FBI Director James Comey A good man
confirmed Wednesday that the bureau's Phoenix branch has opened a criminal investigation of the Veterans Affairs Department, amid mounting calls on Capitol Hill for the Justice Department to get more involved.
Comey confirmed the bureau's involvement Oh sh*t, da fuzz
during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee. Officials previously made clear that federal prosecutors were helping in an inspector general investigation, but the probe by Phoenix FBI agents marks a new phase.
The additional probe comes as internal audits show the expanding scope of the scandal where thousands of military veterans endured long wait times for VA medical care, and VA officials apparently covered up those wait times in order to make their internal numbers look better. More in the article.
#2
Yes Mr. Director, we should be done here in Phoenix in a couple of days. We'll be on a train to D.C. and begin the IRS investigation on Tuesday morning.
#3
They need to keep their findings on a couple different thumb drives, you know how the computers lose critical files in DC.
At least there are a few honorable men in the FBI at the lower levels. It gives me hope, and we all really need hope right now.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/15/2014 12:43 Comments ||
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#4
At least there are a few honorable men in the FBI at the lower levels.
Yes there are, I know some of them. FBI Director James Comey really is one of the good guys. Of course he works for Holder. Hopefully Comey is keeping notes....
HOUSTON, Texas--A surge of thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has left federal resources and facilities overwhelmed. Most of the new migrants are children from Central America. In the aftermath of Breitbart Texas releasing photos showing minors warehoused in crowded U.S. cells, Border Patrol agents in Texas have been instructed not to speak to media outlets.
#1
I hope someone's reading the leadership the shortcomings and failure of using the Nuremberg defense in the near future investigations. Wonder if Herr Schumer who wants to gut the 1st and 2nd Amendment would like to throw in the 5th as well?
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Casey Kasem, the internationally famous radio host with the cheerful manner and gentle voice who became the king of the top 40 countdown with a syndicated show that ran for decades, died Sunday. He was 82.
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06/15/2014 13:43 ||
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#1
That didn't take long - his daughter just found him last week,
Wonder if we'll ever know the full TRUE story.
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/15/2014 14:30 Comments ||
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#2
Thanks Casey. You were often the connection and voice from home to the diaspora in uniform on Armed Forces radio ages, as it seemed, before the internet.
(TJ is a Founding Father & the best pic I could find for this. Feel free to replace with a more modern father pic.)
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/15/2014 14:31 ||
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#1
A father's prayer used by President Truman.
"Help me to be, to think, to act what is right because it is right; make me truthful, honest, and honorable in all things; make me intellectually honest for the sake of right and honor and without thought of reward to me."
#3
It's late-ish, but I hope all our Rantburg fathers were made to feel loved today. Mr. Wife and I went out to a movie he wanted to see. It's been a while since we did that, so I hope he feels loved and appreciated.
Incidentally, it was that Cruz thing, Edge of Tomorrow. Very interesting. If such a thing were possible, I'd say it was made by a military-loving conservative. Unless I'm missing something. But Mr. Wife said they aren't advertising the thing at all, it's all word of mouth.
#2
Actually, the link is to a paper published in Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
Volume 80, May 2012, Pages 267284.
The author claims to have recently reproduced these results in a new paper discussed here.
The latest study lacks the scientific rigor that I look for; missing data and lacking details of methods used to support reproducing the results.
There is considerable natural variation in the climate that is not well understood. The solar sunspot cycles do vary. There was a grand solar maximum (i.e. several large solar sunspot cycles strung back to back) at the end of the 20th century that has scientist wondering. But the mechanism for how that translates into earth temperature changes is not well understood. We currently have weak solar sunspot cycles and time will tell if they result in global cooling.
My own gut tells me that it has to do with the UV portion of the solar spectrum because that does vary significantly with the solar sunspot cycle but the energy changes in the total solar irradiance due to UV variability do not appear to be enough, on their own, to account for the measured temperature changes.
#4
The 'Sun' is a variable star. That means it's output varies, it is not a constant. We've only had about a hundred years of study of the variations and less of particular forms of output (x,gamma rays etc). Of course, this is all ignored by the MMGW crowd (if they use the term carbon - its a MMGW piece of propaganda, not to be confused with natural climate change).
#5
It is estimated the sun has used up about half of its hydrogen fuel in the last 4.6 billion years, since its birth. It still has enough hydrogen to last about another 5 billion years At some point there will be global cooling. The global warming, climate change hucksters will probably be hanging on to their religion for nearly that long even though the planet will be cooling. There seems to be no shortage of these morons.
#6
It is estimated the sun has used up about half of its hydrogen fuel in the last 4.6 billion years, since its birth.
We are now on the down hill slope to doom. Buy fish hooks, penicillin, whiskey and head for your doomshack. You do have a doom shack? No? T0000000 late. You will die when the sun goes red and I will laugh and laugh.
#7
the article posits a 7 year lag between low sunspot numbers and lower temps.
however in the recent 15 years weve been though some pretty decent ups and downs in sunspots without signif8icant ups and downs in world temps
so on that basis the empirical argument is less than airtight
the other part of this is that sunspots are cooler than the rest of the sun so when there are lots of sunspots, you'd think earth would be hotter but that's the opposite of the normalistic analysis
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/15/2014 12:21 Comments ||
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#8
I have a shovel, and there are plenty of mine shafts here in az, Shipman. Your welcome to stop by after the world ends and drink the night away....
It is nice to see someone in the scientific community perform some actual science and study something.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/15/2014 12:41 Comments ||
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#9
The 'Sun' is a variable star.
I believe that to be true. The direct measurement of TSI started with the satellite era and the instruments were not very good. Hence all the tedious "adjustments" to compensate for different instruments. Ah, adjustments; the devils hands are never idle. We now have SDO so in a hundred years we should have enough data to be sure.
however in the recent 15 years we've been though some pretty decent ups and downs in sunspots without significant ups and downs in world temps.
#10
There's another cause of variability in solar intensity that probably affects temp on this planet.
http://cseligman.com/text/planets/orbiteffect.htm
In short, the earths rotation around the sun is an elipse and the earth also wobbles on its axis. We do not live in a static environment. To pick one variable, which just happends to be taxable (whadda coincidence), is bad science, plain old BS or just a con game.
The change in distance due to the keplering orbit of the earth around the sun repeats every year. By itself it wouldn't affect year over year comparisons, at least not on intervals << 100,000 years. The Milankovitch cycles are thought to be the cause of periodic ice ages but can't explain natural variations on the order of a century.
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/15/2014 14:22 Comments ||
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#13
Oops - I meant #10 BR.
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/15/2014 14:23 Comments ||
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#14
No reason it can't be all three
I agree that it will likely be a combination of factors. I am unaware of any theory that presents a combination of factors that comes close. The IPCC models have an absolutely abysmal track record of predicting the future (go back to old IPCC predictions and compare predicted to actual for this year).
Which is why the liberal propaganda about the 'science being settled' is so laughable. What scientist would ever be caught saying such a thing? Not a scientist but rather a propagandist.
#15
Climate "changes". That's the point of climate.
Humans adapt to changes. That's the success of humans.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/15/2014 16:31 Comments ||
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#16
I can't recommend this site enough. You can also follow some of the links to sites like Dr Tim Ball's, Dr. Roy Spencer's, Bishop's Hill, Jo Nova, Global Warming Policy Foundation, SEPP, and a few dozen others. It's a constant, ongoing education in REAL climate science, not the cr$p certain other, unmentionable cretins spout.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/15/2014 16:46 Comments ||
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#17
What OP said.
My day isn't complete unless I've checked Watts Up With That at least once.
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/15/2014 17:14 Comments ||
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#18
Agreed. Anthony Watts does an outstanding job.
#19
NASA had warned that a shockwave(s) from the most recent solar flares = CMES was possible to occur last Friday 06/13th.
I didn't sense any "shockwave(s)" this past Friday, but I did experience post-Midnite Earthquakes + sky phenoms + background distortions earlier in the week.
IMO NASA may had deliberat told a fib to the public, but the mighty Maha-Rushian questionne' remains "why"???
#20
JosephMendiola,
The earth's magnetic field (and Atmosphere) largely protect the surface of the earth from high energy solar particles generated by solar flares. Satellites are not so well protected. But any competent satellite designer uses circuits that can withstand such bombardment. Given enough warning (e.g. SOHO) satellite operators can put vulnerable satellites in safe mode to further protect them. International Space Station astronauts can retreat to more heavily protected parts such as the US built Destiny laboratory.
Wearing sporting gear including cycling gloves, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi asked Egyptians on Friday to cycle and walk more to help the cash-strapped government that spends tens of billions of dollars a year on fuel subsidies.
Check out the pic of Sisi on a Schwinn at the link. He at least looks more comfortable on a bike than Champ ever did...
The former army chief gave one of his first speeches since last Sunday's inauguration to several hundred Egyptians on bicycles at a military college in the capital Cairo before taking part in a cycling marathon. Cyclists are rarely seen in Cairo where chaotic traffic regularly clogs up large parts of the city.
What this all means, of course, is that Sisi knows that the country is hosed, so he's grandstanding...
Or he is preparing to decrease subsidies, and wants the car-owning citizenry to start thinking about what it will soon cost them out of pocket.
Egypt spent about 170 billion Egyptian pounds ($24 billion), on energy subsidies this fiscal year ending June 30, state media quoted the government as saying this month, and plans to cut that to 104 billion next year.
Energy prices in Egypt are among the lowest in the world and although successive governments have called for subsidy reform none have dared impose big price rises for fear of unrest.
"If you use your car, you pay around 4 pounds for 20 or 25 kilometres and Egypt pays 8 pounds for those 20 kilometres," Sisi said in a speech broadcast by state media. "If 3,000 people did this (cycling) with me, how much would that be per day?"
I dunno, but no one in your country seems to be good at math...
Artificially low prices for electricity, butane and fuel at filling stations provide little incentive to curb consumption, despite a fuel supply crisis that causes daily blackouts.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Clashes in a refugee camp north of Dhaka killed at least nine people during festival celebrations Saturday.
The shanty town in Mirpur suburb is home to a community of Bihari Mohammedans and authorities said tensions there had been rising. Emergency services put the corpse count at nine, including eight in the camp and another who was brought to a hospital in central Dhaka. The exact trigger for the incident was unclear. "We can confirm the corpse count of eight people (in the camp). All of them are Biharis," fire service director Mahabubur Rahman told AFP. Half a million Indian origin Mohammedans have lived in refugee camps in the country since the 1971 war of independence against Pakistain.
Although not all came from the Indian state of Bihar, they are referred to as "Biharis" in Bangladesh. Anti-Bihari feelings run deep among Bangladesh's majority Bengalis as the migrants supported Pakistain during the war. Most of the victims at the camp burned to death after their homes were torched during the festivities, Rahman said. An AFP photographer inside the camp said he counted nine bodies there, all of them with burn injuries. Several people were maimed after police fired shotgun pellets at the rioters, Rahman added. "The situation is now largely under control. But we could not recover the bodies from the camp," he said.
One Bihari resident was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead from shotgun injuries, police inspector Mozammel Hoque told AFP. "Five other people were also brought to the hospital with shotgun and burn injuries," he said. Assistant commissioner of Mirpur police Kamal Hossain told AFP Saturday's festivities were triggered by firecracker kabooms marking the Islamic festival of Shab-e-Barat. "Tension has been building in the area for some time. Early this morning festivities erupted between Bengalis and Biharis and also Biharis versus Biharis," he said.
Residents claimed that homes in the camp were torched by local Bengali Mohammedans. "Some 500 Bengalis armed with machetes, cleavers and hockey sticks attacked our camp in the early hours," resident Mohammad Shahjahan told AFP. "They locked up four of our houses from outside and then set them on fire. "We were able to escape as our sidewall was built of bamboo, but those who lived in concrete houses could not get out and died," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2014 00:00 ||
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[koreatimes] The [ROK] Navy plans to complete by the end of this year a base on the northernmost island in the West Sea to better deal with maritime provocations along the inter-Korean sea border, military officials said Friday.
The base on Baengnyeong Island is expected to upgrade Seoul's sea capability significantly as it will accommodate advanced patrol boats, such as a 570-ton guarded-missile patrol killer, or PKG, and a 170-ton patrol killer medium vessel, or PKM.
It will also accommodate up to 100 troops.
The island is just south of the sea border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL).
"Construction will likely be completed by the end of this year," a Navy official said.
The base on Daecheong Island, south of Baengnyeong Island, can handle PKMs.
But the PKGs have had to be based at the Pyeongtaek base in Gyeonggi Province since the South launched 15 PKGs after an inter-Korean naval skirmish near Yeonpyeong Island in 1999.
"The Baengnyeong base, which is capable of deploying the PKGs, will enable the Navy to cope with Pyongyang's violations of the NLL and its maritime provocations more promptly," the official said.
The new base, which will cost 42.5 billion won ($42 million), will be on the southern part of the Baengnyeong Island, just 10 kilometers from the tense West Sea border.
The U.N. drew the line unilaterally at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but the North has refused to respect it, frequently provoking Seoul.
Last month, the North fired shells near a South Korean high-speed patrol boat in the West Sea.
The official said the Navy was on alert around the clock to guard against the North's patrol boats, which often cross the border.
[Pak Daily Times] Resurgent Ukrainian forces hoisted the national flag over a strategic rebel-held port on Friday while the embattled leaders in Kiev made urgent preparations for a looming Russian gas cut.
Ukraine's new Western-backed President Petro Poroshenko celebrated the soldiers' "heroism" by proclaiming the industrial Sea of Azov city of Mariupol the new temporary capital of Donetsk -- an eastern rustbelt region overrun by pro-Russian gunnies for the past two months.
The 48-year-old chocolate baron rose to power in a snap May 25 ballot called after the February ouster of a Russian-backed leader by vowing to move Ukraine closer to Europe and end fighting that has claimed 270 lives.
But the battles have since only intensified and his calls for dialogue with more moderate separatist leaders have been mostly ignored.
Poroshenko's troubles have been compounded by the threat of Ukraine being cut off from economically-vital Russian gas shipments as early as Monday morning because of a bitter price dispute.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told regional administrations and the heads of the state energy company to prepare for the consequences of a possible gas cut by implementing a plan for reduced energy use. Mariupol has wavered between rebel and Kiev control for weeks and was also the scene of pitched battles on May 9 that killed more than a dozen people.
The bustling port of half a million people provides access to the main highway linking other regions with Russia and is the main export channel for coal and industrial products fundamental to Ukraine's economic growth.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that federal forces led by the part-volunteer National Guard had inflicted "heavy losses" on the rebels while seeing only four soldiers suffer light wounds.
But the prosecutor's office also confirmed that three soldiers died late Thursday when they were ambushed by the militia in the Donetsk region town of Stepanivka.
His deputy told news hounds that 30 pro-Russian gunnies had been captured in a coordinated push involving special forces that saw rebels driven from the city's seat of power they had reoccupied about a month ago.
"Thanks to the heroism shown by Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol, the situation in the city has been stabilised," Poroshenko's office said in a statement.
"In light of this, it would be prudent to transfer the operation of the Donetsk regional administration to Mariupol," he wrote.
The region's main administration building in Donetsk remains under rebel control. Moscow said Friday Ukrainian tanks had crossed the border into its territory before being intercepted by the border patrol.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2014 00:00 ||
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Do you think our domestic lib herd will take away any resource-centric lessons from this? And, if so, what?
[Iraq Sun] British Prime Minister David Cameron's hopes of stopping Jean-Claude Juncker from becoming the next European Commission president suffered a jolt when the centre-right and centre-left groupings in the European parliament announced backing for Juncker.
Cameron has made a direct appeal to voters in Ireland, France and Germany to back a candidate who will change the way Brussels is run and called for "bold leadership" for the European Commission.
But the main centre-left and centre-right groups in the European Parliament have joined forces to back Juncker.
The European Parliament has stepped up pressure on EU leaders to accept Juncker. Socialists and the centre-Right EPP group, which includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, said they would form a grand coalition to support the former Luxembourg prime minister.
Manfred Weber, head of the European People's Party, the main centre-right group, said: "There is growing support for Juncker at all levels".
He said choosing any other candidate would trigger "a constitutional crisis".
Weber said Britain was "only one country among 28 and there is no right of veto" on naming the next Commission president.
According to Cameron, Juncker represents an EU elite favouring "ever closer union" and is out of touch with voters and also resistant to reform of the EU.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/15/2014 00:00 ||
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To me, a person's sexuality is their own business. But with NASA tasked with "Muslim outreach" while we lack maned spaceflight capabilities shouldn't the State Department be more focused on the numerous foreign policy debacles exploding simultaneously around the world?
#4
.shouldn't the State Department be more focused
It's the Palace Guard syndrome. Spiffy uniforms, parades, warm cot, and regular pay replace the ability to actually fight something other old men, women, and children. They do what they can do rather than what they're suppose to do because they suck at what they're suppose to do. [Not to be confused with the Brit's Royal Guard the exception to the case, who apply display the ability to get close and personal on the field of battle]. State has degenerated into a club of like minded academics. We'd at least gotten a better trade and deals with used car dealers than the crap they negotiate.
[Washington Times] The Department of Defense has disbursed some funds to universities so that scientists might study the dynamics of civil unrest -- and how the U.S. military might best respond.
That would have been useful knowledge for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, I imagine, and whatsisname who used to run Yemen...
It's called the "Minerva Research Initiative," and it's a program that was kicked off in 2008 to "improve DoD's basic understanding of the social, cultural, behavioral and political forces that shape regions of the world of strategic importance to the U.S.," The Guardian reported.
More to point: the multi-million dollar research program seeks to uncover "warfighter-relevant insights" to help senior ranking officials in the "defense policy community" come up with "combatant commands" that work in civil unrest situations, The Guardian reported. Link to the Guardian story.
#1
Far more academic cronyism.
The military has been called and used in civil disturbance from the Pullman Strike to the LA riots. They have the records, lessons learned, and the Field Manual. What they don't have is the ability to address wide spread collapse of civil order. They do have the experience as recently as Iraq in trying to put back together a country bereft of effective and/or legitimate government. Improvise, adapt, overcome. They just don't want to have to contemplate that happening at home. It's one of those good/bad cultural traits, in that it's good they really don't want to run a country, it's bad in that they may end up as the only adults left to do so.
#2
Although the current administration is lawless, we do have a fairly strong Posse Comitatus Act on the books. The law was modified to provide exceptions after Hurricane Katrina but the the exceptions were later repealed. The Act prevents the military from being used domestically. The National Guard can be used if the governor so directs. It would seem that if the military were used domestically, that might be the tipping point in this country.
#6
I think academia studies on this are good. There are two sides to this. First is, the one that drives paranoia, is to learn how to stop it. This is important because of the second one.
If we learn how these happen, from inception to revolution, Arab spring being a good example, we can learn how to incite this in countries we do not like. Starting revolution in the 60's thru the 90's was easy because we did not have social media like we do now. We need to learn how it starts, the phases of it and then we can, again, do two things. Identify it when our enemies are using the information weapon to stir up our nation and have plans to defeat it. And second to look at our enemies and use this weapon against them so we wont have to use troops. Let their people fight our wars for us.
The Occupy movement is a great example. Exactly who started it? How did they get it going? How did they get it to go viral? I was in NYC the second day of the occupy movement and there were less than 50 people there. How did they get traction and motivate the dregs of our society to become active? Imagine if we could do that in Palestine? Instead of watching it happen, we could control it.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/15/2014 12:54 Comments ||
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#9
I think this administration would be more interested in starting unrest to gather opponents so they can be discredited and destroyed by the media and selected security details.
I would not be surprised to learn that this administration planted tea party agitators to reach out to tea party folks from their irs list that was monitored by the FBI.
#10
Prepping for the day when post-2015 Washington may have to unilaterally give up sovereign US territory(s) for variable reasons, perhaps even widout the consent of the US Congress andor the Electorate.
US Politicos' job is to achieve the above wid the PCorrect seeming applause + mass approval of the Amerikan people.
[To paraph STAR WARS' PREQUELS QUEEN PADME AMYGDALA = "SO THIS IS HOW DEMOCRACY/FREEDOM ENDS - WID CLAPPING-N-APPLAUSE"].
Inidan Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday dedicated INS Vikramaditya, the largest and most powerful aircraft carrier inducted into the Indian Navy, to the nation, terming it an âimportant day for our nationâ.
A tweet from the Prime Ministerâs Office quoted Modi as saying: âWe need to give immense importance to latest technology. This will help the nation.â
He also emphasised that India must be âself-sufficientâ and manufacturing the defence equipment.
âWhy should we import defence equipment? We must be self-sufficient. Why canât we send our defence equipment to other nations,â Modi tweeted.
The 44,500-tonne INS Vikramaditya, procured from Russia, is one of the newest acquisitions of the Indian Navy and the most powerful symbol of its military reach. It was commissioned by then defence minister A.K. Antony last November at Russiaâs Sevmash shipyard.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/15/2014 00:00 ||
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Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 11:51 Comments ||
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Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 11:56 Comments ||
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Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 12:09 Comments ||
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#4
1st guy gonna catch the 3rd wire? Looks high. Still this shit ain't easy from what I hear.
#9
I don't get one end of an aircraft carrier being curled up. All the others I've seen have both ends flat.
Can anyone who has a clue about this explain?
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/15/2014 12:56 Comments ||
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#10
Poor curing. The Russians have little experience with tropical softwood decking. It happens. They have turned their inexperience to a good use tho.
#11
Another of the new Vikrant. The old Vikrant is offshore the Dharukana ship breaking yard awaiting high tide to be beached and broken up.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 13:18 Comments ||
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#12
The old Vikrant awaiting the scrapyard. It was former Viceroy Lord Mountbatten who arranged the sale of the incomplete centaur class carrier to India in 1957
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 13:20 Comments ||
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#13
The British, who ironically invented the steam catapult, developed the ski jump ramp for their non catapult equipped carriers.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 13:24 Comments ||
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#14
The India carrier Viraat, formerly the British HMS Hermes, with its ski jump
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 13:29 Comments ||
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#15
Shipman nailed it. Russian-influenced design. Gas-turbine for power. And yes, Ship, those appear to be for the two elevators.
Properly seasoned mahogany might not result in such dramatic deck warpage
Heh. Seriously, there are a few issues with that deck. She's either seen some hard use, or the Russians weren't enamored with using more durable steel.
#22
The air wing was part of the carrier deal. The Su-30 would have been more potent but the carrier isn't large enough for a decent sized air wing of Sukhois. Hence the Mig -29ks.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 14:48 Comments ||
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#23
And still a step up from the Harrier jump jets the Indian navy operates.
Posted by: John Frum ||
06/15/2014 14:49 Comments ||
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#24
but it appears a bow landing approach would require some serious talent.
You just need to come in at a much steeper angle than usual. Tangent to the curve, and all that.
#25
Barbara - look closely - unlike CVN's, no catapult.
From Wiki: "For take-off of fixed wing aircraft, Admiral Kuznetsov uses a ski-jump at the end of her deck. On take-off aircraft accelerate toward and up the ski-jump using their afterburners. This results in the aircraft leaving the deck at a higher angle and elevation than on an aircraft carrier with a flat deck and catapults. The ski-jump take-off is less demanding on the pilot, since the acceleration is lower, but results in a clearance speed of only 120140 km/h (7585 mph) requiring an aircraft design which will not stall at those speeds."
#26
the takeoff method also reduces the combat load, fuel load (and thus combat radius, unless they have tankers) of the airwing.
Plus - having a carrier and successfully operating it in blue water for extended periods are two different matters. Much of the "magic" of the USN is logistics and operational excellence.
The Navy had to abort plans to showcase take-off and landing of the fighters on the Russian-made aircraft carrier due to turbulent sea conditions.
The swell was 3.5-metres high due to a cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea and the focsle (forward part of a ship) of warships accompanying the carrier could be seen bobbing up and down several feet, a senior Navy officer said. Authorising MiG-29K manoeuvres in the prevailing conditions would have amounted to violation of standard operating procedures, he said.
The PMO on Saturday had said Modi witnessed a three-hour long breathtaking display of naval capabilities onboard the 44,500-tonne warship amid heavy rain. The government official said the PMO wanted to know the exact nature of difficulty faced by the navy in operating the ship-borne fighters from the deck.
The PMO was also not too happy with pudgy and rotund personnel, including some officers, onboard, he added.
The Navy officer said some of the personnel needed to emulate Navy chief Admiral Robin Dhowan, who is fitter than officers half his age. Modi and Dhowan had appeared to hit it off on the warship, with the navy chief explaining every manoeuvre to the PM.
Modi witnessed MiG-29K fighters performing two overshoots (touch-and-go missions) on the flight deck. Western Fleet commander Rear Admiral Anil Chawla was standing on the warships bridge (the part of a vessel from where its movement is controlled) and personally overseeing every manoeuvre.
Navy pilots have carried out more than 100 take-offs and an equal number of landings on the $2.33-billion carrier in recent months.
The Navy could have overcome the sea conditions by diverting the course of the warship.
But it had no window to do so as the PM was on a tight schedule, said another senior officer.
We did our best in the available time and sea conditions. Moreover, safety cannot be compromised when the PM is onboard, he stressed.
The officer added that the navy would have unquestionably pushed the envelope had the carrier been on an operational deployment, but safety couldnt be overlooked during a display for the PM. There was a possibility of launching fighters from the carrier, but recovering them with arrestor wires would have been highly risky due to the sea conditions.
The morality police in Aceh are on the hunt once again as Ramadan approaches, increasing the frequency of their raids against . . . crimes of fashion. The province's shariah police, known as Wilayatul Hisbah, has roped in the police and the military to assist with the raids, to be held "day and night to minimize shariah violations - but which are targeted almost entirely at women wearing clothes deemed too figure-hugging."
Samsudin, the WH's head of enforcement, said that the first series of raids on Wednesday netted 99 people - 94 of them women "wearing tight outfits", and five men wearing "pants that expose the knees".
He said none of those stopped on Wednesday were arrested. Instead, their names were taken down, and they were warned that if they were caught again they could face up to 20 days in jail.
Samsudin said raids would be held regularly from midnight to dawn throughout Banda Aceh, in places "suspected to be facilitating immoral deeds - like cafes."
He said, "We usually raid cafes where we find men and women who are not muhrim (related by blood or marriage) alone together. We give them advice and if they fight back, we will take them to the office for further processing."
Samsudin said that as the raids intensified, his office had found fewer shariah violators. He said he hoped to have Banda Aceh free of such violations for the entirety of Ramadan, so that Muslims could observe the it in peace.
During Ramadan itself, the WH will carry out raids against people selling food during the day. Samsudin said, "We will charge them and they can be punished by caning."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
FBI Director James Comey 
Solar cycle 23 (1996 May to 2008 January) was a wimp. Regarding solar cycle 24 (current) '
[koreatimes] The [ROK] Navy plans to complete by the end of this year a base on the northernmost island in the West Sea to better deal with maritime provocations along the inter-Korean sea border, military officials said Friday.
The morality police in Aceh are on the hunt once again as Ramadan approaches, increasing the frequency of their raids against . . . crimes of fashion. The province's shariah police, known as Wilayatul Hisbah, has roped in the police and the military to assist with the raids, to be held "day and night to minimize shariah violations - but which are targeted almost entirely at women wearing clothes deemed too figure-hugging."
