U.S. Constitution, War Making and Syria

OK, President B. Hussein Obama wants to attack Syria, calling it a shot across the bow.

Well, sound poetic and all, but nonsense. He wants to commit an act of war, an act until now is not legal without congressional approval.

Constitution Gives Obama No Power to Use Force in Syria 

"We're actively looking at the various legal angles that would inform a decision."

That is what an anonymous administration official told the Washington Post this week about President Barack Obama's deliberations on whether he will personally involve the United States in another Middle Eastern war by ordering military action in Syria.

But the only law that ultimately matters here is the one Obama swore to preserve, protect and defend: the Constitution of the United States.

As recently as six years ago, Obama exhibited a clear understanding of the power the Constitution does and does not give the president in using military force.

As recently as six years ago, Obama exhibited a clear understanding of the power the Constitution does and does not give the president in using military force.

"The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a

military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation," Obama, then a presidential candidate, told the Boston Globe in Dec. 20, 2007 interview.

Obama, then, could have been channeling James Madison or George Washington. He perfectly expressed the original — and, thus, the correct — meaning of the constitutional language on the use of military force.

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution says Congress shall have the power to "declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water."

CNS NEWS

This commentary is worth checking out as it has a lot of background on the Constitution and war making authority.

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LCS 2, Assault Ship

Sometimes it sucks to be stuck in a mindset of what something should look like. 

My image of what a U.S. Navy warship looks like is way before anything like this.

Tell ya what, I like it.

Stunning U.S. assault ship capable of speeds over 40 knots taken out to sea for final trials

The U.S. navy's stunning new assault ship has been taken out to sea for its final test trials.

The USS Independence (LCS 2) is a small transport vessel designed to undertake multiple missions, which due to its trimaran design can reach speeds of more than 40 knots (46mph).

The 419-foot vessel was built at the Austal shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, has a range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km) and can also operate in water less than 20 feet deep.

Daily Mail

DOJ, President Obama, Eric Holder to stop School Choice

I make it no secret that I am 100% in favor of vouchers which allow parents to send their children to a school of their choice. Of course there are the bureaucrats, unionists and the usual gaggle of obstructionists.

Allow me introduce President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder

DOJ Tries to Stop School-Choice for Poor Children in Failing Louisiana Public Schools

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department is trying to stop the state from

distributing school vouchers in any district that remains under a desegregation court order.

In papers filed Saturday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, the Justice Department said Louisiana distributed vouchers in 2012-13 to nearly 600 public school students in districts that are still under such orders, and "many of those vouchers impeded the desegregation process."

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal called the department's action "shameful" and said President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder "are trying to keep kids trapped in failing public schools against the wishes of their parents."

"The Obama administration thinks parents should have to seek their approval any time parents want to send their child to a school of their choice," Jindal said in a news release. "After generations of being denied a choice, parents finally can choose a school for their child, but now the federal government is stepping in to prevent parents from exercising this right. Shame on them. Parents should have the ability to decide where to send their child to school."

Louisiana has 70 school districts, and 34 remain under desegregation court orders, many of which are decades old.

The Justice Department said Louisiana has given vouchers this school year to students in at least 22 districts remaining under desegregation orders. It's asking the court, starting with the 2014-15 school year, to permanently block the state from awarding vouchers in districts that are under desegregation orders, unless those districts seek court approval.

Louisiana lawmakers approved a voucher program in 2008 for low-income New Orleans students who were in failing schools. The Louisiana Scholarship Program was later expanded statewide. It allows children in school districts graded C, D or F to receive public money to attend private schools.

Jindal called school choice "a moral imperative."

"Make no mistake — this motion is a threat to the children in our state who only get one chance to grow up and deserve the opportunity to get the best education so they can pursue their dreams," Jindal said of the Justice Department filing.

AP - CNSNews.com

Graphene, Amazing Stuff

Graphene, this is amazing stuff.I am more than anxious for the future to see what becomes of it.

Graphene: A new miracle in the material world

It is lighter than a feather, stronger than steel, yet incredibly flexible and more conductive than copper. It has been hailed as “the miracle material”, its possible uses apparently almost endless.

The material is graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms forming a regular hexagonal pattern, extracted from graphite, with astonishing properties and impressive potential.

Unbreakable, foldable touch screens for mobile phones; a revolution in how drugs are administered; protective coating for everything from food packaging to wind turbines, faster computer chips and broadband; batteries of infinitely higher capacity than today’s – these are just a few of graphene’s possibilities.

Imagine a supermarket where you could wheel your trolley between two sensors that would scan every product immediately and give you your final bill in the blink of an eye. Graphene, it is claimed, could make this a reality.

But so far, these are just possibilities as researchers and scientists recognise that applications in the real, commercial world are still some way off.

The favoured method for making graphene is to “grow” it at 900C using a chemical vapour deposition (CVD) machine, as used in Dr Belle’s lab and by American tech giant IBM in its research.

It requires carbon to be vaporised, and then the atoms are encouraged to form on another material, usually copper.

The Telegraph