-U.S. Naval Research: Gamers make better soldiers.

c|net:

The U.S. Office of Naval Research has found that when it comes to fighting wars around the world, gamers are more capable at taking on the enemy than nongamers.

According to Ray Perez, a program officer in the ONR’s warfighter performance department who discussed the findings in the Pentagon Web Radio Webcast, gamers perform “10 [percent] to 20 percent higher, in terms of perceptual and cognitive ability, than normal people that are non-game players.”

Perez went on to say that his office has found that video games “increase perpetual abilities and short-term memory.” Games also help people focus longer.

The Office of Naval Research is attempting to develop “training technologies and training methods to improve performance on the battlefield.” Because current U.S. soldiers are facing “significant challenges,” it’s becoming more necessary for the U.S. government to find training techniques that improve a soldier’s advantage on the battlefield. And according to Perez, gamers might be best equipped to meet those challenges.

Amazingly, the ONR’s early research has found that a gamer’s improved abilities can last more than two years. That could prove to be extremely valuable to the government, considering that soldiers are typically deployed to war zones for a year at a time.

Although the ONR has a long way to go in determining exactly how video games affect the brain and how they increase the ability of a soldier, researchers are already trying to turn video games into learning tools for today’s military personnel. According to Perez, researchers are considering training on mobile devices, as well as simulations in virtual environments.

No mention was made of whether the U.S. government would plan to actively recruit gamers. That said, it would seem like an obvious next choice, considering that they already have the “training” that might make them better soldiers.

The Office of Naval Research will continue to study the effects video games have on soldiers. Look for more on this, as that research is made available.

Originally posted at The Digital Home

-Nike Pro Combat promo wants us to ‘finish the mission’.

Weaponized Culture:

All Americans required to carry biometric ID cards to work in US under new plan

Customs and Border Protection agent Jesus Gomez checks a passport at the vehicle crossing at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in California. Getty Images

The biggest objections to the biometric cards may come from privacy advocates, who fear they would become de facto national ID cards that enable the government to track citizens.

ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration Plan

Wall Street Journal | Mar 9, 2010

-Obama’s “Organizing For America” ‘youth corps’.

Back in 1980 one of my sons sold books for SOUTHWESTERN PUBLISHING COMPANY. At that time the book company recruited college students, who went door to door and sold educational type books. It was a great learning experience for the students and my son earned enough during the summer to pay for his senior year in college. The Obama administration is now recruiting college students that will not only get paid for knocking on doors but will “earn college credits” while advocating for change. It’s called ORGANIZING FOR AMERICA (OFA) and could be a part of Obama’s young and educated civilian army.

The OFA website states: “Students and young people were critical in building the movement that helped elect President Obama last year. By becoming a National Organizing Intern, you’ll be part of the grassroots effort to make the change we fought for a reality in 2009 and beyond. As an Organizing Intern, you’ll work side by side with OFA staff and community leaders to help build support for President Obama’s agenda. You’ll learn core organizing principles that are crucial for any campaign and play an important role in building our organization in your state. If you’re passionate about making sure every American has quality health care, reviving our economy and building a clean energy future, don’t miss this great opportunity. No previous experience is needed in order to apply.”

I wonder if Mr. Obama read PROVERBS 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” How much training and indoctrination will these young people receive before they become full fledged soldiers in Obama’s Civilian Army? If they haven’t been thoroughly brainwashed while attending the government run public schools, they will most certainly be “educated” by the anti-capitalists, anti-Christian, anti-Constitution left-wing of the Democratic Party. Although they won’t have been taught to consider themselves Communist, they will understand “Social Justice” and they will be the “caring persons” who will lead their generation into “The New World Order.”

LINK

-Boy Scouts being trained by Homeland Security for ‘anti-terror’ operations.-

SEE ALSO:
*Why a pro-draft Chief of Staff is a big deal.
-”America’s Army” war recruitment tool video games going to US high schools.

The story didn’t surprise me when I seen this the other night, but I found these NYTimes photos mindblowing:

“Before it was more about the basics,” said Johnny Longoria, a Border Patrol agent here. “But now our emphasis is on terrorism, illegal entry, drugs and human smuggling.”

“Put him on his face and put a knee in his back,” a Border Patrol agent explained. “I guarantee that he’ll shut up.”

Ten minutes into arrant mayhem in this town near the Mexican border, and the gunman, a disgruntled Iraq war veteran, has already taken out two people, one slumped in his desk, the other covered in blood on the floor.

That said, the Explorers have faced problems over the years. There have been numerous cases over the last three decades in which police officers supervising Explorers have been charged, in civil and criminal cases, with sexually abusing them.

The law enforcement posts are restricted to those ages 14 to 21 who have a C average, but there seems to be some wiggle room. “I will take them at 13 and a half,” Deputy Lowenthal said. “I would rather take a kid than possibly lose a kid.”

Of course they make children being trained as domestic military officers as a good thing:

“This is about being a true-blooded American guy and girl,” said A. J. Lowenthal, a sheriff’s deputy here in Imperial County, whose life clock, he says, is set around the Explorers events he helps run. “It fits right in with the honor and bravery of the Boy Scouts.”

“Our end goal is to create more agents,” said April McKee, a senior Border Patrol agent and mentor at the session here.

They have 2,000 “law enforcement posts” nationwide, with 35,000 stooges.

Infowars:

Given recent concerns over the DHS definition of “right wing extremists” and the agency’s penchant to affiliate veterans, gun owners, Ron Paul supporters and even those who question the mainstream media with terrorists, one wonders exactly who the boy scouts are being trained to target.

The Explorer program also touches close to home with recent concerns regarding President Barack Obama’s promised “civilian national security force”.

–

In Nazi Germany, the Hitler Youth succeeded the Boy Scout movement. Hitler Youth training was militarized in comparison to the Boy Scout network, which was largely based around education. Boys aged fourteen and upwards, as well as a separate branch aged 10-14, were trained at preparatory schools to become future Nazi leaders. At its height in 1940, and after it had become mandatory to join, the Hitler Youth boasted no less than 8 million members.

Apparently in a shift away from the traditional Boy Scouts activities of sports, camping, survival skills and team leadership, the government is now training children “to confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence” under the banner of the Explorers program, with the aid of military-style exercises aimed at subduing insurgents.

The 2007 film, “Riddles In Stone” sheds interesting light on the founder of the Boy Scouts of America.

MORE:

Boy Scouts Train to Become Homeland Gestapo