News From the Front

Major Pain gives us a good recounting of the efforts of his/our Marines in Afghanistan.
2/2 Second to None
OOOOOOOORAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a small sample:

We have fought our way in through IED chains, small arms fire and RPG ambushes and in the end, the enemy runs like scared dogs or they can die for their country. The winner is the local nationals that have been forced to live in misery and under intimidation.

Now as we reinforce our efforts with civil affair projects, wells, wheat seed implementation etc, that will capitalize on the momentum of the clearing of the area, the enemy will not be able to regain the momentum and the average local national becomes stronger and stronger and they typical scumbag bad guy continues to become weaker.

Add two scoops of sugar and booya, you have the recipe for success. It just takes time America. Sure we can bomb them into the stone age, but then we will spend years rebuilding.

Time for a stoagy…

There's a lot more after the jump.
Semper Fi

3/6 Marines Turning on the Water

Civil Affairs, 3/6 Marines promote Fallujah progress

FALLUJAH, Iraq (June 11, 2008) – 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines augmented by civil affairs teams are continuously working with Fallujah City Council members, local tribal leaders and local citizens to carry out projects in an effort to improve the city’s infrastructure.

Civil affairs leaders and Army Corps of Engineers met with the city council’s director generals today to talk about projects that will provide key services throughout the city, such as improving the water distribution systems.

The city is now in the planning stages of establishing a new water distribution network. 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines recently approved a project to purchase needed parts for a water treatment facility, which will service the majority of Fallujah. Right now, the facilities have inoperable pumps and other parts that are in a state of disrepair. The installation of new pumps and filters at the Azerghia water treatment-facility will bring the facility back to its previous prewar output capacity.

“The initiative to solve all water problems for Fallujah lies in the pipe network,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Duhe, Civil Affairs Team 5 team leader. “When the pipe network works properly, the water treatment plants already established along the Euphrates River will certainly be able to support all of the city’s needs.”

Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams introduced reverse-engineering concepts to the directors that are currently being developed. Reverse engineering concepts that the Army Corps of Engineers use will spare the expense of rebuilding existing facilities, thus saving money and labor time.

Another high priority on the Fallujah City Council’s list is the Telecommunications Headquarters in the city. Up to 45,000 citizens will benefit from having land line telephone service at their disposal.

Cleaner Energy

Thats what we want, right? I mean, lets face it, we flip a switch, a light comes on. We put steaks in the freezer, they stay frozen until we're ready to throw them on the grill. We turn on a faucet, hot water for showers comes flowing out.
None of that will happen without electricity. The first component of a civilized society is a continous source of clean water. The second component is electricty.
We need it, we've become accustomed to having it; and when its not there, well, we all remember September 2003. I went wihout power for 16 days, and finally spent the money for a generator.
But how to generate that power without incurring the wrath of the enviro-nazis and the Sierra Club?
Don't mention nuclear power. That will get you a tirade on spent fuel rods, storage, 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl.
Hydro? Very clean, but not everyone has a free running stream to tap, and you have all those snail darters and newts to worry about.
The best way to generate power is to use coal and water. Coal fired boilers and steam turbines.
But wait a minute. What about all that coal smoke and the ash? What about the srtip mines and Peabody's coal train?

Well, Dominion Resources (thats VEPCO to you old folks) has built the latest in clean coal fired technology down here at Dutch Gap and it is now up and running and it is simply remarkable.

Limestone and water, mixed into a slurry, is injected at a certain point in the combustion process. The result is a plume at the top of the stack which is 100% water vapor. Particulants are measured at 15 ppm, and it will get better as the system adjusts itself.

Take a look at the image below. That white cloud over the chimney is exactly that: a white cloud. It's water vapor. Steam. It vanishes as it moves syward. A still shot really doesn't do this justice, so I'll get some video to show the evaporation as the plume rises, as soon as I can.


The by-product of this process is gypsum, used to make sheetrock and a dozen other products.
The coal ash is processed and stockpiled, or sold to cement manufacturers for use in concrete.
Thats flyash. The second best thing to happen to concrete.
Dominion Resources is working night and day to provide us with clean electricty. I have been a part of this project for over two years. It works. It's clean.
All you global warming enviro-whackos can now STFU.
You're welcome