Weapons: The Pattern

"Three years ago, one foreign soldier was killed for every 29 IED used. This year, with eight times as many IEDs being used, it took 36 IEDs to kill one foreign soldier. In 2007, it took 55 roadside bombs to kill one American in Iraq. The trend in Iraq was similar to that is now unfolding in Afghanistan. The much higher civilian toll in Iraq turned the civilian population against the terrorists to the extent that overall attacks, and casualties, dropped 90 percent."

Ah Yes, That Dainty, Sensitive, Dovish Dick Cheney We've Heard So Much About - Jim Geraghty

"And now we're supposed to believe he's insufficiently interested in condemning the attackers? He's beyond condemning him; he wants to waterboard him until his lungs qualify for a federal wetlands status."

45th Infantry Combat Brigade Team Getting Ready for Possible Deployment - KRMG Local News on krmg.com

Heeeere We Go Again!

"Major General Myles Deering, Oklahoma's adjutant general, says the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team has been told to get ready for possible deployment. He says if they are activated it would be about 18 months in the future. Deering says they expect the final word to come in the spring or summer."

Counter-Terrorism: Ignore Those Pesky Foreigners

"In effect, one of the most terrifying aftereffects of the war on terror has been the many new security procedures imposed on air travelers. Most of them have no impact on airline security. Early on, it was realized that not being able to carry a pocket knife or knitting needles has not stopped terrorists from coming up with new ways to get weapons aboard. What happened on Flight 93 (the one that crashed, when passengers realized what was happening and attacked the hijackers), has, as stronger cockpit doors were installed on all airliners. Other measures, that address real vulnerabilities, have not been implemented. This is largely because real security improvements are not as visible, and thus are less valuable, in a PR sense, to politicians who pass these laws. For example, a glaring weakness in airports is background checks and security measures applied to airport personnel. It's widely known that drug gangs regularly exploit this to get airport workers to help them smuggle drugs on airplanes. Some security experts (the ones who are ignored a lot), keep pointing out that bombs could just as easily be placed on aircraft using the same methods."

Attrition: PTSD And Chemical Imbalance

"The research is also showing that PTSD is a distinct form of mental distress. For example, research turned up the fact those who had killed someone in combat, were 40 percent more likely to show symptoms of PTSD, or similar symptoms found to those who suffered concussions from roadside bombs. Thus it is becoming clear that there are several different conditions here, all with similar PTSD symptoms, but not with similar effects on the brain. Each strain of PTSD will require a different type of cure. Finding these cures is increasingly important, since better diagnostic capabilities has made it possible to more frequently, and accurately, diagnose PTSD.

And then there is the fact that rhe current fighting has o produced a very different pattern of casualties. Better tactics, training and equipment has reduced physical casualties by two thirds (compared to earlier wars). This has also allowed troops to remain in combat for much longer than before. Never before has the U.S. had so many troops who have experienced so many days of combat, and that translates into more PTSD."

Logistics: Repaving The Silk Road

"The U.S. has shifted its Afghanistan supply lines to the north, bringing freight in via rail, from Baltic Sea ports, through Russia and Central Asia. While negotiating these arrangements, the United States also approached China, which also borders Afghanistan. But this is an odd border. It is reached through a long, narrow panhandle (the Wakhan Corridor), and the actually border with China is only 76 kilometers long. The Wakhan Corridor area has never been very violent, and escaped most of the fighting that has torn apart Afghanistan since the 1970s. But China refused to open its border with Afghanistan, fearing complications with the mainly Moslem population on their side of the frontier.

But the U.S. kept after China about this, and Google Earth images have shown that China has recently built a new road to the area and additional guard posts. The Wakhan Corridor itself was once part of the Silk Road, but snow closes a key pass for five months a year. The Chinese Wakhan Corridor border has been closed to traffic for over a century."

Morale: Inconvenience Pay

"The 'hazardous duty pay' concept continued after World War II, with more categories being added. We now have 'family separation allowance' ($250 a month for being away from your family), 'imminent danger pay' ($225 for being in a combat zone) and 'hazardous duty incentive pay' for particularly dangerous jobs ( Parachute Duty, Carrier Flight Deck Duty, Demolition/handling explosives Duty, Experimental Stress Duty, Handling Toxic Fuels or Propellants Duty, Handling Toxic Pesticides Duty, Dangerous Viruses or Bacteria Lab Duty, Handling Chemical Munitions). For some very dangerous jobs, like high altitude parachute (HALO) jumping, you get an extra $220 a month. This all adds up, increasing the pay of many troops by more than fifty percent."

United States Central Command - Helmand governor raises Afghan flag over Khan Neshin

"The Afghan national flag was raised above Khan Neshin castle in the Rig District Center July 8 for the first time, signaling the arrival of Afghan governance in the southern reaches of Helmand Province.

Khan Neshin and the areas south of the Helmand River have never experienced the sustained presence of coalition forces or Afghan National Security Forces, until now, seven days after the beginning of Operation Khanjar"

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Krauthammer: It’s time for Obama to declare Iran’s government illegitimate

"SPIEGEL: Really? You don’t think that Iran has already long been on the path to becoming a religiously tinged military dictatorship?

Kadivar: You are right that the Shiite theocracy in its present form has failed — a fact that few have expressed as clearly as my teacher in the last few months. Incidentally, when Grand Ayatollah Montazeri had his falling out with Khomeini, three months before the supreme religious leader’s death in 1989, he said: This state is so different from the one we dreamed of and worked to create. Still, it is not Islam which has failed, but rather a particular interpretation of Islam. I also want to express that there hasn’t been a revolution in Iran yet. The opposition is becoming increasingly clear in the formulation of its objectives and more daring. Still, we need to remain patient. I do not know when, exactly, but I am convinced that the regime will collapse.

SPIEGEL: Can the West do anything to support a democratic reform process?

Kadivar: The tightening of sanctions is not the right path ahead. They affect the people more than the government. A military attack is something I categorically reject. Perhaps Western countries should stop treating Ahmadinejad’s government as the legitimate government of Iran. Otherwise, I think the reforms must be pushed forward from inside the country."

(Emphasis added)

William McGurn: Obama Puts the Dis in Dissident - WSJ.com

"For a man whose whole appeal has been wrapped in powerful imagery, President Obama appears strikingly obtuse about the symbolism of his own actions: e.g., squeezing in a condemnation of Iran before a round of golf. With every statement not backed up by action, with every refusal to meet a leader such as the Dalai Lama, with every handshake for a Chavez, Mr. Obama is defining himself to foreign leaders who are sizing him up and have only one question in mind: How much can we get away with?"

Sea Transportation: They Fought The Law, And The Law Lost

"On December 17th, the Dutch frigate, the HNLMS Evertsen, was ordered to release 13 Somali pirates it had captured 15 days earlier. The pirates were caught in the act of attacking a merchant ship. But no European Union country would prosecute the pirates, and neither would Kenya, Tanzania or Seychelles. These last three nations have offered to prosecute pirates, if the price is right and there aren't too many of them. Terms for these services are still being negotiated. Thus, with no place to send their prisoners, the crew on the Evertsen returned the pirates to their mother ship (a large fishing boat which the Evertsen had been towing since December 2nd). The pirates didn’t get their weapons back, but did get food and fuel for their trip back to Somalia. There, the pirates will replace their lost weapons and go back to work. Other pirates will be encouraged, given the toothless nature of the anti-piracy patrol."

Information Warfare: Yet Another Reason Not To Trust The Government

"U.S. government efforts to recruit needed computer security specialists are up against two insurmountable problems. First, there is a shortage of qualified people, and civilian firms can easily outbid the government. The second problem is security clearance. You need one to work on most government computer problems. It takes time (months) to get a clearance, and many people fail the screening (they have a bad credit score, an old felony conviction, or creepy friends, etc.)."

This is true, based on how we do business currently, but we don't have to.

The fact is that the people out there with the real talent for this kind of work haven't got any degree at all (or a degree in a totally unrealted field). When the gov stops looking for the credentials and starts lloking for the talent, they'll be well over halfway to fixing the manpower problem here.

Captain America Targeted for a June Start - Superhero Hype!

"Principal photography was now less than four weeks away. “By the time I got on a plane and arrived, it was three,” recalls Johnston, speaking from the art department of THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA, which he’s readying for a June start.'"

Hey. I've already taken care of casting the lead:

Infantry: Littler Things Mean A Lot

"In its continuing effort to lighten the load of the infantry in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army is introducing a third type of rucksack. This medium size backpack is based on civilian equipment used by mountaineers, and intended for troops who will be out for up to three days, on foot and on their own. The new pack holds about 50 liters (3,000 cubic inches), and has fifty percent the capacity of the current assault pack (for day trips). The standard rucksack (MOLLE) holds 82 liters (5,000 cubic inches)."

In the days before MOLLE, with the ALICE rucksack, there were two sizes, Medium and Large. Clearly there was a reason for two sizes, and I'd wager it was the same reason. This looks to me like yet another "Lesson Re-learned."

Warplanes: Raven Mutates, Multiplies And Evolves

"The latest improvements are a digital data link, which makes it easier to encrypt the video feed, and makes it possible to operate 16 Ravens within range of each other, rather than only the current four. In development are two new sizes for the Raven, one a little larger (6-10 pounds) and one a little smaller. The larger one would have more range and endurance, plus more powerful sensors. The smaller one would have less, but be easier to carry, and harder for the enemy to spot."

Leadership: Germans Make War Over War

"German commanders complained to their political bosses back home. Many politicians understood, and urged that German troops be allowed to fight. But many German politicians were obsessed with the concept of an army in name only, and were out to sabotage a policy they had not voted for (sending troops to Afghanistan). The majority prevailed, and the troops were allowed to 'defend themselves aggressively.' That's where the current problem began. German troops went after the local Taliban with increasing success. Then, last September, the Taliban hijacked two fuel tankers. When the Germans found out, they went after the stolen vehicles, fearing that they might be rigged with explosives and used to attack a German base. The Taliban liked using fuel tankers for this sort of thing. When the Germans caught up with the trucks, they could see that the heavy trucks were stuck in the sand, and the Taliban had called people from a local village to help unload part of the cargo (keeping the fuel for their trouble) to lighten the vehicles so they could move again. The German commander decided to call in an air strike, and destroy the trucks, and a bunch of Taliban. But the American B-1 bomber overhead had just left, because it was out of fuel. When the Germans called for another bomber, they were told that could only be done if German troops were in contact with the enemy. German troops were not, but the German commander lied, and quickly got two fighter-bombers overhead. A smart bomb was dropped, the trucks destroyed (along with a troublesome Taliban leader and many of his followers). Some civilians also died, and the politicians back home demanded an investigation. The German colonel involved admitted to his political superiors that he had lied to get the fighter-bombers needed to hit the trucks. These politicians kept quiet about that, and now they, and the colonel, are being castigated for lying."

Morale: The Good Old Days In Iraq

"So, while the U.S. combat brigades still assigned to Iraq remain in place (largely restricted to their new, suburban, bases), over 3,000 support (transportation, engineering, maintenance and communication) troops have been quietly sent to Afghanistan. Some are ordered to Afghanistan shortly after they arrive in Iraq. For many of these troops, it's their first time in Afghanistan, after having served two or more tours in Iraq. While U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan since late 2001, for most of that time, there were only about 20,000 of them there. Now it's over 60,000, and rapidly expanding to 100,000. In Iraq, a much more developed country (more roads, access to the sea and much closer to Europe), there have been 150,000, or more, American troops there since 2003. U.S. bases in Iraq are well equipped, the danger is low and there's not a lot to do. In contrast, the bases in Afghanistan are sparse, there's a lot more violence (although still only about half as much as there was in Iraq during 2005-7), and a lot more to do. So the U.S. troops arriving in Afghanistan straight from Iraq encounter a bit of culture shock."

Leadership: The Boss Is An Idiot And Is Getting Us Killed

"A third factor in the exodus was the dislike of the army’s “force protection” fixation. The army put a lot of emphasis on keeping casualties down. But a lot of the combat commanders interpreted this as doing as little as possible. This, despite the fact that those commanders who get outside their camps a lot, thereby reduce enemy activity in the area, and overall American casualties. But these aggressive tactics come with some risk, and many battalion and brigade commanders (lieutenant colonels and colonels) are more risk averse than the captains and lieutenants (company and platoon commanders). Once you hit lieutenant colonel, you are making the army a career, and are less inclined to take chances. But captains and lieutenants can afford to take chances, and are put off when their bosses are not."

Information Warfare: The Man Upstairs

"There will never be enough of the specially trained and equipped joint terminal air controllers (JTAC) to do the job. These guys, who are usually themselves air force, army or marine pilots, have to be looking at the target before a smart bomb can be dropped. These rules have been largely watered down over the last seven years. Wartime demands often do that. But many in the air force point out that JTACs not only get more training than JFOs (five weeks, versus two), but are also combat pilots, giving them much useful practical experience. But the army and marines are taking advantage of the simplicity of smart bombs, and the sheer necessity of getting air support when it is needed, no matter the risks."

Counter-Terrorism: The Torture Kings Consider Reform

"This joint effort has also bumped into a growing campaign to eliminate torture and corrupt police practices in many Arab nations. The regular use of torture by Arab police is an open secret, as is the corruption in many Arab police forces. While it didn't get much play in the West, the rebuilding of the Iraqi police force was accompanied by stories, that did get a lot of play in the Arab press, where criminals and terrorist made no secret of preferring getting arrested by the Americans, rather than the Iraqi police. The Americans treated you better, and tortured you not at all. While the Abu Ghraib photos, of American military police tormenting (by Arab standards) Iraqi prisoners angered many Arabs, they also made the point that, at their worst, the Americans were much easier on prisoners than their Arab counterparts."

Infantry: The Sniper Revolution

"But both the army and the marines were also taking advantage of the greater number of veteran troops in their combat units, and the fact that just about every soldier has a rifle with a scope, and has a lot of target practice behind them. In the past, infantry commanders were encouraged to find and designate about ten percent of their men as sharpshooters (sort of sniper lite) and make use of these guys to take out enemy troops at a distance, with single shots. This was a trend that had been growing for over a decade, and was becoming a major feature of American infantry tactics. These sharpshooters, especially the ones with combat experience, were the prime candidates for sniper school. The trained snipers, however, also have the special skills required to find the best shooting position, and how to stay hidden, and get out of harms way if discovered."

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Chavez to automakers: Share the wealth, or else

"Unfortunately for Venezuelans, the result will be the same as Chavez’ previous nationalizations. The four automakers will eventually leave Venezuela, and perhaps be replaced by Russian and Chinese automakers — although Russia and China may not be all that keen to work under a confiscatory regime, either. The quality of autos will drop, because after all, people who have the opportunity and means to buy Toyotas, Fords, and Fiats rarely choose Russian or Chinese cars for a reason."

Murphy's Law: Arabian Nightmare For Iran

"The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East made an observation that the Gulf Arab nations wished he hadn't. General David Petraeus noted that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force, and it's 80 F-16E fighters could probably quickly destroy the entire Iranian Air Force. The Gulf Arabs would prefer the Iranians to believe their own propaganda, that the Iranian military is much more powerful than it actually is. The Iranian Air Force is mainly a mighty force only in terms of Iranian propaganda. The Gulf Arabs don't want the Iranians to make a strong effort to upgrade their air force and air defenses. The Iranian myth is much better for the Gulf Arabs than Iranian military commanders who plan and prepare on the basis of what they really have."

Afghanistan: Why The Russians Are Jealous

"A variation of this ancient tactic is still going to be used against the Taliban, but without any threat to civilians. The Afghans consider this reluctance to hurt civilians to be a major weakness, which they exploit as often as possible. Mostly, this means using civilians as human shields, and having weapons moved separately from the gunmen, until the last moment. The Taliban know that the American ROE (Rules of Engagement) prohibit smart bomb attacks on unarmed men. But the Taliban have major weaknesses when it comes to public support (most Afghans hate them, especially in the north), and the U.S. forces have far superior intelligence collecting capabilities."

Like Hell

“There are 100 senators here and I don’t know that there’s a senator that doesn’t have something in this bill that isn’t important to them,” [SEN Harry] Reid (D-NV) said. “If they don’t have something in it important to them then it doesn’t speak well of them.”

On the contrary.  If they don't have something in it, being smart enough to keep their fingerprints off this unconsitutional piece of crap, I say it speaks very highly of them.

Intelligence: AWACS And The Pirates

"Currently, the anti-piracy patrol, with a few exceptions, does not attack the pirates, even if the pirates are caught attacking a merchant ship. But the presence of warships, or a military helicopter, usually causes the pirates to abort their attacks. The anti-piracy patrol also refrains from even capturing pirates, because few Western nations have laws for prosecuting piracy."

Attrition: Screwing Around Now Gets You Screwed

"Three things are going on here. First, the pregnancy gets the soldier out of Iraq, or Afghanistan, without any penalty (other than having to raise the kid, a not inconsiderable cost.) Second, the pregnancy is evidence that at least two soldiers were violating the prohibition against sex in the combat zone. But there was a third cost; the army loses the services of that soldier for their remainder of their tour. It was this factor that caused the general to impose the pregnancy penalty. Too many essential troops were being lost to pregnancy. Many other commanders have quietly complained of this situation, but this is the first time a senior commander used the authority they had to do something about it."

Electronic Weapons: Chasing RATS

"Actually, RATS isn't a phone, it's a wi-fi device that looks like one (as does the Ipod Touch). RATS has GPS, a compass, vidcam and software that enables users to connect, and show each others location on the screen. It's also possible to operate robots with RATS, or receive video from a UAV overhead (like the five pound Raven the army uses thousands of.) RATS has mapping software, and the ability to download maps and use them with the wi-fi location system to provide a constantly updated view of where everyone is. Typically, gear like RATS is carried by officers and NCOs down to team (groups of five troops) leaders or vehicle commanders. RATS can also send or receive video or pix. The touch screen makes RATS easy to use in combat. RATS is a development project, but you can see how quickly it could turn into a water and shock proof, encrypted device, ready for the battlefield."

Information Warfare: SkyGrabber And The Curse Of Encryption

"As for why the Predator video was liable to this kind of capture. Well, sometimes, you take a chance. And then you get caught. For years, the video from UAV was unencrypted. This was to save communications capacity ('bandwidth'), which was always in short supply. To encrypt the video would require more bandwidth, and specialized equipment on the UAVs and ground receivers. There would also be a slight delay for the guys on the ground using the video. For all these reasons, the video remained unencrypted. This was not a secret, it was known to people in the business. Now everyone knows, and encryption, and all its costs, will be added to UAV video broadcasts."

Algeria: The Lesser Of Two Evils

"But the Arab form of police state is not all muscle. The 'carrot and stick' approach has been around for thousands of years. For example, in the last three years, the government has distributed $166 million to victims of Islamic terrorism. As these extremists are already disliked for their seemingly random attacks on civilians, they also come off poorly in comparison with the government, which provides medical attention for the victims, security forces who often capture or kill the terrorists and, finally, cash payments to the victims. Thus, while Algerians may not like their corrupt and controlling government very much, they dislike the Islamic terrorists even more."

Gitmo Does Not Cause Terrorism by Andrew C. McCarthy on National Review Online

"It’s worth remembering that the “Blind Sheikh,” Omar Abdel Rahman, perhaps the world’s most influential jihadist, was never held in Gitmo. Instead, he and eleven of his followers got the gold-plated due-process plan: a nine-month 1995 trial in the criminal justice system for waging war against the American people. (That’s not rhetoric; that was the charge: conspiracy to levy war against the United States — Section 2384 of the federal penal code.)"

My Way News - House approves $290 billion increase in debt limit

"The House on Wednesday passed legislation giving the federal government the ability to borrow a whopping $290 billion to finance its operations for just six additional weeks.
The 218-214 vote sends the must-pass bill to the Senate, which is expected to approve it as its last act before adjourning for the year. The alternative would be a market-rattling, first-ever default on U.S. obligations.
The measure is needed as a result of the out-of-control budget deficit, which registered $1.4 trillion for the budget year that ended in September. The current debt ceiling is $12.1 trillion and is set to be reached by Dec. 31."

Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones - WSJ.com

"Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet -- to regularly capture drone video feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter."

Morale: The Weightless Weight Room

"The U.S. Army has bought 3,205 TRX Suspension Trainers, for about a hundred dollars each. Some 200 are being sent to units in Iraq and Afghanistan. These devices are suspended from anything that will bear a few hundred pounds of weight, and be used as a portable weight lifting room. This is a big deal with combat troops, who have learned that muscle will save your life in the battlefield."

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Coburn fires warning shot across Senate Democrats’ bow; Update: DeMint joins Coburn, video statement added; Update: DeMint threatens to do the same to entire bill

"It took eighteen minutes just to get through the table of contents … for an amendment. Philip says the pace picked up a bit afterward, and the entire amendment could be read within about 12 hours. That’s twelve hours of floor time, assuming Coburn keeps withholding unanimous consent."

Pakistan's Zardari resists U.S. timeline for fighting insurgents - washingtonpost.com

"Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has resisted a direct appeal from President Obama for a rapid expansion of Pakistani military operations in tribal areas and has called on the United States to speed up military assistance to Pakistani forces and to intervene more forcefully with India, its traditional adversary."

Daily Express | UK News :: Climate change is natural: 100 reasons why

"HERE are the 100 reasons, released in a dossier issued by the European Foundation, why climate change is natural and not man-made:"

Peace Time: Dangerous When Moved

"As U.S. bases are shut down, many memorial items, dating from World War II, are being moved, sometimes to be scrapped. Those involved in the removals are warned to remember a 1958 incident. Back then, a British air base, at Scampton, was rebuilding the road through the main gate. There were two 'gate guards' on either side of the main gate. One was a demilitarized Lancaster heavy (four engine) bomber, and the other was a 22,000 pound (10 ton) 'Grand Slam' bomb that was believed to be demilitarized. But it wasn't."

Leadership: Where "Good Enough" Can Get You Killed

"NATO and American trainers have to recruit and educate a lot of their own technical people, after first improving the literacy skills of promising candidates. But then, when you've trained, say vehicle mechanics, you often find that they will leave the army (often just deserting) for a better paying civilian job.
Thus you have the familiar pattern where, new equipment, say trucks, are delivered to the army or police. After a while, most of the vehicles become inoperable. This is because of the chronic shortage of qualified mechanics and operators to maintain these vehicles. As a result, after a year or so of use, these vehicles start to break down, and there are not enough qualified mechanics to keep the vehicles operational."

Forces: Iraq Comes Back

"The 1st Intervention Corps consists of the two motorized, one infantry and one armored divisions. One of the motorized corps is the also known as the Reaction Force Division. This is considered the most effective division in the army, and one to be used for the most difficult situations. Think of this corps as the new 'Republican Guard.'
The other three corps are named after the part of the country they are based in."

Afghanistan: Fighting For The Dry, Mountainous Nothing In The Middle Of Nowhere

"American commanders believe the 30,000 additional U.S. troops, plus increases in Afghan and NATO forces, will enable the Taliban to be crushed within a year. But after that, Afghanistan will require economic and military assistance for at least twenty years, to bring sustained peace to the country. The plan is to turn over security to the central government within five years."

Naval Air: Sea King Leaves The Navy

"The U.S. Navy has retired its last UH-3H Sea King transport helicopter, and transferred most of the remaining ones to the U.S. Marine Corps. The navy used to be the largest operator of the H-3, using hundreds of them for anti-submarine warfare, as well as transporting personnel and supplies, plus search and rescue."

Logistics: Light The Little Suckers Up And Watch Them Die

"It takes 48 seconds to clean half a liter (16 ounces) of water (and 90 seconds for a liter). Just stick the probe in the water, press the button and watch the countdown timer. One set of batteries will purify 58 liters (14.3 gallons). Unlike purification tablets, the SteriPen method does not leave a chemical taste. For this reason, many troops buy a SteriPen, which cost a hundred dollars."

The Long View [Darleen Click]

"Cash For Cubes! In an effort to stop global warming & create jobs!!!11!, the Obama administration pays selected Democrats in the Teamster Union to haul ice cubes from bicycle powered freezers in about-to-be-foreclosed homes to the Maldives, where it is packed around panting polar bears, sweating penguins, and an occasional spotted owl."

U.S. agency sees more health spending with reform | Reuters

"U.S. healthcare spending would rise by about $234 billion over the next decade under the Senate Democrats' overhaul bill and some of the proposed savings might never be achieved, a U.S. agency said in a report released on Friday."

Health care loophole would allow coverage limits - Yahoo! News

"A loophole in the Senate health care bill would let insurers place annual dollar limits on medical care for people struggling with costly illnesses such as cancer, prompting a rebuke from patient advocates."

My Way News - Regulators shut banks in Florida, Arizona, Kansas

"Regulators have shut down banks in Florida, Arizona and Kansas, bringing to 133 the number of U.S. banks that have failed to hold up this year against the struggling economy and a cascade of loan defaults."

Big Government » Blog Archive » UN Security Stops Journalist’s Questions About ClimateGate#more-44722#more-44722

"A Stanford Professor has used United Nation security officers to silence a journalist asking him “inconvenient questions” during a press briefing at the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
Professor Stephen Schneider’s assistant requested armed UN security officers who held film maker Phelim McAleer, ordered him to stop filming and prevented further questioning after the press conference where the Stanford academic was launching a book."

Intelligence: Up The Creek Without A Linguist

"The Department of Defense can't train enough new military interpreters, so it has to hire local people. That is difficult in Afghanistan. The problem is that the local terrorists realize that the interpreters are important, and they, well, terrorize the interpreters into quitting or, even better, becoming a terrorist spy. This, obviously complicates things for the combat troops who need the interpreters to get their work done. The solution has been to have the intelligence troops work closely with hiring and monitoring interpreters. In some parts of Afghanistan, the interpreters are hired in secret, and much effort goes into keeping their job status secret from the local community."

Air Transportation: Black Hawk Upgrade

"This M model is the new standard for the UH-60. The UH-60M features several improvements, including new rotor blades (more reliable, and provide 500 pounds of additional lift), an all electronic cockpit (putting all needed information on four full-color displays), an improved autopilot (which will fly the chopper if the pilot is injured and unable to), improved flight controls (making flying easier, especially in stressful situations), a stronger fuselage, more efficient navigation system, better infrared suppression (making it harder for heat seeking missiles to hit), and more powerful engines. The oldest model, the UH-60As, will continue to serve until the last of them is retired in 2025. By then, all UH-60s will be L or M models."

Electronic Weapons: Turning PlayStation Into A Supercomputer

"Three years ago, the Tesla supercomputer add-on for PCs appeared on the market. This was basically an Nvidia graphics board tweaked to act like a supercomputer, rather than a device that put 3-D, photo-realistic game graphics on your computer screen. The latest version of this system will give you a teraflop of computing power for $10,000.
The Cell Processor on the PlayStation 3 (PS 3) is also a GPU, and that GPU alone was used to built several of the fastest supercomputers on the planet."

Is ObamaCare Constitutional?

Commerce and taxing power don't support mandate


In a recent legal memorandum, Heritage legal scholar Todd Gaziano, joined by Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett and Nathaniel Stewart, LLP, argues that the individual mandate is both unconstitutional and unprecedented.

Neither the power to regulate commerce nor the power to impose taxes grants Congress the power, they write, to "mandate that an individual enter into a contract with a private party or purchase a good or service and…no decision or present doctrine of the Supreme Court justifies such a claim of power."

Though many on the Left overlooked it, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service even recognized the constitutional obstacles to the individual mandate:

Whether such [an individual mandate] requirement would be constitutional under the Commerce Clause is perhaps the most challenging question posed by such a proposal, as it is a novel issue whether Congress may use this clause to require an individual to purchase a good or a service.

The Supreme Court has long held that there are limits to Congress' power under the Commerce Clause. An individual mandate would require stretching these limits. Although this has been done in the past, "the current Supreme Court is unlikely to stretch the commerce power further than it already has," explain Gaziano, Barnett and Stewart.

Congress' power to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States...." also does not validate an individual mandate. The Constitution requires that a tax be apportioned on the basis of the census population, and not vary based upon factors such as the financial condition of the state's residents. "[But] this [constitutional] requirement will be impossible to meet based upon the variety of exceptions provided in the mandate," write Gaziano, Barnett and Stewart.

Interpreting the Constitution to support an individual mandate would open the door for future abuses, as Heritage's Conn Carroll explains:

If the individual mandate is Constitutional, then Congress could do anything. They could: require us to buy a new Chevy Impala each year to support the government-supported auto industry; require us to buy war bonds to pay for the Iraq and Afghan wars; require us to grow wheat (10 bushels each), or pay someone else to grow your share; require us to buy whatever they want.

"Politics may tell us what we want to do, but the Constitution tells us what we may do and we must keep those separate," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said yesterday at a Heritage event on the Constitution's role in the health care debate. An individual mandate that forces all Americans to purchase health coverage or incur a penalty would blur this separation horribly. And that's a serious problem.

Petraeus Says Afghan War Is Tougher Fight Than Iraq (Update1) - Bloomberg.com

"“Achieving progress in Afghanistan will be hard and progress there likely will be slower in developing than was the progress in Iraq,” Petraeus told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. “Nonetheless, as with Iraq, in Afghanistan hard is not hopeless.”"

The real inconvenient truth

Canadian OP/ED proposes China style one child rule for the whole planet. Health care reform lays the ground work to allow it in the US. "None will work unless a China one-child policy is imposed. Unfortunately, there are powerful opponents. Leaders of the world's big fundamentalist religions preach in favor of procreation and fiercely oppose birth control. And most political leaders in emerging economies perpetuate a disastrous Catch-22: Many children (i. e. sons) stave off hardship in the absence of a social safety net or economic development, which, in turn, prevents protections or development."

Dems to lift debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion, fear 2010 backlash - - POLITICO.com

"In a bold but risky year-end strategy, Democrats are preparing to raise the federal debt ceiling by as much as $1.8 trillion before New Year’s rather than have to face the issue again prior to the 2010 elections."

Leadership: Leading With A Laptop

"Starting in 2002, the marines took four years to design, build, test and roll out a new battalion headquarters system. It was only a generation ago that a battalion headquarters was a bunch of radios, typewriters, maps and troops, hauled around in a truck and set up in tents. That's all changed. There are still radios, but now the tent is full of laptop computers, a local area network, large flat screen displays, a satellite link, and much else that is new. The tent is also air conditioned. To keep the equipment from overheating, but it does make life easier for the troops. The battalion headquarters is now standardized, to make managing and quickly setting up all this new equipment possible."

Counter-Terrorism: Women, Literacy And Angry Young Men

"Thus in most Islamic countries, the women are having fewer children, and making more noise about economic and educational opportunities. This resonates with some of the better informed Islamic men. One reason the West, and other parts of the world, have enjoyed much better economic growth than the Moslem countries, is that they have added large number of educated women to their work force."

Iran: Government Promises Students More Death Sentences

"Currently, Iran has enriched its nuclear material to about five percent. For weapons, you need to increase the content of Uranium 235 in uranium ore to at least 54 percent (producing uranium that contains that percentage of the more volatile U-235 form of the nuclear material). This is far above the 5-10 percent minimum needed for nuclear power plants. Normally, Uranium ore is only about .7 percent U-235. Anything over 20 percent enriched can be used for a nuclear bomb. But the most effective and reliable nuclear weapons use 80 percent enriched nuclear material. Iran appears to believe that the UN will not be able to implement more severe sanctions (because China is an Iranian ally)."

Infantry: The Phantom Menace

"The basic 'Level 3' SAPI plates are 10x12 inches, weigh 4.6 pounds each and cost about $400. The older Level 4 plates, weighing about 6.4 pounds each, could stop some types of armor piercing bullets, and the new XSAPI weighs about six pounds and have somewhat greater stopping power. ESAPI is more expensive, at $600 a plate."

protein wisdom: On blogging and its discontents.

"What McCain is — judging from what I’ve read, both past and present — is someone who has been candid in his writings about questions of racial politics, and as such, I believe he can be more accurately described as someone seeking a “real conversation on race” than nearly all those who gave lip service to such a noble idea, then worked tirelessly to make sure that said conversation never actually took place, with the punishment, for those who mistook the offer as legitimate, being predictable charges of racism, should any of those commenting question left-liberal orthodoxy."

United States Central Command: Cobra's Anger

"So far, the clearing operation has yielded more than nine weapons caches of various sizes, and the combined force has found homemade explosives, RPGs and mortars, an assortment of small arms including rifles, hand grenades and machine guns, along with associated ammunition, and several hundred components used in the production of improvised explosive devices. The ammunition and weapons were destroyed to prevent future use."

Intelligence: Traffic Analysis

"The Taliban spend a lot of their time staying hidden. There are Afghan police, and civilians willing to provide information. The Taliban have to hide weapons and ammo, as well as caches of food. The hiding places are visited periodically, to add or remove material, or just to make sure someone else hasn't found the stuff and made off with it. Finding and looting these caches has long been a popular outdoor sport. The movements of these Taliban, going to add to a cache, or just check up, are often noted by U.S. troops. U.S. troops can find the caches with UAVs and scouts on the ground, who observe the traffic pattern in the hills, and put pieces of data together to locate where the stuff is hidden. It's this kind of detective work that is being used to find and destroy the small groups that make and place roadside bombs, or recruit, equip and use suicide bombers."

Morale: Homeward Unbound

"The math works like this. The army, marines and reserves can muster about sixty combat brigades. During 2004-7, there were 19 brigades deployed to combat zones (15 in Iraq, three in Afghanistan and one in South Korea.) That's when the army began working to get active duty troops two years dwell time for every year in a combat zone. For reserves, the goal was home for four years, overseas for one. It was believed that, with a little help from the marines, the army can just about make that. The increase in troops sent to Afghanistan will delay this dwell time plan for a few years. The Department of Defense has announced that there will be higher numbers of U.S. troops in Afghanistan for 2-4 years. At least that's the plan. And after the plan, the soldiers will have their dwell time."

Counter-Terrorism: The Get-Out-Of-Jail Card

"The foreign troops find they are capturing the same Taliban fighters over and over again, or finding, after a battle, the dead bodies of Taliban gunmen they had turned over to the NDS recently. The NDS claim that all this is not their fault, but you don't have to be in Afghanistan long before you realize that the corruption extends to everything, and that the Taliban use it whenever they can."

Leadership: The U.S. Navy Builds An MMOG

"'Move Two - Attacks at Sea: The scenario is multiple near simultaneous attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea to the Horn of Africa. Players would be self selecting and self organizing into collaborative teams of either Red (pirates) or Blue (US and Allied response). It is conceivable that players may have the option of signing up to be part of a third party as well, representing e.g. NGOs, other governments, etc, but this has not yet been determined. '"

Artillery: MGS In The Mountains

"The army sent the first of its Stryker Mobile Gun Systems to Iraq last year. The gun has an automatic loader. The gun is stabilized, and can be fired on the move. Once in Iraq, the gun performed well, providing accurate and effective firepower when needed. Last year, a Stryker brigade went to Afghanistan with nine MGSs, and will leave those behind when it is replaced by the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment next year (which will then have 18 MGSs)."

Afghanistan: Back To The Future

"The newly announced U.S. strategy of chasing away the Taliban, thus allowing Afghan forces to move in and provide sufficient security to keep the Taliban from returning (from either mountain hideouts, or, more likely, bases in Pakistan), depends on several things that have never occurred before in Afghanistan."

Information Warfare: What Goes Around

"Al Qaeda Audio and Video Recordings Released
2002 12 (8 of them vids)
2003 17 (6 vids)
2004 23 (5 vids)
2005 24 (14 vids)
After 2005, al Qaeda video production went through the roof, with some months seeing 5-10 new ones appearing."

India-Pakistan: How To Be Unpopular and Love It

"The Taliban believes that they are doing God's will and cannot lose. Meanwhile, polls show that most Pakistanis would rather kill Taliban, than follow them."

Infantry: Head Stuff

"The PASGT came in five sizes, and weighed between 3.1 pounds (size Extra Small) to 4.2 pounds (size Extra Large). The new ACH weighs a third less than the PASGT, and uses a new type of Kevlar that provides more protection. The ACH will stop a 9mm bullet at close range, and rifle bullets at longer ranges. The ACH is smaller, and does not cover as much of the neck. This was important, because the newer protective vests (like the bullet-proof Interceptor) ride high on the back, thus becoming very uncomfortable when the soldier is prone and trying to fire his rifle. The ACH eliminates this problem. The ACH was first developed as a special project by the U.S. Army Special Forces, and was so successful that the rest of the army began buying them."

Warplanes: Fuel Cell Flyer

"The U.S. Navy has been experimenting with powering lightweight UAVs with fuel cells. One of these aircraft recently stayed aloft for 26 hours. The Ion Tiger UAV is a 37 pound aircraft that carries a 9.5 pound tank of compressed hydrogen to power the fuel cell battery that runs the engine. Also carried is a five pound sensor payload (day/night vidcam)."

Leadership: Iran And The Bad Plan

"The Iranian exercise had air and air-defense units go through the motions of dealing with a hostile air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
The Iranian generals who organized the exercise were surprised at how uncoordinated and ill prepared their forces were for such an attack. Communications were spotty (due to equipment failures and poor training), and weapons (aircraft and missile systems) did not perform as expected. The Iranians, it appears, were victims of their own propaganda. For years, Iran has been announcing new weapons, that don't exist. Same thing with new initiatives in training and tactics."

Weapons: The FBI Goes 20mm

"The 20mm rifle is intended mainly for destroying equipment at long ranges. Like motor vehicles, or even slow moving, and low flying, aircraft. Or small boats. The 20mm projectile weighs four ounces, and moves at 2,200 feet per second. The operational range of the 20mm round is 1,300 meters. In the hands of an expert shooter, the 20mm round can hit targets over 50 percent farther. The 20mm ammo available as armor-piercing incendiary or high explosive rounds."

Weapons: The FBI Goes 20mm

"The 20mm rifle is intended mainly for destroying equipment at long ranges. Like motor vehicles, or even slow moving, and low flying, aircraft. Or small boats. The 20mm projectile weighs four ounces, and moves at 2,200 feet per second. The operational range of the 20mm round is 1,300 meters. In the hands of an expert shooter, the 20mm round can hit targets over 50 percent farther. The 20mm ammo available as armor-piercing incendiary or high explosive rounds."

Decorated WWII Veteran Told to Take Down Flag Pole - NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |

"A homeowners association in Virginia ordered a decorated war veteran to take down his flagpole. The story caused debates and outrage nationwide, and some of the anger sits in Oklahoma and for good reason."

Winning: The Bad Guys Are Ahead

"The problem is that all this new networking activity is not being carried out with enough attention paid to security. These new utilities networks are already under attack by the usual criminal hackers looking for PCs to covertly take over to use as zombies (to send spam or seek out other PCs to infect.) This demonstrates that these systems are also vulnerable to a military type attack, meant to shut down the power grid, or any other vulnerable utility."

BofA Set to Repay Taxpayers - WSJ.com

Shouldn't have offered it. Shouldn't have accepted it. : "While Bank of America is struggling to overcome recessionary pressures, which have caused loan losses to balloon, its $6.47 billion profit through the end of September was down just 12% from a year earlier. Because of its improved health, Bank of America officials had been pushing to repay the government. Federal officials refused to allow it until they were confident the bank was strong enough."

Yahoo News: Afghanistan Photo

"A U.S. Army cadet reads a book entitled "Kill Bin Laden" as he waits with other cadets for U.S. President Barack Obama to deliver an address on U.S. policy and the war in Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York December 1, 2009. Obama is expected to announce a plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over six months in a bid to beat back the Taliban and bring a quicker end to a costly and unpopular eight-year war."

Afghanistan - Yahoo! News Photos

"A U.S. Army cadet reads a book entitled 'Kill Bin Laden' as he waits with other cadets for U.S. President Barack Obama to deliver an address on U.S. policy and the war in Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York December 1, 2009. Obama is expected to announce a plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over six months in a bid to beat back the Taliban and bring a quicker end to a costly and unpopular eight-year war"

Afghanistan - Yahoo! News Photos

"A U.S. Army cadet reads a book entitled 'Kill Bin Laden' as he waits with other cadets for U.S. President Barack Obama to deliver an address on U.S. policy and the war in Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York December 1, 2009. Obama is expected to announce a plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over six months in a bid to beat back the Taliban and bring a quicker end to a costly and unpopular eight-year war"

Afghanistan - Yahoo! News Photos

"A U.S. Army cadet reads a book entitled 'Kill Bin Laden' as he waits with other cadets for U.S. President Barack Obama to deliver an address on U.S. policy and the war in Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York December 1, 2009. Obama is expected to announce a plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan over six months in a bid to beat back the Taliban and bring a quicker end to a costly and unpopular eight-year war"