Author: ex-OS2

Lt. Henry “Hap” Arnold, who learned to fly from the Wright Brothers, sits in his airplane in College Park, Maryland, in 1911. (Air Force)

In November 1938 Charles Lindbergh wrote urgently to Maj. Gen. Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold, the new chief of the Army Air Corps. Touring Germany, the aviation hero had witnessed the surging Luftwaffe firsthand.

Read the full article here: Here’s why Hap Arnold, a practical visionary, became the ‘father of the Air Force’

Uncle Sam wants you — to play video games for the US Army

The Army is putting together a team of video gamers from within its ranks to try to reach young Americans in the digital worlds where they spend much of their time.

More than 15 years after launching “America’s Army,” a first-person shooter game aimed at enlisting real world soldiers, the Army is calling for active duty troops and reservists to compete in video gaming tournaments, or esports, in one of its latest recruiting efforts.

The move follows the Army’s failure this year, for the first time in more than a decade, to meet the fiscal year target for bringing in new soldiers as it seeks to expand its ranks to more than 500,000 in the next four years.

The Army is also creating a “functional fitness” team to compete in CrossFit athletic events and is reportedly looking to spruce up recruiting efforts with more bonuses, more recruiters, better furniture and a new slogan to replace “Army Strong.”

The service plans to hold tryouts for a variety of electronic games, said Staff Sgt. Ryan Meaux, an Army recruiter, in a Facebook video on Wednesday.

Officials had highlighted the team on social media late last week, after a Twitter account was created in its name, and are expected to answer questions about it in an “Ask Me Anything” session on the social media platform Reddit on Friday at 6 p.m. Central time.

Webpages would soon be set up with details about joining the esports and fitness teams, but “the content is still in the works,” said Army Recruiting Command spokeswoman Kelli Bland, in an email late Thursday.

Members of the teams will be part of the Army’s Marketing and Engagement Team based at Fort Knox, Ky., and will operate much like the Golden Knights parachute team and Army Marksmanship Unit, traveling to various events and competing for the Army, Bland said. The Army will cover the cost of any certifications, competitions and other requirements, she said.

“They will be in a support role to help young people see soldiers in a different light and understand the many different roles people can have in the Army (and) help the Army address the growing disconnect with society,” she said.

 

Read the entire article here:

Uncle Sam wants you — to play video games for the US Army

1980 Chevrolet Corvette Four Door

A California shop apparently built six all total, and this is the reddest of them all.
Do not attempt to adjust screen settings on your mobile device or PC monitor. What you are seeing is real, and depending on how you feel about custom creations such as this, that could be a good thing or the stuff of nightmares. In either case, NBS Auto Showroom in Milpitas, California can set you up with all the details on this 1980 Chevrolet Corvette four-door and how to buy it, if you’re so inclined. Presumably, the sales team will also have some logic behind its asking price of—wait for it—$217,203. Mind you, that’s not an even $217,200, but $217,200 and three extra dollars. Or to put it another way, it’s nearly double the cost of a new Corvette ZR1. Then again, you can’t take three friends for a ride in a ZR1.

We do know some stuff about this very curious Corvette. The ad says it’s factory original, but some Google research tells us it was built back in the late 1970s by a Pasadena-based company called California Custom Coach. Super Chevy actually has a good article that covers this crazy four-door Corvette plan, but for our purposes, know that only six were built and this red example could be one of only two left.

Each car was made by basically fusing two Corvettes together—T-tops and all—with the rear glass opening to make this a five-door hatchback sports car 30 years before the Porsche Panamera was born. This particular car is reported as having just 20,000 miles, though a photo of the odometer actually shows 21,006 miles. It’s very red inside and out, and actually, the rear bucket seats don’t look that uncomfortable. The sales description doesn’t offer much else in the way of details, save for the standard-issue, used-car terms like excellent condition, fully loaded, and so forth. It’s listed as having paperwork available, and that it’s completely original. In this case, that would mean a 5.7-liter V8 connected to a four-speed automatic, making roughly 200 horsepower.

Read it here: 1980 Chevy Corvette Four Door Can’t Be Unseen, Seeks $217k

Buy it here: NBS Auto Showroom

Bridger-Teton blows up moose near Cache

Worried about possible people-carnivore conflict, Bridger-Teton National Forest officials recently exploded a full-grown bull moose whose final resting place was along a popular trail near the Cache Creek trailhead.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department personnel received a report from a hiker of the moose carcass’ whereabouts near the mouth of Woods Canyon late last week, and on Thursday night Game Warden Kyle Lash removed the head of the animal, which outwardly looked to be in good shape.

The next morning, Game and Fish’s brucellosis/feedground/habitat biologist, Ben Wise, examined the moose head and found “a lot” of carotid artery worms, which can cause blindness.

“We pulled a golf-ball-size amount of worms out of one side of [the artery],” Lash said, “and it was about the same on the others side.”

The animal’s lungs were also black, likely from pneumonia, but Wise’s assessment was that the parasitic worms were likely the leading cause of death. There was nothing to indicate the animal had been poached, Lash said.

The moose carcass, which was within the Gros Ventre Wilderness, was blown up by the Bridger-Teton on Friday.

“There’s nothing left,” Lash said. “It’s kind of a slick way to get rid of a carcass.”

The idea behind using explosives is that the not-so-intact body would be scavenged and thus dissipate much more quickly, reducing the odds that large carnivores would linger in an area frequented by people. Mountain lions, black bears and wolves are all regular inhabitants of the Cache Creek area. Lash passed on his concerns to the Bridger-Teton, especially because the Woods Canyon Trail is well-used by elk hunters in November.

The Jackson Hole Daily was unable to reach Bridger-Teton officials Sunday to learn how the explosion went, but Jackson Hole News&Guide copy editor Mark Huffman happened to be in the Cache Creek area when the sickened moose went “boom.” A forest staffer on site told him that 100 pounds of explosives were used to incinerate and distribute the rotting remains.

“It really was a large, impressive noise,” Huffman said. “The initial noise was like a crack, rather than what you would expect. You could hear [the percussion] moving around and echoing in that little, narrow canyon.”

A visit to the mouth of Woods Canyon on Saturday suggested that the bull’s body is now in tiny pieces and spread across a large area. A sign downslope lets hikers know what they’re about to pass by.

While the carcass itself is now unidentifiable, the pall of rot that lingers in the air is telling of the location of the moose’s explosion.

BOOM!

Read it here: B-T blows up moose near Cache

Great, Great, Great Grandma

1/64th? 1/512th? 1/1,024th? Native American?

Senator Elizabeth Warren has released a DNA test that provides “strong evidence” she had a Native American in her family tree dating back 6 to 10 generations, an unprecedented move by one of the top possible contenders for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president.

Warren, whose claims to Native American blood have been mocked by President Trump and other Republicans, provided the test results to the Globe on Sunday in an effort to defuse questions about her ancestry that have persisted for years. She planned an elaborate rollout Monday of the results as she aimed for widespread attention.

The analysis of Warren’s DNA was done by Carlos D. Bustamante, a Stanford University professor and expert in the field who won a 2010 MacArthur fellowship, also known as a genius grant, for his work on tracking population migration via DNA analysis. He concluded that “the vast majority” of Warren’s ancestry is European, but he added that “the results strongly support the existence of an unadmixed Native American ancestor.”

Bustamante calculated that Warren’s pure Native American ancestor appears in her family tree “in the range of 6-10 generations ago.” That timing fits Warren’s family lore, passed down during her Oklahoma upbringing, that her great-great-great-grandmother, O.C. Sarah Smith, was at least partially Native American.

Blah, blah, blah blah, blah.

The full article is here: Warren releases results of DNA test

The Cherokee Nation was quick to respond to Pocahontas.

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. issued the following statement Monday in response to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test claiming Native Heritage:

“A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship. Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America,” Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation. Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven. Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.”

The statement is here: Cherokee Nation

Perhaps Elizabeth (1/1,024th) Warren can get Ward Churchill to campaign for her in 2020.