http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Study Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:27:57 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=Study Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:12:20 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=753_1371676350 euronymus Dr. Robert H. Goddard, American Rocketry Pioneer. Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard is considered the father of modern rocket propulsion. A physicist of great insight, Goddard also had a unique genius for invention. It is in memory of this brilliant scientist that NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., was established on May 1, 1959. By 1926, Goddard had constructed and successfully tested the first rocket using liquid fuel. Indeed, the flight of Goddard's rocket on March 16, 1926, at Auburn, Mass., was as significant to history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Primitive in their day as the achievement of the Wrights, Goddard's rockets made little impression on government officials. Only through modest subsidies from the Smithsonian Institution and the Daniel Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the leaves of absence granted him by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute of Clark University, was Goddard able to sustain his lifetime of devoted research and testing. Goddard first obtained public notice in 1907 in a cloud of smoke from a powder rocket fired in the basement of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute physics building. School officials took an immediate interest in the work of student Goddard. The school's administration, to their credit, did not expel him. He thus began his lifetime of dedicated work. In 1914, Goddard received two U.S. patents. One was for a rocket using liquid fuel. The other was for a two- or three-stage rocket using solid fuel. At his own expense, he began to make systematic studies about propulsion provided by various types of gunpowder. His classic document was a study he wrote in 1916 requesting funds from the Smithsonian Institution so that he could continue his research. This was later published along with his subsequent research and Navy work in a Smithsonian Miscellaneous Publication No. 2540 (January 1920). It was entitled "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes." In this treatise, Goddard detailed his search for methods of raising weather-recording instruments higher than sounding balloons. In this search, he developed the mathematical theories of rocket propulsion. Toward the end of his 1920 report, Goddard outlined the possibility of a rocket reaching the moon and exploding a load of flash powder there to mark its arrival. The bulk of his scientific report to the Smithsonian was a dry explanation of how he used the $5,000 grant in his research. The press picked up Goddard's scientific proposal about a rocket flight to the moon, however, and created a journalistic controversy concerning the feasibility of such a thing. The resulting ridicule created in Goddard firm convictions about the nature of the press corps, which he held for the rest of his life. Goddard's greatest engineering contributions were made during his work in the 1920s and 1930s. He received a total of $10,000 from the Smithsonian by 1927, and through the personal efforts of Charles A. Lindbergh, he subsequently received financial support from the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation. Progress on all of his work, titled "Liquid Propellant Rocket Development," was published by the Smithsonian in 1936. Goddard's work largely anticipated in technical detail the later German V-2 missiles, including gyroscopic control, steering by means of vanes in the jet stream of the rocket motor, gimbal-steering, power-driven fuel pumps and other devices. His rocket flight in 1929 carried the first scientific payload, a barometer, and a camera. Goddard developed and demonstrated the basic idea of the "bazooka" two days before the Armistice in 1918 at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. His launching platform was a music rack. In World War II, Goddard again offered his services and was assigned by the U.S. Navy to the development of practical jet assisted takeoff and liquid propellant rocket motors capable of variable thrust. In both areas, he was successful. Robert H. Goddard died on Aug. 10, 1945, four days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. Goddard was the first scientist who not only realized the potentialities of missiles and space flight but also contributed directly in bringing them to practical realization. Goddard had a rare talent in both creative science and practical engineering. The dedicated labors of this modest man went largely unrecognized in the United States until the dawn of what is now called the "space age." High honors and wide acclaim, belated but richly deserved, now come to the name of Robert H. Goddard. On Sept. 16, 1959, the 86th Congress authorized the issuance of a gold medal in the honor of professor Robert H. Goddard. Dr. Goddard's Major Contributions: -Explored the practicality of using rocket propulsion to reach high altitudes, even the moon (1912) -Proved that a rocket will work in a vacuum, that it needs no air to push against -Developed and fired a liquid fuel rocket (March 16, 1926, Auburn, Mass.) -Shot a scientific payload in a rocket flight (1929, Auburn, Mass.) -Used vanes in the rocket motor blast for guidance (1932, New Mexico) -Developed gyro control apparatus for rocket flight (1932, New Mexico) -Received U.S. patent for of multi-stage rocket (1914) -Developed pumps suitable for rocket fuels -Launched a rocket with a motor pivoted on gimbals under the influence of a gyro mechanism (1937) "It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." - Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard Experiments made between 1926 to 1930: Experiments made between 1930 to 1931: Experiments made between 1934 to 1935: Experiments made between 1935 to 1936: Experiments made between 1936 to 1938: Experiments made between 1941 to 1945: Hope you liked it. Sources: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/about/history/dr_goddard.html http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sgoddard.htm http://siarchives.si.edu/history/exhibits/stories/robert-h-goddard-american-rocket-pioneer http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=753_1371676350 euronymus Robert Hutchings Goddard and Footage of Rocket Experiments Robert, goddard, rocket, pioneer, american, usa, experiments, footage, nasa, propulsion Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:06:18 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c81_1371380140 IranIsNext A new Department of Veterans Affairs study shows that the toll of suicide on veterans is even higher than previously suspected. According to the military, more active duty soldiers die from suicide than from combat. In 2012, a record 349 members of the armed forces took their own lives.For those who serve, the struggle does not always end when they return to American soil. A U.S. military veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes, on average, according to a recent study from the Department of Veterans Affairs. An older, less detailed government analysis reported that about 18 former service members kill themselves each day. But a recent, more precise study of veteran suicides from 1999 to 2010 shows that the number is heartbreakingly higher: 22 deaths per day. "The mental health and well-being of our courageous men and women who have served the nation is the highest priority for VA, and even one suicide is one too many," said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki."We have more work to do," he continued, "and we will use this data to continue to strengthen our suicide prevention efforts and ensure all Veterans receive the care they have earned and deserve." The report claims that people over the age of 50 constitute nearly 70% of the suicides. A new, more accurate study of veteran suicides from 1999 to 2010 shows that the number is higher than previously thought: some 22 suicides a day. The VA, which also conducted the previous study, released the sobering results Friday - two weeks after the military acknowledged another gloomy fact.More active duty soldiers die from suicide than combat. Last year a record-setting 349 members of the armed forces took their own lives, the military said. This data provides a fuller, more accurate, and sadly, an even more alarming picture of veteran suicide rates," Murray said. Similarly, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America advocacy group said that U.S. citizens should be "outraged" by the statistics, according to NBC News. "Our leaders in Washington need to accelerate efforts to shrink wait times for mental health care and find more creative solutions," said Paul Rieckhoff, founder and CEO of IAVA. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c81_1371380140 IranIsNext U.S. vets commit suicide at alarming rate: VA <span class="highlight">study</span> Combat Suicide, Veteran, Iraq, Afghanistan. Sat, 15 Jun 2013 23:15:12 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=939_1371350596 ArtificialArtist Took a while to get the footage, enjoy! :) I took these timelapses over the course of several weeks to study cloud behaviour a little closer, and thought maybe some of you would like to see this, too. Added a song i made a while ago and quickly edited. If anyone is interested to watch the full RAW footage, it's roughly 20 minutes long.. so let me know and i'll upload it, too. Most of the pictures were taken in 5 second intervals. So one second in the video equals 2 minutes real-time. Nightshots were taken in intervals between 20 and 35 seconds and long exposure. original upload url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj5Odg-zPnQ an alternate version with different music can be found here: -link not available yet- http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=939_1371350596 ArtificialArtist Dancing Clouds Clouds, timelapse, music, cloud study, cloudy, weather, beauty of nature, Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:41:58 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=913_1371227133 naVermeer A new study by astronomers at NASA, Hopkins University and the RIT demonstrates for the first time how stellar-mass black holes produce their highest-energy light. . . This animation of the supercomputer data takes you to the inner zone of the accretion disk of a stellar-mass black hole. Gas heated to 20 million degrees F. as it spirals toward the black hole glows in low-energy, or soft, X-rays. Just before the gas plunges to the center, its orbital motion is approaching the speed of light. X-rays up to hundreds of times more powerful ("harder") than those in the disk arise from the corona, a region of tenuous and much hotter gas around the disk. Coronal temperatures reach billions of degrees. The event horizon is the boundary where all trajectories, including those of light, must go inward. Nothing, not even light, can pass outward across the event horizon and escape the black hole. A new study by astronomers at NASA, Johns Hopkins University and the Rochester Institute of Technology confirms long-held suspicions about how stellar-mass black holes produce their highest-energy light. By analyzing a supercomputer simulation of gas flowing into a black hole, the team finds they can reproduce a range of important X-ray features long observed in active black holes. Jeremy Schnittman, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., led the research. Black holes are the densest objects known. Stellar black holes form when massive stars run out of fuel and collapse, crushing up to 20 times the sun's mass into compact objects less than 75 miles (120 kilometers) wide. Gas falling toward a black hole initially orbits around it and then accumulates into a flattened disk. The gas stored in this disk gradually spirals inward and becomes greatly compressed and heated as it nears the center, ultimately reaching temperatures up to 20 million degrees Fahrenheit (12 million C), or some 2,000 times hotter than the sun's surface. It glows brightly in low-energy, or soft, X-rays. For more than 40 years, however, observations show that black holes also produce considerable amounts of "hard" X-rays, light with energy tens to hundreds of times greater than soft X-rays. This higher-energy light implies the presence of correspondingly hotter gas, with temperatures reaching billions of degrees. The new study involves a detailed computer simulation that simultaneously tracked the fluid, electrical and magnetic properties of the gas while also taking into account Einstein's theory of relativity. Using this data, the scientists developed tools to track how X-rays were emitted, absorbed, and scattered in and around the disk. The study demonstrates for the first time a direct connection between magnetic turbulence in the disk, the formation of a billion-degree corona above and below the disk, and the production of hard X-rays around an actively "feeding" black hole. Music: "Lost in Space" by Lars Leonhard NASA: http://www.nasa.gov http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=913_1371227133 naVermeer NASA | Peer into a Simulated Stellar-mass Black Hole nasa,new,supercomputer,study,peer.black,hole,high,energy, physics Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:46:12 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f09_1371570198 DieKurden By Ayub Nuri The 65th anniversary of Israel's creation this month is, I think, an appropriate occasion for the people and leaders of Kurdistan to reflect for a moment on the future of their own country. What can we learn from the experience of another small country, which has managed to exist and grow powerful against all the odds and in a hostile environment? Can democracy or freedom alone guarantee the survival of Kurdistan? Are modern airports or the presence of foreign oil companies the best safeguards for this land? No doubt these are important. But are they the key underpinnings that have guaranteed Israel's survival for more than six decades? Israel is a democracy. It believes in human rights, and enjoys advanced technology and trade relations with the world. But these are all achievements. They were built in the secure shadow of a strong army, a powerful air force and an efficient intelligence service. Without powerful armed forces and secure borders, civil rights or economic developments are not achievable, or easy to preserve. Since 1948, the main task of all Israeli leaders has been to ensure that Arab armed forces do not cross their borders or air space, and hostile organizations do not fire rockets into the Jewish state. Only after securing these prerequisites have Israeli leaders focused on advancing democracy and freedoms. In Kurdistan, by talking so much about combating corruption and upholding human rights or civil society -- without first securing our borders and the safety of citizens -- are we leaving ourselves open to destruction? Israel has not survived so long in a hostile environment just by issuing mottos of justice and civil rights. Like Israel, which has enemies at its doorstep, we have to peek no further than our own gates to spot the most immediate threat to our own existence: Our neighbor Iraq. From the day the state of Iraq was created and forever, Baghdad has and will consider Kurdistan as its own. Shiite and Sunni leaders alike are unhappy with Kurdish autonomy. They see the region as stolen land, and would be only too pleased to take it back by force. Iraq itself is under no threat of invasion. Yet, Baghdad buys tanks from America and warplanes from Russia. Its neighbors consider Iraq an Arab and Islamic brother, but every day Iraqi leaders are enlarging the army and strengthening the security forces. This is why Kurdistan needs a strong army and advanced weapons. Israel and Kurdistan are both very small, and prey to the same bitter realities of small nations. The swift Nazi occupation of Belgium during the Second World War, Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1991 and Russian tanks rolling into Georgia in 2008 speak of the tragic fate of small countries when hostile neighbors decide to invade. The Kurdistan Region is so small that an army can reach its most populous cities within minutes. It would take a fighter jet just a few seconds to reach its most remote village. So, what has Israel done to compensate for size? The most important step has been perpetual military readiness. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are on alert round the clock, pilots always a few meters from their planes and troops guarding every span of the border like hawks. Last year, radical Islamists killed a number of Egyptian border guards, hijacked their vehicles and tried to infiltrate Israel. But an IDF helicopter, seemingly waiting for just such an eventuality for 65 years, was in the air in an instant, stopping the infiltrators with a deadly rocket. Twice in the past year, unmanned drones were sent from Lebanon to Israel. In both cases, they were shot down while still over Lebanese territory. Also this month, Israel struck and destroyed an arms research center in Damascus and a convoy that was thought to be transporting Iranian weapons to Hezbollah. Meanwhile, since its foundation, Mossad has remorselessly assassinated people in different world capitals who were believed to have killed Israeli citizens, training against Israel, building weapons for Israel's enemies or buying arms on behalf of Israel's neighbors. Israel has been forced to take these steps because it is a very small country, and its neighbors have vowed to one day wipe it off the map. Israel is the only place that the Jewish people consider their true home. It is the only place where they don't stand out for being Jews. It is a place where their hearts are. Theodore Herzl, David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir and Menachem Begin all wanted the same thing: a homeland for the Jews, to save them from perpetual persecution in foreign lands. Can't the same argument be made about the Kurds? Aren't they only happy in their own land? Isn't Kurdistan the only place where the Kurds can live with dignity and without having to conceal their identity? In its wars with the Arabs Israel has always tried to destroy enemy aircraft on the runways, and to annihilate enemy tanks before they could cross the Sinai desert or the Golan Heights. Israeli leaders know very well that once the enemy has crossed the border it is too late. Learning from Israel, the Kurds should monitor the Iraqi army day and night, study its weaponry, get into the minds of its army generals and analyze every move. Because the Kurds are mountain fighters and have very little experience of fighting on open ground, it is important that they learn new tactics. Otherwise, the open planes south of Kirkuk, north of Diyala and outside Mosul, could very well become the cause of Kurdish defeat. This article does not beat the drums of war. It wants only to say that the survival of this tiny Kurdish homeland relies on an army, advanced weapons and well-fed soldiers. For every Iraqi tank the Kurds must possess a weapon, for every Iraqi soldier there must be two Peshmargas and for every one of Baghdad's plans the Kurds must have a counter strategy. Source: Rudaw http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f09_1371570198 DieKurden Israel and Kurdistan: Two Nations, One Geography Israel, Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, Kurdistan Region Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:03:07 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a4a_1371516648 Detroit Iron By JAMES HOLMES AND TOSHI YOSHIHARA Posted 06:14 PM ET U.S. Navy Must Compete for Maritime Supremacy Writing recently in the Los Angeles Times, Gordon Chang and retired Adm. James Lyons pointed with alarm to China's naval expansion. That sea power represents the path to national greatness is now axiomatic for the Chinese state and society. China is bolting together a great navy with aplomb, and the United States had better take notice. Beijing is thinking hard about how to use this new implement to advance national power and purposes. This poses a challenge of the first order. America and its allies must brace themselves for a permanent Chinese presence in maritime Asia - or beyond. Their first step: jettison the decades-old assumption that American sea power is an unchallengeable arbiter of Asian affairs. No longer does the U.S. Navy rule the Asian seas by virtual birthright. Our navy must compete for what it has long taken for granted. Sure, that means rebuilding the material component of sea power, manifest in ships, weaponry and bases. Gadgetry obsesses Western pundits. But the service must also think. It must relearn the habits of mind needed to compete and win. Rediscovering musty old books from America's seagoing past is a good place to start rebuilding its strategic literacy. Reacquainting itself with its own traditions can help the U.S. Navy navigate today's discomfiting new normal. Beijing views seaborne might as a prerequisite for its ascent to great power. At the Chinese Communist Party congress late last year, outgoing President Hu Jintao vowed to "build China into a maritime power." Hu's words marked the first time officialdom had used such a high-profile public forum to promote China's seafaring project. His directive, since reaffirmed by successor Xi Jinping, signifies a radical break with China's historic preoccupation with continental affairs. The People's Liberation Army Navy is way ahead of Hu's and Xi's policy pronouncements. The fleet is already making its presence felt across the region. It recently commissioned its first aircraft carrier, dubbed Liaoning. It has mounted shows of force in the farthest reaches of the South China Sea, putting steel behind Beijing's territorial claims. And on and on. The PLA Navy is clearly a service on the make. History's Lessons But the story doesn't end there. Sea power is about more than navies. It also incorporates land-based missiles and aircraft capable of striking at sea. Moreover, nonmilitary law-enforcement agencies have dispatched vessels to confront Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines. Fishing fleets - even cruise ships - have gotten into the act, daring rival claimants to evict them from contested expanses. China could prevail in maritime disputes without ever sending the navy. In fact, it would prefer to. Sea power is also about more than physical brawn. It demands intellect. It demands vigor and resolve, qualities the Chinese boast in abundance. Accordingly, Beijing has invested lavish intellectual capital in shaping its seaward turn. For over a decade now, the leadership has nurtured a freewheeling academic environment, encouraging officials and scholars of various stripes to hold forth on China's seaborne future. The discourse has been impressive. But China remains a closed society. Why would the leadership fan raucous debate over marine affairs while crushing political dissent? Probably out of expediency. It takes a clash of ideas among fearless minds to yield creative thinking of sufficient quality to inform policy and strategy. And by grooming a cohort of (relative) freethinkers, China solidifies the popular and elite consensus that sea power is a natural if not inevitable choice for the nation. Furthermore, the Chinese are acutely conscious that mindless pursuit of sea power - shipbuilding unmoored from rational strategy - could abort China's rise. It's happened before. History reminds Beijing that Imperial Germany staged an imprudent naval challenge to Great Britain during the age of Pax Britannica. Imperial Japan undertook an illusory quest of its own, seeking a cataclysmic battleship duel against the U.S. Navy. Whimsy helped bring down great empires. Only through careful study can China avoid similar blunders. Letting a hundred flowers bloom, then, has let intellectual curiosity flourish, to the benefit of China's nautical cause. Chinese strategists commonly consult Western sea-power theorists - most prominently Alfred Thayer Mahan, the second president of the Naval War College - to school their thinking. Multiple translations of Mahan's celebrated treatise "The Influence of Sea Power upon History" (1890) now festoon Chinese bookshelves. The Chinese are avid consumers of ideas, merging concepts from foreign thinkers into a distinctive brand of maritime strategy. Their voracity stands in sharp contrast to the apathy many American naval officers, strategists and academics exhibit toward sea-power history and theory, the fields that furnish the raw material for strategy-making. To cope with China's march to the sea, the U.S. Navy must not just outpace PLA hardware development. It must match the industry and acumen of Chinese thinkers. It's tough for a long-time champ to stay hungry. Complacency is easier. But our navy must rekindle its determination to learn and compete - or risk losing its title to Asia's No. 1 contender. o Holmes and Yoshihara are professors of strategy at the Naval War College, where Yoshihara occupies the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies. They're also co-authors of "Red Star Over the Pacific" (in paperback this summer). Their views here are theirs alone. Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials-viewpoint/061713-660277-china-growth-means-us-has-to-compete-to-dominate-the-seas.htm#ixzz2WWdIVUE6 Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a4a_1371516648 Detroit Iron Growth Of Chinese Navy Means U.S. Must Compete For Maritime Supremacy U.S. Navy, China Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:51:15 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=912_1371512932 dcmfox According to a Congressional study, $6,000 is the average amount taxpayers are being dinged per employee. Walmart's wages and benefits are so low, it forces workers to go on Medicaid and receive housing assistance, childcare subsidies, food stamps, and more. Yes, it's totally insane, but it's true. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=912_1371512932 dcmfox That Cheap Stuff You Just Bought At Walmart? Turns Out It Cost $6,000 More Than You Thought walmart, taxpayers, 6000, dollars, per, employee, food stamps, low wages Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:04:00 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dc9_1371502742 john4891 Everyone is wondering (at least I am) who is Ben Rhodes, a 30-something who ascended from literally nowhere to be what seems a main driving force behind Obama's foreign policy. He is credited with convincing the president to embrace the Arab Spring, convincing the president to bomb Libya, and, now, convincing the president to start yet another war, this time against Syria. Who is he? How did a 24-year old aspiring fiction-writer in 2002 suddenly become one of the drafters of not only the 9/11 Commission report but also the Iraq Study Group Report? Then move on to Obama's presidential campaign as a speechwriter and then to Deputy National Security Advisor, from which he announced the beginning of a US war on Syria while the president met with supporters in the East Room of the White House? Those familiar with Washington know that such miraculous ascents rarely happen on their own and are equally rarely the result of pure, raw talent. There might be some clues to his brother David's also improbable rise -- from a lowly production assistant at Fox News at the end of the 1990s to covering presidential elections for Fox News (including the one where his brother was writing Obama's speeches) to the lofty position of president of CBS news by 2011! The excellent Russ Baker was wondering about all this way back in March, when he noticed a typical New York Times gloss-over article on Rhodes. Aside from his quite unbelievable rise, we do know that he was catastrophically wrong on Libya, where a Time Magazine article pointed out at the time that he was the strong counter-weight to those who argued for more caution on the use of force. Here is how Time put it back in 2011, when the interventionists were on the verge of their triumph: Obama and his aides know they are taking a big risk. "It's a huge gamble," says the senior administration official. The administration knows, for example, that al Qaeda, which has active cells in Libya, will try to exploit the power vacuum that will come with a weak or ousted Gaddafi. They also know that the U.S. will have to rely on other countries for the crucial task of rebuilding Libya and that the region may in fact be further destabilized by intervention. Outweighing that, the National Security Council's Ben Rhodes says, are the long-term benefits of saving lives, protecting the possibility of democratic change elsewhere in the region and-tellingly-ensuring "the ability of collective action to be a tool in circumstances like this." Rhodes carried the day on Libya and he was completely incorrect in his assessment, his analysis, his prediction, and his prescription. Anyone who bothers to look at Libya today, which is run by gangs of roving extremist death squads would see what a fool Ben Rhodes is for his promise of "democratic change" in Libya -- and how much more foolish is the president for following the advice of such a person. Rhodes is named as the source of the White House-altered CIA talking points on Benghazi, where references to the Islamist extremist role in the attack on US Ambassador Chris Stevens were erased. It is understandable why the fiction writer Rhodes would want to toss that reference in the circular file: that particular sub-plot did not fit in with the main theme he had already painstakingly written, namely that the US attack on Libya would end the killing, stabilize the country, and bring about a democratic revolution that would continue to spread through the region. Fiction writers understand that a sub-plot could take your readers too far off the main narrative of the story and cause serious structural problems. That is why there are so many rounds of re-writes. The killing of Stevens and the rise of murderous -- and racist -- extremists did not fit the plot, so it had to be deleted. Being wrong on war when you are on the sending end of death and destruction is less obvious to your countrymen than when you are on the receiving end. But anyone living in Libya after Rhodes' "life-saving" mission knows full well the kind of liberation that comes at the tip of a US missile. And neighboring countries know as well what happens when a nation armed to the teeth with weapons, including chemical weapons, completely implodes after its infrastructure is destroyed by foreign attack. In Washington, though, being catastrophically wrong on Libya eminently qualifies Ben Rhodes to take the lead on US Syria policy. http://tinyurl.com/kwf9oq2 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dc9_1371502742 john4891 Ben Rhodes, the Zionist Behind Obama's Libya and Syria Policies Syria, Libya, Benghazi Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:42:20 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dff_1371478630 Thickhanger Here's a real WTF. It turns out that the favorite part of a male citizen of Pakistan is another mans penis. It's also noteworthy that Pakistan has the highest rate of internet porn trafficking. This is even more the average Liveleak member. And we ain't just dickin' around. According to Google Trends, Pakistan is by volume the world leader for Google searches of the terms "shemale sex," "teen anal sex," "the Pakistani prostate plunger" and "man fucking man." Being a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transsexual person is a considered a taboo vice in Pakistan and gay rights are non-existent. Pakistani law mandates same-sex sexual acts are illegal and even same sex dating is punishable by death. And it always is. According to a Pew Research Global study of sexuality in Pakistan, only 2% of society should accept homosexuality. Of the 39 other countries surveyed, Pakistan was the least tolerant of any homosexual type of behavior at all with an approval of zero. Pakistani society is so intolerant of homosexuality that is is actually one of the few countries in the world where homosexuality is punishable by death. While homosexuality may be a cultural taboo in Muslim nations such as Pakistan, that is not to say that homosexuality does not exist.*( Except in Iran where of course we all know it definitely does not. But I suppose if you murder all of the gays then theoretically there indeed would nor be any homosexuals). Rather, these feelings are repressed, concealed from the public eye, and unleashed in other arenas such as the Internet, where society cannot condemn them. Nor condom them. Due to this clandestine and covert method of dealing with this "non-existent" homosexual behavior, Pakistan is quickly running out of hand lotions and Kleenex. http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2013/06/gay-porn-pakistan http://www.documentingreality.com/forum/f225/why-gay-porn-so-popular-pakistan-128812/ http://www.policymic.com/articles/48825/pakistan-is-one-of-the-world-s-least-gay-friendly-countries-until-you-see-its-google-history http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dff_1371478630 Thickhanger Pakistans Private Pornography WTF,religion,sexuality,homosexuality,gay,foo foo,sissy la la, Ally Gaybar,Thickhanger, Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:27:14 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ed9_1371468102 Detroit Iron By Arjun Sreekumar More Articles June 16, 2013 Many experts have hailed shale oil and gas as a game-changer for the U.S. economy. The application of new drilling techniques has led to an unprecedented surge in domestic oil production, prompting many to conclude that U.S. energy independence may be just around the corner. But shale oil, like most other natural resources, is a finite resource. Some skeptics have even pointed out that shale wells exhibit much steeper decline rates than conventional wells, which, they suggest, implies that the boom could fizzle out much sooner than mainstream commentators believe. So just how long could shale oil last? A decade of global shale oil According to a new study by the, the world has enough shale resources to satisfy more than a decade of global oil consumption. The report, which marked the first time the department has assessed the size of global shale resources, pegged technically recoverable shale oil resources at 345 billion barrels, or about 10% of global crude oil supplies. The study surveyed shale reserves in more than 40 countries and determined that Russia had the world's largest shale oil reserves, at around 75 billion barrels. The U.S. was second with about 58 billion barrels. Rounding out third, fourth, and fifth places were China, at 38 billion, Argentina, at 27 billion, and Libya, at 26 billion. However, the report considered only resources that were deemed technically recoverable -- meaning those that can be extracted using current exploration and production technology -- without taking into account cost and profitability. It further left out prospective shale areas, such as those underneath major oilfields in the Middle East and the Caspian Sea region, and cautioned that its estimates are "highly uncertain." North American success with shale Though the new estimates are encouraging, there are a few important points to consider. First and foremost, it's unclear whether North American success in shale drilling can be replicated around the world. Thus far, only the U.S. and Canada have managed to extract commercial quantities of oil and gas from shale formations. The main reason for this has been the large-scale application of new technologies, such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," that have allowed producers to more easily coax oil and gas from dense rock formations. Though oilfield services firm Halliburton was the first company to use hydraulic fracturing commercially to recover oil and gas all the way back in 1949, the practice didn't become widespread until just about half a decade ago. Now, Chesapeake Energy is one company using the technique in popular oil plays, such as Texas' Eagle Ford, where it has been met with considerable success. In the first quarter, the company reported a staggering 225% year-over-year increase in daily net Eagle Ford production, which came in at 75,000 barrels of oil equivalent. Some companies are even finding innovative new ways to power their fracking operations. After Range Resources paved the way by becoming the first company to apply hydraulic fracturing techniques to recover natural gas in the Marcellus shale of Pennsylvania, Cabot Oil &amp; Gas followed in its pioneering footsteps by recently becoming the first company to use "field" natural gas in northeastern Pennsylvania to fracture wells ---a feat it accomplished by using engines that can run on either natural gas or diesel. Can North American shale success be copied? However, it's unclear whether U.S. and Canadian success in shale drilling can be replicated in other countries with large shale resources. In addition to having pioneered new drilling technologies, U.S. and Canadian energy producers enjoy several key advantages that their international counterparts do not yet possess. Chief among them is the presence of a sophisticated and extensive infrastructure network, consisting mainly of pipelines and storage terminals. In addition, U.S. and Canadian energy producers have preferential access to crucial ingredients in the fracking process, such as specialized drilling rigs and plenty of water, as well as clearly established and enforceable property rights. One company that was a true pioneer and driving force behind the U.S. shale revolution is Chesapeake Energy. While debt-related challenges continue to cast a dark cloud of uncertainty over Chesapeake's future, few would question the superb quality of its remaining oil and gas assets. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ed9_1371468102 Detroit Iron How Long Will Shale Oil Last? U.S. energy independence, U.S. Department of Energy Sun, 16 Jun 2013 19:52:45 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e5_1371426537 SAPD_HRT New dashcam video has been released from a St. Patrick's Day police shootout in Solon that ended with a suspect dead. The two police officers involved have been cleared of any wrongdoing during the traffic stop that took a deadly turn.Police trainers use recent incidents and every scenario they can think of to prepare officers. Solon police said Monday night that the training they have developed as recently as four years ago may have saved one officer's life.On the night of St. Patrick's Day, Solon Police Officer Steven Davis pulled over Kevin Bailey for a traffic violation.Officer Davis reported smelling marijuana in the car and called for backup. As both officers approached the car, Bailey rolls up his window and starts his car.A short chase ended when Bailey blew out a dire. Davis's cruiser blocked Bailey's door, but then Bailey opens fire on police.Davis, a member of the SWAT team, returned fire through the windshield, killing Bailey with shots to his head and shoulder.It's why police spend long hours training specifically for traffic stops, which are responsible for more than half of all on-duty officer deaths, according to one study.Last March, James Gilkerson opened fire on Middlefield Police with an AK-47.Officers returned fire, killing him.Four years ago, the Solon Police Department began training for shooting at a suspect and through a windshield. Police use recent incidents and try to imagine every scenario to prepare for when the routine traffic stop becomes anything but.The Ohio Attorney General's Investigation revealed Bailey sent text messages to his mother hours before the shooting, distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend, and expected to die that day.That report found no drugs in Bailey's system. http://bcove.me/2zunuof8 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e5_1371426537 SAPD_HRT Video: Ohio man flees cops, killed in shootout Video, Police, Shoot, Out Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:02:59 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=db8_1371354359 SAPD_HRT In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift in how the tactical community approaches its fitness training. The majority of this change has come from the individual operators looking to improve their general physical preparedness for the job via an emphasis on more functional training. Functional fitness is all the rage these days in the civilian gyms, and it has recently found some acceptance by various branches of the military as well as law enforcement. Everyone and his mother has jumped on the functional fitness or "functional training" bandwagon, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. In your 20s, you can beat the snot out of yourself in training and come back for more. By your 30s, however, there's a price to be paid for it. And by your 40s, you can have almost total incapacitation due to an accumulation of injuries from all your years of high-intensity training. What SWAT fitness experts are discovering is that some of this wear and tear and incapacitation can be avoided with "smart" training instead of "hard" training. Smart training is real-world oriented and job applicable. It's not just training for the sake of training. Functional SWAT Training Functional SWAT training is training that prepares the operator to work as a tactical officer. It emphasizes an improved strength-to-body-weight ratio, carrying unbalanced loads, and performing a variety of tasks against the resistance an operator faces on duty such as carrying a wounded comrade who is wearing full tac gear, climbing over walls, or pushing stalled vehicles out of the way and then returning effective fire on target. It's one thing to be a crack shot on the range under no stress and another to shoot accurately under combat stress. When you have to push a car that won't start out of the line of fire or drag a wounded comrade or civilian out of the kill zone and then return effective fire on target, the musculature responsible for providing a steady shooting platform is much less stable due to the adrenaline dump that you are experiencing. As a general rule, a correctly designed training program for tactical officers yields improved job-specific general physical preparedness. Specifically, such a program includes a balance of strength and endurance training and simulated job-specific movement patterns. Functional SWAT fitness programs are designed to achieve results without producing injuries or weakening the officers through overtraining. There are two major benefits of functional SWAT training over traditional SWAT training: An improvement in job-specific general physical preparedness and overall physical performance. Reduced injury rates, which can lead to an increased operational longevity of the SWAT operator. Following the Military From the earliest days of SWAT, tactical law enforcement units have drawn the inspiration for their fitness regimens from the training conducted by elite military units such as the U.S. Army Special Forces and Navy SEALs. But today even Spec Ops units are starting to rethink their training. A 2008 article titled "Clinical Diagnoses in a Special Forces Group: The Musculoskeletal Burden" published in the Journal of Special Operations Medicine by James H. Lynch and Mark P. Pallis examined the training-related injury patterns in the 5th Special Forces Group and came to some useful conclusions. The study revealed that physical training caused 50% of all injuries experienced by the members of this elite military unit. Such injuries resulted in 10 times the number of lost work days as illnesses. Further, the leading reason for outpatient visits to the base hospital by the members of this unit was musculoskeletal disorders caused by overtraining. Lynch and Pallis argue that Special Forces training is out of date and needs to change to a more functional model. "To focus more on prevention, Special Forces Groups should modify unit physical training programs to incorporate the fitness and performance fundamentals used in today's top athletic programs. Military researchers have shown that modified physical training programs can result in lower injury rates with improvements in physical fitness. Training regimens that emphasize core strength and cross-training would likely increase physical readiness while decreasing the incidence of spine and lower extremity injuries," they wrote. In short, training hard and training smart are not always interchangeable concepts. Smart training leads to superior performance and reduced injury rates, with improved operational readiness and greater operational longevity for the SWAT operator or Spec Ops commando. The alternative results in days off and trips to the hospital. Lynch and Pallis conclude, "By making these changes to training and resourcing, Special Forces Groups will be investing in our most lethal weapon-the individual Special Forces Soldier." The Marine Corps was one of the first branches of the military to recognize the need for a more functional fitness model. It has since developed and implemented the Combat Fitness Test, an exercise that all Marines must pass in addition to the standard Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test. The Marine Corps Combat Fitness Test assesses the physical strength, endurance, and agility of the Marine in battle. The P.A.S.T Program A general discussion of functional SWAT training brings us to a discussion of Practical Applied Stress Training (P.A.S.T) concepts. P.A.S.T is not specifically a general physical preparedness program for tactical law enforcement, but more an adjunct to it. It's common practice for SWAT teams to train diligently in their firearms skills and tactics, while hitting the gym or the road as a separate training rotation. P.A.S.T attempts to bridge that reality and parallel what a real incident may demand, which is a combination of shooting proficiency, as well as anaerobic and aerobic fitness. The only way to perform in such a situation is to have experienced the effects of physical and mental stress on marksmanship skills and test whether or not your job-specific fitness and shooting skills are up to the task. Even the most advanced shooter in great physical condition will find his or her marksmanship severely degraded when forced to shoot under intense physical stress. As expected, the operator who is not in adequate physical condition to begin with can expect to see his or her marksmanship go completely to hell when put under physical and mental stress. P.A.S.T focuses on functional strength, improving body-weight-to-strength ratios, dealing with unbalanced loads, and overall fitness and conditioning combined with shooting rotations. P.A.S.T prepares SWAT operators to perform efficiently under worst case scenarios. Unfortunately, it's often the case that PT-related training and marksmanship don't come together until the officer is in the middle of a life-and-death situation, where his or her ability to perform is tested as never before and the outcome is unsure. Thus the trend toward more functional style training in the tactical community should be encouraged, and P.A.S.T adds a dimension to the training of tactical law enforcement not duplicated by other programs. Training in Stages Functional SWAT training programs should have a logical progression. The training day is usually split into two stages: Stage One is individual testing where a single operator is run through the stage and scored. This gives feedback on both the individual's fitness levels and shooting abilities under physical stress. Stage Two is basically the same as Stage One except it is run in two-officer teams in parallel, making for a highly competitive environment. The stage may contain sections that require two people to complete. Examples of Stage Two drills include a fireman's carry of a partner 100 yards up a hill, getting over an 8- to 10-foot wall, scaling mock buildings, or flipping 800-pound tires. Shooting drills within the stage may require an individual to complete the shooting stage before the other can move on. Trainers can be committed to the stage to add additional physical essentials training within the stage such as hands-on weapons retention training. Shooting drills within the stages are always based on essential shooting skills required by the SWAT operator such as shooting on the move, shooting from cover, engaging multiple targets, and shoot/no-shoot scenarios. You can think of this functional training as job-specific cross-training with guns that yields improvement in physical conditioning and enhances firearms proficiency under real-world stress conditions. Additional benefits include whole body conditioning, team building, and the ability to employ this type of training on your own range with a variety of tools. The system is dynamic and flexible, so it is not limited to high-tech, specialized equipment. Sample Drills A sample drill in the Stage One category of functional SWAT training may be a half-mile run to a barrier, from which a target at 60 yards is engaged using an M4 carbine. From there, the operator must scale a 9-foot wall, climb a 40-foot rope, then transport a comrade 50 yards fireman carry style. Once the transport is completed the operator must engage targets with his or her secondary weapon. Common target drills immediately following the physical stress exercises could include a popper at 20 yards standing freestyle, a popper that activates a swinger at 12 yards, and a classic Mozambique Drill from 7 yards on a graded scoring target such as an IDPA target that allows graded scoring for head shots, center mass shots, and anything outside those two desired points of impact. Stages usually include shoot/no-shoot scenarios and shooting drills from different positions-including standing, prone, and kneeling using cover-that challenges the shooters' skills. These drills are made even more difficult because the operators' muscles are tired and heart rates are up. Add full tac gear and a gas mask, and you have a real challenging day. The benefits of functional SWAT training when implemented correctly to meet the specific requirements of the community will be improvements in physical preparedness and job-specific general physical preparedness combined with reduced injury rates. Adopting such methods vs. the current methods may lead to an increased operational longevity of the SWAT operator. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=db8_1371354359 SAPD_HRT Rethinking SWAT Training Police, SWAT, HRT, SRT, Training