Eating out of garbage trucks is the new reality in Venezuela...

Venezuelan students don't have meals to come home to and are forced to eat garbage. pic.twitter.com/jrX0MmWsep

— Prof. Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) February 11, 2019

Warning! Conspiracy Theory Ahead!

Do you remember the build up to Gulf War 1 and the Iraqi Invasion?  Do you remember the build up to the operation in Afghanistan?

It all started with a massive effort to explain to the public why it was necessary for us to get it done.

Now let me show my age.

Do you remember the buildup to landing troops in Somalia?  This one is unique because the whole basis of the thing wasn't to defend us from possible threats or to defend allies.  That op was based on the optics of starving Somalians. 

It was humanitarian.

I don't know if the above pic is real or not.  I hope it isn't.  But whether it is or not isn't the point.  The point is I'm getting whiffs of the same buildup in Venezuela that I remember from Somalia.  Heart wrenching scenes of people doing things that we would deem beyond belief in order to eat.  Cries of outrage from experts that the US must lead.  Explanations to the public that if we don't do X then we face the ramifications of our inaction and will deal with a worse Y.

I really do hope that this is all nonsense and I need some sleep but think about it before you punt the idea into orbit.

FNSS -- Protected Mobility at Your Service for 30 Years

I'm a huge fan of the big boys...BAE, Rhienmetall, General Dynamics, Patria, Nexter...the list goes on.

But I'm also a fan of those middle guys that are moving up fast and doing it the right way.

FNSS is one of them.

Have any view you want of their govt but this company is rocking.  Even better they're buying designs and improving them (PARS) or they're doing smart team ups to get better.

If you hate Chinese theft then you should love FNSS' approach.  They're doing it right and I'm a fan.

Did McCabe (Former Acting FBI Director) admit to considering a coup?

via CNN

Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe is confirming for the first time publicly that there were high-level discussions at the Justice Department about recruiting Cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office in the aftermath of former FBI Director James Comey's firing.

The discussions also included speculation about which Cabinet members could be on board with the idea, McCabe said in an interview with CBS's Scott Pelley. According to Pelley on "CBS This Morning" Thursday, McCabe confirmed the discussion among Justice Department officials. This segment of the interview, which was taped for "60 Minutes," was not aired Thursday morning.

McCabe, who was fired from the FBI last March, also said he ordered an investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice as a way to preserve ongoing inquiries into Russian election meddling in case there was an effort to terminate them.

Story here.

By now you've all heard this story but to me this is stunning.

First.  I'm not a fan of Trump.  I do like some of his policies.  I do not like the idiotic tweeting, the inability to form a complete sentence and his tendency to vacillate on issues to the point of confusing everyone in the room.

Having said all that.

This is proof of a deep state.  They can roll out whatever evidence they want at this point and I will still believe that this was a coordinated campaign by people that were philosophically opposed to a duly elected president of the United States.

This threat came from within.

It does not come from Russia.

A few advertisements and trolling various factions inside our country couldn't be 1/1000's as damaging as this is.

The reality?

We're all serfs.  There are certain officials that feel that they know better, are better and must lead we the sheep.

It's offensive on every level.  But forget me.  What do you think?

Open Comments Post. 15 Feb 2019

Bomber Task Force 2019....Video by Senior Airman Thomas Barley

Cobra Gold 19: 31st MEU Marines splash AAVs, return to USS Green Bay from coast of Thailand...Pics by Staff Sgt. Matthew Bragg

Cobra Gold 19: (B-ROLL) 31st MEU Marines AAVs....Video by Sgt. Nicolas Cholula

American family suffer home invasion in Germany, 1 intruder killed, victim being investigated by German authorities for excessive force!?!?!?!

via Stars and Stripes.

As the wife turned to run back up the stairs, one of the invaders slipped past and chased her. While the father fought, he heard his wife’s screams.

“She is screaming bloody murder, she’s screaming ‘my baby, my baby,’” he said.

“The whole time I am swinging,” he said. “I am pounding on anybody and everything that comes near me. I just fought like hell. I don’t know how I got the three guys back out the door.”

Luckily, German doors typically lock automatically when closed, but the door was glass and the father said he was worried they could break back in.

He then dashed to the kitchen, grabbed a knife off the drain board and charged upstairs screaming, “Where is he?”

The invader had pinned the wife down and was smothering her with one hand on her neck, the American said.

“No talk,” the invader kept saying in rudimentary English. Their infant, now awake, was crying. During the melee, their 5-year-old boy looked for a place to hide.

“He had seen one guy get past me,” the American said. He took his sister and hid under the bed. “I am amazed he had that in him. We’ve never practiced what to do in a situation like this. He thought his mom was getting killed by bad guys.”

Now armed with a knife, the father charged upstairs.

“I can see him coming at me as soon as I get to the top of the stairs,” he said. “We collided in the doorway, scuffled right there in the door and into the hall at the top of the stairs. I think I got three stabs on him.”

The invader then ran down the stairs. Concerned that he would let in the three other culprits, the American said he attacked as he chased after the man. The culprit managed to make it out the door, which shut before anyone could come back in.

Story here.

This story reeks!  This is weird as hell and we're obviously missing a VERY important piece of this puzzle.

Having said that, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN GERMANY!!!  When I was there so very long ago nothing like this would EVER EVER EVER HAPPEN!

Geez.  This sounds like a horror movie, not the Germany I once knew and loved.  Quite honestly I thought it was damn near paradise but after reading this it's obvious things have DRASTICALLY changed.

Monica Elfriede Witt: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

via Heavy.com

39-year-old former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist is accused of spying for Iran by sharing U.S. defense secrets, according to a federal indictment unsealed on February 13. Monica Elfriede Witt defected to Iran in 2013 and federal authorities say she helped Iranian intelligence services to target former fellow agents in the U.S. intelligence community.

“Witt is also alleged to have disclosed the code name and classified mission of a U.S. Department of Defense Special Access Program. An arrest warrant has been issued for Witt, who remains at large,” the Department of Justice said in a press release. Witt is believed to be living in Iran. The indictment charges her with conspiracy to deliver and delivering national defense information to representatives of the Iranian government.

The indictment also names four Iranian nationals, Mojtaba Masoumpour, Behzad Mesri, Hossein Parvar and Mohamad Parya, who are accused of “conspiracy, attempts to commit computer intrusion and aggravated identity theft, for conduct in 2014 and 2015 targeting former co-workers and colleagues of Witt in the U.S. Intelligence Community.”

Story here. 

Read about this disgusting human being by following the link.  What I can't fathom is how they let her slip thru their fingers when they had more than enough to move on her.

What has me spinning?  How many others are out there that are ACTUAL threats to our national security?  How many people did this lady get killed because they didn't move soon enough?

T-14 Armata Main Battle Tank goes into production next year...

via Army Recognition.

Twelve T-14 tanks and four T-16 armored recovery vehicles will be supplied to the troops by the end of the year, several Defense Ministry sources told the newspaper. The serial Armata differs from prototypes by some new units and systems. The first serial tanks will participate in the VE-Day parade and will then be tested by the troops. Sixteen vehicles will be sent to units deployed in various climatic zones. Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) Corporation told the newspaper it strictly observes the contract with the Defense Ministry to produce Armata tanks and combat vehicles.

Experts compare the T-14 to foreign analogues and say it exceeds US Abrams, French Leclerc and German Leopard 2. The Russian tank is 25-30 percent more effective and has better survivability than adversary vehicles. The tank is equipped with Afganit reactive armor. It creates an impenetrable dome over the tank and automatically destroys approaching shells, bombs and missiles without crew participation.

Story here. 

Is the highlighted portion true?  What I find interesting is that I've seen no CIA or DIA estimates of its capabilities.  If the experts are right then we don't need to worry about Russian vehicles.  We need to worry that they might export it!