Top Ten Narcotics in the Middle East...

via Scoop.

Tramadol

The Tramadol epidemic in Egypt has become uncontrollable. Another drug of choice amongst the working and labor class in Egypt, Tramadol is used to work long hours without feeling the effects of hard labor.

Some side effects are:

---Elated mood. Tramadol works in a similar way to many antidepressant medications in that it increases the levels of serotonin in your brain. This leads to feelings of euphoria and well-being. Some users become addicted to Tramadol because of these feelings.

---Anxiety reduction. Tramadol helps users feel relaxed and calm because of the way it changes brain chemistry.

---Lack of pain. Tramadol is a painkiller; it blocks the transmission of pain signals to the brain so that you don’t feel pain while you are taking it. This can be dangerous if you injure yourself because you won’t feel the pain while on Tramadol.

Here.

You might wonder what this is doing on a blog dedicated to military matters.  My thinking goes to wondering what over two decades of combat, revolution and general turmoil does to a society.

Part of it...that goes unreported is that they become drug addicts.

The sad part is that I've been focused on simply ending the wars in the region, but even if they stopped at 6am today, you'd still be looking at more than 20 years or more to get them back to anything resembling a functioning society.

There is no real way out of this.  The Middle East will probably be a cesspool for another 100 years...if not longer.  They're locked into a cycle that will inevitably lead to a war that cleanses the land (sorry for getting biblical but calling it like I see it).

Sidenote:  Marines should start learning to make shots to the Pelvic Girdle.  With body armor gaining widespread use and the prevalence of drugs like Tramadol in the Middle East, Pelvic Shots might be the only way to stop someone that's hopped up on drugs....if you can't shoot them in the face that is.

Arab-Israeli paraglides into Syria???

via CNN

An Arab-Israeli was spotted paragliding across the Golan Heights border into Syria by an Israeli Defense Force watchtower Saturday afternoon, according to a statement posted on an official IDF Twitter account.
The IDF statement says that its initial investigation suggests the person crossed intentionally.

Here.

I wonder what the real story is behind this.  Why would anyone in their right mind "paraglide" into Syria?

Trident Juncture pics (this is more like it!) via the 26th MEU Facebook Page.

Note:  The pics are from a variety of combat photographers...full disclosure.  I was a bit miffed when I saw the coverage of a humvee stuck on the beach, but this has convinced me to start trying to follow this exercise and find out the training objectives.  Stand by for more info soon.

Is physical fitness one of the keys to turning America around????

Thanks to Paralus for the link!



WATCH THE VID FIRST BEFORE READING THE REST!

Did you check that out?  Those kids were in PE class and it looked like Marine Corps Boot Camp!  Add to it the words of President Kennedy (he would be in the Republican party today) and I wonder.

If a person is physically fit then they're more emotionally stable, better able to deal with adversity and have demonstrated (as much as you can tell at a glance) that they have at least a measure of self discipline.

Then think about our culture today?

Is a national physical fitness drive, along with a HUGE dose of fat shaming the key or at least one of the elements to getting us back on track???

RussiaWorks latest vid...PURE PROPAGANDA!

Thanks to Robert for the link!



Ok.  Credit and then a facepalm.  First RussiaWorks is putting out some visually stunning videos of the fighting in Syria.  Next is the facepalm.  This is obviously aimed at Western audiences....that soundtrack playing....I can't place it but it comes from a video game I played long ago....

Putting all that aside, I wonder how they're getting this footage?

And on a rather cynical note, did you see that city?  The new jobs that are going to be flooding into the Middle East for construction work, and generally rebuilding these societies is gonna make a few people wealthy beyond measure.

I wonder if that's part of the calculation?  Naw...couldn't be....

Who is the most highly conditioned man and how did they get there?

Talking about workouts here and this might not be for everyone.  I was discussing workouts with a bud and the topic turned to who the most highly conditioned person we've ever heard of and how did they accomplish it.

It was kinda hard believe it or not.  We can point to people that are highly conditioned when it comes to a certain sport.  Supposedly Jerry Rice at his prime was one of the most highly conditioned football players in history (although you could probably add several other players and even then you might need to break it down by position).  If you look at basketball people rant about Kobe in his prime, and today they talk about Howard as being a conditioned beast.

But what if we take out the caveat of it being conditioned to perform a particular sport?  What if we talk about what we're interested in on this blog...either combat conditioning or just being in the best shape possible?

Who should we look to for an example and is it possible to follow their workout routine?

I contend that Bruce Lee was the best conditioned individual that I've ever heard of.  Supposedly for a man of his weight and age he was pound for pound the strongest man in the world (of course a lot of this is based on fandom but you can still see examples of him working out on the net).

How did he do it?  He emphasized early on simple bodyweight exercises that are familiar to anyone, anywhere.  Only later did he add weight training (Herschel Walker also made the pushup cool by stating that he did 1000 a day).

What does this have to do with anything?  Not much but it has me thinking.  Mr Olympia has been called a beauty pageant and not an actual sports competition...additionally too many of those people have been dying early of various ailments (definitely due to steroid abuse but that's a different story).  If we're actually talking about achieving ultimate fitness do we need to put down the weights and simply start doing planks, pushups, situps, crunches, pull ups and the rest of the menu on the bodyweight exercise tree?

I'm really beginning to think so.  If it's about LOOKING a certain way then yeah hit the weights (and that's a huge motivator if we're being honest), but if you want FUNCTIONAL fitness then there is a different way.

Russia and China to team for naval drills in the Pacific...

via Sputnik...

The Russian-Chinese "Joint Sea-2016" naval exercise will be hosted by China in the Far East, the Russian Navy chief of combat training said Saturday.
"Next year, the decision was already made by the Defense Ministry, we will continue to participate in these Joint Sea drills. This time China will be the host and at its invitation the Pacific Fleet will go to China," Rear Adm. Viktor Kochemazov told the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

The partnership between Russia and China deepens.

This is what I was talking about when I said that we should at least talk to Russia like adults instead of playing these fuck-fuck games.  First, the issue in Ukraine is far from clear, but even if we say that the Russians are guilty as hell it still should not preclude cooperation in other areas.

Additionally, Assad is not the number one villain in the Middle East and is not the entity destabilizing the region.  ISIS is.  Saudi Arabia is (by its invasion of Yemen) and Pakistan by allowing the Taliban safe haven (I'll ignore the part that the US played because I don't want that debate, its fuzzy as hell and the conversation has been had so often).

Its not too late if we had real leaders and real statesmen.

Best case scenario?  Kerry mans up and pushes for cooperation in the fight against ISIS, works out a power sharing and eventual replacement for Assad that takes place over a 5 year timespan (not hard to imagine considering the Iran nuke deal takes place over 15) and we huddle with the Europeans, Russians and Ukrainians and have a frank discussion about that situation.

In the meantime we toughen our stance with China, increase cooperation with Russia and break up this budding partnership.

Worst case?  We're fighting in the Pacific against China while Russia is fomenting trouble in another region and we're having to deal with it while having the smallest armed forces in the last 50 years.

F8F-1 Bearcat via National Naval Aviation Museum...

Is it just me or do those wires look like they're about 3 feet off the deck????  I hope that's an optical illusion or else I really need to look up Korean war naval aviation!

I know that many have sworn off Facebook, but you should reconsider if you want to see many great posts that you would miss otherwise.  One good reason?  The National Naval Aviation Museum Facebook Page.

4th LAR in Europe...photos by Cpl. Gabrielle Quire

Note:  I still don't have a handle on the USMC "formation" participating in Trident Juncture.  Still looking but if you have solid info, send it my way.

Note 1:  I wonder if Army Soldiers are looking at this and wondering why the Marines are encroaching on their mission.  Europe was once an almost ENTIRELY Army zone with the exception of the Northern flanks way back during the cold war.  With word that the Army is going to go down to 450,000 soldiers by 2017, this will be a sore point soon.

Leading from the front or micromanagement/lack of trust?

This isn't a rant, just an observation.

Many readers here are applauding Iranian generals that have been killed in combat in Syria (not the politics, just the example set).  The view is that these Persian Generals led from the front and that's a good thing.

I have a different view.

Let me be clear.  We don't know if the Rebels struck their Combat Operations Center or if they were leading troops in house clearing ops.

A hit on a COC is understandable (tragic, but understandable).  If its because the Persians were doing some type of frontline combat activity then its arrogance and micromanagement/lack of trust or even more ominously....glory seeking...at least in my opinion.  If its because they don't trust their troops then they need to train harder.  If its to micromanage then they need to get better Platoon, Company and Battalion leaders.  But on the frontline?  Stars would just get in the way.

What do you think.

Sidenote.  While I have SERIOUS doubts about the combat efficiency of the proposed Company Landing Team and I'm more than a little alarmed by the talk of the Squad Landing Team (rumored, not confirmed) it does show that at least theoretically power is being pushed down instead of up.  We'll have to see how the 1000 mile screw driver affects things but its a start...and it shows trust in Marines.