Unpaid Intern Van Wing. I enjoyed it greatly; was a little panicky when I finished reading it yesterday and then it was not there again.

nice read, thanks.

Mmm. Imaginary blackberries.

What else was a lie?

The whole barter thing strikes me more as a product of online culture, where other realities are created. Could this not be an outgrowth of that? I know that our first instinct, being Stranger readers, is to attack The Man, and as an extension, Halliburton et al, I just wonder if this collecting 'valued' commodities has something to do with the rampant gamer dork mentality linked to these types of 'societies' where people can become completely different identities. Just a thought...

Demolator, it said RECENTLY. That doesn't mean last week, it means...well, to me, it means since 1994.