Agiel

Relevant video from Super Bunnyhop:

I found the Ardennes Assault expansion campaign more exciting than the campaign of the base game, but that may have had something to do with me playing a lot of multiplayer which that campaign owes more to (and even on normal can be a kick in the ass if you're not already well-versed on the American faction). The campaign of the stock game was a more directed experience you can play at your own pace more often than not and has its moments (such as trying to take down a Tiger I with only PTRS rifles and creative employment of smoke grenades and demolition charges).

There were eight Soviet Frontal Aviation aircraft shot down by the Pakistanis during the course of the Soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan, and five MiG-21s flown by clandestine Soviet flyers were brought down by the IAF towards the end of the War of Attrition, so this isn't exactly something totally without precedent. This can be especially egregious given that in certain visibility conditions (i.e. Beyond Visual Range-engagement, angels below 25, so no contrails), the pilots could potentially have absolutely no idea an Alamo was on its way at any point during those five minutes and forty seconds. Most missile approach warning systems can only detect a rocket plume from so far away (and probably not in the case of a BVR missile with a kinematic range of up to 70nm), and radar warning receivers make no distinction between being put in a continuous wave track by a Su-27 or being illuminated for a SARH missile.

Was thinking they were dead ringers for the Dark Eldar from 40K myself. Don't forget you can shift-click Kerrigan to blast problem units (Siege Tanks, Brood Lords, Collosi, etc) and the thingies that spawn the smaller bastards. It pauses her progress bar, but buys you crucial time to block off the ramps with Supply Depots, build your impenetrable wall of Siege Tanks and bunkers, and build a fully-upgraded QRF of MMMs, Banshees, and Vikings.

The Marines were first formed in a Philadelphia tavern (*hic* Hey I have an idea! *hic* We'll row a perfectly good boat to shore and jump out of it!") on this day in 1775. This makes the USMC an institution that is older than the United States itself!

Bones and Hawgs gassing up:

Washington transiting the Strait of Magellan on its way back to Norfolk:

Unfortunately that development will probably mean Boeing is out of the running for the F-22/F-35 follow-up competition, and an end to the McDonnell-Douglas line of fighters: http://aviationweek.com/defense/opinion-lrs-b-and-military-aircraft-industry?NL=AW-19&Issue=AW-19_20150129_AW-19_838&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&YM_RID=CPEN1000000434923&YM_MID=1622 The American industry is looking decidedly Russian in how delineated the roles each of the big 3 combat aircraft companies manufacture for with LockMart handling Tac-air (Sukhoi), NG doing bombers (Tupolev), and Boeing handling support and airlift craft like the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, the KC-46 Pegasus tanker, and the C-17 Globemaster (Ilyushin).

F-16 Falcon Collection now on GOG. http://www.gog.com/game/falcon_collection Includes an installer for the original Falcon 4.0, so you can enjoy the superlative Falcon BMS 4.32 supermod.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/22/africa/al-shabaab-faction-isis/index.html Glass half-full, if they turn out to be the source of resurgent piracy in the Gulf of Aden, it could make the introduction of the LCSes timelier than was originally thought.

Assembled the last pieces for my Snake Plissken Halloween costume. Auspiciously, this year's Halloween feature at my local movie theater is The Thing.

Probably one of the more interesting things I saw coming out of that was the M8 AGS (designed back in the Cold War for the 82nd Airborne's requirements for an air-droppable tank to replace the Sheridans) making a comeback. https://player.vimeo.com/video/142385228

At least I can rest easy knowing that the chances of my car getting overturned or torched due to World Series win euphoria have drastically gone down.

Lawmakers Weigh Cut in Fed Payout to Banks. More than $1 billion a year would go to pay for highway construction I confess I had to check my calendar to see that it wasn't April 1st.

I believe that if it's been proven that truly exceptional women can hack it to be in infantry or even special forces units (just as exceptional or at least well above average men can), then the current physical standards should remain in place. And absolutely no one is contesting that those exceptional women do exist (for instance the three women who managed Ranger School, and I've read somewhere at least four women are operators in the Australian Tier 1, mosaics-over-faces, "we can neither confirm nor deny that we were never here" outfit, the SASR).

Saw the Martian on a date. Had a good time (in spite of spots of cringworthy dialogue every now and again), and from the looks of things so did audiences and critics. Wonder if this is where people say Ridley Scott turned the corner.

I had a theory that the anglo-american feminist bent owed more to the "moral guardian" tradition where continental European feminism had roots in sex positive "free-love." And I guess this comic kind of proves this:

Working as a "courtesy clerk" for a supermarket in my high school years, this was precisely why cart duty was the only enjoyable part of the job (that, and you could put on some headphones and listen to your tunes on your iPod.

http://www.pcgamer.com/valve-writer-says-half-life-3-will-not-be-a-vr-game/ Frankly don't have much of an opinion on VR gaming, but I guess Half-Life 3 can't be a VR game if it never comes out at all.

Mistrals previously earmarked for Russia go to Egypt instead: http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense-news/2015/09/23/france-says-egypt-buy-mistral-warships/72667012/ Didn't see this one coming. Thought a sale to Brazil would have been a slam dunk.

Mirage 2000C module for DCS: World coming in December 2015