Ukraine News. Something is off with the Boris Nemtsov assassination.

I'm sure everyone has heard about the assassination of Boris Nemtsov.  What I can't figure out is, if the FSB did carry out the hit, why was it so sloppily done?

Remember the Alexander Litvinenko case?  FSB was quite "clinical" in that murder and it took authorities awhile to figure out the cause of death.

I also don't buy the theory that Nemtsov was going to provide details of Russian involvement in the Ukrainian war.  Everyone knows...suspects that at the very least Russian Advisors are on the ground so its wouldn't exactly be ground breaking news AND Putin could simply deny it.  So to carry out the assassination because of any info Nemtsov would have provided doesn't seem right either.

One thing we do know.  Russia .... more specifically Putin bears watching.  I never suspected that he would stoop to gangster tactics but if he is behind this then anything is possible.

No question this is a good shoot.

If you've been coming here for any amount of time then you know that I will go high and to the left when it comes to what I view as illegal police activity.

This time, even from the limited amount of video tape that is available, this police shooting is beyond justified and to be honest I'm surprised that only one person was killed.  Once you engage in behavior that is PHYSICALLY resisting arrest, then you are taking your own life into your hands. That isn't being pro-police, it isn't being racial (that bears no part in my view of things), its just being actual and factual.

Say what you will but these guys SHOULD NOT even be suspended...'Nuff said.

Sidenote:  Google the following:  Strength increase/no pain response while using meth/other drugs, continuum of force, escalation of force, reasonable actions, fear of bodily injury and homeless assaults on police.

What is going on in Okinawa?

In case you haven't been keeping up with events, things in Okinawa are taking a strange twist.  Check this out from the Japanese Times...

In an appearance on a Japanese rightist TV network last month, a senior official with the U.S. military branded anti-base demonstrations in Okinawa as “hate speech.”
Robert Eldridge, deputy assistant chief of staff of government and external affairs for the U.S. Marine Corps, made the comments in Japanese during a show on the Okinawa branch of Channel Sakura on Jan. 8. While discussing what he called the unpleasant experiences encountered by some Americans in Okinawa, he explained to the presenter, “As you know, near Futenma there are people (committing) many kinds of hate speech.”
Eldridge’s comments were apparently aimed at residents engaged in demonstrations against the unpopular Futenma Marine Corps base in the city of Ginowan.

Eldridge speaks perfect Japanese and has the customs and courtesies down pat so I don't understand the labeling of protests that have been happening for ... well decades .... hate speech.

But wait it gets worse.  Check this out (same paper, later date)...

On Jan. 22, Capt. Caleb D. Eames, deputy public affairs officer for the Marine Corps Installations Pacific, likened demonstrators to play-acting professional soccer players: “The attempt to appear injured is laughable when you see it in person,” he said.
Eames singled out for criticism demonstrators “lying on the road, holding onto a moving vehicle, and being dragged by their own choice, then claiming that they were scraped while in a peace protest.”

Long story short?  The Okinawans are outraged, and even if the Captain is right there are some things that are best left unsaid.  The move to the Pacific is going to become much more difficult if the basing issue isn't properly sorted out.

This is the ugly side of "forward presence".  When you're using bases on foreign soil, the people where those bases are held DO get a vote. 

All this has led to the inevitable.  Editorials calling for the USMC to leave... (this was a hot issue in the 90's...I thought it was dead with the rise of China)....

U.S. Marine Corps officials have frequently made insulting remarks against Okinawan people opposing U.S. base construction. Their remarks are not just personal opinions, but reflect an entrenched attitude. We cannot help but say prejudice is deeply ingrained in the Marine Corps organization .

Yeah.  This needs to be defused with a quickness before it because a "popular", "media" driven issue taken up by celebrities and sports figures. 

Commandant of the Marine Corps testimony before Congress.

Many thanks to Don Bacon for the link!

  Commandant of the Marine Corps testimony before Congress

2nd BCT/ 1st Cav conducts breaching ops...photos by Sgt. Richard Jones

Note:  Using the M-113 as a line charge trailer tow vehicle?  Interesting...at least thats what it looks like to me....I could easily be wrong, but what will they use when that vehicle is finally retired?  JLTV?  AMPV?

U.S. Soldiers, assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division, assault an enemy compound during Decisive Action Rotation 15-05 at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., Feb. 25, 2015. The rotation ensures brigades remain versatile, responsive and consistently available for the current fight and unforeseen future contingencies.

Interesting...they used the civilian wheeled "band track" option on the trailer!

Piranha V (Desert).

Note:  Just a few more pics of the Desert Piranha.  I can't find what makes this different from the "standard" Piranha V but I imagine it has to do with "environmental" equipment to make it more effective.  I got to give General Dynamics credit on this one.  Its a sexy beast.  Notice the last pic?  I wonder why they just don't give these vehicles skid steering instead of making them more complex by making the rear wheels turnable (yeah I know it decreases turn radius but you can't beat zero...if anyone has the answer hit me up in the comments).

More on Net Neutrality.

I've tried to lay out my reasons why net neutrality is such a bad idea and didn't do a good job.  Fortunately others are up to the task.  Check out this article..but here's a tidbit..

Internet Taxes Could Happen. Harold Furchtgott-Roth of Forbes writes that by making the internet subject to the strictures of the interstate telecommunications industry, the FCC could impose fees on internet service:
By classifying broadband access services as “interstate telecommunications services,” those services would suddenly become required to pay FCC fees.  At the current 16.1% fee structure, it would be perhaps the largest, one-time tax increase on the Internet. 

I personally believe that this is what its really all about.  Think back.  First the president laid out a plan hope for "internet for all"....then he started talking about net neutrality out of the blue.  Next thing you know, before we could even debate it the FCC votes on it.

With everything on the Presidents plate...ISIS, Ukraine, Ebola, Immigration, Deficits, Defense, Healthcare, Unemployment...the list goes on...suddenly we get hit out of the blue with net neutrality being the burning issue of the day?

It doesn't make sense.

SIDENOTE:  I continue to marvel at all the "tech geeks" that argue that this has been a long time in the making.  NO IT HASN'T.  It might have been a focus in your corner of the universe but for the general public this was on no ones radar.  I'm also surprised at how tech geeks that generally are against govt interference suddenly believing that having bureaucratic slime dripping over the internet will be a good thing!  My point?  Spare me your moralizing, your so called facts and your opinion.  I know better.  If govt gets involved things get fucked up.

2nd BCT/82nd Abn train for Global Response Force mission (more LTATV pics) by Staff Sgt. Jason Hull

A team of paratroopers assigned to the 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, conduct training with the Brigade’s new Light Tactical All Terrain Vehicle on Fort Pickett, Virginia, Feb. 26, 2015. The 1st Battalion, 325th AIR developed tactics, techniques and procedures for tactical movement with the new LTATVs. The Battalion is currently assessing the LTATV as a platform to provide a rifle company with rapid mobility in support of airfield seizure operations.

Five centuries of Aesop Fables...

Major hat tip to James Yeager FB page.

James posted the above pic on his FaceBook page and it sparked a memory of these short tales about life.  Much wisdom is contained in these fables so I found an open source book of them and decided to share it with you guys.  Check it out below.

  Five centuries of Aesop fables.

The US Navy has lost its goddamn mind.

USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10)

The US Navy has lost its fucking mind!

The USS Gabrielle Giffords?

Wow.

FUCKING AMAZING.

Hope is fading fast for the DoD.  They've been totally compromised by this administration and the military that I knew is almost gone. I don't know if it is worth covering this for much longer.