New Site!

Over the past 7 months of ZD30 being dormant, we've been getting occasional mail from the blog's faithful about new content. Iceman and I have decided to move our operation over to a completely new platform with a redesigned website, a slightly new focus and dedicated blogging.

You can find it at "milaviate.wordpress.com" for now. We hope to make it a full-fledged website by December or so!

Thanks for the love and loyalty,
Mav

Security

On Friday, a crazed 20-year old shot up a school. Defenseless teachers, students (20, under the age of 10), school administrators. This brings up the question of security and the ever-persistent argument for disarming the civilian populace. How secure are our loved ones? What's the solution to this all? Will keeping guns out of the hands of the people make sure another attack like this would never occur?

SOFREP.com posted an article on lessons learned from this tragedy. I wholeheartedly agree with it. You can never put a price on the safety of those you love (yes, I know that sounds like an ad slogan for ADT), and there are means out there that don't violate constitutional rights, but ensure an increased level of safety for the public, especially our younger ones. Full body scanners, enhanced metal detectors, immediate response teams, uniformed guards, increased surveillance... all of these are ways to equip our schools with a much more comprehensive security barrier. Some might argue arming teachers would solve this problem, and the example of Israel pops up. I disagree with this. Different circumstances. Israelis live under the constant threat of attack from terrorists and Palestinian-sponsored belligerents. Here, on our continent, let alone the country, we don't exactly exist in the same situation. If I was a father, I would never allow my children to attend schools with firearms so easily within reach in every single classroom, especially with teachers who may or may not be appropriately qualified to use these guns. I'm sure many would agree with me.

Going over to the whole gun control debate, I'm not gonna get into that, as y'all already know my political leanings. Just keep in mind that you may make things illegal, like drugs, but that doesn't stop people from getting their hands on them, does it?

Keep in your thoughts and prayers the victims and families of those affected at Newtown. May those taken from the world so early, rest in peace.

Great pic from MAA. Berthed are four aircraft carriers, the Coral Sea, the Hancock, Oriskany and the Big E to the far right. Notice the differences in design, deck structure and size?

Ice's take on the Petraeus scandal

Let's start off by saying, extra-marital affairs in the political world aren't exactly something new. Some of the most revered governmental figures (e.g. Lyndon B. Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, etc) have engaged in such acts and they're still viewed by the general public as successful, even beloved. I'm not condoning such behavior, however.

I find the fact that this is all coming up, right out in the open, after the election and before the Benghazi hearings very interesting. I'm not going to call it a conspiracy, but it seems that people in the current administration do not want to hear Petraeus's take on what went on at the US consulate on 9/11/12. 

The fact of the matter is, there's no man as qualified for the job as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency as him. His success in the Global War on Terrorism proves that. The problem here, is that lawyers and sponsored attorneys can, in fact, prove that his testimony is worthless on the grounds that his judgement might have been impaired or otherwise affected. That's when things get sticky. 

I, for one, would very much appreciate the opportunity to hear what he has to say about the CIA's involvement, especially considering the fact that most mainstream news outlets claim that they played a major part in what went on that fateful day. 

As for the affair part... well, as I said, I'm not condoning it in any way, but this was a sign of weakness in an otherwise perfect and stellar career. Cut him some slack folks, LBJ had his way with dozens of women, even with his wife fully knowledgeable of his affairs, and people still celebrate him as a hardworking, trustworthy man.

Iceman out.

Heroes of the Week

I'd like to give a shout-out to Team Rubicon and the awesome work they've done, helping the victims of Hurricane Sandy especially in New York and New Jersey.

Largely composed of veterans and reservists, TR has done an amazing job helping those in need when disaster strikes. 

You can check out their updates from Operation Greased Lightning, their Sandy relief efforts here:

http://teamrubiconusa.org/category/photos/

Mav out.

Fast and the Furious: Pacific Drift

In the last post, Ice gave you a size comparison of an aircraft carrier to a B-52 Stratofortress. Pretty big, right?

Now, imagine this: a high speed bank.

Typically, these awe-inspiring turns are performed as "rudder checks" during post-refit sea trials/shakedown cruises. Imagine a mass, longer than the Empire State building's height, doing a bank like that, at sea, at such an angle. The above pictures are of the USS Nimitz and the USS Harry S. Truman conducting those maneuvers. 

Awesome, isn't it?

Mav out.

Woah that's big.

That's what she said! Haha, sorry, couldn't resist.

For those of you who've never been near a supercarrier before, you're probably wondering... is it really that big? Or are the pictures taken at angles or from a crazy perspective to make them look that way? 

Well, the above is a pretty cool picture I found a while ago of a B-52 Stratofortress doing a low pass near the USS Ranger, circa 1990. There were 2 B-52s in the vicinity of the carrier, during a military exercise. The pilots asked the carrier air boss if they could perform a fly-by and were granted the approval. When the BUFFs were 9 km out, the observers on the carrier's island still couldn't see the big grey birds. Till they got closer. Then only were they able to make out the shape of these massive planes, right above the water; their engines kicking back a spray from the ocean. 

If you've ever been up close to a B-52 at an air show, you'll know it's a pretty big plane. Now, look at the picture. Woah. Right?