Morale: One Gurkha, No Passage

 

Britain recently awarded one of its Gurkha soldiers (sergeant Dipprasad Pun) the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (second only to the Victoria Cross) for killing or chasing away over 30 Taliban who tried to overwhelm his guard post in Helmand province, Afghanistan, last September. The night attack was detected by sergeant Pun, who was alone in the outpost. He grabbed all the weapons (machine-gun, assault rifle, and grenades) he could and went to the roof of his building. During a fifteen minute fight, he killed at least three Taliban, wounded many more, and caused the others to flee. Pun's father and grandfather had also been decorated while serving with Indian Gurkha regiments.

Morale: One Gurkha, No Passage

Justice League Movie to Stand on Its Own | Superhero Hype

 

Details on a Justice League feature film have been rapidly developing ever since the story broke yesterday that such a project was back on Warner Bros.' schedule. Now, HeyUGuys.co.uk has a further update from Superman director Zack Snyder, explaining that the ensemble film will not bear a link to either his project or to the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises.

‘It doesn’t [connect]," Snyder told the site on the red carpet for the London premiere of Sucker Punch, "Like what Chris Nolan is doing and what I’m doing with 'Superman', what they’ll do with 'Justice League' will be it’s own thing with its own Batman and own Superman. We’ll be over here with our movie and they’ll kinda get to do it twice, which is kind of cool."

One key project that seems to be temporarily left out of the equation is this summer's Green Lantern which still could, foreseeably, tie-in to the nascent Justice League film. Likewise, with recent word that WB will reboot the Batman franchise following the release of The Dark Knight Rises, it's still possible that the team picture could build up through cross-released franchise entries, a la Marvel Studios' lead-in to The Avengers.

Justice League Movie to Stand on Its Own | Superhero Hype

Public prefers cutting defense spending: Reuters/Ipsos poll - Yahoo! News

We’ve got a real public awareness/education problem here:

A majority of Americans prefer cutting defense spending to reduce the federal deficit rather than taking money from public retirement and health programs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday showed.

The poll found 51 percent of Americans support reducing defense spending, and only 28 percent want to cut Medicare and Medicaid health programs for the elderly and poor. A mere 18 percent back cuts in the Social Security retirement program.

The Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs, known as entitlements, and defense spending together account for about two-thirds of the $3.7 trillion federal budget, but they are not a major part of the debate in Congress over spending cuts.

Lawmakers are more focused on cutting so-called discretionary spending, but some experts say Congress will eventually need to cut entitlements to make a major dent in the country's $1.6 trillion deficit and $14 trillion debt.

The poll suggests lawmakers could face political peril if they touch the popular health and retirement programs.

"People recognize that defense is a big part of the budget and they are more likely to want to cut things that don't affect them directly," said Ipsos pollster Cliff Young.

Public prefers cutting defense spending: Reuters/Ipsos poll - Yahoo! News

So you cut Defense and not entitlements.  Take that farther; eliminate Defense and don’t touch entitlements.  You still have a $1 trillion deficit.  Look it up.  The projected deficit is $1.6 trillion.  the Defense budget request is for a little over $600 billion.  Total discretionary spending is only $1.1 trillion.

Mandatory spending, on the other hand is $2.1 trillion.  Mandatory spending is as follows:

• Social Security - $761 billion
• Medicare - $468 billion
• Medicaid - $269 billion
• TARP - $13 billion
• All other mandatory programs - $598 billion. These programs include Food Stamps, Unemployment Compensation, Child Nutrition and Tax Credits, Supplemental Security for the Disabled and Student Loans.

You can safely ignore, for the barest of moments, the fact that not one of these programs is Constitutional to see that no matter how much is cut from discretionary spending you cannot balance the budget, let alone begin paying off the debt.  Add the Constitutional element back in and you cannot deny that Defense is a proper function of the Federal government.
Just like a home budget—cut the extra stuff first, then pare back on the necessities if still needed.

Public prefers cutting defense spending: Reuters/Ipsos poll - Yahoo! News

We’ve got a real public awareness/education problem here:

A majority of Americans prefer cutting defense spending to reduce the federal deficit rather than taking money from public retirement and health programs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday showed.

The poll found 51 percent of Americans support reducing defense spending, and only 28 percent want to cut Medicare and Medicaid health programs for the elderly and poor. A mere 18 percent back cuts in the Social Security retirement program.

The Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs, known as entitlements, and defense spending together account for about two-thirds of the $3.7 trillion federal budget, but they are not a major part of the debate in Congress over spending cuts.

Lawmakers are more focused on cutting so-called discretionary spending, but some experts say Congress will eventually need to cut entitlements to make a major dent in the country's $1.6 trillion deficit and $14 trillion debt.

The poll suggests lawmakers could face political peril if they touch the popular health and retirement programs.

"People recognize that defense is a big part of the budget and they are more likely to want to cut things that don't affect them directly," said Ipsos pollster Cliff Young.

Public prefers cutting defense spending: Reuters/Ipsos poll - Yahoo! News

 

So you cut Defense and not entitlements.  Take that farther; eliminate Defense and don’t touch entitlements.  You still have a $1 trillion deficit.  Look it up.  The projected deficit is $1.6 trillion.  the Defense budget request is for a little over $600 billion.  Total discretionary spending is only $1.3 trillion.

Mandatory spending, on the other hand is $2.1 trillion.  Mandatory spending is as follows:

• Social Security - $761 billion
• Medicare - $468 billion
• Medicaid - $269 billion
• TARP - $13 billion
• All other mandatory programs - $598 billion. These programs include Food Stamps, Unemployment Compensation, Child Nutrition and Tax Credits, Supplemental Security for the Disabled and Student Loans.

You can safely ignore, for the barest of moments, the fact that not one of these programs is Constitutional to see that no matter how much is cut from discretionary spending you cannot balance the budget, let alone begin paying off the debt.  Add the Constitutional element back in and you cannot deny that Defense is a proper function of the Federal government.

Just like a home budget—cut the extra stuff first, then pare back on the necessities if still needed.

Weapons: Mk19 Gets A Brain

 

For years, American troops have been complaining about the inadequate sight on the Mk 19 40mm automatic grenade launcher. The brass finally paid attention, and then some. Last year, a new, and very effective mechanical sight was introduced. But the army call for a new Mk19 sight also attracted some even more ambitious efforts. And one of them has resulted in a remarkable electronic sight. Combining a GPS, laser rangefinder and computer, the new Mk19 FCS (Fire Control System) enables gunners to put the first round on the target, at extreme ranges (over 2,000 meters). The FCS can also fire an accurate pattern of 40mm grenades at those same ranges. Moreover, the GPS enables a FCS equipped Mk19 to accurately fire on a target the gunner can't see. The FCS also has a camera, which can mark targets, out to 5,000 meters, on a photo, which can be then transmitted to other troops or headquarters. The FCS is also very easy to use for anyone with Mk19 experience. You laze the target, and then use the aiming dot in the sight to mark where the rounds will go.

Weapons: Mk19 Gets A Brain

Winning: Radicals Reversed By Reality

 

While Islamic terrorism gets most of the headlines, there's also a growing "Arab Reform Movement" in the Middle East, that believes the problems in the Arab world are internal, not external. The fact that an increasing number of Arabs support this movement, and that governments are not trying to exterminate it, is encouraging. But the reform movement is pushing against centuries of conservatism, and opposition to the kinds of things that Westerners take for granted. Meanwhile, it appears that many Arabs still prefer to believe in conspiracies and fantasies, rather than deal with the reality of their situation. But this is changing, as the recent uprisings have vividly demonstrated.

The Arab Reform Movement has been holdings its meetings openly for more than a decade, many of the conferences paid for by the King of Saudi Arabia. While the Saudi royalty don't want to lose control of their kingdom, they also recognize that change is needed. These meetings get little media attention.

But a similar forum does. Since 2004, the Doha Debates have been held eight times a year in the Kingdom of Qatar. Each debate is covers a subject of great interest to the Arab world. Set up in cooperation with BBC (which broadcasts them worldwide to an audience of some 300 million), one of the recent debates posed the question that, after the recent Gaza war (which split the Arab world in a very public way, because many Arabs believed Hamas was being stupid, and a pawn of Iran), Arab unity was "dead and buried." Two notable Arabs debated for each side of the argument. Then the audience of Arabs (mostly college students from all over the Arab world) voted, 77 percent for the proposition (that Arab unity was dead) and 23 percent against.

The Doha Debates have been unique for the willingness to confront important issues in the Arab world, that are often only whispered about. Things like Israel and the Palestinians, the lack of democracy, education and economic progress and the role of religion in public life. Foreigners, including prominent Americans and Israelis, have been invited to argue their side of debates. Unlike a decade ago, important issues are being openly discussed. Public attitudes are changing, and change, in general, is creeping into the Arab world. This is what will ultimately defeat Islamic terrorism.

Winning: Radicals Reversed By Reality

U.S. Central Command | U.S. Central Command takes responsibility for one of world’s largest war records collection

 

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) officially took responsibility today for one of the world’s largest electronic war records collections, composed of 46 terabytes of about 50-60 million documents and one terabyte of photos.

This collection represents the records created at the operational-level joint headquarters in Iraq.  The individual services manage their own records within tactical units deployed in support of operations in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

At a small ceremony today, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Donald Walker, the Command Records Manager at U.S. Central Command, signed a form officially transferring control of the Operation Iraqi Freedom records from United States Forces-Iraq to CENTCOM.

The data from Iraq may well be the largest war records collection ever, according to Joel Westphal, the section chief of CENTCOM’s Records Management Section. His team is still determining just how many documents have been transferred to CENTCOM.

An operational planning team will soon start processing the documents by categorizing and describing them. After that’s completed, the documents will be eventually transferred to the National Archives in Washington D.C. to be placed in their Electronic Records Archive (ERA).

U.S. Central Command | U.S. Central Command takes responsibility for one of world’s largest war records collection

Hillsdale College - Imprimis Issue

 

In the two centuries since Malthus first predicted the apocalypse, the world population has risen sixfold—from one billion to more than six billion. Over the same time, average life expectancy has more than doubled—and average real income has risen ninefold.

In the four decades since Paul Ehrlich declared the battle to feed humanity over, a Chinese people who saw millions of their fellow citizens perish from famine as recently as the early 1960s are now better fed than ever in memory.

And in the years since Mr. McNamara predicted we could not sustain existing population levels, we have seen the greatest economic takeoff in East Asia—among nations with almost no natural resources and some of the largest and most crowded populations in the world.

Not that the record counts for much. Time and again Malthus has been disproved—and Malthus himself seems to have revised his own thinking in later years. Advanced and comfortable societies, however, seem to have an appetite for the prophets of apocalypse. The jargon may change—Mr. McNamara’s warnings about thermonuclear war have given way to ominous talk of carbon footprints, unsustainable growth, ‘Humanpox,’ and the like. Yet at the bottom of it all remains the same zero-sum approach that sees the human being as the enemy rather than the solution.

And the greatest irony of all? Many of the same nations that once tried so hard to push their birth rates down—Japan and Singapore, for example—are now frantically trying to encourage their people to have more children as they see the costs of a rapidly aging population. My own prediction is that within a few years China will join them, replacing its one-child policy with inducements to Chinese women to have more babies.

Am I suggesting, then, that we trade the Sermon on the Mount for The Wealth of Nations? Hardly. I do say that when it comes to the banquet of life, our economists have proved themselves more gracious hosts than our humanitarians; that a businessman who travels to a poor country and envisions a thriving factory has a more realistic assessment of human possibility than the U.N. aid worker who believes the answer is reducing the birth rate; and that the champions of liberty tend to do better by humanity than the champions of humanity do by either.

Hillsdale College - Imprimis Issue

BBC News - Dead soldier Liam Tasker and Army dog return home

 

 

The body of a soldier who died along with his record breaking sniffer dog in Afghanistan last week has returned home to the UK.

Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, from Kirkcaldy in Fife, was shot dead while on patrol in Helmand province.

The ashes of the 26-year-old's dog Theo were flown home on the same plane.

L/Cpl Tasker, who was called a "rising star" by Army chiefs, was shot by Taliban snipers and Theo died of a seizure shortly after his master.

The soldier and his 22-month-old dog had made 14 finds in five months while on the frontline.

The pair's successes at uncovering so many explosions and weapons had resulted in their tour of Afghanistan being extended by a month.

Just three weeks ago, springer spaniel Theo was praised as a record breaking Army sniffer dog.

The body of L/Cpl Tasker and the ashes of Theo were flown to RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire at lunchtime, before a cortege passed through Wootton Bassett, the Wiltshire town which has built up a tradition of welcoming back fallen heroes.

BBC News - Dead soldier Liam Tasker and Army dog return home

Electronic Weapons: X-Ray Vision For The Infantry

 

Five years after the first portable, wall penetrating, radar, went to Iraq, there have been several generations of more reliable and capable devices have been developed and shipped. The latest one is Prism, whose improvements largely have to do with speed (the image of what is behind the wall is produced faster) and accuracy (more detail is shown) and reliability (more resistance to dust, water and rough treatment.) The Prism battle weighs 5.6 kg (12.3 pounds), has an eight hour battery and a range to 20 meters (63 feet). Throughout this period, the devices have retained their small size (hand-held) and weight (under 6 kg/13 pounds).

Three years ago, two years after the first of these systems, RadarVision, became available, the Xaver 400 arrived. This one weighed 3 kg (6.5 pounds), and could see through non-metal walls at a range of up to 20 meters (63 feet). The battery lasted 2.5 hours and the device could broadcast images, up to a hundred meters, to another display.

Electronic Weapons: X-Ray Vision For The Infantry

Afghanistan: Down But Not Out

 

Although most civilian casualties are caused by the Taliban, the Afghan government makes the most noise about those caused by foreign troops. This is despite the fact that the Taliban kill civilians as a tactic (both to terrorize, or use as human shields), while NATO takes extreme measures to avoid civilian losses (which are lower than any similar war in history). The reason for going after the foreigners (who have saved far more people than they have killed) rather than the Taliban (just the opposite) is money and personal safety. The Taliban will pay for media activity that helps them, and will kill those who do not help. Vote-wise, it's always better to speak ill of foreigners, even if they are being helpful. Then there's the Afghan custom, based on thousands of years of surviving because of it, to choose short-term gains over long-term ones. While many Afghans recognize that economic development, less corruption, less crime and more education would, in the long run, do more for Afghanistan, there's always the temptation to take the bribe, or deliver the cheap shot to the generous and helpful foreigners. The struggle in Afghanistan is not just about religion, or heroin or tribal rivalries, it's also about changing ancient customs. The old ways have a strong hold on most Afghans, even those determined to get away from the dismal past.

The war is not going well for the Taliban and their drug gang allies. In the last three months, foreign troops have carried out 15-20 operations (raids, patrols) a day. The main goal has been to capture or kill key Taliban personnel, and that happened to three or four Taliban leaders a day over the last 90 days. In addition, in the course of those 1,500 operations, over 1,800 lower ranking Taliban were captured and 500 killed. In part due to a rewards program for tips, over a thousand  weapons caches and workshops were found and destroyed. This has caused the Taliban severe supply problems, and is a major reason for the decline in roadside bomb activity.

Afghanistan: Down But Not Out

on the Wisconsin “protests”/protein wisdom

Jeff G.:

The pollutant of “progressive” thinking has here culminated in a surreal civic moment, one in which the idealized cultural sexiness of the 60s, and a desire to re-live it, has given us the spectacle of university students chanting in favor of bigger government, less choice, fewer freedoms, and a total subsuming of the individual into an dictatorial, top-down collective. Like a hive of buzzing drones, these people are now actively swarming in hopes of bringing on the deconstruction of their country’s founding ideals by way of agitating for a neutered collective ruled by a top-down union leadership structure, one that splits the profits with the Democrat party while the private sector taxpayer gets higher property taxes to go with the dwindling opportunity available outside the government ranks.

And they pretend to be for the “working man”!

Read the rest (NSFW):  on the Wisconsin “protests”

NASCAR Fans Fail to Bite NBC's Bigot Bait/ Read more: http://newsbusters.org/node/4799#ixzz1G7vx1wEJ

 

B. Duane Cross writes at NASCAR.com that NBC was unable to find people in the racing stands who would persecute their "plants" wearing Middle Eastern clothing. Also, the NBC crew did not do a good job of concealing themselves.

NBC News baited the hook, but netted nothing in its "sting" attempt to find anti-Muslim sentiments during the Martinsville race weekend....

The inference is that NASCAR fans are bigots, and NBC News was hoping to bait fans into making insensitive remarks to the Muslim / Arab people it had planted at the track.

Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications, said Wednesday that no instances of unrest were reported. "No one bothered them," Poston said.

It's hard to imagine that NBC News would try to entrap fans in a ploy to make its Dateline segment juicier. But apparently the network did just that; NBC did not deny its actions when confronted by NASCAR....

NBC News should know that NASCAR isn't the last bastion of redneck; the people at NBC Sports thought so much of NASCAR -- and its diverse fan base -- that it chipped in with TNT to spend $1.2 billion for broadcast rights the past six years.

http://newsbusters.org/node/4799#ixzz1G7e8dwce

CNBC's Fast Money: Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages - CNBC

 

Government payouts—including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if action isn’t taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.

Even as the economy has recovered, social welfare benefits make up 35 percent of wages and salaries this year, up from 21 percent in 2000 and 10 percent in 1960, according to TrimTabs Investment Research using Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

“The U.S. economy has become alarmingly dependent on government stimulus,” said Madeline Schnapp, director of Macroeconomic Research at TrimTabs, in a note to clients. “Consumption supported by wages and salaries is a much stronger foundation for economic growth than consumption based on social welfare benefits.”

The economist gives the country two stark choices. In order to get welfare back to its pre-recession ratio of 26 percent of pay, “either wages and salaries would have to increase $2.3 trillion, or 35 percent, to $8.8 trillion, or social welfare benefits would have to decline $500 billion, or 23 percent, to $1.7 trillion,” she said.

Last month, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a $61 billion federal spending cut, but Senate Democratic leaders and the White House made it clear that had no chance of becoming law. Short-term resolutions passed have averted a government shutdown that could have occurred this month, as Vice President Biden leads negotiations with Republican leaders on some sort of long-term compromise.

CNBC's Fast Money: Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages - CNBC

As election year approaches, more and more GOP “pragmatists” begin their push to re-elect Obama/protein wisdom

 

Of course, they think they’re doing something else entirely — Jeb Bush, for instance, thought that by helping Obama in Florida, he was appealing to “moderates” and paving the way for his 2016 presidential run, which I can already tell you from my perspective is dead in the water — but regardless of what they think they’re doing, what they are actually doing is help portray the TEA Party as part of an extremist right wing fringe, particularly inasmuch as it is ruthlessly and directly pushing back against a non-radical Good Man who is simply governing as a typical Democrat does.

But of course, Obama’s failed policies are not necessarily what’s at issue: we know tax and spend doesn’t work, that it never has, and that expanding the federal government has given us nothing but spiraling debt, failing schools, and endless bureaucracy that is killing business and jobs. The problem is, Obama knows this too — and if he didn’t before, he most surely does after two years and a real unemployment rate that, using Bush-era workforce numbers, would resolve to around 11 or 12%. Which leads one to ask, if he knows what he’s doing doesn’t work, why double down in the face of public pushback? Why submit a budget with a $1.6 trillion shortfall after an election fueled by TEA Party complaints of overreaching and overspending? Why repeatedly refuse to allow oil drilling or coal mining? Why use the power of your regulatory agencies to get implemented dictates that you couldn’t get passed into law — and that you know the American people don’t want? Why? To what end?

To continue with the charade that Obama is a garden variety liberal Democrat of some previous vintage who has the best intentions for America simply ignores the evidence — from all that Stanley Kurtz has documented to Obama’s very real attempts to devalue the currency; to take the side of union bosses over struggling tax payers; to “nudge” us all toward green energy and “proper” food intake; to stand back and allow his leftist attack dogs to pin shootings on political rivals and critics; and on and on and on, right down to federal takeovers of industry, crony capitalism and union favoritism, and an end game that leaves Americans with a single payer health care leviathan controlled by the government that most of us simply don’t want (and have made repeatedly clear).

If Obama is a garden-variety liberal Democrat, that’s only because the Democrat party has been overtaken by what was the New Left, who have simply re-branded themselves as Democrats and liberals while governing as “progressives” and socialists.

The federal government is dramatically expanding under Obama; the private sector is shrinking. Obama has made clear his desire to “transform” the nation and a desire to “spread the wealth.” Transform the nation into what, exactly? And to what end?

How many more breadcrumbs must this guy leave before some on the right will wake up and get over their need to show knee-jerk deference to a man who clearly holds the “teabaggers” and “bitter clingers” — that is, the constitutionalists, the classical liberals, the Reagan Democrats, and the fiscal and social conservatives — in utter contempt?

So yes. By all means. Let’s revive that strategy — the one where WE insist Obama is more centrist and pragmatic than he actually is, and where WE move leftward in order to approximate the “centrism” and “pragmatism” WE have bestowed on an Alinsky-ite whose entire political career is owed to Chicago leftwing academics, unrepentant domestic terrorists, and Chicago socialists and professional mau mauers.

Because that worked out so well for Senator McCain.

As election year approaches, more and more GOP “pragmatists” begin their push to re-elect Obama

$3.88 [Darleen Click]/protein wisdom

 

That’s the price per gallon at my local gas station … it has gone up every day (sometimes twice a day) over the past month.

But I shouldn’t worry, the NYTimes tells me I’m better prepared. Thomas Friedman demands that the price of gas be kept above $4/gal … so us little people will be forced to change our behavior …

You know, be willing to sell our cars, move to a cramped urban apartment, be dependent on government-provided, union-run transportation and never question our betters like Friedman.

Or else.

$3.88 [Darleen Click]

Last Spanish-American War Ship Seeks Port

 

the last surviving vessel of the Spanish-American War and an icon of the Philadelphia waterfront for more than 50 years -- is looking for a new caretaker and will be hosting candidates at a summit to be held from March 30 to April 1.

Forty people representing dozens of organizations, including historic preservationists and prospective stewards from across the country, plan to attend the event, said officials at the Independence Seaport Museum, the ship's current caretaker.

Some have expressed an interest in taking over the ship, but they must be qualified as nonprofits and financially able to pay for the $2 million to $5 million of work to immediately stabilize the deteriorating warship.

Another $10 million to $20 million will be required for dry dock and restoration.

The summit "is a sharing process to preserve history," Capt. John J. Gazzola, president and chief executive officer of the Independence Seaport Museum, said in an interview Monday. "We wouldn't need a summit if there weren't interested parties.

"We would like to see the successful transfer of stewardship from the museum to another responsible organization."

New benefactors will be required to submit a letter of intent and executive summary application by Sept. 1, followed by business/financial and environmental plans by April 1, 2012. A mooring, towing, maintenance, and curatorial plan must be submitted by Nov. 1, 2012.

The museum is expecting letters of intent but will be even more interested in the submission of viable financial plans next year.

"If no one steps up, we may have to look at other options," said Jesse Lebovics, manager of the Olympia and submarine Becuna for the museum. "We may have to go down a destructive path."

Lebovics said that could involve the scrapping or reefing of the Olympia. But he and other museum officials say they hope it never comes to that.

"No one wants to see the Olympia in this crisis again," Lebovics said. "This is the greatest progress we've made to date. We now have a methodology to solve the Olympia problem."

One of the organizations that would like to take over the Olympia is the Friends of the Cruiser Olympia, which recently approved $10,000 for some emergency hull repairs and would consider spending an additional $100,000 to prepare the ship for its transfer to dry dock.

Bruce Harris, executive director of the group, which has been trying to raise $5 million for the restoration, said he would meet Tuesday "with interested parties" in Washington to discuss formation of a coalition to apply for transfer of stewardship.

"Our group wants to keep her in Philly and turn her into an independent museum, after dry-docking and refitting," said Harris. "She would be part of the renaissance of the Philadelphia waterfront. We think Olympia is in a great spot. "

The Olympia is best known for its role at the Battle of Manila Bay, when Commodore George Dewey stood on the bridge and uttered the famous words, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley," to Capt. Charles Gridley.

The ship spent World War I in the Atlantic Ocean and later brought home the remains of the Unknown Soldier from France in 1921.

Last Spanish-American War Ship Seeks Port

85-year-old U.S. Army sniper veteran proves he hasn't lost his skills as he picks off a target at 1,000 yards | Mail Online

 

He may be 85 years old, but when Army sniper veteran Ted Gundy was given the chance to show off the skills he used in World War Two, he proved he could still keep up with the very best.

That’s because he was invited to try out the Army’s latest technology in a challenge to hit a target a whopping 1,000 yards away.

But the former member of the Missouri honour guard, stepped up to the challenge with an extremely level head.

Scroll down for a video of the veteran's incredible shooting

Hero: 86-year-old veteran sniper Ted Gundy served with the Missouri honor guards in World War Two and fought at the Battle of the Bulge

After all, he had fought in the Battle of the Bulge – considered one of the most defining clashes of U.S. Army history and remains the largest battle ever fought by United States troops.

Before he could get his hands on the modern day equipment, the Army presented him with a 1903 A4 replica sniper – the same he used in the war and had not seen since 1944.

Despite a 66-year gap without using the gun, he had no ease picking off a target at 300 yards, with all three shots hitting the target.

Replica: He is given an exact copy of the 1903 A4 rifle he used in the war, having not handled one since 1944

Perfect hit: The veteran manages a bullseye with the old rifle from 300 yards

It was then that the officers taught him how the Army’s custom made Remington 700 works and explained how a 1,000 yard shot can be achieved.

It involves a second sniper, called a spotter, judging the wind direction and any other conditions that could affect the bullet’s trajectory.

Mr Gundy, who lives in Memphis, Missouri, said before the shot: ‘I couldn’t even dream in a thousand years how you would even see the target, yet alone hit it.

He tried the modern equivalent and manages three head shots less than five inches apart

Mr Gundy is presented with the 1903 A4 replica as a souvenir of his day which he said was 'the nicest thing to ever happen in my life'

‘I hope that I can hit the target but if I was betting money I’d bet nine to one that I don’t. That’s a long, long way.’

But his modesty was greater than his skills and he managed with ease to pick off the target, with three impressive head shots all within five inches of each other.

He said afterwards: ‘I couldn’t believe I could have hit anything that far away.’

SFC Robby Johnson, who taught Mr Gundy how to use the new equipment said: ‘To meet someone that was actually there and was a sniper back then, it’s just a great honour.’

Mr Gundy, holding back the tears, said the experience was ‘one of the nicest things to ever happen in my life.’

85-year-old U.S. Army sniper veteran proves he hasn't lost his skills as he picks off a target at 1,000 yards | Mail Online

NPR Executives Caught On Video | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

 

A man who appears to be a National Public Radio senior executive, Ron Schiller, has been captured on camera savaging conservatives and the Tea Party movement.

“The current Republican Party, particularly the Tea Party, is fanatically involved in people’s personal lives and very fundamental Christian – I wouldn’t even call it Christian. It’s this weird evangelical kind of move,” declared Schiller, the head of NPR’s nonprofit foundation, who last week announced his departure for the Aspen Institute.

In a new video released Tuesday morning by conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe, Schiller and Betsy Liley, NPR’s director of institutional giving, are seen meeting with two men who, unbeknownst to the NPR executives, are posing as members of a Muslim Brotherhood front group. The men, who identified themselves as Ibrahim Kasaam and Amir Malik from the fictitious Muslim Education Action Center (MEAC) Trust, met with Schiller and Liley at Café Milano, a well-known Georgetown restaurant, and explained their desire to give up to $5 million to NPR because, “the Zionist coverage is quite substantial elsewhere.”

On the tapes, Schiller wastes little time before attacking conservatives. The Republican Party, Schiller says, has been “hijacked by this group.” The man posing as Malik finishes the sentence by adding, “the radical, racist, Islamaphobic, Tea Party people.” Schiller agrees and intensifies the criticism, saying that the Tea Party people aren’t “just Islamaphobic, but really xenophobic, I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it’s scary. They’re seriously racist, racist people.”

Schiller goes on to describe liberals as more intelligent and informed than conservatives. “In my personal opinion, liberals today might be more educated, fair and balanced than conservatives,” he said.

NPR Executives Caught On Video | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment

iafrica.com | cooltech | science & nature | Solar flare warning for SA

 

The Hermanus Space Weather Warning Centre (SWWC) on Sunday said a large solar flare was currently being experienced in South Africa. The solar flare would result in higher radiation levels from the sun.
SWWC’s forecaster Kobus Olckers said people should be careful when they go outside.
"People must wear high sunscreen factor at the moment or preferably go shopping," he said.

A powerful solar flare could overwhelm high-voltage transformers with electrical currents and short-circuit energy grids, with one such event in 1989 disrupting power across the Canadian province of Quebec.

iafrica.com | cooltech | science & nature | Solar flare warning for SA

Information Warfare: Chasing The Night Dragon

 

Network security experts throughout the West are calling the increasing number of attacks on corporate and government computer systems as operation "Night Dragon," and describe it as a major Chinese effort to grab as much valuable information as they can before Western defenses get stronger. China is the likely culprit because so many of the operations have been traced back to China, many of the hacking tools are known to be of Chinese origin, and so much of the information is particularly useful to Chinese companies, or the Chinese military. Moreover, China has refused to assist Western network security specialists and law enforcement efforts in getting access to the Chinese based servers that much of the information is being sent back to.

China appears to be using both government Cyber War units, and many more Chinese freelancers, and computer crime groups, to carry out this large number of attacks. Western defensive efforts have accelerated because of Night Dragon, and governments are working diplomatic channels to try and get the Chinese to back off. Western Cyber War commanders are urging web based counter-strikes, believing that the Chinese will respond to nothing else. If this approach is tried, it will not be announced. That's how this game is played, and, so far, the Chinese have created the rules.

Information Warfare: Chasing The Night Dragon

Panel Wants Women in Combat Arms

I think the stage is already being set for this.  The new APFT, reportedly, will not have separate standards for males and females.  With that done, the argument in favor becomes easier; they should be allowed to serve in any capacity where they can meet or exceed the same minimum standard.

A Pentagon commission is recommending that ground combat units be open to female troops, arguing women are already engaged in combat and that keeping them out of operational career fields puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to promotion.

The recommendation by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission has been expected since early January, when a draft version of the report was released. Opening combat arms to women was only one of 20 recommendations made by the commission. The report also presses for a military force that more closely reflects the country's demographics.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, whose forces would see the most dramatic changes with women moving into combat jobs, did not comment on the recommendations.

Retired Air Force Gen. Lester L. Lyles, who chaired the commission, said the women they interviewed -- all ranks from all branches -- were neither gung ho nor shy about the possibility of serving in combat units.

"I didn't hear, 'Rah, rah, we want to be in combat,' " Lyles said, "but I also didn't hear, 'We don't want to be in combat.'

"What they want is an equal opportunity to serve where their skills allow them to serve," he said in a DoD release. "Removing the barriers for that, and removing the barriers to them getting credit for that, was our No. 1 focus."

Panel Wants Women in Combat Arms

New Gitmo Trials May Include 9/11 Suspects

 

President Obama's decision to resume military trials for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will open the door for the prosecution there of several suspected 9/11 conspirators, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Obama's order, which reverses his move two years ago to halt new trials, has reignited arguments over the legality of the military commissions, despite ongoing U.S. efforts to reform the hotly debated system.

But fierce congressional opposition to trying Mohammed and other Guantanamo detainees in the United States left Obama with few options. And it forced him to reluctantly retreat, at least for now, from his promise to shut the prison down.

A handful of detainees have been charged in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, including Mohammed. But the charges were dismissed following Obama's decision to halt military commissions in January 2009.

New Gitmo Trials May Include 9/11 Suspects

Sea Transportation: The Yachts Strike Back

 

Despite the difficulty of collecting ransoms from yachts (and those captured on them), Somali pirates have continued to go after them. As a result, most yachts have heeded warnings and begun avoiding the eastern Indian Ocean (the area between Africa and India). But some yachts have ventured into these waters any way, often with armed guards. In one recent incident, a yacht was accompanied by a security vessel staffed with six armed men. Somali pirates attacked the yacht at night, and some got on board. The two people on the yacht locked themselves in a safe room, and the security vessel quickly reached the yacht, exchanged fire with the pirates, who promptly fled. There were no injuries, although the yacht suffered some damage from the gunfire.

The security vessel was supplied by Naval Guards, one of the several firms now supplying armed escort services for ships travelling through pirate infested waters. Naval Guards operates out of Djibouti (the northern neighbor of Somalia), and has five patrol boats, ranging in size from 21-42 meters (54-128 feet) in length. These boats carry from six to fifteen armed men. The sea going boats escort ships, and provide additional eyes to spot approaching pirates (who like to attack at night in speedboats.) The Yemeni Navy has also put some of its patrol boats into service providing escorts for ships passing through Yemeni waters. Daily fees for these escorts can be up to $10,000 or more (depending on the size of the escort and how far out at sea the escort has to meet up with the ship it will protect.) So far, no ship escorted by these escort services has been taken.

Sea Transportation: The Yachts Strike Back

Special Operations: Egypt Quietly Invades Libya

 

The rebellion against the Kadaffi dictatorship in Libya has not produced any official outside help, but Egypt has apparently sent some of its commandos in to help out the largely amateur rebel force. Wearing civilian clothes, the hundred or so Egyptian commandos are officially not there, but are providing crucial skills and experience to help the rebels cope with the largely irregular, and mercenary, force still controlled by the Kadaffi clan. There are also some commandos from Britain (SAS) and American (Special Forces) operators are also believed wandering around, mainly to escort diplomats or perform reconnaissance (and find out who is in charge among the rebels).

The Egyptian commandos come from Unit 777, a force that was established in the late 1970s, but underwent some ups and downs in the next two decades before achieving its current form. Today, the 250-300 -man Unit 777 is a significantly improved force. They fall under the command of the Army Commando Command, both of whom are based in Cairo. Unit 777 trains with the help of the German GSG-9, French GIGN, and American Delta Force commandos. All Unit 777 members are qualified in static-line (low altitude) airborne operations, and possibly with HALO (high altitude jumps) as well. The primary operations of Unit 777 involve the suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic radical groups. There have been rumors that Unit 777 has conducted cross-border operations, although this cannot be confirmed. If not, this foray into Libya would be the first one. The foreign commandos who have worked with Unit 777 all agree that the Egyptians have become quite competent, especially when it comes to counter-terror operations.

Any Egyptian involvement in Libya has to be handled very carefully. While the two countries fought a three day war in 1977, the real cause of tension is the fact that for thousands of years, most of Libya was considered part of Egypt. Given the fact that Libya has all that oil, and less than a tenth of the population of Egypt, well, then, you can figure out the rest. But for the moment, everyone is a revolutionary brother. At least for as long as the moment lasts, then history takes over.

Special Operations: Egypt Quietly Invades Libya

Shane Black Confirms He'll be Writing Iron Man 3 as Well | Superhero Hype

 

An Ain't It Cool News reader attended a panel at the Omaha Film Festival on which filmmaker Shane Black was speaking and eventually he was asked about Iron Man 3, a movie he was rumored to be writing and directing last month, something that was never confirmed either by Walt Disney Pictures or Marvel Studios. Fans of Shane Black's directorial debut Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang should be excited about seeing him reunited with Robert Downey Jr. as it was that film that helped Jon Favreau and Marvel make their decision to go with Downey for the role of Tony Stark in the first place.

Black told the film festival audience that he's scheduled to meet later this week with Downey, who will be contributing to the story, and that Black himself will be writing the script as well as directing. Marvel Studios clearly must know that not everyone was happy with the previous sequel and Black said they've decided to focus on Iron Man and Tony Stark for the third movie, rather than bringing in other heroes from the Marvel Universe. And according to Black, they plan on going back to "self-contained single-character stories" following The Avengers. 

Black also told the audience:

"Iron Man 3 will not be another 'two men in iron suits fighting each other' film. Instead, it will be more like a Tom Clancy-thriller, with Iron Man fighting real world villians."

This is certainly an interesting take on the character that's not too far removed from some of the better Iron Man comic book stories from the '80s, and maybe that means will be seeing the likes of Spymaster and Madame Masque in the third movie.

Shane Black Confirms He'll be Writing Iron Man 3 as Well | Superhero Hype

Calculate Your Nitrogen Footprint - NBC29

 

Your eating habits can make quite an impact on the environment. Producing and consuming food is one of the major contributors to nitrogen pollution. A scientist at the University of Virginia has created a new web-based tool that measures your nitrogen footprint so you can take steps to reduce it.

Jim Galloway is an environmental scientist and Associate Dean for the Sciences at UVA's College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He said the nitrogen calculator measures your nitrogen footprint by the way you live, the transportation you use and the goods and services and food you consume. Too much nitrogen in the environment can affect air and water quality.

The calculator shows that on average, Americans consume about twice as much protein based foods each day than recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"If Americans just consumed only the protein, animal or vegetable protein, that they're supposed to consume instead of over consuming we would decrease the nitrogen pollution problem in the United States by a very large number," Galloway said.

Farms often times use fertilizers on crops which creates excess nitrogen. Galloway said producing food generates more nitrogen pollution than actually eating it.

"We want to make sure we get the message across to not only the consumer but the producer saying there are things that can be done to produce the food but lose less nitrogen to the environment in that process," Galloway said.

After reaching the results page, there are recommendations on how to reduce your nitrogen footprint including using public transportation and lowering your thermostat.

Calculate Your Nitrogen Footprint - NBC29

America's secret plan to arm Libya's rebels - Middle East, World - The Independent

 

Desperate to avoid US military involvement in Libya in the event of a prolonged struggle between the Gaddafi regime and its opponents, the Americans have asked Saudi Arabia if it can supply weapons to the rebels in Benghazi. The Saudi Kingdom, already facing a "day of rage" from its 10 per cent Shia Muslim community on Friday, with a ban on all demonstrations, has so far failed to respond to Washington's highly classified request, although King Abdullah personally loathes the Libyan leader, who tried to assassinate him just over a year ago.

Washington's request is in line with other US military co-operation with the Saudis. The royal family in Jeddah, which was deeply involved in the Contra scandal during the Reagan administration, gave immediate support to American efforts to arm guerrillas fighting the Soviet army in Afghanistan in 1980 and later – to America's chagrin – also funded and armed the Taliban.

But the Saudis remain the only US Arab ally strategically placed and capable of furnishing weapons to the guerrillas of Libya. Their assistance would allow Washington to disclaim any military involvement in the supply chain – even though the arms would be American and paid for by the Saudis.

America's secret plan to arm Libya's rebels - Middle East, World - The Independent

Now comes the 'lower education bubble' | Glenn Harlan Reynolds | Sunday Reflections | Washington Examiner

 

Wisconsin spends a lot of money on education, and its teachers are well-paid. The average total compensation for a teacher in the Milwaukee public schools is over $100,000 per year.

In fact, Wisconsin spends more money per pupil than any other state in the Midwest. Nonetheless, two-thirds of Wisconsin eighth-graders can't read proficiently.

But it gets worse: “The test also showed that the reading abilities of Wisconsin public-school eighth graders had not improved at all between 1998 and 2009, despite a significant inflation-adjusted increase in the amount of money Wisconsin public schools spent per pupil each year. . . . from 1998 to 2008, Wisconsin public schools increased their per pupil spending by $4,245 in real terms yet did not add a single point to the reading scores of their eighth graders and still could lift only one-third of their eighth graders to at least a 'proficient' level in reading.”

So it's lots of pay but not much in the way of performance. And in this, alas, Wisconsin's situation is typical of public education at the K-12 level around the country. (In fact, one of the reasons given for the increase in higher-education costs is the need to provide remedial education to many high school graduates, who never managed to learn the things they were supposed to have learned before they arrived at college. As an explanation for high college costs it's shaky, but the phenomenon itself is beyond dispute).

So at the K-12 level, we've got an educational system that in many fundamental ways hasn't changed in 100 years – except, of course, by becoming much less rigorous – but that nonetheless has become vastly more expensive without producing significantly better results.

Now comes the 'lower education bubble' | Glenn Harlan Reynolds | Sunday Reflections | Washington Examiner

The Lone Star Report > Lone Star Report Blog - Simpson files anti-body-scanner bill

 

A freshman Representative filed a bill to penalize airport body scanner operators: Including TSA agents.

Can they do that to a federal agent? Bill author Rep. David Simpson (R-Longview) thinks so. And he's not alone, with 18 co-sponsors from both parties (see list below) and a few organizations.

The bill, HB 1938, makes it a civil penalty for anyone working in a locally owned airport to install or operate whole-body imaging equipment -- "including a device that uses backscatter x-rays or millimeter waves, that creates a visual image of a person's unclothed body and is intended to detect concealed objects," the bill read.

The penalty is capped at $1,000 per day per violation.

The bill is supported by the Travis County Republican Party, the Travis County Libertarian Party, ACLU-Texas, and Austin-based Texans for Accountable Government which pushed for a city of Austin resolution against the scanners.

Simpson may also have the backing of U.S. Congressman John Carter of Texas, a member of the U.S. House Appropriations and Homeland Security committees.

"On Thursday I met with U.S. Congressman John Carter ... to discuss strategies for stopping the federal Transportation Safety Administration’s implementation of unconstitutional and unreasonable searches of U.S. citizens as a condition of travel," Simpson wrote in his weekly blog post.

The Lone Star Report > Lone Star Report Blog - Simpson files anti-body-scanner bill

Murphy's Law: Why China Still Uses Carrier Pigeons

 

Carrier pigeons have been retired by most armies. The last European country to do so was Switzerland, in the 1970s (at the same time it got rid of its bicycle units). China, however, has continued to maintain thousands of homing pigeons for military communications duty. A pigeon can carry up to 75 g (2.5 ounces) for several hundred kilometers (at speeds of about 80 kilometers an hour). The Chinese use them to carry coded messages to offshore island bases, and plan to use them in future conflicts where so much electronic jamming is used that carrier pigeons are the only reliable means of communicating.

Carrier pigeons have been used for thousands of years, but declined in usefulness as the telegraph was introduced in the mid-19th century, and radio in the early 20th. Despite that, carrier pigeons saw lots of use in the two World Wars, particularly in hilly areas that interfered with radio signals. Many nations found it cheaper to use carrier pigeons than radios or telephones.

Modern military radios can better cope with terrain and atmospheric problems, as well as jamming. But there are still some electronic jamming methods that can shut down all radios, although most nations are reluctant to use it (since it shuts down everyone's radios.) The Chinese, however, consider the carrier pigeons as a backup device that might come in handy.

Murphy's Law: Why China Still Uses Carrier Pigeons

Electronic Weapons: Hard Times For Snipers

 

The U.S. Army infantry in Afghanistan have begun receiving SWATS (Soldier Worn Acoustic Targeting Systems) sniper detectors. About 1,500 a month will be delivered through the end of the year. These 183 g (6.4 ounce) devices come in two pieces. One is the sensor, that is worn on the shoulder, while the cell phone size controller, with small LCD display, is worn in front, where it can be quickly glanced at. SWATS calculates (from the of the sound weapon fired) direction of fire in a tenth of a second. SWATS has been very popular with troops, and cost about $2,000 each. SWATS can also be mounted on vehicles, and still work when the vehicle is moving at speeds of 80 kilometers an hour or more.

Devices like SWATS have been around for several years now, and troops find the sniper detectors are a big help. Last year, 4,500 American troops were shot (most were wounded) by gunfire in Afghanistan. Without sniper detectors, there would be more such casualties. That's because, with a sniper detector, troops can quickly turn on the enemy shooter and deliver accurate fire of their own. American infantry are much more accurate shooters than your average Taliban gunman. That first shot from the Taliban usually misses, which is less likely when American infantry return fire. SWATS is more accurate and reliable than earlier gunfire detectors.

Electronic Weapons: Hard Times For Snipers

Weapons: The Thermal Revolution

 

Back in the 1990s, thermal sights for infantry weapons were unheard of. But now the second generation of these sights have been in combat for three years, and new models keep arriving with improvements in range, detail, zoom and reliability. Some of the latest models can be clipped on day sights, without requiring zeroing the combined sight all over again. 

It was only four years ago that the second generation of thermal weapons sights began reaching the troops. The new sights revolutionized the way troops fight at night, since "thermals" sense heat, and are effective anywhere (the old night sights depended on amplifying available light). Thermal sights are particularly popular because they also identify any warm machinery, at long distance, by detecting heat, and they can be used in caves (and other places that lack any light to amplify) as well as in situations like sandstorms and fog.

Weapons: The Thermal Revolution

This just got interesting [JHoward]

 

From PJ Tatler:

Judge Roger Vinson ruled ObamaCare’s individual mandate unconstitutional a little over a month ago. Today, he came out chastising the Obama administration for going ahead and implementing the law anyway, and has given them a week to file a proper appeal of his original ruling.

Ed Morrissey, Hot Air:

Vinson goes right up to the edge of accusing the Obama administration of lying to the court [...]

Basically, this forces the Department of Justice to expedite the appeals process, which they were clearly hoping to avoid.  The dilatory tactics that Vinson blasts in this ruling almost certainly won’t impress the appellate court, either.  Furthermore, the order forces the Obama administration to fight on Vinson’s ruling first and now rather than wait for a more friendly set of rulings and hope to marginalize Vinson down the road.

The White House asked for a clarification.  They got a trip to the woodshed instead, and a very short time frame to stop the halt to ObamaCare that Vinson’s ruling creates.

This just got interesting [JHoward]

Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Launching on Secret Mission | Space Weapons & Military Space | X-37B Space Plane, Robotic Spaceships & Space Technology | Space.com

 

The robotic X-37B mini-shuttle is slated to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday atop an Atlas 5 rocket, weather permitting. Its launch window opens at 3:39 p.m. EST (2039 GMT), according to the launch provider United Launch Alliance, which is overseeing the flight.

This will mark the second space mission for the Air Force's X-37B space plane program — but the first for this particular plane. It is the second X-37B spacecraft built for the Air Force by Boeing and carries the name Orbital Test Vehicle 2, or OTV-2.

The first X-37B spacecraft launched in April 2010 and returned to Earth in December after an apparently successful test flight, though the details of that mission – like this upcoming flight – are classified. The first X-37B mission lasted 225 days. [Photos: First Flight of the X-37B Space Plane]

Current forecasts for Friday's X-37B launch try predict a 70 percent chance that bad weather may delay the flight, Air Force official have said.

A small robotic space shuttle

With its blunt nose and stubby wings, the unmanned X-37B spacecraft resembles a miniature version of NASA's space shuttles. The vehicle was originally developed as part of a NASA project that was shifted to the military when funding ran dry.

The U.S. Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is shown inside its payload fairing during encapsulation at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Fla., ahead of a planned April 2010 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
CREDIT: USAF

View full size image

The spacecraft is about 29 feet (almost 9 meters) long and 14 feet wide (nearly 4.5 meters), with a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed. It is designed to launch vertically inside the nose cone of a rocket, stay in orbit for months at a time, and then land horizontally on a runway like a space shuttle.

But unlike NASA's shuttles, the X-37B space plane does everything autonomously. It also has a solar array that is deployed from its payload bay to generate power during its months-long stay in orbit [Infographic: The X-37B Space Plane]

"There is no one on the ground with a joystick flying it," Lt. Col. Troy Giese, X-37B program manager in the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, said before the first X-37B mission blasted off last year.

The Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office oversees the X-37B space plane program for the U.S. military.

Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Launching on Secret Mission | Space Weapons & Military Space | X-37B Space Plane, Robotic Spaceships & Space Technology | Space.com

BBC News - 'Tractor beam' is possible with lasers, say scientists

 

A laser can act as a "tractor beam", drawing small objects back toward the laser's source, scientists have said.

It is known that light can provide a "push", for example in solar sails that propel spacecraft on a "wind of light".

Now, in a paper on the Arxiv server, researchers from Hong Kong and China have calculated the conditions required to create a laser-based "pull".

Rather than a science fiction-style weapon, however, the approach would only work over small distances.

The effect is different from that employed in "optical tweezers" approaches, in which tiny objects can be trapped in the focus of a laser beam and moved around; this new force, the authors propose, would be one continuous pull toward the source.

And it relies on directly impinging on an object, making it distinct from an approach demonstrated in 2010 by Australian researchers whose trapping worked by heating air around a trapped particle.

The trick is not to use a standard laser beam, but rather one known as a Bessel beam, that has a precise pattern of peaks and troughs in its intensity.

Seen straight-on, a Bessel beam would look like the ripples surrounding a pebble dropped in a pond.

If such a Bessel beam were to encounter an object not head-on but at a glancing angle, the backward force can be stimulated.

As the atoms or molecules of the target absorb and re-radiate the incoming light, the fraction re-radiated forward along the beam direction can interfere and give the object a "push" back toward the source.

'Radical idea'

"Light can indeed pull a particle," the authors wrote, "...and this may open up new avenues for optical micromanipulation, of which typical examples include transporting a particle backward over a long distance and particle sorting."

Ortwin Hess at Imperial College London called the work - which has not yet been peer-reviewed - as "fascinating", saying that it "takes a radical idea forward".

"It's a bit like a boat moving through water," Professor Hess told BBC News. "In the eddies you generate as part of that forward movement, there are areas that literally seem to be pulling back.

"The ship has a shape, and you get these backward eddies at the side; in a similar way if you have a Bessel beam you have certain areas that do the same thing."

However, he remarked that the effect is only predicted to occur over a short distance - and that the effect first of all needs to be demonstrated in practice.

"It's a very good start," he said. "As always with theory, if one doesn't obtain a theoretical argument that things are impossible for some reason, then it can happen."

BBC News - 'Tractor beam' is possible with lasers, say scientists

Infantry: Super Boot For Afghanistan

 

The U.S. Army has selected the Belleville 950 Combat Mountain Hiker as the new combat boot for troops in Afghanistan. The Belleville 950 has a stiffer and 20 percent thicker sole, designed to ease foot strain, and increase traction for troops crossing broken (often rocky) terrain while carrying typical heavy combat loads (over 30 kg/66 pounds). The upper portion of the Belleville 950 is water resistant leather. The Belleville 950s are not suitable for full time use, because of the stiffness. So troops will continue to use their current, less stiff and more padded, combat boots. But when they are heading out into the hills, they will wear their Belleville 950s.

Over the next four months, the manufacturer will deliver 25,000 pairs of the Belleville 950s. Because of the urgent need for these boots, they won’t be available to the civilian market until later this year, at the earliest. This use of a commercial boot design is nothing new. Over the last decade, the army and marines have changed their attitudes towards combat boots. Instead of trying to design boots themselves, the military has recognized the superior design of commercial boots created for hikers, mountain climbers and outdoor activists in general. This has resulted in a new generation of combat boots that are more durable, and comfortable, than earlier generations of combat footwear.

Looking for boots particularly suitable for Afghanistan is nothing new either. Three years ago, for example, SOCOM (Special Operations Command) bought 10,000 pair of boots designed to survive use in Afghanistan. The Afghan rocks tend to tear boots up. The U.S. Army desert boots, used without problem since their first major workout in the 1991 Gulf War, rapidly fell apart in Afghanistan. By early 2002, soldiers were complaining that the boots were useless after a few months. The problem appeared to be that the boot soles and heals were built to deal with soft sand. Afghanistan has lots of sand, but also lots of sharp rocks, which tear the boot bottoms up. Apparently, the boot did not get extensive testing in rocky desert areas (which are not as common as mainly sand deserts.) Deserts have long been a major problem for developers of military equipment.

Infantry: Super Boot For Afghanistan

You Are Paying for Illicit Backroom Telephone Deals

 

Could it be that more people in South Dakota pay for pornography than any other demographic?   What could possibly explain this behavior? Oddly, the rural phone service providers in the Mount Rushmore State seem to have some explaining to do.  If you have a phone and live in South Dakota you are paying for others to have access to “free” phone sex.
While providing telephone service to small rural communities, which admittedly are often difficult to serve, rural phone carriers have found a way to use their legitimate business as a vehicle to leverage a more seedy income stream, by gaming the system originally designed to make sure that quality telephone service could be delivered, and was affordable, even in the most rural of areas. Sadly, the game these service providers now play is about artificially increasing telephone traffic on their networks to increase their revenues at expense of long distance or mobile phone customers.
Perhaps tellingly, the scheme is called “traffic pumping” or “access stimulation.”
The rural telephone company strikes a deal, which is often not exactly made public, with a company that markets “free” calling services such as conference calls, adult chat lines or phone sex services. The marketing operations direct all of the “free” phone calls to the rural telephone network, thereby driving up the traffic on the network, even if the call is ultimately answered elsewhere. With more traffic comes more guaranteed revenue for the rural carrier because federal law requires subsidies to be paid by the phone company that delivers the phone call to the rural carrier. So, because of the increased traffic, those carriers can charge high fees to wireless and long distance carriers to connect all of these “free” calls.
The rural carrier then pays a kickback to the call marketing company for having it direct all of its “free” calls to carrier’s network. The carrier then skims the remaining money off and takes it as profit from this seamy bootstrapping operation.
Legal, but hardly moral.
And, again, where is the money coming ultimately coming from? Taxpayers.
How much from taxpayers to fatten the wallet of these rural phone providers and the phone sex operators?  $190,000,000 estimated.
And what do you get? A cold shower of higher phone rates.

You Are Paying for Illicit Backroom Telephone Deals

New Photo of Red Skull From Captain America | Superhero Hype

Wow.

Hugo Weaving as the villain

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios have debuted a new photo of Hugo Weaving as Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger at Entertainment Weekly, which talked with director Joe Johnston as well. You can check out the photo below and interview here.
Opening in 3D and 2D theaters on July 22, the action adventure stars Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Weaving, Sebastian Stan, Toby Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Dominic Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci and Neal McDonough.
The movie will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America.

New Photo of Red Skull From Captain America | Superhero Hype

Winning: Afghan Taliban Seek Salvation

 

Taliban attacks in Afghanistan are down so far this year, with fewer roadside bombs, or gunmen engaging foreign and Afghan troops. But there are now more attacks on civilian targets, with over a hundred civilians being killed by these bombs in February alone. What this means is that the NATO campaign against drug gang and Taliban base areas last year has reduced the ability of the Taliban to manufacture and plant roadside bombs or organize ground or rocket attacks. So resources have been shifted to terrorizing the civilian population.

The Taliban have long had a serious image problem. It is getting worse. For example, although the Taliban claim to be the enemy of corruption and violence, they cannot exist without either. Most Afghans recognize this, which is why the Taliban are so unpopular, and really only a threat in one small part of the country (Kandahar and Helmand provinces, where most Taliban come from). The Taliban bribe who they can, and terrorize the rest. These are classic Afghan tactics, and everyone from warlords to bandits uses them. What makes the Taliban unique is the religious angle, and the use of a drug gang alliance to raise cash. The Taliban use religion as another form of terror. Threatening people for not being Islamic enough is easy to do in Afghanistan, where religion has always been worn lightly, but not ignored entirely. Yet the Taliban are generally perceived as thuggish hypocrites. They turn teenagers into suicide bombers and protect the drug trade that has turned millions of Afghans (and even more Pakistanis and Iranians) into opium or heroin addicts, yet demand that people stop watching movies or having dance music at weddings.

Winning: Afghan Taliban Seek Salvation

Financial terrorism suspected in 2008 economic crash - Washington Times

 

Evidence outlined in a Pentagon contractor report suggests that financial subversion carried out by unknown parties, such as terrorists or hostile nations, contributed to the 2008 economic crash by covertly using vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system.

The unclassified 2009 report “Economic Warfare: Risks and Responses” by financial analyst Kevin D. Freeman, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, states that “a three-phased attack was planned and is in the process against the United States economy.”

While economic analysts and a final report from the federal government's Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission blame the crash on such economic factors as high-risk mortgage lending practices and poor federal regulation and supervision, the Pentagon contractor adds a new element: “outside forces,” a factor the commission did not examine.

“There is sufficient justification to question whether outside forces triggered, capitalized upon or magnified the economic difficulties of 2008,” the report says, explaining that those domestic economic factors would have caused a “normal downturn” but not the “near collapse” of the global economic system that took place.

Suspects include financial enemies in Middle Eastern states, Islamic terrorists, hostile members of the Chinese military, or government and organized crime groups in Russia, Venezuela or Iran. Chinese military officials publicly have suggested using economic warfare against the U.S.

Michael G. Vickers, assistant secretary of defense for special operations, said the Pentagon was not the appropriate agency to assess economic warfare and financial terrorism risks. (Associated Press)

In an interview with The Times, Mr. Freeman said his report provided enough theoretical evidence for an economic warfare attack that further forensic study was warranted.

“The new battle space is the economy,” he said. “We spend hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons systems each year. But a relatively small amount of money focused against our financial markets through leveraged derivatives or cyber efforts can result in trillions of dollars in losses. And, the perpetrators can remain undiscovered.

“This is the equivalent of box cutters on an airplane,” Mr. Freeman said.

Financial terrorism suspected in 2008 economic crash - Washington Times