Bisping gets demolished.

I hate Bisping but I don't like the way Dana has been making him wait for a title shot.

Now he goes back down to the bottom of the list.  Belfort demolished him.  He seemed tentative the entire fight and he just seemed off the moment he walked into the ring.

Prediction for an upcoming fight.  Rampage gets hammered and begs to stay in the UFC so he doesn't retire a loser.

Politics. My take on the inauguration.

A National Guard unit waiting to support the inauguration.  Parades suck for those behind the scene...same with all the other horse and pony shows ... Flag Officers love this stuff but for everyone else, its just a severe pain in the ass.

I watched the inauguration on MSNBC.

The President highlighted climate change as one of his big "needs to get done" (I am so tired of that phrase) for the second term.

What he really means is that he's looking for a carbon tax to hit you with.

Obama care is already in trouble and that's how he's going to make up for the lack of taxes (no, not revenue, lets call it what it is...taxes) that are coming into the government because of the bad economy.

Which brings me to my last takeaway.

He said basically nothing about the economy.  They have no plan which means that we all need to do everything we can to ensure our own economic security...and that means above and beyond what you would normally be expected to do.

Make a plan.  Make it happen.  2013 is gonna suck donkey balls folks.  Hang on for a real bumpy ride.

PS.  Be on the lookout for a value added tax after the gun fight is over...

France sending VBCI's and an LHD to Mali.

Thanks Xavier for sending this to me.

If you want a good primer on the fighting in Mali then you will find no better spot than Naval Recognition.

A snippet of their coverage.

French Army VBCI Infantry Fighting Vehicles have been loaded in the French Navy (Marine Nationale) Dixumde LHD Amphibious Assault Ship, Force Projection & Command Vessel at the Toulon naval base. The Dixmude will then sail off to West Africa to deploy the armored vehicles and French Army troops (two companies from 92th Infantry Regiment) in support to the current French operation in Mali named "Serval".

Anyone that thought that this was going to be a quick in and out bit of fighting was mistaken.

I fully expect the EU to become involved in this fight to a greater extent than even Afghanistan.  Generational warfare against Muslim extremist.  Sounds like a "protective" crusade doesn't it? 

What is this rifle?

I saw this on the STRIKEHOLD blog and can't for the life of me figure out what rifle this guy is shooting.  That bolt must be as smooth as butter for him to have gotten back on target and ready to fire with a spent shell still in the air.

We needed Jackie Robinson, we got Malcolm X before his change.

Thinking about the President and the divisiveness that is wreaking our country I can't help but think...what if he was more like Jackie Robinson.

I'm not stupid enough not to believe that many people don't like him because of his skin color.

But I also believe that many MORE people don't like him because of his policies.

If he governed like he was President of the entire United States instead of just the two coasts I wonder how things would be...if he actually sought to be middle of the road instead of liberal I wonder how things would be.

His base would stick with him regardless but he would have many more Americans supporting him and the turmoil that we're facing but would dramatically less.

We would be more unified.  He would have truly transformed America.

15th MEU @ Exercise Amitie....Photos by Cpl. John Robbart III

Pussification of the Marine Corps continues..

via AP.
The U.S. Marine Corps, known for turning out some of the military's toughest warriors, is studying how to make its troops even tougher through meditative practices, yoga-type stretching and exercises based on mindfulness.Marine Corps officials say they will build a curriculum that would integrate mindfulness-based techniques into their training if they see positive results from a pilot project. Mindfulness is a Buddhist-inspired concept that emphasizes active attention on the moment to keep the mind in the present.

What would Chesty do?

And now the China apologist comes forward.

Feng writes for Information Dissemination.

I always considered him a Chinese apologist and he confirmed that view with his latest article.

Its fun to watch (or rather read) his concerns as the free nations of the region all team up to deal with a belligerent and aggressive China.

Let's have a fresh look at Special Operations.

This post was prompted by a discussion with Eric.

Do we need a fresh look at Special Operations?

Mission sets include... unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, and counter-terrorism. Other duties include combat search and rescue (CSAR),counter-narcotics, counter-proliferation, hostage rescue, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian de-mining, information operations, peacekeeping, psychological operations, security assistance, and manhunts

If you look at the list above only unconventional warfare and hostage rescue are outside the current operational reach of conventional forces.

So all things considered.  Do we really need a Special Operations Command that has under its command almost 100,000 people?  

SOCOM when it finishes enlarging will be bigger than the Australian Army, Canadian Army, the Netherlands Army, the Singaporean Army, the S. African Army and many many others.

Does the current mission set indicate a need for anything other than the US Army Rangers and Special Forces?

Explain to me why we have all the services providing forces that duplicate each other.  Tell me why we don't need a serious rethink of Special Operations and what they actually provide to the nation.

The biggest lie about the Newtown shooting.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The President, Newtown officials (especially that pedophile looking Coroner) and the news media all owe the American public an apology.

They all lied when they said assault weapons were used in the attack.

Police found 4 pistols inside the school and the so called assault weapon was in the car. Let me say that again.  THE ASSAULT WEAPON WAS IN THE CAR.

This President and his followers are using this incident as an excuse to play political games and to take the American people's eye off the real issues that face our country.  The debt.  A faltering economic recovery.  Out of control government spending.  A situation that's zooming out of control in Africa.  A war that is still being fought in Afghanistan... They want to talk about anything that divides the people and keeps the masses from focusing in on what's important.

I never actually bought the term "sheeple" before but I do now.  Only a fool could look at this latest information and believe that the Administration isn't trying to manipulate people.

Below is a vid of the coroner's press conference. Many noted the lies that were being told then. The news media didn't follow up and those that pointed out the inconsistencies were labeled as conspiracy theorist. Watch and weep for your country. You're all being spun and don't even realize it.


 

Para-Rescue gets their truck.

Thanks Michael for sending this to me.  I got to it late...busy day.

The award announcement is rather generic so I won't place it here.

I don't have a problem with BC Customs and HDT winning.

I do have a problem with the entire concept.  Emphasis on internal carry was ditched but the idea that you're going to drop a vehicle at point A...travel fifty or so miles to rescue a person...head in a different direction to point B fifty miles away and get picked up is pure craziness.

The SOCOM selection of small trucks will be interesting.  Next up Rangers.

Its about to get ugly ...

Awesome hunting vid.  He got the mythical double kill.

A note to the PETA folks out there.  Like he says in the video, feral pigs are labeled a nuisance animal and can be killed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no license and no bag limit.

Friday Escape.

Sometimes you need a simple diversion from all the news of the week.  I bring "Sugar Boy" to your attention to fill that need.  Enjoy.  Oh and subscribe...this is crazy cool.

Galrahn is sounding the alarm. China is a threat.

artist impression of the Chinese Type 081 LHD via China Military Review

There is a must read over at ID this morning.  Read it all and consider the MASSIVE defense cuts that are coming our way.

One power rises the other declines.

Are we headed toward a civil uprising?

I watch MSNBC so that I can see what the other side of the street is thinking.  Besides being totally convinced that the liberal/progressive side can do no wrong, besides believing that the entire world resides either in the Northeast - New York Megatropolis area, besides believing that their way of life is the only way of life in the US...I detected one other thing from the newscasters on that channel.  They're scared that something evil is coming from the right wing.

To that I say this.  Change agents always fail because whether its an organization or a country.  Change comes gradually.  Unless you want bloodshed or extreme strife, the text books say to implement points of change.  Allow the organization to absorb it and conform to those changes and then to start again.

The President believes that he's a change agent but is violating the basic and primary ingredient to make it work.

I personally don't see a civil uprising coming.  I don't discount the chance that an individual might be becoming radicalized because he sees his belief system under assault but that's a different discussion.  Check out the graphic below.

New York's gun control law forgot something.

That shows how rushed this bill was.  But even more interesting is the protected class of citizen that is being established here. If you're wealthy then you can afford additional security and will live in safe areas.  If you're law enforcement then you can be armed normally.  If you're middle class or poor you're at the mercy of criminals.  I am shocked that the people of the state of New York fell for this.  Well actually I'm not.  I'll check back in a year to see how this is working out for them.

Are we seeing a low grade regional war?

Question.

With almost the entirety of Northern Africa engaged in combat...with wars continuing in the Middle East...are we seeing what amounts to a low grade regional war?

Additionally are we seeing the French replace the US as the leader in this effort and since they are a member should the effort in Mali be supported by NATO?

Can a case be made that the Jihadist have left Afghanistan and are engaging Western Forces in Africa and if that's the case should we accelerate/redeploy forces to the conflict in Mali?

I just don't know.

Indian Border Police at work.

Samar was kind enough to send me the following pics.  Thanks!  A couple of things caught my eye.  The Tavor and Beretta CX4 Carbine are used for self defense.  I was surprised at the lack of body armor but it is a rather large patrol...and the fences bring into focus exactly how dangerous that area is.  Good stuff.

anyone know what sight that is?

interesting mix of weapons here.  a Tavor, AK variant and CX4.

The Marine Corps must delay the F-35.

No fancy images on this one.

Just cold hard reality.

First, I'm the biggest fan of the airplane.  My belief that it will be a war winner hasn't changed.  My belief that its a tremendous step forward hasn't changed.

Financial reality is a bitch though.

The Marine Corps is about to fall ANOTHER generation behind in ground combat vehicles because the F-35 in particular is sucking all the procurement dollars out of the room.

That is unacceptable.

The Amphibious Combat Vehicle is falling further behind.  It will NOT be completed, designed or even in testing before this Commandant leaves office.  I'm not calling him a liar but if you believe the talking point that the request for proposals was delayed AGAIN because "we only get one time to get this right" then I've got some beautiful ocean front swamp land to sell you that's guaranteed to thrill the ladies.

Aviation has done good, hard work in Afghanistan.  I'm not going to riddle this with inter-Marine Corps squabbling but consider...while the AAV labors on...the M1 Abrams gets older in the tooth while allies are upgrading their MBT's...while our HUMVEEs are old and beat up, we have decided to spend precious resources to update our AH-1Z's, UH-1Y's, bought like new British Harriers, MV-22's and are in the process of buying F-35's.

Surprisingly enough the one air vehicle that could be a boon to the ground sides real vulnerability (logistics) has been delayed (CH-53K).

I support the F-35.  But for the sake of the Marine Corps we must delay it.

Update:  Sauce for the goose.  An update on the ACV program.  Click here.

Update 1:  I don't know if blame should be laid at the feet of the Marine Corps or at manufacturers but I do know this.  The Marine Corps not only badly planned the purchase of new vehicles and aircraft---the plan they came up with caused block obsolescence---but failed when it came to implementing those plans.  Our two big programs, the EFV and the F-35 both were in develop for over a decade.  Say that out loud.  A freaking decade.  What do we have to show for it?  Nothing.  Not only did we continue with an aborted plan to purchase the Marine Personnel Carrier (which was intended as a stopgap and now might end up being the next generation AAV) that should have been re-evaluated after the cancellation of the EFV but no lessons were learned about having a sense of urgency when it comes to procurement.  In essence we wasted the heady days of Bush spending whatever amount on whatever vehicles the military wanted, but we've gotten to the place that everyone predicted we'd be.  We're at a place where the military will be forced to pay for social programs of dubious worth.  I would weep for my Marine Corps but leadership brought us to this point.  Integrity and honor would demand resignations.  LCpl's and even Lt's have been courtmartialled for less.

Training for Jungle Warfare in Okinawa