Year: 2008

And in the Never Ending Quest for Budget Dollars…..

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Yep, some of the whiz kids at the National Defense University are pitching the idea that they need funding to protect us all from terrorists who would use Wizard of Warcraft to rehearse attacks on all of us.

Yes, it’s real, see, they’ve got PowerPoints, and everything, complete with a conversation using code words, simulated, of course.

See how they simulate some seriously Kule d00dz haxor terrorists?

So they need to pay someone play Warcraft in order to look for this non-existent problem.

I want the job….I REALLY want the job.

In reality, if terrorists want to engage in virtual training, they will do it on a private server…Just like you see people do with Doom….

After all, who wants to be in the middle of planning to nuke the VP residence, when some n00b comes up and starts asking stupid questions?

If this is why my taxes are so fracking high, I’d rather pay for Sarah Palin’s bridge to nowhere.

I Still Think that the Dutch are Sandbagging SAAB over their F-16 Repladement

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But they are certainly making it look like a real competition. The Swedes needed extra time to get approvals for data release from the US, and the Dutch MoD extended the deadline on the bid to 30 September.

I still do not believe that the Dutch are serious about considering an alternative to the Lockheed-Martin JSF, they simply have invested too much time and effort, but they are doing their best to look fair about the process.

DPRK Testing New Missile Engine

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It appears that they are in response to the US refusing to take them off the terrorist list, as was previously agreed to.

Seriously, taking them off the list is just a stroke of a pen, and can be reinstated with a stroke of a pen, but Bush and His Evil Minions&trade are so busy swinging their dicks that they are convincing the North Koreans that this is all some sort of ploy to destroy them.

Fracking with paranoids for giggles when they have missiles and nukes is stupid, but for Bush and His Evil Minions&trade, stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

Marine Corps Eyes M249 SAW Replacement

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It looks like the Marines are looking at partially replacing their belt fed M249 SAW with a lighter magazine fed automatic rifle.

They are hoping for a 12 lb weapon to replace the 17 lb SAW.

Given that they are also dropping the quick change barrel as a way to get there, and using a slower rate of fire to deal with barrel heating this implies a significant drop in firepower.

Not having served, I’d appreciate any comments from people who have about the merits of such a change.

The US army is looking for a lighter weapon too, but they are sticking with the high rate of fire and belt feed.

Japan Looks at F-15 Updates, Indigenous Stealth Projects

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They really want the F-22, but it appears that this is simply not going to happen, so they are looking at F-15 upgrades and a stealth platform of their own, the ATD-X.

Honestly, for legitimate defensive needs, the upgraded F-15 is all the JASDF needs. It’s actually superior for cruise missile interception, since it has a larger antennae than the F-22, and AESA radars have already been fitted to some export models.

Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead

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I am not calling calling Carly Fiorina a witch. This is rather a reference to the report that when Fiorina was fired from HP, that people there started singing the song spontaneously.

I imagine that after a series of gaffes, McCain staffers are singing it to, because following her latest screw-up, where she said that neither Palin nor McCain (later modified to include Obama and Biden) were qualified to run a large company, she has been kicked off the campaign circuit.

Of course, experience at HP would appear to indicate that she wasn’t qualified to run a large company either.

Your Daily Palin Update

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Well Palin has now gotten her AG to instruct her employees not to honor subpoenas from the state senate, and the Anchorage Daily News cuts them a new one on this.

McCain doesn’t get it. Sarah Palin is not Cindy McCain, and the press won’t sweep this under the carpet for the “Maverick Straight Talker”.

Heck, they wouldn’t sweep it under the carpet for Cindy McCain these days, they’ve been wringing their hands about how McCain now, and when you have a cover-up this blatant, people will keep looking.

Mindless paranoid secrecy is almost always the worst course of action, which is why it’s so ironic that it bit them on the butt with Sarah Palin’s email.

It seems that she was using Yahoo Email for much of her correspondence with staff, and someone from 4chan hacked into her email (here, here, and here), and then posted what they found on Wikileaks.

Note to self: Never ever piss off anyone from 4chan.

Pakistani Military Told to Shoot at Americans

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It appears that the Pakistanis have gotten a bit hot under the collar about US incursions, as they have just authorized firing on US troops if they cross the border:

“The orders are clear,” Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said in an interview. “In case it happens again in this form, that there is a very significant detection, which is very definite, no ambiguity, across the border, on ground or in the air: open fire.”

Jeff Stein of CQ politics, makes a very good point here, that Pakistan increasingly seems to resemble Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge.

  • The Cambodians tolerated the North Vietnamese, the Pakistanis the Taliban.
  • The US engaged in cross border bombing to target their opponent.
  • The US escalated to cross border troop actions.
  • The effect of the escalation was to drive the local populace to our opponents.
  • The leader of the country was ousted.

There is one difference though, which Mr. Stein notes: Pakistan has nuclear weapons.

Can Everyone STFU About the Level of Support that Clinton is Giving Obama?

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She was scheduled to give a speech at protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad going to opening ceremonies, and she pulled out when she found out that Sarah Palin had been invited too.

Protesting against Ahmadinejad in New York is political gold, and Clinton dropped out of the rally, and has been campaigning in Florida and other states, because she supports the Obama’s campaign for President.

How it Should Be Done

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The Democrats are worried about the offshore drilling issue being used against them. They know that it’s bogus, but it’s also VERY easy to demagogue.

What do do?

Pass a bill that allows it, but contains provisions that will make the Republicans vote against it.

Include things like:

  • Reducing the distance to shore from 100 to 50 miles when the Republicans want it much closer.
  • Having the states receive no royalties from new drilling, which makes legislative approval next to impossible.
  • Eliminates $18 billion in tax breaks for big oil.
  • The bill would also force the release of 70 million barrels of oil from the nation’s emergency reserves
  • Provide tax breaks for efficient building construction and companies that promote bicycle commutes
  • Require all utility companies to generate at least 15 percent of their power by alternative fuels by 2020.

The senate will never pass this, it will never get pasty filibuster.

All of which have Bush threatening a veto, so you have a trifecta: The Dems vote for it, the Repugs vote against it, and then they have to vote to support Bush’s veto.

Job well done.