Monday was the 72nd anniversary of D-Day. On June 6, 1944, the Allies embarked on the crucial invasion of Normandy on the northern coast of France. Allied forces suffered major casualties, but the ensuing campaign ultimately dislodged German forces from France. Did you know these eight famous individuals participated in the D-Day invasion? James Doohan Actor James…
Military History: 10 Amazing Military Underdog Stories
Underdogs have a special place in the hearts of many, whether it’s the upstart Celtic Iceni tribe led by Boudicca revolting against the Romans or the ice-veined Spartans fighting in one of history’s greatest last stands against the Persians at Thermopylae. Either through superior tactics or more technologically advanced weaponry, the outnumbered often achieve some…
Armed Citizen Corner: Some Really Stupid Arguments Anti-Gunners Have About Campus Carry
I normally don’t give the “Brainless Katie Couric Anti-Gun Crowd” the time of day, but seeing Campus Carry is an issue near and dear to my heart, here are some of their retarded arguments against Campus Carry and the appropriate logical rebuttals.-SF The concept of allowing those with a concealed carry permit to…
Two World War Two Movies Worth A Damn
Fortress of War (2010) A 2010 Russian-Belarusian war film that recounts the events surrounding the June 1941 Defense of Brest Fortress. My Way (2011) My Way is a 2011 South Korean war film inspired by the true story of a Korean named Yang Kyoungjong who during World War II was conscripted into the Japanese, Soviet and the German…
ISIS Corner: ISIS in North Texas, But Not Via The Rio Grande
Wahib Sadek Hamed claimed to be a terrorist. Shirtless, with tan pants, long beads and shaggy dark hair, the 22-year-old Hamed parked his car in the middle of a roadway in Arlington on May 26, then jumped out of his car and lunged at people who passed in their cars. He then threatened a woman…
Brush-Up On Your History: The Little Known Story of Operation Tonga
As part of Operation Tonga, the British airborne component of Operation Neptune (the official name of the D-Day), the 9th Parachute Battalion was tasked with capturing the Merville Gun Battery, whose guns were trained on Sword Beach and the British troops who would be assaulting it on the morning of the invasion. The gun battery’s defenses…
Surveillance State: Hackers Have Found a Pulsating New Way to Spy on You on Your Phone and FitBit
Hackers may be pickin’ up good vibrations from your phone. All the better to surveil you with, my dear. Researchers at the Electrical and Computer Engineering school of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discovered that the vibration motor in your devices can operate like a microphone, according to the researchers’ paper. That means, if…
World War II History: The US Army Rangers and Point Du Hoc
One of the highlights of my last trip to France was the three days I spent in Normandy, site of the D-Day invasion. As a professional military guy, this is one of the coolest possible trips because the Normandy campaign had it all – amphibious assaults, airborne drops, tank battles, joint firepower, fighters and bombers,…
Military Weapons From The Past: The Soviet 6P9 (PB) Pistol
Developed for Spetsnaz and the KGB Wet Teams, the PB was a Suppressed Pistol with some Serious Design Compromises Developed for Spetsnaz units and the KGB in the mid-1960s, the Soviet PB — also known as the 6P9 — took the proven Makarov PM design and incorporated a two-stage, integral suppressor. During World War II, the Soviet NKVD had…
Surveillance State: DIVA Software Designed to Spot Suspicous Behavior BEFORE it Happens
The program is called Deep Intermodal Video Analytics—or DIVA—and it seeks to locate shooters and terrorists before they strike. The intelligence community is working on amping up people-recognition power to spot, in live videos, shooters and potential terrorists before they have a chance to attack. Part of the problem with current video surveillance techniques is the difficulty…