EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Navy skipper detained by Iran this January believes his deference prevented war. https://t.co/lP43n7erVQ

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) September 12, 2016

American citizen Arthur Patterson (C), accused of murdering a South Korean college student in 1997, is taken away by prison officials at the Seoul High Court on Sept. 13, 2016, after the court convicted him of stabbing a college student multiple times at a Burger King in the foreigner-friendly Itaewon Ward in central Seoul. He was sentenced to 20 years in jail, which is the severest possible penalty for the defendant who was then an adolescent. (Yonhap)

At least if you are going to have an opinion against having an ROTC program on campus have it backed up by legitimate facts:

North Carolina’s economy represents a paradox in Southern conservatism. Despite a longstanding tradition of skepticism toward the federal government, the state’s dependence on the U.S. military highlights a glaring cognitive dissonance. The military’s impact on NC State reflects a scaled-down version of the state as a whole, as much of our funding — like all public universities — is contingent upon the university’s allowance of ROTC and recruiters on campus.

Without this funding, much of the technological innovation that we claim with pride would not have been possible. However, just like the communities throughout North Carolina that rely on bases and weapons factories for economic stability, our dependence on the military has created a kind of legal blackmail that stifles NC State’s intellectual and creative freedom, and exploits its students.

In a Technician opinion column published March 5, 2004, Andrew Sheppard calls for the end of NC State’s ROTC program, arguing that “every semester that we continue to support these programs is another semester contributing to ongoing crimes abroad.” It’s remarkable that more than 15 years after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the recent U.S.-led interventions in Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan and Syria, Sheppard’s appeal for an end to the militarization of the university remains alone.  [Technician Online]

You can read the rest at the link if you can take it.  I don’t even know where to start with all the nonsense in this article.  First of all if she is worried about “crimes abroad” instead of protesting ROTC why doesn’t she go protest the political leaders who send the troops abroad?  The NC State ROTC program has nothing to do with when and where US troops are deployed to.

Then her screed that ROTC exploits minorities and poor people might as well be considered racist or however you want to define it because she obviously thinks these people are too stupid to make decisions for themselves and instead need an intellectual superior like herself to save them from the NC State ROTC program.  Then she claims that ROTC students are selling their lives to the federal government; well what are all the students with $100,000 in student loan debt for an underwater basket weaving degree doing?

Then she claims if you are deployed you will be faced with conducting “immoral acts” and “encounter huge civilian casualties, extrajudicial imprisonment and killing of terror suspects”.  Does she even realize how few people even leave the FOBs while deployed?  The term “fobbit” was developed for a reason.  Even very few of those who leave a FOB will have any of the experiences she claims will happen to them.

I could go on, but I will let the comments section jump in on this issue.

North Korea has their typical provocation playbook and the US has its typical playbook in response with one of the plays being to fly a bomber from Guam over South Korea:

Two B-1B nuclear-capable strategic bombers of the U.S. Air Force flew over South Korea, Tuesday, in a show of force against North Korea that conducted its fifth nuclear test last week in defiance of global warnings.

The B-1B Lancers conducted a low-altitude flight over Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, around 10:00 a.m. after having flown from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. The aircraft is capable of carrying the largest payload of both guided and unguided weapons of any current American bombers.

One B-1B was escorted by four F-15Ks from South Korean Air Force, while the other was escorted by four F-16s from the U.S. Air Force during the flight. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Considering the poor meal choices offered on US military bases, fitness programs focused on PT tests and not health and the change of lifestyle many younger troops live in front of video game screens it is easy to understand why soldiers’ weight have increased:

It’s not exactly clear why America’s military personnel are getting fatter. Could be that 15 years of war have weakened the focus on fitness. Could be that millennials, with their penchant for sedentary activities like playing video games and killing time on social media, aren’t always up to the rigors of military life. Could be all the burgers, fries, cakes and pies served in chow halls around the world.

And maybe, too, the military is simply reflecting the nation’s broader population, whose poor eating habits are fueling an alarming rise obesity rates.

This much is clear, though: Today’s military is fatter than ever.

For the first time in years, the Pentagon has disclosed data indicating the number of troops its deems overweight, raising big questions about the health, fitness and readiness of today’s force.  [Army Times]

You can read more at the link, but like I have always said I have had a lot of so called overweight soldiers that were actually very good troops who could pass the PT test just had problems with the tape test.

I knew I had seen that bomb somewhere before! pic.twitter.com/uxmUmXPUON

— Bruce Klingner (@BruceKlingner) September 12, 2016

This undated photo, released by The Associated Press, shows the radar-evading F-35A fighter ready to take off at a U.S. air base. South Korea is considering procuring 20 additional F-35A fighters to enhance its wartime strike capabilities, military officials said on Sept. 12, 2016, amid escalating nuclear threats posed by North Korea. (Yonhap)

Last week North Korea was struck with an artificial earthquake due to their nuclear test and this week South Korea has been struck by a real earthquake:

A record magnitude-5.8 earthquake jolted most of South Korea, the country’s meteorological agency said Monday.

The quake detected at 8:32 p.m. was the strongest tremor reported on the Korean Peninsula to date, being noticeably stronger than the magnitude-5.3 tremor that rocked the eastern Pyongan region in North Korea in January 1980, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. It added that the epicenter was near the Naenam-myeon region some 8 kilometers south of the historic city of Gyeongju.

The quake was preceded by a 5.1-magnitude tremor detected at 7:44 p.m. which was centered about 9 kilometers south of Gyeongju. The second quake was felt in most parts of the country that generally does not have a lot of tremors. Gyeongju is the old capital of the Shilla Kingdom (57 B.C.-935 A.D) and is located 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but a major earthquake striking South Korea I hope is something I never see happen.

https://twitter.com/geoffrey_cain/status/772958590965456896

This photo, released by North Korea’s state-run Internet propaganda site Meari on Sept. 19, 2016, shows a poster bearing an image of a mother holding a baby with the phrase “For the future, let’s stop smoking flat.” (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)