We're all bomb makers now.

Knowing how to build a bomb is one thing.

Classifying common house hold goods as bomb making components is something else though.  Check out this story from Military.com.

Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, who was AWOL from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, bought pressure cookers, clocks, wires and other bomb-making components at a Dallas-area store in the early morning of July 26, according to surveillance footage and receipts shown to jurors. Abdo then paid $400 for a taxi ride to Killeen, Texas, just outside Fort Hood, arriving about 3:30 a.m. at a motel, the cabdriver testified.
After police acting on a tip detained Abdo at the motel July 27, they say they found the items in his room and backpack. He was stopped just hours before completing assembly of the bomb, showing he "intended to commit mass murder," prosecutor Gregg Sofer told jurors earlier Tuesday during opening statements.

Don't take me the wrong way.

I have absolutely no sympathy for this son of a bitch.

He can fry in hell and I hope they fill his IV with Drano.

But when did clocks, wires and pressure cookers become bomb making components?  In some ways I think the terrorist have won.

If Batman is gay, I'm scarred for life.

Scarred I tell ya!

Check out this from the Daily Mail...read the rest at their site.

But at Kapow Comic Convention in London on Sunday, he revealed that an existing character - who was previously assumed to be straight - will become ‘one of our most prominent gay characters’, according to comic blog BleedingCool.com.

Geez.

I mean seriously?

DC Comics can be trendy all they want but if they have Batman come out as being gay then the pushback will be a something to see.    

Batman is the guy at the top of the page...not the dude below....

The Heritage Foundation gets "medieval" on F-35 critics!

Check out this part....

Unfortunately, forces that never wanted the nation’s pilots to have this aircraft in the first place are now trying to pull a bait and switch. They are saying that there is too much concurrency, and they want to slow down production of the JSF. This would drive up the cost per unit of each JSF and probably force some of our allies to cut the number of planes they have ordered. These cuts would further drive up cost, creating a vicious cycle of cost increases.
The clear goal here is to slow down production and drive up costs in a spiral that will eventually allow opponents of military modernization and proper readiness to call for killing the program altogether. Congress should not allow this to happen.

Let's see...how can I put this?

Heritage said it PROFESSIONALLY.

Heritage said it in a POLITICALLY CORRECT way.

But they didn't say it plainly.

The critics want this program killed for various reasons.  From Sweetman wanting to save the European fighter industry, to APA dreaming of the F-22 being offered for export, to Cox wanting to simply stick it in the eye of Lockheed Martin (I don't understand this guy most of all) to the other cheerleaders in their camps that just want pats on the back because they're taking what was once the "popular" position.


But the problem is different now.  Slowing production will increase costs, not decrease them and the BIG issue with that is this.  THE PROGRAM OFFICE IS FALLING FOR THE STUPIDITY!  Time to get this plane in production and get on with the business of defending our country.

They're dealing with a Python...

I'm amazed at the number of invasive snakes that are being found in the US...they're calling it a big black snake?  They better think again.  I know a Python or a Boa when I see it.  I wonder when the puppies and kittens start disappearing!  More pics and the story is here.

LCS2... Return of the Fast Troop Transport.

I keep coming back to this position.

The future of the LCS and in particular the LCS2 is as a troop transport.

The latest example is the Riverine deployment with the Marine Expeditionary Unit to Thailand.  Unless I'm missing my guess, Marine Corps assets were left on the beach to make room for the Riverines.

That's unsat.

In my post on the Riverine deployment, I also stated that amphibs are going to become overwhelmed with requests from different units to either occupy them completely or to share room with the MEU.

Imagine a tasking that has a MEU(-), Riverines, SOCOM and maybe even a detachment from 160th or Navy Spec Ops Helo taking up deck space.

That is trouble in a handbag.

If you could designate a certain number of LCS2's to the transport/support mission it might make the future a bit easier.  It would certainly be cheaper than buying more big deck amphibs.

I would recommend studies be conducted to see if an enlarged ramp can be fitted to these ships and perhaps improved small boat handling facilities.

Either way this problem isn't going away and the Marine Corps BETTER be prepared to defend amphibs...better be prepared to justify the MEU rotation schedule and better be prepared to fight these battles old skool style.

They've kept a handle on it but the budget battles WILL heat up.  Whether we like it or not.

RivRon 1 on deployment.

NOTE:  I've been calling for these guys to get off the beach and get out on deployment and they finally have.  Despite the Big Navy's confusion, one thing is obvious.  Amphibs are not only few in number but are also going to be high demand resources.  The Marine Corps better be prepared to wall off its requirement or you'll see pilfering from SOCOM, Riverines and other Units.

Gulf of Thailand (May 21, 2012) U.S. Navy Operations Specialist 1st Class Steve Vaillancourt, assigned to Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 1, signals Royal Thai navy Chief Udorn Harin, of the Royal Thai navy Riverine Patrol Regiment's Riverine Squadron 1, during a riverine training exercise for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Thailand 2012. CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises held annually in Southeast Asia to strengthen relationships and enhance force readiness. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Daniel J. Calderón/Released)

GULF OF THAILAND (May 21, 2012) A Royal Thai navy Riverine Patrol Regiment and U.S. Navy Sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 1 participate in riverine operation exercises aboard a special operations craft-riverine (SOC-R) during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Thailand 2012. CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises held annually in Southeast Asia to strengthen relationships and enhance force readiness. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Aaron Glover/Released)

GULF OF THAILAND (May 21, 2012) A Royal Thai navy Riverine Patrol Regiment and U.S. Navy Sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 1 participate in riverine operation exercises aboard a special operations craft-riverine (SOC-R) during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Thailand 2012. CARAT is a series of bilateral exercises held annually in Southeast Asia to strengthen relationships and enhance force readiness. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Aaron Glover/Released)

....the fighting became hand to hand....

You have to read the description of the battle...

AF-17 & 18 take to the air....

Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti was at the controls for the first flight of F-35A AF-18 on 17 May 2012 at NAS Fort Worth JRB. The aircraft is scheduled to go to Eglin AFB later in 2012.

Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti was at the controls for the first flight of F-35A AF-17 on 17 May 2012 at NAS Fort Worth JRB. The aircraft is scheduled to go to Eglin AFB later in 2012.