Japanese Type 1 Ho-Ki Armored Personnel Carrier: One of the world's first "modern" APC design.

stats via Lone Sentry Blog (you really should subscribe if you have an interest in WW2).

 U.S. intelligence report and photograph of the "Ho-Ki Armored Tracked Personnel Carrier" appeared in the Catalog of Enemy Ordnance:This vehicle serves as an artillery prime mover and as a personnel carrier for 24 men. It appears to be of recent manufacture, and its first known appearance in combat was during the Leyte campaign in the Philippines.
It is a full-tracked vehicle armored with 1/4-inch plate throughout. The engine which is located at the right front of the body is a 6-cylinder, in-line, valve-in-head, air-cooled diesel of a type similar to those used in the Model 2595 light tank and the combination prime mover and wrecker. Two fuel tanks provide an estimated total capacity of 50 to 60 gallons.
The tracks and suspension are of the conventional Japanese design, using dual bogie wheels and a steel center guide track. The four bogie wheels, apparently identical with those on the Model 2595 light tank, are mounted on bell cranks and are sprung by horizontal coil springs which are inclosed within the body armor with only the bogie arms exposed. There are two return rollers. The track is driven from the rear. A clutch and brake steering system is used. The transmission provides four speeds forward and one reverse. A high and low transfer case is also provided.
A mount for a 7.7 mm machine gun is located on the left front of the driver’s compartment. The vehicle does not mount a winch, but is provided with a spring mounted towing pintle for use as a prime mover. It has a capacity of from 2 to 3 tons if used as a cargo carrier. Maximum speed is reported as approximately 35 miles per hour, with exceptionally good cross-country performance due to the amount of track area in contact with the ground in relation to the weight of the vehicle.
SPECIFICATIONS

Length (overall)		15 ft., 9 ins.
Width (overall)		6 ft., 8 ins.
Ground contact		9 ft., 10 ins.
Width of track		10 ins.
Pitch of track		3-13/16 ins.
Track links		125
Speed (maximum)		35 m.p.h.
Armor (reported)		1/4 in.
Armament		7.7 mm machine gun
Engine		6-cylinder, in-line, valve-in-head, diesel.
Transmission		4 speeds forward, 1 reverse; high and low range.
Steering		Clutch and brake system
Seating capacity		24

This vehicle along with the LVT series, M75 and the other Japanese amphibious vehicles could easily be called the first modern APCs.  They all laid out the basic framework for what we have today.

Wild Hog Kill. Don't watch if squeamish.

I'm really getting into this wild boar hunting in a big way.  Year round hunts without a sideways glance from Game Wardens?  Love it!

Anyway, I learned a couple of things that I thought I'd pass on to you...

1.  They have built up scar tissue which explains why they're so hard to put down and why bullet placement is so important.  It runs from the neck past the rib-cage which is why you can hit them and they bounce up and scamper away.

2.  They're a bigger problem than most people are admitting.  The PETA types are putting our natural resources in jeopardy because of the restrictions on hunting that they've put in place in some of the more liberal areas of the country.  They're called a nuisance species for a reason.

3.  There are actually people that kill them with knives.  I don't have the courage to try that.  250 pounds of wild boar trying its best to rip my throat with its tusks indicates a need for firepower.  Still some are really into it.

4.  Trained dogs make it easier but I just couldn't see risking it with my animals.  I've seen pics of dogs that got shredded and its not a pleasant sight.

5.  They make you earn the kill.  Unless you have scouted the area pretty thoroughly and know there patterns (which could change if they start seeing TOO much human activity).  Expect to find them in the thickest, swampiest, rat and snake infested areas of a property...unless you're able and willing to set up feed stations for them...even then it can be hit and miss.

6.  Sows are good.  Piglets are good.  Boars are terrible.  Tasting that is.  I never took the chance cause the meat always smelled so rank when I tried to dress one big boar I took.  It was confirmed by some old timers I talked to.  Don't even mess with them...and definitely don't try and cook it out.  You won't be able to stay in your house for a week.  You can cook it well, chop it up and feed it to your dogs.  Don't let them eat it raw though.  The dangers of that should be obvious.

Last but not least.  If you care for your natural habitat then do your community a favor and kill a wild pig.

Marie Corfield is My Hero

God bless Marie Corfield.

**LD16 ELECTION UPDATE**
Now that the votes in the LD-16 Assembly race have been tallied, I have called Assemblywoman Simon to congratulate her on her victory.

I want to thank my family for their unending support, and all of our supporters, volunteers and dedicated staff. We could not have come so close to winning without your efforts. No matter the challenges we faced, we stood strong together, and I am so grateful for all your help.

Although the election has ended, I can assure you that the fight for middle class families, working families, education funding, and the right for women to make their own healthcare decisions will continue. And I will be here with you to stand up, ensure the issues we fought for are not forgotten, and that we hold our leaders accountable.

Thank you for giving me the honor and the privilege to be your candidate for the New Jersey General Assembly

It's really easy to sit on the sidelines and complain. It's really easy to look at the bad decisions that are being made in this state and in this nation, to look at how our politics have become corrupted, to look at the sad state of the American middle class, and simply shake your head and walk away.

Marie Corfield didn't. This woman - a mother and a working teacher - put her life on hold for a year so she could take on a fight for us. Chris Christie didn't intimidate her, the Republican party didn't intimidate her, hedge fund managers who treat education policy like a hobby didn't intimidate her, Democratic party bosses didn't intimidate her, and the press didn't intimidate her. Marie has more guts than just about anyone I've ever known.

She came very close - painfully close. I can't imagine how much that stings; I can't imagine how that's going to haunt her for a good long while. But I also can't imagine this courageous teacher simply going away. She's too smart, too tough, and too right to not have a big future ahead of her.

No matter what you do, Marie, know that I and many of my fellow teachers will have your back. You are my hero. I am proud to call you a friend, and you make me proud to be a teacher.

A genuine hero.

An Admission of Failure

This is nothing more than an admission of failure by our education overlords:

Charter schools are about to get a reality check.

As someone who has observed the breakneck pace of the growing charter school movement up close, Greg Richmond, who leads the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), is taking a step back.

"We didn't start this movement in order to create more failing schools, but that's what we have," Richmond told The Huffington Post. "Hundreds of them."

On Wednesday morning, Richmond will join New Jersey Schools Commissioner Chris Cerf and California charter schools advocate Jed Wallace at Washington D.C.'s National Press Club to announce a new campaign, "One Million Lives," that aims to crack the whip on the duds.

The campaign will focus on getting states to adopt rules that make failing charter schools close automatically, hold charter authorizers accountable for their schools' performance, and revamp their authorizing bodies so they become more professional. Initial allies include organizations and philanthropies that have, until now, focused on growth -- rather than quality -- in the charter sector. [emphasis mine]

Suppose I brought my minivan into the Cerf Auto Repair Shop because it wouldn't shift gears. After tinkering around for a bit, suppose Cerf came up to me and told me he just couldn't fix the problem, and  my best option would be to junk the car and buy a new one.

That would be a failure on his part. That would be an admission that he can't do his job, and my only option would be to start over. He may hem and haw, but his inability to even diagnose the problem, let alone solve it, would tell me that he can't do the job he advertised he could do.

What Richmond and Cerf are admitting is that they cannot improve the quality of a "failing" charter school. They don't know how to fix a school that is not "succeeding," so they want to close it down and move on.

It's certainly understandable that these two wonks wouldn't even try to fix a failing charter: they don't know how schools work. Richmond was part of the failed Arne Duncan regime in Chicago; fitting, as Duncan was as unqualified as Richmond to run anything having to do with education. Cerf taught a few years in a tony private school before going on to become one of America's greatest failures in the field of public school privatization.

Now they have a plan: put people who may be as unqualified as they are in charge of a bunch of privately-run, publicly funded charters, whether local communities want them or not. If a charter works out - great! If they fail - well, just close 'em. We may end up with thousands of children whose lives are in chaos, and the taxpayers may be out boatloads of money, and we may have decimated the local public schools that are required to serve all children...

But you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet, am I right?

NACSA - Working For Better Charter Schools Through Trial & Error!

An Outrage in Camden

Yesterday, I posted about the Camden Board of Education's reversal of their previous vote, which now allows the national charter management group KIPP to come into the city and take over a plot of land that was already designated to become a public school.

What I don't think I conveyed well, however, is how truly outrageous this entire plan is:

During the almost three-hour closed meeting, representatives of KIPP and the Cooper Foundation went in to explain their proposal. The dialogue consisted of "a lot of explaining and clarifying . . . and some 'We'll have to get back to you,' " board member Sean Brown said. 

Brown, who earlier voted against the KIPP proposal, said he switched because he believed the state would never build the long-promised Lanning Square public school. The state "will do whatever they can so it doesn't happen," he said. "And they have the power." [emphasis mine]

A little history is in order here: in 2004, the Lanning Square Elementary School was a crumbling safety hazard. Students were displaced into two other schools while the state got ready to build a brand new school at the site. Over the next several years, the state spent $10  million to get the project "shovel ready." For years, the people of the community waited and waited for the state to fulfill its promise and build their children a new school.

Unfortunately for them, Lanning Square is a plot of land right next to the Cooper Medical School, part of the empire of South Jersey Democratic boss George Norcross. Norcross (like most wealthy Democrats these days, it seems) is an unabashed charter school cheerleader - and what Norcross wants, Norcross gets.

So, thanks to machine politics and what appears to be deliberate dithering on the part of the state, KIPP will soon be firmly ensconced in Camden. Never mind that KIPP has already tried and failed there; never mind that the KIPP schools have a reputation for engaging in high rates of student attrition - particularly with black students.

Thanks to a small group of powerful people, some of the children of Camden - those whose parents are willing to immerse them in a "no excuses" culture - will get a new school. The promises made by the state to the remaining families of Camden, however, are casually brushed in favor of the whims of the elite. And the children KIPP admits they simply won't serve are left begging, with only a few local voices left to speak for them:

Former Lanning Square principal Elsa Suarez called the long stall of the Lanning Square public school plan "a crime."

Board President Kathryn Blackshear said she was voting in favor of the KIPP proposal because "I know this school board will never have money to build a Lanning Square school." 

Some in the audience then started shouting in protest. 

My word, how uncivilized. It's as if these people in Camden actually want to have a say in how their community will educate its kids. They don't really think they know better than the wealthy and powerful who don't even live in their city, do they?

ADDING: Mother Crusader has much, much more.

A must read from the Marine Gazette.

Read it.

Absorb it.

Debate it.  And then subscribe to the Gazette Blog.

The Red Dragons Strikes...Meeting Engagement II...section 5.

Badger Flight...ten A-10C's flying into Liberia...
The air was thick down low and Capt Collins was getting a fair bit of buffet on his flight in.  He was leading a 5 ship formation into hostile airspace and although top speed wasn't what the fighter jocks would be impressed with, when you're 50 feet off the ground on a pitch black night it kinda makes things a bit more relative.  The fast attack boys in the F-15E's were suppose to have eradicated the anti-air danger and had moved on to secondary targets...specifically the Chinese armor.

You can never be sure though and for the 3rd time in 10 minutes he performed  radio checks, confirmed kill boxes and established targeting priorities.  Armor first---tanks and armored personnel carriers---artillery second----self propelled and towed---infantry third, in the open or in identified fortifications and then any anti-air they ran up against.

That crazy, bible thumping, swearing Deputy CINC wanted blood.  An interesting guy Howling Mad was.  He could pray to keep his guys safe and turn around without missing a beat and pray that God allow his men to kill every son of a bitch that went up against his extended family---the United States of America.  Civilians would find that thought process to be an impossible paradox. Capt Collins thought it was beyond cool.

He paused and considered something that mad him laugh inside.  He was never a praying man himself but the more he thought about it the more he knew that on this night he was praying at the alter of death and destruction.  It was nothing personal.  He didn't know the guys on the ground...on either side...but he wanted to wipe enemy blood off his canopy when this was all over.

Dragon Flight...thirty SU-30's rocketing into Liberian airspace.
Major Tran was a rising star in the Chinese Air Force.  He was a family man and he was a patriot.  He was not one of the architects of the mission in Liberia but his nation called upon him to help defend his countrymen.

Tran liked American culture.  Enjoyed the music, loved the movies and clothes and quite honestly believed that the two country's had more in common than they had differences.

That was then.  This is now.

Tran ordered his flight to go supersonic.  American warplanes had bombed Chinese troops.  This was the first of many fighter sweeps to keep the capitalist dogs at bay.  If they could not return the respect that he and his countrymen gave to others then he would at least earn their fear.

Tran readied his AA-12 missiles, test fired his gun and watched his screens.  He saw 10 enemy airplanes flying low swirling up and down bombing his people.

The first meeting between the Chinese and American air forces was seconds away.

1stSgt Alexander.  75th Ranger Regiment on the ground in Liberia
The entire command element had been wiped out--they walked into a well laid enemy ambush.  The fighting had been intense but it really was a done deal...Rangers are good.  No.  Fuck that.  Rangers are terrific.  But terrific don't cut it when you're staring down the barrel of a 30mm cannon mounted on a Norinco 8x8.

Alexander had spent the last two days escaping and evading, making radio contact with Rangers when he could, picking up stragglers and basically---as far as he knew it, was the highest ranking Ranger left alive.  So far he had rounded up 45 of his boys and they were making their way to the coast line.  Hopefully the daredevils in the 160th would be able to extract them.  If not it was a long walk to Djibouti.

He wondered aloud how such a simple airport seizure could go so wrong.  Intel had definitely screwed the pooch and someone would taste his blade...if he made it out alive.  And considering how much enemy activity he was seeing that was a mighty big if.

All he could do is keep moving, think about his wife and kids and ask God for one more sunrise.  A bad day hasn't gotten any better and he really didn't expect it to.

section 6.  The fight is on.  USN steps in.  160th swoops low.  Chinese Mech Infantry/Tank Division lands.

In which I knit

I've been in quite a knitting mood over the last few months so it's about time I shared some of my projects with you!

My husband won me some gorgeous red wool yarn and I decided to knit up this cute cropped sweater with it.

It knit up pretty quickly. The longest part was actually picking out the buttons! lol

It's not from a vintage knitting pattern but the crop style works great with high waisted skrits.

My ravelry page for this project is here.

One of my friends and her husband just started fostering a little boy and I couldn't resist knitting up this little monster hat! Ravelry page here.

I also whipped myself up this cute lace hat. I definitely need more hats for this winter! I don't have a lot of stash yarn but I do need some more stash busting projects like this. Ravelry page here.

I've also been knitting up some Christmas presents but I can't exactly share them here incase people peak! My current work in progress is a great shawl from the above pattern. Maybe after it's done, I'll be brave enough to try out one of my A Stitch In Time sweaters again!

42 Commando trains at 29 Palms.

Pictures: PO(Phot) Sean Clee, 3 Cdo Bde

The mortar troop fire star shells to illuminate the desert

He ain’t heavy… A Lima Company marine carries a comrade over the arid, scrawny Mojave terrain during the company-sized assault

Get some... one of the defenders of Operation Ruby tries to stop the oncoming marines with a machine-gun

Kingsley Book & Stamp

Good morning!!!

Today is one of those fantastic mornings where I didn't sleep at all last night.... Seriously, I was up until 2AM working and then my children were up for the rest of the night.

Ugh. Kids.

The baby's sick. And he thinks everyone wants to know about it.

So selfish.

Just kidding!!

But it's one of those mornings I am literally running on fumes and caffeine enhanced substances, but there are so many exciting things happening that I am some how still full of energy.

Although, I think it's all smoke and mirrors since I just spelled "how" "hoe" and then I looked at for two minutes trying to figure out why that was wrong....

Yikes.

Anyway.

I wrote THE END last night on the Reluctant King!!!!!!

I may or may not be jumping up and down right now, screaming like I'm on a roller coaster.

Ok, I'm not doing that. As a general rule I don't jump. I've had four kids, I have to be as kind to the ta-tas as humanly possible.

And I don't really scream either...

Only on the occasions of monster size bugs.

But that's what I FEEL like doing. So that counts for something right???

Right.

I will send it off to the editor later today. And then I will actually start working to publish it.

Crazy, I know.

Most of the time when I finish a book, I'm always surprised. Like what? I didn't think it was possible. But would you look at that!

Actually, I was so excited last night I had to wake up Zach at 2AM and whisper my excitement his direction.

It was met with a lot of "Huh?" "What?" "Sh, you're going to wake up the baby."

Which in the end didn't matter anyway, since he woke up on his own.

Poor baby.

Anyway. A few announcements. A few exciting announcements!!!

First, some of my books are still 99 cents on Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. Here is what I don't understand: The Internet.

So pricing is just catching up all around and B&N went on sale forcing Amazon to go back on sale to.

Which is fine with me and great for you! If you haven't bought The Star-Crossed series yet, or know people who haven't gift it for them! The whole series will cost you like $3 right now!

It's a steal!

And because my prices are already fixed I have NO idea how long this sale will last.... I have on control at this point.

No control!

:)

Ok, and the other announcement is really exciting....

I have my own store now!!!!!!!!!

It's kind of the coolest thing ever! Zach, because he loves me and because he's a genius set it up for me.

Well... more for you.

The name of the store is Kingsley Book & Stamp.

Right now there isn't much for sale. We are still working on all those details.... But we will gradually add products in the very near future.

What we do have for sale right now though are signed copies of Reckless Magic!!! They are even on sale!!!!

So check it out at: Kingsley Book & Stamp

Ok, I'm off to make a second cup of coffee. I'm thinking about injecting this one straight into my veins.

Don't judge me!

Armscor is actually building the 22 TCM!

Armscor is actually building the 22 TCM.



Why SOCOM isn't all over this round is beyond me.  This could be a small arms game changer.  Add to it the work that the Marine Corps and Army Marksmanship Units SHOULD be doing to explore the possibilities and its obvious that civilian shooters are FAR ahead of anything that the military is doing.  Its really ironic.  Civilians are leading military and law enforcement when it comes to development now.  Bug out bags?  Took off in the civilian world and now the concept has come full circle to the military.  Piston driven AR's?  First sold to civilians because the Direct Impingement market was saturated and then the military climbed aboard.  Zombies?  Another marketing tactic to lure in more civilian shooters and then Federal Law Enforcement is all over it.

Hat tip to Zombie Hunter and everyone that sent info on this caliber!

The Marine Corps within the Marine Corps expands.

The Marine Corps is something I no longer understand.  Check this out.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command recently stood up two new battalions as part of a reorganization effort designed to accommodate its influx of combat support and combat service support personnel.
The Marine Special Operations Logistics Battalion (MSOLB) and the Marine Special Operations Combat Support Battalion (MSOCSB) will house the nearly 800 Marines scheduled to join MARSOC’s support component by 2016. The new Marines will provide support in intelligence, engineering, explosive ordnance disposal and other capacities to MARSOC’s special operations teams, which often operate in forbidding and remote locations with little reach back to conventional support assets.  NOTE:  EXCEPT FOR MARINE AIR THEY'RE ORGANIZING A NEW MARINE EXPEDITIONARY BRIGADE UNDER THE BANNER OF SOCOM.
Now the need for critical support assets from conventional forces will be even less, as the new logistics battalion will fulfill roles in engineering, embarking and logistics, with Marines trained specifically to support MARSOC’s special operations missions.
“The support we’re going to be able to deliver to our deployed (Special Operations Task Forces) and companies is going to increase their survivability and their ability to conduct operations globally,” said Col. Jeffrey Fultz, commanding officer of the Marine Special Operations Support Group, which oversees the new battalions.
Fultz went on to say that MSOLB is one of the Marine Corps’s most unique logistics battalions, due to its Individual Training Program (ITP).
“For the first time in combat service support in the Marine Corps, the Marines (in MSOLB) will have an ITP,” said Lt. Col. Stephanie L. Walker, commanding officer of the new logistics battalion. “If you’ve ever been in any other unit with combat service support, you’re either deployed or you’re home doing your pre-deployment training. But you never get time to individually train. That’s what MSOLB offers these Marines; some time to hone their skills prior to going out in support of MARSOC.”
Each support Marine at MARSOC is required to complete a comprehensive checklist of individual training requirements, including the Special Operations Training Course (STC), and Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) training. Added to a combination of unit training requirements and a short dwell time between deployments, MSOLB’s new ITP is a welcome change, said Walker.
The activation of MSOCSB also brings new advances to the command, particularly in the intelligence realm. A revision of MARSOC’s former intelligence battalion, now equipped with a communications company and a headquarters company, MSOCSB is capable of bringing every intelligence asset to the battlefield, providing another platform upon which MARSOC can operate independently.
“Combat support battalion’s Marines are not only able to find and fix, they’re also able to finish,” said Fultz. “With the addition of headquarters company, which includes Multi-Purpose Canines and Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, and communications company, they’re adding a whole new piece to their kit bag, and their ability to support MARSOC worldwide.”
Fultz went on to say that MARSOC has long prided itself on its ability to task organize a fully enabled and integrated SOF capability, largely through the fusion of operations and intelligence. Combat support battalion, with its additional assets, will enhance this capability.
Growth is steady, but slow. The Corps’s gradual downsizing of 20,000 Marines is shrinking the pool that MARSOC can draw from. However, according to Fultz, that won’t be a problem. MARSOC will continue to do more with less, as all Marines do.  NOTE: THIS IS UTTER BULLSHIT.  THEY'RE NOT DOING MORE WITH LESS AT MARSOC!  WHEN UNITS DEPLOY SHORT OF CANNINE OR EOD OR ANY OTHER CAPABILITY YOU CAN BET THAT IT'LL BE A CONVENTIONAL NOT MARSOC UNIT.  CONVENTIONALS ARE BEING FUCKED FOR MARSOC!
“We’re going to continue to ask a lot of you,” said Fultz, addressing a formation of MSOSG Marines. “We’re going to continue to push you. But I know you’ll continue to accomplish the mission."

All the SOCOM cheerleaders and fan boys will cheer this announcement.  All I can see is the beginning of the end for the Marine Corps.

UPDATE:  I just realized that the US Army Rangers, US Army Special Forces, US Navy SEALs and USAF Special Operations all provide more shooters (or at least the same number) with a smaller logistics tail.  The original goal of the US Army Rangers has been realized...They're out Marine-ing the Marine Corps.

NOTE:  It occurs to me that the arguments that the entire Marine Corps duplicates Army missions on land, Air Force & Navy air missions in flight and essentially performs a role that can be accomplished by a force more the size of the Royal Marines...THEN WHY KEEP THE USMC AROUND?  I mean seriously.  Consider this.  MARSOC is about the size of the Royal Marines now. I argue against it, but if one day it is decided that forcible entry from the sea is no longer needed OR can be performed by a much smaller organization---say one the size of MARSOC then how do we justify the Marine Corps?

Another "Happy Coincidence" for NJ Charters!

So the NJDOE releases a report that glowingly (and inappropriately) touts the "success" of New Jersey's charter schools on Tuesday morning. It took Education Commissioner Cerf 631 days to get around to making and releasing the report, which he promised "as quickly as is humanly possible."

But here's an amazing coincidence: the report just happened to be released on the same day the Camden school board reversed its previous vote and let a previously failed charter operator come back into the city:

It was the second time the board had voted on the plan, which previously fell a vote short. In a meeting held predominantly behind closed doors Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the board reconsidered and approved the plan with just one dissenting vote.

But the resolution approving the measure left open some uncertainties. The board still has to sign off on specifics of the proposal, which calls for five schools to be build by the partnership and run by KIPP over the next decade.

The closed session was to negotiate the contract that will include those details, so it was allowed under the state’s Open Public Meetings Act, officials said.

So the vote just happened to come on the night of the release of a smiley-faced charter report. And it just happened to be behind closed doors. And it just happened to override the previous vote to reject the KIPP application.

Well, isn't that convenient?

Can we at least show enough respect for the intelligence of the citizens of Camden - and, indeed, the entire state - to leave aside the Kabuki and just admit the fix was in long ago?

Camden is the only of the three to take up the idea so far, requesting proposals and ultimately picking the Cooper/KIPP proposal out of a total of five submitted. The proposal had been by far the highest profile of the bids, with the backing of George Norcross, the Cooper chairman and powerful Democratic Party leader in South Jersey.

But the state approval is just one step, as the parties also still need to negotiate the purchase of the property next to Cooper’s healthcare campus in Lanning Square from both the state and the local district.

The property is owned jointly by the district and the state’s Schools Development Authority, which had been slated to build a district school on the site until plans were stalled and the KIPP plan emerged.

The people of Camden were promised a public school at Lanning Square. Instead, they will get a private charter school, publicly funded, that does not have to serve all of the children in the surrounding neighborhood, is run by a management organization with a history of high student attrition - particularly for black males - and will not have to answer to the people of the city of Camden, but only to the NJDOE Commissioner.

Again, KIPP already failed in Camden. Doesn't matter, though: a powerful white man wants them there, so that's where they go. The only thing that could possibly stop them is the will of the people who actually live in the city:

But community activists against the proposal from the start said their battle was not over, saying there were a number of areas open for potential challenge.

Moneke Ragsdale, a Camden parent-activist, said the meeting itself was curious, with no agenda released and the meeting going into closed session away from the public before several board members came back and appeared to switch their votes.

“It was a mess,” she said. “Nobody got a direct answer. It looks like they came to do what they wanted to do.”

“We’re going to put our heads together to see what we do next,” she said.

God bless people like Moneke Ragsdale: they are true patriots. They are also the last, best hope for the children of Camden KIPP admits it will inevitably leave behind. They are the antidote to paternalistic meddling:

Back at Science High, even the Facebook gift was regarded with suspicion.
“The foundations are interfering with public education and dividing our community,” says Cassandra Dock, a local resident. “Leave us alone. We don’t want white people coming in here and doing what they do — taking over. Destroy and leave.” [emphasis mine]

It's becoming a theme around here, don't you think?

"Reform Churn"

These days, urban school systems change their "reforms" as often as I change my underwear:

Global Village had arrived in Newark with great fanfare just three years earlier. During its short life, it extended the school day for many children at the seven schools it served, provided eyeglasses to students who needed them, distributed books to build home libraries, and connected parents with a variety of social services, from mental health care to housing assistance.

Much like the highly publicized Harlem Children’s Zone, Global Village focused on the needs of entire families. It aimed to strengthen academics and help lift children in one of Newark’s toughest neighborhoods out of poverty.

The partnership between Newark public schools and NYU would be less expensive than the one in Harlem, potentially making it a model to be replicated nationwide. During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama said he wanted to create 20 such zones around the country. Foundations were willing to pay for it.

But as with so many prior attempts at reform, things didn’t go according to plan.

On the national scale, President Obama shifted strategy to provide immediate direct aid through an economic stimulus package rather than investing a few billion dollars a year to create anti-poverty zones that would take longer to show results.

And in Newark, what had been billed as one of this downtrodden city’s most ambitious reforms collapsed just before this school year started. NYU blamed the failure on a lack of support from Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson and Mayor Cory Booker. Anderson has since begun a new reform initiative absorbing many Global Village concepts, notably the extended school day. [emphasis mine]

Superintendent Anderson has a three-year contract in Newark. Yet she has decided to disband the Global Village program and replace it with her own. Who knows if she will stay beyond her three years? Who knows if a new superintendent will come in and start his own program after she leaves?

The average tenure of an urban superintendent is now about three-and-a-half years. This means a community like Newark can be quite confident a high school student will have at least two supers within her four-year career. It means many of the teachers hired under one super will gain their tenure under another. It means a program like Global Village will never receive the long-term support it needs to prove itself.

It means that urban school districts - particularly ones like Newark that are under state control - can count on a regularly changing diet of new "reforms."

This is yet another cue America's public schools are being forced to take from the corporate world, where CEO churn has accelerated. Apparently, what's good for stock prices and profit margins is good for our cities' children. Except it isn't:

Low-performing schools tend to get stuck in what Noguera calls “reform churn,” where nothing stays in place long enough to take hold. Although components of Global Village continue under the renewal school initiative, services were disrupted during the transition and parents felt let down again.

“Newark’s been through so much in terms of having promises made and not fulfilled, and I think that’s the worst part of this,” Noguera said.

At the same time, schools like those in the Global Village zone are often subject to many reform efforts at once, resulting in inefficient and impractical measures that can be confusing and maddening for staff.

 Gosh, you think?

Read the whole article, which is quite good. You'll find a tale of an urban school system - like so many others in America - whose primary function seems to be burnishing the resumes of ambitious school administrators and politicians, and not educating kids.

There is, of course, a solution to all of this: put control of the schools back into the hands of the communities they serve. A local school board with a healthy representation of parents whose children actually attend the schools is much more likely to hire a superintendent who is committed to the long haul.

Unfortunately, given the buying off of school board elections and rise of the new, autocratic, 21st century mayor, we're moving in exactly the opposite direction. Be prepared for more of this:

Back at Science High, even the Facebook gift was regarded with suspicion.
“The foundations are interfering with public education and dividing our community,” says Cassandra Dock, a local resident. “Leave us alone. We don’t want white people coming in here and doing what they do — taking over. Destroy and leave.” [emphasis mine]

Affluent white "excellence" will be the death of our cities yet.

The Red Dragon Strikes...Power Personified...Section 4.

Brigadier General John "Howling Mad" Strepkowski, USAF, was a walking, talking dinosaur.  He said what he thought, believed what he said and believed in God first, family second and Nation third.  Always.  In that order.  No zipper control issues here, Howling Mad (HM if you were a friend) was a warrior monk in an age where so called "values" shifted with the sand...belief systems were fudgable and people were generally chicken shit.

HM had a problem.  AFRICOM's CINC was out of area, doing the political thing in DC while US Army Rangers were on the ground in Liberia hookin' and jabbin, trying there very best to see another sun rise.

The politically correct thing for HM to do would to simply sit on his hands and wait till orders came in from DC.  Meanwhile precious time would be wasted and men would continue to suck sand in a far off land.  He wouldn't have it.  He immediately ordered the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing (-) operating at Camp Lemonier to go into action.  On deck were 20 A-10C's...another 10 F-15E were also on the ramp.  Some smart ass blogger outted the operation so most aircraft were kept inside hangars so that the real numbers would go undetected.  30 attack airplanes with Brits providing ISR, Cargo and Refueling support via their A330's and he should be able to help keep those boys on the ground alive---at least till the dumbasses in DC could finally make a decision.

The plan was simple.  The F-15E's would head out at top speed to push the issue.  The Chinese had a nice little force of mechanized Para-troopers...they might be able to give transports hell but once the F-15's got finished with them, it would be a mopping up operation for the A-10's.

HM never went for the interservice nonsense.  He always considered it one fight, one force, one mission.

He'd bring every unit he had available in Africa together with one goal in mind.  Pull our brothers out of harms way.  Hang on guys.  Heaven's angels were coming...and they were pissed.

Zulu Flight....6 F-15E's led by Colonel Jonathan McMasters, USAF.
McMasters had just refueled from the Brit A330's, he called off from the tankers and radioed his flight to go to full military power.  They were rocketing along at just below the speed of sound carrying a full load of small diameter bombs.  Testing had revealed that at max altitude they could lob these bad boys at over 80 miles from the target.

The mission was simple.  They were going to divide the country into sectors and then the muzzles were coming off....Fangs were out teeth were barred and the Para-troopers were going to experience true death from above.

McMasters loved the fighting spirit of the 82nd and Rangers.  But when it came to death and destruction they were rookies.  His WSO called out the first target and he felt a couple of bombs drop off.  This was gonna be sweet.  But this was just the beginning.

China stabbed his country in the eye.  China fucked with America.  China was gonna get payback.  It started on a dark night with a flight of Eagles.

That night 25 8x8's were destroyed and 200 Chinese Para-troopers met their maker....unfortunately for them it was just the beginning.  The A-10's had just arrived to start working their kill boxes.

Things had suddenly changed.  Not only were US Army Rangers hooking and jabbing and trying to see another sun rise...but so were the Chinese Para-troopers.  A long night for both sides and the angel of death was just getting warmed up.

22nd MEU steaming toward the coast of Liberia.
The warning order was simple.  Prepare for combat operations in Liberia.  Opposing force is a Reinforced Chinese Brigade of Para-troopers.  Reinforcements are arriving aboard merchant ships acting as Privateers and the CIA has indicated that unusual air activity has been spotted in the area.  Colonel Bennett, didn't expect an opposed landing but he would make sure to coordinate with the Nimitz strike group and USAF units out of Djboutti.

Everyone thought that after Afghanistan, that a peace dividend would kick in.  Well that was bullshit...the same bullshit that every peacenik dreams of.

Reality is a bitch.

The US Marine Corps was once again heading toward a real deal shooting war and Bennett couldn't be happier.

Adam Zagajewski's 'Vita Contemplativa': "In Dark Waters, In Brightness"

 

Berlin, Museuminsel, 1956. Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-41736-0005 / CC-BY-SA


It's perhaps two or three years since I started reading Adam Zagajewski's work. He is originally from Lwów in Poland, which inspired one of his most beautiful poems, 'To Go To Lvov'. From a country and a generation which produced many remarkable poets, he is outstanding.

I am distantly fascinated by Poland. So far I have only visited Krakow for a weekend, but it did not disappoint me. Among its other mysteries, the city carried faint echoes of the weeks I spent every summer in Finland as a child. I suppose this is some Baltic commonality, something in the air. I really love what I have read of Polish literature. The Poles seem to be both philosophical and passionate, which appeals to me a good deal. I remember years ago in Dublin, when I and a friend met some Polish sailors on board their ship in the docklands. I mentioned that I loved Joseph Conrad, although our conversation was mainly about the Bible. When we took our leave, one of the sailors kissed my hand.


VITA CONTEMPLATIVA (Adam Zagajewski)


The narrator of this poem is in Berlin, reflecting on the quiet moment in history where he seems to find himself. I have also been to Berlin; "dark waters" and "black buildings", indeed. I suppose that the references to Greek statuary are from the Pergamon Museum. Zagajewski, or his narrator, says with what seems to me some irony, "So this is the vita contemplativa...So this is it." Like philosophers before him, he contrasts the contemplative life with the active life, and obviously doesn't find peace. The contrast between "tranquility" and "taut attention" suggests that he knows this is just a suspended moment in time. After all, how often and for how long has peace reigned in Europe, or in the world of humans?

I'm haunted by the final line of 'Vita Contemplativa': "We dwell in the abyss. In dark waters. In brightness." There is no one who can fail to find something resonant in those words, in their life.

X-47B Inaugural Land-Based Catapult Launch.

9mm necked down to 22 cal!

You know what sucks?

It sucks when you think you've hit on something revolutionary and then find out that it's already been done.  That's what happened today when I shot an e-mail to a friend of mine that reloads.  I said I wanted to try a bullet that had a super flat trajectory and could defeat most soft body armor.

My idea?  A necked down 9mm to a 22 cal.  Maybe even a 45 necked to 22.

The problem.

Armscor has been there and done that!  Why it isn't widespread is beyond me but the stats on this little wildcat are impressive.  Read a bit about it here.

UPDATE:
Thanks for all the info guys.  The more I read about this round the more excited I'm getting about it.  It blows the 5.7 away in performance and its potential would make a weapon equipped with it a one shot stopper.  The velocity almost rivals that of a rifle.  The testing I've seen shows that it penetrates hard targets with ease (I'm talking steel plates).    This is definitely going on the wish list.

Ronda Rousey: Cute but she'd kick your ass.

Saw her on my MMA feed.  Supposedly Dana is about to give the girls a try in the UFC...especially since its gaining traction in StrikeForce.  I'm not sure though.  Women's boxing is only see every four years and its been around for years.  Rousey is suppose to have skills...check out this vid...



See how she passes guard and mounts...and then just when Tweet thought she got out, she transitioned to an arm bar.

Fucking Sweet!  I originally was gonna go with her interview on Jim Rome's show but this is better.  

Ship Board Pull-Up Challenge! Yeah Baby! Git' It!

First Lt. James P. Rooney, platoon commander, Weapons Platoon, pulls himself up while 1st Lt. Murphy A. Bright, platoon commander, 3rd Platoon, both with Kilo Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, prevents him from swaying back and forth during the Campbell Cup Pull-Up Challenge in the gym of the USS Peleliu, Nov. 24. Marines and sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group worked in teams of seven to see who could do the most pull-ups in ten minutes. The 15th MEU is deployed as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group as a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force, providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Rooney, 25, is form Long Island, N.Y., and Bright, 24, is from New York. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. John Robbart III/Released)

Corporal Cesar Carrillo, technical controller, Command Element, and Capt. Samuel C. Ksiazkiewicz, embarkation officer, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 (Rein.), both with 15th Marine Expeditionary unit, pull themselves up during the Campbell Cup Pull-Up Challenge in the gym of the USS Peleliu, Nov. 24. Marines and sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group worked in teams of seven to see who could do the most pull-ups in ten minutes. The 15th MEU is deployed as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group as a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force, providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Carrillo, 24, is from Bell Gardens, Calif., and Ksiazkiewicz, 28, is from Jackson, Mich. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. John Robbart III/Released)

Sergeant Maj. John W. Scott, sergeant major, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, pulls himself up during the Campbell Cup Pull-Up Challenge in the gym of the USS Peleliu, Nov. 24. Marines and sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group worked in teams of seven to see who could do the most pull-ups in ten minutes. The 15th MEU is deployed as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group as a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force, providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. John Robbart III/Released)

Lance Cpl. Matt J. Mistretta, team leader, 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, pulls himself up during the Campbell Cup Pull-Up Challenge in the gym of the USS Peleliu, Nov. 24. Marines and sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group worked in teams of seven to see who could do the most pull-ups in ten minutes. The 15th MEU is deployed as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group as a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force, providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Mistretta, 22, is from Reno, Nev. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. John Robbart III/Released)

Marines with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 (Rein.), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, take a moment to enjoy their recent victory, accruing 538 pull-ups during the Campbell Cup Pull-Up Challenge in the gym of the USS Peleliu, Nov. 24. Marines and sailors of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group worked in teams of seven to see who could do the most pull-ups in ten minutes. The 15th MEU is deployed as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group as a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force, providing support for maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. John Robbart III/Released)