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.
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.
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”
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?”
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”
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’”
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”
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”
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”
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,
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:
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”
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.