95 Matching Annotations
  1. Aug 2025
    1. Skinner started his missile research with crows, but the brainy black birds proved intractable. So he went to a local shop that sold pigeons to Chinese restaurants, and “Project Pigeon” was born. Though ordinary pigeons, Columba livia, were no one’s idea of clever animals, they proved remarkably cooperative subjects in the lab. Skinner rewarded the birds with food for pecking at the right target on aerial photographs—and eventually planned to strap the birds into a device in the nose of a warhead, which they would steer by pecking at the target on a live image projected through a lens onto a screen.

      World War II research on pigeon-guided bombs

  2. Jun 2025
    1. Map: 5.1-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Iran by [[William B. Davis]], [[Madison Dong]], [[Judson Jones]], [[John Keefe]], [[Joey K. Lee]], [[Bea Malsky]]

      Seeing this earthquake notification in proximity of Operation Midnight Hammer, I wonder if there are military contingencies for using large weaponry on geological faults in enemy territories as means of starting large scale earthquakes?

  3. Mar 2025
  4. Dec 2024
    1. military is a key institution where boys and men learn to embody a particular form of masculinity that celebrates violence, order, and domination. This process involves the breaking down of the civilian identity and the building up of a macho soldier identity, which is associated with heterosexual masculinity. In contrast, women and femininity are stereotypically associated with peacefulness, life-giving, and a need for protection. This dichotomy renders women and girls vulnerable to rape in conflict and post-conflict settings. Rape is often used as a weapon of war to punish, humiliate, or torture women who are perceived as challenging traditional notions of femininity and masculinity. It is also used to destroy the fabric of society by targeting women who are seen as bearers of ethno-national identity. The rape of "enemy" women is a way to feminize and humiliate the enemy, and it is often used as a means to destroy the enemy's sense of masculinity and identity.
    1. he analysis reveals that media coverage is dominated by five themes: military justice, institutional structure, culture, gender/gender integration, and change. Gender is a relatively minor focus throughout media coverage, with attention to court cases dominating the majority of the coverage.
  5. Nov 2024
  6. Oct 2024
  7. Aug 2024
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  9. Jan 2024
    1. Die ersten 60 Tage von Israels Krieg gegen die Hamas im Gaza-Streifen haben mindestens 281.000 Tonnen CO<sub>2</sub> freigesetzt, das entspricht 150.000 Tonnen Kohle. Die Zahlen stammen aus einer neuartigen, noch nicht peer-reviewten Studie und erfassen nur einen kleinen Teil der Gesamtemissionen. Der Wiederaufbau der zerstörten Gebäude dürfte so viele Emissionen verursachen, wie Neuseeland in einem Jahr erzeugt. Insgesamt ist das Militär für etwa 5,5% der weitweiten Emissionen verantwortlich. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/09/emissions-gaza-israel-hamas-war-climate-change

      Infografik: https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2024/01/israel_gaza_war_emissions/giv-13425X8Z9JjArEXFO/Israel_Gaza_war_emissions-inArticle_620.png

  10. Dec 2023
    1. https://web.archive.org/web/20231205084502/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/01/the-gospel-how-israel-uses-ai-to-select-bombing-targets

      Description of AI use by the Israelian miiltary in Gaza. Vgl [[AI begincondities en evolutie 20190715140742]] wrt the difference between AGI evolution beginning in a military or civic setting, and that AI restraints are applied in the civil side, not in military application meaning the likelihood is there not in civil society. This is true in the EU AI Act too that excludes military from scope.

  11. Jun 2023
  12. Mar 2023
  13. Nov 2022
  14. Oct 2022
  15. Aug 2022
  16. May 2022
    1. The global security environment has degraded. Worldwide, increased military spending reflects expectations of greater conflict during the decade between 2022 and 2030, including the prospect of major intrastate warfare.

      The complexity, as the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine of war is that it is yet another feedback loop reinforcing the impact of the hyperobject. From a climate change perspective, war has the highest carbon footprint of all because it is actually the willful distruction of purpose-made human cultural objects that each have an embedded energy cost. Hence war requires the construction of offensive and defensive weapons and equipment, as well as munitions, whose sole purpose is destruction. This comes at its own embedded energy cost and the destruction of human lives and human infrastructure is also prematurely ending the human and material lifetimes of living beings and objects respectively, each of which required high energy cost to bring into existence. It also takes enormous energy resources to maintain armies.

  17. Apr 2022
  18. Mar 2022
    1. If humans, some humans, start making bad decisions and start destroying the institutions that kept the peace, then we will be back in the era of war with budgets, military budgets going to 20, 30, 40 percent. It can happen. It's in our hands.

      An economic diversion of this scale would make it far more likely that humanity will not be able to prevent, but indeed accelerate planetary tipping points! Hence the urgency of this crisis for the climate movement. This implies that the climate movement and the antiwar movement must now synchronize resources and form a coherent, unified strategy

  19. Jan 2022
  20. Dec 2021
    1. A sharp rise in reported active volcanoes immediately post-WW II was followed by another steep increase in the early 1950s that has no obvious relationship to historic events.

      'No obvious relationship to historic events' is blatantly inaccurate here. The US military was active in the Pacific for the entirety of this time frame reestablishing the power in the Pacific US colonies. It naturally would follow that volcanic activity would be reported at higher rates as military vessels were combing the area.

  21. Nov 2021
  22. Oct 2021
  23. Aug 2021
  24. Mar 2021
    1. David Leonhardt. (2021, February 19). - About 1/3 of military troops who’ve been offered vaccine shots have declined. - When shots became available to Ohio nursing-home workers, 60% said no. - Among frontline workers in SoCal, the share was 40-50%. - N.B.A. stars are wary of doing public-services ads. (2/x) [Tweet]. @DLeonhardt. https://twitter.com/DLeonhardt/status/1362768083899793413

  25. Dec 2020
  26. Oct 2020
  27. Jul 2020
  28. Jun 2020
  29. Mar 2020
    1. This article discusses the changes in learning opportunities for navy members. The biggest shift is that programs that were offered as instructed led have shifted to distance lead only, for courses taught on the ship. There are cost implications applied by this change but this is not unpacked.

    1. This article highlights the importance of continuing education while in the military. The author discusses tools and resources that military members can use to expand their learning. There is further information provided about how learning that can advance a military members career can be completed cost free.

  30. Nov 2019
  31. Sep 2019
  32. May 2019
    1. — shire

      Throughout her books you will see that Austen redacts some peoples and places names with --. It was common during the 18th and 19th century for authors to do so to either avoid inaccuracies or avoid being accused of writing about real people and places. By not giving the name of the militia that Wickham was a part of, Austen is able to continue the realism of her novels by avoiding creating a fictitious place while also separating her characters from any real people who would not want to be affiliated with the actions of Wickham.<br> https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/9479/why-in-old-books-are-dates-often-given-with-the-years-redacted

  33. Apr 2019
    1. This wasn’t expected, but also shouldn’t be a huge shock. Despite the US hyping Russia as a threat for decades, Russia hasn’t spent deeply on its military in years, and drawing down from Syria, they don’t have much costly overseas engagement.

      To contextualize, you can still spend a hell of a lot on development, but if you don't have costly mobilizations it can make it look like you aren't spending as much as others; in fact, you are arguably making 'smarter' investments?

  34. Feb 2019
    1. In 1863, her medical credentials were finally accepted, so she moved to Tennessee, where she was appointed as a War Department surgeon

      The phrasing of this appears to be somewhat biased. It sounds like her credentials weren't up to snuff or something but really, the military was low on surgeons at that time and simply didn't want a woman. https://hyp.is/vAWzXCtjEem5j1tLLCQ8dg/cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_325.html

  35. Nov 2018
    1. Finally, 2011 seemed to herald the true beginning of a new era, with a transformed communication landscape.

      There are some commonly reported misconceptions about revolutions and coups, particularly with respect to military take overs of television and newspapers, that the average reader may wish to familiarize themselves with as they enter this area. One of the best resources I've seen for this is a recent recap by On The Media.

    1. An Engine for Army Learning

      This article details the difficulties in combining military training and education into one philosophy. It explains the core functions of military learning and how the new Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence is modeled after civilian learning centers. Rating: 5/5

  36. Aug 2018
    1. But whether a highly productive modern industrial society chooses to spend 3 or 7 percent of its GNP on defense rather than consumption is entirely a matter of that society's political priorities, which are in turn determined in the realm of consciousness.

      It's not so much the percentage on produced defense goods, but how quickly could a society ramp up production of goods, services, and people to defend itself compared to the militaries of its potential aggressors.

      In particular, most of the effort should go to the innovation side of war materiel. The innovation of the atomic bomb is a particularly nice example in that as a result of conceptualizing and then executing on it it allowed the US to win the war in the Pacific and hasten the end of war in Europe. Even if we otherwise had massive stockpiles of people or other weapons, our enemies could potentially have equaled them and dragged the war on interminably. It was the unknown unknown via innovation that unseated Japan and could potentially do the same to us based on innovation coming out of almost any country in the modern age.

  37. Nov 2017
    1. The number of Iraqis who died during the conflict is uncertain. One estimate made in late 2006 put the total at more than 650,000 between the U.S.-led invasion and October 2006, but many other reported estimates put the figures for the same period at about 40,000 to 50,000.
    2. deaths of U.S. troops soared thereafter, reaching some 1,000 by the time of the U.S. presidential election in November 2004 and surpassing 3,000 in early 2007; in addition, several hundred soldiers from other coalition countries have been killed
    1. The military clash originated in Saddam Hussein's decision, in the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq War, to seek territorial and economic gains at the expense of Kuwait. In 1989 and 1990, Hussein signaled a growing intention to use force to against the tiny emirate.
  38. Oct 2017
    1. Military Industrial Complex:

      1. Eisenhower has seen the consequences of this intersection of military power and his own "new look" policy

      Presidential speeches can be measured by how long we talk about them. Still one of the most referenced presidential speeches ever given.

      IRAN — Mohammed Mossafegh (1951–1954)

      • First military Coup during CIA golden age
      • US tells Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941–1979) that they will take over the country unless he overthrows Mossafegh.
      • For 20+ years we supported a dictator who murdered his own people
      • Any nation state has the option to buy out foreign companies

      Guatemala — Jacobo Arbenz Guzman (1951–1954)

      • Democratically elected leader, called for Progressive Reform (second President to do so)
      • Nationalizing land (US decided it looked like Communism)
      • Guzman runs into problems with the United Fruit Company, who had been cheating on their taxes, undervaluing their land prices. Government seeks to purchase land to nationalize it, and wants to buy it for the price that the UFC valued their land for.
      • UFC and US Government set up a military Coup. Using radio broadcast propaganda, pretending that an army is ravaging the countryside. Guzman believes the propaganda and flees. We set up a dictator.
  39. Jun 2017
    1. Late last month, an excavator operator was working at a peat bog in the Polish municipality of Mircze when he accidentally stumbled upon this glorious specimen of 14th century craftsmanship. The remarkably well-preserved longsword is a unique find for the area, and its discovery has prompted an archaeological expedition.

      Awesome archeological find!

    1. The House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee announced this week that it thinks our space defense capabilities are pathetic, so it set a vote for Thursday to create the U.S. Space Corps, a new military service designed to defend our interests in space.

      Glad they are working on practical things...

  40. Nov 2016
    1. While serving as first lord of the Admiralty, Churchill helped modernize the British Navy, ordering that new warships be built with oil-fired instead of coal-fired engines. He was one of the first to promote military aircraft and set up the Royal Navy Air Service. So enthusiastic was he about aviation that he took flying lessons to understand firsthand its military potential.

      Updated British Navy

  41. Jul 2016
    1. The military’s contributions to education technology are often overlooked

      Though that may not really be the core argument of the piece, it’s more than a passing point. Watters’s raising awareness of this other type of “military-industrial complex” could have a deep impact on many a discussion, including the whole hype about VR (and AR). It’s not just Carnegie-Mellon and Paris’s Polytechnique («l’X») which have strong ties to the military. Or (D)ARPANET. Reminds me of IU’s Dorson getting money for the Folklore Institute during the Cold War by arguing that the Soviets were funding folklore. Even the head of the NEH in 2000 talked about Sputnik and used the language of “beating Europe at culture” when discussing plans for the agency. Not that it means the funding or “innovation” would come directly from the military but it’s all part of the Cold War-era “ideology”. In education, it’s about competing with India or Finland. In other words, the military is part of a much larger plan for “world domination”.

    1. RETIRED U.S. AIR FORCE Gen. Philip Breedlove, until recently the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe, plotted in private to overcome President Barack Obama’s reluctance to escalate military tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine in 2014, according to apparently hacked emails from Breedlove’s Gmail account that were posted on a new website called DC Leaks.

  42. May 2016
  43. annotatingausten.sfsuenglishdh.net annotatingausten.sfsuenglishdh.net
    1. Captain

      "Originally Captain-Lieutenant, becoming Captain in 1772. Lat. capitaneus "chieftain", from Lat. caput "head". Chieftain or head of a unit. As armies evolved his post came to be at the head of a company, which by the Sixteenth Century was usually 100 to 200 men. That seemed to be the number one man could manage in battle" (Harding, British Army Ranks).

  44. Nov 2013
  45. Oct 2013
    1. As to Peace and War, he must know the extent of the military strength of his country, both actual and potential, and also the mature of that actual and potential strength; and further, what wars his country has waged, and how it has waged them.

      All leaders must know their own strength and weaknesses in order to defend themselves and have functional societies.