This and That...

Started by Warph, September 04, 2012, 01:52:35 AM

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Warph

"Every once in a while I just have a compelling need to shoot my mouth off." 
--Warph

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all."
-- Warph

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

Warph




This animated video demonstrates how we are teaching kids to give up their personal liberty.



"Every once in a while I just have a compelling need to shoot my mouth off." 
--Warph

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all."
-- Warph

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

Warph




Life Inside Of Surreal, Cruel And Sheltered North Korea


(Elderly people forced to crawl on their hands and knees to look for weeds to eat, this is the black hole of the world)

Via NY Post:
In so many ways, Dennis Rodman seems the diplomat North Korea deserves: defiant, unpredictable, irrational, unhinged.

Yet the comic aspects of his so-called "basketball diplomacy" — the drunken defense of dictator Kim Jong-un on CNN; serenading Kim with "Happy Birthday"; gifting him with several bottles of his own liquor, Bad Ass Vodka; allowing his "Dream Team" of motley ex-and wannabe NBA players to lose to the North Koreans — has turned the most brutal regime in the world into a punchline for late-night comics.

Lost among the jokes is the suffering of the average North Korean — the 24.7 million who live in abject poverty in the world's most isolated nation.

North Korea's human-rights record has been condemned by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the United Nations. Aside from saber-rattling, the government maintains little communication with the outside world.

The nation has so little electricity that, in the ultimate metaphor, nighttime satellite imagery shows North Korea gone dark, the only country in the world not illuminated. Travelers are only allowed to move within a circumscribed part of Pyongyang and are chaperoned and surveilled by government officials.

So: What do we really know about life inside the Hermit Kingdom?

"Every once in a while I just have a compelling need to shoot my mouth off." 
--Warph

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all."
-- Warph

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

Warph



More People Without Health Insurance Than Before Obamacare:
Number Cancelled 6,286,357


Via http://freebeacon.com/
Seen a recent number of 4.7 million some are throwing around.  I've been adding up the announcements from insurers and states since the beginning, as has Fox and this is the accurate number.  Now yes, some may have acquired other insurance since then, but this is the most accurate number of plans that ObamaCare has had cancelled.






"Every once in a while I just have a compelling need to shoot my mouth off." 
--Warph

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all."
-- Warph

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

Warph




TrackingPoint 500 Series AR


This smart rifle never misses, now in semi-automatic form



BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
January 10, 2014 10:28 am


A start-up gun company unveiled a highly accurate "smart rifle" at the Consumer Electronic Show this week.

TrackingPoint presented at the show its new 500 Series AR Smart Rifle, which is just one of the company's line of "Precision Guided Fire Arms."

CNBC reports:
This technology turns even a neophyte into a marksman, at least within a 500-yard range. The user simply "tags" the target, and the gun and ammo do the rest, all for a mere (gulp)...$9,950—the starting price for the new series.

In fact, the system is so accurate that a user will have up to five times the accuracy of an experienced shooter, said Oren Schauble, the company's marketing director.

The gun can track a target moving at up to 10 mph and allows for rapid engagement, meaning a person can shoot multiple targets quickly.

According to TrackingPoint, the company's unique rifles are meant to "dramatically enhance the hunting and shooting sports experience while delivering a powerful tactical advantage to military and law enforcement organizations."

[...]


Three new precision guided firearms allow the novice shooter to engage long range targets with semi-automatic rifle speed.

TrackingPoint™, creator of the world's first  Precision Guided Firearm (PGF) system, today announced the debut of the TrackingPoint 500 Series ARs for the modern sporting rifle market at ShowStoppers @ CES 2014 in Las Vegas. The three PGF rifles, offered in 7.62, .300 BLK and 5.56 calibers, incorporate the company's ground breaking Tag Track Xact technology, accurately locking onto and hitting moving targets at distances up to 500 yards.

With stabilized target selection, target tracking and guided firing the 500 Series semi-automatic AR products enable anyone to be an expert marksman out to the 500 yard effective range of the firearm, even from difficult firing positions, such as kneeling, standing or even lying beneath an automobile.

"TrackingPoint is excited to be able to expand and adapt its TTX technology for the AR semi-automatic market. For the first time, AR enthusiasts will be able to make fast and accurate shots on moving targets out to five football fields away," said John Lupher, TrackingPoint CEO. "We expect not only strong demand for the 500 Series AR products, but also a growing demand for our technology across the industry."

Introductory pricing of the 500 Series models begin at $9,950. Orders are currently being taken for TrackingPoint AR products, with delivery starting in October, 2014.   You can apply to purchase the new product at tracking-point.com/apply-now


About TrackingPoint
TrackingPoint based in Austin Texas created the first smart rifles known as precision guided firearms.  Smart rifles utilize jet fighter lock-and-launch technology enabling anyone to engage targets at extreme ranges.  Smart rifles dramatically enhance the hunting and shooting sports experience while delivering a powerful tactical advantage to military and law enforcement organizations.  www.tracking-point.com


TP AR Networked TrackingScope Specs
Max Target Velocity – 10 mph

Magnification – 2-12x

Objective lens – 25mm

Laser Range Finder – 750 yards

WIFi – 802.11g

Display – 800×600 LCD

Image Sensor – 14.6 Mpixel CMOS

TTX Range – 500 yards

Operating Temperature Range –  -20C to 50C

Barrel Reference System Laser – 650 nm

Microphone Sensitivity – Whisper

Battery Type –  Li Ion

"Every once in a while I just have a compelling need to shoot my mouth off." 
--Warph

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all."
-- Warph

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

Warph



House Dems: Climate Change Turns Women Into Prostitutes


(Good Lord almighty...Watch out for the rise in prostitution this week, when the next "polar vortex" hits, according to this dumb a$$ goofball Rep. Barbara Lee!  They don't come any dumber... or do they?)

Via IJR:
http://www.ijreview.com/2014/01/107526-house-democrats-climate-change-turns-women-prostitutes/

The Democratic party has found a new consequence of climate change: prostitution. Rep. Barbara Lee and twelve other House Democrats issued a resolution stating that climate change can cause food and water shortages, which could lead impoverished women to turn to prostitution as a means of income:

"nsecure women with limited socioeconomic resources may be vulnerable to situations such as sex work, transactional sex, and early marriage that put them at risk for HIV, STIs, unplanned pregnancy, and poor reproductive health," it says.

More broadly, the resolution says climate change will hurt "marginalized" women, such as refugees, sexual minorities, adolescent girls, and women and girls with HIV. It also cites Hurricane Katrina as evidence of how climate change can affect women, noting that the storm displaced "over 83 percent of low-income, single mothers" in the region.

"Every once in a while I just have a compelling need to shoot my mouth off." 
--Warph

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all."
-- Warph

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

Ross

Lawmakers Plot New Strategy
For Defying Gun Laws

Conservative lawmakers in Missouri are hoping to band together with other states to defy certain federal gun control regulations.




JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Having failed in an earlier effort to bar federal agents from enforcing gun regulations in Missouri, conservative lawmakers are trying a new tack this year: banding together with other like-minded states to defy certain federal laws at the same time.

Supporters believe it will be more difficult for the federal government to shrug off such statutes if more states act together.

Missouri's latest proposal, introduced this past week, would attempt to nullify certain federal gun control regulations from being enforced in the state and subject law enforcement officers to criminal and civil penalties for carrying out such policies.

The state's Republican-led Legislature came one vote shy of overriding Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of such a measure last year. This year's bill adds a new twist, delaying the effective date for several years to allow time for other states to join the cause.

"We continue to see the federal government overreach their rightful bounds, and if we can create a situation where we have some unity among states, then I think it puts us in a better position to make that argument," said Republican Sen. Brian Nieves, who is sponsoring the legislation.

Missouri's efforts came after President Barack Obama called for expanded federal background checks and a ban on assault weapons following deadly mass shootings at a Colorado theater and a Connecticut elementary school.

Courts have consistently ruled that states cannot nullify federal laws, but that hasn't stopped states from trying or ignoring them anyway. Last year, a federal appeals court struck down a 2009 Montana law that sought to prohibit federal regulation of guns that were manufactured in the state and remained within its borders.

A similar Kansas law that makes it a felony for a federal agent to attempt to enforce laws on guns made and owned in Kansas earned a rebuke from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Peverill Squire, a political science professor and expert on state legislatures at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said Missouri's nullification plans would probably meet a similar fate in court, but that states could hope to send an indirect message to Congress by pushing such proposals.

Republican leaders in Missouri and elsewhere say bringing other states along in the effort might lead to a different outcome.

"This can't be just a Missouri effort. There has to be a groundswell of support by the people — by other states as well — in order for us ultimately to be successful," said Republican Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey.

Related: Judge upholds most of New York gun control law

There's a pattern for states to follow when rebuffing federal laws. Although possessing and distributing marijuana remains a federal crime, about 20 states now have laws that allow people to use marijuana for medical purposes, and the federal government has declined to challenge new laws in Colorado and Washington allowing recreational use of marijuana.

"The idea is that if you're standing alone against a federal law, then you're not as likely to have success than if you're standing with other states," said Arkansas Republican Rep. Bob Ballinger, who sponsored an unsuccessful attempt to prevent enforcement of federal gun control laws in his state.

Under the Missouri legislation, federal law enforcement officers could face misdemeanor charges punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for attempting to enforce federal laws considered to be "infringements on the right to keep and bear arms."

The bill cites no specific federal law, but the measure refers to taxes and fees, specifically levied against firearms, as well as tracking policies that have a "chilling effect" on gun ownership.

The provisions would take effect in January 2017 — or sooner, if at least four other states pass similar measures before then.

When the Legislature opened on Wednesday, Senate GOP leaders said passing a gun rights bill was a top priority for the legislative session. Like last year's bill, the new version would also reduce the age requirement for concealed carry permits from 21 to 19 and prohibit municipalities from passing ordinances to limit openly carrying a firearm.

Many Missouri Democrats are likely to oppose the measure again this year as an unconstitutional waste of the Legislature's time.

"The state will never trump federal laws," said Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, a St. Louis Democrat. "It is again another right wing Republican attempt to go Second Amendment crazy."

Associated Press writer David A. Lieb contributed to this report.

http://news.msn.com/us/lawmakers-plot-new-strategy-for-defying-gun-laws


Ross


It does appear they have forgotten much more than their place.

Warph


Study: Obuma's closest ally Al-Qaeda is Behind 95% of World's Suicide Bombings


(Despite them being "on the path to defeat)."


Via Times of Israel:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/al-qaeda-behind-95-of-worlds-suicide-bombings-study-finds/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter


A team of researchers at an Israeli institute has found a surge in the number of suicide attacks in the last decade, with al-Qaeda behind the lion's share of them.

A report by the Institute for National Security Studies published in January indicates a steep rise in the number of suicide bombings since the turn of the century, with 2013 seeing a jump over the year prior.

Researchers also found a growing threat of al-Qaeda terror activity against Israel, even though the Jewish state has yet to be significantly targeted.

The study was authored by Yoram Schweitzer, head of the institute's terrorism research program, and researchers Einat Yogev and Yotam Rosner.

From the 1980s, when suicide bombings first came on the scene, until 2000, the majority of the approximately 200 such bombings were carried out by the Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah.

Since 2000, however, around 3,500 suicide bombings have been recorded. The turning point came following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

In all, al-Qaeda and jihadist groups have tallied more than 85 percent of the total suicide attacks worldwide, but in 2013 that figure rose to nearly 95%, the INSS study found.

"Every once in a while I just have a compelling need to shoot my mouth off." 
--Warph

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all."
-- Warph

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

Warph


Speed Read: Juiciest Bits From Secretary of Defense Bob Gates' 'Duty'



In his eagerly anticipated memoir 'Duty,' former Defense Secretary Robert Gates pulls no punches about President Obama, a threat from David Petraeus, and Nancy Pelosi's bad side.Famous for the decisions he made in two wars as well as for serving two presidents of opposing parties, Robert Gates's memoir Duty leaves little room for misunderstanding how he saw people or events during his time as secretary of defense.

Here are some of the juiciest bits from the memoir:




He Wasn't Awed by Obuma
Whether it was his age (his nickname in the Obama administration became Yoda) or that he was a remnant of the Bush administration, Gates writes that he initially felt somewhat out of place. When he was in meetings during the first half-year and staffers would hit the Bush team, Gates wondered, "Am I invisible?" He disapproved of their arguments that the Bush team had destroyed relations around the world, and writes that "discussions in the Situation Room allowed no room for discriminating analysis: Everything was awful, and Obama and his team had arrived just in time to save the day."

He also was concerned about what he saw as too much of a focus on politics. During an early meeting about Afghanistan, he was disappointed that the president focused on how Democrats and Republicans in Congress would react, and that Vice President Joe Biden "was especially emphatic about the reaction of the Democratic 'base'." He described the White House as "running scared."

He also found the president and vice president to be unnecessarily distrustful of the military. One salient story comes in a debate about Afghanistan, after which Biden and Obama called their decision an "order," which shocks Gates. He writes that the "order demonstrated... the complete unfamiliarity of both men with the American military culture" and "was unnecessary and insulting, proof dispositive of the depth of the Obama White House's distrust of the nation's military leadership."


He Was Unconditionally Effusive About Bush
With almost all of his criticisms from the Bush administration focused on the political staff or members of the military talking to the press, Gates is particularly effusive when it comes to the 43rd president. When describing Bush's decision to go for the surge in Iraq, Gates says he believes it was only one of three times in history where a president "risked reputation, public esteem, credibility, political ruin, and the judgment of history on a single decision he believed was the right thing for our country." He clearly admired Bush never looking back on it or having second thoughts. In a section where he addresses his relationships with the prominent members of the Bush White House, Gates makes clear he viewed the president as a "mature leader" who was also intellectually strong and confident in his abilities.


Hillary Opposed the Surge for Political Reasons
According to Gates (who is otherwise overflowing with praise for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton), during the debate over ramping up troop levels in Afghanistan, Clinton copped to opposing the surge in Iraq for political reasons "because she was facing [Obama] in the Iowa primary." To which the president agreed that opposition had been political.


Obama Hates Leakers
While the press has begun hitting the Obama administration, particularly the Justice Department, for what it sees as heavy-handedness, an anecdote from Gates suggests the sentiment about press leaks runs pretty high. After a story leaked in January 2009 about Israel and Iran, President Obama told Gates that he wanted a criminal investigation into the leaks.

When the McChrystal plan for Afghanistan leaked to The Washington Post's Bob Woodward, according to the memoir, the president raged to Gates, asking, "Is it a lack of respect for me?... Do they resent that I never served in the military? Do they think because I'm young that I don't see what they're doing?"


Obama's Heart Wasn't in the Afghan Surge
Gates describes the president, who along with his staff often felt railroaded by the military, as "skeptical if not outright convinced [Afghanistan] would fail." Early on in the administration, Gates outlined for Rahm Emanuel what he believed to be a lack of public commitment by the president to the war, saying, "he needed to acknowledge that the war could take years but that he was confident we would ultimately be successful."


He Thought Petraeus Threatened Him
It's no surprise that things can become tense in a time of war. Gates went to Iraq in June 2007 and met with Gen. Petraeus to push harder because of an impatient Congress, and Gates writes that Petraeus responded, "You know, I could make your life miserable." While he masked his emotions during the meeting, Gates reports he was "taken aback... by what I interpreted as a threat."


Gates Was Conflicted on DADT
Gates writes that on one hand, he believed that closeted gays serving in the military were serving with "courage and honor—he lifted the ban on gays at the CIA because if open, agents would be less susceptible to blackmail. On the other hand, he worried about the idea that members of the armed forces were living and working together all day, every day, that a lot of its members came from conservative backgrounds, and that the military was already stressed due to two wars. What he says prompted him to act was the feeling that if he didn't, the courts would do so and that was the worst result possible.


He Was No Fan of Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi
At a press conference in April 2007, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid famously declared "This war is lost," and that "the surge is not accomplishing anything." That didn't sit so well with Gates, who writes that when he heard the comments, he was reminded of a Lincoln quote (which he shared with his staff): "Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged." Ouch. He also wasn't exactly enamored with the idea that the calls he received from Reid had to do with Air Force objections to wind farms in Nevada, and Reid pushing him to spend DoD money on irritable-bowel-syndrome research. Gates writes, "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry." It wasn't the last time he would laugh about Reid. Gates writes that Reid called him during the 2008 campaign to ask some questions of Gates as a potential vice-presidential candidate.

Later, Gates went to breakfast with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi days after she said "The president's strategy in Iraq has failed," and "The choice is between a Democratic plan for responsible redeployment and the president's plan for an endless war in Iraq." Gates argued with her that President Bush and Gen. David Petraeus had enacted a change of mission and a "sustainable path forward," but according to him, she did not care. This led Gates to surmise that, "after all, one wouldn't want facts and reality—not to mention national interest—to intrude upon partisan politics, would one?" Later, Pelosi is briefed on the timetable for drawdowns in Iraq, during which she was informed that roughly 50,000 troops would remain in Iraq through 2011. Gates describes that she "alternately looked like she had swallowed an entire lemon and like she was simply going to explode."


Ambassador Ryan Crocker Proved Prescient
Nicknamed "Sunshine" by the president for his painfully realistic portrayals of the struggles in Iraq, then-Ambassador Ryan Crocker offered what is now—with news of al Qaeda strongholds in Fallujah and the worst violence since 2006—an awfully prophetic assessment to Gates and Bush. Crocker told them that "if we walk away, there will be a humanitarian disaster on the scale of Rwanda, it will open the way to al Qaeda to return to ungoverned spaces, and it will open the way for Iran with consequences for all Arab states."


He Worried About Saudi Arabia and Israel's Influence
During his time as secretary of defense, Gates says one of his main goals was to keep the U.S. from entering another military conflict while Afghanistan and Iraq were still raging. However, on issues like Iran and Syria, Gates faced some in the White House (notably then-Vice President Dick Cheney) who wanted to use military action to "solve" problems in those countries. While Gates says he is a strong supporter of Israel, he writes that he "worried about the influence of the Israelis and the Saudis in the White House... and their desire to have problems like Iran 'taken care of' while Bush was still president."

Later, during a debate over support for enhanced Israeli strike capabilities, after Gates outlined his opposition, he writes that, "Cheney spoke next, and I knew what was coming ... The United States should give Israel everything it wanted."


He Loves Design
Perhaps in an attempt to keep readers engaged, Gates engages in more than a little descriptive language when it comes to design. He describes one of Saddam's palaces covered in gold leaf and with bedrooms the size of basketball courts as "early dictator." He refers to the Old Executive Office Building as a "gingerbread building" and spends a paragraph describing his office in the Pentagon, which is filled with what he deems "late-government" style furniture and lighting as well as antique furnishings from Ulysses S. Grant and General John J. Pershing.
"Every once in a while I just have a compelling need to shoot my mouth off." 
--Warph

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all."
-- Warph

"A gun is like a parachute.  If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again."

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