JR14 out
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
The Russian's are coming, the Russian's are coming!!
Somali Pirates Give Russia Chance to Flex Muscles
The rise in piracy off the coasts of Somalia is giving Russia a chance to flex its muscles, with plans to dispatch several warships to the region and even ex-KGB commandos volunteering their services.
The Russian frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) is already patrolling the coastline, and there is talk of Russia reopening a Soviet-era naval base on an island belonging to Yemen in the Gulf of Aden just across from Somalia.
Russia’s increasingly active role against piracy in Somalia marks its "return to the ranks of world powers," said Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst and a member of parliament from the ruling United Russia party.
Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo was quoted by Interfax news agency on 21 Nov as saying that the Navy would have either "one warship or a flotilla of warships" in the Horn of Africa region "on a regular basis."
Nikolai Makarov, the head of Russia’s general staff, was quoted as saying that Moscow was preparing "a detailed plan for anti-pirate operations in the Gulf of Aden" with naval ships from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets.
Page 10 of 11 Newsletter for 24 November 2008
During a visit to Yemen last month, Sergei Mironov, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, even said that Moscow was considering resuming a Soviet-era naval presence in the country.
The Pacific fleet of the Soviet navy maintained a naval base on Yemen's Socotra island, which lies off the Horn of Africa.
The capture of a Saudi supertanker this week has cast an international spotlight on the piracy problem and redoubled efforts by international powers to combat it. Dozens of vessels have been hijacked so far this year.
"It’s the chance to show that Russian forces can play a positive role and a more useful role" rather than "showing off on the ocean," said Russian military analyst Alexander Golts, referring to naval exercises carried out by Russia.
Also on 21 Nov, KGB-trained commandos from the secret service’s feared Vympel division, many of whose members are now private security guards and mercenaries, said they could defeat Somali pirates.
"If there is a political will to achieve this aim, we can accomplish it," said Felix Makiyevsky, a former commando with Vympel. Valery Kiselyov, another ex-commando, said former KGB mercenaries could do the job.
Neustrashimy is escorting cargo vessels and chased away pirates on at least two occasions, once jointly with the British frigate Cumberland, officials said.
The warship was dispatched in Sep after pirates seized a Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina, laden with dozens of T-72 battle tanks and rounds of ammunition, as well as three Russian nationals among the crew members.
But Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s envoy to NATO, said this week: "It’s up to the European Union, NATO and others to launch a coastal land operation to eliminate the pirates," adding that this "should be coordinated with Russia."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also called for the U.S., the European and Russia jointly to prevent "lawlessness" by pirates.
The U.N. Security Council in Oct adopted a resolution calling on all countries to use all "necessary means" to fight piracy in the Horn of Africa "in particular by deploying naval vessels and military aircraft."
JR14 out
Somali Pirates Give Russia Chance to Flex Muscles
The rise in piracy off the coasts of Somalia is giving Russia a chance to flex its muscles, with plans to dispatch several warships to the region and even ex-KGB commandos volunteering their services.
The Russian frigate Neustrashimy (Fearless) is already patrolling the coastline, and there is talk of Russia reopening a Soviet-era naval base on an island belonging to Yemen in the Gulf of Aden just across from Somalia.
Russia’s increasingly active role against piracy in Somalia marks its "return to the ranks of world powers," said Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin analyst and a member of parliament from the ruling United Russia party.
Russian Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo was quoted by Interfax news agency on 21 Nov as saying that the Navy would have either "one warship or a flotilla of warships" in the Horn of Africa region "on a regular basis."
Nikolai Makarov, the head of Russia’s general staff, was quoted as saying that Moscow was preparing "a detailed plan for anti-pirate operations in the Gulf of Aden" with naval ships from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets.
Page 10 of 11 Newsletter for 24 November 2008
During a visit to Yemen last month, Sergei Mironov, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, even said that Moscow was considering resuming a Soviet-era naval presence in the country.
The Pacific fleet of the Soviet navy maintained a naval base on Yemen's Socotra island, which lies off the Horn of Africa.
The capture of a Saudi supertanker this week has cast an international spotlight on the piracy problem and redoubled efforts by international powers to combat it. Dozens of vessels have been hijacked so far this year.
"It’s the chance to show that Russian forces can play a positive role and a more useful role" rather than "showing off on the ocean," said Russian military analyst Alexander Golts, referring to naval exercises carried out by Russia.
Also on 21 Nov, KGB-trained commandos from the secret service’s feared Vympel division, many of whose members are now private security guards and mercenaries, said they could defeat Somali pirates.
"If there is a political will to achieve this aim, we can accomplish it," said Felix Makiyevsky, a former commando with Vympel. Valery Kiselyov, another ex-commando, said former KGB mercenaries could do the job.
Neustrashimy is escorting cargo vessels and chased away pirates on at least two occasions, once jointly with the British frigate Cumberland, officials said.
The warship was dispatched in Sep after pirates seized a Ukrainian vessel, MV Faina, laden with dozens of T-72 battle tanks and rounds of ammunition, as well as three Russian nationals among the crew members.
But Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s envoy to NATO, said this week: "It’s up to the European Union, NATO and others to launch a coastal land operation to eliminate the pirates," adding that this "should be coordinated with Russia."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has also called for the U.S., the European and Russia jointly to prevent "lawlessness" by pirates.
The U.N. Security Council in Oct adopted a resolution calling on all countries to use all "necessary means" to fight piracy in the Horn of Africa "in particular by deploying naval vessels and military aircraft."
JR14 out
Friday, November 21, 2008
On the Scene: Fallujah Kentucky Fried Chicken
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Today at 12:58pm
By David Mac Dougall, Baghdad Bureau
We finally made it to Kentucky Fried Chicken in downtown Fallujah. The quest for KFC is over!
But let me clarify: on closer inspection it turns out this is not one of Colonel Sanders’ officially sanctioned franchises. In fact, appart from the large “KFC” sign in the window you’d be hard pressed to distinguish this from many other chicken restaurants in Fallujah. The big difference though, is on the inside. Iraqis like baked chicken, and it turns out deep fried chicken is something of a novelty, and so they’ve been flocking to the restaurant over the past eight months since it opened - the loal newspaper even ran a story about it, so I guess it’s not a Fox exclusive.
Of course we only made it to KFC with the help of our embed hosts this week - Capt. Dan Micklis and the marines of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. They’ve been showing us all over the north of Fallujah, and we’ll be sad to say goodbye later this evening as we start the journey back to Baghdad.
We were the only customers early Friday evening in KFC, so I bought enough chicken to feed the marines. In case you’re wondering, they only have one thing on the menu - a $5 meal which buys 2 pieces of fried chicken, French fries, a soda, bottle of water and 2 bread rolls.
If the official KFC wants to send Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines any free stuff, like t-shirts or hats, vouchers for meals (or pretty much anything really!), then get in touch and we’ll make sure you can link up with the guys.
In the meantime, enjoy some pictures!
JR14 out
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Go INDIA!
Inidian Navy sinks Pirate mothership.
Check this out. 2008 acts of piracy via ICC-CCS.org
JR14 out
Inidian Navy sinks Pirate mothership.
Check this out. 2008 acts of piracy via ICC-CCS.org
We ought to take some notes on how to deal with these guys......
JR14 out
It's funny how well you can find out an answer to a question by using the web. I was doing some research into Republic's when I ran into a word that I had not heard before; Oligarchy.
Oligarchy (Greek Ὀλιγαρχία, Oligarkhía) is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military powers or occult spiritual hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" (ὀλίγος olígos) and "rule" (ἀρχή arkhē). Such states are often controlled by politically powerful families whose children were heavily conditioned and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy.
The concept of an "oligarchic democracy" is one which some scholars attribute to Ancient Rome and the United States. Marxist Ellen Meiksins Wood writes, that it "conveys a truth about U.S. politics every bit as telling as its application to ancient Rome. It is no accident that the Founding Fathers of the U.S. Republic looked to Roman models for inspiration in making the Federalist case, adopting Roman names as pseudonyms and conceiving of themselves as latterday Catos, forming a natural aristocracy of republican virtue. (Americans today still have a representative body called the Senate, and their republic is still watched over by the Roman eagle.) Faced with the distasteful specter of democracy, they sought ways to redefine that unpalatable concept to accommodate aristocratic rule, producing a hybrid, "representative democracy," which was clearly meant to achieve an effect similar to the ancient Roman idea of the "mixed constitution," in fact, an "oligarchic 'democracy."'[1] However, the constitution and state laws have since been modified, with the removal of the original property requirements for voting, as well as giving the vote to women and blacks.[2]
So that is how the US of A started, and now to where we are:
A number of critics argue that the United States political system is, itself, an oligarchic structure. Third party candidates stand little chance of election to national office, due to the enormous monetary capital needed to purchase advertising time and to make other key connections in order to gain sufficient attention from the electorate. Since large donors fuel national political races, expecting due compensation in return for funding the winners' campaigns, it is difficult to distinguish between the current situation and societies most commonly recognized as oligarchies. It is, many feel, a return to aristocratic rule, in which the common people have little control over their political fate; feelings of being "sold out" frequently lead to apathy, now recognized as the most common problem in American politics.
And now I wait to start seeing more signs of our slipping into a Solcialistic state.
JR14 out
Oligarchy (Greek Ὀλιγαρχία, Oligarkhía) is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military powers or occult spiritual hegemony. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" (ὀλίγος olígos) and "rule" (ἀρχή arkhē). Such states are often controlled by politically powerful families whose children were heavily conditioned and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy.
The concept of an "oligarchic democracy" is one which some scholars attribute to Ancient Rome and the United States. Marxist Ellen Meiksins Wood writes, that it "conveys a truth about U.S. politics every bit as telling as its application to ancient Rome. It is no accident that the Founding Fathers of the U.S. Republic looked to Roman models for inspiration in making the Federalist case, adopting Roman names as pseudonyms and conceiving of themselves as latterday Catos, forming a natural aristocracy of republican virtue. (Americans today still have a representative body called the Senate, and their republic is still watched over by the Roman eagle.) Faced with the distasteful specter of democracy, they sought ways to redefine that unpalatable concept to accommodate aristocratic rule, producing a hybrid, "representative democracy," which was clearly meant to achieve an effect similar to the ancient Roman idea of the "mixed constitution," in fact, an "oligarchic 'democracy."'[1] However, the constitution and state laws have since been modified, with the removal of the original property requirements for voting, as well as giving the vote to women and blacks.[2]
So that is how the US of A started, and now to where we are:
A number of critics argue that the United States political system is, itself, an oligarchic structure. Third party candidates stand little chance of election to national office, due to the enormous monetary capital needed to purchase advertising time and to make other key connections in order to gain sufficient attention from the electorate. Since large donors fuel national political races, expecting due compensation in return for funding the winners' campaigns, it is difficult to distinguish between the current situation and societies most commonly recognized as oligarchies. It is, many feel, a return to aristocratic rule, in which the common people have little control over their political fate; feelings of being "sold out" frequently lead to apathy, now recognized as the most common problem in American politics.
And now I wait to start seeing more signs of our slipping into a Solcialistic state.
JR14 out
Well, I had HOPE for President-elect Obama but this I fear this is a glimpse of how far Government will be into everything in the near future.
Quoted from "60 minutes, Sunday 16 Nov, 2008:
But he went further Sunday than he had before, vowing to use the power of the presidency to push the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
"This is important," Mr. Obama said. "I'm gonna throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."
Why does the President of the US of A need to be involved?
Come on already.
JR14 out
Quoted from "60 minutes, Sunday 16 Nov, 2008:
But he went further Sunday than he had before, vowing to use the power of the presidency to push the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
"This is important," Mr. Obama said. "I'm gonna throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."
Why does the President of the US of A need to be involved?
Come on already.
JR14 out
Friday, November 14, 2008
I read a great article on what I work with in the Navy today. It address's the evolving need for Command & Control enablers and challenges for Ground Mobile Force's
link: here
JR14 out
link: here
JR14 out
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Great, more idiots than usual inbound for December:
"Ladies & Gentlemen,
Information has been received from the Virginia State Police that members of
the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), a religious group known for protesting
U.S. military funerals, are planning several protest activities in the local
area. The date and location of the protest activities are as follows:
- 12/01/2008: VA Beach, VA- Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base,
Indep. & Shore.
- 12/03/2008: Virginia Beach, VA- Fort Story, 83rd & Atlantic
- 12/03/2008: Norfolk, VA- Norfolk Naval Station, Hampton Blvd &
International Terminal Blvd
- 12/03/2008: Virginia Beach, VA- Oceana Naval Air Station, VA Beach
Blvd & First Colonial
- 12/03/2008: Portsmouth, VA- Portsmouth Naval Medical Center,
London Blvd & Effingham
- 12/03/2008: Yorktown, VA- USCG Reserve Training Center, GWM
Highway & Main
The WBC is highly organized, has multiple members who are lawyers, and
appears to seek confrontation in order to file lawsuits that result in
monetary settlements used to fund church activities. To that end, WBC
members will often video the protest event and any interaction with the
public in an attempt to capture litigation opportunities. At past events,
the group did not engage in violence when they were left alone; however,
their provoking language and flag desecration are designed to incite a
response and subsequent confrontation - do not allow yourself to be lured
into their plan. All personnel should avoid the WBC and their activities if
at all possible. If WBC members are present and avoidance isn't an option,
the best course of action is to completely ignore them. "
"Ladies & Gentlemen,
Information has been received from the Virginia State Police that members of
the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), a religious group known for protesting
U.S. military funerals, are planning several protest activities in the local
area. The date and location of the protest activities are as follows:
- 12/01/2008: VA Beach, VA- Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base,
Indep. & Shore.
- 12/03/2008: Virginia Beach, VA- Fort Story, 83rd & Atlantic
- 12/03/2008: Norfolk, VA- Norfolk Naval Station, Hampton Blvd &
International Terminal Blvd
- 12/03/2008: Virginia Beach, VA- Oceana Naval Air Station, VA Beach
Blvd & First Colonial
- 12/03/2008: Portsmouth, VA- Portsmouth Naval Medical Center,
London Blvd & Effingham
- 12/03/2008: Yorktown, VA- USCG Reserve Training Center, GWM
Highway & Main
The WBC is highly organized, has multiple members who are lawyers, and
appears to seek confrontation in order to file lawsuits that result in
monetary settlements used to fund church activities. To that end, WBC
members will often video the protest event and any interaction with the
public in an attempt to capture litigation opportunities. At past events,
the group did not engage in violence when they were left alone; however,
their provoking language and flag desecration are designed to incite a
response and subsequent confrontation - do not allow yourself to be lured
into their plan. All personnel should avoid the WBC and their activities if
at all possible. If WBC members are present and avoidance isn't an option,
the best course of action is to completely ignore them. "
Monday, November 10, 2008
Well, one week down since the election....... Pres-Elect Obama didn't seem quite so energenic after his Intel in-brief.
Anywhoo, just read this and it made laugh and think:
"In these troubled times, we all have to do what we can. A recent study carried out at Glasgow University reveals that Scotsmen walk an average of 900 miles a year. Almost simultaneously, the Scottish Medical Association reports that Scotsmen consume an average of 22 gallons of alcohol a year. I make that just over 40 mpg. Not so bad."
JR14 out.
Anywhoo, just read this and it made laugh and think:
"In these troubled times, we all have to do what we can. A recent study carried out at Glasgow University reveals that Scotsmen walk an average of 900 miles a year. Almost simultaneously, the Scottish Medical Association reports that Scotsmen consume an average of 22 gallons of alcohol a year. I make that just over 40 mpg. Not so bad."
JR14 out.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Ah, yet the beginning of another week. Election day tomorrow........ Thank God!
It will either be a term of a balanced budget at the price of the military or hopefully a new reformed Government. With the latter I beleive it will be hard pressed with a potentially filabuster proof Congress.
We will see soon enough.
Jolly Roger 14 out.
It will either be a term of a balanced budget at the price of the military or hopefully a new reformed Government. With the latter I beleive it will be hard pressed with a potentially filabuster proof Congress.
We will see soon enough.
Jolly Roger 14 out.
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