Could this be the event that crashes the economy?

Watching coverage of the Hurricane this morning and what's going UNDER reported in all the hysteria behind the high water rescues is what this will do to the American economy.

How do you extract money out of the pockets of every swinging dick and ovary in the US?

You go after essentials.

How do govts make money?  They go after essentials.

Fuel...energy...is such an essential and while this event was totally unplanned, it will provide an opportunity for oil corporations AND the govt to make a god awful amount of money.

Despite all common sense the US has a sizable portion of its gas production facilities located in a coastal city that is in an area prone to storms.  Additionally the timing couldn't be worse for the consumer.  Gas producers are about to switch over to the idiotic "winter" blend which will take additional plants offline.

Consider it a one two whammy.

Gas production will ground to a halt for at least a month or more and oil rigs are all shut down.

The stock market will roar later today.  The public is about to see at least $2.50... probably much higher a gallon gas and govt tax collection will see a spike.

The pain in Houston is about to spread.  Get ready for sticker shock when you go to refill your truck.  If that isn't bad enough you're gonna see it across the line, most notably in food prices.  Expenses are pushed forward so increased costs to harvest and deliver food will be passed to the consumer.

This could crash the economy.  We're already teetering and this could be the event to do it.

Russia to develop an amphibious combat vehicle variant of their Boomerang 8x8!

via Sputnik.

Military experts expect the Bumerang to become a universal combat platform, capable of solving a wide range of military tasks. This is line with Russian armored vehicle makers' broader doctrine of modular vehicle design, designed with cross-compatibility, interchangeability, and wide configurability in mind. In the Navy, the Bumerang's missions will include amphibious troop landing, fire support and ground engagement.

Both in amphibious mode and from aboard landing craft, the Bumerang must also be able to fire using all of its onboard weapons systems against coastal targets.

"An amphibious version of the Bumerang APC is being tested," Alexander Krasovitsky, general director of the Military-Industrial Company, the developer of the vehicle, told Izvestia on the sidelines of ARMY-2017. "The exact form of the vehicle is still being finalized according to the customer's requirements, so it's too early to speak in more detail about its capabilities," Krasovitsky added.

Presently, Russia's Naval Infantry is fitted out with the BTR-82A, the latest version of the BTR-80 APC, and with the 2S31 Vena 120-mm amphibious self-propelled artillery system.

Vadim Kozyulin, military expert and professor at the Academy of Military Sciences, pointed out that the Navy's plans also include the construction of a series of new large Lavina amphibious assault ships. These ships will be able to deliver up to 60 light armored vehicles to shore, dropping them off either via their bow door, with the help of speedy smaller landers. With this in mind, it's only logical that the Bumerang be fully compatible with the Lavina.

Story here. 

Most everyone knows that I monitor Sputnik, DESPITE the complaints that it's supposedly "fake" news.  I find that puzzling.  The US govt and military has been complaining about Chinese and Russian govts not being open about their military news and here we have it on a plate and MANY are still not satisfied!

Amazing isn't descriptive enough.  How about being baffled!  That better expresses my feeling on the subject.

But back on task.  An amphibious version of the Boomerang 8x8?  Sounds formidable.  I like it.  Even better they're looking at the ability to mount different weapon systems on it.

It also dawned on me about the 57mm cannon that's being trialled.  We've seen the issues with the 120mm when utilized by the Stryker.  I know they've managed to develop setups that work on wheeled vehicles like the Centauro and the Japanese MCV but what if a better solution is a smaller caliber that can accomplish all the other missions EXCEPT engaging enemy MBTs?

The only question I have is it's ability to defeat enemy fortifications but against any vehicle short of a modern tank it will be deadly into the distant future.  The rate of fire will defeat APS that's gaining popularity and it will have enough rounds available to stay in the fight.  When by chance it does meet MBTs it will have ATGMs available to balance the engagement.

This is steady improvement.  Sensible development.  The armor race is on and the Chinese and Russians are winning.

Open Comment Post. Aug 28, 2017

Old skool transports all had a similar layout that's been abandoned today. The cockpit was over the cargo compartment giving a "thru deck" potential.  What I mean is you could usually load the craft from stem to stern.  Cargo planes still retain this but not cargo helicopters.  Wonder why.

Trump to lift ban on providing military equipment to police....Obama once banned tracked vehicles, maybe now Houston can get AAVs!

via Washington Times.

The Trump administration is preparing to restore the flow of surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies under a program that had been sharply curtailed by the Obama administration amid an outcry over police use of armored vehicles and other war-fighting gear to confront protesters.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press indicate President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order undoing an Obama-era directive that restricted police agencies’ access to the gear that includes grenade launchers, firearms and ammunition.
Trump’s order would fully restore the program under which “assets that would otherwise be scrapped can be repurposed to help state, local, and tribal law enforcement better protect public safety and reduce crime,” according to the documents.

Story here. 

This story joggled my memory.  The Obama ban on providing gear to police specifically targeted tracked vehicles.

That's why my push to get municipalities and states AAVs stalled.

As soon as that ban is over every state along the Gulf should be pushing to have a few in their garages somewhere ready to act when the next flooding event occurs.

NOTE:  John made a good point yesterday with regard to the idea that the Marine Corps, specifically the Reserve Units being more responsive.  I knew that there is a Reserve AAV unit in LA, but didn't realize there was one in Texas.  The Governor is reaching for his National Guard but leaving a VERY CAPABLE asset sitting on the shelf.  Even worse is that the Marine Corps Reserve isn't forward leaning enough to aid their fellow citizens during their time of need.  Marine Corps Reserve and active duty leadership picked up another chit in the "bad mark" book.

The shit storm is coming...call it Katrina 2.0 in Houston!

Oooh!  I'm watching coverage of all the high water rescues in Houston and you can feel the shit storm coming.  Call it Katrina 2.0 in Houstoun!

What's being said on Fox News?

1.  People want to know why the Mayor of Houston told people to shelter in place.  Why?

2.  The city govt has told people to go up to the attic and make sure they have an ax to cut themselves out.  They're talking about DAYS to get to some trapped people and that they will be exposed to the elements if they cut away their protection.

3.  Why hasn't the governor activated the national guard.

4.  Why don't we see FEMA on the scene providing aid and shelter to the displaced.

This is gonna turn into a major league mess unless someone in the Trump admin gets forward leaning on this quick.  The flooding is bad, its a major city and everyone already has the long knives out.

This will be a real controversy unless someone in that admin gets smart and gets moving.

Modest Proposal. The USMC should donate 5 AAVs to every flood prone city in America!

Modest proposal.  THe USMC should donate 5 AAVs to every flood prone city in America!  Paint them bright red or orange (whatever the color is that the local fire dept uses), slap fire-rescue on the side and when flooding hits and people get trapped the first responders have a viable vehicle to get to them!

I'm sitting here looking slack eyed and silly watching the news covering the MASSIVE flooding in Houston (still haven't even seen a drop of rain...just overcast skies in Central Louisiana).  I'm seeing what some call High Water Rescue trucks being unable to navigate certain streets because the water is too high.

I fear that the lives lost will be much greater than is known at this moment.  I'll skip the discussion about people bugging out and simply respond to the idea that we should be prepared to help.  If Fire Depts had AAVs they could.

Facts...

1.  The USMC has around 400 AAVs in storage.

2.  The USMC is looking to divest itself of AAVs (I'll skip and ignore whether that's a good or bad idea...it just is).

3.  The USMC will soon select an ACV making the AAV redundant to a certain degree.

And finally we once had this capability.  After WW2 the LVTs were used in southern states for flood rescue.  They were also used for wildfire fighting (huge cargo hold could carry a bunch of water to remote regions).

This one makes nothing but sense.  We should do this poste haste.

Note:  I keep making these posts after every flooding event in my region.  The Marine Corps, FEMA, and Dept of Homeland Security refuses to act.  That's a pity.  This is a capability that is sitting on the shelf just waiting to be used.

Note 1:  If giving to cities is unworkable then each state's emergency management center can take ownership.  Even give them to the state national guard but don't let a low density, high demand asset go to waste.  This is workable if they only try!

Interesting theory on where the Black Hawk that crashed off the coast of Yemen came from...remember the MV C Ocean Trader?

Lee, a sailor and frequent commentator on naval websites has an interesting theory on where the Black Hawk that crashed off the coast of Yemen came from.  

I never would have thought of it in a million years.

Long short?  Remember the MV C Ocean Trader?  Yeah that Roll on Roll off transport ship that the Navy converted for Special Ops use that NO ONE seems to have good photos of and seems to be a freaking ghost on the high seas?

Yeah, that ship.

The weird thing?  It's suppose to have been modded with a flight deck able to handle CH-53's, hangar space, able to launch small boats/jet skis...yet I've looked online and can find no pic of the ship with said mods!

Yeah.

We're involved in shit all over the globe and they're playing word sausage to make it happen.  Do we have boots on the ground?  Depends I guess (if they're playing the word games I think) on when you ask the question.  If they have a mothership off the shore of Yemen and they go in and out, the only way you could get a legit answer (if they didn't fall behind the "no comment" cover phrase) is if you asked them while an actual operation was underway.

All this does beg for one other question though.  What about those MLPs that the Navy is converting to AFSBs?  Do they still have a role for SOCOM or can we use them to make a four ship MEU converting it to a Reinforced MEU that I've been shouting 3 years for the Marine Corps to experiment with?

How good are databases in the US? Arrests are still being made in the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" weirdness...

Note:  I know where most of you stand on this.  I stand on the opposite side. I don't expect your opinion to change because mine won't.  You march at night with torches saying you're with the KKK, Neo-Nazis or a White Supremacists then I won't ever be on your side.  Fuck you, your family and your friends.  Having said that this is somewhat disturbing on a different level.  Read the linked articles and decide for yourself.  You come on the blog spouting WHAT I CONSIDER stupid shit and it's gonna get deleted and possibly more.

Story 1.  Video Shows Man Shooting At Crowd During Charlottesville Rally, With No Police Response via Yahoo.com

A man attending the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month fired his gun in the direction of a black counterprotester who was holding a torch, and police in their vicinity did not seem to respond.

Those events appear in a video filmed two weeks ago by a volunteer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and published by the civil rights group on Saturday.

As seen in the footage below, a man in a blue sleeveless shirt, a green vest and a bandana on his head pulls out a gun and aims it at a counterprotester, who is off camera and appears to be holding a makeshift lit torch. The first man appears to yell a racial slur at the black man, then fires the gun toward the ground in the direction of the counterprotesters. 

The shooter then leaves the scene by joining a line of white supremacist protesters and walking past law enforcement officers, who were standing behind metal barricades about 10 feet away. 

Story here.

I remember this particular incident...well a part of it anyway.  The black guy used a can of aerosol as a flame thrower.  What I saw were Nazis/KKK swinging back with sticks and clubs.

I did not see a person shooting and why this came out so late is beyond me. My belief is that they were seeking to tamp down tensions and the thought that one of the protesters actually fired on the counter protesters would have lit a fuse.

The next thing that's a mystery is that this happened 10 feet away from law enforcement?  It'll never be made public but you can bet that someone from the Charlottesville police is gonna make a ton of money touring the country giving a lessons learned from this incident.  I'd sure like to know why they didn't act immediately but oh well...at least no one was shot.  Question.  How can you fire into a crowd and hit nothing?  Don't tell me he didn't want to.  You yell a racial slur and then shoot into a crowd and don't want to hit?  That son of bitch can't shoot.

Story 2.  Three Charged in Charlottesville Alt-Right Rally Attacks via Daily Beast.

Three people have been charged in connection with the white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville earlier this month, police said. Daniel Borden, 18, and Alex Ramos, 33, were charged with malicious wounding, likely in connection with the beating of a 20-year-old black man, Deandre Harris, inside a parking garage. The incident was caught on camera. Borden is being held in Cincinnati, while Ramos is still at large. Richard Preston, 52, was charged with “discharging a firearm within 1000 feet of a school,” according to a police statement. Preston was arrested Saturday in Maryland.

Story here. 

Remember this one too.  It was caught on video.  They separated this guy from the group and beat him with clubs, sticks and heel stomped him.  Weird thing.  He should be dead.  No way he could have gotten away if they intended to break him.  He weighed a buck oh five and had no fight in him.  He just sat there getting the shit kicked out of him and didn't fight back.  Not once.  No skills, no training, no strength.  He put his life in the hands of men that have no regard for him.  The dude that got his ass beat disgusts me.  Outnumbered?  Pick one and fuck him up to the best of your ability.  Make him bleed.  You're gonna get fucked up so you might as well make them remember...at least one of them but no.  This guy was pure pussy.

Having said that, this is somewhat disturbing.  Many of these guys have no police record so how are they able to track them down so fast?  How can they be identified so quickly?

I can tell you and some will say conspiracy theory but it's obvious.  They've merged databases and they probably have facial recognition working overtime.  If you have a drivers license, were in the military, social security recepeint, have a facebook page, post pics of yourself online then they can track you down.  Hell one dude was able to do it just from images of people online...he tracked them down, publicized that they marched and many of those people got fired or are being run out of their homes (not shedding one single fucking tear about that either).

We live in a police state guys.  If you're involved in a high profile incident you can't disappear in the crowd.

But back to my audience.  What can you do to evade this scourge (and I'm assuming that you aren't a law breaker but a guy wanting to protect his privacy)?  Modify your habits and do this to your ball cap, cover whatever you want to call it.



Warning though.  Do NOT wear this in certain locations...areas that you might consider low threat will get you a close look by security personnel if the cameras are monitored.    But better to have security follow you around a store and having them be a bit bewildered than popping up on the database.

Mayweather stops McGregor....

via Reuters.

A ruthless Floyd Mayweather scored a 10th round technical knockout over mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor on Saturday, the American cementing his legacy as an all-time boxing great with his 50th win in as many fights.

Mayweather, who had guaranteed an early finish to the 12 round contest, made good on his promise when he pinned a brave-but-limited McGregor on the ropes and mercilessly hammered the Irishman before referee Robert Byrd stepped in to halt the bout.

The fight, which Mayweather insisted would be his last, sends the 40-year-old into his second retirement with a unblemished 50-0 record to surpass heavyweight legend Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 mark for most wins without a loss or draw.

”This was my last fight tonight. For sure,“ Mayweather declared in the ring. ”Tonight was my last fight. Tonight I chose the right dance partner to dance with.

”Conor you are a hell of a champion.

Story here. 

So predictable it hurts.

The only thing that's surprising by this result is that the fight last this long!  For McGregor to get it to the 10th?  That was NOT delivering on a promise of an early stop!

Either way both guys got paid.  Many will be debating this fight.  MMA and Boxing will probably try and work something out so that they can have a "cross champion" by blending certain rules together...that way Boxing can get back on the map and MMA can develop a means to pay their fighters a decent wage across the board...

In the end though I still think this was goofy dogs breakfast of a combat sports event.  The vid below sums it up....

The Ten Commandments of Rational Debate.

Read it.  Learn it.  If I'm wrong then tell me but don't stomp your feet and simply say because.  Don't get pissed and utilize a logical fallacy to think that you've "won" the argument.

More importantly this should apply to discussions on the blog.  

We once had an exchange of useful information. Not so much anymore (oh and I've learned what my readership CAN handle and what they CAN'T when it comes to discussions).  You can have whatever strongly held belief that you want (I certainly do) but don't be surprised if it's challenged.

Defend the idea properly.  Take a stance on whatever but do it the right way.

Arjun Main Battle Tank Review by Matimus Gaming YouTube Page.

Black Hawk crashes off the coast of Yemen...Do we have boots on the ground in Yemen????

via Sputnik.

A US service member is missing after a Black Hawk helicopter fell into the water some 20 miles off the coast of Yemen on Friday during a routine training session.
According to Stripes.com, five other service members aboard the helicopter were rescued immediately following the crash, whose cause is unknown.

A Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement, "This aircraft was based and launched from an overseas location [in support of] US Central Command operations."

A Centcom spokesperson stated, "When the incident took place the helicopter was not very high above the water," cited by Reuters.

Story here.

Training missions in high threat environments?  Does the public and the news media really believe such obvious bullshit?

The real question is this.  Do we have boots on the ground in Yemen?

Correction.

It's obvious that WE DO have boots on the ground in Yemen.  The real question is why!?!?!