Feral Jundi

Friday, August 23, 2013

Books: Civilian Warriors, By Erik Prince

Filed under: Books,Cool Stuff,Legal News — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 12:28 PM

This is the much anticipated book by Erik Prince about his former company.  You can go to Amazon and pre-order, or wait until November and check out all of the various book stores and sites that Penguin Group is releasing it at.

One thing that has come up recently about the book is a lawsuit between Prince and one of his ghost writers. We will see how that turns out and how the book sells. –Matt

Pre-order the book here.

Edit: 12/17/13– Prince has been doing tons of interviews to promote his book. Probably the best one has been The Daily Show. Check it out.

 

 

Summary of Civilian Warriors
The founder of Blackwater offers the gripping, previously untold story of the world’s most controversial military contractor

Blackwater is one of the most misunderstood companies of our time. As Erik Prince, its founder and former CEO, writes:

“Hundreds of American citizens employed by private military contractors, or PMCs, would lose their lives helping our government wage wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, only to have their memory tarnished by the unfair and/or ignorant depiction of PMCs as profiteers, jackbooted thugs, or worse.”

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Friday, August 16, 2013

Executive Protection: So Who Does Warren Buffet Use For Security?

Filed under: Cool Stuff,Executive Protection,Video — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 8:08 PM

This is a great show on the protective details of the rich. Have you ever wondered who protects guys like Warren Buffet?

In the video they identified Clark International as the folks that Mr. Buffet uses. Pretty cool, and if the Oracle of Omaha chose them, then they must have the juice.  Buffet is the king of finding quality companies and investing in them for the long haul. According to the video, Buffet has used Clark International for several decades now. –Matt

 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Cool Stuff: VA Approves Thor’s Hammer As A Symbol On Headstones

Filed under: Cool Stuff — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 9:02 AM

Now that is cool. Supposedly there are a few followers of Asatru in the US. No word on how many military folks are followers of Asatru, but there have been a few whom have been buried with their gravestone engraved with the Mjolnir.

NPR interviewed John Browlee, a Boston-based writer who reports on technology, about the tie between those who practice the religion and Thor’s hammer. He estimates there are between 10,000 and 20,000 self-labeled modern-day heathens in the U.S.

Here is a list of the 56 approved symbols and for some background on the symbol, here is the wikipedia entry. –Matt

 

The Mjolnir or Hammer of Thor.

 

How Thor’s Hammer Became an Approved Symbol by the VA
By Nina Porzucki
July 18, 2013
While you may know Thor and his famous hammer, the Mjolnir, from the movies, his hammer has symbolic meaning that goes back thousands of years.
“In the myths Thor’s hammer is the most valued treasure of the Gods because Thor uses it to defend both the Gods and humans from the giants. So it represents his sacred function; it’s a symbol of his protective role,” explained Norse Mythologist, Dr. Karl E. H. Seigfried.
The hammer is a sacred symbol for modern day heathens, one of the terms for people who practice Ásatrú and worship the Norse Gods.
Though the religion has ancient roots, the modern day practice began in the 1970?s when Icelandic poet, Sveinbjorn Beinteinsson petitioned the Icelandic government for recognition for the religion. As legend has it Beinteinsson was met with skepticism. Then lightening struck.

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Weapons Stuff: Syrian Rebels Create And Deploy A Remote Controlled Sniper Rifle

Filed under: Cool Stuff,Syria,Weapons Stuff — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 9:39 AM

It always amazes me how resourceful and ingenious folks can be during desperate times, and especially in a war. Obviously this kid created a weapon system that fit his mission and worked well with his skill level, which was probably playing video games.

Now the question I have is if this will catch on with other rebel groups? Will this kid start a ‘remotely operated sniper system’ movement in this war, and what direction will it go for advances? How about automatic targeting or tracking? How about the incorporation of a laser rangefinder into this system.  Something like Tracking Point’s weapon system? We will see….

Although at the end of the day, I still believe humans operating the sniper rifle directly will account for more kill shots in Syria. It is the most practical, cheapest and most portable way of deploying that system. –Matt

 

Monday, March 18, 2013

Cool Stuff: A Quadrotor That Can Grasp Like An Eagle Or Harvest Energy From Powerlines

Filed under: Cool Stuff,Technology,Video — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 9:07 AM

These are some incredible developments in Quadrotor/UAS technology. The ability to ‘grab’ something in mid-flight or to have the device harvest energy from a power line is amazing.

For the battlefield, there are some interesting uses for a quadrotor that could grab things on the fly like an eagle. A larger robot could be used to actually grab prisoners or steal equipment from the enemy. I have talked about defeating ‘hit and run’ tactics of the enemy, and imagine being able to capitalize on such an attack by not only stunning or wounding with a Switchblade, but then snatching the combatant with a ‘Grabber’.

I could also see using something like this for resupply missions that require an exchange between parties. I need this, and you need that, so let’s use the Grabber to quickly exchange those items. Perhaps there are sensitive materials that need to get picked up quickly–well the Grabber could be the one to do that. The Grabber could be used to pick up battlefield munitions to clear an area.

What would really be wild is to use a Grabber to attack and steal other UAS’s. Like two birds attacking one another, and may the bigger more aggressive bird win. Which if you look at where all this is going, quadrotors like this and their usages will mimic what animals or insects can do.

As to harvesting energy from powerlines, the Grabber would be an excellent tool for that. Or maybe the Grabber would gather fuel for a fuel cell that it is operating from, like a bird gathering sticks for it’s nest. Lot’s of ideas there and these robots will have all sorts of ways sustaining itself in the wild.

Interesting stuff and the imagination is the only limit here. –Matt

 

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