>> ^EmptyFriend:

I'm not disagreeing. I'm actually currently in the middle of a research project on the decision to scrap Constellation and the implications. All I was saying is that taking the anger out on such a small program isn't fair. For $10M you'd have a hard time doing something as simple as upgrading all the PCs in a ship class to WindowsXP (and yes, that is something that is only now happening).
The total cost to launch a space shuttle into orbit is incredibly high though, also. Like in the $1B territory.
>> ^mentality:
>> ^EmptyFriend:
>> ^mentality:
So this is what $553,800,000,000 a year gets you.

_{Iraq and Afghanistan not included.}

good thing you took out the iraq and afghanistan money (or tried to at least), wouldn't want that number to seem ridiculously untrue.
a little search says this contract wasn't even $10 million (which is actually pretty small).
http://www.ga.com/news.php?read=1&id=72&page=7
EDIT: and just to be clear, i do think military and defense spending is way too high, but i at least support the development of new technologies as opposed to the continual support/retrofit of old stuff.


Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize that new technologies to kill people were more important than other kinds of research. Good thing we're slashing NASA's budget so we can better conduct an asymmetrical war on terror using the power of electromagnetism.
Sorry for the snark, but the ridiculous defense spending, record deficit, budget cuts in all the wrong places, and development of weapons systems grossly out of touch with what's needed, is seriously pissing me off. And that goes for the F22/F35 too no matter how f awesome they are.




It's $10 million invested from the US office of Naval Research from June 2006 to Jan 2009. It doesn't say how much was invested in the last two years, and how much the project costs in total, including other sources of funding. And that's just for a proof of concept. How much is it going to cost taxpayers to make a version fit for service, and they start arming ships with it? Yeah, billions sound like the right territory.

I'm not disagreeing. I'm actually currently in the middle of a research project on the decision to scrap Constellation and the implications. All I was saying is that taking the anger out on such a small program isn't fair. For $10M you'd have a hard time doing something as simple as upgrading all the PCs in a ship class to WindowsXP (and yes, that is something that is only now happening).

The total cost to launch a space shuttle into orbit is incredibly high though, also. Like in the $1B territory.
>> ^mentality:

>> ^EmptyFriend:
>> ^mentality:
So this is what $553,800,000,000 a year gets you.

_{Iraq and Afghanistan not included.}

good thing you took out the iraq and afghanistan money (or tried to at least), wouldn't want that number to seem ridiculously untrue.
a little search says this contract wasn't even $10 million (which is actually pretty small).
http://www.ga.com/news.php?read=1&id=72&page=7
EDIT: and just to be clear, i do think military and defense spending is way too high, but i at least support the development of new technologies as opposed to the continual support/retrofit of old stuff.


Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize that new technologies to kill people were more important than other kinds of research. Good thing we're slashing NASA's budget so we can better conduct an asymmetrical war on terror using the power of electromagnetism.
Sorry for the snark, but the ridiculous defense spending, record deficit, budget cuts in all the wrong places, and development of weapons systems grossly out of touch with what's needed, is seriously pissing me off. And that goes for the F22/F35 too no matter how f awesome they are.

[redacted]

>> ^EmptyFriend:

>> ^mentality:
So this is what $553,800,000,000 a year gets you.

_{Iraq and Afghanistan not included.}

good thing you took out the iraq and afghanistan money (or tried to at least), wouldn't want that number to seem ridiculously untrue.
a little search says this contract wasn't even $10 million (which is actually pretty small).
http://www.ga.com/news.php?read=1&id=72&page=7
EDIT: and just to be clear, i do think military and defense spending is way too high, but i at least support the development of new technologies as opposed to the continual support/retrofit of old stuff.



Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realize that new technologies to kill people were more important than other kinds of research. Good thing we're slashing NASA's budget so we can better conduct an asymmetrical war on terror using the power of electromagnetism.

*Sorry for the snark, but the ridiculous defense spending, record deficit, budget cuts in all the wrong places, and development of weapons systems grossly out of touch with what's needed, is seriously pissing me off. And that goes for the F22/F35 too no matter how f***** awesome they are.

>> ^blankfist:
Would be a great world if the borders all went away.


Ahh, but what about the fatal flaw in that world? No more borders means nothing left to keep the worlds armies from clashing.

(Although I _would_ want to watch that if they got equipped with Nerf versions of their original weapon systems.)

Someone knows their firearms.
If I may offer and WADR, the Krummlauf option was offered for the MG42 and the STG44 with the "I"(as was correctly stated by radx) used by the infantry and a "P"(Panzer) variant for tanks. Barrels were issued in 30, 45, 60, and 90 degree curves. The 30 was quite accurate, under 1.5 MOA, and all practically accurate. Barrel life was limited, as already stated, with the 30 degree barrels rated roughly at 300 rds and the 45 degree at approximately 160 rds. I have seen one fired and a couple on film. Truly an influential design. Kalashnikov borrowed the gas system for the AK for instance.
>> ^radx:

[Geek]You know where the need for this modification supposedly arose?
Tanks designed without means for CQC/infantry suppression, particularly the Elephant, a heavy tank destroyer based on spare parts of the Porsche Tiger after Henschel's design was chosen. Great armor, immense firepower, piss-poor mobility - and no MG. So they developed the "Maschinenpistolen-Vorsatz P": a weapon system to be fitted on the StG44 which allowed the crew to cover blind spots from within the tank. It consists of a barrel bent 90 degrees, a periscope, an adapter and a hull mounting.
"Vorsatz I" (or J, can't remember) used a barrel bent at 30 degrees and was supposed to be used from within open-topped APCs as well as in urban combat, though it took about a minute to put it onto your rifle and the barrel was useless after 150-300 rounds. I imagine the 45 degree version was to be used in the same manner.
Rheinmetall still have some in their collection.[/geek]

[Geek]You know where the need for this modification supposedly arose?

Tanks designed without means for CQC/infantry suppression, particularly the Elephant, a heavy tank destroyer based on spare parts of the Porsche Tiger after Henschel's design was chosen. Great armor, immense firepower, piss-poor mobility - and no MG. So they developed the "Maschinenpistolen-Vorsatz P": a weapon system to be fitted on the StG44 which allowed the crew to cover blind spots from within the tank. It consists of a barrel bent 90 degrees, a periscope, an adapter and a hull mounting.

"Vorsatz I" (or J, can't remember) used a barrel bent at 30 degrees and was supposed to be used from within open-topped APCs as well as in urban combat, though it took about a minute to put it onto your rifle and the barrel was useless after 150-300 rounds. I imagine the 45 degree version was to be used in the same manner.

Rheinmetall still have some in their collection.[/geek]

I haven't laughed so hard before my coffee in a long time.

Thank you, I think. Saved my keyboard and screen.

Oh, and the teat weapon was shipboard utilizing a Phalanx Close In Weapon System.

Once inside the building, they barricaded themselves in and set to work. Equipment used to make weapon components were trashed and computers, filing cabinets and office furnishings were thrown out of the windows. Once they were done they calmly waited for the police to arrest them. Two activists who supported them outside the factory gates were also on trial. All of the defendants have argued that what they did was not only morally necessary but crucially that it was legal. U.K law allows the commission of damage of property to prevent greater crimes.

Two of the accused, Simon Levin and Chris Osmond have extensive experience of working in Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement. Chris Osmond told the court that ’the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza at that time meant it was imperative to act’. He cited the words of Rachel Corrie, the U.S activist who was killed by an IDF bulldozer in Rafah, as an inspiration. The court heard a passage of Corrie’s diary ’I’m witnessing this chronic insidious genocide and I’m really scared, this has to stop, I think it is a good idea idea for all of us to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop’.

During the trial the court heard not only from the defendants themselves but from Sharyn Lock, who was an international human rights volunteer in Gaza during Cast Lead. She was inside Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City when it was attacked with white phosphorus. She concluded her evidence by saying that she had no doubt that those who armed the Israeli Air Force ’had the blood of children on their hands’. The jury saw footage of the air attacks on the UNWRA compounds where civilians were sheltering and have been given an edited version of the Goldstone report.

Recently elected member of Parliament for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas also gave evidence supporting the decommssioners, saying that the democratic process ’had been exhausted’ as far as the factory was concerned.

On January the 17th 2009 the bombs had already fallen relentlessly on Gaza for three weeks. Massive, passionate demonstrations and pickets had been held in many cities around the country and the world in protest against Israel’s war crimes, but to no avail. A growing sense of helplessness was grabbing hold of the movement as the Palestinian body count stood at over 1400 and counting. 300 of the dead were children. It was against this background that the “citizen’s decommissioning” of EDO MBM/ITT took place.

EDO/ITT is an arms manufacturer, based in Brighton since 1946. They were acquired along with the rest of EDO Corporation by the multinational arms conglomerate ITT in December 2007. Their primary business is the manufacture of weapons systems such as bomb release mechanisms and bomb racks. This includes crucially the manufacture of the VER-2 Zero Retention Force Arming Unit for the Israeli Air Force’s F16 war planes.

Over the years, EDO have consistently denied supplying Israel, and despite over fifty court cases campaigners were not able to properly expose the links between the factory and the IAF. However the serious nature of the charges against the seven (the factory sustained nearly £200,000 of damage and may not have recommenced production for weeks) means that for the first time courts took the argument that EDOs business is fundamentally illegal very seriously.

Paul Hills, the Managing Director of EDO MBM, spent his five days on the witness stand last week being confronted with all the evidence gathered by campaigners over the years –evidence which exposes a complex network of collaboration between British, American and Israeli arms companies and the way in which their deals are clouded in secrecy. The Decommissioners were able to present Mr Hills, for the first time, with a dossier of evidence showing how EDO MBM use a front company in the U.S.A to indirectly supply components for the F 16 to Israel. Under U.K law the supply of weapons components that might be used in the Occupied Territories is actually a crime.

After hearing Hills’ explanations of his company’s business practices, Judge George Bathurst-Norman said that, despite Hill’s denials of dealing with Israel, it was clear that their was enough evidence to justify a genuinely held belief they did. He also offered the opinion that End User Certificates required for arms export licences were “ not worth the paper they are written on” as they can be easily manipulated.

There is a history of juries in British courts finding anti-war activists not guilty when they attack machinery used in war crimes. In 1996 four women from Trident Ploughshares decommissioned a Hawk jet that was about to be shipped to Indonesia – they were found not guilty. In 2008 the Raytheon 9, who damaged a factory in Derry supplying weapons to Israel during the 2006 Lebanon war, were acquitted by a jury and only two weeks ago a group of nine women carrying out a similar action at Raytheon during the Gaza attacks were also found not guilty by an unanimous jury.

On Friday, the jury found Simon Levin, Tom Woodhead, Ornella Saibene, Bob Nicholls, Harvey Tadman, Elijah Smith and Chris Osmond not guilty of “Conspiracy to Cause Criminal damage” by unanimous verdict in Hove Crown Court.

Chris Osmond said “This action was taken because of EDO MBMs illegal supply of weapons to the Israeli military. We brought the suffering of ordinary Palestinians into a British courtroom and confronted with the evidence they took the brave decision to find that our actions were justified.”

The decommissioners’ stance made it clear to companies like EDO that they can no longer count on not being held to account for their actions. There are now a growing number of people in the international community who are willing to risk their own liberty to stand up for the people of Gaza and to challenge Israel’s war crimes through whatever means possible.

And yet the most effective weapon system used against America in the last 60 years was four Boeing commercial aircraft.

Heres a little from one of the eSCAMilla fan club. Its just so insane I had to share it.
Its long, but well worth the read just to glimpse the mindset of the true conspiracy nut.

Here we go.....

"
PART 1.


mccandlish531
...

Your Jose Escamilla harassment campaign is just about over...
...
Your Jose Escamilla harassment campaign is just about over...
Advisory....
They have your name, number(s) and parent's address.
Everything you've said and done is trace-able and now on
the record. Time to stop and disappear. There are actionable
damages involved.
See: http://www.cyberguards.com/CyberStalking.html
scroll down to "federal cyberstalking laws"...
Up to 5 years in prison (juvenile detention in your case) plus up to a
$250,000 fine. Your mommy and daddy will love that. Because they
are probably gonna be liable. Talk about attorney's fees. LMAO!
Forget about ever owning a computer again. Or getting a real job
with a criminal record.
Bad boy! Bad boy!
What cha gonna do, what cha gonna do, when dey come fo' you?
You're cooked. You just don't know it yet.
Wish I could be there to see you piss your pants
when the FBI puts the cuffs on you right in your parent's home. LOL
You shouldn't mess with people who have friends in high places...

PART 2


mccandlish531
...

Re: Re:Your Jose Escamilla harassment campaign is just about over...
...
Re: Re:Your Jose Escamilla harassment campaign is just about over...
The "advisory" was a heads-up from a disinterested third party to give you a chance to quit before you get yourself truly fucked up. Jose has friends in the intel community; (read: retired spooks). Tor will not save you. They already know who you and your friend(s) are. It's just a matter of time.

Do you really believe that programs like Tor don't have a back door for national security purposes? EVERYTHING DOES. In fact, there is a huge building at Peterson AFB near Colorado springs-- millions of square feet-- filled with super computers. Every telemetric communication made in the world-- and I mean EVERY ONE -is digitally recorded there. It has been so for several decades. Your anonymity is not assured, and never has been, no matter what you believe.

But your continuing actions are only making your eventual fate all the more problematic for you once the hammer falls. It doesn't matter where you are, either. You could be in Red China and they will still find you. Funding is not a problem here. Hell ,they can even get intel on you that the public never could using the Freedom of Information Act. There are lots of ways around the Privacy Act too, for a retired field agent with lots of time on his hands. You're out of your league here, kid.

Just remember this: You had a choice, and you made a series of bad decisions. Now
it's too late. When it's all over and you look back, I can promise you that you will have nothing but regrets for what you have done. It will not have been worth the price you are going to pay. And considering the filth that you have subjected Jose and his site to, there isn't a jury anywhere that will have an ounce of sympathy for you.

No need to reply to this. You were given one last chance and you took a pass. Like I said..... you're cooked. You just don't know it yet.

Goodbye................................
Mac531


PART 3

You have no idea what you are talking about.

Remember Manuel Noriega? The Invasion of Panama?
His arrest, then rotting in a Florida prison, where the press
couldn't even see him? (You're probably not old enough.)
He worked undercover for the DEA monitoring drug traffic
through Panama. But he got greedy and decided to play both
sides. He needed a SSN to get his U.S. "government" paycheck.
Once his betrayal was discovered, that gave them a nexus to
go after him ANYWHERE in the world.

If you pay taxes, in ANY country, that nexus exists.
(It's not a "conspiracy". It's by international treaty.)
It doesn't matter where you are, or who you
are. Now if you were a real, live, non-taxpaying "ghost", then my
hat would be off to you. I am. Not a penny in taxes in over twenty
years in any country where I worked... Can you make such a claim?
I seriously doubt it. And that is why you are cooked.

This is why it is nearly impossible
for most people to hide. It might be easier for a kid like you who
has never had a "real" job, thus no tax record, but for most "adults",
hiding only happens by design or government sanction. Why do I
have such a "sanction"? I was involved in the design and creation of
weapons systems that as of today, (twenty years later) still have not
been declassified.

You seem fairly "bright" and articulate for a kid, but it's really a shame
you're wasting all your time harrassing guys like Jose. His heart is in
the right place. That's why the guys in the intel community appreciate
him. But even Jose doesn't know the whole story. The level of
advancement in weapons technology is beyond the comprehension
of most American citizens. Some folks in my field are concerned that
the control of that technology has gone to a group of people who
do not have the best interests of this country in mind.

The propulsion technologies alone would revolutionize the Earth and
Humanity's reach out into the cosmos-- if they were ever declassified.
But I suppose it props up your self esteem and teenage ego to be a big
fish in a little pond rather than to apply your intelligence in areas that
could have world-wide impact. Like physics. Or literature. You're just
wasting valuable time, kid. You've spent so much time living in your
little computer fantasy world, you've lost touch with the fact that there
are real, live endeavors out in the world you could be a part of IF you
simply applied yourself.

Get a life. Know what I mean? "

WOW... See what I mean ?

Has anyone actually played the game? It could be a breakthrough in terms of AI, weapons systems and usage, or story/plotlines. None of us know do we?

(I'm not advocating actually PLAYING the game...just holding off judgement until you do).

"The basic Dragon Skin vest for torso protection costs about $2,000 and the entire getup, which includes a protective collar, optional lightweight SAPI plates, an optional weight bearing rig, backpack plates, and an armored, take-it-with-you anywhere protective blanket, can run an individual more than $5,000. The basic Interceptor body armor issued to American troops costs about $1,100, although the wearer receives far less protection, ballistics information provided by both the manufacturers and the U.S. Army showed. According to the statistics provided by Pinnacle, in Army-supervised ballistics tests Dragon Skin's protective qualities "far exceeded" anything available anywhere else, Chessum said."

I need to get one of those, not to pricey really. The army already uses them in certain situations. The hold up is more bureaucratic than anything else. You have to evaluate a new weapon system and find a way to properly begin switching from older platforms ect ect.

ok two things happened that serve as proof this man is utterly unqualified to handle firearms.

1. when he "cleared" the weapon (i enclosed it in quotations because he most certainly did not clear the weapon properly) he didnt clear it at all. He simply locked the slide to the rear showing that there was no round in the chamber.

There are three steps to clearing ANY weapon system: a) engage the safety (if it has one) b) remove the source of feed c) inspect the breach, bolt face, and magazine well (or ejection port for belt fed systems)

well for Glock's there is no external safety. In its stead is their patented trigger safety. So, really, he completed the first step but failed to remove the source of feed, in this case the magazine. So you'll notice after he's "cleared" it and holds it up to the class, what happens when he releases the slide forward (that first loud click you hear)? He just chambered a round. The gun is now hot.

2. The ONLY time your finger should EVER be on the trigger is when you are ready and prepared to send rounds downrange. He declares he is holding a Glock and as mentioned earlier in my rant they have what's called a trigger safety. It's basically kind of like a second trigger, so to speak, on the trigger itself to describe it in layman's terms. Simply put, that weapon WILL NOT fire unless the trigger is pulled. That being said, the reason the gun "went off" was he pulled the trigger plain and simple. If you watch closely, his finger is on the trigger the entire time! I'm certain he did not have the intention to do so, however, that was no accident. Pure, raw, negligence.

Saw this video a loooooong time ago. The ironic climax is how he states how he is the only one in the room (that he knows of) that is professional enough to handle that weapon moments before he proves to us otherwise. What a gobshite

i dun mean to call anyone out and cause waves but.......i am thoroughly perplexed by Drachen_Jager's comment.

Well first of all, I didnt call what she was firing a gun. I merely said that I'm a gun guy, meaning I love to shoot, I have (I would say) above average knowledge of how they operate, how to maintain them, and how to properly and effectively employ them.

Furthermore even if I HAD called it a gun (which it friggin is) how is it not a gun? I'm really just confused at how you came to the conclusion that an SMG is not a gun. Should i just call it light arms next time? That would be way more vague (considering AT weapon systems and even mortar systems are light arms).

Not angry or offended or anything........just utterly perplexed that you wouldnt call that a gun and then called me out for, according to you, calling it such (even when i didnt). I really am baffled lol

I feel compelled to post my weapon qualifications resume but then I would just look like a bragging, poopfaced, jerk. However, I will say that that person holding the M4 with the M203 attachment in my profile pic.......thats me =P


(no hard feelings there Drachen, just yankin yer chain mate)