Video - Jewish LA businessman pays $50 per meal for about 400 US soldiers in an airport in Shannon, Ireland

An LA businessman named Shlomo Rechnitz paid $50 per meal for about 400 US soldiers in an airport in Shannon, Ireland.

He saw them eating standard army food while all the other passengers in the terminal were eating in trendy and appetizing restaurants. Rechnitz then asked their commander if he can give them something extra.

This is Rechnitz offering words of appreciation to the soldiers after the commander agreed.

"I figured, I want to make the picture look a little better, and offered them $50 apiece to go to those restaurants and have a warm meal on me," Shlomo Rechnitz said on "Fox & Friends." Rechnitz also offered words of appreciation for the soldiers. A video of that has gone viral, picking up over 600,000 views.

Video - US Army is building hoverbikes based on technology from a Kickstarter campaign.

US Army is building hoverbikes based on technology from a Kickstarter campaign. (TNW).

Last year, 451 backers pledged £64,089 to bring Malloy’s hoverbike prototype to life on Kickstarter. That same company has now announced a partnership with a US Department of Defense contractor to build the futuristic bike for the US Army.

Under the new partnership, Malloy Aeronautics will open an office in Maryland and build the bikes with SURVICE Engineering Co, a DOD contractor, to operate as a “tactical reconnaissance vehicle.”

According to Reuters, the US Army is interested in the hoverbike “because it can support multiple roles” such as “[transporting] troops over difficult terrain” as well as moving supplies and being used both as a rideable and autonomous drone. Hmmmm.......Only minus.....No armor, They will be 'flying ducks'.Read the full story here.

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Video - Un jammable pocket-size drone to descend on US Air Force.

Un jammable pocket-size drone to descend on US Air Force. The target users of the drone are Pararescue, Special Forces and FEMA; it is also expected to come in handy for airborne in-tunnel surveillance systems. Read the full story here.

U.S. Military Lists Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, and Islamophobia as Forms of Religious Extremism Alongside Terrorist Groups.

U.S. Military Lists Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, and Islamophobia as Forms of Religious Extremism Alongside Terrorist Groups.(Fox).By Todd Starnes.

The U.S. Army listed Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with Al Qaeda and Hamas during a briefing with an Army Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania, Fox News has learned.

“We find this offensive to have Evangelical Christians and the Catholic Church to be listed among known terrorist groups,” said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of wrongheaded characterization.”

The incident occurred during an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on extremism. Topping the list is Evangelical Christianity. Other organizations listed included Catholicism, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam.

The military also listed “Islamophobia” as a form of religious extremism.

Army spokesman George Wright told Fox News that this was an “isolated incident not condoned by the Dept. of the Army.”

“This slide was not produced by the Army and certainly does not reflect our policy or doctrine,” he said. “It was produced by an individual without anyone in the chain of command’s knowledge or permission.”

Wright said after the complaint was lodged, the presenter deleted the slide, and apologized.“We consider the matter closed,” he said.

The Archdiocese for the Military Services was shocked to learn that the Army considered Catholicism to be an example of extremism.

“The Archdiocese is astounded that Catholics were listed alongside groups that are, by their very mission and nature, violent and extremist,” the Archdiocese said in a statement.

They want the Dept. of Defense to “ensure that taxpayer funds are never again used to present blatantly anti-religious material to the men and women in uniform.”

“In the notes it was clearly stated that the presenter was not a subject matter expert, and produced the material after conducting Internet research,” Wright said.

So if the presenter was not an expert, what were they doing presenting the material, Crews asked.

He said he had a chance to speak with the officer who conducted the briefing and she told him that she got her information from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“Why is there such dependence upon the work of the SPLC to determine hate groups and extremist groups,” Crews said. “It appears that some military entities are using definitions of ‘hate’ and ‘extreme’ from the lists of anti-Christian political organizations. That violates the apolitical stance appropriate for the military.”

But Mark Potok, a spokesman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told Fox News they did not provide the military with any list about religious extremism.“It’s emphatically – 100 percent false,” Potok said.Hmmmmmm.......So WHO 'created' this slide and who 'approved' it?Reminds me of: "The future does not belong to those that slander the Prophet".Read the full story here.

"FORWARD" - U.S. Army Vessel Grounds itself Near Kodiak to Avoid Sinking.

"FORWARD" - U.S. Army Vessel Grounds itself Near Kodiak to Avoid Sinking.(KTUU).By By Matthew Simon, Chris Klint and AP.KODIAK, Alaska—

A U.S. ArmyReserve vessel that struck an object and began taking on water late Friday night grounded on a small island near Kodiak to avoid sinking, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

According to Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Grant DeVuyst and radio station KMXT, the crew of the landing craft Monterrey, assigned to the 481st Transportation Company in Vallejo, Calif., placed a mayday call after the vessel hit Humpback Rock in Chiniak Bay at 10:16 p.m.

Maj. Annmarie Daneker, an Army Reserve media relations officer, said the Monterrey’s crew of 16 to 18 people subsequently grounded on Puffin Island at the request of the Coast Guard.

An Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter launched at 10:44 p.m. to assist the Monterrey, and the good Samaritan fishing vessels Resolution and Peggy Joe also responded to the scene. Two Monterrey crew members with minor injuries were transported to Kodiak aboard the Peggy Joe.

The Coast Guard says the Monterrey may be carrying up to 40,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Two tanks aboard the 174-foot landing craft were reportedly damaged and leaking 15,291 gallons of fuel, and the Coast Guard has contracted with Alaska Chadux Corp. to contain and clean up the leak.

DeVuyst said Alaska Chadux’s initial steps include setting up three containment booms around the Monterrey, in the area of the spill and around the mouth of the Buskin River. The firm has also contracted a skimming vessel to clean up oil between the Monterrey’s initial impact point and the site of its grounding.

A report from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation suggested that the damaged tank had completely emptied. Four response vessels were on scene as of noon Saturday, with an estimated 3,000 total feet of containment boom deployed so far.

In a Saturday statement from the Coast Guard, Daneker thanked those who responded to the grounding.Read the full story here.

US Soldiers Are Immune from Afghan Prosecution, CRS Says.

US Soldiers Are Immune from Afghan Prosecution, CRS Says.(SN).The American soldier who is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians is under the legal jurisdiction of the U.S. government and is immune from prosecution under Afghan law, says a newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service.
Afghan officials had said they wanted the soldier to be tried in Afghanistan, not in an American military court, the New York Times and other press outlets reported.
But according to CRS, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the US and Afghanistan dictates otherwise.
“In the case of Afghanistan, the SOFA, in force since 2003, provides that U.S. Department of Defense military and civilian personnel are to be accorded status equivalent to that of U.S. Embassy administrative and technical staff under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961,” the CRS report said.
“Accordingly, U.S. personnel are immune from criminal prosecution by Afghan authorities and are immune from civil and administrative jurisdiction except with respect to acts performed outside the course of their duties. The Government of Afghanistan has further explicitly authorized the U.S. government to exercise criminal jurisdiction over U.S. personnel.”
“Thus, under the existing SOFA, the United States would have jurisdiction over the prosecution of the servicemember who allegedly attacked the Afghan civilians.”
A copy of the CRS report was obtained by Secrecy News. See Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA): What Is It, and How Has It Been Utilized?, March 15, 2012.Read the full story here.