Hope and Change replaced by Make America Great Again?

So Cruz drops out and now Trump will be the carrying the guidon for the Republican party.

But let me ask you.  Are we looking at the Republican Obama?

Remember the first election for Obama?  I asked many of his supporters what "hope and change" they were looking for.  No one could give a clear answer.  Smart people (or rather people that I thought had a bit of intelligence) were reduced to babbling idiots trying to explain "hope and change".

Now we have "Make America Great Again" coming from the Republican standard bearer and he has yet to lay out anything concrete.

Don't get me wrong.  I don't feel sorry for Cruz.  He was a slimy candidate.  First the games with the delegates, then the teaming with Kasich and then the gamesmanship with the confrontations with Trump supporters and finally being used as the elite's frontman in the stop Trump movement.

The guy deserved to lose.

The best thing to come out of this thing tonight is that the elite on both sides are scared shitless.

"There could be a war at any time. Are you ready for that?" Chinese Propaganda Vid...

Hat Tip to Sputnik for the link!



Oh these fuckers want some?????  Oooh......they got me a little riled up with this one...well done Chinese propagandist!  I wonder if they know how this video will play with people like me?  If this doesn't make people in the American military (especially Marine Corps) train harder then nothing will.

I've said it once I'll say it again.  Russia isn't the threat.  CHINA IS!

Story here.

New Chinese Light Weight All Terrain (Amphibious?) Airborne 8x8...Think Polaris RZR but better...

Thanks to MicMac80 for the link!

Soldiers from the 13th Group Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army recently invented a brand new combat mode based on new concepts and ideas in their military exercise to promote their training efficiency.

The new combat mode is characterized by small battle groups and all-terrain vehicles which are 8-wheel driven to pass various obstacles of up to 0.4 meters in height and 1.2 meters in width. The all-terrain vehicle can hold six soldiers, be equipped with mortars and rocket guns and has the abilities of field combating and air defense.
"These are the all-terrain vehicles that enable our infantry to carry weight five times more and maneuver six times faster than the ordinary ones, addressing the difficulties our infantry often meets in their maneuvering on the battlefield," said Yu Jianhua, a company commander of the 13th Group Army.

Wow.  Kinda like this.  Wonder if they will sell civilian versions in the US?

Navy SEAL killed in combat with ISIS forces.

via ABC News.

A U.S. serviceman was killed in Northern Iraq Tuesday by direct fire from ISIS forces that penetrated several miles across Kurdish lines. He was a Navy SEAL, two U.S. officials told ABC News.
The announcement of the third U.S. death in combat against ISIS was made by Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who was in Stuttgart, Germany, to attend the change-of-command ceremony at U.S. European Command.
"I'm getting reports a U.S. service member has been killed in Iraq," Carter said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with that service member's family."
Carter highlighted the combat risks the roughly 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq still face even though they are officially in a training, advise and assist mission. "It shows you it's a serious fight that we have to wage in Iraq," he said.

God bless this guy and fuck Pentagon/White House leadership.  Those bastards don't have a plan and they're just sending guys in.  They deserve better and so does this country.

Pic of the day. Medevac crew chief Octavio “Chad” Orozco.

pic via Soldier Porn Tumblr Page.

Medevac crew chief Octavio “Chad” Orozco, 25, catches his breath (and his thoughts) after struggling to keep two seriously wounded American soldiers alive on the flight to Kandahar Airfield, in southern Afghanistan. Orozco performed chest compressions for much of the flight.This photo was taken on November 22, 2010 in Kandahar City, Kandahar, AF, using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II by jeromestarkey

Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242 perform air to air refueling ...pics by Cpl. Nathan Wicks

Molodova left block US convoy via Defence Blog

via DB

The deputies of the Party of Socialists (MDBGS) together with activists of the “Young Guard” (the youth organization of the socialists) night blocked the entry to Moldova through Sculeni border crossing point, where the US military convoy arrived today.
Moldova’s pro-Russian opposition says it will stage protests against the May 3-20 joint exercises.
US armoured vehicles arrived in Moldova at the crossing point Sculeni, 135 kilometers East of Chisinau, Moldova, 03 May 2016. US soldiers and engineers are arriving in Moldova to take part in ‘Pioneer Dragon 2016’ joint military exercise with the Moldovian national army, held for the first time in Moldova
At 10.10: A column of US military vehicles continued movement.

Hmm.  Everyone forgets (me included) that many of the former Soviet Bloc countries with the exception of Poland, have a size able left that opposes the US and wants closer relations with Russia.

So how should we play this?  I'm not sure.  I don't have enough visibility. This could be tricky though.  Instead of bringing some of these countries closer to us, we could end up driving them into the arms of the Russians.

Floating Barracks of the Colombian Marines (pics)

via Enrique262 Tumblr Page!

One of the most unique naval developments of the colombian armed forces, the E.M.A.F (estación móvil de apoyo fluvial, mobile fluvial support station), basically a floating barracks for colombian marines, in order to be able to operate in the most remote regions of the country in a safe matter, it can also support small armed boats, has self-defense capabilities, and in case of emergency can use overboard engines to move itself out of harms way.

ISIS launching chemical attacks at Kurdish forces?

Thanks to Ronald for the link!

via el-ahkbar news.

According to Al-Alam News Network reporter ,Many People injured and Poisoned by ISIS Chemical attack on the village of Bashir.
ISIS Targets Bashir Village by at-least 7 missile filled by Sarin and Chlorin Gas.
The village of Bashir, south of Kirkuk city, was cleared of the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, IS and Daesh) by the Kurdish Peshmerga and Shiite forces  – Hashd al-Shaabi –  Sunday.
Bashir, 20 kilometers south of Kirkuk city, is a predominantly Shiite town that fell to ISIS last year.
Pockets of ISIS resistance still exist around Bashir village.

Chemical weapons.  Geez.  I hated the tear gas chamber I can't imagine trying to fight on a contaminated battlefield.

Question.  If the US has Special Ops embedded in Kurdish forces and those forces are gassed then how do you handle (let's say) a Special Forces A-Team that suffers casualties?  Of course you take care of the men, but what do you do moving forward?  Once the use of chemical weapons against US forces would justify a nuclear response.  That most certainly is no longer the case so what do you do to keep ISIS in the cage with this?

And if you can't then what's to keep them from trying to develop more persistent and deadly chemicals to use against major population centers?

MV-22's sent home not for training but to restore readiness?

via Marine Corps Times

“The time that we are deployed compared to the time that we are home is 1:2,” Burns told Marine Corps Times. “That means that for every one day deployed; theoretically, you’re supposed to get two days back home. It used to be 1:3 before we started deploying a lot. Within the past 15 years it’s gone back to 1:2.”
Transferring the six Ospreys from Spain to the U.S. gives Osprey squadrons more time at home to “alleviate the constant stress of deploying on our pilots and maintainers,” and that will help the Marine Corps' overall plan to restore readiness to its aviation fleet, Burns said.

This should have people screaming from the rooftops.  This is the most important story this year about the Marine Corps and the punch line will be ignored by the majority of the media.  Let me highlight this again from the article....

Transferring the six Ospreys from Spain to the U.S. gives Osprey squadrons more time at home to “alleviate the constant stress of deploying on our pilots and maintainers,” and that will help the Marine Corps' overall plan to restore readiness to its aviation fleet, Burns said.

Yeah I know you're getting tired of this, but I lay the blame at the feet of Amos and the current Deputy Commandant for Aviation.  Why?  Because Amos stood up SPMAGTF-CR's for two reasons (in my opinion) the first as a shield for the Obama Administration's inaction during the Benghazi incident and second because he wanted to justify the MV-22 when its tactical limitations AND tremendous costs were again being scrutinized.

But that's just bitching.  What should have everyone concerned is this.



Remember that vid from Fox News?  The implication was that budget cuts are the reason why the accident rate has spiked for Marine Corps aviation.  I did a check and the budget hasn't decreased....since 2013, Operations and Maintenance for Marine Air has consistently increased.

But for some reason the meme that Marine Aviation is at the breaking point because of budget cuts has caught on...even with members of Congress.  Interestingly enough the story  was planted not only in Fox News (the vid above) but also this spotlighted Marine Corps Times article.

The real question you should be asking is this.  If the budget has been increasing but Marine Air is breaking then what's the deal?  Additionally we need to know who pushed these propaganda pieces in the Marine Corps Times and Fox News?

I don't know but the truth will eventually come out.  

China's Carrier Fighter facing development issues?

Thanks to Slowman for the link!

via Sina.com

　It reported that F -15 peril, China is likely to look for other alternatives fighters, just as when the development of the J -7III failure, thus emergency import Su -27SK process of the same. But instead fighter J-15 carrier-based aircraft MiG-29 and the F -31 is only two options, but the former does not necessarily agree with Russia, which is the carrier-based version may have to wait 10-15 years, being slow. Therefore continue to transform J-15 has become the Chinese Navy is currently the only option, and the most viable solution is to transform the request Sukhoi company improved, although looking back to Russia to recognize China's equivalent of the Su-33 (J-15 prototype) reverse engineering failed, but in accordance with the current Sino-Russian relations, Russia will not consider face-saving projects, the money will be provided as long as the Su-33 design drawings to China.

F-35 fans will globe onto this information and say "I told ya so" while screaming about how hard it is to design airplanes.  Boeing will thump their chest and say that building a carrier airplane is hard and you can't just plug a play a land based or stovl equipped airplane for the carrier mission.

I say wait one second.

The J-15 is facing development issues in China.  It hasn 't even entered low rate production, but the J-20 and J-31 are moving at relative light speed (its been said that the J-20 is already in low rate production).

So exactly how much of our tech did they steal?  Perhaps I should ask...what didn't they steal! 

Austria is the flash point for anti-immigrant violence?

via Sputnik

On Monday, the Austrian interior ministry issued a report finding that xenophobic and racist crimes committed by far-right sympathizers have spiked by more than 50% in the past year with Muslims and Jews the primary targets.
Ministry reports state that 1,156 such crimes were registered in 2015 compared to 750 in 2014, an increase of 54%. In contrast, the report found that politically motivated crimes committed by left-wing extremists dropped sharply, from 371 in 2014 to 186 in 2015.
The report also found that 259 individuals had traveled either to Syria or to Iraq in 2015, to aid Daesh extremists, or expressed the intention to do so before being apprehended by authorities.
Of the 259 individuals, the report found that 75 Daesh militants returned to Austria in 2015 and 43 others are believed to have been killed in the region.
The reported figures on right wing crimes, as well as terrorist activity within the region, includes only those instances that were officially reported.

I've had a chance to visit Austria in a different life and found that to be one of the most welcoming countries in Europe.  Everywhere I went people went out of their way to explain the sights, to provide directions etc.  Being a six foot two black male didn't cause a bit of an issue and the only thing I sensed was a bit of amusement at my accent.

To see this kind of thing makes me wonder if we're not seeing those countries fundamentally changed.

I don't think Europe will ever be the same.  This immigration crisis will affect at least a couple of  generations of Europeans.  That could be ominous.  Worse, we're talking about Austria.  Those people were friendlier than even the Brits.

Just wow.