Sipsey Street Irregulars – by Dutchman 6

The ‘definitive glossary of modern US military slang’ defines “Speedball” as: A body bag filled with supplies, usually ammunition and bottled water, dropped from a plane or helicopter to resupply soldiers far afield or in dire need.

Michael Yon describes the use of “Body Bags & Speedballs” in Afghanistan here.

Body bags as speedballs in Afghanistan.

Some folks have even designed specially drop-resistant bags for re-use as in Bulldog Equipment’s – Speedball Bag. (Be sure and watch the short video where the ammo cans within the bag fail the long drop, but the bag does not.)   Continue reading “Praxis: Improvised Resupply By “Speedball.””

(Ceerwan Aziz/AFP/Getty Images)CBS San Francisco

SAN MATEO (CBS SF) — The San Mateo and Napa County Sheriff’s offices will not be getting secondhand weapons and gear from federal agencies after assault rifles from both departments were discovered missing or unaccounted for.

According to a KQED report, the counties are among nine California law enforcement that have been suspended from the giveaway, known as The Department of Defense Excess Property Program (or 1033 Program).The California Office of Emergency Services operates the program in the state.   Continue reading “Missing Assault Rifles Lead Feds To End Surplus Weapons Giveaways To San Mateo, Napa County Sheriff’s Offices”

Free North Carolina – by Jeffrey Hardin

When Poppa was stationed at Quantico Va. and then Paris Island Beaufort SC while in the Marine Corp, they, the schools, tried to forced me and two other siblings to go to speech therapy classes because they claimed our deep NC accents couldn’t be understood!

Momma’s people the McBees, McBeths and Dedmon’s Scot-Irish who came out of the Appalachians, have a deep blend of Southern & Gaelic accents, and Poppas folks, have rich Southern Appalachian accents, they came from out of Tennessee and Smokey mountains, finally settling in York SC in the mid 60s…   Continue reading “Southern Accents, pay attention Yankees”

Hamburger29-201x300The Imaginative Conservative – by Bruce Frohnen

Few Americans spend much time thinking about the vagaries of administrative law—the rules and procedures our government uses in formulating and enforcing regulations—let alone its effects on our lives and liberties. Anyone warning of the imminent demise of Americans’ liberties is likely to be dismissed as a kook. Anyone claiming to find such dangers in the actions of fussy little bureaucrats toiling in the bowels of federal agencies most likely would be simply laughed at.

Philip Hamburger, a distinguished legal historian teaching at Columbia Law School, has no alarmist, overwrought story to tell. Nonetheless, his latest book is intended to spark reconsideration among lawyers, political scientists, and educated citizens about the effects of administrative law on American government and on Americans’ rights and liberties. His central point: Administrative law is—not tends toward, not encourages, but in itself is—a form of arbitrary power inconsistent with our traditions of ordered liberty.   Continue reading “A Return to Absolute Power?”

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.(AFP Photo / Mohd Rasfan )RT

Australia is set to deploy hundreds of troops against Islamic State militants in Iraq. The task force, which will include Special Forces military advisors and assault jets, will be stationed in UAE as part of a “humanitarian operation.”

Five years after the complete withdrawal of Australian troops from Iraq in July 2009, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that the country’s military would be returning to the Middle East, this time to help defeat militants from the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS / ISIL). The decision was preceded by a formal request for help from the government of new Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi, as well as from the United States, which has already “declared war” on Islamic State.   Continue reading “Australia to deploy 600 troops, fighter jets to help battle Islamic State – PM”

Mail.com

BLOOMING GROVE, Pa. (AP) — With the deadly ambush on a state police barracks in the Pocono Mountains, law enforcement in eastern Pennsylvania went on high alert and officers from throughout the region, including New York and New Jersey, joined in a massive search for the shooter or shooters.

But after scouring dense woods on foot and by helicopter Saturday, authorities suspected the assailant had left the area. They had no one in custody as midnight neared, a state police spokesman said. Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said the attack Friday night that left one trooper dead and another critically wounded was directed at state police and a “very dangerous, armed criminal” eluded quick capture.   Continue reading “Police: Deadly ambush ‘has touched us to the core’”

Mail.com

LEMOORE, Calif. (AP) — Rescuers on Saturday have called off their search of the Pacific Ocean for a Navy fighter pilot whose jet was one of two that crashed west of Wake Island.

The Navy said Saturday that it presumes the pilot is dead after failing to find him during a 36-hour search. The Navy declined to release the pilot’s name pending notification of his family. The Navy said the crash is under investigation and didn’t release any more details.   Continue reading “Rescuers end ocean search for Navy fighter pilot”

Matthew MillerMail.com

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea’s Supreme Court on Sunday sentenced a 24-year-old American man to six years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and trying to commit espionage.

At a trial that lasted about 90 minutes, the court said Matthew Miller, of Bakersfield, California, tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang’s airport upon arrival on April 10 and admitted to having the “wild ambition” of experiencing prison life so that he could secretly investigate North Korea’s human rights situation.   Continue reading “N. Korea sentences US man to 6 years of hard labor”

American-Flag-ArmyThe Organic Prepper – by Daisy Luther

Last week, Dave Hodges wrote an article called The Psychological Reasons Why American Soldiers Would Fire On American Citizens.  Mr. Hodges used experiments by behavioral scientists to support his hypothesis. His evidence was the Asch experiment, the Milgram experiment, and the Stanford prison experiment. All of the experiments proved one thing: under certain circumstances, people would perform acts of cruelty that were aberrant to their normal behavior.

Let me preface my argument by saying that Dave Hodges puts out some great information – none of this is a personal attack on him or his work.  This is a rebuttal to a specific article he has written.    Continue reading “Rebuttal: Here’s Why I Do NOT Believe American Soldiers Will Fire on Protesting American Citizens”

PRI – by Bruce Wallace

The terrorist group ISIS is known for its sophisticated social media outreach. Now it seems they are bringing that sophistication to their video propaganda, too.

ISIS, which also calls itself the Islamic State, recently created a new propaganda wing called the al-Hayat Media Center. We asked Elliot Greenebaum, a New York filmmaker who has worked on advertising and feature films, to look at some of the ISIS videos for us. He says they show a fair amount of skill.

“They’re taking archival photographs and they’re adding filters to them, and they’re layering the photos so they look fragmented and highly active,” Greenebaum says about a new two-minute music video celebtrating the “establishment” of the Islamic State. Those are techniques, he says, “that a Madison Avenue firm would try to deploy on behalf of a client.”    Continue reading “ISIS has mastered high-end video production in its new propaganda wing”

10 great games to learn survival or prepper skills mainGray Wolf Survival – by Gray Wolf

So I got in a discussion on facebook the other day about paintball being a training aid for preppers. Someone was saying that it wasn’t worth the time. I disagreed, which is usually what I do when people don’t know what they’re talking about.

So somewhere in my noggin that conversation was swimming around and I woke up this morning and said,

Self, …

(That’s what I call myself when I’m sober: Self. When I’m not-so-sober, I have a tendency to change my autobiographical nomenclature.)    Continue reading “10 great games to learn survival or prepper skills”

Charleston Voice – by Victor Skinner

HENRICO, Va. – A Virginia school board wants to give individual school principals the power to banish parents from school property and to cut off all communications “to ensure the safety of its school buildings and campuses,”NBC reports.A draft policy in front of the Henrico County Public Schools board reads:

“A principal may, to the extent practicable and after consultation with their Director, take steps to restrict a person’s ability to communicate with School Board employees or students if a person has directed excessive, harassing or abusive communications to school employees or students.”    Continue reading “Virginia School district ‘blacklists’ parents, mulls policy allowing principals to bar them from property”

Common Dreams – by by Sarah Lazare

The police department for San Diego’s public schools recently revealed that they have acquired a large armored combat vehicle from the U.S. military.

The $700,000 mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle (MRAP), which is designed to withstand blasts from improvised explosive devices and mines, was given to law enforcement for the Unified School District in April. The vehicle was transferred through the Department of Defense’s controversial 1033 program, which authorizes the military to donate what it considers surplus military equipment to police and sheriff departments in the United States, including tanks and weapons used in the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Continue reading “Public School Police Receive Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle”

Barack Obama, the president of the United StatesPress TV

A dark and sinister madness has descended upon the American government. 

It is madness because it is divorced from reality.

It is madness because it is divorced from a desire to serve the human race (which is the ultimate expression of sanity).

And it is madness because its promotion of violence is certain to cause more violence rather than ending it.

It is dark and sinister because its underlying intention hides in the shadows from which it springs out at crucial moments to forward its dastardly purpose.    Continue reading “Dark and sinister madness has descended upon US government”

The Prime Minister of Ukraine visits NATORickozoff 

KYIV: Only the NATO membership can protect Ukraine from Russian aggression.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatseniuk said within the frames of the 11th Annual Meeting of Yalta European Strategy YES, held in Kyiv, a Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“We must clearly recognize that, in these particular circumstances, NATO is the only way to protect Ukraine,” Yatseniuk said.

According to him, not all NATO members are satisfied with this position of Ukraine.   Continue reading “The Devil Quotes Scripture To Drag Ukraine Into NATO, Europe Into War”

A German made Panzerkampfwagen IV tank that the Israeli Army captured in 1967. (Courtesy Auctions America)SF Gate – by John Coté

Billionaire Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen apparently doesn’t get everything he wants – at least not yet.

A Soviet Scud surface-to-surface missile was a no-problem purchase for him at $349,000. A rusty and inoperable Cold War-era M55 self-propelled howitzer was a comparable bargain at $45,000.

But when it came to an authentic Panzer IV, a World War II-era German tank, Allen, an avid collector of historical military planes and other equipment, has had to go to court in Redwood City, even after paying $2.5 million for it.    Continue reading “Paul Allen sues after $2.5 million tank purchase blows up”

Activist Post

There is an array of research that seeks to create super soldiers. Back in 2010, a plan was announced to install transcranial ultrasonic mind control devices into soldiers’ helmets in order to boost alertness, as well as relieve battle stress and pain. The Department of Defense has also been working on an augmented reality creation called iOptik, which would enhance a soldier’s biology by offering simultaneous fields of vision, while enabling full data integration. Then of course there was T.A.L.O.S. an Iron Man-like suit that incorporates biometrics, liquid body armor that can change into bullet-proof solid skin, an exoskeleton for improved strength and speed, as well as the latest in augmented reality computing. There even has been discussion of genetically modifying soldiers to not require food and sleep.    Continue reading “DARPA’s Jet Pack Gives Supersoldiers a 4-Minute Mile”

david hainesHuffington Post – by Charlotte Alfred

Islamic State militants released a video on social media on Saturday they said showed the beheading of British aid worker David Haines.

In the video produced by ISIS’ media wing and posted on Twitter, a masked militant with a British-sounding accent addresses U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, before appearing to behead Haines.

(Warning: disturbing image below)    Continue reading “ISIS Video Claims To Show Beheading Of British Aid Worker David Haines”

brainSOTT – by Leah Zerbe

Since the Wheat Belly revolution, people all over the world have reported amazing results: being able to reverse type 2 diabetes, shedding layers of dangerous visceral body fat that encases the organs, and revving up to super-charged energy levels. But we started to wonder…how does ditching wheat – and all grains for that matter – impact the brain? We turned to William Davis, MD, best-selling author of Wheat Belly and the mastermind behind the new Wheat Belly Total Health, to learn more about the benefits of the grainless brain.    Continue reading “Ditch the grains, heal your brain”

The most common health complaints and concerns from people worrying about oil and gas drilling and fracking are neurological (headaches, dizziness), respiratory (cough, nose bleeds) and gastro-intestinal (stomach aches, diarrhea).Eco Watch – by Anastasia Pantsios

A new study provided more ammunition for what public health experts and environmental activists have been saying since fracking became widespread in the last half decade: chemicals used in the natural gas drilling process can be hazardous to health.

The study “Proximity to Natural Gas Wells and Reported  Health Status: Results of a Household Survey in Washington County, Pennsylvania,” published yesterday in Environmental Health Perspectives, found that people who live near fracking sites have more health problems than those who don’t.   Continue reading “Fracking Literally Makes People Sick, New Study Finds”