tagged w/ Air Force
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What if your loved one was prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice of fighting for their country, but that same country doesn’t want you to exist?What if your loved one was prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice of fighting for... more
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I hope that more people can find the strength to do the same. I don't agree with a logistcal basis for refuting the war (it has/will cost too much), I think that is a self destructive mentality, but expressing one's mind at the threat of facing government oposition is comendable and courageous.I hope that more people can find the strength to do the same. I don't agree with... more
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had to hustle—the sky was scheduled to start glowing soon, and he didn't want to miss it. It was just before sunset, a cold February evening in deep-woods Alaska, and the broad-shouldered US Air Force physicist was scrambling across the snow in his orange down parka and fur-lined bomber hat. Grabbing cables and electronics, he rushed to assemble a jury-rigged telescope atop a crude wooden platform.
The rig wasn't much, just a pair of high-sensitivity cameras packed into a dorm-room refrigerator and pointed at a curved mirror reflecting a panoramic view of the sky. Pedersen had hoped to monitor the camera feed from a relatively warm bunkhouse nearby. But powdery snow two feet deep made it difficult to string cables back to the building.
As darkness closed in, Pedersen tried to get the second imager working—with no luck—and the first one began snapping pictures. A few minutes before seven, throbbing arcs of green and red light began to form on his monitor, eventually coalescing into an egg shape. Other shards of light shimmered, gathered into a jagged ring, and spun around the oval center. "This is really good stuff," Pedersen cooed. This wasn't just another aurora borealis triggered by solar winds; this one Pedersen made himself. He did it with the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (Haarp): a $250 million facility with a 30-acre array of antennas capable of spewing 3.6 megawatts of energy into the mysterious plasma of the ionosphere.
Budget for Haarp's high-altitude nuclear cleanup research (millions)
Source: Darpa Budget Estimates
Bringing Haarp to fruition was, well, complicated. A group of scientists had to cozy up to a US senator, cut deals with an oil company, and convince the Pentagon that the project might revolutionize war. Oh, and along the way they sparked enough conspiracy theories to make the place sound like an arctic Area 51.
But the shocking thing about Haarp isn't that it's a boondoggle (it's actually pretty worthwhile) or that it was spawned by a military-industrial-petrochemical-political complex (a hallowed government tradition). It's that, all too often, this is the way big science gets done in the US. Navigating the corridors of money and power is simply what scientists have to do.
In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received a simple radio signal sent from across the Atlantic Ocean—dot-dot-dot, again and again, the letter S repeated in Morse code. Leading scientists of the day had said such a transmission was impossible: Earth's surface is curved, and radio waves travel in straight lines. The dots should have shot out into space. Instead, they traveled from Cornwall, England, to a 500-foot antenna Marconi hung from a kite in Newfoundland. A previously unknown, electromagnetically charged layer of the atmosphere was reflecting the signal back down to earth.
At any given moment, the sun is bombarding our planet with 170 billion megawatts of ultraviolet, x-ray, and other radiation. Those waves collide with atoms of air—nitrogen, oxygen, and so on—stripping away electrons like spring rain eroding a snowbank. The result: positively charged ions drifting free. At high altitudes, those ions are far enough apart that it can take hours for them to bind with a free electron. Called the ionosphere, these undulating bands of charged particles stretch from 50 to 500 miles above the earth—too high for weather balloons and, in large part, too low for satellites. Researchers who study it jokingly call it the ignorosphere.
For decades, researchers who wanted to bother with the ignorosphere did what Marconi had done—they built an emitter, pointed it straight up, and watched to see what would happen next. Those researchers learned that the ionosphere contains plasma, charged gas clouds that are more common in stars than on Earth. They saw that regions of the ionosphere expand and contract depending on their position over the planet, the tilt of Earth toward the sun, and the time of day. (At night, for instance, onhad to hustle—the sky was scheduled to start glowing soon, and he didn't... more
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By Leo Standora
Daily News Staff Writer
Government officials knew the Air Force One flyover of the Statue of Liberty would scare the bejabbers out of New Yorkers,but they went ahead with it anyway and quickly realized their bigtime blunder.By Leo Standora
Daily News Staff Writer
Government officials knew the Air Force... more
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O’Reilly interviewed two liberals about the recent Pentagon decision to deny an Air Force fly-over of the God & Country Festival in Idaho because it was seen as an “endorsement” of religion. Despite the presence of two liberals, Bill did get to work in the perfunctory Christian right talking points which had already been articulated by Gretchen Carlson earlier in the week. If the filming of this segment was done on the same day, July 9th, there was an abundance of information about this story – but Bill either didn’t read it or chose to ignore it.
If you go to the God & Country Festival website, { http://godandcountryfestival.com/the-mission-of-the-god-and-country-festival.html }, the FIRST sentence you will read is "Our mission is primarily about spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ."
And if you go to the God & Country Festival Facebook page, { http://www.facebook.com/pages/Treasure-Valley-God-and-Country-Festival/87671198869#/pages/Treasure-Valley-God-and-Country-Festival/87671198869?v=info&viewas=1177811588 }, you'll find their mission statements says: "Our mission is primarily about spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. We believe this Festival, started in 1967, is an incredible tool to share this Good News by strengthening the fabric of our society through our connection to family and country."O’Reilly interviewed two liberals about the recent Pentagon decision to deny an... more
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I thought we had a handle on this.... I wonder what the next flu season will bring..........
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The number of cadets with confirmed cases of the swine flu at the Air Force Academy has increased to 67.
The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs reported Monday that 121 freshmen with flu-like symptoms have been separated from the rest of the cadets. They were placed in a dormitory on the base near Colorado Springs late last week when they started showing symptoms.
The "doolies," members of the incoming freshman class, are among about 1,300 cadets who arrived recently for their first weeks of military training.
A possible outbreak of swine flu ended a summer youth camp early at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where 10 students and three staff members showed symptoms Sunday.
Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazette.com
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.I thought we had a handle on this.... I wonder what the next flu season will... more
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The US Air Force has teamed up with Galpin Auto Sports and built the stealth-looking Dodge Challenger Vapor – part muscle car, part fighter jet – all military strategy.
The designers fitted the body of the car with jet enhancements that would even make Batman look twice. Special radar-blocking black paint covers the car, while a stealth exhaust allows it to run virtually silent. A roof-mounted camera detects any type of movement within a quarter mile. Biometric verification via the driver’s thumbprint gives access to the vehicle through gull wing doors. And once seated behind the wheel (or wheels, as there is a passenger-side steering wheel as well), the pilot and co-pilot can use an advanced computer-system complete with internet access, a GPS tracking system, exterior proximity sensors, as well as switch on a thermal vision projection on the windshield to track enemy forces through the darkness.
The sad part is that the Air Force designed it as a recruitment tool and plan on driving it across the country to various schools to make young folks think it’s cool to join the military. That’s low.
What do you think?The US Air Force has teamed up with Galpin Auto Sports and built the stealth-looking... more
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Check this out - a military flight simulator that uses 120 graphics cards to generate a near perfect simulation. Apparently it's of 20-40 "visual acuity" - which is very close to 20-20, which would make it indistinguishable.
The only thing it fails to replicate is the moral considerations when bombing civilian populations considered acceptable collateral damage.Check this out - a military flight simulator that uses 120 graphics cards to generate... more
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May 19: Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach was an 18-year veteran of the Air Force, and an F-15 fighter pilot. He still would be, but the Air Force fired him because he revealed he was gay. Rachel Maddow is joined by Fehrenbach, who is now fighting to keep his job.
Another one bites the dust to a failed and bigoted policy.May 19: Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach was an 18-year veteran of the Air Force, and an... more
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Authorities say a cockpit hijacking alarm was mistakenly tripped on an American Airlines flight carrying more than 150 people, forcing fighter jets to escort the plane onto the tarmac.Authorities say a cockpit hijacking alarm was mistakenly tripped on an American... more
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- CNN.com
President Obama has accepted the resignation of Louis Caldera, the director of the White House Military Office responsible for the controversial low-altitude flyover of New York by a 747 plane used as Air Force One, the White House said Friday.
The 747 used as Air Force One flies over the Statue of Liberty in this photo released on Friday by the White House.
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The photo shoot, which President Obama said he was "furious" with, happened on April 27. The image of a low-flying plane accompanied by an F-16 fighter jet sent some New Yorkers into the streets and into a panic -- reminding them of the tragic 9/11 attacks on the city.- CNN.com
President Obama has accepted the resignation of Louis Caldera, the... more
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An Army contractor who pleaded guilty to shooting an Afghan man who set one of his teammates on fire will not go to prison.
Don Michael Ayala was sentenced to five years probation and was fined Friday in federal court. Ayala had faced up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
The families of Ayala and Paula Loyd, the woman who was set on fire, wept when the verdict was read.An Army contractor who pleaded guilty to shooting an Afghan man who set one of his... more
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The Royal military is trying to promote itself as a possible career for children with these action figures. Check out the photos below taken on Wednesday, May 6, 2009.The Royal military is trying to promote itself as a possible career for children with... more
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Since 9/11, the FAA has strict rules about flying within "x" number of miles within these buildings. Many say the approval had to come from the top. If that is the case, as this article makes, the lack of judgement and sensitivity is overwhelming. Judgement in this administration continues to disappoint . If not for the people who witnessed 9/11 but again this out of control spending. An empty plane, spending $300,000 for another photo op. How many photos do we need that We the People must pay for?Since 9/11, the FAA has strict rules about flying within "x" number of miles... more
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An authorized military photo shoot involving Air Force aircraft, including one from the AF One fleet, caused momentary concern for those unaware of the exercise as they flew close to the Statue of Liberty.
Same story - Fox News Headline;
MILITARY JETS TERRORIZE NEW YORK MONUMENT!
Dick was right, we've been terrorized again - neocons save us!!!An authorized military photo shoot involving Air Force aircraft, including one from... more
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This picturesque community among the redwoods, once dubbed "the Berkeley of the north" for its reputation for unabashed liberalism, has repeatedly thumbed its nose at the federal government.
Over the years, its civic leaders have declared this city a sanctuary for military resisters to the Persian Gulf War and barred local enforcement of the Patriot Act. If they had had enough pull, President George W. Bush would have been impeached at least once.
Now Arcata is at it again, with a law blocking the military from recruiting anybody in town under the age of 18. And this time, the law has the backing not of a few City Council activists, but of thousands of voters who went to the polls in November.
On the same day, voters in Eureka, a historically politically staid city a dozen miles away, surprised everybody by approving an identical measure.This picturesque community among the redwoods, once dubbed "the Berkeley of the... more
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BAGHDAD - U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone aircraft that ventured inside Iraq several weeks ago, a senior Iraqi military official said on Monday.
"An unmanned Iranian plane crossed the border and it was discovered by multi-national forces' radar. They intercepted it and brought it down ... an American plane brought it down," Major-General Abdul Aziz Mohammed Jassim, head of military operations at the Iraqi Defence Ministry, told Reuters.
"According to the report received by multinational forces, this drone entered Iraq mistakenly at a point 100 km (60 miles) from Baghdad. It crossed 10 km (6 miles) into Iraq. It's most likely that its entrance (into Iraqi territory) was a mistake," he said.
Jassim said he could not recall the precise date of the incident, but said it likely took place in late February.
The U.S. military in Iraq has declined to comment on reports of such an incident. It has accused Iran of arming militants and meddling in neighbouring Iraq, where tens of thousands of people have died in sectarian and insurgent violence since the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein in 2003.
But ties between the government of Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iran, a fellow majority Shi'ite nation with historic ties to Iraq, are mostly friendly.
The United States now has about 140,000 troops in Iraq, but combat operations will cease by the end of August 2010 under U.S. President Barack Obama's withdrawal plan, and all U.S. forces are due to leave the country by the end of 2011.BAGHDAD - U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone aircraft that ventured inside Iraq... more
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MycoJ
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added this
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3 years ago
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ARLINGTON, Va. — Stephen Colbert is OPSEC.
The host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” said he is headed to the Persian Gulf to entertain U.S. troops, but he repeatedly declined to give further details.
“I’m not supposed to tell anyone where I’m going, but just say it’s sandy and they’d like us to leave,” Colbert told Stars and Stripes on Tuesday.
Who told him this?
“A man met me on a park bench, said ‘look straight ahead,’ and dropped a sack lunch next to me,” he said. “I picked it up. I assume it’s full of cash, I haven’t looked at it yet.”
Colbert would only say he will do a week of shows somewhere in the Persian Gulf from “a place that is packed with troops.”ARLINGTON, Va. — Stephen Colbert is OPSEC.
The host of Comedy Central’s... more
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