You need a feel good story...Masha The Hero

Just a little good news to offset the bad...

Doug Jones just lost the Alabama Senate race...sends out "racists" flyers...

via The Root.

The above photo is not a stock photo or an image created by The Root’s art department. It is an actual flyer circulating around from the Doug Jones for Senate Committee in his run against Elmer Fudd wannabe and schoolgirl aficionado Roy Moore for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat, and it has upset black voters across Alabama.

Someone, probably a white man, thought that the image would resonate with black people and motivate them to get out the vote. It’s as if black people were considering voting for the child molester until some brilliant strategist posited: “What if he were black, though?” The flyer is reductive in its oversimplification of the black mind as only caring about black issues. While it might not be racist, it is certainly racist adjacent.

It is also the Democratic Party.

Story here. 

Time for some plain talk.

I don't get this "believe the woman" standard.  I don't understand why the black community wasn't outraged by Conyers being forced out.  I don't understand why the average man (regardless of color) isn't freaking out that powerful individuals are being taken down/losing jobs with mere accusations and not connecting to the idea that if they can do it to the rich and powerful then what can they NOW do to the average Joe Blow?

But what pisses me off is the history of black males, black females having knowledge of this history and yet the Black Caucus is playing along with this madness.

That poster above?

It's racists as fuck and it's from the Democrat party.

Why?

Ok, this IS NOTHING but opinion, but the idea of black guys pursuing and bedding (in essence raping because no woman would want to have sexual relations) white women is as old a taboo as any.  I personally don't care who fucks who, but this was established in a different time and it's always been in the context of the discussion we're seeing today.

Black males ravaging white females and they females are powerless to stop it.  People have been accused of this and hung from trees.  People have been tortured into false confessions just to make the pain stop.

If Black people in Alabama are as big a part of Doug Jones' base and if he needs them to turn out to support him then I HOPE TO GOD they have enough sense to stay home.

It's past time to get off the Democrat Party plantation.  Oh and spare me the talk to Moore being an idiot.  I take that for as a given.  It's time to send a message to the Democrat party at the very least.  Blacks staying home for the slight you see at the top of the page would be a very powerful message....of course you'll see so called black leadership defend the poster and encourage voting for Jones but it will be bullshit from bullshitters.

The British Army could go as small as 60K soldiers...the Brits will soon be no longer relevant....

via Economist.com

The result is that the Ministry of Defence is desperately seeking ways to find savings of around £2bn a year, at least until 2022 and probably for five years after that. Exactly how the axe will fall is likely to be determined by a review of “national-security capabilities” that is expected to report early next year—a delay supposedly to allow the recently appointed defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, time to get a grip on his new brief.

There are already some indications of the way things are going. The navy, says Mr Chalmers, has made clear that its priorities are the nuclear deterrent, aircraft-carrier strike capacity (two new carriers are in the process of entering service), and the attack submarine force. The result is that Britain’s amphibious capabilities are expected to take the hit, with two assault ships taken out of service and the number of Royal Marines cut by 15%.

The army is also likely to suffer. The government had promised not to go lower than 82,000 soldiers, but the current figure is around 77,400 and there are fears that it could go as low as 60,000. American generals are worried that Britain would be hard put to deploy a division (about 20,000 troops) alongside their forces in a future European war. The House of Commons defence committee warned earlier this year that, even at the previous numbers, the “credibility of the warfighting division will be undermined”. Mr Chalmers thinks an expedient fudge on army size could be found, but there may be a price to be paid in terms of urgently needed new armoured vehicles.

Four years ago the then-chief of the defence staff, General Sir Nick Houghton, sounded the alarm about manpower cuts resulting in a “hollow force”. He could see what was coming.

Story here. 

Wow.  So the Brits will lose two amphibious ships, 15% of its Royal Marines and potentially cut the British Army to 60K troops to pay for the F-35?

Congrats Great Britain.

You bought the lies and the bullshit about the F-35 and have guaranteed that you will soon no longer be considered a relevant military power.

Combat Assault Company Conducts Long Range Swim Training Exercise in Hawaii....Video by Sgt. Kathy Nunez

A reader states that studies show that the time on water for Marines conducting an assault by AAVs and still remain combat effective was about 7 hours. 

Simple math says that the max distance (if they're being realistic) had to be 56 odd miles.  Pretty far out.  Damn far out in an AAV.  Additionally I can't EVER recall AAVs swimming from that far out.  Even 30 miles would be considered unusual and I can't find any documentation for testing at that distance.

The logistics of such an attempt would be daunting (at least in my eyes).  I don't know if it's my imagination but sea state always seems a bit worse further out.  Which means that they could launch in sea state 1, cross points that jump to sea state 5 and finally land in sea state 2.

Vehicles break and AAVs are no exception.  Recovery operations would have to be planned for.  Towing an AAV from 20 miles offshore?  Has that ever been done? 

What about rescues?  No one talks about it but AAVs have sunk before.  Hit a rogue wave and you have an overturned vehicle, and while they self right themselves if you have a hatch that hasn't been secured then you have that crazy scramble to get out while sea water is pouring in.  Not a good situation.  Meanwhile you have that crazy reality.  It's dark, you're geared up, the hatches are small and you're sliding deeper down into the ocean.

You would need combat swimmers if things go bad.  If you have grunts onboard and you're a semi decent planner that cares for your troops then you're gonna need an assload of swimmers, rescue helicopters (the downwash from the V-22 makes it less than optimal for this task) and potentially an assload of Corpsmen to help with the injured.

I applaud this exercise but want to know more.  If it was truly long distance then we need to be awe that they even tried.  I'm spitballing from my chair and this was a bear of an exercise.

Qatar buys 300 more VBCI, Rafales, and other gear from France...

via Defense Aerospace.

The Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly welcomes the will expressed by Qatar, on the occasion of the visit by the President of the French Republic, to acquire additional Rafales. She also welcomes the signing of a letter of intent to acquire the VBCI armored vehicles, which had been named winners of a competition organized by Qatar.

At the end of November, Florence Parly invited her counterpart from Qatar to exchange details on these subjects, which have also been the subject of intense negotiations in recent weeks with Dassault Aviation and Nexter.

The Minister was also able to discuss other arms issues and to prepare a Letter of Intent for an agreement on the status of French forces in Qatar and Qatar in France. All these subjects were reviewed during a Dec. 6 telephone conversation, at the request of the Minister, to reach an agreement in time for the President’s visit.

Qatar's choice of French industry reflects both the quality of our cooperation and the technological excellence of our companies.

Exports are vital to our defense industry and the equipment of our armed forces. They contribute to the strategic autonomy and the influence of our country. Florence Parly remains fully committed alongside the President of the Republic to ensure the success of French exports in the field of armaments. 

This story, not the fact that the French are cashing in on arms sales to the Middle East, but that everyone is just shows how blood awful greedy we as a people...as humanity...really are.

Isn't it obvious?

They're ALL GEARING UP for a major war.

We might look at it from a jobs perspective to make ourselves feel better. We might even tell ourselves that if they don't buy our gear then they'll buy someone else's so we might as well cash in.

But that's just half the story.

They're buying this gear with a promise.  The promise is that we'll support them in their next reckless expedition to do some type of stupidity.

A writer in Asia when explaining why US, Russian, and European gear was so popular said that in many cases it was the add-on benefits and not the gear itself that made the sale.

In this instance they're hoping for support from the French.  The Saudis want the same from the US.

My plea?

Sell them anything they want but don't attach strings that include our national treasure to the buy.  Don't promise our support and more importantly our forces to their next stupid fight.

If we do things as they've always been done then we're making short term deals that have long term consequences...detrimental consequences to the countries of the West. 

Open Comment Post. Dec 7, 2017

Blast from the past. A Hitler favorite and the great grandfather of the Palestinian intifada

Opinion.

I believe this guy to be the great grandfather of the Palestinian intifada, one of the primary reasons why there can be no settlement of the Palestinian issue and why the Israelis need to wrap their heads around the fact that as long as they live in the Middle East surrounded by Muslims, they will never enjoy the same type of peace that those of us in the United States or Europe enjoy.

Fact.

I need to learn more about this guy but I do know this.  He was a favorite of Hitler, visited the death camps incognito and was pleased by what he saw (even Hitler had the decency to be repulsed...even the guards had the decency to drink themselves into early graves because of their barbarity...this guy was happy as a clam).

You want a book to read on this subject?  I haven't read it myself but a contact in the IDF recommended it to me and its on the "to do" list in 2018.

This subject is hot because the media is making a mountain out of a molehill with Trump's announcement that didn't change a thing on the ground.  Despite it being a big nothing burger we need to circle around to this.

For some unGodly reason, we have US (so called) strategists attempting to influence events in the Middle East (remember the color revolutions?) thru covert means (supposedly evidence was found of CIA/State Dept activity before every occurrence) even though they lack understanding of the history of the region.

In other words the Bush model of "all people yearning to be free and wanting Jeffersonian Democracy" is still in effect.

Once we cage the deep state, maybe, just maybe we can shake ourselves loose of the Mid East tarbaby.

Politics Talk. This wailing and gnashing of teeth over the NOTHING Jerusalem announcement is amazing!

By now you know that Trump announced that the US would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  The news media is going batshit crazy.  Activists are losing their minds and everyone is predicting violence in the streets.

The reality?

Seconds after Trump made the announcement, he signed a waiver CONTINUING the current policy of having the US embassy in Tel Aviv.

Trump DID NOTHING but spout hot air!

Yet all the talking heads are acting as if the world has changed, the two state solution DIED because of his actions and that this is the biggest blunder in the history of our foreign policy.

Is it just raw hatred, racism and stupidity that has people reacting this way? Every time Israel is brought up in the news media people stop acting rationally (correction...they act even more irrationally than normal) and rumor is taken as fact and facts are ignored completely.

I really don't get it.

The terrible thing?  I see it even on these pages.  Instead of solid information I get to witness barely hidden contempt for Israel on one side and on the other Israel can do no wrong.  No facts, just ignorance and stupidity.

That's a shame.

This whole ISIS drama?  The US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others took decisive action to prop up those head choppers and no one is paying attention to it.  We even had flag officers prop up the failed campaign against that organization stating that the fight would take 50 years when anyone with any sense would realize that was impossible.

The Middle East is just not worth the headache.  We have oil.  Saudi Arabia is a sponsor of terrorism.  Iraq is just a basket case that should be flushed.  Afghanistan is a land of boy rapist.
We should wash our hands of the mess.

Israel Declares F-35I Adir Combat Capable....does this even have meaning anymore?

Lockheed Martin is predictably chest thumping following the IAF's announcement that it's F-35's are combat capable.

But what does that even mean?  Does it even have any real meaning anymore?

The USMC/USAF declared the F-35 operational when it can't carry even 1/4 of the weapon systems promised, still has issues across the board and worse...NEEDS SUPPORT OF LEGACY AIRCRAFT TO EVEN HIT TARGETS!

All that talk of changing the way we fight is right.

As things stand the F-35 is detriment to any future fight and will only inhibit our operations while we try and do the equivalent in combat of running a junkyard car with a broken engine in a Nascar race.

Combat capable?  Ok.  But do more than chest thump and give us some metrics we can work with.

Combat Assault Company conducts long range swim exercise...pics by Sgt. Alex Kouns

Note:  You haven't seen Combat Cameramen credited for their photos because on some platforms, they aren't listed.  If it ain't there I can't post it.

I wonder how far out is considered long range for an AAV.  Additionally I wonder if they're testing just the crews or if infantry is involved to see how effective they'll be after a long trip to the beach.

Not sure if I have my history right but during WW2 the LVTs would swim circles while waiting for naval guns and aviation to prep the beach and that they could sometimes wait for a couple of hours before making the run to the beach.

If we use that example for a guide then that means that you're looking at what...16 maybe 24 miles from the beach?

Definitely need more info on this.