The Freeloader nation and Food Stamps

You do realize that the largest welfare program after Medicaid is food stamps, don’t you?  When the program began in the 1970s, one out of every fifty American was on food stamps.  That number is now one out of every seven Americans who are reliant on food stamps.  A total of 46 million Americans are now on food stamps, an increase of 17 million just since 2008.

This recent dramatic increase is by design.  From April 2010:

Last week, D.C. officials announced a major change in the income and assets limitations that will greatly expand the number of families that qualify for food stamps, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). These new standards are part of a nationwide effort promoted by the Obama administration to broaden the availability of food stamps amid one of the worst recessions in modern times.

On top of that, a pledge by Obama that flew pretty under the radar was to eliminate childhood hunger by 2015.  What is one way to achieve that?  Food stamps.

Let the propaganda campaign kick into gear. 

The USDA went on a tear to make sure that food stamp recipients didn’t feel as though they were being stigmatized when using their government handouts.  They had retailers put up signs, "'We Welcome SNAP Benefits."  They also created a SNAP retailer locator, where fellow moocher could find which stores nearby accepted their stolen money.

They suggested that people host SNAP parties and play games like Bingo, to make others aware of the benefits and get your friends on the government dole as well.

They are running commercials, making it sound cool and normal to be on food stamps.  In this commercial, going as far as to say that signing up for food stamps can make you look and feel your best.  Being a moocher never looked so good!

So we’ve opened up access to this entitlement and promoted it as if it were something that is cool and normal.  Seventeen million more Americans sign up in the last few years under Barack Obama and then all of the sudden, when you try to cut the budget for food stamps … you can’t do that!  These people NEED this money!  Democrat Jim Clyburn just yesterday said that cuts to SNAP programs would be an “abomination.”  He says, “We all are trying to make a good future for our children, our grandchildren and our country and we know full well that in order for our kids to be educated properly they must be fed appropriately.”  A future reliant on the government … that seems to be the American dream for many liberals,progressives and other bedwetter types: Educated by the government, fed by the government, sheltered by the government, administered healthcare by the government … that is the Democrat vision of the American dream.

Now all the Democrats have to do is step up to a mic and say, “Vote for the Republicans and they’ll take away your food stamps!”  See how quickly that happened?

Obama 2004 radio address.

Funny how that has worked.  Back in 2004 Obungler attacks Bush on the creation of 310,000 jobs and a 5.6 unemployment rate.  Now we have 8.2 unemployment and the economy created 88,000 new jobs rate as the rosiest forecast of the job market.  More people entered the job market but there are less jobs out there.  Unemployment is actually higher but the U.S. Dept of labor no longer count people that have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment and those that have flat given up.   The Irony is interesting.  I had seen this article on weasel zippers and have expounded upon it.  I guarantee that the lamestream media will give him a pass on it.

After the economy added 310,000 jobs in May 2004 and the unemployment rate was 5.6%, then-candidate Barack Obama used the Democrat weekly radio address to attack the Bush administration for citing good economic numbers.
“For the past few weeks, President Bush and members of his administration have traveled the nation to celebrate recent improved economic statistics. Well, I’ve been traveling too, all over this large and diverse state. In cities and suburbs, downstate and upstate, I’ve heard from people who say it’s way too early to claim victory when it comes to our economy,” Obama says in the Democrats’ radio address from June 26, 2004.
“After three dismal years of job-loss, we all welcome encouraging statistics,” Obama acknowledges in the 2004 address. “But for most Americans, the health of our economy is measured in a different and more personal way: If I lose my job, where will I find one that pays as well and offers real benefits? Can I afford health-care coverage on my own, or the cost of sending my children to college? Will I ever be able to save and retire with dignity and security? These are the questions I hear hardworking people asking. For them, the basic rewards of a middle-class life, rewards that we once took for granted, have become an elusive dream.”

Obama to sign gun control legislation 27th of July

Obama bypassed Congess to halt deportations. He bypassed Congress to provide massive amounts of aid to Palestine. So why is it so hard for some people to believe Obama is capable of restricting gun ownership?
According to Dick Morris, Obama will sign the Arms Treaty on July 27.

 
The purpose of which is, according to Morris:
The real purpose of this is that it will set up an international agency that will be in charge of controlling the flow of arms throughout the world. And while it will theoretically have jurisdiction over arms flows across national borders .. you know like the Interstate Commerce Clause... we see how that can be expanded. And it really will have the authority to tell member nations to adopt policies within their own countries to facilitate regulations of flows across borders. And those could include, will include, registration and may well include bans on arms and guns.
Now if this treaty is ratified by the Senate, it assumes parity with the 2nd Amendment. It is as if there is a new 27th or 28th Amendment to the Constitution. Because the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution says treaties are the law of the land and cannot be overriden by acts of Congress or acts of the state legislatures.
For those of us who value the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, this is absolutely pivotal .. they changed the venue but it is the same fig

I started reading OldNFO blog and he had a story about Kitty Werthmann, I followed some of the links and saw this.  They made some salient points and the comparison was frightening.  I am a student of history, and it is different to hear it rather than read about it.  What she is talking about was called the "Anchluss" when Austria became part of Nazi Germany.    The rapid changes on the rights of people was frightening.  I can see the same thing happening if Obama either loses the election or wins.  If he loses I don't see him stepping down since he has ignored the constitution on many occasions and Congress don't have the spine to vote to impeach him or try to remove him and the mob will step up in support him since they are getting goodies from the government, and Obama will pull the race card and it may be the spark that would cause a civil war.  If he wins, he has soo polarized the people that there will be a backlash against his reelection.  Either way it will be ugly this year.
    You can read more here

11 Points Of Comparison Between Life In The United States And Life Under Hitler From A Woman Who Has Experienced Both

Have you ever heard of Kitty Werthmann?  She was a child when Adolf Hitler took control of her beloved country of Austria and stripped away their freedoms, and she is now speaking out about the chillingly similar loss of freedoms that we are currently experiencing in the United States.  It is often said that "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it".  So, perhaps we should listen very carefully to what Kitty Werthmann has to say.  She has been there.  She has lived through it.  The truth is that when you do sit down and compare what happened under the Nazi regime and what is happening in the United States today, the parallels are absolutely shocking.  The American Dream is not guaranteed for us or for our children.  Freedom must be guarded.  If not, it will be taken away.  In fact, our freedoms are already being stripped away at blinding speed, and once they are gone they are incredibly difficult to get back.
The quotes from Kitty Werthmann that you will read below come from her excellent article entitled "After America, There is No Place to Go".  We hope that you will take the time to read that entire article after you read this one.  Sometimes it is really important to get some historical perspective in order to understand what is happening today.  The following are 11 points of comparison between life in the United States and life under Hitler from a woman who has experienced both....
#1) Severe Economic Crisis
We all know about the severe economic downturn that the United States has just been through.  Many economists are calling it the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.  Often, when economic times are really hard, it paves the way for massive "change" to be pushed on a society.
Kitty Werthmann describes the economic conditions just before Hitler took over this way....
In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.
Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn't want to work; there simply weren't any jobs. My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people, about 30 daily.
#2) Election Of A Wildly Popular Leader
In both the United States today and in Austria back then, a wildly popular leader was elected in the wake of the economic crisis....
I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide 98% of the vote. I've never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.
In fact, a lot of promises of "change" were made to Austrians.  They were told if Hitler was elected that businesses would be bailed out and everything would be okay again....
We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.
We were overjoyed, and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.
#3) An Obsession With Law & Order
Under the Nazi regime, law and order were quickly restored and there was an extreme emphasis on national security.  Does that sound familiar to anyone?....
After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order.
#4) Women Were Taught That Work Was More Important Than Family
Under the Nazi regime in Austria, just as in the United States today, women were taught that work is more important than family.  Kitty Werthmann describes the Nazi mentality of the day this way....
Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn't support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.
#5) Children Raised In Daycare Facilities
So if the mothers were out working, what happened to the children?  Well, they were raised in daycare facilities just as is happening with so many children today....
When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers. You could take your children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7 days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
#6) Christianity Drubbed Out Of The Schools
In Austria during those times older children were taught the Nazi way in schools.  Christianity was systematically drubbed out of the schools just like it is being drubbed out of American schools today....
Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler's picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn't pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles, and had physical education.
#7) Socialized Healthcare
Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress passed Barack Obama's health care law that essentially socialized medicine in the United States.  The frightening thing is that the Nazis were big into socialized healthcare as well.  One of the first things they did in Austria was to take over the healthcare system....
Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna . After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full. If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.
#8) Government Handouts Became A Way Of Life
For some reason, people tend to think of the Nazis as capitalists.  But they were not.  They were socialists.  In fact, under the Nazis government handouts became a way of life.  Considering the fact that 40 million Americans are now on food stamps, the parallels between then and now are too stunning to ignore....
As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.
#9) Oppressive Government Regulations
Everyone knows about the oppressive government regulations that the U.S. government keep spewing out.  But most people don't realize that the Nazis were also really big into government regulation of everything.  Kitty Werthmann describes it this way....
We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn't meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business.
#10) Gun Restrictions
Today, most people think gun control is such a "liberal" thing to do.  But the truth is that totalitarian regimes have always been very much into gun control.  In fact, the Nazis couldn't wait to confiscate the guns from the Austrian population....
Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long after-wards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.
#11) Lack Of Respect For Life
One of the things that really marked the Nazis was their lack of respect for life.  One of the very first measures that Hitler implemented when he took control of Germany was a law that legalized abortion.  His lack of respect for life was very evident during his takeover of Austria as well....
In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated. So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work. I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van. I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months. They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.
As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.
The truth is that once you see the truth it is impossible not to see the parallels.
We would be incredibly foolish not to listen to the wisdom of Kitty Werthmann.  She saw what kind of horror is created when God is pushed out of public life and the government becomes the new "god".
But that is what is happening in the United States today.  God has been pushed aside.  Suddenly the government is the answer to all of our problems, the provider of all of our needs, and the regulator of every single detail of our lives.
We are marching down a very dangerous path.  It is a path that many nations have gone down before with absolutely disastrous consequences.
Americans have got to wake up.  Please send this information out to as many people as you can.  If we will not speak out about the need to protect our freedoms now, we may not have the chance to do it later.
No nation is guaranteed liberty and freedom forever.

Boeing forcast robust sales

Boeing (NYSE: BA) revised its forecast for commercial aircraft sales over the next 20 years to 34,000 planes. The value of the entire inventory should be $4.5 trillion, as carriers worldwide combine to double the global fleet. The only real competitor to Boeing for the largest and most expensive planes is EADS division Airbus. Many of the models that will make up the forecast sales have just come into service, led by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A-380 super jumbo. According to the new Boeing 2012 Current Market Outlook (CMO), Asia Pacific sales will account for 12,030 of the sales for the twenty year period. The report said:

Airline traffic is forecasted to grow at a 5 percent annual rate over the next two decades, with cargo traffic projected to grow at an annual rate of 5.2 percent. The single-aisle market, served by Boeing’s Next-Generation 737 and the future 737 MAX, will continue its robust growth. Widebodies, such as Boeing’s 747-8, 777 and 787 Dreamliner, will account for almost $2.5 trillion dollars worth of new airplane deliveries with 40 percent of the demand for these long-range airplanes coming from Asian airlines.

Airbus A380 Wing Cracks and the Limits of Engineering

Posted: January 25, 2012 at 6:36 am

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Cracks in the wings of the new Airbus A380 super jumbo have been found several times. The aviation firm’s own engineers found some. Others have apparently been discovered by airlines. Sixty-eight of the planes are in service now and another 253 have been ordered. The news raises concerns about the safety of the airplanes, and the limits of the engineering used to build them.                                       

Boeing (NYSE: BA) says there are six million parts in
its largest plane, the 747-400. Half of these are fasteners. The aircraft has 171 miles of wiring. It is a wonder the plane flies safely at all.
Problems with large airplane engineering can be divided into two categories. There are those that probably pose very little threat to the ability of the plane to fly, and those that could cause a catastrophe that pilots or mechanics cannot overcome. The wing cracks in the A380 almost certainly fall into the first group, but no one knows that for certain.
Products like the A380 take years to develop. Something as obvious as wing cracks should not happen in new planes. Much older models have been known to develop mechanical problems after a plane has been in service for 20 or 30 years. That may be unacceptable to fliers, airlines and regulators, but at least it is understandable.
The A380 is one of the most complex aircraft ever built. That is not an excuse for why one of the world’s most advanced manufacturing companies cannot get the design of the wings right.


Douglas A. McIntyre

The OBAMAinator

"What motivates Obama"

"So when it comes your time to die"

I was surfing through blogs that I check out everyday...the ones on my blogroll and I visited Stormbringer's blog and I saw this.  It reminded me of the guys at Roarks drift in the movie Zulu

 or in the 13th warrior when the Norsemen recited this:

     
"Lo there do I see my father. Lo there do I see my mother and my sisters and my brothers. Lo there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning. Lo, they do call to me, they bid me take my place among them, in the Halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever."

     Basically there is a quote that I have heard a long time ago, " a coward dies many deaths before he dies....a brave man dies but once"

Thursday, July 5, 2012

"When It Comes Your Time to Die . . ."

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”

~ Chief Tecumseh (Poem from Act of Valor)

Airships...Classic and modern

I ran across this webpage about a modern Zeppelin "Eureka"    The difference between a Zeppelin and the blimp you see circling the sports stadium is construction.  The blimp is basically a big balloon, the air sac is the structure.  On the Zeppelins there is a semi-rigid frame to support the the air sacs.  Before the Hindenburg desaster. their was talk of huge airships plying the wind between Europe and the United States.  Even the U.S. Navy had 2 airships that they could launch airplanes from the U.S.S. Akron and the U.S.S. Macon  When most people think of zeppelins this is what they they think of...more info here

Airships: The Hindenburg and other Zeppelins

Hindenburg (LZ-129)

The Hindenburg was the first airliner to provide regularly scheduled service between Europe and North America.
While the airship is better remembered for the fiery Hindenburg disaster of 1937 than for its many technological achievements, it was the fastest and most comfortable way to cross the Atlantic in its day.

Hindenburg Directory

• Hindenburg History [current page]
• Hindenburg Disaster
• Hindenburg Interior and Passenger Decks
• Hindenburg Famous Flights and Flight Schedule
• Hindenburg Design and Technology
• Hindenburg Flight Operations
• Hindenburg Flight Instruments and Flight Controls
• Hindenburg Crew Areas
• Hindenburg Statistics and Dimensions

Hindenburg: A Detailed History

Click to learn more about Hindenburg's Passenger Decks

Origins of the LZ-129 Hindenburg

The astounding success of the Graf Zeppelin had proved the viability of long range passenger transportation by airship, and by the late 1920′s, Hugo Eckener and the Zeppelin Company  were enthusiastic about building a fleet of ships specifically designed for intercontinental passenger transportation.

Airship Hindenburg under construction.

The ship originally planned for this role was LZ-128, which it would have been 761 feet long and lifted by 5,307,000 cubic feet of hydrogen.  But the fiery crash of the British airship R-101 in October, 1930 (in which passengers and crew were killed by the hydrogen fire that followed the crash, rather then by the impact itself) convinced the Zeppelin Company to alter its plans and develop a ship capable of being lifted by helium.
Helium is heavier than hydrogen, and therefore provides less lift, so a helium airship must be larger than a hydrogen airship to carry the same payload. The plans for the 5.3 million cubic feet LZ-128, therefore, were abandoned in favor of a design for a much larger ship, the 7 million cubic feet LZ-129, later to be named Hindenburg.
Eerily — in light of later events — the Zeppelin Company purchased 5,000 kg of Duralumin from the wreckage of the British R-101 and used the metal to fabricate components for the Hindenburg.

Airship Hindenburg under construction.

When completed, LZ-129 was 803.8 feet long, with a diameter of 135.1 feet, and a total gas capacity of 7,062,000 cubic feet of hydrogen.

Hindenburg and Boeing 707

LZ-129 and its sister ship, LZ-130, are still the largest objects ever to fly.

   Read more here



Here is a modern Zeppelin the "Eureka"  the webpage is here   There are a lot of good pics of San Francisco and Oakland.


Our trip started out with a preflight briefing, security screening, then a ride out to the private section of the Oakland airport. There, we watched the arrival of the Eureka airship!


Not to be confused with a Blimp, the Eureka has a rigid internal structure. So even with the helium removed, it will retain its general shape.


Airship Ventures started operating the Eureka out of Moffett Field in November of 2008. At 246 ft long, it is the largest airship in the world.


That's our pilot Katherine 'Kate' Board. She is the only female Zeppelin pilot in the world. I believe she's British.


Eureka's 2 main engines are mounted high above the gondola, attaching to the airship's internal bracing instead. This reduces engine noise and vibrations in the cabin, and also allows for an impressively unhindered viewing experience.


The 3rd engine is mounted aft, where it drives 2 propellers. One helps control yaw (like a helicopter tail rotor), and the other pitch. The one pointed down in the picture can be swiveled upwards, where it acts as a pusher propeller during normal flight.

Pakistan opens the land route to A'Stan

I wonder how much money we had to pay off Pakistan to allow our stuff to Afghanistan.  This will be handy we we pull our stuff out from downrange.  Pakistan is a place that played both sides against each other.

Panetta Welcomes Opening of Pakistan Supply Lines

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

In-Depth Coverage

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2012 – Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta today welcomed Pakistan’s decision to open ground lines of communication on the border with Afghanistan that have been closed since November.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the decision after a telephone call this morning with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
“As I have made clear,” Panetta said, “we remain committed to improving our partnership with Pakistan and to working closely together as our two nations confront common security challenges in the region."
On the call with Khar, Clinton said, “I once again reiterated our deepest regrets for the tragic incident in Salala last November. I offered our sincere condolences to the families of the Pakistani soldiers who lost their lives.”
Clinton and Khar acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of Pakistani military lives, she added.
“We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military,” she added. “We are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again.”
In reopening the ground lines of communication, Pakistan will not charge transit fees in the larger interest of peace and security in Afghanistan and the region, Clinton said.
“This is a tangible demonstration of Pakistan’s support for a secure, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan and our shared objectives in the region,” she said, adding that the move will help the United States and the International Security Assistance Force conduct the planned drawdown at a much lower cost.
“This is critically important to the men and women who are fighting terrorism and extremism in Afghanistan,” Clinton said.
Khar said no lethal equipment will transit Pakistan into Afghanistan unless it is meant to equip the Afghan national security force.
During the call, Khar and Clinton discussed the importance of taking coordinated action against terrorists who threaten Pakistan, the United States and the region, she said.
Clinton said she and Khar also discussed supporting Afghanistan’s security, stability and efforts towards reconciliation, and continuing to work together to advance the two nations’ many other shared interests, from increasing trade and investment to strengthening our people-to-people ties.
“Our countries should have a relationship that is enduring, strategic and carefully defined, and that enhances the security and prosperity of both our nations and the region,” the secretary said.
U.S. and Pakistani troops are in a fight against a common enemy, she said, and have enhanced counterterrorism cooperation against terrorists that threaten both countries, with the goal of defeating al-Qaida in the region.
As the call ended, Clinton said, “I reiterated our deep appreciation to the government and the people of Pakistan for their many sacrifices and their critical contribution to the ongoing fight against terrorism and extremism.”

information on Obama

I had tried to post some information before but the pics didn't take.  So I had to delete the post try again.

      Can we really afford  4 more years?

Army says no ban on commercial rifle magazines

The Pentagon has clarified the Army’s stance on a recent safety message that effectively banned a certain high-performance, commercial M4 magazine, which means soldiers can keep using their PMAGs.
The confusion began when Army officials from the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command issued a message in April, declaring that the only government-issued aluminum magazines were authorized for use in the M4 and M16 rifles.
TACOM officials released the message to address reports of Army units using “unauthorized” commercial, polymer magazines such as the popular PMAG, introduced by Magpul Industries Corp., in 2007. The decision left combat troops puzzled, since the PMAG has demonstrated its extreme reliability in combat and has an Army-approved national stock number, which allows units to order them through the Army supply system.

Army officials acknowledged June 6 that TACOM’s message was poorly written and not intended as a directive on the use of PMAGs. Matthew Bourke, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon responding to questions from Mililtary.com, said the message should have included guidance that the final decision rests with commanders in the field.
“At best, the message is incomplete; at worst the message allows soldiers to jump to the wrong conclusions,” Bourke said. “Maintenance Information Messages [from TACOM] are permissive. They are not an order. They are not a directive. All content and direction in those messages are optional for the recipient.”
It’s still unclear why TACOM issued the message at this time, but sources say it might have something to do with the $10.7 million contract TACOM Rock Island awarded to Brownells Inc. in 2009 to produce 1.4 million improved magazines by January 2010.
Program Executive Office Soldier set out to develop the improved magazine after the M4 finished last against three other carbines in a 2007 reliability test. The “dust test” revealed that 27 percent of the M4’s stoppages were magazine related.
The improved magazine uses a redesigned “follower,” the part that sits on the magazine’s internal spring and feeds the rounds into the M4’s upper receiver. The new tan-colored follower features an extended rear leg and modified bullet protrusion for improved round stacking and orientation. The self-leveling/anti-tilt follower reduces the risk of magazine-related stoppages by more than 50 percent compared to the older magazine variants, PEO Soldier officials maintain.
In late May, Military.com asked PEO Soldier if weapons officials had tested to see how the improved magazine performs against the PMAG. The command responded through Army public affairs that weapons officials had conducted “limited side-by-side testing and found that no commercial magazine was superior to the improved magazine,” Bourke said.
By contrast, PMAGs have developed a word-of-mouth reputation for being extremely reliable as well as durable. Special operations units such as Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment issue PMAGs as do many infantry units before war-zone deployments.
Soldiers from B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, had been issued PMAGs before deploying to Afghanistan in 2009. On Oct. 3 of that year, they fought off a bold enemy attack on Combat Outpost Keating that lasted for more than six hours and left eight Americans dead. Some soldiers fired up to 40 PMAGs from their M4s without a single stoppage.
Army officials maintain that TACOM’s message was intended to make soldiers aware that not all commercial magazines have gone through the same testing as the improved magazine, but concede that there are exceptions.
“The main message we want to get out is – although the Army does support and is confident in the improved, tan-follower magazine – we don’t want soldiers to fear punishment for using PMAGs,” Bourke said

Bill defending veterans gun rights filed.....again

This is one of my big concerns with dealing with the VA,   Having some government hack arbitrarily deciding to deprive me of my 2nd amendment rights and having a stack show up at my door to confiscate my firearms thereby depriving me of my God given rights of self defense. 




Key Senate lawmakers are once again pushing legislation to stop veterans judged unable to handle their own finances from being barred from owning firearms.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Richard Burr, R-NC, and Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., would require that veterans first are found to be a danger to themselves or others before losing their Second Amendment rights. Today, a veteran deemed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to be incapable of handling his own finances is included on the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS – which means he cannot own a firearm, nor can anyone else in the household, Burr said.
"There are veterans, spouses, family members who are deprived of their Second Amendment rights … based on an arbitrary decision by somebody at VA because they can't handle their own personal finances," Burr said Wednesday at a committee hearing. "These people are labeled as dangerous when it may be a physical disability that may not allow them to handle their personal finances."
VA estimates that about 127,000 veterans have been put on the list because the department determined they couldn't handle their personal finances.
A similar bill has already passed the House of Representatives.

In the Senate, the "Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act" has been filed at least three times before, going as far back as 2007. The version filed in 2009 was opposed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which argued that it could cause guns to wind up in the hands of unsafe people.
The Brady Campaign had criticized Burr's legislation "in light of the Fort Hood shootings." Attorneys for the accused attacker, Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, claim he is mentally ill.
Burr's bill died in committee.
Burr, Webb and others backing the bill say no veteran should lose his or her gun rights without an order by a judge, magistrate or other judicial authority competent to make the call on whether the person is dangerous.
At Wednesday's hearing, VA officials said that is not a determination made by department officials who assess a veteran's ability to look after his finances.
Tom Murphy, director of the Veterans Benefits Administration's compensation service, said those who make the call on veterans are trained only to assess how well they're able to handle finances.
Richard Hipolit, assistant general counsel for the VA, said, "Our determination is just whether [someone] can handle financial affairs, and that automatically triggers the requirement to refer their names" to the NICS list

Trump on Obamacare

I don't always agree with Donald Trump.... But he seems to have hit the nail on the head with ObamaCare Health Care

The Female Demerit system...

I was surfing around and ran across this.   Me being a warped individual figured my fellow readers would see the humor.

FEMALE DEMERIT SYSTEM
In the world of romance, some simple rules apply:
-Make the woman happy.
-Do something she likes and you get points.
-Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted.
-You don't get any points for doing something she expects.
-Sorry, that's the way the game is played.

Here is a guide to the point system:

SIMPLE DUTIES
-You make the bed (+1)
-You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow (0)
-You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1)
-You go out to buy her what she wants (+5) in the rain (+8)
-But return with Beer (-5)
-You check out a suspicious noise at night (+1)
-You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (0)
-You check out a suspicious noise and it is something (+5)
-You pummel it with iron rod (+10)
-It's her pet (-20)
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
-You stay by her side the entire party (0)
-You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with an old school friend (-2)
-Named Tina (-10)
-Tina is a dancer (-20)
-Tina has silicone implants (-80)
HER BIRTHDAY
-You take her out to dinner (+2)
-You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar (+3)
-Okay, it's a sports bar (-2)
-And it's all-you-can-eat night (-3)
-It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can-eat night, and your face is painted the colours of your favourite team (-10)
A NIGHT OUT
-You take her to a movie (+1)
-You take her to a movie she likes (+3)
-You take her to a movie you hate (+6)
-You take her to a movie you like (-2)
-It's called 'Death Cop' (-3)
-You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans (-15)
YOUR PHYSIQUE
-You develop a noticeable potbelly (-15)
-You develop a noticeable potbelly and exercise to get rid of it (+10)
-You develop a noticeable potbelly and resort to baggy jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirts (-30)
-You say "It doesn't matter, you have one too". (-8000)
THE BIG QUESTION
-She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5) (Yes, you lose points no matter what)
-You hesitate in responding (-10)
-You reply, "Where?" (-35)
-Any other response (-20)
COMMUNICATION
-When she wants to talk about a problem, you listen, displaying a concerned expression (0)
-You listen, for over 30 minutes (+50)
-You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)
-She realises this is because you have fallen asleep (-4000)

Royal Military Tattoo

There is something about watching a precision unit performing drill.  The sheer amount of practice necessary for the individual and the unit to perform the sheer amount of movement and choreograph is very impressive.  On my bucket list is a trip to Edinburgh to watch a tattoo.

    You can go to Link to get more information. 
      And here is another Linkie

The word "Tattoo," is derived from "Doe den tap toe", or just "tap toe" ("toe" is pronounced "too"), the Dutch for "Last orders". Translated literally, it means: "close the (beer) tap". The term "Tap-toe" was first encountered by the British Army when stationed in Flanders during the War of the Austrian Succession.
The British adopted the practice and it became a signal, played by a regiment's Corps of Drums or Pipes and Drums each night to tavern owners to turn off the taps of their ale kegs so that the soldiers would retire to their billeted lodgings at a reasonable hour. With the establishment of modern barracks and full Military bands later in the 18th century, the term Tattoo was used to describe not only the last duty call of the day, but also a ceremonial form of evening entertainment performed by Military musicians.^[1]
Although the first Tattoo in Edinburgh, entitled "Something About a Soldier", took place at the Ross Bandstand at Princes Street Gardens in 1949, the first official Edinburgh Military Tattoo began in 1950 with just eight items in the programme. It drew some 6000 spectators seated in simple bench and scaffold structures around the north, south and east sides of the Edinburgh Castle esplanade. In 1952, the capacity of the stands was increased to accommodate a nightly audience of 7700, allowing 160,000 to watch live performances each year.

       More from Wiki

Visit the Tattoo Shop where you will find an exciting range of Scottish gifts and merchandise, together with Tattoo branded clothing, CDs, DVDs and much more. 
» click here to find out more

The 2012 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

In 2012 (3-25 August), Edinburgh once again hosts one of the World's most spectacular entertainment events as The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo draws together a host of creative talent from four continents to pay sparkling tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee and the year of Creative Scotland.
This will be the 62nd extravaganza to be staged at the Scottish capital's ancient Castle - a spectacular and inspiring backcloth for this remarkable and internationally acclaimed event.  With innovative production, heart-stopping sound, imaginative graphics, state-of-the-art lighting and specially commissioned fireworks, the 90-minute show is set to captivate a large cosmopolitan audience.    The line-up of nearly 1000 performers includes hundreds of musicians, pipers, drummers, singers and dancers, as well as one of the World's most sensational percussion groups: Switzerland's Top Secret Drum Corps.
As ever, the emphasis is on sheer scale, colourful tradition, music, movement and spectacle with the show looking forward to delighting an international crowd with a rich story and setting.
The world-renowned display unit from the Norwegian Armed Forces - His Majesty The King's Guard Band and Drill Team - will deliver an extraordinary display of discipline and precision, whilst dancers from home and abroad are set to provide exhilarating and inspired performances, drawn firmly from the Scottish tradition but with a contemporary edge. 
A strong Commonwealth contribution includes pipe bands and performers from Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, as well as elements from further afield.  
As always, the exciting programme will include the unforgettable music of the Massed Pipes and Drums and the Massed Military Bands.  Among the many bands taking part will be The Royal Regiment of Scotland and a stunning Combined Band drawn from The Royal Navy, Army and the Royal Air Force. 
The show will be brought to an emotional and poignant close each evening as the Lone Piper, high on the castle ramparts, plays a haunting lament.

Programme subject to alteration

List of Obama power grabs

Like Jay Leno, Human Events has a top 10 list.  And Obungler made the cut....again.   this is the top 10 power grabs.  He makes Nixon look like a lightweight.

    

Top 10 Obama power grabs

---

By: Human Events
6/30/2012 06:15 AM

Obama’s power grabs are designed to implement his ideological goals, no matter whether they violate his oath of office. November can’t come soon enough.
1. Immigration
By declaring that he will no longer deport most young illegal immigrants, Obama is refusing to follow congressionally passed immigration bills signed into law by earlier presidents. For a constitutional law professor, Obama seems to have forgotten that a presidential administration is supposed to administer the law, not pick and chose which ones to enforce.
2. Fast and Furious
With Obama asserting executive privilege to keep Fast and Furious documents hidden, one has to wonder what the administration is hiding. Why risk a contempt of Congress charge against the attorney general unless the material is politically explosive? The president’s action was reminiscent of Richard Nixon, but no one died at Watergate.
3. Drones
Where is the anti-war left, which was so incensed when President George W. Bush indefinitely detained terrorists but are nearly mute over Obama personally targeting drone victims? The drones aren’t just killing terrorists but also are claiming numerous civilian victims and Obama has deemed that any males near the selected target are fair game for slaughter. It makes Guantanamo look like the more humane option.
4. Obamacare
Obama and congressional Democratic leaders ignored the wishes of the American people and passed into law a highly partisan and unpopular health care bill. The way Obamacare was enacted into law stretched the boundaries of legislative maneuverings by doling out goodies to fence-sitting congressmen. Now there is word from the White House that even if the Supreme Court overturns the law, the president will implement much of it by executive order.
5. Defense of Marriage Act
The Defense of Marriage Act is another area where the Obama administration is deciding which laws to enforce and ignoring ones it doesn’t like. Signed into law by President Clinton, the law defines marriage for federal purposes as the legal union of one man and one woman. Apparently enforcing that law is not popular with the president’s campaign donors.
6. Recess appointments
Most presidents make a recess appointment or two during their time in office, but Obama’s method of implementing the practice circumvents the Constitution. The law allows the chief executive to install an official without Senate approval when the chamber is not in session. But when Republicans kept the Senate officially open by scheduling informal sessions during a break, Obama went ahead and made his appointments anyway.
7. Ideological appointments
If personnel is policy, then it should come to no one’s surprise that president’s agenda tilts solidly to the left. Instead of simply looking for the best person to do the job, Obama populated his administration with left-wing ideologues, often drawn from academia and the activist community, meant to advance a progressive agenda. How else to explain Labor Secretary Hilda Solis or Energy Secretary Steven Chu?
8. Executive orders
Obama has signed 128 executive orders, making his own laws by bypassing Congress. The orders have ranged from the futile (closing the Guantanamo Bay terror prison), to the hypocritical (ending torture of terrorists while escalating the drone program, killing them instead.) It is Obama’s favorite method of ignoring laws he doesn’t like (immigration, see No. 1, and DOMA, see No. 5.). He used it to allow states to bypass the No Child Left Behind requirements. Someone, please give this man a copy of the Constitution.
9. Emergency powers
One of Obama’s executive orders deserve special mention: “National Defense Resources Preparedness.” Stunning in its scope, the order gives the president the power to essentially take over the nation’s industrial and technological base in case of a national emergency. Remember, this is the president who doesn’t like to waste a good crisis (see Emanuel, Rahm, 2009).
10. Global groups
Obama is fond of ceding U.S. powers to multilateral organizations like the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and NATO. His “leading from behind” during the Libyan conflict is a case in point. Instead of allowing Congress to perform its constitutional duty to declare war, Obama asserted the U.S. military into the conflict through NATO, with the military alliance calling the shots over U.S. troops

Race is on to build the Concorde replacement

I saw this in one of my overseas newspapers that I read and since I like all things airplane i posted it.

Plans for a supersonic jet that may be able to fly from London to Sydney, Australia in just four hours is expected to be unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show next month, according to the Mail Online.
The Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin and Gulfstream, with help from NASA, are leading the way in the race to build the prototype successor to the Concorde, and the companies believe they may be close to reducing the sonic boom challenge as well, the story said. The Concorde’s loud sonic boom forced it to fly routes away from land. It last flew in November 2003. The supersonic plane was operated by British Airways and Delta joint venture partner Air France.
The prototype, codenamed X-54, will initially be targeted to the business jet market, mainly European and Middle East buyers, under the slogan, ‘To the USA and back in a working day,’ the story said.
The aircraft seats 12 and is expected to cost $80 million each.
  
The Gulfstream X-54 is a research and demonstration aircraft, under development in the United States by Gulfstream Aerospace, that is planned for use in sonic boom and supersonic transport research.

Contents  [hide]  1 Development 2 Specifications (X-54A) 3 See also 4 References

Initiated during 2008, the X-54 project is intended to produce an experimental aircraft capable of supersonic speeds.^[1] The X-54A is intended to produce test data on sonic boom effects in support of future supersonic transport design and regulation.^[2] Current regulations prohibit supersonic flight over land areas in the United States; the X-54 is part of Gulfstream's efforts to have the regulations altered to allow for supersonic transports to be commercially viable.^[3]
The X-54A is being developed by Gulfstream Aerospace and is intended to be powered by two Rolls-Royce Tay turbofan engines.^[1] Although the aircraft has received an 'X' series designation in the U.S. Department of Defense's Mission Designation System at the request of NASA,^[4] neither the U.S. military nor NASA is currently involved in the project.^[1]
Although Gulfstream has made little comment about the X-54A project,^[5] at the 2008 National Business Aviation Association convention a Gulfstream executive stated that Gulfstream's work on advanced technologies for supersonic flight had been ongoing "for some time" and that a "complete airplane designed for low [sonic] boom" would possibly "have X-54 painted on the side of it."^[6]
The X-54A may be connected to Gulfstream's "Sonic Whisper" program, trademarked in 2005 as an aircraft design to "reduce boom intensities during supersonic flight."^[5] Some sources claim that the X-54A is based on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter;^[7] this conflicts with the description of the aircraft by the DOD.^[1]

     

The race to build a successor to Concorde: Boeing, Gulfstream and Nasa join forces to create a supersonic jet capable of flying from London to Sydney in FOUR HOURS

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 11:03 EST, 24 June 2012 | UPDATED: 13:10 EST, 28 June 2012

Aircraft enthusiasts are waiting with growing anticipation for the unveiling of plans for a supersonic jet that may be able to fly London to Sydney in just four hours.
U.S. builders - helped by the Nasa space agency - will reveal the prototype successors to Concorde at the Farnborough air show next month.
Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Gulfstream are leading the way to build the new supersonic passenger plane which will be targeted at first at the business jet market.

Artist's impression of the new supersonic commercial passenger aircraft which will fly at speeds of 2,500 mph

All three companies believe they are close to reduce the sonic boom to a sound described by a Gulfstream engineer last week as 'closer to a puff or plop'.
He said: 'The fact that the big boys are all close confirms industry rumours that a new generation of supersonic planes is now, finally, within reach.

 

Lighter composite material, more advanced engines and smaller fuselages could enable new jets to travel about twice as fast as Concorde, which flew at up to 1358mph, according to the Sunday Times.
Passengers will travel at speeds of more than 2,485mph, allowing them to cruise in luxury from London to Sydney, just over 12,000 miles away.
Currently, the fastest subsonic executive jet, Gulfstream's new G650, can fly 7,000 miles at a  646mph and has a top speed of just 704mph.

Iconic: The British Airways Concorde which began flying passengers at supersonic speed in 1976

HOW CONCORDE RULED THE SKIES

• The first Anglo-French Concorde entered service in 1976 and flew for 27 years.
• It cut the usual 8-hour journey to New York to three and a half hours.
• Only 20 were ever built, but the sleek droop nose aircraft quickly became an iconic symbol around the world.
• On 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590, crashed in Gonesse, France, killing all 100 passengers and nine crew members on board the flight, and four people on the ground.

But its successor , codenamed X-54, will 'prove that an aircraft can be shaped for low sonic boom', reports Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine.
It will be 'sketched out' at Farnborough along with other supersonic prototypes, say show executives.
Last January, NASA released images of a test plane in a wind tunnel which suggested the sonic boom could be virtually silenced using super-thin wings and hidden engines.
Robert Bass, a Texas hedge fund trader, has banked 50 $200,000 deposits for his company's Aerion SBJ supersonic jet after enlisting Nasa's help - even though no delivery dates have been set.
The 12-seat planes are expected to cost $80m each and are being marketed to European and Middle East buyers under the slogan, 'To the USA and back in a working day.'
The challenge is not just technical: builders have to prove to politicians that the supersonic jets will be acceptable to the public.
Concorde's loud boom forced it onto to routes away from land and damaged its commercial chances. It  flew for the last time in November 2003


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2163953/Nasa-joins-race-build-successor-Corncorde-capable-flying-London-Sydney-FOUR-HOURS.html#ixzz1zMltGDTo