6/08/2006
SCAR Info
Via THR, I found this presentation on the SCAR family of weapons.
Looking at the timeline, full-rate production won't start until spring of 2008. Regardless of anything that might have been said at the SHOT Show (for some reason I recall hearing mid-2008), I wouldn't expect to see any civilian versions until 2009 at the earliest. Depending on how many SOCOM needs, maybe 2010.
Which just means more time for me to save up the money to buy one.
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1LT Watada
Well, I've pretty much got to say something about this. John bemoans the fact that the boy (because I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself to call him a man) is a fellow redleg, while I'm sad to say he's a member of the last line unit I served in, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry (Sykes' Regulars.)
John covers the issue pretty thoroughly, including some potential second order effects of what the anti-war folks seem to be asking for.
I can think of at least 4 articles of the UCMJ that this LT is, in my opinion, in violation of. There may be a fifth, applicable only to officers, which covers making disparaging statements about elected and/or appointed (Congressionally confirmed) officials. I'm not sure if the wording covers things that are implied, but not explicitly stated. This would be possible because of his statement that the campaign in Iraq is an "illegal war," thus implying that everyone involved, from the President to PVT Snuffy patrolling in Mosul, are war criminals.
The fact that he's making public spectacle of the whole thing does not speak well of his character. I'm not sure if he's actually trying to make a statement against the war, or if he wouldn't have had the 'courage' to do this without the encouragement of those in the anti-war camp. (Which makes me wonder if any members of those groups might possibly be guilty of sedition for encouraging members of the military to non follow orders.)
One final thing: LT Watada stated that he tried to resign his commission and was refused. There are two reasons for this: first, he is still in his initial service obligation (3 or 4 years of active duty, with 4 or 5 more [8 years total] in the Guard or Reserve, depending on his contract), during which time he's not allowed to resign. Second, officers are not allowed to resign after they've received orders to combat. Which is exactly what LT Watada did.
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6/04/2006
Maria Cantwell Is Wrong for Washington
A few items on the 97th most effective Senator from SoundPolitics:
-the next time Maria opens her mouth about any kind of eavsdropping, just remember that she worked for RealNetworks when they put undocumented spyware in their products.
The post also questions whether Maria's job with RealNetworks was really just a campaign donation in disguise, given that the money she gained from it was essential for her 2000 campaign. I've also seen speculation, in comments elsewhere on the same blog, that Al Franken's 7-figure salary at Air America might also be an end-around on campaign finance laws.
-Maria Cantwell has continued to insist that oil companies are price companies are price gouging, in the face of (repeated) FTC findings to the contrary, basically, because she says so. Maybe she should look into the concert ticket industry. Oh wait, those are her supporters.
-And on top of it, Senator Cantwell is, apparently, a bitch. So much so that none of the people who worked on her 2000 campaign were willing to work for her after she got elected.
And just to make things more fun for Senator Cantwell, the Washington state Dems are being taken over by the moonbat wing, having adopted a resolution calling for the creation of a federal Department of Peace. They're none to happy with Maria for voting to authorize the Iraq war. Oh, and the Green and Libertarian party candidates are making this central parts of their campaigns. The question is, will the loony lefts hatred of the Iraq war be stronger than their hatred of all things Republican? We can only hope.
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'Assault Weapons' in Indy Mass Shooting
Here's a picture of police removing weapons from the scene (found on THR:
That's a side-by-side double barrel shotgun, an autoloading shotgun that looks like a hunting gun, and what looks like an air rifle.
Now, we don't know at this point if those are the weapon(s) that the killer(s) used. But given that the witness whose statement is the basis for the 'assault weapon' claim also stated that they saw 3 or 4 men, and we now know that there were only two, I'd say the odds are good that the witness just saw a long barrel and went into full out Brady-brainwashed sheeple panic mode.
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