Tuesday, July 29, 2014

The world is burning news. Don't forget about chaos in Africa.

While we've all been watching Israel hook and jab with Hamas, and Russia fight a proxy war with Ukraine via Separatists, we've all taken our eyes off Africa and the chaos that is hitting that continent.

Just to give you a small update check this out from the Guardian...
The wife of Cameroon's vice-prime minister was kidnapped and at least three people were killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants in the northern town of Kolofata on Sunday, Cameroon officials said.
A local religious leader, or lamido, named Seini Boukar Lamine, who is also the town's mayor, was kidnapped in a separate attack on his home.
Then we have this from the Telegraph...
Ebola has killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since it was first diagnosed in February and more than 1,000 others have been infected by the virus.
On Friday, a Liberian man who had travelled to the Nigerian capital Lagos died for the disease, heightening concerns international air travel could speed up its spread.
The Government’s Public Health England on Monday sent letters to British doctors telling them to watch for anyone with strange illnesses who have recently travelled in West Africa.
Lets tackle the kidnapping issue first.

A small terrorist group has been given fame by a misguided social media campaign that did nothing and only emboldened men who are not swayed by the short attention span of fly by night activists.

The second issue is much more important and disturbing.

Ebola....The real danger is the incubation period and globalization.  Two to Twenty One days is the incubation period.  Some Brit could travel to Nigeria, back to the UK and then on to the US before he realized he was sick.

Globalization and open borders has made the world much more dangerous.  A pandemic in the modern era could be in every nation of the world before it was detected.

Chaos reigns and we lack the leadership everywhere to properly deal with the troubles in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Monday, July 28, 2014

The IDF takes off the gloves and no one notices...


The above photo is from the "Unwanted Blog" and the graphic tells the story.

The IDF is shrinking the Gaza strip by 40% and not one major news organization is reporting on it.

THIS IS HUGE!

I asked the question earlier.  Why doesn't the IDF move the Palestinians to the West bank, reclaim the Gaza  and make it a beach resort (like it once was) and deal with a real (as real as can be found in that God forsaken region) peace partner in the West Bank?

Before you answer the above ponder this.  Why isn't Israel facing a two front war?  Why aren't the Palestinians in the West Bank rioting and going insane causing this war to flare even wider?

The world is in chaos. Only Israel seems to have a plan that is working.  The UN, US, EU are all powerless.  What we do see is a strange alliance.  Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE...even Syria and a few others are on one side.  On the other is Iran, Hamas, ISIS and the other terrorists.  Somehow, someway the US govt (which I separate from the American people on this issue...at least my circle anyway) is on the wrong side of this.

Textron Air Land. Bush league organization or do they just work with bitches?

Consider this a rant.

I got an e-mail from some clown named Pete Fletcher and this idiot had the audacity to claim that I was using his photos without permission.  Note.  I make a point of using only open source material.  That means photos from manufacturers or military organizations.

I got the photos he's referring to from the Textron Air Land Facebook page.  That means one of two things to me.  Either Textron Air Land is a bush league organization that isn't using proper controls over the images of their products OR they're allowing silly little bitches to enter their space and sully their reputation.

Either way it sucks.

I'm done with Textron until they clarify image use across all their domains. 

Tragedy of war in Gaza.

IDF Press Release...
A short while ago, terrorists in Gaza fired rockets at Israel. One of them hit Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. The other hit Al-Shati refugee camp. Hamas fires from civilian areas – and hits its own people.
This is interesting.

While a tragic occurrence it also plays nicely with an Israeli theme that they have been beating the drum on.  Hamas is the root of the suffering in Gaza. MSNBC led with the story that the IDF hit the hospital.  Now?  They're saying nothing.

This public relations/human suffering story will bear watching.

This could be one of those quiet turning points if properly managed. 

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Israeli Armored Personnel Carriers near Gaza...pics via Tank-net Forums

Note:  Tank-net is one of those places on the internet that is a resource for those interested in armored vehicles.  Check out their forums under the current Israeli operation and you'll find a ton of pics.  Make sure you do it daily.  Hot linking is not allowed and most pic hosting sites impose limits so the pics are being posted and then deleted frequently.

Sidenote:  I'm seeing reports that IEDs have shown up in this conflict.  I've received pictures of destroyed Merkava's but want to nail down details before I post them.  Suffice it to say that if the pictures are real then even the mighty Merkava is vulnerable.  I'm waiting to see if the Namer is adequately protected against the threat.





The IDF's 401st Armored Brigade operating near Gaza (pics)...

Note:  The Trophy vehicle protection system is displayed to good effect in these pics...additionally you can see the Achzarit Heavy APC can be seen in the background.  While the M113 has come under fire for being too lightly armored to operate in urban areas, we haven't heard the same about the Achzarit.  I expect to see tank to APC modification become the norm worldwide due to that vehicles performance.




The US Navy's version of the F-35 is costing us $337 million dollars each....


Check out the insanity which is the cost of the F-35 here, at War is Boring Blog...I won't even spoil it with a tidbit.  This is a must read.