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Daniel Halper at the Weekly Standard points out that contrary to media reports Obama was not contrite in his Meet the Press remarks about going golfing immediately after making a statement while on vacation last month about the videotaped beheading of American journalist James Foley by the Islamist terrorist group ISIS. Obama seemed to blame press coverage—saying he’s looking forward to a vacation from the press–rather than his conduct for the optics of being seen laughing it up on the golf course mere minutes after making a somber statement on what many consider to be an act of war on...

US President Barack Obama admitted he should have expected to be criticized for hitting the links on the same day that he addressed the beheading of American journalist James Foley and spoke with his family. ´Part of this job is also the theater of it,´ he told NBC News´ Chuck Todd. ´Well, it´s not something that always comes naturally to me. But it matters. And I´m mindful of that.´ He added: ´I should have anticipated the optics´ of playing golf. Obama, who was on vacation at the time of Foley´s murder, was heavily criticized for heading to the golf course

Within minutes of addressing the nation following the Islamic State’s brutal beheading of American journalist James Foley, President Barack Obama had resumed his August vacation on the golf course. More than a few observers, even the president’s supporters, said that the decision to continue golfing immediately after announcing to the country that ISIS had executed what administration would later call a “terrorist attack” on the United States was unwise. On Sunday, Obama acknowledged that he had erred, not only in seeming detached but also in failing to consider the “optics” associated with appearing callous and disinterested in the wake of...

President Barack Obama drew the diplomatic line somewhere at the first ever U.S-Africa summit at the White House this week by not inviting Zimbabwe’s brutal dictator Robert Mugabe. But the guest list still included several other African leaders with only slightly better human rights records. The White House promoted the summit as the largest-ever gathering of African leaders in the United States, with more than 50 countries represented. The red carpet was rolled out for Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who shot or jailed virtually all his political opponents, Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh, who threatened to ‘cut off the head’...

Appearances matter. All of our lives we were told that by our mothers, school teachers, employers and etiquette books.

A White House reporter asked spokesman Josh Earnest whether President Obama enjoyed himself at an infrastucture photo-op earlier Tuesday in Virginia, mocking Obama’s claim last week about not visiting the border crisis because he wasn’t “interested in photo ops.” The assembled press corps laughed as Earnest asserted Obama was in good spirits. “And is he likely to be just as unhappy with the photo op he has planned later this week on infrastructure?” the reporter asked. A flustered Earnest said he didn’t understand the question. “I’m getting back to his blowing off photo ops on the border,” the reporter said....

**SNIP** "People had to spend hours setting up barricades where there are never barricades to prevent people from seeing the World War II monument because they're trying to play a charade," Paul said. By Wednesday, members of another Honor Flight group from Chicago were concerned that the White House would ban them as well. Sen. Mark Kirk, the Illinois Republican and a retired naval intelligence officer, vowed to lead them through. News crews gathered for the story. "I think it's shameful," said Mary Pettinato, CEO and co-founder of Honor Flight Chicago. "It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're...

Different-shaped beams could increase fibre-optic capacity, easing Internet congestion. Twisty beams of light could boost the traffic-carrying capacity of the Internet, effectively adding new levels to the information superhighway, suggests research published today in Science1. Internet traffic is growing exponentially and researchers have sought ways to squeeze ever more information into the fibre-optic cables that carry it. One successful method used over the last 20 years essentially added more traffic lanes, using different colours, or wavelengths, for different signals2. But to compensate for the added lanes, each one had to be made narrower. So, just as in a real highway,...

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2012 to Serge Haroche Collège de France and Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France and David J. Wineland National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and University of Colorado Boulder, CO, USA "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems" Particle control in a quantum world Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland have independently invented and developed methods for measuring and manipulating individual particles while preserving their quantum-mechanical nature, in ways that were previously thought unattainable.

Looking for a scope for an AR-15 for overall duty [for a ‘friend’] – medium range tasks to CQB I’ve more or less narrowed it down the choice to a Red Dot or Holographic Sight: Aimpoint, Trijicon ACOG or EOTech What are the pros and cons of those three basic types? [A Trijicon ACOG may be above the price point, for example] Which one of those three would you recommend? Are there ‘Copies’ of these products from other [US] manufacturers that are worth consideration? Looking to narrow down the choices.

White House looks to change the optics in debate over rising gas pricesBy Amie Parnes - 03/16/12 06:39 PM ET The White House is shifting its optics on gas prices after struggling in recent days to win the public debate over the issue. President Obama will head to Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Ohio next week to tout American-made energy—including an area which houses more than seventy active drilling rigs. The trip—which includes three battleground states—provides for much-needed photo-op moments of Obama visiting or possibly even speaking in front of active wells, which the White House hopes will hammer home...

An excellent demonstration of the phenomenom. Applies to walking, driving, sailing, flying, hunting, biking, skiing, and so many other activities of daily life. Applies to everyone, not just pilots, as we all spend time driving at night and the same concepts apply here! Scan, scan, scan... For all you pilots and drivers, here is an interesting phenomenon. This is why you have to scan a scene to see all of its detail instead of just staring at a part of it. It works exactly like it says, and is one major reason people in cars can 'look right at you'...

O.K. All of you firearms experts: I had hoped to go to the range today and sight in my new Remington 700 .308. However, the winds here are 20mph with gusts in the 30s. Not conducive to an accurate zero. I also realize that I'm probably going to want to put a better scope on the rifle than the cheap one that it came with. So, what rifle scope would you recommend? What should I look for in a good scope. What should I avoid? What scope, in your opinion, represents the best value for a reasonable price? What tips...

Reuters White House photographer Jason Reed describes how the president made his speech to a single TV camera, then immediately after finishing, he pretended to speak for the still cameras. Reed writes: “As President Obama continued his nine-minute address in front of just one main network camera, the photographers were held outside the room by staff and asked to remain completely silent. Once Obama was off the air, we were escorted in front of that teleprompter and the President then re-enacted the walk-out and first 30 seconds of the statement for us.” That means the photograph that appeared in many...

DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Products Agency, has given us a lot of strange gadgets over the years, and they’ll carry the streak right on with their SCENICC system, which is currently up for bid to create. It’s been a while since we heard from the folks out at DARPA, so it’s good to hear that they haven’t accidentally torn open a hole in the space-time continuum that caused them to fall backward into time and emerge on the other side in a parallel universe where velociraptors evolved from men or something. This time, we’re getting a look at the...

Dear FReepers, Over the years, a vanity post listing favorite sidearms, long guns and hunting rifles has appearred on FR with predictable regularity. Considering the highly popular and enthusiastic responses, I'd like to learn more from the sophisticated shooters on this forum about optics that you might bet your life on. Are many of you using ACOG, Trijicon, night vision, or infrared riflescopes? After seeing our Marines using the CQB sights that had various Bible verses listed upon them, I decided to learn more. I'm happy to report to you that our troops are getting wonderful optics packages, which are...

Russia's main arms exporter has signed a string of deals with a leading French defense firm for provision of night-vision devices on combat vehicles. The contract was signed between Russia's Rosoboronexport and France's Thales company and concerns night-vision devices for Russia's T-90 tanks that will be manufactured under a licensed agreement at an optical-mechanical plant in Vologda, Russian media reported. "Under the contract, Russia has the right to assemble thermal imaging systems for armored vehicles under license in Vologda, with the subsequent maintenance," said Igor Sevastyanov, head of the Russian defense company, according to RIA Novosti.

I am looking for a holographic sight for my flattop AR. I have looked at the Aimpoint and the EOTech sights and everyone says they are the cream of the crop. Problem is that $500 for a holo sight is a bit much. Can anyone suggest a rugged, reliable, good quality holo sight for a decent price?

The government is upgrading the X-ray technology that detects flaws in its nuclear weapons stockpile. The new machine, called the Confined Large Optical Scintillator Screen and Imaging System, or CoLOSSIS, uses thousands of 2D X-ray images to produce one 3D image depicting the inside of a nuclear weapon — the same way CT scanners generate 3D images of the inside of a human body. Developers say the new system will pick up more defects in the nuclear stockpile than the current 2D sensors and will eliminate the need to disassemble weapons to search for problems, which is a process that...

Leupold® is issuing a customer alert to purchasers of products, particularly via Internet sales, in regards to bogus Leupold products that are apparently being illegally imported from the People’s Republic of China. These products bear many of the marks and trade dress of current Leupold & Stevens riflescopes making them very hard to distinguish externally from authentic Leupold products. In recent months, counterfeited Leupold Mark 4® riflescopes have begun to arrive with increasing regularity at the firm’s Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters for service. These products are not manufactured by Leupold and are not covered by the Leupold Full Lifetime Guarantee. Leupold...