interesting , considering what Q says about symbolism

Okinawa-based 31st MEU unveils new insignia featuring skull-chomping dragon

The updated logo featuring a fearsome East Asian sea dragon, bursting from the ocean while wrapped around a trident was commissioned at the request of 31st MEU commander Col. Robert Brodie to highlight the unit’s regional partnerships while also stressing the Marine Air-Ground Task Force’s lethality and crisis response.

The dragon symbolizes the Marines’ commitment to its Asian partners, Brodie said.

While the dragon pays homage to the 31st MEU’s Asian partners, the trident is meant to illustrate the unit’s “amphibious war-fighting nature,” the statement said. The Marine Corps symbol of the eagle, globe and anchor appears at the base of the trident, a nod to the unit’s heritage.

Three stars to the right of the dragon represent III MEF and the 31st MEU motto, “Ready, Partnered, Lethal,” the statement said. A skull in the dragon’s mouth “reinforces Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ focus on lethality.”

Brodie said the new insignia will soon be seen wherever the unit’s insignia is located, whether that is on their headquarters’ sign at Camp Foster, Okinawa, T-shirts or unit coins. The unit also plans to submit the new design to Marine Corps headquarters for archiving as the unit’s primary insignia going forward.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2018/10/photo-okinawa-based-31st-meu-unveils-new-insignia-featuring-skull-chomping-dragon/

DARPA Seeks Proposals for Third OFFSET Swarm Sprint, Awards Contracts for Second

DARPA’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) envisions swarms of 250 collaborative autonomous systems providing critical insights to small ground military units in urban areas where vertical structures, tight spaces, and limited sight lines constrain communications and mobility. DARPA is soliciting proposals for its third swarm sprint, which will focus on the topics of human-swarm teaming and swarm tactics.

Swarm sprints allow for incorporation of emerging technology and new performers throughout the life of the program. Each of five core sprints focuses on one or more of the key OFFSET thrust – or topic – areas: swarm tactics, swarm autonomy, human-swarm teaming, virtual environment, and physical testbed. Each topic emphasizes slightly different perspectives, but ultimately aims to enable breakthroughs in swarm capabilities.

“What makes autonomous swarm research challenging and compelling is the rapid pace at which swarm technologies and associated capabilities are advancing,” says Timothy Chung, program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office (TTO). “OFFSET is designed around the idea of incorporating core swarm sprints at regular intervals.”

DARPA also has awarded contracts to the following organizations for the second Swarm Sprint:

Carnegie Mellon University

Corenova Technologies, Inc.

Cornell University

Heron Systems Inc.

Michigan Technological University

Siemens Corporation, Corporate Technology

University of Colorado, Boulder

University of North Carolina, Charlotte

https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2018-10-12

>>3639179

Bond girls can't compete with Anon Baker girls

>>3639211

did you get the Birthday Card we sent you

>>3639250

All your heroes, now say Thank you

Video Friday: Open Source Robotic Kitten, and More

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We’ll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months; here’s what we have so far

Maurice Fallon and Ioannis Havoutis from the Dynamic Robot Systems Group at the University of Oxford have a shiny new ANYmal that they’ve been putting to work doing useful stuff:

https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-hardware/video-friday-open-source-robotic-kitten

You anons are making the headlines again

LMAO: These Mail Bomb Memes PERFECTLY Filet This Hyped Up Nothing Burger

With nobody hurt or in danger from the pipe bomb scare, out came the jokes. Here’s a sampling.

Some of them poked fun at the relatiely harmless or half-assed bombs themselves:

https://clashdaily.com/2018/10/lmao-these-mail-bomb-memes-perfectly-filet-this-hyped-up-nothing-burger/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

The Lame-Duck: What to Expect from the Last Weeks of Congress

So what is in store for this lame duck session? At the bare minimum expect the Senate, under the guidance of Majority Leader McConnell, to push through a few dozen more federal judges, as has been his mission since the start of President Trump’s tenure in the White House as the Quiet Judicial Revolution continues.

Another budget battle. Yup that’s right. Yet again, America will have the possibility of a government shutdown on the horizon as several department budgets are tied to the funding for President Trump’s Mexican border wall. The Freedom Caucus will be sure to hold Speaker Ryan’s waning leadership’s feet to the fire to deliver on his promise of wall funding in exchange for another kick of the can down the road back in late September. Along with the wall funding and Homeland Security budget, also out still are the Foreign Policy budgets and Science, Justice, and Commerce Department budgets. So we could see fireworks on those budgets or a mini-shutdown to ruin the Christmas shopping season.

https://westernfreepress.com/the-lame-duck-what-to-expect-from-the-last-weeks-of-congress/

>>3639505

Antitrust Laws And You

The Sherman Antitrust Act

This Act outlaws all contracts, combinations, and conspiracies that unreasonably restrain interstate and foreign trade. This includes agreements among competitors to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers, which are punishable as criminal felonies.

The Sherman Act also makes it a crime to monopolize any part of interstate commerce. An unlawful monopoly exists when one firm controls the market for a product or service, and it has obtained that market power, not because its product or service is superior to others, but by suppressing competition with anticompetitive conduct.

The Act, however, is not violated simply when one firm's vigorous competition and lower prices take sales from its less efficient competitors; in that case, competition is working properly.

https://www.justice.gov/atr/antitrust-laws-and-you