Army Green

The US Army has spent 15 years and $100 million dollars developing a lead free bullet for the venerable M16 rifle.  The new round, M855A1, uses a copper slug instead of a lead one.  Actually the bullet is trickier than that, it has a hardened steel penetrator bolt down the center and a steel cap for armor piercing.  The round is finally in service.  The American Rifleman article didn't give the cost per round, the $100 million is non recurring up front R&D expenses.  The article has a lot of deep riflery talk but apparently the new round works as well as the older one it replaces.  They changed the propellant, raising muzzle velocity (good) and chamber pressure (bad).  It will penetrate 3/8 inch mild steel at 350 meters which is impressive for a 22 caliber rifle.  That ought to stop any vehicle short of a tank or APC. 
   I'm so glad we have the money to be so green.   The lead in bullets is not harmful except when the bullet hits you.  

Google Maps, enemy of the trees

I want to print a map, to take with me in the car.  Can I just get ONE sheet printed? Noo.  Everytime it prints the map and then wastes a second sheet of paper printing out the Google Logo.

The New York Times

For a national mouthpiece, they certainly have some quirks.  They promote  Jill Abramson to editor, and then fire her a few weeks later.  That makes it a snakepit, where you have to constantly watch your back.  Does not sound like a pleasant place to work. 
   This morning, on NPR, I hear that Jill still loves the Times, and has the Times logo tattooed on her back. Wow!  Except for ugly bikers with "Harley" tattoos, I never heard of anyone with a company tat before. 
Gotta be a weird place that Times.

Indict Chinese hackers or US executives?

The TV news is talking about indictments against Chinese hackers for hacking into US companies and taking trade secrets, classified info, and who knows what.  We won't talk about jurisdiction here, indictments only have force if you can lay your hands on the miscreants.  If they are in China, that doesn't work. 
  I'd like to know what is being done to executives in the US targets.   If they had enforced proper security they would not have gotten hacked.  For that matter, we could have words with Microsoft about gaping security holes in Windows. 

So what is Boko Haram?

Well, since they been kidnapping school girls by the hundred, I'd call them terrorists.  Hillary's State Department is taking flack 'cause they failed to put Boko Haram on the official terrorist list two years ago.  But I heard Fox News call them "rebels" the other day, and NPR called them "militants" just this morning.  Newsies need to wake up and smell the coffee. 

Free Air

They used to offer it at gas stations.  In the old days they would provide a neat little stand with a regulator.  Just dial in the desired tire pressure, jam the air hose onto the tire valve, and kaching, kaching, you were pumped up.  Even worked on my bicycle tires, before I got my driver's license.
  So the other day I noticed trusty Mercury Grand Marquis getting a little soft and squirrelly on I93, going into Littleton.  I eyeballed all the tires, and none of 'em looked soft.  So I rummaged in the glove compartment for the tire pressure gauge that should have been there.  No soap, gauge was gone into that great toolbox in the sky. So, I buy a new gauge at Walmart and go looking for a gas station with air, free or expensive, just air.  I'm at the intersection of I93 and US 302 in Littleton, pretty active place with three gas stations.  Only one of them has air.  Seventy five cents a shot.  Wimpy wimpy.  I put it on the right rear which was 10 pounds low.  The hang-on-the-outside-wall compressor racketed away but it wasn't putting much air in the tire.  The seventy five cents ran out, it stopped racketing, but the tire still hadn't reached 35 psi.  I had to fed it another seventy five cents to get pumped up. 

A lotta things to learn about Benghazi

Democrats on TV have been deriding the new Trey Gowdy Benghazi investigating committee.  They say we know everything there is to know, there have been eight previous investigations, and everything is out on the table. 
  I beg to differ.  Things we don't know.
1. Why were no troops or aircraft dispatched to rescue the people in Benghazi?  We had time to get a drone (200 mph) over the consulate, why were jet fighters (1000 mph) not sent?  Why were troops not dispatched, by helicopter or fixed wing?  Who was responsible?
2.  Why did Obama relieve two general officers in the theater of their commands that night?
3.  Who turned down the requests for extra security that were made BEFORE the attack?
4.  Who sent Susan Rice out on the talk shows peddling the internet video story.  She didn't think that fairy tale up all by her self. 
5. Why did acting CIA director Mike Morrel take the Washington analyst's internet video story over the story from the CIA station chief in Benghazi?
6.  What was that massive CIA operation doing in Benghazi anyhow?
7.  What orders did Obama issue that night?  Were they in writing?  If so let's see them.

I'm sure there's more, but these will do for starters.