Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Early release is a sad joke...compassion framed as reform is already killing people...

via Heavy.com
John Dalton Jr., of Omaha, Nebraska, was convicted in 1999 of manslaughter in the death of his 22-year-old wife, Shannon Dalton, and was released from prison in 2010. Omaha Police say Dalton, 46, is now a person of interest in the December 26 shooting deaths of his parents, John Dalton Sr., 70, and Jean Dalton, 65, and his niece, Leonna Dalton-Phillip, 18. They were found dead Tuesday night in their Omaha home.

Murder charges have been filed against Dalton.

Police are still at the scene investigating and are also searching for Dalton, who also goes by the names JJ Dalton and Jay Dalton.
Story here. 

We haven't touched on this issue but early release/parole of offenders is a joke.  Its an attempt to be compassionate wrapped in reform but it's already killing people.

But what has me spinning is that this guy had all the warning signs of ending up where he is.  The only question was who would his victims be.

History is a tricky thing.

It must be remembered, honored and cherished .... both the good and the bad.  But the evils of the past should not guide today's behavior.

An international example of this is the drama between S. Korea and Japan. An example closer to home is the issues with our criminal justice system.

There was a time when people were wrongfully convicted.  It still might be happening today.

But a murderer is granted a weak prison sentence?  He killed his wife and did less than 25 years in prison?

That alone is racists....it's like the justice system considered her to be only 2/3rds a person!  

This piece of shit killed his wife and gets to plead to a lesser charge?  He's on probation and gets additional charges to include drug dealing?  And now he's killed again?

Spare me your morality.  If I was the judge or on the jury I would accept nothing less than the death penalty.

I don't want to hear about his upbringing, hard times, socio-economic conditions etc...the only thing we should push for is the right thing....or a cop that has the commonsense to end the rampage via a little street justice.

Open Comment Post. Dec 27, 2017



Japan & S. Korea considering F-35B's for their Amphibious Assault Ships? Where did this come from!


via Military.com
South Korea currently has one amphibious assault ship, the 14,300-ton, 653-foot Dokdo, which is the largest ship in the South Korean navy. A second Dokdo-class amphib is planned for 2020.

"I understand that the military top brass have recently discussed whether they can introduce a small number of F-35B fighters and operate them aboard the new ship that has already been deployed and one to be additionally built," a military source told Yonhap.

Japan is also considering buying F-35Bs to operate from its helicopter carrier, the Japan Times reported.

The problem for South Korea and Japan will be in redesigning the decks of the amphibs to take the heat and stress of the F-35B vertical landings. The Dokdo class ships now are configured to support 10 helicopters.

"Considerations will continue about whether we can run F-35Bs by redesigning the decks of the Dokdo and the new ship that is being constructed," a second military source told Yonhap.
Story here. 

Interesting.  When I was in the F-35 camp I stated that we would see this happen.  Considering the expense of the F-35, coupled with the deck issues along with the size of these ships I just don't see it happening.

They just couldn't carry enough F-35's to be useful.

But ignore all that.

Japan and S. Korea are mortal enemies.  Now we have them releasing almost SIMULTANEOUS stories of them thinking about placing F-35's on their LHDs?

This just smells.

I'm not ready to call it propaganda but there is much more to this story than we know.

At Least 10,000 Killed During the Tiananmen Square Massacre


via TheEpochTimes
At least 10,000 people were killed during the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989 a secret British diplomatic cable has alleged, citing a source within the Chinese communist regime.

An unnamed high level source from the Chinese State Council provided the death count, via an intermediary, to Alan Donald, Britain’s ambassador to China at the time.

Donald sent the information to London a day after the massacre occurred. The previously secret cable was declassified in October and then obtained by news website HK01.

The death toll of 10,000 is much higher than what is usually associated with the massacre committed by the People’s Liberation Army. Figures have ranged between several hundred to a couple of thousand.

The Chinese regime said at the end of June 1989 that 200 civilians and several dozen security personnel had died in Beijing as security forces dealt with “counter-revolutionary riots,” according to the BBC.

However, the 10,000 number does closely match those of U.S. documents declassified in 2014. Those files estimated that 10,454 people were killed and some 40,000 people were injured. The U.S. information was provided by sources within the Chinese military, reported HKFP.
Story here.

Everyone forgets.  Correction.  No one wants to remember.

That beacon of free markets that our corporations want to enter so badly is the land of mass murder of its citizens that disagree with it's policies, that jails journalists on a daily basis, that sells the organs of its criminals to those wealthy enough to afford them....and they seek the destruction of the US.

A dirty millionaire in Moscow that is jailed gets pages of ink in newspapers and hours of coverage on TV news shows.  10K Chinese citizens killed in the open hardly gets a whisper.

Chinese Americans bask in the glory of a rising China, bad mouth other Americans that warn of the danger and make excuses for bad behavior of their motherland.

Meanwhile Russia is seen as the big bad, while the dragon with a knife ready to slice our throat is courted like the home coming queen and memes carry the day instead of reality.

Let's hope the 10K that were killed in Tiananmen can forgive us.

Canada's Resolve-Class Naval Support Ship, Asterix completed....via Naval News Instagram..

Davie Shipbuilding announced December 26th it has completed the construction, commissioning and sea-trials of the first Resolve-Class Naval Support Ship, Asterix. The ship was delivered on time, to budget and most importantly, at an internationally competitive cost. The ship departed Quebec City 23 December 2017 en-route to Canadian Forces Base Halifax where she will enter service with the Royal Canadian Navy and be operated by Federal Fleet Services Inc.

Her crew of 36 Canadian merchant sailors together with Davie personnel and industry contractors sailed the 26,000-tonne ship on her maiden voyage. During the journey, they completed the testing of her propulsion and navigation systems and state-of-the-art military systems. Upon arrival in Halifax, the ship will welcome aboard members of the Royal Canadian Navy to begin integration training during the month of January 2018 prior to supporting Canadian naval operations from February 2018, for the next 10 years.

The delivery of Asterix represents the first new naval support ship to enter service with the Royal Canadian Navy in over 50 years. It is also the first large naval platform to be delivered from a Canadian shipyard in over 20 years and the first naval ship to be delivered since the launch of the National Shipbuilding Strategy.

No Marine is going to leave here unless they know how to ski...We need Mountain Leaders, Jungle Experts, Desert Guides!


via Military.com
Scout snipers, reconnaissance Marines, and some infantrymen, along with members of the Marine Corps' new rotational force in Norway, will soon receive new ski systems to replace old equipment that broke and tore in the cold.

On a brief visit to the 300-strong Marine Corps Rotational Force-Europe, located at a Norwegian Home Guard base near Trondheim, Commandant Gen. Robert Neller announced that the unit would be the first to receive the new equipment.

It comes not quite in time for Christmas, but ahead of upcoming cold-weather training exercises above the Arctic Circle.

"I talked to the Norwegian colonel. I told him, no Marine is going to leave here unless they know how to ski," Neller told Marines assembled in the winter dark Wednesday morning, referring to Home Guard District 12 Commander Col. Haakon Waroe. "You're going to get your skis here in about a week, so get ready."
Story here.

Still think we're deploying unnecessarily to Norway.  I just don't see the threat of Russia invading Europe.  They don't have a military built for that.

Don't get me wrong.

Russia could make spoiling raids cross border.  They could launch air strikes, commando raids and engage in electronic/cyber warfare, but a fullscale invasion?

Not likely.

But since it's apparent that Washington is going to hype the threat the best we can do is to take advantage of the situation we find ourselves in and orient appropriately.

My modest proposal.

I've stated it before and I'll say it again.  We need Mountain Leaders, Jungle Experts and Desert Guides in every Infantry Battalion in the Marine Corps.

The Royal Marines led the way with Mountain Leaders and we should follow their lead and expand on it.

What would we gain?

We would have subject matter experts that could give advice to Commanders when operating in these inhospitable ecosystems.As things currently stand we can expose Marines to these locales but they will never be as "functional" as a person that is born and bred there.  So training someone up to a standard that approaches the expertise of the locals could be a big boost when we actually deploy to fight.

Cold/Mountainous terrain is obvious, but the same applies to operating in the jungle and in certain areas of the desert (not the classic desert of open terrain and endless sand but the rocky, hilly areas that limit vehicles to roads and make killboxes child's play to setup).

We can't make policy but we can make the best of it.  Setting up Mountain Leaders, Jungle Experts and Desert Guides would be the best lemonade possible..

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Is it possible for the US to mobilize in a fight for survival?




I'm using allied posters from WW2 as a backdrop to my question.  Could the US (and it's allies) mobilize in a fight for national survival?

The posters are just a snippet of the effort carried out on the homefront to get people involved and supporting the fight.

We saw our entire industrial might, agriculture, and even human capital turned to the war effort.  From rationing gasoline, to planting victory gardens to encouraging workers not to take sick days, we saw the entire populace put on a war footing.

Could we do it today?

Would a modern war between peer nations start and finish so fast that it would be wasted effort?

If a war between peer nations occurred today, would it be of such intensity that if it were to last more than a year we would have to quit the field because of losses and not being able to replace them in a timely manner?

The question I guess I'm really asking is this.  The Commandant has joined me in stating that a big fight is coming.  Are we ready?  Or have we tailored our force to fight counter insurgencies to such a degree that anything bigger would break our armed forces beyond repair?

Art by Mel Hunter...via Solsys Instagram...


Open Comment Post. Dec 26, 2017...


Saturday, December 23, 2017

Ejército De Tierra


Chinese soft power in Timor...

The Chinese naval hospital ship Peace Ark has finished its eight-day humanitarian medical service in Timor-Leste and left the Dili Port for home. During its stay in Timor-Leste till Thursday, a total of 7,289 people were treated by Chinese doctors. The Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Mari Alkatiri made a visit to the ship and accepted health examination on Dec. 17. Alkatiri said he appreciated Chinese doctors for the warm and attentive treatments and he believed in their medical skills just like believing in China. The President of Timor-Leste Francisco Guterres, also known as Lu-Olo, and his wife also boarded Peace Ark and visited the veterans being treated in the ship. The president was very excited when he saw shrapnels being surgically removed out of a veteran's body. Lu-Olo praised that Peace Ark had made great contributions to the veterans of Timor-Leste. Peace Ark implemented humanitarian medical services around the world, which reflected the international responsibility of China as a main power, he added. Peace Ark set sail from Zhoushan, China on July 26 for humanitarian medical services. It arrived in Timor-Leste, the last leg of its mission on Dec. 14 after visiting seven African countries, including Djibouti, Sierra Leone, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania. Since 2008, Peace Ark has visited over 30 countries and provided free medical services for over 170,000 people.  #TimorLeste #Chinese #PeaceArk #ship#hospital #HarmoniousMission2017 #PLANavy #medical #naval #Dili #Minister #Defense #JoséCristovão #Ambassador #china #military
A post shared by Naval News (@naval_news) on


Wow.  The Chinese are learning quick.  It will take focus, determination and alot of hardwork to blunt their efforts. 

Hope we're up to the task.

Russia is not the threat.  Russia has no designs to utterly destroy us.  China does!  

Friday, December 22, 2017

What should I keep in mind when planning to join the Marines?

Thanks to Terence for the link!



What should I keep in mind when planning to join the Marines?

For me, my WTF moment was M.E.P.S

We all finished swearing in. We belonged to Uncle Sam.

Some Army cat steps up, there were a group of us. At least 300.

He called out for Army. Half the people stepped aside. Air force, Navy, Coast Guard, National Guard. When all had gone to their respective groups, There I was standing all alone. And the army cat yelled

WE FINALLY GOT ONE. A MARINE.

I’m standing there watching dudes and dudettes get their promise from recruiters, checks, t-shirts, bags, high fives.

A Marine Captain steps up to me. He looks at me and asks

Sure you didn’t mean to sign up for the Army? He pointed at them, and said. You can get gifts and enlistment bonus. I assured him I was there to be a leatherneck.

He marched me to the back, made me do 20 pull-ups and 100 crunches, then made me run laps.

He took me back into MEPS, I saw all my fellow future servicemen and women showing off their enlistment gifts and checks.

I walked in sweating and a lil dirty. Everyone turned to look at me. They were getting bonuses, I was getting dirty. Then I saw it in their eyes.

RESPECT

I knew that day. I made the right decision. I joined this shit for the gung ho lifestyle, Not to get bonus checks and Air Conditioned containers in Kuwait.

The brotherhood that made Aryan Ubermensch think Cerberus took a human form and split into thousand crazed warriors. Teufelhunden


The Few, Thew Proud, THE MUTHERFUCKING DEVIL DOGS.

Found here.

Italian Special Intervention Group (Gruppo di Intervento Speciale) doing work in Afghanistan.

GIS (Gruppo di Intervento Speciale) operator wounded by a shrapnel. They freed 18 hostages and all the insurgents were killed; Herat, Afghanistan, 2011 

Blast from the past. Animated view of latest Soviet Jet Fighter Aircraft and US aircraft...HD Stock Footage



Never heard of this Admiral Connelly guy but I like his style.  Did you notice the matter of fact, no nonsense approach to this video?  Did you also notice that when talking about the Foxbat there was no sugar coating it?  He stated plainly that the Navy had no equivalent.

Oh I want to throw this out there too.  When designed the F-14 had a useful life according to this admiral for about 15 years.  How did we get to a point where we're talking about using a fighter plane for much much longer?

If you're not subscribed to Critical Past then you're missing out.  The only thing keeping these vids from being perfect is that UGLY watermark across them.

Does anyone know where you can get archival film footage of this type without having to go thru secondary sources like this?

Open Comment Post. Dec 22, 2017


Thursday, December 21, 2017

Skeleton Lake of Roopkund, India

via Atlas Obscura.com
In 1942 a British forest guard in Roopkund, India made an alarming discovery. Some 16,000 feet above sea level, at the bottom of a small valley, was a frozen lake absolutely full of skeletons. That summer, the ice melting revealed even more skeletal remains, floating in the water and lying haphazardly around the lake’s edges. Something horrible had happened here.

The immediate assumption (it being war time) was that these were the remains of Japanese soldiers who had died of exposure while sneaking through India. The British government, terrified of a Japanese land invasion, sent a team of investigators to determine if this was true. However upon examination they realized these bones were not from Japanese soldiers—they weren’t fresh enough.

It was evident that the bones were quite old indeed. Flesh, hair, and the bones themselves had been preserved by the dry, cold air, but no one could properly determine exactly when they were from. More than that, they had no idea what had killed over 200 people in this small valley. Many theories were put forth including an epidemic, landslide, and ritual suicide. For decades, no one was able to shed light on the mystery of Skeleton Lake.

However, a 2004 expedition to the site seems to have finally revealed the mystery of what caused those people’s deaths. The answer was stranger than anyone had guessed.
Story here. 

Angry Bird...

Note:  I'm on a wildlife photography kick so just deal with the passing fancy...

Photo by @hilarybralove This bald eagle had just grabbed a chum salmon head from the banks of the Chilkat River in Alaska. The eagles gather along the river in November to gorge themselves on the last chum salmon run of the season.This one was quite serious and on its way to chow down in a nearby tree.

Thurs Funny....well the end anyway...



Yeah you guys needed that musical interlude mixed with Johnny Cash's weird sense of funny.

Tomorrow is the big push for Christmas so apparently the roads will be full and the shops crowded.




For those of you entering that storm, remember your training and you will survive.  Good luck and I'll see you on the other side....