360° panorama of Racetrack Playa in Death Valley at night. The Milky Way is visible as the arc in the center. Full resolution 4,000 × 1,290. Click image to enlarge.
Time lapse video of the Milky Way setting behind the large telescopes of Paranal Observatory, north Chile, followed by light from the moonrise (occuring behind the camera).
Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty Sound of their breath fades with the light I think about the loveless fascination Under the Milky Way tonight
Lower the curtain down in Memphis Lower the curtain down all right I got no time for private consultation Under the Milky Way tonight
Wish I knew what you were looking for Might have known what you would find
And it's something quite peculiar Something that's shimmering and white It leads you here despite your destination Under the Milky Way tonight
Indian air and missile forces on war footing, Pakistani armored units diverted from Afghan border --DEBKAfileSpecial Report
DEBKAfile's military sources report that on Sunday, Nov. 30, Asia's two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, took their first steps towards a conventional war. India, claiming evidence of Pakistan's involvement in the Islamist terrorist assault on Mumbai, placed its air and missile units on war preparedness, while Pakistan, disclaiming the charge, diverted its armed divisions from the Afghan border to its frontier with India.
Military experts fear a full-blown war could spill over into combat with tactical nuclear weapons.
For the Indian government, the last straw was the admission by Azam Amir Kasab, aged 21, the only terrorist known to have been captured by Indian forces, that Lashkar e-Taiba was behind the assault which claimed 174 lives, injured hundreds and devastated India's financial capital.
This Kashmiri group has links to both al Qaeda and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
From its outset on Wednesday, Nov. 26, the scale, coordination and clockwork targeting of the assault clearly betrayed the hand of a major national intelligence agency. Evidence also mounted that the attackers had reached Mumbai by boat from Karachi.
The Manmohan Singh government sees the Mumbai assault as a second, escalated Pakistani act of war-by-terror and cannot afford to avoid a strong, immediate response - particularly with a general election around the corner next May. If Singh braves the media and public howls for Pakistani blood and shows the same restraint as he did after the Kabul attack, he will lose his seat.
Domestic opinion is goading the New Delhi to act tough after what is perceived as the poor, slow and unprofessional performance of the police and special forces in quelling the terrorists. Indian commandos were brought in 10 hours after the terrorists took over and it took them 60 hours to finally gain control of the three hostage sites Saturday, Nov. 29. Sunday, home minister Shivraj Patil resigned in response to the clamor followed by national security advisor MK Narayanan.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars and barely avoided a fourth in 2001.
President George Bush and his successor Barack Obama cannot hope for much headway in defusing Indian-Pakistan tension. With only a few weeks left in the White House, Bush does not have much leverage and Obama even less for pulling the two adversaries apart. While campaigning, the president-elect pledged to work to mend the fences between India and Pakistan and broker their Kashmir conflict. In the present climate, neither is looking for a mediator.
In a video posted recently on Islamist websites, the Somali jihad group Shabab Al-Mujahideen called on Muslims living in the U.S. and Europe to come to Somalia and join the jihad there. The video is in Arabic, Somali and English.
Following are excerpts from the English part (quoted verbatim):
"To those people still sitting at home, relaxing, having good food, good sleep… what you see of Chichan [i.e., Chechnya], Iraq and Afghanistan and such likes… too much watching… with no action – it leads to nifaq [i.e., hypocrisy]… Jihad becomes something of talk. But jihad is real. There is no way you can tell the sweetness of jihad until you come to jihad... If you don't come to jihad, Allah… will ask you why you didn't come to jihad...
"How can you sit at home when our brothers and sisters are being murdered in our land [Somalia]? How dare you sit at home, looking at the TV, seeing people being killed, Muslims getting killed?... Those who are in Europe and America: You should get out of those countries, you should make hijra [i.e., emigrate]!
"I'm telling the kuffar [i.e., infidels], the English People, the American people… We're coming for you! We're going to exterminate you all!
"We are muhajirun [i.e., foreigners fighting in Somalia]. We have come to the land of jihad, and we're doing OK. You guys can also do the same way. You can make hijra [i.e., immigrate] to this land, and fight the kuffar...
"To the people who say that there are no muhajirun in Somalia, I'd like to say that there are muhajirun. We are muhajirun… All I can say is, I invite you to come to this land of jihad."
It should be noted that, on November 25, 2008, ABC News aired a report about an American of Somali origin – Shirwa Ahmed of Minneapolis – who was allegedly involved in jihad in Somalia. According to the report, the FBI believes that Ahmed created a recruiting network in the Minneapolis area, and enlisted several young men who have since disappeared. U.S. officials suspect that most of them have departed for Somalia in order to fight there. They also suspect that Ahmed himself carried out a suicide bombing in Somalia a month ago. (1)
The terrorist groups who attacked the Indian city of Mumbai are closely linked to al-Qaeda, a high-ranking Russian secret service source said Thursday.
"Russian secret services have information suggesting that the groups that attacked Mumbai had had contact with al-Qaeda," the source said. "In particular, the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. This group's militants undergo special training in al-Qaeda camps on the border between Pakistan and India."
Lashkar-e-Taiba has denied involvement in the attacks.
A series of terrorist attacks were carried out in Mumbai on Wednesday as terrorists armed with sub machine guns and grenades attacked hotels, the railway station, a cinema, and a hospital.
Indian authorities have said 125 people died and 327 were injured in the attacks.
People who escaped from the hotels described the militants as young men speaking Hindi or Urdu, and said they had attempted to round up all the British and American guests.
Hostages are still being held at the Oberoi-Trident hotel and a nearby Jewish center and Indian commandoes have launched an operation to free them.
A previously unknown Islamist group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attacks. -- Source
Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers. If your holidays require classic cinema viewing, please enjoy one of my favorite films from 1936 -- sure to evoke a sense of gratitude. - c
Directed by Gregory La Cava. With William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady.
In the depths of the Depression, a party game brings dizzy socialite Irene Bullock to the city dump where she meets Godfrey, a derelict, and ends by hiring him as family butler. He finds the Bullocks to be the epitome of idle rich, and nutty as the proverbial fruitcake. Soon, the dramatizing Irene is in love with her 'protege'...who feels strongly that a romance between servant and employer is out of place, regardless of that servant's mysterious past...
Outdoor sports should be fostered as key part of holiday
Americans know the economy is deflated, waistlines are inflated and there aren’t enough hours in the day to spend quality time with their families. As a result, many are looking for ways to save money, eat better and simplify their lives.
According to James Earl Kennamer, Ph.D., senior vice president of conservation programs for the National Wild Turkey Federation, there is no better way to support your local economy, get a jump on your New Year’s resolution to eat better and know your food is fresh than to hunt locally and eat your catch.
“Hunters have hunted local game and provided savory, fresh turkey, venison, elk and fish for their families for hundreds of years,” Kennamer said. “Wild game is healthier, and pursuing it is not only a chance to get outside and exercise, but it’s an activity that can be done with the whole family — most of the time without ever leaving your home county.”
Key points to be made about hunting and its importance:
1) Wild game is all-natural. For example, wild turkeys feast on acorns, grasses, fruits and a variety of other plants instead of growth hormones or supplements that are fed to many farm-raised turkeys.
2) Hunting and eating local food promotes regional uniqueness. You can buy frozen foods anywhere, but locally harvested wild game such as a turkey, deer, elk or fish will have a flavor all its own.
Memory to last a lifetime
3) Heading outdoors to hunt and fish is great family time. Enjoying the outdoors as a family provides opportunities to mentor youth, carry on the outdoor tradition and create memories to last a lifetime.
4) Wild game is healthier. Because wild game scavenges in the wild for its own food, it gets more exercise than animals raised for commercial sale and is lower in fat. For example, wild turkey meat has roughly 2 percent more protein, a half percent less fat and slightly less cholesterol than farm-raised turkey meat due to its lower fat content. The quantity of fat is not only generally lower in wild game, but it is also healthier, since it contains less saturated or “bad” fat.
5) Hunting stimulates your local economy. Every dollar you spend while hunting and fishing in your area helps support not only hunt-specific jobs like meat processors and hunting guides, but also area businesses such as gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores.
6) Hunting supports wildlife conservation efforts. License fees purchased by hunters and anglers fund conservation programs that help state agencies continue improving conditions for all wildlife and access to the outdoors.
7) Hunting locally saves money. You don’t have to travel far to enjoy a day outdoors and harvest your own wild game. Times are tough, but chances are likely there is a spot nearby where you can hunt, fish or enjoy a day outdoors, saving gas money and time and decreasing pollution.
8) Wild game is more flavorful. Eating just-caught fish or fresh venison after proper processing will let you enjoy its natural flavor at the peak of freshness – minus any artificial flavorings or preservatives.
9) Heading outdoors is good exercise. You can burn 285 calories per hour by heading afield to hunt, or 175 calories per hour by casting a line – and you can hunt or fish near home.
Hunting and fishing surround Thanksgiving, a holiday that annually sees thousands of Americans take to the outdoors. It is a tradition our states should foster and protect -- with good reason.
Study of Ancient and Modern Plagues Finds Common Features
In 430 B.C., a new and deadly disease — its cause remains a mystery — swept into Athens. The walled Greek city-state was teeming with citizens, soldiers and refugees of the war then raging between Athens and Sparta. As streets filled with corpses, social order broke down. Over the next three years, the illness returned twice and Athens lost a third of its population. It lost the war too. The Plague of Athens marked the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of Greece.
Theodor Kittelsen - Pesta Kommer, 1894-95 (Pesta's Coming)
The Plague of Athens is one of 10 historically notable outbreaks described in an article in The Lancet Infectious Diseases(pdf) by authors from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The phenomenon of widespread, socially disruptive disease outbreaks has a long history prior to HIV/AIDS, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), H5N1 avian influenza and other emerging diseases of the modern era, note the authors.
Theodor Kittelsen - Fattigmannen, 1894-95 (The Pauper)
"There appear to be common determinants of disease emergence that transcend time, place and human progress," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., one of the study authors. For example, international trade and troop movement during wartime played a role in both the emergence of the Plague of Athens as well as in the spread of influenza during the pandemic of 1918-19. Other factors underlying many instances of emergent diseases are poverty, lack of political will, and changes in climate, ecosystems and land use, the authors contend. "A better understanding of these determinants is essential for our preparedness for the next emerging or re-emerging disease that will inevitably confront us," says Dr. Fauci. -- Source
Theodor Kittelsen - Pesta i trappen, 1896 (Pesta (the plague) on the Stairs)
Ana Tzarev, Rice Song, 2000, Oil on Linen, 44 7/8 x 57 1/2 inches. (PRNewsFoto/Ana Tzarev Gallery)
Croatian-born artist, Ana Tzarev, announces the opening of her New York gallery location with Journey of Discovery a comprehensive exhibition inspired by the artist’s travels through Asia, Africa, the Pacific and numerous other regions. Tzarev’s paintings are concerned with both historic and present day rituals.
Journey of Discovery features signature works that depict the beauty of daily life across various global cultures; from flower markets and rice harvests in Southeast Asia to traditional dances of West African tribes; from Japanese kabuki and tea ceremonies to life along China's rivers.
This 90-year-old Shaolin internet legend, Monk Hai-Tank, appears to be more urban legend than reality. You decide. Is the One Finger Zen Technique real?
The day the Dow fell 777 points, David Latham, a 45-year-old Alabama cattle farmer and electrician, was busy doing errands. Driving his Chevy pickup into Montgomery, he dropped by the hardware store, then stopped into the bank, where he withdrew $8,000 from his CD account, all in 20s. Back home, he slipped the four inch-thick bundles into a Ziploc bag, popped them into a waterproof PVC tube and set out for a remote location on his 300-acre property, where he dug a deep hole with a post digger. And then he buried it.
Is there an American alive who hasn’t considered burying his savings—or at least stashing it in the mattress—as this financial crisis has deepened? Latham assumes the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will step in if his bank collapses, but he figures it might take a few weeks to get his money. Now, he says, “I can get my hands on cold, hard cash anytime I want.” But beyond that, there’s the nagging fear that the world isn’t as secure as we’d like to believe. Latham says the $8,000 is an insurance policy against, well, who knows? “I’m hedging my bets,” he says.
America’s uneasy relationship with banks has deep roots. Between the financial panic of 1837 and the Great Depression, the nation endured six widespread bank failures in which millions lost their savings. The bank runs typically started in rural areas before spreading to the cities, accounting for the lingering distrust country folks have for banks to this day. “In some ways, it really was wiser to put your money in the ground,” says Dartmouth history professor Ronald Edsforth. Given this history and the current panic, he adds, “It’s not unusual that it would resurface.”
photo BackYardMoney.com
Mitch Cohen, a family physician in the remote logging town of Elma, Wash., says his patients who grew up during the Depression have always kept savings in coffee cans buried under the porch. But in recent months, when hometown stalwart Washington Mutual went south, the younger generation caught on. Residents have taken to making treasure maps (“walk 20 paces, turn left at the tree”), which they share with a trusted friend or family member. Cohen finds it hard to argue with the impulse. He, too, snatched his cash out of WaMu before it went under. “But I moved it to a credit union,” he says. “I avoided the backyard.”
It’s not just rural folk who get the urge. Kristy Young, an accounts manager with a Texas-based credit union, recently confronted a customer who wanted to transfer $150,000 from the bank to his backyard. She pleaded with him for an hour, using arguments ranging from the technical (soundness ratings) to the practical (“If a dog digs it up, that money is gone!”). The man relented, but Young is more worried about the customers who withdrew their money silently. “I don’t put it past people to keep money in their own personal safes,” she says. Indeed, according to Doug Brush, head of business development for SentrySafe, the nation’s largest safemaker, the company’s retailers report sales of home safes increasing 20 to 40 percent in recent weeks.
Of course, there’s opportunity in every crisis. Earl Snyder, a Sarasota, Fla., home builder who first buried cash after the S&L crisis and currently tends a subterranean stash of gold coins, recently launched a Web site and eBay listing to sell an invention he calls the Midnight Gardener (a 12-by-4-inch capped, watertight PVC pipe.) As his listing notes, the device is “designed by a licensed septic installer” (“That’s me!” Snyder hoots) and perfect for burying “over $4,000 in gold, silver and paper money.” Within two weeks of the launch, Snyder sold several, and he expects more sales as the crisis wears on. “Maybe instead of Chia Pets,” he says, “people will buy a Midnight Gardener for Christmas.”
The tail, or “after” section of a U.S. Navy blimp is shown with the Stokes cloud in background. The blimp was in temporary free flight in excess of five miles from ground zero when it was collapsed by the shock wave from the blast. The airship was unmanned and was used in military effects experiments on blast and heat. Navy personnel on the ground in the vicinity of the experimental area were unhurt. On the ground to the left are the remains of the blimp's forward section. - Click image to enlarge.
The A-bomb won.
I thought this was a pretty photo to share on the day that Iran got the bomb.
Sir John Betjeman published his poem about Slough in 1937 in the collected works "Continual Dew". Slough was becoming increasingly industrial and some housing conditions were very cramped. In willing the destruction of Slough, Betjeman urges the bombs to pick out the vulgar profiteers but to spare the bald young clerks. He really was very fond of his fellow human beings. Slough is much improved nowadays and he might be pleasantly surprised by a stroll there.
Slough
Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough! It isn’t fit for humans now, There isn’t grass to graze a cow. Swarm over, Death!
Come, bombs and blow to smithereens Those air-conditioned, bright canteens, Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans, Tinned minds, tinned breath.
Mess up the mess they call a town- A house for ninety-seven down And once a week a half a crown For twenty years.
And get that man with double chin Who’ll always cheat and always win, Who washes his repulsive skin In women’s tears:
And smash his desk of polished oak And smash his hands so used to stroke And stop his boring dirty joke And make him yell.
But spare the bald young clerks who add The profits of the stinking cad; It’s not their fault that they are mad, They’ve tasted Hell.
It’s not their fault they do not know The birdsong from the radio, It’s not their fault they often go To Maidenhead
And talk of sport and makes of cars In various bogus-Tudor bars And daren’t look up and see the stars But belch instead.
In labour-saving homes, with care Their wives frizz out peroxide hair And dry it in synthetic air And paint their nails.
Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough To get it ready for the plough. The cabbages are coming now; The earth exhales.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that construction of new homes and apartments dropped more than expected to an annual rate of 791,000 units from an upwardly revised September rate of 828,000 units. Previously, the slowest pace had been in January 1991, when the country was in recession and going through a similar housing correction. The government's records date back to 1959. # # #
Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount. The Labor Department reports that consumer prices fell by 1 percent last month, the biggest one-month decline on records that go back to February 1947. # # #
Click image to enlarge.
A Recession Can Clear the Air
Virtually all of America's financial and political artillery has been dragooned into the great task of heading off a recession. This is exactly the wrong way to go. As painful as it will be in the short run, a recession is just what we need.
Our economic model is broken, and trying to restart it will just dig us deeper into a hole. The massive changes that are required can be made only through the violent rejiggering that takes place during recessions. That may sound coldhearted, but there's a precedent.
From 1979 to 1981, then-Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker masterminded a nasty slowdown that broke stagflation — the noxious combination of rising prices and no growth. Among other moves, Volcker pushed the yield on three-month Treasury bills up to an unheard-of 20 percent, stopping the economy in its tracks. Millions lost their jobs; Volcker was burned in effigy on the Capitol steps.
But when Volcker finally broke inflation's back in 1983, healthy growth resumed almost immediately, and Ronald Reagan rode the result to a landslide victory in 1984 — a little fact that people worried about a one-term presidency for Barack Obama should note.
The arithmetic of our current problem is pretty simple: From 2000 through 2007, U.S. households borrowed $6.2 trillion, nearly doubling their debt. Most of it was borrowed against houses, and about two-thirds was spent on things other than another house or paying down mortgage debt — including SUVs, flat-screen TVs and all the other consumer baubles of an American lifestyle. But when house prices collapsed, the home-equity cash spigot shut tight. U.S. consumer spending has fallen off the cliff, devastating car companies and shuttering factories throughout China.
The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve have responded with pyrotechnics. The Treasury has infused hundreds of billions in cash into banks and other financial players. Even more remarkably, the Fed has distributed more than $1 trillion in new loans and credits to a broad range of financial and non-financial companies. The automobile manufacturers have now joined the queue, and President-elect Obama has signaled that he'd like them to be included in the bailout.
So far, none of this has worked very well. Banks continue to tighten credit and lending standards. Even interbank lending came close to freezing up last month — a level of disruption not seen since the 1970s.
All these frenzied attempts at staving off recession seem to be aimed merely at jump-starting the consumer borrowing-spending binge that underpinned the ersatz growth of the 2000s. But the real need is to shift to a more balanced system that's less addicted to high-leverage finance.
Pouring money from the Fed into the banks just delays the day when banks — and now we taxpayers — will have to tally up our losses. The Fed is exchanging Treasury bonds for bundles of subprime mortgages at 98 cents on the dollar. But in the real world, those bundles could barely fetch 30 to 50 cents on the dollar. Does the Fed seriously believe that subprime mortgages are going to recover their value? The Japanese tried papering over bad assets during their 1990s credit crunch, and their economy has barely budged in 20 years.
At the same time, Congress and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. are insisting that banks increase lending. To whom? House prices are still falling at double-digit rates. Credit-card defaults are spiraling upward. Companies are weak. Banks know how fast their loans books are deteriorating, and they desperately need cash to build up their reserves against all the bad loans they've made. Forcing them to ratchet up lending now is just pushing them back into the quicksand they're struggling to climb out of. It's financial folly. It would also be political folly for the new Obama administration.
For years now, even Democrats have been drinking the free-market Kool-Aid that the best economy is whatever markets decree it should be. So for most of the past two decades, the U.S. economy has been driven by whatever Wall Street is best at financing — mostly bigger houses, fancier cars and more electronic toys from Asia. We have become a nation where people struggle to make payments on four-bedroom houses with faux-marble bathrooms and two SUVs in the driveway even as they worry about their lousy health insurance, evaporating pensions, shaky Social Security benefits and tapped-out 401(k)s.
Wall Street, meanwhile, prospered mightily. Financial-sector profits, which typically average about 10 to 15 percent of corporate profits, had leapt to 40 percent by 2007. Total corporate profits also soared, nearly doubling as a share of national income. But instead of triggering an investment boom, the gains were mostly distributed to shareholders. Exxon brags that it has invested $90 billion in exploration and new plants since 2003, but it has distributed even more — nearly $120 billion — to shareholders. The cash incomes of the top 1 percent hit an all-time high in 2006, just a tad higher than the previous record in 1929. That's the cash that fed the hedge funds, private-equity funds and the other yield-chasers that inflated the decade's asset bubble.
The scale of that bubble is reminiscent of the price-inflation bubble that bedeviled President Carter. So are the policies being used to deal with it. Carter and his hapless Fed chairman, G. William Miller, flooded the economy with dollars even as consumer price inflation spiraled out of control. Volcker took over the Fed in 1979 and, by previous standards, moved aggressively his first year in office. But he made little headway. Finally, in late 1980, he cracked down hard and significantly raised interest rates.
Unemployment soared from 5.8 percent to 9.7 percent. Inflation stubbornly held on but finally broke in 1983. For the next several years, Volcker continued to crack down at the slightest hint of price buoyancy, until the markets took for granted that the United States was a low-inflation economy.
The 2008 analogue to the Volcker strategy would be to force a harsh, fast marking-down of all bank assets to real values. A one- to two-year bloodbath is far preferable to a decade of death by a thousand cuts. Many banks will fail and will have to be re-equitized by the government — the terms should be neither punitive nor excessively generous — but the weakest and the most irresponsible should simply be let go.
The banking system that emerges should be dull — one where credit analysis trumps financial engineering and where everything is on the balance sheet. The big Canadian banks, RBC and TD Bank, have been determinedly dull in the 2000s and have turned in superb profits, far outperforming their supposedly brilliant American cousins.
Shrinking the banking sector will curtail bubble-style lending and force the share of GDP represented by consumer spending back down from its current 70 percent to a more sustainable 65-66 percent. It will be very painful, putting many companies in jeopardy, but it is the only way to engineer a transition to a world in which we spend less on houses and TVs and more on infrastructure and health care. Interest rates will be higher to encourage savings and taxes will go up, but debt should go down and the bottom half of the population should be more secure. It will also be very important to shore up our tattered social safety net to cushion the recession's impact on that lower half.
Democrats should seriously study the 1979-84 period. The political lesson is that Reagan backed Volcker all the way, even when the Republican Party was calling for Volcker's head. The deep recession cost the Republicans seats in the 1982 midterm elections. But when inflation suddenly cleared and growth resumed, Reagan won the 1984 election in a landslide. The dollar was once more the world's strongest currency, and the Reagan era had been launched.
If Democrats insist on piling on the palliatives, as the party's congressional leaders seem to be advocating, and the country hobbles along at 0 to 1 percent annual growth, they may get through the midterms, but they may also ensure that President Obama gets an early release from the burdens of office. # # #
Charles Morris, a lawyer and former banker, is the author of The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash.
Click image to enlarge.
Today, the DOW closed below 8,000, on heavy volume.
~ ~ ~
Forget Paulson's folly. What the market needs now is a masked Texas Ranger who gallops about righting injustices on his white horse Silver.
FBI SWAT carry a Springfield Armory Custom Shop M1911 in .45 ACP caliber, with an 8-round magazine and one chambered, as God intended.
All FBI agents train for serious encounters with criminals, and all are required to carry a firearm. But when there’s an extremely high-risk situation—a special mission, a dangerous takedown, a dignitary that needs protection—that’s when SWAT gets the call.
All 56 FBI field offices have a SWAT unit. Becoming SWAT-certified is a highly competitive process, and team members must pass rigorous fitness tests and be expert marksmen—in addition to carrying out their regular investigative duties as agents.
SWAT stands for “Special Weapons and Tactics.” Each team has specialists, such as snipers, breachers, and assaulters.
Click the image below to see how an assaulter may be outfitted for a mission.
Helmet/Goggles
* Helmet: Made with Kevlar for maximum head protection * Goggles: Rated to withstand blasts and to stop flying debris Vest
* Bullet-proof, standard military-issue * FBI-identifying patches on shoulder and chest * Equipped with MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) weaving to attach pouches and other equipment, based on mission profile * Holds magazine pouches for extra ammunition
Radio
* Package consists of ear piece, microphone attached to shoulder strap, and transmitter in shoulder pouch * Two channels: command net (monitored by those in charge of the operation) and assault net (accessed by all team members) Primary Weapon
* H&K (Heckler & Koch) MP5 sub-machine gun with collapsible stock * Fires a 10mm bullet and holds a 30-round magazine; can shoot one round, a two-shot burst or be set to fully automatic firing * Equipped with flashlight on front, and a laser-pointer sight
Extended Protection
* Adds additional Kevlar for pelvic protection * Medical pack attaches here as well as Flexi cuffs—heavy-duty plastic, flexible handcuffs designed for one-time use
Sub Load
* A waist belt with a thigh harness, designed to keep a pistol stationary * Also supports pouches for extra ammunition and other gear such as metal handcuffs and a night stick
* Fatigues and gloves are standard military-issue, made from flame-resistant Nomex fiber * Flight gloves have leather pads on palms * Kneepads are heavy-duty plastic, and cushioned for kneeling * Boots are standard-issue climbing or utility boot Gas Mask
* Military-issue, used for a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) incident; air filter can be exchanged for one that filters various chemicals or bio weapons * Equipped with valve for a drink tube that allows for hydration without removing mask * Voice box amplifier enables unimpeded communication
Additional tools
* Breacher, or battering ram (top) * Hallagan Tool: firefighter tool similar to a crow bar; used for breaching and entries (center) * Collapsible sledge hammer (bottom)
In the middle of the jungle in Guyana, South America, nearly 1,000 people drank lethal cyanide punch or were shot to death, following the orders of their leader, Jim Jones. Mothers and fathers gave the deadly drink to their children and then drank it themselves. People screamed. Bodies trembled. And within a few minutes on Nov. 18, 1978, 912 people were dead.
Jones' followers originally came to the Guyanese community, known as Jonestown, seeking paradise and an escape from racism and persecution in the United States. Instead, they found something that resembled a concentration camp in which they worked long hours with little food and much abuse, those who escaped Jonestown have reported.
Thirty years later, social psychologists continue to examine how Jones came to command such enormous influence over his followers' thoughts and actions. Jonestown, they say, offers important lessons for psychology, such as the power of situational and social influences and the consequences of a leader using such influences to destructively manipulate others' behavior.
Most disturbingly, perhaps, leaders such as Jones appear to have derived some of their techniques from social psychologists' research, raising questions about research ethics and the future direction of cult research, says Philip G. Zimbardo, PhD, APA's past-president and a psychology professor at Stanford University.
In as-yet unpublished research, Zimbardo has found that Jones quite possibly learned his ability to persuade from a famous social thinker: George Orwell.
Through 25 years of research and interviews with Jonestown survivors, Zimbardo has found parallels between the mind control techniques used by Jones at Jonestown--namely sophisticated types of compliance, conformity and obedience training--and those described in Orwell's fictional book "1984." In the book, Orwell provides a model for resistance as his main character, Winston Smith, stands up against an omnipotent party system.
Though "1984" is fiction, Orwell possessed a deep understanding of influence processes from social psychology, and his depictions of mind control have been used systematically and effectively by cult leaders, Zimbardo says.
Others agree with Zimbardo that such findings raise ethical questions for social psychologists, given that the likes of Jones draw from social psychology tenets and use them for harm, says Robert Cialdini, PhD, who researches influence and is the Regents' Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University.
"Sources of influence can be like dynamite--they can be used for good or used for ill," Cialdini says. "Social scientists need to pay more attention to not just the effectiveness of the strategies we study and uncover but also the ethical ramifications of the use of these principles and practices."
He and Zimbardo also say social psychologists and other cult researchers must forge new research lines on the misapplication of social psychology findings as well as their prosocial uses.
The mastermind
Indeed, Jonestown should serve as a warning to the social psychology community in what can happen when principles of influence are abused by leaders of an organization, Zimbardo says. Jones, who acted as the pastor of the People's Temple, studied Orwell's system of mind control described in "1984" and commissioned a song that his followers were required to sing at Jonestown about the advent of the year 1984, Zimbardo has found.
Some of the mind control techniques Orwell described in "1984" that parallel methods Jones used include:
* "Big brother is watching you." Jones used this idea to gain the loyalty of his followers. He required followers to spy on one another and blasted messages from loudspeakers so that his voice was always present while they worked, slept and ate, Zimbardo says.
* Self-incrimination. Jones instructed followers to give him written statements about their fears and mistakes and then, if they disobeyed him, he used that information to humiliate them or subject them to their worst fears during public meetings. In "1984," the main character's resistance is broken when he is subjected to his worst fear of being covered in rats.
* Suicide drills. Orwell's main character said that "the proper thing was to kill yourself before they get you" in a threat of war. Jones had his followers do practice suicide drills right up to the actual mass suicide event.
* Distorting people's perceptions. Jones blurred the relationship between words and reality, for example, by requiring his followers to give him daily thanks for good food and work--yet the people were starving and working six and a half days a week, Zimbardo says. Similarly, Orwell described such a technique, which he called "newspeak."
By mastering such mind control techniques, Jones was able to gain followers' obedience and loyalty, Zimbardo says. "Jim Jones is probably the most charismatic cult leader in modern times in terms of his personal appeal, oratory, his sexual appeal, his just sheer dynamism and his total participation in the control of every member of his group," he explains.
Mindless compliance
These mind control techniques--coupled with the creation of a new social environment--provided Jones with a powerful influence over his followers, Zimbardo says.
Quite arguably, Jones, through his natural understanding of social psychology, knew the way to obtain a strong influence over his followers was to move them from their urban American environment to a remote South American jungle, generating uncertainty in their new surroundings, Cialdini says. And when people are uncertain, they look to others for cues on what to do, research has shown. Zimbardo notes that people are particularly vulnerable when they are in new surroundings, feel lonely or disconnected.
"When you believe 'It can't happen to me,' that's when con artists or cult agents have you at their mercy because then you're not as vigilant to the little situational ploys that can get you to step across the line," Zimbardo explains.
Social psychology has shown the "power of the crowd" for decades. For example, in the 1960s, psychologists Stanley Milgram, PhD, Leonard Bickman, PhD, and Lawrence Berkowitz, EdD, demonstrated social influence by having a group of people on a busy New York City sidewalk gaze up at nothing in the sky. When one man looked up at nothing, only 4 percent of passersby joined him. When five people stood on the sidewalk looking up at nothing, 18 percent of passersby joined them. And when a group of 15 gazed upward, 40 percent of passersby then joined, nearly stopping traffic in one minute.
As other cult leaders have done, Jim Jones used this "power of the crowd" influence in controlling others' behavior, intellect, thoughts and emotions, says Steven Hassan, a licensed mental health counselor with the counseling group Freedom of Mind and a former cult member. This includes instituting rigid rules and regulations, withholding or distorting information, using hypnotic trances, and generating guilt and fear among followers.
Building awareness
However, since Jonestown, many social psychologists remain unaware of the psychological impact of the mind control techniques, often elucidated in social psychology research, that cults use to recruit and retain members, Zimbardo says. Many psychologists remain skeptical that behavior is intentionally controlled by these organizations at all, rather believing that people join cults of their own free will, as they do with traditional religious groups.
Those who study cults, on the other hand, maintain that psychologists need to study how cults abuse social psychology research. Psychologists are also needed to develop effective treatments for cult victims to help them break free from a cult's influence before it's too late, so that, in cases like Jonestown, history does not repeat itself.
"It's shocking to me that so many people today have not even heard of Jonestown," Hassan says. Yet, Hassan observes the lasting psychological effects every day in his work with former cult victims, and he says cults are growing more powerful and more cunning in their deceit--often by using psychological research findings--while the public remains largely unaware of them.
If cults are going to abuse lessons from social psychology, psychologists must study how they are doing this, Cialdini says. More attention to researching and working with cult victims is needed, Hassan adds. For example, psychologists need specific training to work with former cult members, who often suffer from dissociative or panic disorders, he explains.
"There are lots of individuals who are suffering," Hassan says, "and they need our help."
"Texas Flood" is an electric blues album, released in 1983, by guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan and his band Double Trouble.
Although the song "Texas Flood" has three verses of lyrics, it is more of a prolonged guitar solo, allowing Vaughan to show off his characteristic electric blues style. During live shows, he would often play portions of this song behind his back, arousing an enthusiastic crowd response.
Stylistically, "Texas Flood" is structured around the common three chord blues progression. Written and performed in the key of G (sounding F# because of Vaughan's tuning), it is in 12/8 time, or compound time, which gives it a "slow burning" feel that is common in Texas blues. [Enjoy! - c]
93-year-old cook and great grandmother, Clara, recounts her childhood during the Great Depression as she prepares meals from the era. Learn step by step how to make simple yet delicious dishes while listening first-hand to stories from the Great Depression.
Not many 93-year-olds have their own Facebook account, let alone a blog and a wildly popular show on YouTube. But Clara Cannucciari's got all three, and she's also got the rapt attention of budget-conscious, Internet-savvy cooks everywhere who can't get enough of "Great Depression Cooking with Clara." On the show, she shares the recipes she learned from her mother for dishes that kept the family nourished when times were even leaner than they are today.
Cannucciari's grandchild, filmmaker Chris Cannucciari, films the episodes, which feature the feisty grandma sharing stories of her girlhood, explaining how to make dishes like Sicilian fig cookies and egg drop soup, and keeping up a stream of banter that's entertaining, instructional and even a little inspirational.
Born in Chicago to two Italian immigrants, she quit high school after sophomore year and worked filling Hostess Twinkies in a factory. She married Dino Cannucciari, an opera singer, in 1948 in Rome, and then had a son, Carl, in 1950. She now has four grandchildren and two great grandchildren, and lives in the Finger Lakes region.
As her Web site states: "The magic of Clara is that she can turn lemons into lemonade and potatoes into just about everything else. She had a childhood that most of us can't imagine but she was able to make the best of it and turn those trials into lessons we can all learn from."
After Chris Cannucciari filmed an episode of his grandma in her kitchen, he posted it on YouTube, where it was so well-received that he continued to make more videos. Each is peppered with old-fashioned advice and laced with practical tips, delivered in a warm and witty way by a very personable, bespectacled nonagenarian.
On one episode, which covers peppers and eggs, Cannucciari talks about how her mother used to make her pepper and egg sandwiches to take to high school. Another student asked for her to trade lunches, and Cannucciari agreed – only to find out that the lunch she'd received was a spaghetti sandwich. That day, she learned an important lesson: don't trade lunches with anyone because Mom's cooking is always best. On her show, Cannucciari teaches us all about how to make it. -- source
"People are fascinated by her because the left hate her. I think the left hate her, mostly women on the left hate her, because, to me, from outside in, it appears that she has a great sex life." -- Dennis Miller
"I think that snowmobile looks like mechanized foreplay, to me, and that's why people are fascinated by her." -- Dennis Miller
Two stone-people have seen a lot in their everlasting lives. Mankind is discovering and inventing, instead of just woozeling, and this new behavior starts to threaten their stoic peacefulness...
The greatest tango dancer of the 20's is stuck in a wheelchair after a tragic accident. Thanks to his wife, he recovers the use of his legs, the time of one imaginary dance, ending entreating passionately "Don't stop, hold me tight".
Oh lord, who saves us from the shadows; blesses all those divine good-intentioned warriors, bright creatures that produced our lives and fuel. Let's be thankful for your grace, and praise your loving ideals of justice, fairness and consumption. Amen.
An unknown virus has destroyed almost the entire human population.
Oblivious to the true nature of the disease, the only remaining survivors escape to the sea. In great ships, they set off in search of uninhabited land. So begins the exodus, led by one man...
A warning to all naughty children - a goblin steals the voices of troublesome youngsters while they sleep in this gothic short animation, directed by Geof Wolfenden.
Jack is a menace with springs for heels, to help him jump from rooftop to rooftop in this dark fairytale - that has a pinch of Grimm's Tales and a spoonful of Tim Burton, in an original and highly visual mix.
Normally, I start these things out by saying 'My Fellow Americans.' Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you're really not fellow Americans any longer.
I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: There's been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.
The reason I'm quitting is simple. I'm fed up with you people. I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on in the world. Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too lazy to do your homework and figure it out.
Let's start local. You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media.
Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there's increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beach front property than your economic security.
We face real threats in the world. Don't give me this 'blood for oil' thing. If I were trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq's oil fields and let the rest of the country go to hell. And don't give me this 'Bush Lied...People Died' crap either. If I were the liar you morons take me for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be 'discovered.' Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty.
Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as I. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named 'Clinton' established that policy. Bet you didn't know that, did you?
Now some of you morons want to be led by a junior senator with no understanding of foreign policy or economics, and this nitwit says we should attack Pakistan, a nuclear ally. And then he wants to go to Iran and make peace with a terrorist who says he's going to destroy us. While he's doing that, he wants to give Iraq to al Qaeda, Afghanistan to the Taliban, Israel to the Palestinians, and your money to the IRS so the government can give welfare to illegal aliens, who he will make into citizens, so they can vote to re-elect him. He also thinks it's okay for Iran to have nuclear weapons, and we should stop our foreign aid to Israel. Did you sleep through high school?
You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to out spend and out-tech them.
That's not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don't care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That'd be fine, as long as they weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you, and they are all over the globe.
You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11. But you're not. That's because you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement, and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that. When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of 'Survivor.'
Instead, you've grown impatient. You're incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.
Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy. Every time you buy The New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, dang it, you might just as well FedEx a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.
In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth. It's all over the Internet. It just isn't on the pages of The New York Times, USA Today, or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol or Dancing With The Stars.
I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching.
I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.
So I quit. I'm going back to Crawford. I've got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient for years. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I'm done here, pretty much no one will ever hear of it again. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.
Oh, and by the way, Cheney's quitting too. That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there are just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008.
So that's it. God bless what's left of America.
Some of you know what I mean. The rest of you, kiss off.
P.S. - You might want to start learning Farsi, and buy a Koran.
"The Freedom Index" rates congressmen based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements.
Our final look at the 110th Congress shows how every representative and senator voted on key issues, such as the federal budget, warrantless searches, mortgage relief, oil drilling and the bank bailout.
Last week, the Mexican government carried out a number of operations in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, aimed at Jaime “El Hummer” Gonzalez Duran, one of the original members of the brutal cartel group known as Los Zetas. According to Mexican government officials, Gonzalez Duran controlled the Zetas’ operations in nine Mexican states.
The Nov. 7 arrest of Gonzalez Duran was a major victory for the Mexican government and will undoubtedly be a major blow to the Zetas. Taking Gonzalez Duran off the streets, however, is not the only aspect of these operations with greater implications. The day before Gonzalez Duran’s arrest, Mexican officials searching for him raided a safe house, where they discovered an arms cache that would turn out to be the largest weapons seizure in Mexican history. This is no small feat, as there have been several large hauls of weapons seized from the Zetas and other Mexican cartel groups in recent years.
The weapons seized at the Gonzalez Duran safe house included more than 500 firearms, a half-million rounds of ammunition and 150 grenades. The cache also included a LAW rocket, two grenade launchers and a small amount of explosives. Along with the scores of assorted assault rifles, grenades and a handful of gaudy gold-plated pistols were some weapons that require a bit more examination: namely, the 14 Fabrique Nationale (FN) P90 personal defense weapons and the seven Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifles contained in the seizure.
Matapolicias
As previously noted, the FN Five-Seven pistol and FN P90 personal defense weapon are very popular with the various cartel enforcer groups operating in Mexico. The Five-Seven and the P90 shoot a 5.7 mm-by-28 mm round that has been shown to be effective in penetrating body armor as well as vehicle doors and windows. Because of this ability to punch through body armor, cartel enforcers call the weapons “matapolicias,” Spanish for “cop killers.” Of course, AK-47 and M-16-style assault rifles are also effective at penetrating body armor and vehicles, as are large-caliber hunting rifles such as the 30.06 and the .308. But the advantage of the Five-Seven and the P90 is that they provide this penetration capability in a much smaller — and thus far more concealable — package.
P90
The P90 is a personal defense weapon designed to be carried by tank crew members or combat support personnel who require a compact weapon capable of penetrating body armor. It is considered impractical for such soldiers to be issued full-size infantry rifles or even assault rifles, so traditionally these troops were issued pistols and submachine guns. The proliferation of body armor on the modern battlefield, however, has rendered many pistols and submachine guns that fire pistol ammunition ineffective. Because of this, support troops needed a small weapon that could protect them from armored troops; the P90 fits this bill.
In fact, the P90 lends itself to anyone who needs powerful, concealable weapons. Protective security details, some police officers and some special operations forces operators thus have begun using the P90 and other personal defense weapons. The P90’s power and ability to be concealed also make it an ideal weapon for cartel enforcers intent on conducting assassinations in an urban environment — especially those stalking targets wearing body armor.
FN 5.7 can penetrate a bulletproof vest.
The Five-Seven, which is even smaller than the P90, fires the same fast, penetrating cartridge. Indeed, cartel hit men have killed several Mexican police officers with these weapons in recent months. However, guns that fire the 5.7 mm-by-28 mm cartridge are certainly not the only type of weapons used in attacks against police — Mexican cops have been killed by many other types of weapons.
Reach Out and Touch Someone
While the P90 and Five-Seven are small and light, and use a small, fast round to penetrate armor, the .50-caliber cartridge fired by a Barrett sniper rifle is the polar opposite: It fires a huge chunk of lead. By way of comparison, the 5.7 mm-by-28 mm cartridge is just a little more than 1.5 inches long and has a 32-grain bullet. The .50-caliber Browning Machine Gun (BMG) cartridge is actually 12.7 mm by 99 mm, measures nearly 5.5 inches long and fires a 661-grain bullet. The P90 has a maximum effective range of 150 meters (about 165 yards), whereas a Barrett’s listed maximum effective range is 1,850 meters (about 2,020 yards) — and there are reports of coalition forces snipers in Afghanistan scoring kills at more than 2,000 meters (about 2,190 yards).
The .50-BMG round not only will punch through body armor and normal passenger vehicles, it can defeat the steel plate armor and the laminated ballistic glass and polycarbonate windows used in lightly armored vehicles. This is yet another reminder that there is no such thing as a bulletproof car. The round is also capable of penetrating many brick and concrete block walls.
We have heard reports for years of cartels seeking .50-caliber sniper rifles made by Barrett and other U.S. manufacturers. Additionally, we have noted many reports of seizures from arms smugglers in the United States of these weapons bound for Mexico, or of the weapons being found in Mexican cartel safe houses — such as the seven rifles seized in Reynosa. Unlike the P90s, however, we cannot recall even one instance of these powerful weapons being used in an attack against another cartel or against a Mexican government target. This is in marked contrast to Ireland, where the Irish Republican Army used .50-caliber Barrett rifles obtained from the United States in many sniper attacks against British troops and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
That Mexican cartels have not used these devastating weapons is surprising. There are in fact very few weapons in the arsenals of cartel enforcers that we have not seen used, including hand grenades, 40 mm grenades, LAW rockets and rocket-propelled grenades. Even though most intercartel warfare has occurred inside densely populated Mexican cities such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo — places where it would be very difficult to find a place to take a shot longer than a few hundred meters, much less a couple thousand — the power of the Barrett could be very effective for taking out targets wearing body armor, riding in armored vehicles, located inside the safe house of a rival cartel or even inside a government building. Also, unlike improvised explosive devices, which the cartels have avoided using for the most part, the use of .50-caliber rifles would not involve a high probability of collateral damage.
Barrett .50 Caliber Semi-Automatic
This indicates that the reason the cartels have not used these weapons is to be found in the nature of snipers and sniping.
Snipers
Most military and police snipers are highly trained and very self-disciplined. Being a sniper requires an incredible amount of practice, patience and preparation. Aside from rigorous training in marksmanship, the sniper must also be trained in camouflage, concealment and movement. Snipers are often forced to lie immobile for hours on end. Additional training is required for snipers operating in urban environments, which offer their own set of challenges to the sniper; though historically, as seen in battles like Stalingrad, urban snipers can be incredibly effective.
Snipers commonly deploy as part of a team of two, comprising a shooter and a spotter. This means two very self-disciplined individuals must be located and trained. The team must practice together and learn how to accurately estimate distances, wind speed, terrain elevation and other variables that can affect a bullet’s trajectory. An incredible amount of attention to detail is required for a sniper team to get into position and for their shots to travel several hundred meters and accurately, consistently strike a small target.
In spite of media hype and popular fiction, criminals or terrorists commit very few true sniper attacks. For example, many of our sniper friends were very upset that the media chose to label the string of murders committed by John Mohammed and Lee Boyd Malvo as the “D.C. Sniper Case.” While Mohammed and Malvo did use concealment, they commonly shot at targets between 50 and 100 meters (about 55 yards to 110 yards) away. Therefore, calling Mohammed and Malvo snipers was a serious insult to the genuine article. The assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the killing of Dr. Bernard Slepian, also have been dubbed sniper attacks, but they actually were all shootings committed at distances of less than 100 meters.
Of course, using a Barrett at short ranges (100 meters or less) is still incredibly effective and does not require a highly trained sniper — as a group of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agents found out in 1993 when they attempted to serve search and arrest warrants at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. The agents were met with .50-caliber sniper fire that ripped gaping holes through the Chevrolet Suburbans they sought cover behind. Many of the agents wounded in that incident were hit by the shrapnel created as the .50-caliber rounds punched through their vehicles.
Potential Problems
While it is extremely powerful, the Barrett is however a long, heavy weapon. If the sniper lacks training in urban warfare, it might prove very difficult to move around with the gun and also to find a concealed place to employ it. This may partially explain why the Mexican cartels have not used the weapons more.
Moreover, while the Zetas originally comprised deserters from the Mexican military and over the years have shown an ability to conduct assaults and ambushes, we have not traditionally seen them deploy as snipers. Today, most of the original Zetas are now in upper management, and no longer serve as foot soldiers.
The newer men brought into the Zetas include some former military and police officers along with some young gangster types; most of them lack the level of training possessed by the original Zetas. While the Zetas have also brought on a number of former Kaibiles, Guatemalan special operations forces personnel, most of them appear to be assigned as bodyguards for senior Zetas. This may mean we are not seeing the cartels employ snipers because their rank-and-file enforcers do not possess the discipline or training to function as snipers.
Of course, criminal syndicates in possession of these weapons still pose a large potential threat to U.S. law enforcement officers, especially when the weapons are in the hands of people like Gonzalez Duran and his henchmen. According to an FBI intelligence memo dated Oct. 17 and leaked to the media, Gonzalez Duran appeared to have gotten wind of the planned operation against him. He reportedly had authorized those under his command to defend their turf at any cost, to include engagements with U.S. law enforcement agents. It is important to remember that a chunk of that turf was adjacent to the U.S. border and American towns, and that Reynosa — where Gonzalez Duran was arrested and the weapons were seized — is just across the border from McAllen, Texas.
Armed with small, powerful weapons like the P90, cartel gunmen can pose a tremendous threat to any law enforcement officer who encounters them in a traffic stop or drug raid. Over the past several years, we have noted several instances of U.S. Border Patrol agents and other U.S. law enforcement officers being shot at from Mexico. The thought of being targeted by a weapon with the range and power of a .50-caliber sniper rifle would almost certainly send chills up the spine of any Border Patrol agent or sheriff’s deputy working along the border.
FN 5.7 Pistol
Armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and .50-caliber sniper rifles, cartel enforcers have the potential to wreak havoc and outgun U.S. law enforcement officers. The only saving grace for U.S. law enforcement is that many cartel enforcers are often impaired by drugs or alcohol and tend to be impetuous and reckless. While the cartel gunmen are better trained than most Mexican authorities, their training does not stack up to that of most U.S. law enforcement officers. This was illustrated by an incident on Nov. 6 in Austin, Texas, when a police officer used his service pistol to kill a cartel gunman who fired on the officer with an AK-47.
While the arrest of Gonzalez Duran and the seizure of the huge arms cache in Reynosa have taken some killers and weapons off the street, they are only one small drop in the bucket. There are many heavily armed cartel enforcers still at large in Mexico, and the violence is spreading over the border into the United States. Law enforcement officers in the United States therefore need to maintain a keen awareness of the threat.
What would happen in California was hit by the Big One? New 3-D animations of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake scenario are now available to the public.
Fourteen animations can be downloaded from the site in high definition format. The 3-D animations show, from the perspective of a several different Southern California locations, how intensely the ground would shake and shift during a very strong 7.8 earthquake with an epicenter on the southern end of the San Andreas Fault.
The ShakeOut earthquake scenario animations provide a graphic tool for first responders, engineers, decision makers, Southern California residents and other members of the public to understand, visualize and prepare for the devastating effects, even far from the epicenter, of a large, damaging earthquake. The San Andreas Fault has produced earthquakes of this magnitude in the past and could again in the future.
The USGS is also making available new broadcast-quality background interviews and footage of the San Andreas Fault-crossing Cajon Pass, a narrow corridor through the San Gabriel Mountains known as an important "lifeline corridor" where roads, railroads, water and energy pipelines, and electrical and communications infrastructure provide service to millions of residences, businesses, commuters and communities in Southern California. In the ShakeOut earthquake scenario, this narrow corridor would be greatly affected, as the 3-D animations also show.
Barack Obama has announced that he will finish work on his fourth book and publish it between now and when he officially takes office in January. The book, to be titled How I Bought the Election, will detail the strategies and decisions made by the Senator in his successful bid to become President of the United States.
Obama spent more than any other candidate in history to win the presidency. In fact, he spent more than all candidates combined in any of the previous presidential elections.
Fred Doubleday, editor at Conde Nast publications, gave this reporter some insights into the new book.
The first section of the book will be titled: How to fool the media into gluing their lips to your ass and overlooking anything wrong with you. I think that one is pretty much self explanatory.
In his next section, he will cover religion. In one chapter, he will explain how a boy raised for several years by a Moslem father in a Moslem country who attended Moslem schools and a Moslem mosque can attempt to justify claiming to have never been a Moslem.
Another chapter in this section will describe how to get away with attending the radical church of a racist minister for twenty years and making him the Godfather of your children, while at the same time insulting the teachings of the Bible, makes you a Christian.
The last part of the book will deal with the final months of his campaign, where Obama will describe how to insult the qualifications of a Vice Presidential candidate who is even more qualified than you. He will teach you how to bring the indiscretions of family members' of the same candidate (that were also committed by your own mother) into the race. He will also teach readers how to call her a pig. All of this will, of course, be done to the cheers and support of his followers.
When asked what Obama planned to do with the proceeds of this book, which would probably be purchased by everyone seeking any political office (and all of the mice who follow him like the Pied Piper of Hamlin), Doubleday revealed that they will help to fund his re-election campaign and eventual self-coronation.
[The flip flop adds a nice touch, don't you think? - c]
Just like a ghost you've been a-haunting my dreams But now I know you’re not what you seem Love is kind of crazy with a spooky little boy like you Spooky
Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness (IS-22) is FEMA’s most comprehensive source on individual, family, and community preparedness. The guide has been revised, updated, and enhanced in August 2004 to provide the public with the most current and up-to-date disaster preparedness information available.
Are You Ready? provides a step-by-step approach to disaster preparedness by walking the reader through how to get informed about local emergency plans, how to identify hazards that affect their local area, and how to develop and maintain an emergency communications plan and disaster supplies kit. Other topics covered include evacuation, emergency public shelters, animals in disaster, and information specific to people with disabilities.
Are You Ready? also provides in-depth information on specific hazards including what to do before, during, and after each hazard type. The following hazards are covered: Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Thunderstorms and Lightning, Winter Storms and Extreme Cold, Extreme Heat, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Landslide and Debris Flows (Mudslide), Tsunamis, Fires, Wildfires, Hazardous Materials Incidents, Household Chemical Emergencies, Nuclear Power Plant, and Terrorism (including Explosion, Biological, Chemical, Nuclear, and Radiological hazards). [emphasis mine]
OSAMA bin Laden is planning an attack against the United States that will "outdo by far" September 11, an Arab newspaper in London has reported.
And according to a former senior Yemeni al-Qaeda operative, the terrorist organization has entered a "positive phase", reinforcing specific training camps around the world that will lead the next "wave of action" against the West.
The warning, on the front page of an Arabic newspaper published in London, Al-Quds Al-Arabi - and widely reported in the major Italian papers - quotes a person described as being "very close to al-Qaeda" in Yemen.
The paper is edited by Abdel al-Bari Atwan, who is said to be the last journalist to interview Osama bin Laden in 1996. According to the report, bin Laden is himself closely following preparations for an attack against the US and aims to "change the face of world politics and economics". The operative is quoted as saying that "this will be shown by the fact that we now control a major part of the south of Somalia".
The ex-operative says he remains in contact with current chiefs of the organization in Yemen and that only six months ago bin Laden had sent a message to all jihad cells in the Arab world which asked them not to interact with their governments or local political parties and to deny any request for mediation or formal talks.
The source also said that during the next few days the terrorist organization may send a sign of its violent intentions.
The warning has emerged at the same time as publication of a report leaked to The Telegraph newspaper which reveals that a document drawn up by the intelligence branch of the Ministry of Defense says that thousands of extremists are active in the UK.
The document says the operatives are predominantly UK-born and aged between 18 and 30. Many are believed to have been trained in overseas terrorist camps.
Security officials, The Telegraph reports, are convinced al-Qaeda cells will attempt another "spectacular" inside the UK with major transport centers, such as airports and train stations, the most likely targets. Other targets include the Houses of Parliament, Whitehall and Buckingham and St James' palaces, with the threat level described as "severe".
Updated: I have never seen so many hits on my site as this weekend (17k+ and 24k+) when I reported that "Jihadists Call On Muslims to Attack" and this story. The only other time that I had thousands of visitors (6k+) was when I wrote "Allah Willing, the American Empire Will Collapse". One could conclude that there are many just waiting for the word. I hope I'm wrong. - c
Doc Holliday and Johnny Ringo challenge each other in schoolboy phrasebook Latin.
Stultus est sicut stultus facit. Stupid is as stupid does.
Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione. I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult.
Fac ut vivas. Get a life.
Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus vntosissimis exponebantur ad necem. In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags.
Demum, veniunt porci. At last, here come the pigs.
Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant! May faulty logic undermine your entire philosophy!
Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris. If Caesar were alive, you'd be chained to an oar.
Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum. Garbage in, garbage out.
Imus ad magum Ozi videndum, magum Ozi mirum mirissimum. We are going to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz.
Vescere bracis meis. Eat my shorts.
Utinam barbari spatium proprium tuum invadant! May barbarians invade your personal space!
Labra lege. Read my lips.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.
Cum catapulatae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt. When catapults are outlawed, only outlaws will have catapults.
Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur. Oh! Was I speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out.
Yo, ho, haul together, hoist the colours high. Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die.
The king and his men stole the queen from her bed and bound her in her bones. The seas be ours and by the powers where we will we'll roam.
Yo, ho, all hands, hoist the colours high. Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die.
Some men have died and some are alive and others sail on the sea with the keys to the cage... and the Devil to pay we lay to Fiddler's Green!
The bell has been raised from it's watery grave... Do you hear it's sepulchral tone? We are a call to all, pay head the squall and turn your sail toward home!
Yo, ho, haul together, hoist the colours high. Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die.
On Thursday, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake will ravage Southern California and send 22 million people into a state of emergency.
Well, sorta.
The Earthquake Country Alliance has organized the Great Southern California ShakeOut, a week of special events featuring a massive earthquake drill at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008.
The ShakeOut drill centers on the ShakeOut Earthquake Scenario, a realistic portrayal of what could happen in a major earthquake on the southern end of the San Andreas Fault. Created by more than 300 experts, the scenario outlines a hypothetical 7.8 magnitude earthquake originating near the Salton Sea, which would have the potential to devastate the region.
According to ShakeOut.org, residents should:
"Secure your space by strapping top-heavy furniture, water heaters, and other items to walls or tabletops. Strengthen your buildings walls and foundation if necessary. Of course, it is important to have resources to protect yourself and others should assistance be slow in arriving. Three to 14 days worth of water for each person, non-perishable food, and a fire extinguisher, among other supplies, can be valuable resources to have stored and ready for such a disaster."
The group is hoping for at least 5 million participants, which would make the ShakeOut drill the largest in U.S. history.
To participate, visit www.ShakeOut.org/register. Registered participants will receive information on how to plan their drill, connect with other participants and encourage a dialogue with others about earthquake preparedness.
The American economy lost another 240,000 jobs in October, the government reported Friday morning, the 10th consecutive monthly decline and a clear signal that an accelerating slowdown is assailing households and businesses.
The unemployment rate climbed to 6.5 percent, the highest level since 1994 and up from 6.1 percent the month before.
Many economists now expect the unemployment rate to reach 8 percent by the middle of next year, a level not seen in 25 years. Most forecasts envision the economy shrinking well into the next year and perhaps until 2010. -- full story
They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob, When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job. They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead, Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time. Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime? Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime; Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time. Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell, Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum, Half a million boots went slogging through Hell, And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time. Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Jihadists Call On Muslims in Indonesia to Attack U.S., British, and Danish Embassies, Western Interests
In response to the imminent execution of three terrorists who masterminded the 2002 Bali bombings, a November 6, 2008 post on Al-Hesbah urged the Muslims in Indonesia to attack economic, religious, and diplomatic institutions associated with the West. -- Read full report.
Chanting "Allah Akbar" (God is great), some 100 militants descended on the offices of the national human rights body as the bombers' lawyers met officials inside to demand access for the families.
The radicals condemned the executions, believed to be hours or days away [scheduled for three o'clock local time tomorrow morning], and praised bombers Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and Imam Samudra, 38, as "holy warriors."
They carried banners pledging to follow the bombers' path of jihad or "holy war" and warning that "hell" awaits the executioners. -- Read full report.
1st Place, Michael Stringer, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, United Kingdom, Pleurosigma (marine diatoms) (200x), Darkfield and Polarized Light. (PRNewsFoto/Nikon Instruments Inc.)
Click image to enlarge.
Marine Diatoms Capture Top Honors at Nikon Small World 2008
With the appearance of gracefully swooping beams of light or a colorful array of feathers, a dazzling photo of Pleurosigma (marine diatoms) has won the 2008 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition. Michael Stringer of Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, United Kingdom took home the top honor with this image, which was magnified 200 times and taken using darkfield and polarized light.
"My objective was to display diatoms in today's modern style, through the careful application of colors," said Mr. Stringer, "I couldn't be more pleased that the Small World judges recognized the artistic vision in this image. I dedicate this award to the diatom and especially to my dear friend, Klaus Kemp, who in my opinion creates the most exquisite slides of these tiny bits of silica."
According to the text that is the foundation of modern Shiite Islam, a prophecy that a tall black man would rule the West portends the coming of the Islamic redeemer.
Ali Ibn Abi-Talib—the prophet's cousin and son-in-law and the most revered figure in Shiite Islam—prophesied that before the return of the Mahdi, the ultimate redeemer in Islam, a tall black man will rule the West and will carry a "clear sign" from the Third Imam, Hussein Ibn Ali, according to the report by Iranian-born, London-based journalist Amir Taheri.
Forbes magazine published a story about the Iranian pro-government website that published a hadith (saying or tradition) from the 17th century Shiite text Bahar al-Anvar (Sea of Light) setting off a string of rumors about the prophecy’s connection to Obama.
The link between this black man and the American presidential candidate started with his name. In Arabic and Persian, "Barrack Obama" means "the blessing of al-Hussein." When written in Persian alphabet, the word "O Ba Ma" means "he is with us."
Other coincidences contributed to establishing the theological link, including the view of the Iranian government that an Obama victory would signify the decline of the West and the triumph of Islam. Obama's relative lenience in pledging unconditional talks with Iran is also seen as a sign of American weakness.
The Mahdi (Arabic for "the guided one"), is supposed to return before Judgment Day to eliminate injustice and tyranny. The appearance of the Mahdi is not mentioned in the Quran or the Sunnah (Prophet's teachings), and many Sunni scholars view it as a Shiite invention.
The Mahdi figure is an essential part in the Shiite doctrine. For Shiites, Mahdi is believed to be the Twelfth Imam, a descendant of the prophet who went into hiding, but will return one day return to restore justice to the world.
the piano has been drinking my necktie is asleep and the combo went back to New York the jukebox has to take a leak and the carpet needs a haircut and the spotlight looks like a prison break cause the telephone's out of cigarettes and the balcony is on the make and the piano has been drinking the piano has been drinking
and the menus are all freezing and the lightman's blind in one eye and he can't see out of the other and the piano-tuner's got a hearing aid and he showed up with his mother and the piano has been drinking the piano has been drinking
cause the bouncer is a Sumo wrestler cream puff casper milk toast and the owner is a mental midget with the I.Q. of a fencepost cause the piano has been drinking the piano has been drinking
and you can't find your waitress with a Geiger counter and she hates you and your friends and you just can't get served without her and the box-office is drooling and the bar stools are on fire and the newspapers were fooling and the ash-trays have retired
the piano has been drinking the piano has been drinking the piano has been drinking not me, not me, not me, not me, not me
Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day and on July 4 I celebrate America's. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.
On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba and a few months later I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.
I've thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least receptive.
When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said "Praise the Lord." And when the young leader said, "I will be for change and I'll bring you change," everyone yelled, "Viva Fidel!"
But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner's guns went silent the people's guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I'm back to the beginning of my story.
Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America?
Would we?
Manuel Alvarez Jr., Sandy Hook.
It doesn't have to happen.
McCain: I know you're worried. America is a great country, but we are at a moment of national crisis that will determine our future.
Will we continue to lead the world's economies or will we be overtaken? Will the world become safer or more dangerous? Will our military remain the strongest in the world? Will our children and grandchildren's future be brighter than ours?
My answer to you is yes. Yes, we will lead. Yes, we will prosper. Yes, we will be safer. Yes, we will pass on to our children a stronger, better country. But we must be prepared to act swiftly, boldly, with courage and wisdom.
I'm an American. And I choose to fight. Don't give up hope. Be strong. Have courage. And fight. Fight for a new direction for our country. Fight for what's right for America.
Fight to clean up the mess of corruption, infighting and selfishness in Washington.
Fight to get our economy out of the ditch and back in the lead.
Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.
Fight for our children's future.
Fight for justice and opportunity for all.
Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.
Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. America is worth fighting for. Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history. Now, let's go win this election and get this country moving again.
Set within the Black Hills in the state of South Dakota is one of the most famous landmarks in the U.S.A., the Mount Rushmore National Memorial: four monumental portraits of the most famous American presidents that have been carved into the granite and symbolize a kind of spectacular tribute to democracy.
Since their unveiling in 1941, the huge faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln have created a good deal of interest. The area around Mount Rushmore is also most striking as the Black Hills' mountain range is a masterpiece of nature.
Pollster John Zogby: "Is McCain making a move? The three-day average holds steady, but McCain outpolled Obama today, 48% to 47%. He is beginning to cut into Obama's lead among independents, is now leading among blue collar voters, has strengthened his lead among investors and among men, and is walloping Obama among NASCAR voters. Joe the Plumber may get his license after all."
NASCAR has grown to become the second-most popular professional sport in terms of television ratings inside the U.S., ranking behind only the National Football League. It holds 17 of the top 20 attended sporting events in the U.S., and has 75 million fans.
Sen. John McCain, center, and his wife Cindy, right, greets NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., left, prior to the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. in this May 27, 2007.
Senator John McCain was the honorary starter for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race in Charlotte, NC.
Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said "The Obama campaign will not be sponsoring a car in the Sprint Cup Series, though we will continue to look for ways to reach out to voters and convey Senator Obama's message of change." We're not sure how carbureted pushrod V8 machines turning left all day for a crowd of flat-earth enthusiasts doesn't speak change, but that's why we just write about cars.
More likely, Team Obama decided its ad dollars would be better spent at venues where the senator had a better chance of attracting voters, such as Ducks Unlimited meets, Hummer enthusiast clubs and of course NRA rallies. Which is a shame, because we were all about Obama and McCain proxies drifting and bumping around Talladega. [Seattle Times -- the paper that endorses Obama as a "smooth operator".] [for Sade fans]
A member of the Defiance High School marching band attends a John McCain campaign rally in Defiance, Ohio.
In yet another clear-cut case of media bias, TIME has selected the preceding photo of a seemingly depressed band member at a McCain rally as their White House Photo of the Day and titled the picture Band on the Run.
What TIME neglected to show was where the band was running to.
All photos, click to enlarge.
Don't believe the media hype. America loves John McCain. ;)
