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Jihadi car and knife attack: Parliament in lockdown
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Fake Crime Alert: Fake Jew spraypainted swastikas on his own house
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/22/2017 08:27 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Unfortunately, it appears the miscreant is a real Jew. A troubled one with a history of misbehaviour, but following the common pattern of so many putative victims of hate crimes doing it to themselves.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/22/2017 9:19 Comments || Top||

#2  If it turns out the idiot calling in bomb threats to Jewish Community Centers around the country is also Jewish, I shall be furious.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/22/2017 9:20 Comments || Top||

#3  TW: if he's the one, I'll be furious whatever his personal beliefs and background are.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/22/2017 10:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Update from The Times of Israel -- DarthVader was right, he is a fake Jew:

The rabbi of the local synagogue, Congregation Gates of Heaven, told BuzzFeed News that he had known King for a decade, but that the man had never converted to Judaism. He added that King was no longer welcome at the synagogue due to his erratic behavior.

“This has brought a sense of shame to the community,” Rabbi Matt Cutler said. “We knew there was something peculiar about the vandalism.”
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/22/2017 16:31 Comments || Top||

#5  I thought I read he was a fraud.

Glad I haven't completely lost my mind yet....
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/22/2017 16:38 Comments || Top||

#6  My dear, you have a lovely mind -- obviously not lost at all.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/22/2017 23:53 Comments || Top||


Juvenile questioned in sexual assault of girl, 15, on Facebook Live
[Chicago Tribune]
As you may well guess, there are several bad guys in this one, some of whom are adults and who are being sought by police. No thanks to the 40-odd people who viewed the video on Facebook and DIDN'T call the police.
Posted by: Fred || 03/22/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Culture is in a sad state of decline as reflected by this story.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/22/2017 9:09 Comments || Top||

#2  The vicious have always been among us. They haven't always been as easy to find, though.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/22/2017 9:22 Comments || Top||

#3  The vicious have always been among us.

Yes, on this we can be sure. Evil takes no holiday. The only respite it receives is when we elect to label or cloak it something other than what it actually is.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/22/2017 9:35 Comments || Top||

#4  B., you write so well the words that are in my head.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/22/2017 16:52 Comments || Top||


Secret Service had removed alarm sensors from fence intruder scaled
[WashingtonExaminer] The fence-jumper who wandered around the White House complex for 17 minutes was able to elude the Secret Service in part because the agency has taken down alarm sensors along an area of one fence that he scaled, according to two sources familiar with details of the incident.

The intruder, identified as Jonathan Tran, was able to jump over three different fences, including at least one between the Treasury Department and the east area of the White House complex shortly before midnight March 10.

Tran was able to scale that particular area of the fence without setting off alarms because they had been removed, leading to confusion among officers about his whereabouts and whether an intruder was inside the White House complex, the sources told the Examiner.

The initial fence Tran jumped did trip alarms in that area of the fence-line, but squirrels or even birds sometimes also set off the sensitive sensors, which could have lead to uncertainty about whether someone had jumped the fence or not.

Secret Service personnel removed the alarm sensors along an area of fence line when the agency raised its height in response to previous fence-jumping incidents as a way to make it harder to scale, the sources told the Examiner. Ironically, the very effort to prevent fence jumping appears to have permitted a particularly egregious intrusion.

One source said superiors in the Uniformed Division told Secret Service personnel to remove the sensors and piece them together for use elsewhere. They were never replaced.

Sensors might need to be replaced because they are overly sensitive and always going off or if they are malfunctioning, a knowledgeable source said. Another said that area was particularly prone to false alarms because of birds landing on the fence-line and tripping the sensors.

There are at least 10 to 12 officers and agents, including supervisors from the Presidential Protective Division, monitoring these sensors at any given time. They do so from the Joint Operations Command Center or JOCC, which is located outside of the White House complex.

Some agents and officers also are questioning why Secret Service never released the K-9 unit to try to find an intruder after the alarms on the first fence the intruder scaled went off.
Article continues. Someone is a little confused as to mission - or maybe not.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy || 03/22/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No buried vibration sensors, active infrared (et. al.) scanning and motion detection systems, sniffers? Monitored active video analysis?

What do they have, like cans filled with rocks hanging on the fence?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/22/2017 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  What I love about electric fences is the scream an intruder makes when a short burst of 7500 volts hits him.

Its hair raising for everyone.
Posted by: Angavising B. Hayes9085 || 03/22/2017 1:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Some newer versions are wireless and fully automated.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/22/2017 2:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Interesting how all kinds of security mishaps happen around unpopular (with fed employees) president.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/22/2017 3:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Disband the Secret Service and go with private security.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/22/2017 8:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Tran was able to scale that particular area of the fence without setting off alarms because they had been removed
Beginning to sound like an inside job. Watch your backside DJT.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/22/2017 9:05 Comments || Top||

#7  I saw a news report some time ago on the Marines practicing for urban pacification. They used a flame thrower type device that fired foam at the targets, the foam hardened quickly basically immobilizing everyone. That's the sort of thing we need, claymores that fire that kind of foam.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/22/2017 11:46 Comments || Top||

#8  That's the sort of thing we need, claymores that fire that kind of foam.

In search of a better mousetrap?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/22/2017 15:23 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Colin Kaepernick donates to Meals-on-Wheels, Love Army for Somalia in latest $100,000 round
[NINERSNATION] Former the Socialist paradise of San Francisco
...where God struck dead Anton LaVey, home of the Sydney Ducks, ruled by Vigilance Committee from 1859 through 1867, reliably and volubly Democrat since 1964...
49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is back with his latest round of donations. Kaepernick has been donating $100,000 per month since last October, on his way to donating $1 million in total over the course of a year. According to Ian Rapoport, the next round of $100,000 will be split evenly between Meals on Wheels and Love Army for Somalia.

Kaepernick has been focusing primarily on community charities around the country, but the last couple months we have seen him hit up some more high profile situations. For example, in December, he donated to a UCSF group helping out at Standing Rock.

His $50,000 donation to Meals on Wheels comes amidst reports that Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
’s first budget as president will include cuts to grant programs that help fund Meals on Wheels.
Already demonstrated to be a lie, but do go on...
The program does not receive direct government funding, but some of their funding comes from community development block grants. The initial budget proposal is looking to eliminate that. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services is looking at a 16 percent cut across the board, which could impact Meals on Wheels.
But won't...
The $50,000 donation to Love Army for Somalia follows on a project with which he has become involved in recent weeks. There is a developing famine in Somalia, and recently Kaepernick posted video about needing to get access to a Turkish Airlines plane that could fly into Somalia. A group called Love Army for Somalia has been pushing on this, with help from Ben Stiller’s charitable foundation. Kaepernick is just one of many people promoting it, but they were successful in getting access to a 60-ton plane. They have subsequently been raising money for food, water, and other supplies. They have raised nearly $2 million on a GoFundMe page, and Kaepernick’s donation is going to that.
Posted by: Fred || 03/22/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When militias hijack the deliveries and take volunteers hostage, it won't seem such a great idea.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/22/2017 2:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds trite, but actions do have consequences.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/22/2017 2:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Colin beginning to feel the pain?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/22/2017 6:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Rumor has it the Saskatchewan Roughriders are looking for a serviceable backup QB.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/22/2017 9:37 Comments || Top||

#5  DepotGuy, the CFL might be a really good option for dumbass Kaepernick's skillset. J.C. Watts captained a team all the way to the Grey Cup despite being a wishbone option quarterback at University of Oklahoma.

He also doesn't have to worry his overtaxed brain cells about whether to stand or sit for O Canada!
Posted by: magpie || 03/22/2017 9:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Leave him alone! He's a confused young man raised in a cross-culture family environment. I recommend he continue to pursue philanthropy. Or possibly a Harvard law degree and politics.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/22/2017 10:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Buying forgiveness, maybe he could try a Papal indulgence next. You haven't got enough money to buy off the anger you created jerkoff. But keep trying. We enjoy the schadenfreude.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 03/22/2017 12:08 Comments || Top||

#8  "He also doesn't have to worry his overtaxed brain cells about whether to stand or sit for O Canada!"

But he might have to worry about being overtaxed.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/22/2017 13:19 Comments || Top||

#9  I would suggest he go to Somalia, as something for him to do during his now-permanent off season.
Posted by: regular joe || 03/22/2017 13:29 Comments || Top||

#10  He could come out and throw hay, but the Seahawks would score 7 every bale.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/22/2017 13:45 Comments || Top||

#11  Buying forgiveness, maybe he could try a Papal indulgence next

Word was that he wanted to go to a NYC area team, so the image-polishing would be in line with that. Maybe it was proposed by his agent.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/22/2017 15:44 Comments || Top||

#12  Word was that he wanted to go to a NYC area team
I was joking about him going to Somalia, but it is a better alternative than the NY Jests.
Posted by: regular joe || 03/22/2017 16:35 Comments || Top||

#13  Have pity on a very talented but dumb person. He can't really excel in the NFL because he can't read defenses. Because he is dumb. He achieved a lot, but then did a bunch of dumb things. Because he is dumb. He voided his contract to make many millions of dollars next year. Because he is dumb. Now his agents are trying to dig him out of his dumb hole. By spending his money on dumb things. And he agrees to do it. Because he is dumb.

Again. I ask you to pity the fool.

And say a prayer for him.

Posted by: rammer || 03/22/2017 21:00 Comments || Top||


Cattle Relief Efforts
When Evan Marr saw recent reports of massive livestock deaths due to raging Kansas wildfires, he had one thought - load a truck with hay and help those in need.

Then the New Berlin young farmer had a second thought - rally the troops. So, the Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau Young Leader (YL) vice president texted Jenny Jackson, District 10 Illinois Farm Bureau YL State Committee director and fellow Cass-Morgan Farm Bureau leadership.

An effort initially involving a single load of hay rapidly turned into donations to fill six more semi-trucks. And Cass-Morgan YLs will continue taking donations until Friday.

Donations can include hay (round or square bales), fencing material, mineral tubs, milk bottles and milk replacer. Donors can call Marr at 217-473-9897 or Jackson at 217-370-5851 to arrange for items to be picked up. Or visit their Facebook page by clicking here.
So March 6 we had a little fire. I wanted to give a heads-up to everyone that there is a massive relief effort going on. If you have seen convoys of hay, they are a big part of it. If you facebook, this link gives a good roundup on just how widespread this effort is.

These guys and gals are on trips which make Smokey and the Bandit look like a walk across the street. They are loaded, they are tired, and at this point working on their second trip.

And if you could do us a favor, give these drivers a high five. They are saving lives, and in the effort risking their own.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/22/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  by the grace of god and the sweat of the vol. firemen like swksvolff our little town of Ashland is still here. The reason why the hay is so important is some ranchers lost all there grass, and stored hay. Thousands of cattle lost, miles and miles of fencing destroyed. Many outbuildings and homes burned to the ground. this was an incredible catastrophe and may end up destroying our economic foundation: farming and ranching.
Posted by: bman || 03/22/2017 11:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Thank you bman, and I'm sure we were not the only ones pulling a 72 hour shift no rest.

My concern now are these noble truckers coming from all states, and their Odyssey.

If anyone reading this post is heading this way, or you know somebody who is, remind them this is tornado storm season in this part of the country, with bad weather predicted beginning Thursday. With the forecasts as off as they have been, ears are perked today.

Oh, and people throwing cigs out their window will be flayed, quartered, and then tortured. Only half kidding.

I have to be on fecesbook - links above are good though - there is bold talk from one I keyboard posers about where is so and so. Honestly I don't we need them or even want them here. They would just be in the way.

Except for Dicrapprio. He found time to go golfing at Greensburg, he can come out and build fence.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/22/2017 12:26 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Rebels, Ukrainians suffer heavy casualties in southern Donetsk


The killed in action and wounded toll counts between Russian backed rebels and Ukrainian soldiers reached the double digits in southern Donetsk in a midday ground assault Monday afternoon, according to Russian and Ukrainian language news accounts.

Rebel media claimed the encounter took place in Kominernovo, which is 12 kilometers due east of Mariupol, on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov.

According to the website novorosinform.org, two Ukrainian rifle platoons (about 60 effectives) attacked rebel fixed positions supported by artillery fire, tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs). A total of 10 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and another five were wounded. Various rebel media reports say the Ukrainians lost one BMP-1, and one tank was damaged.

Rebel media showed a reporter's video which showed some of the Ukrainian dead. Rebel media characterized the attack as an attempt to break through the lines. Rebel media also said that the Ukrainians were forced back to their start lines as a result of the attack.

The Donetsk ministry of defense said that the total casualties for the Ukrainians at Kominternovo amounted to 12 dead and 16 wounded. Two IFVs and two tanks were damaged.

Starting on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, the line of Bezimennie-Sakhanka-Kominternovo has been the target of many weeks of artillery fire and small unit probes by the Ukrainians, including a small arms attack by sea.

According to korrespondent.net, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said that eight rebel soldiers were killed and 16 wounded. A lb.ua report said that rebel artillery launched against Ukrainian positions included 152mm and 122mm artilery, 122mm rocket artillery, and 82mm and 120mm mortar fire into the area of Vodyanoye, which is only a few hundred meters south of Kominternovo. Rebel media reported that Ukrainian artillery fire in southern Donetsk continued overnight at Kominternovo between March 20th and March 21st.

A subsequent report by the Donetsk ministry of defense said that Ukrainian artillery struck rebel positions in and around Yasinovataya for 90 minutes on Tuesday. The Ukrainian ministry of defense, quoted by lb.ua, said that rebel artillery hit Ukrainian positions at Avdievka, Opytnoye, the Butovka mine and at Peski.

The reported losses at Kominternovo are some of the heaviest combat losses by both sides since last year, when Ukrainian forces attacked rebel positions along the Svetlodarsk arc, which is north of Debaltsevo. In that battle, the Ukrainian attempted to break a large section of the rebel line using the same formula, light infantry supported by artillery, IFVs and tanks. A subsequent attack near Yasinovataya attempted to break the rebel line between Gorlovka and Donetsk, but that attack was stopped as well.

According to rebel bloggers, the decision to make the attack on Kominternovo was made by a rifle company commander who had been drinking.

Despite nearly constant fighting and increasing combat experience since the fall of 2014, neither side is capable of forcing a decision anywhere along the line of contact. The Russian backed rebels hold an extensive defensive system that Ukrainian forces have yet to break even after months of shelling. The Ukrainians hold the same defensive system on their side of the line.
Posted by: badanov || 03/22/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
North Korea can't get it up again... missile explodes on liftoff
The U.S. military detected a failed North Korean missile launch attempt, with a missile exploding within seconds of its launch, a U.S. military spokesman said.
Nothing worse than early launch explosion. Men have been left by their partners for that you know.
South Korea said the apparent North Korean test launch on Wednesday morning did not go off normally. But the U.S. military statement shed more light on the latest in a series of missile tests by the isolated, nuclear armed state that have raised alarm across the region.

"U.S. Pacific Command detected what we assess was a failed North Korean missile launch attempt ... in the vicinity of Kalma," Commander Dave Benham, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command, said in a statement, referring to an air field on North Korea's east coast.

"A missile appears to have exploded within seconds of launch," Benham said, adding that work was being carried out on a more detailed assessment.
You know it is bad when the target destroys itself before we get to shoot it down.
The South Korean defence ministry said it was also conducting analysis for further details.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile may have exploded as it was launched, before reaching an altitude at which it could be detected by South Korean radar.

The launch comes as the U.S. envoy for North Korea nuclear programme, Joseph Yun, met his South Korean counterpart in Seoul to discuss a response to the North's weapons programmes.

Earlier on Wednesday, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported North Korea may have launched several missiles from an area on its east coast, citing a Japanese government source. The launch may have failed, Kyodo said, adding that the type of missile involved was not known.
Died before we could ID it.
Last year, North Korea launched several intermediate-range missiles from the same area but only one of the tests was successful.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday criticized North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he was "acting very, very badly".
That's a paddlin'
North Korea launched four ballistic missiles from near its west coast on March 6 and this week conducted a rocket engine test that its leader, Kim Jong Un, said opened "a new birth" of its rocket industry.

A senior U.S. official in Washington told Reuters on Monday that the Trump administration was considering sweeping sanctions as part of a broad review of measures to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threat.

Undaunted by the possibility of even tougher sanctions aimed at cutting North Korea off from the global financial system, a North Korean diplomat said his government would pursue an "acceleration" of its nuclear and missile programmes. This includes developing a "pre-emptive first strike capability" and an inter-continental ballistic missile, said Choe Myong Nam, deputy ambassador at the DPRK (North Korean) mission to the United Nations in Geneva.
Ya gotta get more than 1 in 20 farther than Hawaii to have a good first strike capability. So far your efforts are lacking... and we are losing patience.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/22/2017 00:37 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hopefully pudgy was there and lost some of that body fat on this launch.

Posted by: Spagum Thud3148 || 03/22/2017 1:35 Comments || Top||

#2  this failed launch was from an east coast base that, I think, had not previously been used for this

the launches last week were from a west coast site
Posted by: lord garth || 03/22/2017 8:02 Comments || Top||

#3  The target for the next launch will be whoever was in charge of this one.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/22/2017 8:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Anyone old enuf to remember the first launching of Vanguard? About a 6 inch liftoff - if that - followed by a tremendous boom!
Posted by: borgboy || 03/22/2017 15:00 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/22/2017 15:19 Comments || Top||


Economy
13 Large Retailers Besides J.C. Penney Are Closing Waves of Stores (Video)
[The Street] The Great Restructuring in retail continues.

In the wake of a disappointing holiday season, J.C. Penney (JCP) said recently that it will close 138 stores stores by the second quarter. The store closures represent 13% to 14% of the company's current store base and less than 5% of annual sales. They have a negligible impact on net income. J.C. Penney said same-store sales at the locations were "significantly below" the remaining store base and operate at a much higher expense rate due to poor productivity.

The company expects $200 million in annual costs savings from the efforts.

"We believe closing stores will also allow us to adjust our business to effectively compete against the growing threat of online retailers," J.C Penney Chairman and CEO Marvin Ellison conceded.

The news shouldn't come as a shock.

As TheStreet reported in January, Ellison said at a real estate conference the company would move to close more stores -- after shuttering seven last year -- following a lackluster holiday season. "We have certain locations that we readily admit we have to downsize," Ellison said, adding, "There are some smaller market locations where we have to decide, does the mall or our store meet our brand standards?"

Here are several other retailers continuing to rightsize their store fleet amid the shift to digital shopping or other external pressures.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/22/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I read a month or so ago the retail sector was not doing well. The Unaffordable Care Act resulted in creating a lot of low-paying jobs without benefits. The real unemployment rate is far greater than what is reported if on considers the labor participation rate and those who have dropped out of the workforce during the past 8 years. People are struggling and money is tight.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/22/2017 9:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Here are several other retailers continuing to rightsize their store fleet amid the shift to digital shopping or other external pressures.

"Other external pressures"... unreported urban shrinkage accepted as a cost of doing business and factored into pricing certainly gives on-line shopping a distinct pricing advantage. Not to mention patron store and parking assault and robbery.

Visit a mall or city store anywhere in greater Atlanta? Sorry, not a fok'n chance.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/22/2017 9:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Who can compete with free 2 day shipping on taxfree items delivered right to your door? Even on Easter Sunday morning! Or 2 hour delivery in select cities? Bezos has destroyed retail.
Posted by: Whavish Thusoling5684 || 03/22/2017 10:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Bought a hay spike last Thursday on line. Weighs 108 pounds. Free delivery. Got it yesterday.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/22/2017 11:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Come on Besoker we can both head to South Dekalb Mall, it'll be fun
Posted by: Beavis || 03/22/2017 11:34 Comments || Top||

#6  It's amazon.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/22/2017 14:20 Comments || Top||

#7  It's Amazon, WalMart, Big Box or die. Sears is seriously circling the drain, having sold off key assets such as Craftsman and sooner or later, Kenmore.
Posted by: regular joe || 03/22/2017 14:28 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Military tests updated railgun - Mach 6 projectile achieved
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/22/2017 10:26 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's a techno-cool idea.
Only a rail car or deepwater vessel could transport the operational infrastructure.
It can launch the projectile but how good is the targeting? Especially from a rolling ship?
Is there a CONOPS that identifies a niche not served by missiles? Perhaps as an orbital launch platform?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/22/2017 16:50 Comments || Top||

#2  When they can mount it on the bed of a F-150 (sip), I'll go squirrel hunting again.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/22/2017 17:10 Comments || Top||

#3  May need to air-up your tires
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/22/2017 17:53 Comments || Top||


Why we DON'T live in a computer simulation: Expert says theory backed by Elon Musk and others shows they are 'lacking knowledge of physics'
[DailyMail] - According to theoretical physicist, simulation scenario ignores laws of nature

- A simulated universe would 'overthrow quantum mechanics,' she argues

- Or, it would rely on qubits, which have yet to tie in with general relativity
Can I get my computer-simulated security deposit back?
Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 03/22/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Personally, I'm old fashioned - I believe we're subject of Gods with malicious sense of humor.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/22/2017 3:13 Comments || Top||

#2 
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/22/2017 7:33 Comments || Top||

#3  In the beginning was the Creation of the Universe. This has made a lot of people angry, and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/22/2017 8:20 Comments || Top||

#4  many have suggested that life as we know it might just be a sophisticated computer simulation. Who is the programmer?

"Reality" as we know it is an abstraction. Virtual reality is a kind of simulation, at least of a part of reality.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/22/2017 12:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Well chosen, DarthVader!
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/22/2017 14:40 Comments || Top||


Government
Navy Builds Ramjet Missile with Model Rocket Engines and a Credit Card
U.S. Navy engineers at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division recently designed and flew a prototype ramjet missile in just six months. The engineers not only met their deadline, they flew the missile using off-the-shelf equipment, items so inexpensive they were paid for with a credit card. The result is a missile that could join the fleet in 3-4 years.

The United States military is currently in the midst of a major strategic shift. The post 9/11 era has seen the armed services concentrate on fighting insurgencies and anti-terrorism operations. While American involvement in such conflicts will persist for the foreseeable future like it or not, the U.S. must also contend with an increasingly aggressive Russia and China. Deterring conflict with such "near peer" competitors will require smart, fast, highly responsive weapons capable of striking targets at great distances.

One important technology for this goal is ramjet propulsion. First conceived 90 years ago, ramjet propulsion involves using a missile's forward motion to push air into its engine. This pushes oxygen into the combustion chamber where, mixed with fuel, it provides thrust. In theory, this is a simpler technology than the traditional use of a compressor to shovel air into the engine, and can propel objects at speeds of up to Mach 6. In addition to being faster, ramjets can travel three times as far on the same amount of fuel as a standard rocket motor. The result is a missile that gives enemy air defenses less time to react and flies farther than conventional missiles.

The downside to ramjet propulsion is that needs to be fed air in order to work so aircraft or missiles can't use it to take off from a complete stop. Instead, the object being propelled needs a booster, like a rocket motor, to quickly accelerate it to speeds where the ramjet is receiving enough air to take over.

Engineers at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, California were recently challenged to design and fly a ramjet missile engine in six months. This is a lightning-fast timetable in a world where it takes 20 years to develop a fighter plane. Still, the team was able to get the job done by staying small, buying cheap, and testing often.

Matt Walker, head of the Airbreathing Propulsion Section at NAWCWD, told Naval Aviation News, "If you have a small team, you can just get together and draw on a whiteboard on the fly and not have to worry about getting the large team involved and buy-in from everyone." This also meant keeping defense contractors, which tend to move slowly and conservatively and with an eye for profit, out of the design process.

The team needed to find a rocket capable of boosting the ramjet. Instead of developing one on their own, they used a model rocket engine that cost $900. They were even able to buy the parts with a credit card, avoiding the time-consuming defense acquisition process. The ability to simply order an and have it delivered instead of starting up a rocket motor factory made the process even faster, and the low, low cost meant they could afford to test often.

The team also assumed from the outset that their designs would fail, a lot. But it also knew it would learn from each failure and could quickly incorporate lessons learned. By the third launch, they had a working scramjet missile propulsion unit.

The team is continuing to work on their missile project, refining the design to make it more practical. Instead of having the rocket as a booster stage that falls off after acceleration is complete, the team is making the rocket and ramjet share a single body that shares the combustion chamber. The team also believes they could have a working missile for the fleet in 3-4 years.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/22/2017 08:25 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Instead of spending money to become more agile, the big boys will spend money to lobby to get this kind of effort shut down. Progress!
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/22/2017 8:51 Comments || Top||

#2  As I've heard here often enough...

But where's the graft in that?

Using simpler methods and processes or achieve greater results - kind of like their ramjet engine.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/22/2017 9:03 Comments || Top||

#3  The old way it was done seemed to produce results like this.

Military says we need this. Here are the specs. Whoever wants it build one and we'll go out and have them compete against each other. Winner gets contract.

The new way is whichever congressmen gets the most pork awards contract to company that gives him the most. Graft City
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/22/2017 9:46 Comments || Top||


US charges Philadelphia's top prosecutor with corruption
US authorities on Tuesday charged Philadelphia's top prosecutor with accepting bribes, including a Caribbean vacation, furniture and cash, in exchange for favors such as reducing a defendant's sentence and seeking to limit the airport security screening of an associate.

In a 23-count indictment, a federal grand jury outlined a pattern of illegal behavior by District Attorney Seth Williams going back to 2010, shortly after he was elected to the first of his two four-year terms.

The federal indictment was unsealed as officials from the New Jersey US Attorney's office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security prepared to hold a press conference in Philadelphia.
He served as President of the Penn State Student Black Caucus, the Undergraduate Student Government, and was member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. As a student activist, he led a 102-mile march to the state capital at Harrisburg to get Penn State to divest from South Africa.
His political affiliation isn't named until the very last sentence of the article. Can you guess what it is?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/22/2017 03:01 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  US authorities on Tuesday charged Philadelphia's top prosecutor with accepting bribes,

"Takes one to know one!"
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/22/2017 11:36 Comments || Top||

#2  His political affiliation isn't named until the very last sentence of the article. Can you guess what it is?

To test my theory, I'd like to buy an "O", Dr. Steve . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 03/22/2017 13:43 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Graphic details emerge of violent sexual assault of girl, 14, 'who was raped and sodomized in a school bathroom by an illegal immigrant and his friend'
  • Jose Montano, 17, and Henry Sanchez, 18, have been charged with first-degree rape and sexual offense in attack at Rockville High School in Maryland

  • The two arrived in the US from Central America less than a year ago

  • Sanchez is believed to have entered the US illegally from Guatemala via Mexico seven months ago

  • Police say Montano and Sanchez first approached a 14-year-old girl in the school hallway and asked her to have sex but she refused

  • Teens then allegedly forced her into a boys' bathroom stall and took turns raping and sodomizing her
  • Posted by: Blossom Unains5562 || 03/22/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

    #1  And they are not even Muslims.
    Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/22/2017 3:17 Comments || Top||

    #2  And where was the football team?
    Posted by: AlanC || 03/22/2017 8:31 Comments || Top||

    #3  Jose Montano, 17, and Henry Sanchez, 18

    As I recall, many members of the candidate DEM voter surge movement were reportedly adults misrepresenting their age so they would be put in child care programs. I wonder if these ages are real.
    Posted by: Skidmark || 03/22/2017 10:40 Comments || Top||

    #4  Whatever happened to asking yourself "Then what?"
    Posted by: gorb || 03/22/2017 16:01 Comments || Top||



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