#military

The official history of the field jacket, produced by the US Army, was titled Designed For Combat. There could be no truer statement. This garment and the idea that soldiers should wear uniforms explicitly and solely designed for fighting may both seem mundane and common sense to us. But, during World War II, it was a revolutionary approach to the design of military clothing.

“Big Hy” — his handle among many loyal customers — would almost certainly be cast as Hollywood Enemy No. 1 but for a few details. He is actually Hyman Strachman, a 92-year-old, 5-foot-5 World War II veteran trying to stay busy after the death of his wife. And he has sent every one of his copied DVDs, almost 4,000 boxes of them to date, free to American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Will Republicans accede to a sweeping drawdown of US nuclear might? Beyond the knee-jerk emotions on top national security issues, there's an awful lot of defense pork—not just missiles, but also bombers, submarines, and scientific research—bound up in our nuclear program. That makes the most dramatic reduction scenarios highly unlikely to pass muster in Congress. But if the White House and Pentagon push one of their more modest proposals—cutting the number of bombs to, say, 700 or 1,000—that could represent a reasonable compromise that still offers compelling financial savings and progress toward greater global stability. Faced with a plan like that, resistant congressmen might end up looking like just a bunch of Dr. Strangeloves.

Amendment 1092 to the Defense Authorization Act of 2012 is a well-intentioned but misguided provision outlining measures designed to reduce the prevalance of counterfeit chips in the US military supply chain.

If you're looking for a cheap and easy way to host basic Web sites, a new service launched today that you might want to check out. Pancake.io is a free service whipped together by Stanford student Tian Ping Wong.

"Under direct orders from Commander-in-Chief Barack Obama, General Ray Odierno shaves Stephen's head. (05:15)"

"To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service..." Repeatedly reintroduced apparently to prove a point.

"It can throw a wave of agony nearly half a mile."

"Military planners have abandoned the idea that standing up Iraqi troops will enable American soldiers to start coming home soon and now believe that U.S. troops will have to defeat the insurgents and secure control of troubled provinces. "

"Bush is sending sick and injured troops back to Iraq, and now he's sending troops that haven't received requisite leave."

"In other words, it may soon be possible for budding Bene Gesserits, with appropriate training, to receive volumes of material via the sensitive parts of the body."

"After three years of being laughed out of meetings, the U.S. Marine Corps' futuristic plans to deploy through space may finally be getting some traction"

"Jet fighter pilots could command a whole swarm of planes from the air, using a system developed by a British aerospace company." Sounds like "options" from Gradius :)

"But while I don't know exactly where the imperial tide is taking the U.S. military, and the United States, I don't think it's going to be any kind of place I would want to go, or produce any kind of regime I would want my children to have to live under"