Free Republic

Why the 50 Meter Zero? Rourke linked to an excellent pictorial about ballistic trajectories from different zero's over at M4.com. Let's look at the trajectory using a 25 meter zero. If you look the bullet path is 8 inches high from roughly 125m to250m. This is a real problem. This is enough of a problem that folks will miss targets. In fact that is what happened. My informal understanding of the development of the 50 meter zero is as follows. Dudes were missing Tango's in the 100-150 meter range which was pretty close to the max range guys found themselves...

Muslim groups reacted angrily after it emerged that the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan were using rifle sights inscribed with coded Biblical references. The company producing the sights, which are also used to train Afghan and Iraqi soldiers under contracts with the US Army and the Marine Corps, said it has inscribed references to the New Testament on the metal casings for over two decades. The British Ministry of Defense meanwhile announced it had placed an order for 400 of the gunsights with Trijicon but added it had not been aware of the significance of the inscriptions, in a...

SYDNEY — Australia Friday ordered its military to look at removing biblical references from weapons used by troops in Afghanistan, after New Zealand banned the "completely inappropriate" inscriptions. Australia's Defence Minister John Faulkner said the military had been unaware of the meaning of the letters and numbers etched into the US-made gunsights, which refer to passages in the New Testament. "I have asked Defence to examine the options available to deal with this matter without compromising the safety of our troops and critically important capabilities," Faulkner said. Faulkner's comments came as neighbouring New Zealand condemned the inscriptions as potentially inflammatory....

WASHINGTON – Combat rifle sights used by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan carry references to Bible verses, stoking concerns about whether the inscriptions break a government rule that bars proselytizing by American troops. Military officials said the citations don't violate the ban and they won't stop using the telescoping sights, which allow troops to pinpoint the enemy day or night. The contractor that makes the equipment, Trijicon of Wixom, Mich., said the U.S. military has been a customer since 1995 and the company has never received any complaints about the Scripture citations. "We don't publicize this," Tom Munson, Trijicon's...

In honor of the win by the Kansas men's basketball team last night, I thought I'd post a couple of geological highlights from Kansas. People don't normally think of Kansas as a place with a lot of exciting geology, but it's got its places. Monument Rocks site: Paul Wicks (Nice!) Another Monument Rocks picture Rock City Konza Prairie Butcher Falls (Well, what did you expect?)

I will be going to New York City in March and would like some help from some New Yorkers or those who have been on things not to miss. My wife is going for business (training the guy taking her job) and I am tagging along since the hotel and her plane ticket is free. My days will be mostly to myself so let me know some things to do. Thanks

Iran gets America in its sights By Damien McElroy in Baghdad Last Updated: 2:19am GMT 12/03/2007 When nations as estranged as America and Iran hold face-to-face meetings for the first time in years, choreography matters as much as the words exchanged across the table. At a much-anticipated security summit in Iraq at the weekend, both the speeches and actions suggested Iran was not giving friendly signals to the United States. After a long day of diplomatic exchanges in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzhad, the US ambassador to Iraq, struggled to find words that cast the encounter in a positive light. It was,...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Fresh off their first victory over a Republican incumbent, GOP conservatives seeking party purity on taxes and spending are focused on ousting moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record) of Rhode Island. The Club for Growth and its 36,000 members spent around $1 million to help challenger Tim Walberg unseat first-term Rep. Joe Schwarz in Michigan's Republican primary on Tuesday. The win came despite Schwarz's support from President Bush and the National Rifle Association. Since its inception in 1999, the group has spent millions to help dozens of conservative Republicans win seats in Congress —...

There's no helping you. This site is now just a diversion -- like a train wreck. This site is inherently for and about raving egomaniacs, and Jim's site policies -- which amount to excluding reality and actual dialogue in favor of political/militaristic pornography -- is conducive to cognitive dissonance, which at the times your worldview is threatened leads you into psychotic breaks (on the political cognitive plane, that is, and just maybe in other realms too). Not to mention that your baseline politics is based in mythology about American demographics, science, economics, ethics etc. You spoonfeed each other in the...

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3, 2006 - LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3, 2006 – The Defense Department's "America Supports You" program and Shauna Fleming, 16, founder of "A Million Thanks," launched the "2.6 in 2006" letter-writing campaign Jan. 1. The goal of the new campaign is to increase the number of letters of thanks sent to servicemembers through the "A Million Thanks" program to 2.6 million -- the total number of people in the armed forces, including the Guard and Reserve -- with the bulk of the letters coming from school-aged children. The initiative invites America's youth to make it their New...

WASHINGTON — Charles Schumer may be New York's less-famous senator, but he managed to keep a hand — or quote — in almost every major congressional battle in 2005, expanding his role in national politics even as he trumpets local issues. On Wednesday, Schumer, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, will complete his annual circuit of visits to all 62 counties in New York state. The appearance marks the end of his first year in a more powerful role and the beginning of a new year that will put him to the test. Schumer is counting on his time-tested...

This Boxer Surely Took Too Many Shots In The Head. Fresh from her weepy protest of the 2004 election, Senator Barbara Boxer sent out a notice to her radical friends today that she plans to go after Dr. Condoleeza Rice hard next week, when the good doctor sits for confirmation before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On Tuesday, January 18th and Wednesday, January 19th, National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a confirmation hearing for her appointment as Secretary of State. Dr. Rice’s confirmation hearing must not be a rubber stamp of President...

The link below is to the article in the FR "chat" section, which is where all discussion, voting, and commentary should bed posted. I always provide this link so that interested FR who may not be on my ping list can find the Geology "Picture of the Week". Geology Picture of the Week, Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 2004: VOTE for the Best U.S. Cave (+WhereIsIt?)

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Jerry Brown has a resume that won't stop. In his first nine public lives, California's serial candidate has been a college trustee, a secretary of state, a governor, a Senate candidate, a presidential hopeful, a spiritual scholar, a Democratic party official, a populist radio host and an urban mayor. Now he wants to be state attorney general. It may seem like the latest leap in a hopscotch career. But Brown, who got his law degree in 1964 and whose father, former Gov. Pat Brown, served two terms as attorney general, sees it more as completing a...

Rumsfeld sets his sights on 'unfinished business' By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 10 April 2003 As the Bush Administration yesterday savoured the fall of Baghdad, Vice-President Dick Cheney warned that the "extraordinary" Iraq campaign sent a clear message to "all violent groups" that the US had the will and the power to win the war on terrorism decisively. The Vice-President and Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary took pains to warn of the potential troubles, especially in President Saddam's family stronghold of Tikrit, and in the oil cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, which yesterday were still held by the regime. Mr...