Thoughts on the Merkva MBT
(Strategypage) h/t Claudio – The Merkvas pictured (caption and above) are both the old Merkva 2 MBTs. Ok, now that we have that out of the way, the Merkva has been compared to the American M-1 Abrams and to the German Leopard 2. There really is no comparison in vision or operational scope between the M1A2 SEPv4 and the Merkva MK-5. They weigh about the same, but that’s about all. The Merkva was designed to operate in Israel. The M1A2 SEPv4 was designed to operate everywhere on the planet. They are both outstanding tanks with many of the same offensive and defensive armaments, but they’re different. The Merkva carries infantry so it’s also an APC. The Abrams relies on M-2 Bradley AFVs to supply infantry and other support as a component of a different combined arms effort.
The Leopard 2 was designed to fight in Europe, which is not the least bit like Israel. All three tanks constitute the best in the world, even though all three are different.
Because it’s Black History Month
Bullet Points:
** A U.S. appeals court last week ruled unconstitutional a law barring gun ownership for individuals with domestic violence restraining orders against them.
The ruling, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, holds that a Texas man’s constitutional rights were violated when he was enjoined from possessing a gun due to a protective order against him by his ex-girlfriend.
“The question presented in this case is not whether prohibiting the possession of firearms by someone subject to a domestic violence restraining order is a laudable policy goal,” the court argued; rather the issue was whether such a rule “is constitutional under the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
** Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will deliver the Republicans’ response to President (Pedo) Joe Brandon’s State of the Union address tomorrow.
What if we skinned the fat chick, had her hide tanned, and used it as a double drumhead for a bass drum? I’ve seen drums made from human skin, tanned and stretched in Asia. I’m sure that she’d be proud to make that contribution to music. I’ve also seen human femurs used for rattles by witch doctors in Asia. See, she could be more useful than you thought at first. You’d just need to part her out like somebody did to the baby.
** About that Chinese Spy Balloon…
** At the 14th meeting of the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee, it was decided that COVID-19 was still a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) and has said more needs to be done to tackle “misinformation.”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his “message is clear: Do not underestimate this virus. It has and will continue to surprise us, and it will continue to kill unless we do more to get health tools to people that need them and to comprehensively tackle misinformation.”
The First user of the Jolly Roger
Emanuel Wynn (sometimes written as Emmanuel Wynne, Emanuel Wynne, Emmanuel Wynn) was a Breton pirate who was probably active in the late 17th and early 18th century. Not much is known about Wynn except that he was active in the Province of Carolina in the late 17th century and later attacked Spanish and English ships in the Caribbean.
The only written records of Wynn came from admiralty reports. On 18 July 1700, Captain John Cranby and his frigate HMS Poole (built in 1696 by Nye in East Cowes, 32 guns) discovered Wynn’s ship Adventure near the Cape Verde island of Brava. Cranby pursued the pirate for several days, but Wynne escaped when two other pirate ships (La Foudre and Treasure) appeared to assist him. Cranby’s account is, as far as is known, the first to mention a flag with a skull and crossbones on a pirate ship: “a black flag with crossed bones, a skull, and hourglass”
Emanuel Wynn was probably the first pirate to hoist a Jolly Roger. His flag is a variant of today’s most famous pirate flag – with the motif of crossed bones, but additionally with an hourglass indicating that the time of the pirate’s booty has expired. Another possible explanation for the hourglass motif is that the prey can only escape death if it surrenders immediately.
I like the Early Childhood Kraken Training.
-Kle.
It’s necessary if you’re to brave the deep end of the pool.
I always liked the Wynne flag. I’ve believed the hour glass meant “you’re time is up”
Surrender or die, and it won’t take long for either.
If they were down by the ocean, the pic of the baby skull wearing behemoth could be called The Bay of Pigs.
Yes, it could.
What. The. Mother-Humping. Hell. is with the baby skull crap? Is it a real baby skull, and if so she needs to die. If it’s a fake baby skull, she needs to get hit in the head with a clue-by-four.
Look, I’m cool about a lot of weird stuff, but baby skulls? Seriously? Kill it. Kill it with FIRE. Lots and lots of fire. Preferably with all her ‘friends’ in the same cone of flame from the flammenwerfer.
Some people’s kids. Sheesh.
Probably a teaching skull replica from a company like Bone Clones. Sick lesbopottamus. Bet her ‘husband’s’ named buzzzzzz.
She seems proud of it.
A measure of her degeneracy.
No holds barred righteous comment, henceforth why you have been selected by our host as LHE.
Whack-jobs need whacking, not a national platform to spew their evil rhetoric. Should be the hog pen for that one. Geez.
the hogs might mistake her for one of theirs and try to breed it. then again they may be afraid of it and leave it alone.
That’s one tough sweathog. And pigs have standards.
Pretty sure our resident LHE Beans will have a solution.
LHE Beans would need to use a REALLY big wood chipper on that carcass……
There’s the Mobark drum chipper, that would work. And there are some industrial metal shredders…
As to pigs eating the hefalumpus, pigs have standards. Chickens don’t, but you’d need to grind that thing up a bit. Though you could drop it off into the Gulf Stream and sharks and other fishies would take care of it.
Hell, sell it to China as meat…
x2
Happy Black History Month!
I’m celebrating like it was 1955
Bllllaaaarrrrrrffffffffffff!
Pompeo’s “Xi Balloon” comment has already been voiced by the millions who are paying attention. Heard this “clear sovereign airspace invasion” is allowable under some obscure 70’s era “treaty”. The “debris field” narrative is bravo sierra, they think we’re stupid (well, half are still gullible).
Sanders is a warrior-ette, as proven by her latest moves as Governor, and this speech will not be her first “bull****” rodeo, and the only portion I’ll listen to tomorrow night. Not interested hearing the ‘The Hologram on Chinesium Special Sauce’ weirdly whispering then angrily lying to the nation that we get to suck it up again. Will he wear a baby skull pin and a Red Shirt to show his true allegiance?
Jolly Roger – Believe we are at that point when American “privateers” are tired of getting screwed over by TPTB so hoist “the flag” to force their loyalty to The Constitution these other cretins have run roughshod.
On a purely administrative subject, the comment counter seems to have stopped working properly sometime yesterday. The Sunday postings ‘The Sunday Summit’ shows 19 comments on the home page but 21 once you look, ‘Future Road Kill’ shows 33 and 40 respectively and today’s ‘The Monday Menace’ shows 0 and 16 respectively.
Of course, right after I post this, all is back to the way it should be.
Thanks for fixing it Surly.
Mine has always done that once in a while until I load the page, especially on the iPad, seems VM and Apple are curiously at odds. heh
There’s a comments counter?
-Kle.
Good grief, way too early to even contemplate baby skulls. Where do the producers of these TV programs dig up these people? And could they please put them back.
Good decision from the 5th Circuit Appeals Court. The crime should be in using a firearm not merely possessing it.
I believe the treaty PaulM referred to might be the Open Skies Treaty. We withdrew from that a couple of years ago. One of the major reasons we withdrew was that the treaty identified the type of aircraft that were permitted to overfly and the birds we identified under the treaty were retired since they were no longer supportable. China was not a party to that treaty. All of those flights were announced and coordinated ahead of time.
That’s it Ed, a guy called in Chris Stigall’s Philly show early this morning and also stated we had withdrawn.
The real question is will Weird Uncle Joe say “This Weather Balloon” was acceptable under that treaty, fully knowing most of America wouldn’t have a clue to what you posted? If so, then why blow it out of the sky over the Atlantic after it floated around for a week or more?
Another court ruled a marijuana possession can’t disqualify you either.
No, the crime should be the crime. Doesn’t matter if a gun is used, a fist, a brick, being squashed under that yard-moose heffalump thingy. Robbery is robbery, murder is murder, assault is assault.
Quit using objects as justification for enhancements. Who cares? Dead is dead, robbed is robbed, assaulted is assaulted.
The M-1 Abrams up against the Merkva or the German Leopard 2 is like the best air-to air combat jet fighters around the world. The 20th century F-22 remains the king supreme of a fighter jet well into the 21st century. They are a quarter of a century behind in technology to the US equipment. The same goes for tank tech. And 60 years behind in surveillance, aka SR-71.