Judge Juan Merchan took the bench and greeted former President Trump and his legal team on Friday morning as day 11 of Trump's criminal trial began.

Before witness testimony resumed, Merchan said he wanted to clarify any misunderstanding of his gag order on Trump, who moments ago complained that his constitutional rights were under attack because he is not permitted to respond to witnesses who are testifying against him.

"You have an absolute right to testify at trial," Merchan told Trump. "That is a constitutional right that cannot be infringe upon."

"The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not prohibit you from testifying in any way," the judge continued. He clarified the gag order does not apply to statements made on the witness stand and instructed Trump to inform his attorneys if he has any questions."

Earlier, Trump said his lawyers will appeal the gag order today. The former president was fined $9,000 this week for violating the order on nine separate occasions.

Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this update.
Posted by Chris Pandolfo

Can the missiles be fired from choppers on the ground as they await repairs?  If not, they're no good.

Secretive Long Range Attack Missile For Marine AH-1s Is Now Being Flight Tested
The Long Range Attack Missile, based on an unknown Air Force weapon, will help ensure Marine AH-1Zs stay relevant in future high-end fights.

BY
JOSEPH TREVITHICK
|
PUBLISHED MAY 2, 2024 8:58 PM EDT
The Marine Corps is now flight testing a new secretive stand-off missile for its AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters.
 

JOSEPH TREVITHICK
 

The U.S. Marine Corps is transforming an unspecified U.S. Air Force missile into a weapon that will give its AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters the ability to strike moving targets on land and at sea 150 nautical miles away. This is exponentially further than the Vipers can reach with their existing air-to-surface munition options. The service has started flight testing this weapon, dubbed the Long Range Attack Missile (LRAM), and plans to conduct the first live-fire launch in Fiscal Year 2025.


Marine Col. Eric Ropella, head of Naval Air Systems Command's (NAVAIR) Expeditionary and Maritime Aviation-Advanced Development Team (XMA-ADT), shared new details about the secretive LRAM effort with The War Zone and other attendees at the annual Modern Day Marine exposition earlier today. The Marine Corps resides within the Department of the Navy and NAVAIR serves as the central manager for aviation and other related programs both services.

"So take everything that you know about an AH-1 and [the] ordnance that it can throw off of it, and exceed that range by a lot, and you will get LRAM," Ropella said by way of introduction.

https://www.twz.com/air/secretive-long-range-attack-missile-for-marine-ah-1s-is-now-being-flight-tested

How about woke initiatives like painting their bullets the colors of the gay rights movement rather than improve barracks?

 
The Coast Guard Academy’s Newest DEI Push
By Michael R. Shevock
May 03, 2024
 
DEI is a bad idea. It is divisive, racist, and anti-meritocratic. Coleman Hughes, Ayaan Hirsi Ali , Elon Musk, and a host of other first-rate minds have vigorously come out against it.  Yet, our Coast Guard leadership continues to promote it without discussion or debate. For an objective observer, that should be the first clue that something is very, very wrong.

Supporters of this ideology are fond of the term ‘cultural competence,’ which they seem to believe is obtainable in a seminar or a classroom, but there are other paths to knowledge. For example, I enjoyed twenty-eight years in federal law enforcement, which, among other things, afforded me familiarity with the inside of a crack-house. Here are are some things I learned first-hand:


(1) Underclass black America is indeed suffering unacceptable levels of violence and generational poverty;

(2) Malcolm X was absolutely correct when he identified white liberals as an impediment to the progress of black America;

(3) the most pernicious condition afflicting underclass black America, yielding drug use, poverty and crime, is the lack of fathers in the home; and

(4) the dominance of the progressive/postmodern agenda, of which DEI is a cornerstone, is almost solely to blame for the pitiful state of our urban poor.

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2024/05/03/the_coast_guard_academys_newest_dei_push_1029175.html