Could be some unenlightened mothers think they’re cute.
“The Children's Place's latest T-shirt line put the clothing retailer in an uncomfortable place: in the crossfire of parental outrage.
“The retailer sparked anger for girls' T-shirts like one that says ‘Born to wear diamonds’ and another depicting a checklist under the phrase ‘My best subjects.’ While subjects such as ‘shopping’ and ‘dancing’ are checked off, ‘math’ is left unchecked, with the added explanation ‘Well, nobody's perfect.’
“That made some parents hopping mad, and some filled The Children's Place's Facebook page with angry messages. Some vowed to stop shopping at the retailer.
"’As an environmental scientist, I just can't justify endorsing your business,’ one woman wrote. ‘The “right thing” to teach our children is to ignore degrading propaganda, and present yourself in a positive way.’"
http://money.msn.com/now/post--the-childrens-place-pulls-sexist-t-shirts-for-girls
(Who gives a rat’s hiney that “one woman” is “an environmental scientist”? What does environmental science have to do with “Born to wear diamonds”? What is an environmental scientist, anyway?
(Unwad your knickers, dudettes. Remember the importance of diversity. Remember, too, that some girls are born to wear diamonds. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have dozens of pictures in yearbooks, and they wouldn’t be the ones in cheerleader skirts.
(And, Envirnmental Scientist, you have a tense error -- "our children" cannot be a "yourself.")
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
The arrogance of ignorance
Terrorist chatter increases. No. 2 Al-Queda talks to No. 3 about a big event.
Close the embassies, get people out of Yemen.
‘Manipulating the U.S. Intelligence Community Shouldn’t Be This Easy’
“The shutdown and warnings, then, proceed from the assumption either that the terrorists ‘chatter’ amongst themselves blissfully ignorant of what anyone who cares to look knows about NSA’s reach, or that they willfully warn us. That assumption flies in the face of experience. The terrorists who have bitten us have not chattered, while those who chatter do not bite. The terrorists who brought mortars and grenade launchers to destroy US facilities in Benghazi and kill our people did not chatter. The US government is up against serious people. Unfortunately, it gives proof of unseriousness.”
http://www.libertylawsite.org/2013/08/04/manipulating-the-u-s-intelligence-community-it-shouldnt-be-this-easy/
(Yeah, we’ve bragged about signals intelligence and intercepts of high-ranking terrorists’ plans and locations, but they’re a bunch of illiterate goat herders, so it’s not like they understand SIGINT.)
Close the embassies, get people out of Yemen.
‘Manipulating the U.S. Intelligence Community Shouldn’t Be This Easy’
“The shutdown and warnings, then, proceed from the assumption either that the terrorists ‘chatter’ amongst themselves blissfully ignorant of what anyone who cares to look knows about NSA’s reach, or that they willfully warn us. That assumption flies in the face of experience. The terrorists who have bitten us have not chattered, while those who chatter do not bite. The terrorists who brought mortars and grenade launchers to destroy US facilities in Benghazi and kill our people did not chatter. The US government is up against serious people. Unfortunately, it gives proof of unseriousness.”
http://www.libertylawsite.org/2013/08/04/manipulating-the-u-s-intelligence-community-it-shouldnt-be-this-easy/
(Yeah, we’ve bragged about signals intelligence and intercepts of high-ranking terrorists’ plans and locations, but they’re a bunch of illiterate goat herders, so it’s not like they understand SIGINT.)
We’re doomed! Doomed, I tell you!
“August 5, 2013: Something big is about to happen on the sun. According to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the sun's vast magnetic field is about to flip.
"It looks like we're no more than 3 to 4 months away from a complete field reversal," says solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. ‘This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.’"
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/05aug_fieldflip/
(Break out those cases of C’s you got 25 years ago or those MREs from five years back.)
“The sun's magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years. It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun's inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself.”
(Oh. It wasn’t a big deal 11 years ago, so it’s no big deal now, right?)
“Solar physicist Phil Scherrer, also at Stanford, describes what happens: ‘The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle.’"
(I was worried for a bit. Reversed magnetism sounded like one of those History Channel “WE’RE DOOMED!” stories.)
“A reversal of the sun's magnetic field is, literally, a big event. The domain of the sun's magnetic influence (also known as the ‘heliosphere’) extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field's polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space.”
(Hey, make up my mind! It’s an 11-year cycle thing, but it’s a “big event”?)
Not to worry.
"’The sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up,’ says Scherrer. ‘Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of Solar Max will be underway.’
“When that happens, Hoeksema and Scherrer will share the news with their colleagues and the public.”
(When that happens?? What about before? I’ve got sandbags to fill.)
"It looks like we're no more than 3 to 4 months away from a complete field reversal," says solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. ‘This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.’"
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/05aug_fieldflip/
(Break out those cases of C’s you got 25 years ago or those MREs from five years back.)
“The sun's magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years. It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun's inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself.”
(Oh. It wasn’t a big deal 11 years ago, so it’s no big deal now, right?)
“Solar physicist Phil Scherrer, also at Stanford, describes what happens: ‘The sun's polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle.’"
(I was worried for a bit. Reversed magnetism sounded like one of those History Channel “WE’RE DOOMED!” stories.)
“A reversal of the sun's magnetic field is, literally, a big event. The domain of the sun's magnetic influence (also known as the ‘heliosphere’) extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field's polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space.”
(Hey, make up my mind! It’s an 11-year cycle thing, but it’s a “big event”?)
Not to worry.
"’The sun's north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up,’ says Scherrer. ‘Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of Solar Max will be underway.’
“When that happens, Hoeksema and Scherrer will share the news with their colleagues and the public.”
(When that happens?? What about before? I’ve got sandbags to fill.)
Cleveland police face “discipline”
“Cleveland police officials said Friday they're disciplining 75 of officers for their involvement in a police chase that ended in the shooting deaths of an unarmed man and woman, The Plain Dealer reports.
“The pair were shot at 137 times while in their car, parked in a middle school parking lot. No officers were injured in what police called a ‘full blown-out" firefight.”
…
“One suspect, 30-year-old Malissa Williams, was shot 24 times, and the other, 43-year-old Timothy Russell, was shot 23 times.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/cleveland-police-disciplined-in-deadly-chase-2013-8
(Uh, we thought they had a gun.)
Monday, August 5, 2013
‘Israel’s 10th-grade anti-cyberterrorists’
“With double the number of scientists and engineers per capita compared to the US and 10 times more active-duty soldiers relative to its total population, Israel already has impressive human capital in scientific fields such as cybersecurity. But now it is also tapping everything from high school classrooms to venture capital firms to extract cream-of-the-crop cyber experts, hone their skills and ideas, and fund their development.”
…
Quality can matter more than quantity in the cyber battlefield, “where a team of pony-tailed hackers fueled by pizza, Coke, and plum salaries may be enough to design major attacks or help bolster US defenses against them.”
…
‘The IDF sends select soldiers to universities such as BGU for specialized training, especially in the sciences. But given the urgent need for talent, the IDF launched a special program three years ago to identify exceptionally qualified high school students and begin their cybersecurity training as early as 10th grade. Currently 200 students are enrolled in the program, but graduates have so outperformed their peers in the IDF that commanders are clamoring for more. So this year the program will double in size, and the IDF hopes to see 1,000 students involved within two years.”
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0813/cybersecurity_education.php
3
…
Quality can matter more than quantity in the cyber battlefield, “where a team of pony-tailed hackers fueled by pizza, Coke, and plum salaries may be enough to design major attacks or help bolster US defenses against them.”
…
‘The IDF sends select soldiers to universities such as BGU for specialized training, especially in the sciences. But given the urgent need for talent, the IDF launched a special program three years ago to identify exceptionally qualified high school students and begin their cybersecurity training as early as 10th grade. Currently 200 students are enrolled in the program, but graduates have so outperformed their peers in the IDF that commanders are clamoring for more. So this year the program will double in size, and the IDF hopes to see 1,000 students involved within two years.”
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0813/cybersecurity_education.php
3
This new tax will fund everything! Everything!
(Except those bad soldiers at the Pentagon. They don’t get any.)
"’The bottom line is we're not broke, there's plenty of money, it's just the government doesn't have it,’ Ellison continued, "The government has a right, the government and the people of the United States have a right to run the programs of the United States. Health, welfare, housing - all these things.’"
“The 'Inclusive Prosperity Act' would levy a sales tax on the trading of stocks, bonds and derivatives. Ellison estimates it would generate $300 billion in revenues annually.
“According to the bill revenue raised will go to several priorities and, ‘fund international sustainable prosperity programs such as health care investments, AIDS treatment, research and prevention programs, climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts by developing countries, and international assistance.’"
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/08/rep_ellison_theres_plenty_of_money_its_just_that_the_government_doesnt_have_it.html
“Inclusive Prosperity Act.” Ain’t it lovely?
Hey, do you believe in inclusive prosperity?
What?
Inclusive prosperity. You know, where everybody has money and nobody has more than anybody else.
You mean like Warren Buffet living on the same salary as his secretary?
Link from http://ace.mu.nu/
"’The bottom line is we're not broke, there's plenty of money, it's just the government doesn't have it,’ Ellison continued, "The government has a right, the government and the people of the United States have a right to run the programs of the United States. Health, welfare, housing - all these things.’"
“The 'Inclusive Prosperity Act' would levy a sales tax on the trading of stocks, bonds and derivatives. Ellison estimates it would generate $300 billion in revenues annually.
“According to the bill revenue raised will go to several priorities and, ‘fund international sustainable prosperity programs such as health care investments, AIDS treatment, research and prevention programs, climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts by developing countries, and international assistance.’"
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/08/rep_ellison_theres_plenty_of_money_its_just_that_the_government_doesnt_have_it.html
“Inclusive Prosperity Act.” Ain’t it lovely?
Hey, do you believe in inclusive prosperity?
What?
Inclusive prosperity. You know, where everybody has money and nobody has more than anybody else.
You mean like Warren Buffet living on the same salary as his secretary?
Link from http://ace.mu.nu/
In pretend war, you can shoot them
The pretend war was to start in two hours, but my lieutenant was not present. Not a problem. The platoon had worked without a lieutenant before and often worked despite having one.
The battalion was at Camp Maxey, Texas, about 20 miles north of Paris. During World War II, Camp Maxey encompassed around 60,000 acres bought from farmers and ranchers. After the war, the Army retained a little more than 4,000 acres and gave the camp to the Texas Army National Guard. The Guard used the camp for small-scale field training and for rifle, pistol and machine gun qualification.
A platoon sergeant from a South Texas mechanized infantry company was assigned to evaluate my platoon.
About an hour after breakfast, the platoon sergeant came over to my area. He asked if my platoon leader had arrived.
“Nope,” I said.
“Looks like you’re it, then.”
“Yep,” I said.
He said, “I’ll give you the op order when you’re ready.”
“Now is good,” I said.
The gist of the order was, an enemy force of unknown strength was in the vicinity of a set of coordinates. I was to take my platoon to the area, find and eliminate the enemy force. There was more information – situation, who was to my right and to my left, service and support – but then basics were, “The enemy is here; go kill him.”
I sat on a log with a map and notes and soon had my own op order. My three squad leaders came over and I gave the order – where we were going, the order we would move, the route and what to do when we found the enemy or he found us.
The easiest route to the objective led down two roads, but we were not going to take the roads. You increase the chance of being shot. My op order had the platoon of three APCs using the edge of the woods to make the movement. The location was easy to find, and we would be concealed the entire distance.
We moved out at a time that would allow us to make LD (line of departure) time as specified in the op order. As the lead track neared a barbed wire fence, an M151A1 (jeep) drove through the gate. My tracks stopped. Out of the jeep stepped my LT.
I dismounted my track and walked to the platoon leader. (We’ll call him Lt. Black, since that was his name.) He apologized for being late. I said, “Yes, Sir.” He asked what was going on. I took my map from a cargo pocket and explained everything.
“No,” the lieutenant said. “That’s not what I want to do.”
I wanted to say, “Sir, if you want a say-so on what to do, I suggest you get your ass where it’s supposed to be, when it’s supposed to be there.” But I didn’t say anything.
Lt. Black said he wanted all squad leaders at his location. When everybody was present, the LT changed the route from concealed in the trees to going down the roads. What that meant was, we would be approaching the objective parallel to it and exposing our entire right side. I didn’t say anything. I had tried before talking to Lt. Black about leadership and tactics and other things Infantry, but he was not interested. He was an SMU ROTC LT … That pretty much sums it up.
We took the LT’s route, we took fire from the right as we were exposed on the road, and we had to travel 100 meters or so before turning toward the enemy position. And then the LT stopped the tracks and dismounted the platoon 250 meters from the objective. My soldiers would have to run that distance, plus go into and come out of a depression with three-meter-high sides. Fortunately, the sides were not steep.
When everything was done – soldiers fired up their blank ammunition and whoever had smoke grenades tossed red and purple – the evaluating platoon sergeant and I were standing near a small tree.
I said, “Where is he?” The other platoon sergeant knew who I meant. “Where is he?” And then: “There he is.” I raised my rifle.
“You going to shoot him?”
“Yes.” I squeezed off three blank rounds.
The LT never knew.
Had it been real, I would have stopped it before it began. I would have said, “No, Sir. We’re not doing that.” Had it been real, he would have ordered me to do as he said. What would have happened after that … One lieutenant or 26 soldiers.
The battalion was at Camp Maxey, Texas, about 20 miles north of Paris. During World War II, Camp Maxey encompassed around 60,000 acres bought from farmers and ranchers. After the war, the Army retained a little more than 4,000 acres and gave the camp to the Texas Army National Guard. The Guard used the camp for small-scale field training and for rifle, pistol and machine gun qualification.
A platoon sergeant from a South Texas mechanized infantry company was assigned to evaluate my platoon.
About an hour after breakfast, the platoon sergeant came over to my area. He asked if my platoon leader had arrived.
“Nope,” I said.
“Looks like you’re it, then.”
“Yep,” I said.
He said, “I’ll give you the op order when you’re ready.”
“Now is good,” I said.
The gist of the order was, an enemy force of unknown strength was in the vicinity of a set of coordinates. I was to take my platoon to the area, find and eliminate the enemy force. There was more information – situation, who was to my right and to my left, service and support – but then basics were, “The enemy is here; go kill him.”
I sat on a log with a map and notes and soon had my own op order. My three squad leaders came over and I gave the order – where we were going, the order we would move, the route and what to do when we found the enemy or he found us.
The easiest route to the objective led down two roads, but we were not going to take the roads. You increase the chance of being shot. My op order had the platoon of three APCs using the edge of the woods to make the movement. The location was easy to find, and we would be concealed the entire distance.
We moved out at a time that would allow us to make LD (line of departure) time as specified in the op order. As the lead track neared a barbed wire fence, an M151A1 (jeep) drove through the gate. My tracks stopped. Out of the jeep stepped my LT.
I dismounted my track and walked to the platoon leader. (We’ll call him Lt. Black, since that was his name.) He apologized for being late. I said, “Yes, Sir.” He asked what was going on. I took my map from a cargo pocket and explained everything.
“No,” the lieutenant said. “That’s not what I want to do.”
I wanted to say, “Sir, if you want a say-so on what to do, I suggest you get your ass where it’s supposed to be, when it’s supposed to be there.” But I didn’t say anything.
Lt. Black said he wanted all squad leaders at his location. When everybody was present, the LT changed the route from concealed in the trees to going down the roads. What that meant was, we would be approaching the objective parallel to it and exposing our entire right side. I didn’t say anything. I had tried before talking to Lt. Black about leadership and tactics and other things Infantry, but he was not interested. He was an SMU ROTC LT … That pretty much sums it up.
We took the LT’s route, we took fire from the right as we were exposed on the road, and we had to travel 100 meters or so before turning toward the enemy position. And then the LT stopped the tracks and dismounted the platoon 250 meters from the objective. My soldiers would have to run that distance, plus go into and come out of a depression with three-meter-high sides. Fortunately, the sides were not steep.
When everything was done – soldiers fired up their blank ammunition and whoever had smoke grenades tossed red and purple – the evaluating platoon sergeant and I were standing near a small tree.
I said, “Where is he?” The other platoon sergeant knew who I meant. “Where is he?” And then: “There he is.” I raised my rifle.
“You going to shoot him?”
“Yes.” I squeezed off three blank rounds.
The LT never knew.
Had it been real, I would have stopped it before it began. I would have said, “No, Sir. We’re not doing that.” Had it been real, he would have ordered me to do as he said. What would have happened after that … One lieutenant or 26 soldiers.
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