DeM Banter: I thought it was just me... good to see David gets it as well... Washingtonpost.com June 21, 2013 For people (like me) who worry that the U.S. government is becoming dysfunctional, it's worth studying the subtle and largely hidden effects of sequestration on the military and other agencies. What's happening is the slow-motion …
The New Triad: By Adm. James Stavridis
DeM Banter: surprised we are not hearing more about this...my gut, it's going to haunt us... ForeignPolicy.com June 20, 2013 It's time to found a U.S. Cyber Force. Throughout the long decades of my military career, the backbone of U.S. national security was the "strategic triad" of delivery systems for nuclear weapons: ballistic-missile submarines and …
Russian Air Power Makes A Splash At Paris Air Show By Daniel Michaels
DeM Banter: After recently speaking with several NASA Astronauts here at OTS... it was sad to realize we now rely on the Russians to get our astronauts into space. Now the Russians dominate tech at the Paris Airshow... all I can think is... HEY, that used to be us...(great book by Friedman but the way) …
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The Force of Ruach: DeMarco Banter and trivia for the day…
"It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together" -Obi Wan Kenobi Recently I was introduced to the concept of ruach while doing research for a class I was teaching. Â The idea that God is the source of the very oneness and connectivity of the universe, like electricity that powers everything... Ruach, pronounced …
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An Ends-Means Gap By Fareed Zakaria
DeM Banter: Any article that mentions Samuel Huntington, Maj. Gen. H.R. McMaster, and Machiavelli in the same piece... must be good. Interesting take and I really would like to believe the last paragraph, but my fear is reality lies in the first couple of paragraphs. This is indeed a Ends-Means Gap... but what about the …
Pentagon Shoots Down Kerry’s Syria Airstrike Plan By Jeffrey Goldberg
DeM Banter: This falls in the interesting times category for sure, especially when you look at the article posted earlier today regarding crews sitting on the ramp and "pretending" to fly because we don't have enough training hours. We have spent a good bit of time at the m100Group talking about choices... this was a …
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Doing The Enemy’s Job By Tom Young
DeM Banter: I was waiting for someone to bring this up...of course it was the Flight Engineer... "Hey eng...do we have any Airpower?" Pilot/Eng...."maybe when Washington gets us a budget." Good times.... USAToday.com June 17, 2013 Sequestration is crippling the Air Force's ability to defend the nation. Imagine an enemy that could neutralize 13 U.S. …
Interview Gen. Denis Mercier Chief of Staff, French Air Force by Andrew Chuter
DeM Banter: Austerity measures in action...it is indeed odd that we have yet to hear that fact that about 30% of our combat fleet in the USAF is grounded as we debate action in Syria. Interesting times... Defense News June 17, 2013 Pg. 30 The French Air Force is facing a problem that is increasingly …
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A few on Syria Jerusalem Post, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, and Politico
DeM Banter: Â Few good answers here... in a classic "damned if you do, damed if you don't" scenario...a data burst of articles below, I know... but there is so much in ink (or digits) it is hard to parse through. Â Is this another if you have a hammer--everything looks like a nail? Â We can't forget …
Slash The Budget, But Don’t Close Unneeded Bases? Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer
DeM Banter: It does make it tough to balance the military budget... June 13, 2013 The Pentagon says it doesn't want them, doesn't need them and can't afford to maintain them. Two congressional armed services panels say that's just tough -- you're stuck with them. So at a time of budget squeezing, the Defense Department's …
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Mastermind Century Group 