Pakistan Update

In the latest move of the radical madrassah in downtown Islamabad, Jamia Hafsa / Lal Masjid, they have issued a Fatwah against the female minister of Tourism for Pakistan, Nilofar Bahktiar. Official government reaction is that they are not going to confront directly:

The official reaction to Sunday’s decree came from Minister of State for Health Shahnaz Sheikh who said Darul Afta had no authority to issue a decree against anyone. “These people are misinterpreting Islam and we strongly condemn this act,” she added.

It is also apparent the mufti of the madrassah are holding some of the children in the Madrassah hostage from the parent’s complaints. Satellite recon shows armed men in the madrassah, denoted as “wanted criminals”… which probably really means “known Taliban or Al Qaeda Terrorists”.

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Launching Aircraft With a Railgun

cvn-78-painting.jpgThe newest Aircraft Carrier in the US arsenal, USS Gerald Ford CVN 78,  is under construction now and the cats are definitely going future tech. The new system launches aircraft with a rail gun (Linear Induction Motor, or LIM) and looks like it will be a great improvement over current Steam Catapults. Just think of all that plumbing sailors won’t have to maintain for one thing. The EMALS (Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System) is highly configurable and adjustable to the ride needed for the aircraft being launched — whether that’s a light frame future UAV, or a Hawkeye.

For more detail please visit Defense Tech. (Oh, and when you’re there tell Ward that the video at page bottom uses a Trebuchet, not a Catapult, but it’s well worth watching anyway.)