Predator Drones ‘Useless’ in Most Wars, Top Air Force General Says

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Photo Credit: FP

Photo Credit: FP

The drones that have proved so useful at hunting al Qaeda are “useless” in nearly every other battlefield scenario, says a top Air Force general. So, for the first time, the Air Force is proposing culling the fleet of little, propeller-driven MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones in favor of stealthier, faster aircraft.

This is because the slow, low-flying drones that killed terrorists in the last decade’s wars have little chance of surviving against an enemy armed with even basic air defenses. Faced with declining defense budgets, Air Force officials want to retire many of the low-tech drones.

“Predators and Reapers are useless in a contested environment,” said Gen. Mike Hostage, chief of the air service’s Air Combat Command, during the Air Force Association’s annual conference outside of Washington.

“Today … I couldn’t put [a Predator or Reaper] into the Strait of Hormuz without having to put airplanes there to protect it,” said the four-star general. This week, the Air Force’s chief of staff, Gen. Mark Welsh, revealed that an F-22 — the planet’s most sophisticated stealth fighter — intercepted Iranian F-4 Phantom jets that were closing in on a U.S. Predator drone over the strait last March. In November 2012, Iranian Su-25 ground attack jets fired on, and missed, an American Predator over the strait.

In 2011, the Pentagon ordered the Air Force to have enough MQ-1s and MQ-9s to fly up to 65 combat air patrols (CAPs) around the world by this year. Each CAP consists of up to four drones. Even as the service worked to make this happen, it questioned the order, saying there was no official requirement stating the military’s need for what many in the air service believe are little more than flying lawn mowers.

Read more from this story HERE.

Two Decades after Her Affair with Bill Clinton, Gennifer Flowers Reveals They’d Be Together If Not for Chelsea; Says Bill Told Her Hillary is Bisexual

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Photo Credit: Michael lp

Photo Credit: Michael lp

Their 12-year affair made Gennifer Flowers one of the most high profile mistresses in America. Now, two decades after they split amid scandal, the former news reporter from Little Rock, Arkansas wants to ‘sit down and talk’ with Bill Clinton.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Gennifer has spoken of her deep regret at turning down Clinton’s pleas to talk some eight years ago and revealed her belief that they would still be together today, were it not the birth of Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea.

She said: ‘We have some unresolved issues that it would be nice to sit down and talk about now. He was the love of my life and I was the love of his life and you don’t get over those things.’

By then all lines of communication with Clinton had been severed and she had no contact with him for 13 years when he called out of the blue. She said: ‘He called me back in 2005 in New Orleans. He wanted to put on the hoodie and jog on over like he used to.

Read more from this story HERE. (CAUTION: Racy Images)

Meet the Microsoft Billionaire Who’s Trying to Reboot U.S. Counterterrorism

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Photo Credit: FP

Photo Credit: FP

Add to Nathan Myhrvold’s already eclectic résumé — which includes ex-chief technology officer of Microsoft, co-founder of one of the world’s largest patent-holding firms, and author of a $625 cookbook — a new credit: terrorism expert.

Myhrvold, a famous autodidact, recently published a 33-page paper that he rousingly calls, “Strategic Terrorism: A Call to Action.” The core of his argument is easy enough to understand, and probably true: The United States is more focused on stopping a guy who blows up an airplane and kills 300 people than on a guy who intentionally spreads smallpox and kills 300,000.

“In my estimation, the U.S. government, although well-meaning, is unable to protect us from the greatest threats we face,” Myhrvold writes. “[M]odern technology can provide small groups of people with much greater lethality than ever before. We now have to worry that private parties might gain access to weapons that are as destructive as — or possibly even more destructive than — those held by any nation-state.”

Myhrvold to Washington: National security … you’re doin’ it wrong.

The paper is accessible to a layman, which is what Myhrvold was when he started thinking about the strategic aspects of terrorism not long after the 9/11 attacks. He wrote the piece in his spare time — apparently he does have some — and it was mostly finished in 2006. Myhrvold had no intention of publishing it until recently, when he met Benjamin Wittes, the editor of the influential national security and legal site Lawfare. Wittes thought that parts of the paper accurately described the threat posed by small actors with big weapons, and he decided that Myhrvold’s analysis deserved a wider audience. Lawfare published the paper in July.

Read more from this story HERE.

How The U.S. Military Plans To Hijack The Airwaves

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Photo Credit: Forbes

Photo Credit: Forbes

If you want to take over a nation, then first take over its airwaves. Broadcast your messages and interdict the enemy’s ability to broadcast theirs. When the U.S. attacked Iraq in 1991, or NATO bombed Serbia in 1999, among the first targets destroyed were TV and radio stations. When there is a military coup in Africa, the first buildings the rebels usually grab are the radio and TV studios.

So it is illuminating that the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), the organization that oversees America’s elite special forces, is quietly searching for equipment that will effectively give it control over every FM and AM radio station in an area. The short, innocuous-sounding announcement on the Federal Business Opportunities site states that SOCOM seeks vendors to provide “a radio broadcast system capable of searching for and acquiring every AM and FM radio station in a specific area and then broadcasting a message(s) in the target area on all acquired AM and FM radio station frequencies.” SOCOM wants equipment that is both lightweight and sophisticated enough to detect and broadcast over multiple frequencies simultaneously. And SOCOM wants it fast. The equipment must be at least Technology Readiness Level 8, a Pentagon measure of technological maturity that means that it is fully developed, tested and ready for use.

“It appears that SOCOM is looking to purchase a preferably commercial off the shelf friendly-foreign or domestic advanced form of Software-Defined Radio (SDR) as a solution for their tactical and theater Psyops or MISO missions,” says a military expert who asked to remain anonymous. “The exact platform – whether it’s ground-based or airborne – cannot be determined from the solicitation. It would appear to be an urgent request because of the TRL 8 or above stipulation. ”

This is what the Pentagon now calls Military Information Support Operations, or MISO. This is a far less sinister name for what the rest of us call Psychological Operations, or Psyops. that subtle form of warfare that uses carefully tailored information – truthful or not – to change foreign hearts and minds in a way that furthers U.S. interests.

Read more from this story HERE.

Starbucks CEO: If You Have a Gun, We Don’t Want Your Business

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dump starbucksThe day after the mass shooting at the Naval Yard in Washington, D.C., Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced that guns aren’t welcome at Starbucks. With Schultz’s unfortunate comment to a traditional marriage supporter just six months ago, many conservatives will undoubtedly regard this as yet another slap against them by the world’s largest coffee retailer.

In his “Open Letter,” the CEO acknowledged that Starbucks’ past approach to open-carry was to “follow local laws [and] permit it in states where allowed and we prohibit it in states where these laws don’t exist.” Then, without citing any specific instance, Schultz said the open-carry debate was becoming “increasingly uncivil” and “even threatening.”

Although Schultz suggests that the “presence of a weapon in our stores is unsettling and upsetting for many of our customers,” he doesn’t explain how a concealed weapon would bother anyone. Nor does he examine whether gun-free zones – like the Naval Yard in DC – actually encourage the type of violence and bad press he is trying to avoid.

Schultz concludes that he is proud of our nation and its first amendment heritage. With the likely fall-out from his announcement, Schultz may regret not giving more consideration to the very amendment that guarantees that heritage.

Joe Miller To Give Keynote Address at Nevada GOP Unity Dinner

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joe_miller (1)Joe Miller will be the keynote speaker at this year’s annual Nevada Republican Party’s Unity Dinner in Las Vegas. The event will take place on Saturday, September 28th following the GOP’s Fall State Committee meeting.

Miller stated, “I am honored to be asked to speak at this year’s Nevada GOP Unity Dinner.” He added, “One common, though not unchangeable trait, Nevada and Alaska share is that the majority of each state’s land is currently held by the federal government.”

An astounding 69.1 percent of Alaska’s land falls under federal ownership, second only to Nevada at 84.5 percent. Miller noted, “For some years now, both as a matter of justice and for the purpose of creating economic growth and job creation, I have advocated the need to return ownership of much of the land to the states and the people where it belongs. The states and the people formed the federal government and not the other way around.”

Miller plans to address this vital issue, as well as what actions he feels are needed to return our constitutional republic to its strong moorings and revive the America dream for ourselves and future generations.

Nevada National Committeeman James Smack said of the event, “It is an honor and a pleasure to host Joe Miller and his wife Kathleen for our Nevada Republican Party Unity Dinner in Las Vegas on September 28th.  Mr. Miller represents the principles that Nevada Republicans expect from their candidates, highlighted by smaller government, lower taxes and personal responsibility.  I look forward to hearing his message and encourage my fellow Republicans to join me in welcoming Joe Miller to the Silver State!” James Smack, Republican National Committeeman for Nevada.

More information and tickets for the event are available HERE.

Obama’s New Sales Pitch: ‘No Serious Evidence ObamaCare Will Hurt The Economy’ (+video)

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Besides the fact that most Americans do not like, nor want, ObamaCare, our Snake Oil Salesman-In-Chief continues to sell it to us. Today, Obama’s new sales pitch is that there’s “no serious evidence it will hurt the economy”. Clearly, Obama doesn’t understand economics.

According to Real Clear Politics,

PRESIDENT OBAMA: … in two weeks, the Affordable Care Act is going to help millions of more people. And there’s no serious evidence that the law, which has helped to keep down the rise in health care costs to their lowest level in 50 years, is holding back economic growth.

Wrong! There’s plenty of “serious evidence” showing the negative impact ObamaCare has on the economy. The Heritage Foundation and Freedom Works give examples:

From The Heritage Foundation,

As employers and businesses prepare for Obamacare’s sweeping changes and mandates to begin in 2014, many are already laying off some of their employees. An event at Heritagetoday will discuss the burdens of the law both for small businesses’ ability to hire and grow and individuals’ ability to find jobs. Here are 10 examples of job loss due in whole or part to Obamacare and its consequences:

Medical Device Tax

1,000 jobs lost: “Stryker Corporation Confirms Obamacare Layoffs.”
275 jobs lost: “Medical Device Tax Blamed for Welch Allyn Layoffs.”
100 jobs lost: “Latest Obamacare Casualty: 100 Workers at Smith and Nephew.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Officials: Navy Yard Shooter Carved Odd Messages into his Gun Before Carnage

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Photo Credit: Washington Post

Photo Credit: Washington Post

Aaron Alexis carved bizarre phrases on the stock of his shotgun before he killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, and investigators are hoping the words provide clues to what prompted the shooting, two law enforcement officials said.

The phrases were “Better off this way” and “My ELF weapon,” according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The officials cautioned they do not yet know what, if anything, Alexis meant in the etchings.

ELF generally stands for “extremely low frequency” and can refer to weather or communications efforts, among other things.

Alexis, who was battling mental health issues, told police in Rhode Island in August that he was hearing voices of three people who had been sent to follow him and keep him awake and were using “some sort of microwave machine” to send vibrations into his body, preventing him from falling asleep, according to police reports.

Read more from this story HERE.

Gov. Mary Fallin Blocks Same-Sex Benefits

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has ordered the National Guard to stop processing requests for military benefits for same-sex couples, her office confirmed Tuesday, despite a Pentagon directive to do so.

Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz said the governor was following the wish of Oklahoma voters, who approved a constitutional amendment in 2004 that prohibits giving benefits of marriage to gay couples.

“Because of that prohibition, Gov. Fallin’s general counsel has advised the National Guard not to process requests for benefits of same-sex couples,” Weintz said. “Gay couples that have been legally married in other states will be advised they can apply for those benefits on federal facilities, such as Tinker Air Force Base, rather than state run facilities.”

Fallin ordered the policy change Sept. 5, Weintz said.

The policy is a shift from how the Guard had been handling requests for benefits from same-sex partners in the ranks of the roughly 9,500 guard soldiers and airmen in Oklahoma, said Oklahoma National Guard spokesman Col. Max Moss.

Read more from this story HERE.

Illegal Immigrants Chain Themselves to White House Fence

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Photo Credit: J. David Ake

Photo Credit: J. David Ake

Seven illegal immigrants chained themselves to the White House fence Wednesday to demand President Obama halt all deportations, saying he has a moral obligation to keep families together.

“Stop deportations — not one more,” onlookers chanted as police moved in to remove the activists, who aired a live web videocast of their arrest.

A day earlier, Mr. Obama had rejected their calls, telling Telemundo, a Spanish-language network, that halting more deportations is “not an option.”

Immigrant-rights activists said 1,200 immigrants are deported every day. The seven who chained themselves to the White House fence along Pennsylvania Avenue include three from Arizona, two from Atlanta, one from New Orleans and one from New York.

Their move creates a conundrum for Mr. Obama and the Secret Service, who will have to decide whether to put the seven activists into deportation proceedings now.

Read more from this story HERE.