Promises promises... Many pigs have flown since this "promise" was made... Our own Premier is a master of the fudge... Apparently, her schooling helped her to toughten up, one could even argue she's become tough like a little Nazi...

New information shows that Lockheed Martin’s HELIOS laser weapons system may eventually replace Gatling guns and missile launchers on US Navy ships.

HELIOS, named after the god of the sun in Greek mythology, shoots laser beams far stronger than anything that has ever been used on a US Navy ship before — the beams are planned to be 150 kilowatts. In contrast, the Laser Weapon System (LaWS) that was mounted on the amphibious transport dock of the USS Ponce in 2014 had a laser strength of about 30 kilowatts.

As reported last month by Sputnik News, the Navy plans to put a HELIOS laser weapon on ships within 24 months.

According to materials obtained from Lockheed Martin at the 2018 SeaAirSpace expo at National Harbor, Maryland, by We Are The Mighty, HELIOS is a candidate to replace the MK-15 Phalanx Close-in Weapons System (CIWS) and the RIM-116 missile system on the US fleet.

The Phalanx MK-15 weapons system is a radar-guided 20mm Gatling gun providing "inner layer point defense capability against anti-ship missiles, aircraft and littoral warfare threats," according to a US Navy fact file. The Phalanx is unique in that it is "the only deployed close-in weapon system capable of autonomously performing its own search, detect, evaluation, track, engage and kill assessment functions."

HELIOS also has the potential to replace the RIM-116 lightweight, quick-reaction, fire-and-forget missile system, We Are The Mighty reported Thursday, citing the materials from Lockheed. The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is produced jointly by the US and Germany for point defense on ships facing incoming cruise missiles in addition to asymmetric threats and surface threats.

Analyst Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessment said in March that HELIOS' ability to operate without physical storage of ammunition shows the US Navy is willing to transition to non-kinetic weapons.However, creating and storing adequate electricity for the system remains a problem to be solved.

According to We Are The Mighty, HELIOS actually has comparable range to the RIM-116 (about 5 nautical miles) and potentially unlimited ammunition, assuming the power generation question is taken care of, thus making it a prime replacement for the gatling guns and missile systems that currently provide close-range defense.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/military/201805031064130261-us-navy-laser-replac...

Read from top...

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My point is also proven by a large segment of 90s. While it might be easy to mock the overpowering angst of bands like Nirvana and Green Day, they at least understood that utopia wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Though not released until 2004, My Chemical Romance’s emo anthem “I’m Not Okay” perfectly embodies the spirit of the age. They may not have been able to sing songs against Jim Crow or the Vietnam War like the previous generation had, but in a society that insists everything is fine and getting better all the time, insisting that something is wrong is the most profound form of rebellion.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis writes, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” This, in my mind, is the only possible answer to the madness of the 1990s. If Lewis was right and humanity was made for heaven, there can be no utopia this side of paradise. When someone tells us that we live in a perfect world, we can’t help feeling that something isn’t right. “No,” we’re told, “everything is fine. The victory has been won. Enjoy the spoils. What possible reason do you have to feel the way you do?” We cannot give an answer. Nothing is wrong, but everything feels wrong. Stripped of the vocabulary to express any particular grievance, our alienation flares out in bursts of madness, angst, and rage. In a “perfect” world, such madness might be the only sane response.

Grayson Quay is a freelance writer and M.A. student at Georgetown University.

Read more:

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-1990s-when-historys-...

If history started to only go wrong in the 1990s, we could be laughingly saving it back from itself from this decade gone wrong. Students of history reading this site would know that the problems with history started when we fell from our tree. The quote from C S Lewis could be interpreted from a very positive atheistic point of view — ending up postulating that "being made for another world", is not being made for a "godly paradise" but made for a world free of religiously fabricated history.

By Eric Bryant

After 10 years and 18 films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings all the superheroes together in Avengers: Infinity War.

Now, I have to admit, my wife Deborah and I enjoy these films, but we enjoy most films and franchises because we are easily entertained.

I should also admit, I am not really familiar with the comic books or the Marvel television shows.

All that to say, part of what makes these films along with the Star Wars universe or Star Trek universe is the fact that the writers and filmmakers have created an entire universe different than our own. Perhaps it is for this very reason these films are so popular. They offer an escape from reality.

Jesus Mentioned in the Avengers

It is with this in mind that I was surprised by a line in Avengers: Infinity War. When some of the superheroes meet, they immediately start fighting each other - assuming the worst in each other. There is a pause in the fighting when Dr. Strange asks Starlord: "Who is your Master?"

Starlord responds with: "Which master do I serve? What am I supposed to say? JESUS?"

That line took me completely out of the film.

As someone whose life has been forever changed by Jesus and who wants to help others find the life and freedom I have found in Jesus, I was disappointed to hear His name used as a punch line and in a way that implied following Jesus would be ridiculous.

Read more: 

https://www.christianpost.com/voice/avengers-jesus-infinity-war.html

Gus:

Ridiculous is believing in a guy who got nailed on a cross to redeem our "original sin". That takes the cake of slapstick! As far as the "Avengers", they can do what they do best in this household: be ignored completely like we ignore the story of the guy who got nailed on a cross to redeem our "original sin"... Still laughing... Time for Eric and his wife to give up the "Avengers"...

INTRODUCTION

The Department of Defense’s enduring mission is to provide combat-credible military forces needed to deter war and protect the security of our nation. Should deterrence fail, the Joint Force is prepared to win. Reinforcing America’s traditional tools of diplomacy, the Department provides military options to ensure the President and our diplomats negotiate from a position of strength.

Today, we are emerging from a period of strategic atrophy, aware that our competitive military advantage has been eroding. We are facing increased global disorder, characterized by decline in the long-standing rules-based international order—creating a security environment more complex and volatile than any we have experienced in recent memory. Inter-state strategic competition, not terrorism, is now the primary concern in U.S. national security.

China is a strategic competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while militarizing features in the South China Sea. Russia has violated the borders of nearby nations and pursues veto power over the economic, diplomatic, and security decisions of its neighbors. As well, North Korea’s outlaw actions and reckless rhetoric continue despite United Nation’s censure and sanctions. Iran continues to sow violence and remains the most significant challenge to Middle East stability. Despite the defeat of ISIS’s physical caliphate, threats to stability remain as terrorist groups with long reach continue to murder the innocent and threaten peace more broadly.

This increasingly complex security environment is defined by rapid technological change, challenges from adversaries in every operating domain, and the impact on current readiness from the longest continuous stretch of armed conflict in our Nation’s history. In this environment, there can be no complacency—we must make difficult choices and prioritize what is most important to field a lethal, resilient, and rapidly adapting Joint Force. America’s military has no preordained right to victory on the battlefield.

Read more of this exceptionalism which will only force the "enemies" to increase in size as well... Replace the words "China", "iran", "NK" and "Russia" with "USA" and you get a more truthful picture of the situation...

https://www.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-S...

Ah the difficult choice of looking fierce and blaming others for your superiority complex as if exceptionalism of having the biggest dick makes god "bless Ahmerika"... especially...

If WW3 breaks out, please don't blame the Russians nor the Chinese. Like in WW2, it's the guy with the biggest dick and the master propaganda to sustain his big-head syndrome who will start it.

Either way, we'll all loose.

And by the way, god's little helpers are at it again, but this won't make the western media:

Social media reports emerged within an hour of Trump's speech announcing Washington's exit from the Iran nuclear deal that Israeli Air Force jets were striking Damascus. Trump made the announcement around 2:20 p.m. Washington time; reports of the strikes were showing up by just after 3 p.m. 

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201805081064266076-massive-explosions...