Monthly Archives: December 2013

USS Freedom Departs U.S. 7th Fleet on Asia-Pacific Deployment

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SOUTH CHINA SEA (Sept. 7, 2013) - Members of USS Freedom's (LCS 1) visit, board, search and seizure team prepare to board a Royal Brunei Navy ship during a compliant boarding exercise as part of Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT).

SOUTH CHINA SEA (Sept. 7, 2013) – Members of USS Freedom’s (LCS 1) visit, board, search and seizure team prepare to board a Royal Brunei Navy ship during a compliant boarding exercise as part of Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT).

YOKOSUKA, Japan – (U.S. Navy Press Release) The littoral combat ship, USS Freedom (LCS 1), crossed the international date line while transiting the Pacific Ocean, Dec. 10, marking her departure from the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR).

The 7th Fleet AOR covers more than 48 million square miles and spans from west of the international date line to the western coast of India.

Operating primarily in Southeast Asia as part of a maiden overseas deployment, Freedom joined about 100 ships and submarines deployed throughout this vast maritime region and assigned to 7th Fleet on any given day.

Since arriving in the AOR March 20, Freedom worked with many regional navies and other 7th Fleet units during a series of port visits, exercises, and exchanges. These engagements directly supported the Asia-Pacific rebalance and further reinforced cooperation and interoperability among the Navy’s partners and allies.

“We put Freedom to the test over the past several months and learned a great deal about how to operate littoral combat ships forward alongside our regional partners and allies in a challenging operational environment,” said Vice Adm. Robert Thomas, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet.

In the weeks prior to departing 7th Fleet, Freedom conducted separate passing exercises (PASSEX) with the Bangladesh navy ship BNS Somudro Joy (F 28) and the Brunei navy ships KDB Darulaman (PV 08) and KDB Ijhtihad (PV 17), supported humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) efforts in the Philippines, and conducted port calls in Brunei and Guam.

As many senior Navy officials noted recently, the maritime crossroads and vital waterways that connect Southeast Asia to the global economy are exactly where the Navy needs to be present, now and well into the future. Rotational deployments of littoral combat ships will help the Navy sustain presence, expand access to vital waterways and interact with littoral regions in unprecedented ways.

“Freedom’s deployment is just the beginning of littoral combat ship rotations to 7th Fleet,” said Thomas. “Increased numbers of these ships will become a regular fixture in this region as a tangible demonstration of our commitment to the rebalance. Their forward presence over the long term supports our Navy’s enduring commitment to security, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific.”

USS Freedom’s first rotational deployment to Southeast Asia began March 1, when the ship departed San Diego and commenced a Pacific Ocean transit that included port visits in Hawaii, Guam and Manila. Freedom used Singapore as a logistics and maintenance hub between April 18 and Nov. 16, during which she participated in the International Maritime Defence Exhibition, three phases of the bilateral naval exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training with Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, and the multinational exercise Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training. During port visits, Freedom hosted thousands visitors from throughout Southeast Asia.

Freedom remained homeported in San Diego throughout this rotational deployment to Southeast Asia. Crew 101, which has operated the ship since a planned swap with Crew 102 in August, will take the ship home to San Diego by the end of the year.

Fast, agile and mission-focused, littoral combat ships are designed to operate in near-shore environments and employ modular mission packages that can be configured for surface warfare, mine countermeasures, or anti-submarine warfare.

Tom Laughlin dies at 82; filmmaker drew huge following for ‘Billy Jack’

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tom-laughlinTom Laughlin, a filmmaker who drew a huge following for his movies about the ill-tempered, karate-chopping pacifist Billy Jack, died Thursday at a Thousand Oaks hospital. He was 82.

He had been in failing health for several years, his daughter Teresa Laughlin said.

Laughlin starred in and co-produced the four films of the 1960s and ’70s showcasing Billy Jack, a troubled Vietnam veteran who quietly promotes a message of peace when he’s not throwing bad guys through plate-glass windows.

An iconoclast who battled Hollywood studios, Laughlin fought on other fronts as well.

Laughlin founded a Montessori school in Santa Monica after he deemed the public schools unworthy of educating his children. When he decided the political system was hopelessly corrupt, he mounted three quixotic presidential campaigns. After becoming disillusioned with Catholicism, he immersed himself in Jungian psychology, writing books and counseling friends.

“He was an extraordinary Catholic for about five minutes,” Teresa Laughlin told The Times, “but once he found Jungian psychology, it supplanted everything else.”

Read more at Los Angeles Times

Peter O’Toole dies at 81; nominated eight times for best-actor Oscar

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(FOX News Video)

By Dennis McLellan – December 16, 2013

He was tall, lean and handsome, with vivid blue eyes and a distinctive voice that film critic David Thomson once likened to “a rapier that has been used to stir the cream.”

Peter O’Toole, who donned flowing white robes and rode a camel to movie stardom in David Lean’s epic 1962 film “Lawrence of Arabia,” received the first of his eight Academy Award nominations for best actor for playing T.E. Lawrence, the enigmatic British Army officer who fought with Arab tribes during the 1916-18 Arab revolt against Turkish imperial rule.

O’Toole always relished talking about “Lawrence of Arabia,” whose shooting locations included Jordan, Spain and Morocco.

Read more at the LA Times

AZ: No Shooting Unless Zoned for it? Rancher Prevails Against Zoning Department

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Headhunter-Ranch-LLCArizona – -(Ammoland.com)- An interesting case from Arizona, where a rancher was dragged into court on the unfounded pretext that he was illegally building a shooting range on his large acreage near Prescott. From the Daily Courier:

PRESCOTT – In what has become an issue pitting gun rights against land use codes, a Williamson Valley landowner had his Second Amendment rights upheld in a Tuesday hearing in Prescott.

Brad DeSaye, owner of Headhunter Ranch LLC, said he never intended to build gun ranges on his properety. (sic)

“The wild rumors that brought us to this point hopefully were dispelled a little bit,” DeSaye said. “I feel vindicated that they dismissed it, but at the same time I feel frustrated and I expect the county to come back at me in a different way. This is a private property right; a Second Amendment issue.”

DeSaye and his attorney must have been persuasive, because the the County ruled in his favor:

After more than three hours of testimony on Tuesday, Yavapai County Hearing Officer Peter Van Harin ruled in DeSaye’s favor, allowing him to shoot firearms on his property, overriding the objections of his neighbors and Yavapai County land use officials.

Read more at Ammoland

Secret Obamacare handbook the feds don’t want you to see is online

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By Tori Richards | Watchdog.org

A New Jersey woman who stumbled upon the document was so alarmed that she called the feds to report it. But her concerns fell on deaf ears.

A confidential training manual for Obamacare navigators that threatens prosecution for unauthorized dissemination is on the Internet for the world to see.

The 217-page manual reads like a primer for Amway or novice car salesmen, offering sales advice on how to disarm potential customers who could be lured into purchasing insurance through exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act.

TOP SECRET NO MORE: Now you can know what the navigators know.

TOP SECRET NO MORE: Now you can know what the navigators know.

Section headers include “Smile: Maintain a Positive Demeanor,” “Make the Customers Feel Welcome,” “Listen” and — in what must  now seem ironic given Barack Obama’s troubles with over-promising — “Build Trust: Be True to Your Word.”

The handbook also delves into the more serious topics of “Identifying Personally Identifiable Information,” “IRS Data Safeguards” and “Preventing Fraud.”

Nothing in the manual seems to rise to the level of a state secret — raising questions about why the federal government felt it necessary to classify information that has no reason to be classified.

Read more at Watchdog.Org

Chinese naval vessel tries to force U.S. warship to stop in international waters

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Handout photo taken September 20, 2012 and released to Reuters on September 25, 2012 of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens (CG 63) in the Pacific Ocean.(Reuters)

A Chinese naval vessel tried to force a U.S. guided missile warship to stop in international waters recently, causing a tense military standoff in the latest case of Chinese maritime harassment, according to defense officials.

The guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens, which recently took part in disaster relief operations in the Philippines, was confronted by Chinese warships in the South China Sea near Beijing’s new aircraft carrier Liaoning, according to officials familiar with the incident.

“On December 5th, while lawfully operating in international waters in the South China Sea, USS Cowpens and a PLA Navy vessel had an encounter that required maneuvering to avoid a collision,” a Navy official said.

Read more at FOX News

Arizona State Trooper Resigns After It Is Discovered She Is An Illegal Alien

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131211-figueroa-vsml-8p.380Tucson’s NBC affiliate is reporting Carmen Figueroa, who once served as the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s spokeswoman, likely didn’t even know she was an illegal alien until this summer.

Bart Graves, DPS spokesperson tells the News 4 Tucson Investigators “We believe the affidavit and information she gave us at the time. And, she was under the impression that she herself was an American citizen.”

DPS officials wouldn’t say if Figueroa would be charged with a crime, but Graves told the Associated Press she would have been fired if she didn’t step down because state law requires all sworn officers to be US citizens.

Read more at Downtrend

Overreaching Food Regulations Could Leave Cupboards Bare

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This holiday season, FreeEnterprise.com is wrapping up the year in red tape. The federal government—Anti Claus—imposes $1.8 trillion in regulatory costs each year, making businesses yearn for a lump of coal instead. The government’s size and scope is so vast that, as Mark Levin writes in The Liberty Amendments, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) couldn’t determine the number of criminal penalties attached to all its rules and regulations.

On the fourth day of regulatory Christmas, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave to me … a complete overreaction in the name of food safety.

Locally sourced ingredients are all the rage right now—and for good reason. Local foods are fresh, promote food variety, support the local economy, and usually have less environmental impact. But as the FDA writes a heap of rules stemming from the 2010 Food Safety Modernization Act, small farms have reason to be concerned about their future.

One of the most troubling regulations requires that farmers monitor all animals, domestic and wild, that go near their produce. New Morning Farm owner Jim Crawford said that it would be nearly impossible to monitor his 95 acres with just a handful of employees. “Wildlife is everywhere in the farming environment,” Crawford said. “It’s just not a realistic expectation.”

Read more at Free Enterprise

Kiwanis dinner and movie night this weekend

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WILLIAMS—Movie night at the First Baptist Church kicks off the weekend events in Williams. 7th to 12th graders are invited to attend movie lock-in night at the church starting Friday, December 13th and ending around 9 am on Saturday. Participants are asked to bring a sleeping bag and pillow and a snack to share. There will be board games, cards and WII games. Contact Bob Broehm at (928)380-4346 if you have any questions.

The annual Kiwanis dinner starts at noon tomorrow at Doc Holiday’s on Grand Canyon Boulevard. The dinner features a great banquet, prizes and a visit by Santa.

There will, of course, be time to squeeze in a trip through Bearizona and a ride on the Polar Express.

The weather is expected to be clear through the weekend after rain and snow tonight.

Study: Atlantic Coast Energy Development Will Create 280,000 Jobs

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CRS_oilgas_chart_659pxOffshore energy production has been declining for years. Bad policies have made 86% of the U.S. coast off-limits to safe development. That has inhibited job creation and economic growth, but better policies can reverse this.

A new study, produced by Quest Offshore for the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA), finds that opening the Atlantic outer continental shelf (OCS) to oil and natural gas exploration will add $23.5 billion annually to the economy by 2035 and create 280,000 jobs.

Read more at Free Enterprise