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Sarah Palin is the only woman who can make Tony Romo WIN a playoff.

calendar   Sunday - April 17, 2016

Turtler’s Game Corner: UFO Alien Invasion

After about half a month of preparing for moving, working on a few odd jobs, and getting school in order, I can finally come back and hack out a post on here. Well, thanks for holding down the fort Drew. Life has kind of been a bugger for me lately, though I should be thankful it is still better than many. Please keep your prayers and thoughts with Peiper and his wife.

I know there are dozens of things happening in the wider world for me to talk about, but right now it’s the start of a new week and I just want to catch my breath, kick back, and Relaaaax! So when I sat down I realized I wanted to make a post about something I enjoy doing in my off time, and which some of you might be able to enjoy doing as well. But which is still at least a little bit topical to the hell-in-a-handbasket way of the real world.

So without Further ado, allow me to present you with....

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EXPLOSIONS!!!!!


Ok, more specifically the explosions- and everything else- in a little thing called UFO: Alien Invasion. Some of you might have heard of it before, some of you might have played it before. But I figure that there are probably at least a few other videogamers out here who would enjoy it, and that in a time like this at least a few people who aren’t that would be able to appreciate it..

I figure the best way to introduce it would be to give a

It is the year 2084. You control a secret organisation charged with defending Earth from a brutal alien enemy. Build up your bases, prepare your team, and dive head-first into the fast and flowing turn-based combat.

UFO: Alien Invasion is a squad-based tactical strategy game in the tradition of the old X-COM PC games, but with a twist. Our game combines military realism with hard science-fiction and the weirdness of an alien invasion. The carefully constructed turn-based system gives you pin-point control of your squad while maintaining a sense of pace and danger.

Over the long term you will need to conduct research into the alien threat to figure out their mysterious goals and use their powerful weapons for your own ends. You will produce unique items and use them in combat against your enemies. If you like, you can even use them against your friends with our multiplayer functionality.

UFO: Alien Invasion. Endless hours of gameplay — absolutely free.


Yeah, you read that right… UFO: Alien Invasion is ABSOLUTELY FREE. It costs exactly NO MONIES. NADA. GOOSE EGG. You can (and I’d suggest should) download it from here: http://ufoai.org/wiki/Download

I’d probably have to rate this game as one of the real gems you can find online if you like strategy and tactics. It isn’t the newest thing in the batch and it doesn’t look like a modern Triple A title- though I do think it looks good in its’ old way, and the globe is breathtaking.

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(Yes, this is what it really looks like in gameplay.. and this still doesn’t really do it justice compared to how it Moves.).

But what really makes it sparkle is the sheer *Depth.* There is an awful lot of depth to the game, from being on the worldview map deciding where to place bases like you’re a command in chief pointing at a map, taking emails, and tracking allied and friendly aircraft. To being down on a base managing what it researches or builds, to probably the heart of the game: meeting the enemy on the ground, where your squad and theirs fights it out for the future of a world one turn at a time. All the while trying to keep your coalition above water and close the tech gap.

The storytelling is also pretty good. The backstory lore is… probably average to above average, with the world of 2083 being a rather peaceful, idyllic place where super-nations and federations live in relative peace and increasing prosperity and freedom, even for places like the Middle East. The actual backstory I’d say is hit and miss with a few liberal buzzwords thrown around but nothing that offensive (unless you figure working with the UN is offensive in and of itself.... and by the off chance you DON’T playing politics with your funding nations will swiftly change your mind). On the whole I’d probably say there are some things that come across as incredibly optimistic or off tone, but others that sound incredibly prescient (like what happened to the US because of reckless deficit spending and China’s totalitarian expansionism before it fell). But I’d probably say that it comes across mostly like they wanted to establish one big happy world to juxtapose it against the coming darkness.

But the actual story over the game is quite good and (from what I’ve been told and can figure out) relatively scientifically sound (or “hard") as far as Sci-Fi goes. Don’t expect the enemy to let you get complacent, because there will be a lot of twists and turns before the end, and it’s obviously where most of the lore attention and juicy technological red meat went into. And wisely so!

So, I’d highly suggest you give it a try, for something that *might* have you coming back a lot.

Now, I’ve tries to explain why I like this. But what makes it topical?

Well, this game- and ones like it- is probably one of the great anti-terrorist epics in recent game history.

Yeah, you heard me right. Because while the enemy are aliens and the game is set in a relatively utopian world (again, including the MENA, Africa, and Asia...), the means and messages are far more down to Earth than Angela Merkel is. You see, the enemy you face are terrorists in how they act and behave, they just happen to be aliens terrorizing the Human Race. You’re going to be facing an enemy that will spend much of its’ time dropping violent squads in cities, indiscriminately murdering whoever they can before trying to get out just as suddenly as they struck. Trying to identify and pre-empt these attacks and strike at the heart of those waging murderous war on you is the heart of the game. And it will not be an easy one, because this will be a rather long war and all the while you will have to keep a weak kneed public and their politicians from losing their cool and simply surrendering to the terror, and yourself from being wiped out by attrition against an enemy that seems to have no trouble replacing its’ cannonfodder.

Yeah, that’s not familiar at alllllll....

In a way, it’s a chance to spend some hours away in the kind of position that you might dream of. Or have nightmares of. The chance to lead a combined, international fight to understand and destroy an enemy that endangers everyone and seeks to shape the world in its’ image. To make the calls and avoid the mistakes that Merkel/Obummer/InsertNameHere has. But at the same time that means that you will have nobody to blame more for defeat than yourself.

So hope you guys enjoy. If things like this are popular enough, I might make these kinds of “Free Game Spotlights” a semi-regular feature. >/br>

I’ll probably will try and get more posts after a day or so. But until then, I’ll be killing some digital terrorists of the human and alien varieties.... 




Posted by Turtler   United States  on 04/17/2016 at 02:18 PM   
Filed Under: • Amazing Science and DiscoveriesFun-StuffInternationalMilitaryScience-TechnologySelf-DefenseTerroristsWar On TerrorWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Tuesday - November 24, 2015

russian plane shot down …. pilot dead and crew member a prisoner of syrian rebels

We’ll be hearing and seeing this for a few days I would imagine.

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Putin warns Turkey there will be ‘serious consequences’ for ‘stabbing Russia in the back’ by shooting down one of its jets… as video emerges of rebels chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ over the body of dead pilot

Turkish army has shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 war plane near its Syrian border, officials confirm
The Russian jet had violated Turkish air space and ignored ten warnings in five minutes, army says
Putin called Turkey’s decision to shoot down the plane a ‘stab in the back by the terrorists’ accomplices’
Russia claims the jet, which crashed in Syria’s Turkomen Mountains, had been in Syrian airspace when it was hit
In response, Turkish army released flight tracking data showing where the jet violated its airspace
One pilot dead, the other reportedly captured by Turkmen - ethnic Turks subjected to Russian airstrikes this week

By Sara Malm and Will Stewart In Moscow for MailOnline

Turkey’s military have today shot down a Russian war plane near its border with Syria after the jet violated Turkish air space.

The Russian Sukhoi Su-24 jet was shot down by Turkish F-16 fighter planes after ignoring nearly a dozen warnings, Turkish army officials said.

President Vladimir Putin called Turkey’s decision to down the plane a ‘stab in the back by the terrorists’ accomplices’, as his Defence Ministry still claims the jet was in Syrian airspace.

‘The loss we suffered today came from a stab in the back delivered by accomplices of the terrorists,’ President Putin said, speaking at a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Sochi, Russia, on Thursday afternoon.

Putin boldly claimed that Turkey has been buying oil from ISIS, funding the terrorist group, and accused Ankara of protecting the jihadists with the country’s military, Moscow-funded RT.com reports.

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Reports a bit sketchy but we will I am certain, be hearing and seeing more.  One of those Russian airmen is alive and a prisoner.
Stay tuned.

CONTINUES HERE at source


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 11/24/2015 at 08:58 AM   
Filed Under: • War-Stories •  
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calendar   Monday - February 09, 2015

Its Notta Nuke

Blame It On Smoking



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Massive Explosion In Ukraine; huge glowing mushroom cloud supposedly seen from space

Windows shattered, houses rocked miles away, blast heard for miles. Caught on video from many points. A tactical nuke? Missile strike? Giant artillery shell?

“Caused by a dropped cigarette” say Russian officials


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picture said to be taken by satellite of the explosion in Donetsk

The residents of the city of Donetsk have witnessed an explosion of tremendous magnitude that has come to form a mushroom cloud.AUC assume that this is an explosion at a factory or a ballistic missile.

The explosion occurred west of Donetsk around 22:50 local time (20:50 GMT) and caused a shock wave that swept the city. In many parts of Donetsk felt a shock and detonation destroyed windows. According to the data of social networks, the explosion was felt even in the neighboring cities of Makeyevka and Gorlovka.

The plant may have been targeted by a tactical Tochka-U missile (SS-21 Scarab) ” or a set of “Luna-M” The 9K52 Luna-M is a short-range artillery rocket system. 
...
As of 12:30 a.m. Monday, there was an on-going violent bombardment of Donetsk by cannon artillery and multiple rocket launchers.
...
As it turned out, the epicenter of the explosion was in the Kuibyshev region, near a Donetsk state chemical factory.  The roar and the glow from the blast was so strong that it could be heard and seen are tens of kilometers away by residents of the Textilschik neighborhood.


It takes about 20 seconds for the shock wave to arrive. Even at the speed of sound that’s more than 4 miles away. Explosive shock waves are supersonic.

The video, which was shot on a cell phone, shows what appears to be a mushroom cloud emerging from the nuke and the resulting shockwave.

The footage is consistent with a smaller tactical nuke designed for use on a battlefield in a military situation, as opposed to much larger strategic nukes used to level cities.

The video was filmed by a man inside his house, and the shockwave from the nuke broke the window he was filming out of.

[press release the next day] The gigantic blast that rocked Donetsk, Ukraine, apparently was at a chemical plant. Videos showing the gigantic explosion were being shared on social media websites and Internet forums, with some claiming it was small, “tactical nuke.”

“This was caused by a dropped cigarette butt,” the Ukraine army’s Anti-Terrorist Operation spokesman, Andrey Lysenko, said, according to Russian state broadcaster RT.com. “Accidents often happen in factories where no one is responsible for fire safety. Well, it’s chaos, and they are barbarians.”

According to RT, the chemical plant is being controlled by the rebel People’s Donetsk Army. The blast took place after 10 p.m. local time.

“The center of the blast was near DKZHI,” co-chairman of the anti-Kiev People’s Front Konstantin Dolgov said on Facebook page, via RT.

The plant is said to produce chemical materials for explosions, artillery bombs, and ammunition. The factory has been targeted before, as it was hammered with artillery rockets in November and September of last year.

While it probably wasn’t a tactical nuke, I have my doubts this was caused accidentally by a sloppy smoker. This looks like another mystery from the battle for Ukraine, another case of “Donetsk, don’t tell”.

http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/video-nuclear-weapon-reportedly-detonates-in-ukraine
http://www.redflagnews.com/headlines/did-a-tactical-nuke-just-go-off-in-ukraine-big-explosion-rocks-donetsk


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 02/09/2015 at 02:26 PM   
Filed Under: • War-Stories •  
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calendar   Sunday - December 14, 2014

must not raise voice in anger or shout at prisoners, soldiers told.

I just don’t have the patience for a long rant tonight. Or even a short one.

That the world has apparently come under the control of the pol. correct left there isn’t a doubt in my mind.  Things get crazier and crazier.
And people are so intimidated by a simple threat of being called ‘racist’ that the authorities go to extremes to prove how fair minded and diverse they are.

Here ... allow me to give you an example.  I give you my word, I am not making this up.
A woman spent an hour in court giving evidence. A whole hour.  Nobody said a word cos nobody wanted to offend or be thought a raaaaacist.
Nobody understood a word she said cos .... she couldn’t speak English and was speaking a form of Creole.  But after an hour someone recognized the language and things came to a tired end. 

Recently …. soldiers were told not to wear the uniform in public as there was evidence that attacks were being planned here.

Last week the police were told not to wear uniforms off duty or from home to work, but to change cloths once they arrived at the station.

Now comes word that “cadets” are asked to not wear their uniforms unless in a group but not on their own.
And that isn’t all.  These are children school cadets and the word has gone out to make searches of training areas and accommodations before setting up camp sites.

There is to be no wearing of uniforms when traveling to and from cadet activities.

The CIA apparently have been very bad boys (naughty-naughty) but even worse, gasp, it is reported that Brit Intel knew torture was used, in many cases while the Brits did not themselves ask questions of some detainees, they passed on questions to be asked by the Americans and so therefore, the (once upon a time United Kingdom) is just as guilty as the evil American outta control CIA.

Even that isn’t all.
It’s reported in the media that Brit agents or soldiers carried out torture as well and an investigation is, as I write this, being demanded of Brit actions.

Certain people are now coming out of the wood work claiming they’d been tortured, civil rights lawyers are collecting evidence, one man says (might be true btw) that after he escaped from Gadaffi ‘s regime and came to the UK, the Brits returned him and he spent yrs in prison being tortured. 
So that’s all a bit of background.  But why quit here?

This is in the papers today, I thought you might be interested.

It’s in our Daily Mail and all can be found at the Mail on line.


Our faith condones raping underage slaves: ISIS publishes shocking guidebook telling fighters how to buy, sell and abuse captured women

The Arabic manual, titled Questions And Answers On Taking Captives And Slaves, instructs IS fighters on how to buy and sell women and girls who have been captured in war as booty.

The document, published by the Research and Fatwa Department of IS, gives its fighters the green light to turn captured women into slaves and concubines, and even give them as gifts to one another.

The document has been obtained by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute and translated into English.
British terrorism experts, who have studied the document, have concluded it is genuine.

They have condemned the manual – which answers questions dealing with sex with slave girls, their status as the master’s property, and how to beat them – as ‘disgusting’, saying it harks ‘back to the Dark Ages’.

In the guide, one question asks: ‘Is it permissible to have intercourse with a female slave who has not reached puberty?’

The response is: ‘It is permissible to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn’t reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse.’

Another asks: ‘Is it permissible to sell a female captive?’ The response is: ‘It is permissible to buy, sell, or give as a gift female captives and slaves, for they are merely property, which can be disposed of.’

The document says that all ‘unbelieving’ women, including Jews and Christians, can be taken as captives and sold as slaves. However, it prohibits the enslavement of Muslim women, even if they have become apostates.

Here’s more but shorter.

‘I was waterboarded by UK Special Forces’: Pakistani captive details horrific abuse by British troops before being handed to US interrogators
Yunus Rahmatullah, released in May after ten years in captivity, says his British captors beat him, dragged him along the ground behind a vehicle and threw him in a pen containing dogs

And from a very right wing Peter Hitchens comes this headline.

PETER HITCHENS: Corrupted and defeated by our own shameful cruelty
The truth remains that it is more likely that an eagle will drop a tortoise on your head from the sky than that you will be affected by terrorism in your entire life.

I’ll just add this one but I could go on for pages of people confessing as if it were the inquisition. 

I saw British agents at secret torture sites, says boss of CIA’s brutal interrogation programme
Admission by Dr James Mitchell comes after an explosive report by the Senate Intelligence Committee appeared to go to great lengths not to implicate MI5 or the Secret Intelligence Service.

I’m almost at the end , I just want you to know these few are just that. A few example of maybe hundreds.
And all of this has led to something I want you to see.

Here bmews readers, is the result of all the mea culpas.


British troops are banned from shouting at insurgent terror suspects in soft-touch new rules for interrogation

Military chiefs have warned that troops are ‘no longer able’ to carry out tactical questioning, placing the lives of soldiers at serious risk. They have been banned from banging their fists and using ‘insults’.

The new rule of the day .... kiss, kiss


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 12/14/2014 at 11:47 AM   
Filed Under: • CULTURE IN DECLINEDemocrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsmuslimsWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Sunday - July 06, 2014

NOT A VERY BRAVE NEW WORLD

Some Brits not well pleased as s*** hits the fan in some emails and outspoken officers.

Don’t think you’ll see things like this in USA papers.  (?)
Or maybe you already have.
Whatever .... seems a hell of a way to wage a war but then, I’m no strategist.

I’ve posted this under Guns and Gun Control, cos that sadly seems to be the way this modern war is being fought, what with good Brit troops being subject to stupid politically correct, feel nice about ourselves rules of engagement dictated by bleeding hearts far from the dirt and the sand and the blood.

Edited version of article from Daily Mail

The bloody betrayal: Intelligence emails reveal Taliban have taken back Afghan strongholds that 150 of our boys died for

For many years military experts have warned of a nightmare scenario of the Taliban returning to prominence in Helmand and across the whole of the country.
Now it appears that these fears are being realised.

But while almost all the 4,500 British troops still in Afghanistan are either confined to base or training Afghan troops, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) is continuing to take the fight to the Taliban, with the Marines suffering eight fatalities and more wounded in a series of clashes with the enemy in Helmand Province.

In his emails sent last week the British officer was disgusted by the different approaches of the UK and the US to the return of the Taliban.

‘The USMC is getting stuck in

while we [the British] are packing up and marking Armed Forces Day at Bastion with a (VIP) ministerial visit and a rugby team,’ he wrote, referring to members of Premiership team Saracens being flown in to boost the morale of troops.

He added: ‘The Ministry of Defence keeps ramming home the message that the mission has been a great success, that the enemy is completely on the back foot and that Helmand is in a much better state than when we arrived in 2006.

‘But I don’t think we can consider what we’ve done as anything other than failure, and we’ll be judged accordingly. This is not something to be proud about.
‘It is Ramadan now so everyone [the Afghans] is hungry and p***** off. Afterwards the smart money is on the Afghan soldiers going AWOL and returning to the north of the country where most of them are from, especially if they are not paid. Because they are not from Helmand the locals see them as foreigners, just as they do us.’

The Taliban also achieved a morale-boosting feat when their gunmen attacked an SAS helicopter carrying UK Special Forces troops near Lashkar Gah.
This incident took place four months ago but has not been reported until now. It is referred to in the officer’s emails.
No SAS soldiers are believed to have been wounded, but the £40 million Chinook helicopter was badly damaged.
The officer wrote: ‘The SAS helicopter was brought down three miles from Lashkar Gah by heavy small-arms fire. The recovery operation was a complete cock-up. The RAF did not have a helicopter powerful enough to lift the wreckage
,

so the Americans were called in. They used a Sea Stallion helicopter to recover the Chinook.


In May 2006, hundreds of Col Tootal’s Paras, assisted by Gurkhas and soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment, took on the Taliban in these isolated but strategically significant districts.

For several bloody months the besieged and outnumbered troops fought rearguard actions and the Paras’ stubborn defence of their ‘platoon houses’ entered British military folklore.

These districts were defended with equal courage by other British regiments and Royal Marines but by the time the last soldier marched out of Sangin, around 100 UK personnel had lost their lives there, many of them shot by snipers or blown up by deadly improvised explosive devices.

From 2010, British troops continued fighting but focused more of their resources on training the Afghans to take the lead against the Taliban.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said last night: ‘Afghan security forces have been responsible for security across Afghanistan since last summer and have proved themselves capable on many occasions.

‘We are aware of reports of heavy fighting in northern Helmand, but it would be wrong to comment further on a fluid situation.

‘In the same way as our coalition partners, UK personnel continue to conduct force protection missions in support of the ANSF while working towards the end of combat operations later this year.’

CONTINUE READING

‘I LOST MY SON… BUT FOR WHAT?’ SAYS SOLDIER’S MOTHER
Private James Prosser, 21, from Cwmbran, South Wales, died in an explosion in Musa Qala in September 2009.
His mother Sarah Adams said: ‘It was all for nothing.
‘The Taliban said they would come back and they have done – they were just waiting for us to leave.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 07/06/2014 at 09:40 AM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun ControlWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Saturday - May 10, 2014

thumbs up over dead enemy given a thumbs down by the pc willfully blind

Nobody should wonder why I get so insanely angry, so frustrated, so …??
I can’t even find the extra words I know are lurking somewhere in my head, confronted as I am with morning papers. 
Now you can ask with reason, why not avoid them?
Because, if I must answer, some things are smack in front of me right there on the front page.  And once I see the headline, which should give me a hint of what lays ahead, I just have to read the rest.  And it’s all downhill from there.
Here’s a damn good example, and it’s only one of so many I lose count.
It has to do with the Brit military and ass-wipe pol.correct loons in charge.

An aside first.
I have not worked it out and it’s only a thought that comes to mind.

Nobody should qualify for the position of president or prime minister who has never served in the military, and I don’t mean as KP.  If they’ve ever seen combat up close and personal, better yet.  And that is still no guarantee they’ll be any better at the job.

OK, so here what bothered me today and made me boot this thing.

The Ministry of Defense is all hot and apparently bothered because some soldiers/airmen gave a thumbs up beside a dead taliban terrorist.

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MoD investigates pictures claiming to show a British serviceman posing with dead Taliban fighters

Gruesome photographs appearing to show a British serviceman in a celebratory pose next to a dead Afghan have prompted an investigation by the Ministry of Defence.
By Jonathan Owen

In one photograph, a British soldier with a cigarette in his mouth is kneeling by the body of a dead Taliban fighter and giving the thumbs up. Another shows a British soldier smiling, cradling his rifle in one arm while giving the thumbs up to the camera as he kneels next to the head of a dead Taliban fighter laid out on the ground.

The graphic pictures were taken in the aftermath of a Taliban attack on Camp Bastion, the main British base in Afghanistan, in 2012. The MoD confirmed that they had been brought to the attention of defence officials last month and that military police are investigating.

Two US marines were killed in the September 2012 attack by 15 Taliban fighters. 16 British and American soldiers were wounded and six US Harrier jets destroyed in the night-time attack - the biggest loss of US aircraft in a single day since the Vietnam War.

Now this is an example of what pisses me off so much.
Let nobody doubt the courage, toughness or derring do or ability of the Brit combat soldier or airman.  And that I might add, includes a number of young women, some of whom have died been killed in that god forsaken, pestilence ridden black hole, home of men who don’t hesitate to throw burning acid in a girl’s face for the high crime of going to school and learning to read and write.  Men who set fire to schools where girls are in attendance. A culture among these heroes who believe killing medical teams inoculating kids against Polio is ‘A’ OK. 
I can understand all that in a way. Oh sure.  Once these damsels learn to read a book beside the Koran, they might start demanding rights.  And ya can not have that kind of thing going on. Who knows where or how it might spread.  My god in heaven, they might even demand to vote.  No. Far better to keep them happy in ignorance and pregnant as well.  Oh, and fully covered of course.  Give the female a bit of education and leeway and soon you lose control of them.  They start to think for themselves. 

ok so back to this other bit of politically correct madness. Read this.

An RAF spokesman said it had a “zero-tolerance policy on the mistreatment of deceased enemy personnel” and this case was being treated “extremely seriously”.

They added: “We can confirm that the incident is currently subject to an ongoing RAF Police investigation and therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.” Two RAF Regiment members have already been withdrawn from front line duties, according to the BBC report.

News of the disturbing images emerged after the BBC ran some of the pictures on its website. They had been taken from liveleak.com, where they were posted last month.

The scandal is the latest in a series of controversial incidents involving coalition forces posing with the bodies of dead Afghan fighters. Pictures of US soldiers posing with the remains of dead suicide bombers emerged in 2012. The conduct of the soldiers was branded “reprehensible” by US President Barack Obama, and condemned by Afghan President Hamid Karzai as “disgusting.”

And the previous year, US soldiers were filmed urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters in Helmand – actions which President Karzai condemned as “inhuman”.

Tells us something about Karzai if he believes the life forms we call taliban are ‘human’ to begin with. They are most certainly NOT human except in form, and as we already know, looks can be deceiving.
But the MOD in full pc mode want to “investigate” their own.

source


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 05/10/2014 at 05:27 AM   
Filed Under: • TerroristsWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Friday - March 28, 2014

remembering, and mine will be the last generation to do so, personally.

Had it not been for Vilmar a year or so ago, I’d have never found what I am posting here. Should have done it sooner but things get lost among many other things and re-found later. I was clearing out files and dupes etc. when I came across this gem again. Actually, I was researching my late uncle’s plane (and the FLACK ALLEY was one of them) and his WW2 flying record. I discovered so many things about the man who I was always close to and in adulthood worked with, and was never bright enuff or curious enough to ask questions. I knew he was decorated, had the Purple Heart, DFC with clusters etc. As a kid, I actually went aboard that bomber before it left Texas for the flight to Europe. So it’s depressing that I never asked questions. Well, thanks to ppl like Vilmar and the net, I discovered that my uncle volunteered to keep flying beyond the required missions. I found every plane he was on too. And I found this diary (or maybe log entry?) below. It was not written by my uncle but that doesn’t matter. His plane too crash landed in a field in England shot up after his last volunteer mission. I know it’s a long read but think it’s worth your time.  They were mostly all so young.  I think my uncle was in his very early 20’s in the photo below.

Flak Alley” Terror

By Eino V. Alve (453rd)

August 25 – Belgium: This was one of our most dangerous missions. We were just entering the Zuider Zee or, as it was called “Flak Alley”. It was a narrow corridor with anti-aircraft guns on each side. We knew that if we were able to fly directly down the center of this alley, the flak would not be able to reach us. Suddenly a burst of flak exploded under our plane. The number four engine failed immediately. The bomb doors were partly torn loose and began to flap wildly. A fuel line was severed and the bomb bay was filled with gasoline and vapors. A fragment of the shell had hit the only vulnerable part of the system, and fuel began to drain from one of the tanks. We could explode any minute.

The cockpit was clear of gas, but vapors were all I could see in the bomb bay. Due to the loss of No. 4 engine, we could not keep up with the rest of the formation. Bob Jordan and Bill Heerts realized that the flapping of the bomb doors could cause a spark and that would be the end of all of us. Bob then proceeded to remove his chute to enable him to reach out to kick the remaining doors loose. To do this, Heerts held Bob’s parachute harness while Bob literally hung out in empty space to kick the doors free of the plane. Together, these two men actually saved the lives of the entire crew.

During this same time, a shell exploded directly in front of us. I could see the fiery center. During our training, I remember being told that the next explosion in a case like this would be in the same area, but exactly on the target. “Count to ten and then change direction” – thousand one, thousand two, etc. Immediately upon turning, another explosion occurred where we would have been if we had not turned. This one German gunner had us “bracketed”; that is, he knew our exact air speed and altitude. To confuse him, the next time I would change altitude after flying for another ten seconds. It worked again! Now another gunner began firing and we were surrounded by flak. The No. 3 engine was hit and had to be “feathered” (stopped). With two engines out on the same side, the plane began to turn or “yaw” to the right. With the help of Horton and his long, strong legs we were able to hold the rudders long enough to engage the autopilot, which kept the plane on course.

At this point, I must admit, fear got the best of me. Emergencies were occurring faster than I could cope with and figure out what to do next. Co-pilot Horton had kept his “cool” and pointed to the airspeed. In changing altitude I had ignored it and we were about to go into a flat spin. In a B-24 a flat spin is almost uncontrollable and makes a “bail out” impossible. This realization shocked me enough to get me “back on tract” and do what I was trained to do – save the crew and the equipment.

Horton now left his position and went to the bomb bay area to supervise and do whatever he could to help. The crew was already doing what had to be done; lighten the aircraft by unloading anything that was loose, radios, flak suits, ammunition, etc. They knew that with all the fuel we were losing, a lighter craft would go further on less fuel. Bombardier Moore and Navigator Marx were concerned with the bombs which were still on board. They spotted a heavily wooded area over which we were passing and “salvoed”, or dropped together, the entire bomb load. Because we were over Belgium and friendly territory, it was important not to cause any damage to life or property with our bombs if at all possible.

To increase our chances of survival, all electrical equipment, which might cause a spark and ignite an explosion, was turned off. The damaged gas line couldn’t be repaired, nor could the gas be transferred, since the pump motor could cause a spark. We had done everything we could think of to help us survive the long, lonely trip back to England. The rest of our group was now out of sight.

Flying alone, we became sitting ducks for German fighter planes. This crippled B-24 was an easy target. A fighter plane did pick us up, but thank God it was American not German. He was flying a P-47 and came within eyeball range. He called over the radio “Hello big friend, this is your little friend. How much fuel do you have?” Just then a flak battery had our range and began firing again – hoping to finish us off.

Our “Little Friend” dove earthward, heading directly toward our enemy. His courage and skill put a stop to the German firing. We were saved. At this point, we could have headed for Sweden and internment for the rest of the war. However, with the P-47 at our side as an escort, I was determined to get our old B-24 safely back to Old Buck.

The aircraft had stabilized by now but it was losing altitude steadily, due to the loss of No. 3 and No. 4 engines. However, once we reached 10,000 feet, it leveled off and maintained altitude. We were now confident that “big friend” would get us back to Old Buck even though the two right engines were inoperative. In the distance I could see a sight that never looked better to these weary eyes – the White Cliffs of Dover – We were Home!

We landed without any problems, but our faithful B-24 was full of holes. It had no brakes or flaps and was damaged beyond repair. She never flew again, and was only used for parts.

We were an hour and a half-returning and discovered that many thought we had been downed. And they would have been right, had it not been for the help of our “Little Friend”. I regret that I never got the name of that pilot who escorted us to safe territory. It seems we had another bit of luck going for us that day. I learned that the crew chief of our plane put in an extra amount of gas for this flight. I don’t know what made him do it, but without his prescience, we wouldn’t have made it back to England. Later, we found out that the official records listed one B-24 bomber missing from our Group – we had fooled them!

-30-

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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 03/28/2014 at 01:41 PM   
Filed Under: • War-Stories •  
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calendar   Wednesday - January 22, 2014

the net has so much to teach and inform. and yet … there are so many trolls.

Of some possible historical interest.

Look at these poor long gone tommies. Can’t even imagine what that must have been like.  And Passchendaele was, like everywhere else in that war, a bloodbath. On both sides.
I don’t guess any war is a joy to behold.  What I mean is, it ain’t like the movies.
But there’s something especially sad about this one. 

I knew but had not read much, about the men, on all sides, who refused to go on moral grounds.  I was aware of a famous American actor who refused to kill anyone but volunteered as an ambulance driver. I knew women were handing out white feathers (it was feathers wasn’t it?) to young men at home who were not in uniform. 
But that was pretty much it. 


World War One documents reveal stories of those who pleaded not to fight

Newly published documents from First World War reveal the stories of thousands of men who pleaded for an exemption from fighting.

By Jasper Copping

Newly published documents from the First World War reveal a previously overlooked side of the conflict - the stories of thousands of men who pleaded not to go and fight.

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British stretcher bearers in Passchendaele in 1917

The records, which have been placed online by the National Archives, are from hearings held during the war to rule on whether those who had applied for exemptions from military service should be allowed not to serve.

They show a variety of reasons cited for resisting conscription, including medical, family and economic grounds.
Only 577 of the 11,307 cases in the files (around five per cent) related to conscientious objectors - those who refused to fight on moral grounds.
The majority of appeals were dismissed and many people did go on to fight. However, in some cases exemptions were granted.

The files provide an insight into the impact of the First World War on families, businesses and communities far from the battlefields, and also lay bare the social tensions caused by the conflict, and the resistance of some men to serve.

The hearings were considered so sensitive that after the war, most files were destroyed.

In one case disclosed in the archives, the tribunal deciding on the case of Charles Rubens Busby, a butcher, was sent an letter signed only “a father and householder S H M” questioning why he had allowed to keep his shop open and remain at home while “married men have had to shut up their shop and go”.

The letter writer, a 68-year-old, said he had lost two sons in the fighting while Busby, 40, had made “heaps of money” and had deliberately joined a voluntary organisation to avoid being called up.

The butcher, who was described as “a proper rotter of a man” and a “rotten shirker”, was accused of “bragging” about how he would not be called to fight, even taking bets on the matter.

Busby, a father of three daughters, apparently lost his case and went to serve in the Royal Navy, for which he seems to have served ashore, and the Royal Air Force. He survived the war and was discharged in 1919. He died in 1955.

LOTS MORE TO READ HERE

These make for very interesting reading. For me, because I had never seen or read this sort of stuff that relates to that war. Check these links at the at the main story.

Related Articles:

The stories of those who didn’t want to go to war 22 Jan 2014

World War One diaries go online 14 Jan 2014

Harry Ward

Describing himself as a foreign correspondent and bookkeeping clerk, he resisted serving on conscientious grounds on the basis of his socialist beliefs.

He lost his initial hearing after the chairman said that as a socialist he could not possibly have a conscience.

The manner of this dismissal was raised in parliament by an MP and Ward, 20, from Ponders End, appealed. He lost this hearing too, but later appealed to the central tribunal.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 01/22/2014 at 11:03 AM   
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calendar   Saturday - November 09, 2013

Brit military turns on its own hard pressed heros, calls deletion of enemy murder. Fools!

Damn pc fluffy assed behind a desk hand wringers in military turn on one of their own.

I just haven’t the words.  The Marine (Brit) kills a wounded taliban cockroach, accused of murder and gets life.
Oh, that’ll impress the terrorists ok and turn em all into .... nothing.  They’re probably laughing at the stupidity of the authorities here.

There are two stories here but only one link.

There really is nothing to see at the video the Mail refers to as, “chilling”.  It’s all audio and most not clear so waste of 6 minutes. There are loads of photos though.

When will soldiers learn NOT to have recording devices turned on when doing these necessary things?
Were they going to post it on YT? 

‘We won’t condemn the killer Marine’: Ex-Commando chief’s vow as the first soldier since WW2 is convicted of murder in battle

· Unnamed Marine faces life in jail for shooting dead injured Taliban prisoner

· The 39-year-old blasted him in the chest at close range with 9mm pistol

· Serving soldiers stunned, saying commando has been ‘hung out to dry’

By Ian Drury and David Williams

British troops were stunned last night after a Royal Marine sergeant was found guilty of murder.
As the nation prepared to remember the sacrifices of the Armed Forces on Remembrance Sunday, the commando was convicted of executing a severely wounded Taliban prisoner in Afghanistan.

He is the first serviceman since the Second World War to be found guilty of murder on active service abroad.
Last night a former commander of the elite force insisted he would not condemn the convicted man, an experienced veteran of Iraq and previous Afghan tours.

The 39-year-old will be sentenced to life in prison for shooting the injured insurgent in the chest at close range with a 9mm pistol in a remote cornfield in Helmand Province, then taunting him: ‘Shuffle off this mortal coil, you cunt.  It’s nothing you wouldn’t do to us.’

Extensive inquiries carried out in the area of the murder with the help of former UK and US military translators have uncovered evidence that the victim could have been Abdullah Jan Agha, a 23-year-old Taliban commander.

The momentous verdict sent shockwaves through the Armed Forces, with troops saying the man, who can be identified only as Marine A, had been ‘hung out to dry’.

A total of 446 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan – many of them Marines – the vast majority after being blown up by Taliban bombs or shot dead in insurgent ambushes.

· The convicted sergeant – who may never be named because of fears for his family – had completed six tours of Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.

· Video of the murder justified action taken by a Marine has been blocked from release in case it is used for propaganda by jihadi websites.

· The murder action took place near the end of a ‘tour from hell’ where body parts of British soldiers were hung from trees by insurgents.

Campaigners criticised the military authorities for prosecuting Marine A, who served with 42 Commando on a stressful summer tour of duty in 2011.

MORE MARINE

‘Taliban hung our mates’ body parts from trees during six months of hell’: Horrific testimony of Marines fighting in ‘Death Valley’

· Marines tried for murder of Taliban insurgent describe their ‘tour from hell’
· One tells court martial that around 20 friends were killed or maimed there

By David Williams and Ian Drury

In a bleak corner of Helmand, only twisted, rusting barbed wire, rubble and broken blocks of concrete remain of what were once the British checkpoints of Kamiabi and Omar.

Yet two years ago they were considered vital to British operations and security in the region – a buffer against the Taliban, and during the summer of 2011, home to the Marines of 42 Commando.

They provided basic protection in a Taliban stronghold area known as ‘Death Valley’ and through the long hot months of the 2011 ‘fighting season’, clashes were so intense it was compared to the Zulu wars.
At its worst, it was a daily lottery for survival.

At one point during the six-month ‘tour to hell’, the body parts of British troops blown up by improvised explosive devices were hung in trees as trophies by Taliban fighters to taunt the Marines as they patrolled.

Some Marines have said they were also so concerned about running out of ammunition that they collected Taliban weapons and ammunition.

Indeed in the words of Marine C – one of the three man tried for the Afghan’s murder demise : ‘It is a s*** place out there, it’s not nice. It’s just a dirty, s***** war.’

Marine C told the court martial that around 20 friends had been killed or maimed during the six-month tour, including a popular young officer and a Marine who had previously won a Military Cross for courage under fire. He was blown up while searching a mud-walled compound.

Marine A, a hardened veteran of previous Afghan tours as well as Iraq, said other comrades had suffered ‘life changing’ injuries in the blast and described the effect the deaths had on the commandos.

He said they were not always able to recover the body parts of dead or maimed comrades. ‘It had quite a harsh affect. It’s not a nice thing for the lads.

‘Close friends they have lived with have been killed and parts of their bodies are displayed as a kind of trophy for the world to see.’

Marine B said he had been under attack ‘every single day’ and there had been ten casualties in one 24-hour period.

‘My friend’s legs had been put in a tree, I picked up my mate’s brains. I have no good memories of that tour. My way of coping with that was to put it away in a box at the back of my head.’

(on line at The Daily Mail with pix)


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 11/09/2013 at 07:18 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Sunday - October 20, 2013

Justice For Captain Corelli

A month or so ago I did a little post on my favorite Nick Cage movie, the artsy and pretty to look at WWII romance flick Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. It’s a sweet story, loosely framed by actual historic events of the ugliest kind. Cage’s Captain Morelli is an Italian artillery officer stationed on the Greek island of Cephellonia, and rather glad to be in that forgotten backwater of the war. Life is a daily party for him and his men until Italy surrenders, and the Nazis show up, and it all goes to hell. The Italian soldiers were rounded up and executed, by the thousands. In the film Morellis survives, but in the real world very few did. It was “just another” atrocity in a war filled with countless atrocities of inhuman scale.

Now, 70 years later, someone has finally been convicted of this war crime. Sort of convicted. Because the courts don’t actual habeus the corpus. It’s a nice gesture, but I’m not sure it’s really anything more than that.

Italian military court convicts ex-Nazi for 1943 massacre of 120 officers in Greece

Rome’s military tribunal has convicted a 90-year-old ex-Nazi living in Germany for his role in the execution of 120 Italian officers on the Greek island of Kefalonia.

Prosecutor Marco De Paolis said Alfred Stork was sentenced in absentia Friday to life in prison for his role in the executions of the officers, including division commander Gen. Antonio Gardin.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 Italian soldiers were killed in the week-long massacre in September 1943. Italian troops that had been occupying Greece with German allies found themselves in enemy territory when Italy signed an armistice with the Allies following the fall of fascist leader Benito Mussolini.

It was the first conviction in Italy for the Kefalonia massacres. Previous attempts were closed due to the death of defendants or lack of evidence.

Stork, who had confessed to playing a key role in the brutal execution to German prosecutors in 2005, was not in court.

“He didn’t have the fortitude to stick to his admission of guilt and preferred to stay in the comfort of his German home,” military prosecutor Marco De Paolis told the court.

Stork currently lives in Kippenheim, southwestern Germany.

On 8 September 1943 Italy, which had entered World War II under the leadership of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini as an ally to Nazi Germany, switched sides after surrendering to the US and its allies.

The armistice sparked chaotic scenes, as Italians troops fighting across Europe alongside Nazis had now to fight against them.

More than 500,000 Italian soldiers were taken prisoner and at least 5,000 shot dead in the following weeks.

Italian troops in Cephalonia, a small island in the Ionian Sea, surrendered to the Germans after a week of fighting.

“We were told to kill them because they had been designated as traitors,” Stork reportedly told German detectives.

It remains to be seen whether any extradition will occur. I would think this would be automatic, what with the EU being “one big nation” and all that, but we’ll see; his side wasn’t represented at the Italian trial so it’s all politics at this point. And while this Stork fellow may have been one of the triggermen, being 90 now implies that he was no more than 20 at the time, which makes me think he was too young to be one of the people in charge. “Just following orders” is no excuse, but obviously the big cheeses here either escaped justice or didn’t survive the war or post-war long enough to be brought to justice. Which is another kind of atrocity, and again a rather common one for this conflict. Sad.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 10/20/2013 at 11:21 AM   
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calendar   Monday - September 09, 2013

rebels including al-Qaeda-linked fighters have gained control of a Christian village .

Playing catch up ....  too much mail unattended for days.

Govt. troops ousted finally ousted rebels here. For how long I wonder.

Caught this item ... doesn’t surprise us. 

David Cameron, the Brit PM has been urging Obama to act against Assad and bomb Syria. The French are eager to follow.
They will certainly be in bed with strange bedfellows if they decide to oust President Assad. And even though Obama says that is not the plan, who believes that?

This comment in the Daily Mail sums it all up pretty well.

This is news? It’s been going on for thousands of years in this part of the world. The names change, the boundaries change , the allegiances changed. The song remains the same. We can only do so much. But sacrificing our precious youth, sacrificing the hard earned pay of people struggling to make ends meet, is too high a price. Try telling the parents with a body bag in front of them that we’re all in it together.

- Tom , Swansea,

Syrian village is ‘liberated’ by rebels… who then forced Christians to convert to Islam

Syrian rebels including al-Qaeda-linked fighters have gained control of a Christian village north-east of the capital Damascus
Government media has provided a different account suggesting regime forces are winning
The battle is taking place in Maaloula, a scenic mountain village where people still speak the ancient Middle Eastern language of Aramaic

By Mail Foreign Service

Terrified Christians claim Syrian rebels ordered them to convert to Islam on pain of death when they ‘liberated’ their ancient village.

Opposition forces, including fighters linked to Al Qaeda, gained temporary control of the Christian village of Maaloula after fighting with regime forces.

The reports have reignited fears about western support for the rebel groups, which are increasingly being infiltrated by Islamic extremists.

SOURCE FOR MORE AND PHOTOS


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 09/09/2013 at 05:46 AM   
Filed Under: • muslimsWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Monday - July 29, 2013

No More Gay Penalty

Only 60 years after he was driven to suicide ...

Alan Turing, credited with ending WWII, to be given posthumous pardon

The “Father of Computer Science” — who played a key role in defeating the Nazis during World War II — is set to be posthumously pardoned of his gross indecency conviction, according to a new report.

WWII hero Alan Turing is widely credited with hastening the falls of the Nazis because he cracked the German Enigma, which allowed U-boats to securely communicate in the North Atlantic.

Turing, who was gay, was later convicted under anti-homosexuality legislation and sentenced to chemical castration.

In 1954, Turing, 41, was found dead of cyanide poisoning — a half-eaten apple sitting on his bedside table.

The government signalled on Friday that it is prepared to support a backbench bill that would pardon Turing, who died from cyanide poisoning at the age of 41 in 1954 after he was subjected to “chemical castration”.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, a government whip, told peers that the government would table the third reading of the Alan Turing (statutory pardon) bill at the end of October if no amendments are made. “If nobody tables an amendment to this bill, its supporters can be assured that it will have speedy passage to the House of Commons,” Ahmad said.

The announcement marks a change of heart by the government, which declined last year to grant pardons to the 49,000 gay men, now dead, who were convicted under the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act. They include Oscar Wilde.

Turing broke German ciphers using the bombe method, which allowed the code-breakers to crack the German Enigma code. His colleague Tommy Flowers built the Colossus computer. [Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, a government whip] Ahmad described Turing as “one of the fathers, if not the father, of computer science”.

[ Liberal Democrat peer Lord ]Sharkey has campaigned for a pardon after being taught mathematics at Manchester University in the 1960s by Robin Gandy, Turing’s only doctoral student, who became a close friend and was the executor of his will.

Sharkey said: “As I think everybody knows, he was convicted in 1952 of gross indecency and sentenced to chemical castration. He committed suicide two years later. The government know that Turing was a hero and a very great man. They acknowledge that he was cruelly treated. They must have seen the esteem in which he is held here and around the world.”

[long retired Bletchley Park aide] Lady Trumpington told peers: “The block I worked in was devoted to German naval codes. Only once was I asked to deliver a paper to Alan Turing, so … I cannot claim that I knew him. However, I am certain that but for his work we would have lost the war through starvation.”

If I recall my ancient computer history properly, Turing was also adept at riding a unicycle and playing the accordion. No word yet on whether the UK has finally decriminalized those activities as well.

And headlines being what they are, obviously Turing didn’t end the war all by himself. But he did break the code, and that was invaluable in ending the Blitz ... although it was Churchill’s decision to let Coventry be bombed.

link to the Alan Turing story

Minor Update: a somewhat contrary view from Max Hastings: these were the laws of the time, so by what right does today’s UK go about pardoning or apologizing for past wrongs? Or, as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton might put it, “At this point, what difference does it make?” Not that she, or her husband for that matter, are any strangers themselves to meaningless apologies.

Well, I suppose the point is that it’s never too late to try and do the right thing. Granted, 60 years after the guy is dead is rather pushing the envelope.

The secondary argument, “what about the other 49,000 homosexuals also convicted?” may be moot; the way I read the Guardian article it seems as if all of them could be cleared of their long-ago offenses.

And when you come right down to it, the Allies were only too happy to forgive a bunch of Nazis and take them on board. Almost all of the early brains in NASA had earlier worked for Adolf (eg SS Major Werner von Braun). Revisionism can downplay their involvement, but come on. They didn’t NOT know. So what’s a little power bottom action compared to that? What they ought to be apologizing for is not standing up for their man, who saved the lives of millions by shortening the war by a year or more. But not one of them did; not a single string was pulled for Turing. That’s abhorrent. Things should have been swept under the rug as they were done for so many others with far more “dirt” in their dustpans.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 07/29/2013 at 12:32 PM   
Filed Under: • Computers and CyberspaceHistoryWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Sunday - June 23, 2013

how to lose a war one death at a time

Betcha there are a few old timers left who would love to refight WW2 under today’s rules.

How not to win a war 101. 

My hero son who won Victoria Cross died because of Army ban on weapons that damage Taliban mud huts

· Lance Corporal James Ashworth, 23, is said to have crawled within a few feet of enemy sniper
· His colleagues will claim at an inquest new regulations meant he couldn’t fire a grenade from a safer distance
· Rules came after request from President Karzai to protect local buildings
· Lance Corporal Ashworth has been awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross

By Mark Nicol Defence Correspondent

A British soldier awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross died in vain because of an order to prevent damage to Taliban mud huts, an inquest will be told this summer.

Colleagues of Lance Corporal James Ashworth – who won the UK’s highest gallantry medal – are expected to tell a coroner they were denied powerful weapons to take on the Taliban due to fears mortars and rockets could damage buildings.

Soldiers from the Grenadier Guards will claim James died because he was forced to crawl to within a few feet of an enemy sniper in a mud hut while clutching a grenade, rather than firing from a safer distance.

Last night his father Duane Ashworth accused top brass of sacrificing his son’s life to protect the building, saying his pride in his son’s VC was now coupled with anger over the way in which he had died.

‘We can build more mud huts but nobody can bring back my son. This is hard to stomach,’ he said.
Just weeks before L/Cpl Ashworth died in June last year, new tactics were introduced by the multi-national forces in Afghanistan that prevented use of heavy weapons in all but the most exceptional circumstances.

The change – in response to a request from President Hamid Karzai to protect local infrastructure – meant British patrols no longer carried mortars and shoulder-held rocket launchers on routine operations, forcing them to engage any targets at close range.

L/Cpl Ashworth would still be alive if they had been able to use the weapons that were restricted just a month earlier, his comrades will say.

The revelation follows last week’s ruling by the Supreme Court that any decision to deny troops access to adequate weaponry could constitute a negligent decision and therefore a breach of their human rights – potentially opening the floodgates for hundreds of damages claims from bereaved families.

READ MORE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 06/23/2013 at 10:00 AM   
Filed Under: • Battling Brits UKWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Saturday - June 22, 2013

european court of uman rights and brit court devise new way to fight wars, enter lawyers

In the normal run of things we can sympathize with families and especially parents who lose a loved one in the military.  The loss is certainly made all the worse if there are fears or accusations that the dead are the result of defense dept. penny pinching and not providing the troops with adequate gear to protect themselves.

That’s what the following is all about.
For awhile now there has been talk and denial and hearings and accusations that troops were sent out in what were supposed to be reasonably safe armored vehicles that were neither safe nor well armored, resulting in the unnecessary deaths of crews and passengers. 

One mother was very much shattered and unforgiving and campaigned for investigation with regard to the type vehicle her son was killed in, by a roadside bomb.

Enter the lawyers.


Human rights victory for families of British soldiers

Justices uphold human rights of Snatch Land Rover soldiers
The families of British soldiers who died when their Snatch Land Rovers hit roadside bombs in Iraq have won the right to bring a claim under the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998).
The Supreme Court unanimously held that HRA 1998 applies to British soldiers abroad, in Smith & Ors v Ministry of Defence [2013] UKSC 41. The extent of the duty, and whether it was breached, will now be decided at trial.
The families claim the soldiers’ deaths would have been avoided if they had been given proper equipment when carrying out high-risk activities, such as medium-armoured vehicles.

READ THE REST OF IT

Not surprisingly there is another argument to be heard.


UK defence secretary warns of rights ruling repercussions

Judges decree that convention on human rights applies on battlefield

Daily Mail by way of Gulf News
London: British troops could be prevented from carrying out vital missions after an explosive human rights ruling, the Defence Secretary has warned.
Philip Hammond said the judgement means military chiefs will be “living in fear” of being sued.

He fears our forces risk being reduced to Continental-style peacekeeping roles — which see some countries refuse to let their personnel go out after dark — after judges decreed that the European Convention on Human Rights applies on the battlefield.

Hammond is understood to be so furious at the Supreme Court ruling that he is considering demanding a revocation and believes it strengthens the case for Britain quitting the ECHR.

The Defence Secretary said: “There are real concerns that British troops could be prevented from carrying out their missions for fear of falling foul of human rights legislation. We can’t have troop commanders living in fear of how lawyers back in London might interpret their battlefield decisions that are vital to protecting our national security.

“There could be serious implications for our ability to work with international partners who are not bound by the ECHR.”
Following the Supreme Court ruling that the ECHR does apply even in combat situations, Hammond has ordered a review of the implications for military commanders and troops.

The prospect of “health and safety” type laws applying to the battlefield could seriously impact on Britain’s military capability, he said.
A source added: “If the ECHR applies to personnel on operations it is feared that commanders may be reluctant to make decisions in the field that will then be second-guessed by lawyers in a London.

“We don’t want to be tied up by health and safety rules that prevent troops patrolling at night or only with certain equipment.”

READ MORE OF IT

Here’s part of an editorial from the Saturday Mail on the subject.

And as an aside I should tell the readers here, German troops in Afghanistan, some 3,500, do NOT leave their bases at night and Do Not leave their armoured carriers while on patrol. The UN has a number of restrictions on UN troops.
I suppose this is how a politically correct war is fought these days. 

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Wrong human rights verdict for our troops

By Daily Mail Reporter

As the Mail has long argued, it is a matter of great shame to Britain’s political class that, in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers were sent to fight and die without proper equipment.

But, while it is vital that ministers should be held to account, it’s impossible not to be alarmed by this week’s Supreme Court ruling that soldiers in warzones should, for the first time, be given protection under Labour’s Human Rights Act.

Doubtless, the judges felt that giving soldiers and their families the right to sue would focus the minds of the Government and Army on minimising risk.
But what they have failed to accord due weight to is that military commanders are regularly tasked with making instant life-or-death decisions.
If the fear of future litigation causes them to hesitate for even a moment, the consequences could be disastrous.

Meanwhile, if the Ministry of Defence budget is drained by fighting vexatious claims brought by ambulance-chasing lawyers, there will inevitably be less to spend on equipment and training.

READ MORE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 06/22/2013 at 11:21 AM   
Filed Under: • Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat LeftistsJudges-Courts-LawyersUKWar-Stories •  
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Vietnam Homecoming
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Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造,北京名传天下配音公司
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On: 03/20/21 07:00

meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
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Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28

a small explanation
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Tracked at yerba mate gourd
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On: 07/09/17 03:07



DISCLAIMER
Allanspacer

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
  1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
  2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
  3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
  4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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GNU Terry Pratchett


Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
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