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10 Dead In Army Shelling Of Funeral Tent In South Yemen
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
5 23:50 trailing wife [12] 
6 11:06 tipover [3] 
2 11:23 Thing From Snowy Mountain [7] 
2 02:10 Grunter [4] 
1 00:28 CrazyFool [4] 
3 03:54 Besoeker [5] 
1 19:42 tu3031 [5] 
6 07:58 Besoeker [11] 
4 09:32 P2kontheroad [10] 
5 10:28 Jack Salami [10] 
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4 21:03 Slineque Sforza6319 [5]
2 10:35 AlanC [9]
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2 11:18 Shipman [11]
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Page 2: WoT Background
2 22:30 Alaska Paul [10]
1 11:21 Paul D [7]
1 03:49 g(r)omgoru [2]
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1 02:27 g(r)omgoru [5]
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2 04:02 Shipman [5]
1 00:34 JosephMendiola [9]
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1 01:23 SteveS [6]
3 09:13 Dale [3]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
NJ realtor using seller's home for hook ups.
I assume he brought his own linens.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The suit filed Dec. 6 also states: “Worst yet, all of Lindsay and Phelan’s sexual escapades were recorded on security video cameras located in the Weiners’ home.”

Just post it on their facebook timeline.... see how long it takes them to notice.

The security cameras further show that at 1:02 p.m., Lindsay and Phelan entered the master bedroom, undressed and proceeded to have sex on the Weiners’ bed,” the suit states. “A while later, the security cameras show Lindsay and Phelan getting dressed.”

Sorry Besoeker - no mention of linens or anything else.

I wonder if they even bothered to make the bed.

Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/28/2013 0:28 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Rocking Chair money runs out today for 1.3 million.
[Breitbart] January employment numbers to rise proportionately.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 08:29 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What? The white house has said we're in a recovery, for years. How can this be? /rhet question
Posted by: P2kontheroad || 12/28/2013 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Applicants in the queue appear quite well fed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  They have always taken the easy route. Those that have will be targeted. Leaving the grocery store or unloading at home. Most likely your own neighbors. Your own people. Black on black crime will be the worst right off. They will not go hungry into the night peacefully.
Posted by: Dale || 12/28/2013 10:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Yep, for many, the easy route of robbery by electing and using pols to do the looting for you, is sort of running out. Now they'll actually have to do the work themselves.
Posted by: P2kontheroad || 12/28/2013 10:38 Comments || Top||

#5  Look for Social Security applications to rise dramatically, coupled with more older people working part time, minimum wage jobs.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/28/2013 23:50 Comments || Top||


Snow Dragon icebreaker ship stuck in Global worming.
[Daily Mail] The ice breaker sent out to rescue a tourist ship submerged in Antarctic ice since Christmas Day is stuck en-route to the vessel.
Fishing very bad, send rice.
The Chinese icebreaker Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, is six nautical miles away from the stranded Russian ship and may take another two days to reach it, its captain has said.
The captain would not discuss the upcoming Chinese moon landing.
Academic Shokalskiy, carrying 74 people, was recreating a 100-year-old Australasia expedition first sailed by Sir Douglas Mawson to see how the journey changes using new technology and equipment.
I blame Windows 8.1
But on Wednesday morning, the boat hit a mass of thick ice sheets and today remains at a stand still.
Now also in need of high-tech rescue.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 08:04 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let me know when the cannibalism starts...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/28/2013 19:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Take to the Ice! Build the sleighs, mind the dawgs and leave that damn cat behind. Prepare to make history the hard way.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/28/2013 8:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Russian ship also stuck.
Posted by: Dale || 12/28/2013 9:06 Comments || Top||

#4  ...and it's summer!
Posted by: Skidmark || 12/28/2013 9:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Your headline was dangerously close to the line, Besoeker.
Posted by: badanov || 12/28/2013 10:33 Comments || Top||

#6  It's a good thing that the Mawson expedition didn't have that "man caused global warming" creating ice flows that blocked their travel. Mother nature can be a bitch. /s
Posted by: tipover || 12/28/2013 11:06 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
This Week in Guns, December 28th, 2013
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Good news for the terminally fascist! New York State cops are using Armslist to "gather intelligence" on available firearms and their owners. What this really means is that, not content with enforcing unconstitutional weapons bans, New York State officials are involved in active hostile operations against gun owning citizens. So, the next time a liberal dismisses concerns about gun grabbing, kindly refer them to this article that gun confiscation is real and happening in New York, as you speak. Bastards. From BearingArms.com

It seems the truly mentally ill, also known as liberals/leftists, such as Virginian gubernatorial electotion winner Terry McAuliffe have cost the state of Virginia potential jobs, as Beretta has removed Virginia from its short list of contenders from the new factory the company is planning. Someone should remind the governor elect that if a policy costs jobs, then maybe you should take another look at the policy. From BearingArms.com

Connecticut's firearms ban goes into effect next Wednesday. Anyone in possession of forbidden firearms must register them with the state police, or be out of compliance. As the Gun Rights Examiner article notes, when a similar ban went into effect 13 years ago in California, Californians went along without much of a whimper. Chances are they will in Connecticut as well. I got a 24 pack of beer that says within a year Connecticut will be following New York's lead and will begin gathering intelligence for an assault on gun owners. That sound that you hear is liberty dying in Connecticut. From the Gun Rights Examiner

I had a number of links to articles written by or about gun grabbing Lt. Colonel Robert Bateman, but in the interests of brevity, suffice it to say the Lt. Col. has been trading on his military service, and his knowledge of military history, mostly US Civil War to get into the good graces of such media outlets as Esquire and Huffington Post. And the currency he is trading in is our rights to keep and bear arms. One last word via the Jews for Firearms Ownership website .

Loads.

Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:

Pistol ammunition prices were mixed, while rifle ammunition prices were mostly lower for the second week in a row.

Prices for rifles were mostly lower to mixed, while pistol prices were mostly higher.

Pistol Ammo

.45 caliber, 230 grain, From Last Week: +.01 each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Selway Armory, Silver Bear, steel cased, .33 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: LV Ammo, Reloaded brass, steel cased, .33 per round (+.02 from last week)

.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (-.03 previous three weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Selway Armory, HSM, reloaded, .27 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Freedom Munitions, reloaded, .24 per round (Unchanged (-.01 from two week ago))

9mm Parabellum, 115 grain, From Last Week: -.02 each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Selway Armory, BVAC reloaded, .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Orca Arms, Reloaded), .23 per round (Unchanged over two weeks)

.357 Magnum, 158 grain, From Last Week: +.02 Each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Orca Arms, BFA reloaded, .40 per round
Cheapest Bulk None: None for this week, Last Week: LAX Ammunition, No label, .42 per round (+.01 each)

Rifle Ammunition

.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (Over two weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: MunireUSA, Tulammo, steel cased, .27 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Ventura Munitions, Wolf Polyformance, steel cased, .30 per round (+.03 each from Last Week, -.04 over previous four weeks)

.308 NATO 145 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Munire USA, Prvi Partizan, brass cased, .60 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: Wideners, Prvi Partizan, brass case, .58 per round (Unchanged, -.02 from two weeks ago)

7.62x39 AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Alamo Ammo, Wolf Polyformance, steel core and case, .25 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: Wideners, Wolf Polyformance, steel case, .23 per round (Unchanged over 3 Weeks)

.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: -.05 each(+.03 over previous 3 weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammo Fast, Aguila Superextra, .09 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 5,000 rounds: Ammo Fast, Aguila Superextra, .12 per round (-.01 each, +.02 each from two weeks ago)

Guns for Private Sale
Rifles

.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $734 Last Week Avg: $784
California: Mixed Build/Palmetto State: $850
Texas: DPMS Sportical: $620 (Same Gun)
New York: Armalite AR-15: $850 (out of state sales only)
Virgina: Custom Build/Palmetto State: $700
Florida: DPMS Oracle: $650

.308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,475 Last Week Avg: $1,338
California: DPMS: $1,600
Texas: DPMS: $1,250
New York: None available
Virginia: Sig Sauer Patrol: $1,550
Florida: DPMS: $1,500

7.62x39mm (AK Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $665 Last Week Avg: $700
California: Norinco MAK-90: $600
Texas: WASR: $750
New York: Saiga: $600 (Same Gun)
Virginia: Zastava: $675
Florida: CAI Czech: $700

7.62x54mm (Dragunov Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,267 Last Week Avg: $1,450
California: Romak PSL: $1,250 (Same Gun)
Texas: Romak PSL: $1,250 (Same Gun)
New York: None
Virginia: None
Florida: Romak: $1,300

Pistols

.45 caliber ACP (M1911 Pattern Semiautomatic Pistol) Average Price: $619 Last Week Avg: $443
California: Rick Island Armory: $475
Texas: Springfield 1911: $700
New York: Springfield 1911: $770
Virginia: Kimber Custom: $700
Florida: Thompson Auto-Ordnance: $450

9mm Beretta 92FS or other Semiautomatic Average Price: $378 Last Week Avg: $431
California: Ruger P95: $300
Texas: Century Arms Arcus: $339
New York: Glock 19: $350
Virginia: Glock 19: $450
Florida: Glock 26: $450

.40 caliber S&W (Glock and other semiautomatic) Average Price: $450 Last Week Avg: $400
California: Beretta Storm PX4: $550
Texas: Smith & Wesson SD40VE: $350
New York: Ruger P94: $400
Virginia: Smith & Wesson M&P: $400
Florida: : Glock 27: $550

Used Gun of the Week: (From Florida)

COBRAY M-11 9mm chambered in 9mm

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
Posted by: badanov || 12/28/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cookies r gud
Posted by: badanov || 12/28/2013 20:12 Comments || Top||

#2  I picked up this 1944 Inland (General Motors) M1 Carbine for a couple of Franklins. It was a real Mixmaster with Inland barrel and receiver, United Postal Meter trigger housing, White Sewing Machine hammer, Saginaw slide and a missing hand guard.

The stock shows it had been through rebuild at Anniston Alabama twice and Augusta Arsenal once.


Then Bubba got ahold of it and tried to sand away the etched rack numbers.


I did some parts swapping with a fella that has almost 200 Carbines. This brought up the rifle to Inland Factory Correct. Then I restored the stock and added a hand guard I finished to match.


Obamacare is ruining our Medical Software business. Many of our Doctor clients are either joining larger groups or a significant number are simply retiring.

I've started a new sideline, restoring and/or refinishing M1 Carbine stocks and hand guards.

P.S. I'm not really going to build this business, the Guvmint will?

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/28/2013 3:40 Comments || Top||

#3  A "mixmaster" yes, but all American made. Very nicely done by the way. I like a thin, hand rubbed linceed oil treatment. The wood seems to like it and the aroma is pleasing when you open the safe door.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 3:54 Comments || Top||


More Sweet Schadenfreude
The Obama administration has told Vista volunteers and other AmeriCorps workers that their government-provided health coverage does not measure up to the standards of the new health care law, and that they may be subject to financial penalties unless they obtain insurance elsewhere.

The notice has surprised and worried workers in AmeriCorps, the federal community service program that is often described as a domestic version of the Peace Corps.

Mary Strasser, the director of AmeriCorps' Vista program, described the changes in a bulletin to members on Dec. 16.

The coverage provided by the agency -- the AmeriCorps Health Care Benefits Plan -- "does not satisfy the individual responsibility requirement of the Affordable Care Act," which takes effect on Jan. 1, Ms. Strasser said. Accordingly, she said, Vista members may be required to pay a tax penalty if they do not have other coverage and do not receive an exemption.
Posted by: Beavis || 12/28/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Moreover, she said: "The Affordable Care Act has been on the books since 2010. Why are we hearing only now that our health plan is not compliant?"

Some possible answers:
1) your govt is incompetent
2) your govt is evil
3) all of the above

Extra points if you can figure how the 2012 election played into it.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/28/2013 0:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Suckers!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/28/2013 2:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Military retirees are next. I can smell it coming. That COLA grab for retirees under age 62 was the trial balloon. If that happens, they are all [dems and pubs] complicit. But what a wonderful method of installing another massive tax scheme. Good cop vs bad cop, but in the end we get the same kak, a few minor corrections, just not as odious as it was in the very beginning.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 2:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Moreover, she said: "The Affordable Care Act has been on the books since 2010. Why are we hearing only now that our health plan is not compliant?

For the same reason the 'coders' of the website weren't given the regulatory rules till after the election to do the routines and programs. If the standards the bureaucrats had developed had 'leaked' before Nov 2012, Mitt Romney might be the prez.
Posted by: P2kontheroad || 12/28/2013 7:49 Comments || Top||

#5  Obama: the Edsel of our time.
Posted by: Jack Salami || 12/28/2013 10:28 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
UN: 120,000 people displaced by S. Sudan violence
More than 120,000 people have been displaced by continuing violence in South Sudan, the United Nations said, as African leaders met on Friday to find a political solution to a crisis that has exposed ethnic rifts within the country.

Regional leaders under a bloc called IGAD are meeting on Friday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to discuss South Sudan. That summit is expected to produce a roadmap for peace talks between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and former vice-president Riek Machar, Kiir’s political rival who is accused of orchestrating a failed coup that the government says sparked unrest across the oil-producing East African country.

“We in Kenya and the region are concerned with the loss of lives and resultant humanitarian crisis and would like to see the government taking the initiative to end hostilities,” Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said late on Thursday.

The number of internally displaced people has been rising since fighting started on December 15 in the capital, Juba, before spreading across the country. Now there are sporadic military clashes in the oil-rich states of Unity and Upper Nile, potentially endangering the oil revenues that South Sudan depends on to keep the government running.

The UN said aid agencies need at least $166 million to save lives.
"Call now in the next ten minutes and we'll give you the opportunity to save a Palestinian widow from running out of ammunition!"
Machar, the alleged leader of renegade forces now in control of some parts of South Sudan, remains a fugitive wanted by the military. At least 10 of his political allies are in detention for their roles in the alleged coup plot. Machar denies there was a coup attempt, and some officials with the ruling party insist violence broke out when presidential guards from Kiir’s majority Dinka tribe tried to disarm guards from the Nuer ethnic group, leading to wider military clashes along ethnic lines.

The top UN humanitarian official in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, said earlier this week that he believes the death toll has surpassed 1,000. The UN also is investigating alleged mass killings in the latest violence.

“We have heard reports of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary detentions of civilians, ill-treatment, abuse and also mass graves,” said Hilde Johnson, head of the UN mission in South Sudan. “Our human rights officers have been working round-the-clock, throughout this crisis, and they are investigating these reports and allegations.”

Following a meeting on Thursday with the leaders of Ethiopia and Kenya, Kiir agreed “in principle” to stop hostilities and to negotiate with Machar, who is expected to be formally invited by IGAD to attend upcoming peace talks, according to South Sudanese Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly urged South Sudan’s leaders to start talks, but it remains unclear when Kiir and Machar will start negotiations.

Machar, an influential politician who appears to command the loyalty of Nuer army officers, has criticised Kiir as a dictator and says he will contest the 2015 presidential election. Kiir had fired Machar as his deputy in July following a power struggle within the ruling party, stoking ethnic tensions in a country with a history of divided military loyalties.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/28/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly urged South Sudan's leaders to start talks, but it remains unclear when Kiir and Machar will start negotiations.

Any bets?
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/28/2013 19:42 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Piers Morgan Gets A Bouncer
Posted by: Grunter || 12/28/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dang. He missed.
Posted by: gorb || 12/28/2013 1:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Not really- Morgan came away with a cracked wrist, bruised ribs and a big lump on the back of the head, though that was from the warm up guy.
Note that the bowler- Brett Lee- is retired, and was bowling at (said he) 85% pace.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/28/2013 2:10 Comments || Top||


Economy
Eight Legal Ways To Opt Out Of Obamacare
[Breitbart] With the deadline to sign up for Obamacare having come and gone, many Americans have decided to "opt out" of President Obama's signature health care reform law, choosing instead to pay the $95 penalty for sidestepping the individual mandate.

"For many Americans opting out of Obamacare is the best decision they can make, but it's important that they do it the right way--just refusing to buy health insurance and not having another way to pay for catastrophic medical expenses is a mistake," Sean Parnell, author of the newly-released The Self-Pay Patient, told Breitbart News. "People who want to opt out should be looking at alternatives to conventional health insurance, such as joining a health care sharing ministry or purchasing a fixed benefits policy.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/28/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  many Americans have decided to "opt out"

I'm curious - are these folks considered to be "uninsured"?
Posted by: gorb || 12/28/2013 1:40 Comments || Top||

#2  "Opting out" of Social Security and Medicare [both nearing insolvency] do not appear to be options. If it is not repealed, I doubt ACA will be any different.

Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 2:52 Comments || Top||

#3  I didn't read all 600+ comments, but this was not included in the review: Application for Exemption for American Indians and Alaska Natives and Other Individuals who are Eligible to Receive Services from an Indian Health Care Provider
Note the exemption applies to those who are eligible, not necessarily to those who are actually receiving such services.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/28/2013 3:36 Comments || Top||

#4  http://mychristiancare.org/medi-share/ Is very popular alternative. The Union people I speak to say we got our waver. That's nice I reply. What if you have no Doctor to go to. If there is no money in it they will go bye bye. That is the next problem after so many other problems yet to come. If you haven't paid anything do you have insurance?. I think not. Hey I got Medicaid. Woop, Woop good luck being seen. You may have to travel two hours for that specialist that treats your disorder. Then surprise, surprise wait time could be years for that operation. Hey Doc how about a prescription for the pain. Look for big increases in prices going on. Even now name brands and generic are going up. Normally generic would go up, say in over four years time period. Now perhaps next order changes in costs go up and must be passed on. Where's the money for research and development. What countries can we help when this happens. We were the safety net. Now we haven't a safety net ourselves. The death industry will be booming. World Health organization believes there are too many people in the world. The left believes there are too many people in the world. The socialist believes there are too many people in the world. This is their way to cull the herd. I call them the Autumn people a culture preoccupied with death. The unborn to the impaired to the elderly all will be targeted. The cup of life has been offered but in truth it is a cup of death. It sounded nice. It was pleasing to look upon. As in any good con job the reality is far less than expected.
Posted by: Dale || 12/28/2013 7:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Exactly, the ACA will quickly begin culling "the herd" of boomers. Harnessing the young to high insurance premiums and blaming it on someone else [the elderly], a typical leftist scheme. Harvesting massive tax revenues, fines, and industry pay-backs and doling out meager payments to the hapless insured, who somehow reach the ceiling of their massive deductible, how can they go wrong. Little more than medical Powerball, or more appropriately, medical coverage for people who cannot add.

Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 7:44 Comments || Top||

#6  All of the above, whilst picking big pharma and insurance industry winners and losers. A small added benefit to those who are legally exempt [that would be US Congress members] from so-called 'Insider Trading'.

Hey congressman, got any good market tips? Yea, sell your Healthcare REITs as quickly as you can. Grandma is coming back home to live with junior in the basement. I can't say anything more about it right now.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 7:58 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
New USA-Israeli Crisis Involving Defense Exports to China
A top Israeli defense official was forced to step down according to Maariv, after the United States expressed fury at Israel's decision to sell military equipment to China.

Meir Shalit, the Department Head for Defense Exports at the Defense Ministry, announced his resignation last week. While Shalit did not announce the reasons behind his resignation, the report claims that he voluntary resigned after US official investigations last month over the transfer revealed that the move took place with his approval. Shalit officially explained to the Americans how the aforesaid Israeli export ended up in China. According to findings in Israel, the technology was sold to a European company who transferred it to China. Shalit apologized to the US in a visit late last week.

The specific technology in question includes a miniature
refrigeration system manufactured by Ricor, which is used for missiles and in electro-optic equipment.

The conflict, according to the daily, stems from different interpretations of the military weapon support contract between the US and Israel. Israel explained to US officials that sensitive components of the equipment had been removed before the transfer and were being held in Europe. However, the US insisted that the fact that equipment eventually made its way to China at all presents a security risk to the Middle East.

The US is concerned that the advanced technology could trickle from China to Iran, according to the report. Iran tried to buy equipment from China at least once to boost its nuclear weapons production, according to a report published earlier this year.

The US and Israel have clashed over weapons and air force transfers before. Between 2000-2003, the US forced Israel to cancel sale of the Phalcon airborne radar system to China, at a steep price of over $300 million in compensation fees. Amos Yaron, the director general of Israeli defense ministry, was also forced to resign after the nation was discovered to have sold unmanned aerial vehicles to China back in 2005. In May 2012, the Israel State Comptroller issued a severe report regarding the defense export supervision and control mechanisms that exist within IMOD, claiming that in several cases, exports to such countries as China had been authorized contrary to the position of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Chinese issue is regarded as particularly sensitive, as despite the severe restrictions imposed on defense exports to China, Israel, generally, is keenly interested in strengthening the political connections and trade relations with China, in view of the fact that the Chinese economy is growing at a breathtaking rate. China and Israel have strengthened their political and economic ties considerably over the past year. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Jerusalem last week to discuss the economic possibilities, several months after both Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett made successful trips to the Far Eastern country. As Israel strengthens its political and economical ties with China, military cooperation between the two nations has become an increasingly sensitive topic for Washington.

This post compiled from a variety of sources, including Arutz Sheva and israeldefense.com.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/28/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Again?
Posted by: gorb || 12/28/2013 1:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Not just on paleosimian front!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/28/2013 2:33 Comments || Top||

#3  The enemy of your [mooslim] enemy is your... friend? Or is it more complex than that. Ja, ja, ja, I sense the outrage, but what ya give me not sell these interesting photos of your sister ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/28/2013 3:03 Comments || Top||

#4  American crony capitalists complaining about not being given first opportunity to sell after all that money provided Organizing For Action (barackobama inc.)
Posted by: P2kontheroad || 12/28/2013 9:32 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
In Salvaging Cold War Industries, Russia Trains Eyes on Space
h/t Instapundit
While Russia is the world leader in space launches and Russian-built engines equip U.S. rockets, it holds less than 10 percent of the multi-billion dollar global space market.
And Puti wants it to change---no thoughts of reaching out to Muslims etc... . Is it just me, or Western "Elites" are truly a bunch of anti-technological (except for their i-pods), semi-illiterate oiks?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/28/2013 03:41 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's because in space no one can hear you whine.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/28/2013 4:07 Comments || Top||

#2  The government literally goldbricked the development of better launch vehicles here, and since they're the main customer, they dictated a regime where they could micromanage the launch industry to death.

They killed DC-X, handed the followup program over to NASA and lockheed under the belief that RLV's should be done at NASA, which mismanaged it, concluded RLV's were impossible, and then went on to go into an endless loop designing ELV's.

Meanwhile, limited to ELV's themselves, the military went on to build two ELV programs and then threw most of their business at the one with engines built in Russia, at the same time when we're-not-supposed-to-be-doing-business-with-Russia-because-they're-giving-Iran-the-bomb.

For some background information on this, see Mike Griffin: The Spoiled Generation @ Transterrestrial Musings:

Asked by Jeff Greason why we as a society stopped pushing the technologies we needed to be pre-eminent in civil and military space, the former administrator blamed it on “My Generation,” the Baby Boomers. He prefaced the statement with the caveat that he had thought long and hard about it, and didn’t have a good answer, and that it was only his opinion, and that it might be wrong. Obviously many of us are exceptions (and he obviously thinks himself one) but that was the only answer that he could come up with.

In response to a question from Greg Sullivan, he noted that when we feel threatened (e.g., being attacked with IEDs) we throw the acquisition book out the window to solve the problem. Clearly, we don’t currently feel threatened enough to do that with space technology development and acquisition.

[Update a while later]

Jeff’s answer: We don’t want game-changing technologies, because they upset the Russians, and arms-control regimes. They don’t like game changers, because they like and are comfortable with the game. Reagan administration was rare exception. Not surprised that we do not attain that which we do not want.

In commercial market, the market will drive things. If Brilliant Pebbles had gone forward, we’d have much cheaper launch today. If there was a market, we’d have satisfied it by now. If assured market, he could go to the bank and get the money for reusable vehicle.

Demand is key. Airmail-like things would help (already starting this with COTS). Could buy payloads and capability, rather than resources. Isn’t as concerned about tech development for launch vehicles, except things that allow SSTO. But it’s important to learn how to integrate two-stage stage system, and that would be productive area.


And there's Tom Billings' comment on that article:

“I recall that back in the DC-X days there was a senior staffer on the Hill who was openly against CATS (Cheap Access To Space) – he thought it would enable SDI etc. and he believed that would destabilizing….”

Yes, …then in 1993 that staffer, John Hamre, was appointed Comptroller of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, …The man who signs the checks. Once that happened, every check the program got was like pulling teeth. Hamre delayed the program enough that SDI could not fund Delta Clipper before the new “Space Architect” assigned all manned spaceflight to NASA. We know what happened after that.


Another example would be the EELV program I mentioned earlier: it produced two rockets, one built in the US, and one that attaches Russian engines to US tankage. They threw twice as much business at the Atlas (which is the one with Russian engines) as at the Delta, supposedly to punish Boeing for some contracting irregularities and ethical breaches. That Lockheed was supposed to develop a US built rocket instead of just tankage wasn't seen as a contracting irregularity or an ethical breach.

For the record, the Delta IV has had 1 partial failure in 24 launches, while the Atlas V has had 1 partial failure in 42 launches.

While all of this was going on, btw, Elon Musk came along and built a business and an expendable launch vehicle around a further development of an engine from one of the RLV designs NASA cancelled back in the 90's. He's beating Russian prices with an American vehicle with American engines. And he has plans to make it reusable.

Everything SpaceX has done was possible in 1990, the elites just chose not to do it.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 12/28/2013 11:23 Comments || Top||



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Sat 2013-12-28
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