Friday, October 27, 2017

This is only a test...

From ARRL (the American Radio Relay League):
Elements of the US Department of Defense (DOD) will conduct a “communications interoperability” training exercise November 4-6, once again simulating a “very bad day” scenario. Amateur Radio and MARS organizations will take part. 
“This exercise will begin with a national massive coronal mass ejection event which will impact the national power grid as well as all forms of traditional communication, including landline telephone, cellphone, satellite, and Internet connectivity,” Army MARS Program Manager Paul English, WD8DBY, explained in an announcement.

If this is a drill to test preparedness for a natural disaster (coronal mass ejection), why's DOD running the show and not FEMA?

Monday, October 23, 2017

Point to ponder

"French casualties in France are worse than in Afghanistan. The French lost 70 people to Islamic terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. And 239 to Islamic terrorist attacks in France.  The French losses in Afghanistan were suffered in over a decade of deployment in one of the most dangerous Islamic areas in the world. The French losses in France were suffered in less than two years." - Daniel Greenfield at Sultan Knish

Six Seconds...

WSJ ran an excerpt from a 2010 John Kelly speech this week.

Body of the WSJ content is blocked by a firewall, but I found a prior story elsewhere pulled from the same Kelly address...

Kelly's words make for some powerful prose.

Story of the same two Marines, as told by CBS News in 2009:

We honor those on the front lines overseas who stand their ground.

But why do we continually make up excuses for those here at home, mostly in Washington, for failing to stand their ground in protecting the country and Constitution?

Thursday, October 19, 2017

This is disconcerting

Headline from Politico:
George W. Bush slams Trumpism, without mentioning president by name
I'm not so much bothers by what George Bush said.

What's strikes me as important here is that Bush broke his steadfast rule not to criticize or attack a sitting president.

Strikes me, the political establishment must be plenty rattled if it drags Ol' Dubya out in an attempt to get a dig in on Trump.

Prepare for what's coming as you see fit. 

Morning view

Started my day above the clouds.

Had to stop and document it.

Just too much for some folks...

Snowflakes beware. Shakespeare's afoot.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Monday, October 16, 2017

Congress plays a dangerous game

"A new gun control proposal in Congress that is being pitched as a bipartisan bump stock ban would actually ban all semi-automatic rifles in the United States, according to an analysis of the proposed bill." - Sean Davis, writing at The Federalist

Same and similar key points from another source in video form:

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

iPhone hype

Why would I want an iPhone 8 when I probably use half, maybe a quarter, of the capabilities of an iPhone 5?

Monday, October 9, 2017

Columbus Day...

Best to note Columbus Day while we can. Hard to say how much longer it stays with us.

Via Twitter:

Redefining and reconstructing societal values

The media pushes in line with agenda... Via Twitter:

Friday, October 6, 2017

I like my rights

I plan to keep them. 

Unwise to jump to conclusions, she says

NY Times correspondent Rukmini Callimachi says, via Twitter, that ISIS rarely makes false claims of responsibility following terror attacks. Not proof ISIS played a role in Vegas, and she's not convinced ISIS played part, but the reporter thinks it unwise to reject the ISIS claim out of hand.

There's a multi-point thread after her initial tweet:

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Ignorant and damn proud of it

Gimme a break. Seriously?

From the FreeBeacon:
"Think about what was happening right before this massacre took place. We have a Congress here in Washington, D.C., that was moving in the exact opposite direction," (USA Today's Heidi) Przybyla said. "They were preparing to loosen gun regulations, to allow people to use these silencers, to make them more available." 
"Because the hunters, their ears were hurting," (MSNBC's Stephanie) Ruhle said mockingly, putting her hands over her ears. "Because those hunters, their ears were hurting."  
Przybyla repeated the talking point of "how much worse" the situation in Las Vegas would have been if the killer had used a silencer.
Just a couple of lefty media idiots who are so uninformed they don't have a clue how ignorant they are.

Putting the sound deadening on the barrel of a gun as opposed to directly over one's ears allows for greater awareness of surroundings when hunting or shooting, as well as protecting one's hearing. If someone wanders into your field of fire while hunting, you'll never hear 'em shout if you have buds in or muffs on. You just might hear 'em if your ears are open but the muzzle is is what's suppressed.

Additional thoughts of Vegas conspiracy theories

Okay, I'm tired of hearing two broken windows at the Mandalay Bay hotel translates to two shooters.

The guy had a suite, and by most accounts both these window are in the same suite.

Makes no sense to have a second shooter in close proximity to the first, it undoes any advantage a second shooter would give attacker(s).

Some people are prone to conspiracy theories when events stretch beyond their normalcy bias.

But there have been many mass murders in the past, even in recent years, where the death tolls have been even larger, and inflicted by a single perpetrator. I assess knee-jerk conspiracy theories in the case like this:

People, when confronted with the reality they're more vulnerable that they imagine, try to overly complicate acts of evil to make it seem they're less vulnerable than reality shows. I suppose it's more natural to acknowledge being at risk if you think there's a bunch of people out to get you. Things get scarier when you see one guy can carry out a massively evil act on his own without tipping his hand prior.

Observations post-Vegas

Advocates for gun control frequently point to the UK's gun ban and its alleged success in preventing mass murder. But in terms of mass murder victims in ratio to the overall population, it seems mass killers in the UK have been quite competitive with those in the US in 2017, if not out stripping the US in terms of victim to population ratio, and they haven't needed firearms to do so. Thus far in the UK in 2017, a bomb was used to kill 23 people and injure another 250, while two vehicle/knife attacks took another 14 lives and injured more than 90.

Other mass murders with death tolls vastly outstripping events in Vegas:

One guy with a small bottle of paint thinner killed nearly 200 people on a South Korean subway in 2003. One guy with a jar of gasoline killed 86 people at the Happy Land club in NYC in 1990. It's been speculated a disgruntled gambler set fire to the Winecoff Hotel in downtown Atlanta in December 1946. That fire killed 119.

Yes, we'll see conspiracy theories rising out of the Vegas shooting. Most will be rooted in people trying to preserve their normalcy bias that just one person couldn't commit such a horrific act.

But the fact is, yes, it is possible for one person to do something this horrific. And unless there's real evidence to the contrary that emerges later, the Vegas massacre appears to be a solo operation.

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Democrats play politics with Puerto Rico

It would seem the transformation of San Juan's mayor into a radical Trump and FEMA basher didn't take place until after NY Governor (and presumable 2020 Democrat presidential aspirant) Andrew Cuomo visited the island.

Next thing you know, San Juan's mayor is on TV with CNN's New Day, where Chris Cuomo (Andrew's brother) is a host.

A teary-eyed account from a Puerto Rican born Illinois Democrat congressman ripping Trum have also made CNN's air.

San Juan's mayor compares the situation on the ground to genocide. Did she come up with that on her own, or did someone hand her some talking points? BTW, FEMA says the mayor has no idea what's going on concerning federal hurricane relief, because she's refused to participate in briefings.

It appears Democrats still play by Rahm's rule. Never let a crisis go to waste.