Another branch of our armed forces?
I just can’t imagine an Industrial Engineer who would look at the current structure of the Pentagon and the U.S. military and not conclude that we have an extraordinarily inefficient approach to defense.
Air, land and sea. Sounds good, right?
Except that we have 5 branches which overlap, compete with each other directly and indirectly, and don’t always communicate well.
Now, the Master Obfuscator and Distracter-in-Chief wants to start a 6th branch!
I can only conclude that The Donald is running wild trying to divert attention away from some of his self-created demons: Immigration; His war on Canada; His new love affair with Kim Jong Un; A ‘tax reform’ plan which will leave America bankrupt; The deterioration and ultimate disintegration of the American health care system; The ‘Russia thing’; Cyber security intrusions and risks across the entire U.S. public and private sector; Rapidly deteriorating physical infrastructure across the U.S.; Escalating gun violence, the NRA and 21st century gun control; Mueller and his ‘Russian Witch Hunt Hoax’; Stormy Daniels; and Dozens of other critical issues which need to be addressed in an honest, responsible and strategic fashion.
Donald J. Trump has the attention span of a gnat, the moral turpitude of a ‘made man’ and the integrity of a Carnival Barker. Despite that, he is our POTUS, and he continues to dash along his path toward fooling many of the people most of the time.
Guns Don’t Kill People. People Kill People.
March 26, 2018
How true, yet how trite.
People kill people, whether with their hands, a blunt object, a knife or a gun.
That said, a person armed with a .22 caliber bolt action rifle and a 10 round magazine is much less likely to engage in a mass shooting than, say, a person armed with an AR-15 rifle with a 30 round magazine.
The difference in circumference between the .22 cal and the .223 cal is negligible. The design differences are substantial.
The .22 is a rimfire cartridge, and its design goes back over 100 years. The .22 Long Rifle cartridge is the most commonly used ammunition in the world today.
The .223 is a centerfire cartridge, designed in the early 1960’s specifically for military purposes as ammunition for the M-16 rifle (the military version of the AR-15).
To the uninformed, there is not much difference between the .22 bolt action rifle commonly used for target shooting and hunting, and the .223 semi-automatic rifle which was designed for military use.
To the Rambo Wanna-Be who is planning his domestic massacre, the differences are extraordinary.
After all, how many civilians can you take out with a .22 LR equipped with a 10 round magazine, even if you are shooting copper-plated hollow point bullets? [We don’t have an answer to this question because there is no record of a shooting rampage involving .22 rifles.]
We know that the AR-15 rifle (and variants) have been the weapon of choice in the majority of firearm massacres in the U.S. over the past decade.
There have been more than 30 school shootings in the U.S. since the December 2012 execution of 20 elementary school students and 6 adults at Sandy Hook in Newtown, CT.
If we were to outlaw the production, sale or possession of AR-15 style weapons in the U.S. tomorrow, would we immediately change this paradigm? Immediately: No.
Over the longer term (say, 3, 5, 7 years)? Almost certainly.
The AR-15 (and similar weapons) have no place in a civil society, except perhaps for military and limited law enforcement use.
Please don’t stand by and wait for someone to go hunting with an AR-15 at the school which your children or grandchildren attend. Step up and demand common sense gun regulations. Now.
Mitt Romney & the Military
July 13, 2012
There seems to be an increasing interest in Gov. Romney around his expertise and general views on war and the military.
Preface my comments from one who has never served in the Armed Services and one who was adamantly opposed to the War in Vietnam:
As the Vietnam War raged in the 1960s, Mitt Romney received a deferment from the draft as a Mormon “minister of religion” for the duration of his missionary work in France, which lasted two and a half years.
Before and after his missionary deferment, Romney also received nearly three years of deferments for his academic studies. When his deferments ended and he became eligible for military service in 1970, he drew a high number in the annual lottery that determined which young men were drafted. His high number ensured he was not drafted into the military.
If Mitt Romney avoided service because he was against the Vietnam War, fine.
However, he says he wants a Hawkish foreign policy that will involve the lives of many young Americans. How about any of his 5 sons joining up for service? Not so far.
Mr. Romney has expressed appreciation for the country’s “volunteer army” and said “that’s the way we’re going to keep it. He explained his sons had made different career choices in life and had not chosen to serve in the military but he mentioned a niece whose husband he said had just been called up by the National Guard.
As many from my generation have pointed out: Mitt Romney is a Chicken Hawk and is not fit to be President. If elected, Mitt Romney would be a Coward in Chief President and he would cause irreparable damage to our country.