Female Death Squads

This is interesting- and somewhat disturbing- news sent out by a Jordanian counter-terror expert.

Recent chatter on jihadi forums points to a new organized death squad in Iraq. The new group is allegedly composed of Shiite female assassination units that will target Sunnis. Sunni jihadi websites have warned their followers about this new threat, saying that these female units, called al-Zahra groups after Fatima al-Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet and the wife of the Muslim caliph Ali, are trained to kill Sunnis with bayonets and handguns equipped with silencers.

The women are apparently on their way to Baghdad and the fear is that they will target women and children.

The purpose of the posting was to insinuate that Iranians had trained the al-Zahra units. In the same context, another Sunni user, Khaled al-Rawi, said that the Shiites' current attack potential is a repeat of the Shiite attacks that occurred in the 1970s and 1980s against Sunnis. At the time, Shiite party al-Dawa al-Safawia organized and trained prostitutes to blow up cars and to assassinate Sunni figures and civilians in Iraq (http://www.iraqirabita.org, November 2). The website also contained pictures of Shiite females covered completely in black similar to the Iranian female police training video.

I'd say that it will be worth paying attention to developments in Iraq in the coming weeks to see if there are any reports of these women-only death squads.

World's Smallest Machine Gun

This is quite cool- a miniature .17 Mach 2 Browning MG. Is it the world's smallest? Probably- regardless it sure looks like it would be a lot of fun to shoot.



Found this over at TechBlog- where the "world's smallest" claim was made. I had a quick glance at the comments- seems the weapon is a Tippmann- and found this statement:

"I hope this “gadget” doesn’t fall into the hands of terrorists."

Good grief- are hoplophobes so terrified that they just can't understand anything about firearms at all?

Anti-Semitism In Print

I'm a little confused. The story on CNN involves a rocket attack on Israel only moments after another ceasefire was announced. Can you guess what the headline is- "Ceasefire Broken" or some clever wordplay along those lines? Well, no, in fact it's almost the exact opposite-

13,000 Palestinian Security Forces Maintain Ceasefire

Come again? You see, the 11 rockets launched after the ceasefire was brokered were claimed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. You know, the kinder, gentler, more "moderate" Hamas everyone has come to know since they were elected into government. So, Hamas can fire rockets and still claim to be holding a ceasefire? Unbelievably Olmert has announced that Israel will take no action- hey, ceasefires need time to "take".

Hamas government spokesman Ghazi Hamad insisted that all Palestinian factions are "100 percent" behind the cease-fire.

"All of them now, without exception, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Fatah and other factions, they decided to respect the agreement and also to be committed 100 percent to this agreement," Hamad told CNN.

And those rockets, well, apparently they were fired just before the ceasefire took effect so, in the eyes of Hamas nothing untoward happened. Which is odd, and apparently fine with CNN, despite the fact that a few paragraphs before this we learned-

Hamas' militant wing and the Islamic Jihad militant group claimed responsibility for firing several rockets into Israel after the cease-fire took effect at 6 a.m.

So, which is it? CNN doesn't seem to care that either they got their facts wrong or Hamas are lying through their teeth- and the fact that the elected leaders of Hamas are involved in firing rockets randomly at towns in Israel is no big deal either. I guess, depending on how you want to view it, you could either define this as state-sponsored terrorism or an act of war.

And yet, the Western media doesn't seem to be too perturbed. I suppose they save that for when Israel retaliates to these acts of aggression aimed at civilian targets. Funny, isn't it, that the press which got so worked up about innocent civilians being targeted by Israeli forces during the Lebanon conflict, should be so unconcerned about other civilians being targeted now. As far as I can tell there are only two differences- Hamas and their ilk are using crude, unguided rockets aimed at towns instead of military targets (positioned in the middle of civilian areas on purpose), and the targets now are Jewish.

Could it possibly be that there's some anti-Semitism at work here? Because I can't think of any other explanation for why a story like this would be reported in this manner.

Mini-14 Fix?

For years people have known of the Ruger Mini-14's main problem- a barrel that is too thin, one that overheats when more than a few shots are put through it thus ruining the weapon's accuracy. It's a shame because the Mini-14 has the potential to be one of the finest firearms around. Based on a scaled down version of the Garand's action it is tough and reliable.

Despite this, Ruger seems to have no interest in fixing the problem. If they had, then I suspect that an awful lot of people would be interested in the Mini-14. As this month's Guns and Ammo says, "If you want a gun that will never quit on you, go with the Ruger." And speaking of G&A this month they review Ruger's "fix" to this problem; rather than release a Mini-14 with a better barrel they've decided to add an Allen-screw adjustable barrel weight. It seems to me to be a stop gap measure, a glossing over of the problem rather than a real solution. The barrel weight comes with the latest incarnation of the Mini, a thumbhole stock "Target" model. Frankly I think the new stock design is repugnant. You can read G&A's review here. As the author says on more than one occasion, he had very little time with the rifle. It kind of dents my confidence when a reviewer says that- perhaps if he'd had another few days with it, he might have developed a different impression of the weapon.

Anyway, your choices with the Mini-14 seem to be this- take the weapon as is and hope that you never have to put one or two shots down the barrel at a time; buy a custom barrel that's probably worth more than the gun itself; go for the all-new revolting Ruger "cheapest way around the problem we can think of" gun; or you can buy or build an "Accu-strut".

The idea behind this latter solution is simple- the strut adds stiffness to the barrel and the clamps can help draw heat away from it. The advantage of this over the Ruger "solution" is that the latter seems to need to be adjusted depending on the ammo used in the rifle- it can be slid up and down the barrel to maximise accuracy of whichever load is used. The G&A article reveals that one of the screws was already stripped when he got the gun for testing- so I'm not particularly impressed by the design. If a bunch of gun testers can do that to it in presumably a short space of time, how is it going to last on a gun you buy?

Anyway, the Accu-strut concept fits in place under the barrel (and gives it something of a M14 look to boot) and that's it. I even heard of a guy on a gun forum who swapped out the strut itself for a flashlight.

What annoys me about this is that the Mini-14 could be a truly great gun. The action is one of the best around and with a little work it could be world-class; much tougher and more reliable than the AR, and with that work, it could rival or even best it for accuracy. It deserves more than the work Ruger is doing to it. Perhaps Springfield Armoury need to scale down their superlative M1 rifles to 5.56mm size and get into the market. Imagine a slender M14-style weapon (with all of the reliability and accuracy that entails) in a 5.56mm package? Personally, I like to pretend that they could go another step and offer it in 6.5mm Grendel. Mmmm, good. And if you like to attach gizmos and gadgets to it, I'm sure Troy Industries or the like could offer a stock option.

We can dream I suppose.

Shoot Em Up

I just heard about this film today- Shoot 'Em Up. Here's what IMDB says about the plot-

A man named Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) delivers a woman's baby during a shootout, and is then called upon to protect the newborn from the army of gunmen.

Paul Giamatti plays the bad guy and the lovely Monica Bellucci also features. It looks like it will be a fun action movie.

Bigoted

I just caught a bit of the TV show Tonight With Jonathon Ross, a chat show. Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear was on to promote an upcoming DVD and spewed his usual "I hate America" line. I believe MadOgre has commented on this before. What real struck me about it though was one part where he was describing hiring some full auto weapons to shoot up an electric car. He said that when they hired them the proprietors told him they would rent them on condition that the film he was making was not anti-Bush or anti-war. "Land of the free," he snarled- obviously failing to recognise that businessmen are free to pick and choose who they want to do business with or that he was free to shoot those guns in America- a right denied here in the United Kingdom.

Land of the free?

Yes, which is precisely why Clarkson travelled there to film.

Banana Oil

I posted a link to Banana Oil, who originally posted the Le Tigre Decepticon video (I'm assuming it's an actual video and not fan's effort). For some reason I didn't stop by to have a look around as is my want when posting a link- but I've since rectified that. It's worth popping over there. I'm so glad that I found this post for example-

I was walking west on Nanjing Road, passing Plaza 66, when I chanced to look up. She was blond. Wore a hat and wore it well. Had glasses. With nice, thick, boxy frames — the kind I really, really like on women. She was giving a small, warm smile. To me. (?)

My contacts might have been a little fuzzy, so I checked. Nope, nobody immediately behind me. She was looking at me. (?)

When I turned back, she was still looking at me, (?) but the smile was no longer small. It was broad and bright as the sun. She was most amused.

She waved. At me. (?)

Now, at the best of times, I am a klutz around lovely women. Yesterday was not, alas, the best of times. I had been brooding, and now here was a blond throwing sunshine my way. It took me until the wave to remember how to work my face.

That knowledge recalled, I employed it to give her a small, questioning-but-receptive smile in return.

Or possibly I just looked confused.

It just gets better- and so well written too.

WW2 Kit List

I asked recently for some information on the equipment carried by US troops in World War 2; the specifics of the kit, how much food, how much ammo, etc. Well, I was sent this link- and it provides information on the equipment carried by Airborne troops during the invasion of Europe.

Here's some info on the ammunition carried-

M1 Garand-

Rounds per weapon: 136, jumped on individual. (128 in Air Corps pockets, 4 clips per pocket), 1-8 rnd. clip in rifle, hand, or jumpsuit pocket (55% ball, 40% AP, 5% tracer. Rifle belt and one bandolier may be used in lieu of the above. 60 Riflemen per company will jump with 1 belt of LMG ammunition (250 rounds); this may be used in M-1 rifles if the situation warrants.

M1 Carbine-

Rounds per weapon: 175, jumped on individual. 160 in 2 Air Corps pockets (2 clips and one box per pocket), 15 in hand (1 clip) or jumpsuit pocket (100% ball)

Thompson SMG-

Rounds per weapon:300, Jumped on individual. 14 (20 rnd) clips in jump suit pockets or M6 carrying bag, 1 clip in gun, hand, or jumpsuit pocket.

Springfield '03-

Rounds per weapon: 145, jumped on individual. 140 in four Air Corps pockets (7 clips per pocket), 1 5 rnd. clip in rifle, hand, or jumpsuit pocket. The '03 rifle may not be used if launcher for M-1 rifle is issued. It is now a superimposed weapon and if jumped will have to supplant the primary weapon of the man jumping it.

There's also info on the exact kit they took.

The Only Ones

The headline on FARK read "Only one cop had to die for a judge to suggest that maybe mental patients should be required to get treatment even if they don't want it."

That just about sums it up.

During the inquiry, Ayotte also heard what he called alarming statistics about drug use, suicide and the difficulty in treating people with the current number of psychiatrists who practise in Edmonton.

The report recommends that the provincial government spend the necessary amount of money to recruit, train and keep psychiatrists in Alberta.

The judge also suggests the Mental Health Act be amended to allow patients to be kept in treatment, regardless of their personal wishes.

Ayotte said if such legislation had been in place in the years leading up to this incident, the tragedy might have been avoided.

I wonder how many who didn't belong to the exclusive "Only Ones" club have died without any such investigations and recommendations?

Standards Are Changing

For the past few weeks my wife and I have noticed a distinct change in what's acceptable to show on British TV. We don't watch much TV so perhaps it's just a trend we're only beginning to become aware of- but it seems that standards are definitely changing.

A few weeks ago we had just finished watching a DVD and when the player switched off the TV channel which had been on earlier (channel Five) popped back onto the screen. We were confronted by the sight of a man and woman having full penetrative sex filmed from an internal camera. I was pretty shocked- I was under the impression that this was the sort of thing that TV couldn't show, regardless of the time (it was quite late). I guess that by masquerading as a "documentary" they were able to get around some of the restrictions. At the time I opined that TV makers would try to get more and more explicit material shown earlier and earlier. If this is being shown now at (around) midnight when only a few years ago you couldn't have got away with showing it at all, I will not be surprised to see the same thing shown earlier in the evening in years to come.

The following week my wife sat down to watch some daytime TV- an award-winning and long running show by the name of This Morning. She was somewhat taken aback to find a discussion about sex taking place. In fact, the show had dedicated a whole week's worth of programming to the topic. A day or so later I found an article online about people simulating sex on the show. Again I commented on the change in standards- just a couple of years ago I'm sure they would never even have considered showing such a segment.

Today I learn that Britain is about to broadcast its first advertisement for a sex toy on TV. Now I don't have a problem with that per se. The ad doesn't appear to be explicit in any way and the plans are to show it after the 11pm watershed. But Durex aren't pleased with that decision at all- they want to be able to show the ad after the 9pm watershed. Part of their reasoning for this is that scenes of a sexual nature can be seen regularly after that time already- so why can't they advertise their sex toy then too?

I don't want to seem to be a prude- I have no problem with TV showing late night films that are a bit racy, but I fail to see why we should have to have hard core images broadcast at any time. My concern is not that this material exists but that broadcasters seem to be intent on showing more and more explicit scenes and inappropriate language and behaviour earlier and earlier. Is there really a need for simulated sex on daytime TV? If they can show actual sex late at night now, what are they going to be trying to show a couple of hours earlier in the evening two or three years from now? And if that kind of material is being broadcast then, what's going to be shown earlier in the evening or during the daytime?

Iran's Nukes

Thanks to IBA for the head's up on this one-

A document obtained by Iran on the nuclear black market serves no other purpose than to make an atomic bomb, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday.

The finding was made in a report prepared for presentation to the 35-nation IAEA board when it meets, starting Thursday, on whether to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose economic and political sanctions on Iran.

The report was made available in full to The Associated Press.

First mention of the documents was made late last year in a longer IAEA report. At that time, the agency said only that the papers showed how to cast "enriched, natural and depleted uranium metal into hemispherical forms."

The agency refused to make a judgment on what possible uses such casts would have.

But diplomats familiar with the probe into Iran's nuclear program said then that the papers apparently were instructions on how to mold highly enriched grade uranium into the core of warheads.

So they've had this information for at least a year and still no action has been taken to prevent Iran from enriching uranium. We're only now talking about the possibility of sanctions?

Doesn't the UN do a wonderful job?

Nanotech Weaponry

Now I know what I want for Christmas- super gloves to give me the strength of a bionic man!

Israel changes its R&D program to focus in on the difficulties posed by asymmetric warfare -

Israel is using nanotechnology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets, an Israeli newspaper reported on Friday.

The flying robot, nicknamed the "bionic hornet", would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said.

It is one of several weapons being developed by scientists to combat militants, it said. Others include super gloves that would give the user the strength of a "bionic man" and miniature sensors to detect suicide bombers.

The research integrates nanotechnology into Israel's security department and will find creative solutions to problems the army has been unable to address, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Yedioth Ahronoth.

"The war in Lebanon proved that we need smaller weaponry. It's illogical to send a plane worth $100 million against a suicidal terrorist. So we are building futuristic weapons," Peres said.

When I hear of this science fiction-type stuff it always seems to be coming from the powerhouse that is America- reading this makes me wonder what other developments are being carried out by the military arms of other nations.

Hat tip to LGF.

Dance Moves

Looking for a quirky dance? A new aerobics workout? Then check this out- but the lyrics to the song (by a band called Le Tigre) are NSFW . Found here- goodness knows how I found it though, it's been sitting in my Bookmarks for a while now.

Killzone PS3

I've just finished playing Killzone for the PS2 and it's a superb game- and it's only partly due to the fact that it's an enjoyable first person shooter. What really grabbed me about it was the design- it's simply superb, one of the best realised imaginary worlds I've ever encountered. A prime example of that it the very good weapons design. Bullpups are the name of the day with the good guys armed with assault rifles, sniper rifles and a neat suppressed PDW-type weapon all along the same configuration. Apparently one of the game designers likes to hang out in Nevada and shoot full auto weapons. It shows.

Anyway, here's the trailer for the follow up Playstation 3 Killzone. The story is basically this- fight off the bad guy (think futuristic Nazis) Helghast army. From the looks of this trailer, this game will be just as much fun as the first.

Democrat Draft

I believe that the appropriate phrase here is, "Suck it, Dems."

I guess those on the Left didn't get the message when the only people talking about a draft before the Bush-Kerry election were the Democrats.

Now look what you've gone and done!

Americans would have to sign up for a new military draft after turning 18 under a bill the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee says he will introduce next year.

Got that? Rangel wants a draft because it might prevent politicians from launching wars. I hope all you lefties are eager to help out with this.

Flight of Fantasy

Ugh, I'm getting lazy blogging again- too much time spent fighting Nazis (Medal of Honor and Call of Duty) and the Helghast (Killzone) on the Playstation. Note to self- kick gaming bug! Anyway, here for your perusal is another work by Adam Hughes - Mina from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Much more attractive than Kevin O'Neill's rendition (although his slightly bizarre art is so well suited to the books- speaking of which, there's another volume out shortly, The Black Dossier).

BTW, here's another picture of Mina I posted some time ago, this one by Frank Frazetta.

Chilling

If you're having a fun, happy day then this is probably not what you want to read- a fictional account of a devastating nuclear attack on America. It's absolutely chilling.

Back in early October, 2006, North Korean President (for life) Kim Jong Il had announced the detonation of a nuclear bomb deep in a tunnel in the stony mountains of North Korea. The seismic signature had been small, and American intelligence at first doubted whether it had been a nuclear explosion at all. Traces of radioactive emissions were detected a few days later, and the intelligence estimate revised to conclude that it had been a failed test that produced perhaps only 10% or less of the expected yield, only 0.5 to 1.5 kilotons, not the 20 kilotons, at least, that Western intelligence had anticipated.

Kim Jong Il gloated. The deception had worked. The Americans were thinking in terms of long range intercontinental ballistic missiles with huge warheads that they could shoot out of the sky with their sophisticated billion-dollar anti-missile defense systems. He was thinking in terms of small warheads carried by small, medium range cruise missiles that could be launched from many places, and infiltrated close enough to slip in under the radar and hit America's coastal cities.

Democrat's New Direction

Head on over to Smallest Minority to check this out, a comment on the Democrat's promised "new direction" for America. Here's a little sample-

The stock market is at a new all-time high and America's 401K's are Back. A new direction from there means what?

Unemployment is at 25 year lows. A new direction from there means what?

Oil prices are down A new direction from there means what?

Taxes are at 20 year lows. A new direction from there means what?

Read it all, for it is good.

Supreme Moonbat?

There really aren't words to describe this sort of cluelessness - I believe a new term may have been invented for moonbat nuttiness; the "Sheehanism".

Kristinn yelled out to her as she was leaving the stage that the Iraqis have a memorial to the victims of terrorism saying “Freedom Isn’t Free.” Cindy got back on the stage to say of course freedom is free, if it wasn’t it would be called expensivedom.

Wow. And this is the woman considered for a Nobel peace prize?

Democrat Round Up

The elections aren't even a week old and already the Democrat position on the war on terror is apparent.

Not only have they been praised by the "Death to America" chanters in Iran and the "Arab street", but now we learn that John Okinawa Murtha may be elected as House Majority leader, some Dems are talking about pulling out of Iraq in four to six months, they're proposing negotiations with Iran (whose stance is unabashedly "we'll talk to you but only if you recognise we'll keep doing exactly what we want regardless"), and are also calling for a return of habeas corpus rights to enemy combatants.

Unsurprisingly, this is bothering even some people who otherwise support the Democrats-

While a bare majority of 51 percent called the Democrats' victory "a good thing," even more said they were concerned about some of the actions a Democratic Congress might take, including 78 percent who were somewhat or very concerned that it would seek too hasty a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Another 69 percent said they were concerned that the new Congress would keep the administration "from doing what is necessary to combat terrorism," and two-thirds said they were concerned it would spend too much time investigating the administration and Republican scandals."

Given that, one has to wonder what the heck these people where thinking of on election day- when it was obvious what the Dems actually stood for. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it- and now they will have to live with a Democrat majority.