Bundy called Bureau Of Land Management Agents thugs at his standoff...appears he was right...

via The Daily Caller.

The investigation’s report, made by BLM Special Agent Larry Wooten and addressed to the Department of Justice, was publicized last week after Washington state Rep. Matt Shea posted it on his Facebook page, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Wooten’s 18-page report discussed some of what he witnessed during his three-year investigation, such as a BLM agent’s “kill list” featuring people who had committed suicide while under investigation by the agency, BLM agents and officials referring to the Bundys as “retards” and “douche bags,” agents bragging about “grinding” a Bundy family member’s face into gravel, and lead prosecutor and Nevada’s acting U.S. Attorney Steve Myhre’s “preferred ignorance” of investigation details that would benefit the Bundys’ defense case.

Former Special Agent Dan Love, who was in charge of impounding Cliven Bundy’s cattle in 2014, conducted “the most intrusive, oppressive, large scale and militaristic trespass cattle impound possible” against Bundy’s ranch against the direction of the U.S. attorney’s office, according to Wooten. The Bundys’ defense strategy accuses the BLM of using overly-aggressive and threatening tactics.

Story here.

I am stunned.

When this kicked off I thought that we saw a bunch of reactionaries running to deal with a non-issue.  For more than a minute I bought into the meme being pushed by the media.

I didn't know this though.

Poor, simple Cliven Bundy....unable to communicate in the way favored by the modern media...relying on fellow citizens to defend his lively hood had a point.

He got targeted and its obvious that for some reason the govt decided to make an example of him (or should I say elements of the govt?).

Bundy called Bureau Of Land Management Agents thugs and the internal report seems to prove him right.

Just plain wow.

Bell V280 First Flight Video...

Thanks to Ogden for the link!

JUST IN: Bell V-280 Valor first flight footage! This milestone represents exceptional progress on the V-280 development program and brings @bellhelicopter one step closer to creating the next generation of vertical lift aircraft for the U.S. military.

A post shared by Bell Helicopter 🚁 (@bellhelicopter) on Dec 18, 2017 at 2:22pm PST

Maybe.

Just maybe this is the way to make tilt rotors work the way we want.  If it does and if we see V-22 type speed with better performance into and out of the LZ then this would be a war winner.

Open Comment Post. Dec 18, 2017

Russia BRM-3K Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicle With 57mm Autocannon Firing Tests

This will come off as a whine, but how big will they go with IFV guns?  Do you remember the last "medium" caliber experiment?  The last one I recall is with the Expeditionary Light Tank by AAI Corp.

Before that the only people that played with them were the Israelis with their 60mm Hypervelocity Gun mounted on Sherman's (supposedly it was capable of penetrating T-55's...not sure if I believe that).

The new "big gun mediums" are a fad for a reason I can't latch onto.  We haven't seen a radical increase in IFV armor, you get less stowed kills, they're still ineffective against MBTs, they don't flex well into the anti-air role and for fire support/suppression they aren't the first tool in the box that anyone would reach for.

So why?

Infantry Unit Leaders Course.....video by Lance Cpl. Noah Rudash

Marvel Comics tries military humor....

Respect for V-8 power and this cool cop....

Dead AF 😂 @policebadassery

A post shared by Military Combat Social Media (@badassery) on Dec 15, 2017 at 6:45pm PST

This had to be California.  Rice burners everywhere...all dropped (they either cut shocks or take them off entirely)...all with imported engines that can't pass smog....all with no back seats cause they're filled with speakers.

Did you see the Silver Honda near the end of the clip?

Too funny.  Well done on the cops part....

Nature Pics. Crocs doing what Crocs do....

Some animals intrigue me.  Bobcats, Tigers and Bears.  Some animals cause instinctive fear that I can't shake.  Anacondas (well lets be honest...snakes in general...don't care if it's a "good" snake...if I see it, it dies).

Then there are the animals that fascinate me.  Crocs, Bison (maybe its a food thing...I so want to try a Bison burger) and Rhinos.

Above you see Crocs doing Croc shit.  Absolutely crazy how big they get.  I have never seen one in real life but it's on my bucket list (controlled situation in the wild...hello Australia...none of that zoo bs).

What I wonder about is that last pic.  Almost every book I've read says a Hippo can bite a croc in half so I'd like to see the aftermath of this pic.

Vertical Envelopment of the '50's versus our Anti-Access Aerial Denial today...remarkably similar...

If you have the time you really need to check out the vid above.  What slaps you in the face and won't stop?  How similar the 1950's concept of vertical envelopment in response to the atomic weapon threat is to Company Landing Team/Air Enabled Maneuver that is being pushed today to solve the anti-access aerial denial dilemma.

There is nothing new or ground breaking with this thing, just a rehashed concept that needs to be seriously examined/debated before we head too far down this road.

15th MEU onboard the Tonnerre...pics by Staff Sgt. Vitaliy Rusavskiy & Sgt. Jessica Y. Lucio

I still think that this is the ultimate expression of a faulty concept.  Penny packets of US forces deployed worldwide is not a deterrence.  It's a red flag to a bull.

Someone one day will do a count.  Someone will figure that the US forces are overstretched.

The more I see stuff like this the more I think of the Roman Legion at the frontier. 

Forward deployment didn't prevent the barbarian hordes from invading  Rome and sacking it and and won't prevent the Chinese horde from trying to destroy us or prevent future wars.