Friday, January 19, 2007

FBI Director Robert Mueller traveled to Los Angeles Thursday

FBI Director Robert Mueller traveled to Los Angeles Thursday to talk about what we're doing to help big cities and small communities battle the growing wave of gang violence. "Gang crime may be part of our reality today," he said. "But law enforcement can change that reality tomorrow." Read More

"Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

IAVA - Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America - IAVA Blog:

Our War Tapes campaign is off to a great start. We sent out the first email last week, and we had an excellent response. Supporters are hosting parties across the country, and it's not too late to sign up.

You can search for a party in your area - just enter your zip code at the bottom of this page. If there are no parties planned nearby, you can also sign up to host your own. Hosting is easy - just be sure to get your hands on a copy of The War Tapes in time for the 27th.

At the House Parties, IAVA supporters are going to:

  • Watch The War Tapes, the first documentary filmed by the soldiers on the ground in Iraq. You can watch the trailer here.
  • Take part in a free conference call with IAVA Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff and Iraq Veteran Steve Pink, star of The War Tapes.
  • Put their signatures on a petition to Jim Nicholson, Secretary of the VA, calling for increased mental health staffing at VA hospitals.

From the New York Times:

Abbie PickettOn an October night in 2003, mortar shells fell on a base camp near Baquba, Iraq, where Specialist Abbie Pickett, then 21, was serving as a combat lifesaver, caring for the wounded.

At first, she did not notice that one of the medics who was working with her was bleeding heavily and near death; then, frantically, she treated his wounds and moved him to a medical station, not knowing if he would survive.

He did survive, Specialist Pickett later learned. But the horror of that night is still vivid, and the memory stalks her even now, more than a year after she returned home.

"I would say that on a weekly basis I wish I would have died during that attack," said Specialist Pickett, who served with the Wisconsin Army National Guard. "You never want family to hear that."

This is Abbie's story, but she isn't alone. A new study suggests that US soldiers who have been deployed to Iraq are suffering from major depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Vet Centers, which were established after the Vietnam War, are the primary source of care for veterans facing these issues. Join us in calling for better funding for these vital centers.

I hope you can join us on the 27th. To those of you who have already signed up to host or attend - thank you. Your efforts to bring the people who care about these issues together make a huge difference for veterans like me.

Sincerely,

Rob Timmins
IAVA Field Director
Iraq Veteran

"Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

Defence Events

Network Centric Warfare 2007

January 22 - 25, 2007 :: Washington, DC

Image Fusion 2007
January 23 - 24, 2007 :: Alexandria, VA

Tactical Power Source 2007
January 29 - 31, 2007 :: Washington, DC

Total Asset Visibility For Defense
January 30 - 31, 2007 :: Arlington, VA

5th Annual Software Radio Summit
February 21 - 22, 2007 :: Vienna, VA

CBRNE Defense
February 26 - 28, 2007 :: Arlington, VA

UAV Summit 2007
February 27 - 28, 2007 :: Alexandria, VA

Maritime Homeland Security
March 19 - 21, 2007 :: Baltimore, MD

5th Annual Battlefield Healthcare
March 21 - 23, 2007 :: Alexandria, VA

Next Generation Materials for Defense
March 28 - 29, 2007 :: Arlington, VA

View all Defence events worldwide


NCW is no longer theory - Discover how you can increase operational effectiveness at Network Centric Warfare 2007. More...


Don't forget IQPC's events are available on CD-Rom.

If you would like to place an order please visit:
IQPC Knowledge Bank
.


"Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Bush gives ground on domestic eavesdropping program


KOMO

By Dan Eggen and Peter Baker. WASHINGTON - The Bush administration said Wednesday it has agreed to disband a controversial warrantless surveillance program run by the National Security Agency, replacing it with a new effort to be overseen by a secret ...
Bush Changes Warrantless Surveillance Policy Donklephant
Court to monitor Bush eavesdropping program San Jose Mercury News
New York Times - ABC News - DetNews.com - Boston Globe
all 474 news articles »"

Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

Flash Player 9 for Linux arrives, looks great

Flash Player 9 for Linux arrives, looks great
Desktop Linux - Adobe Systems Inc. on Jan. 17 finally released the long-awaited Adobe Flash Player 9 for Linux. Although a binary-only ...READ MORE


"Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

Monday, January 15, 2007

Learn from other Google Docs & Spreadsheets users


Find answers, ask questions, and share your expertise with others in the Google Docs & Spreadsheets Help Group.


"Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

The New BAH rates are available at Military.com

Here's the website for the new BAH rates. It's not time sensitive, so forward when you can.
Thanks!
The New BAH rates are available at Military.com

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning. Forwarded for your information.. Happy New Year!

Very Respectfully,
Capt Mellon

"Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

Blackwater Tactical Weekly: The Next Jihadists: Iraq's Lost Children

Ammar will tell you he's proud to be carrying a gun. His father was a brigadier in Saddam Hussein's Army, a man who saw combat in his country's several wars, and from an early age Ammar had accompanied him to the shooting range. "I got used to the sound of guns then," Ammar says. So he was ready, last fall, when the imam in his Baghdad neighborhood urged residents to take up arms against the invader-who in this case happened to be members of a Shiite militia trying to push into the predominantly Sunni area. Ammar joined the neighborhood watch, a ragtag bunch of men who stand guard nightly at improvised roadblocks and rooftop observation posts. In mid-October Ammar fought his first big battle against soldiers from the Mahdi Army-"the garbage collectors and robbers," as he contemptuously refers to the Shiite militia. He says he put his Kalashnikov assault rifle to good use: "I think I injured or even killed two of them. Our group killed more than six of them that night."

Full Story

Gary Jackson
President
Blackwater



"Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

Tactical Power Sources Summit

Dear Colleague,

This is your last chance to register for IDGA's Tactical Power Sources Summit. This must-attend event for government/military agencies and leading contractors at the fore-front of evolving programs, emerging policies and technologies for portable power sources is coming up in a few weeks.

If you are considering attending this event visit our website and register yourself and a team today.

This event will allow you to:

  • Access a comprehensive update on the roles that different types of batteries play in theatre
  • Analyze strategies to make batteries more reliable and more effective
  • Evaluate the promise of fuel cell technology to optimize soldier performance
  • Comprehensively assess new and alternative power sources
  • Hear case studies of "Power in Action" in the military
  • Develop an action plan to implement what you have learned into your own program
  • If you have any questions, please phone Customer Service at 1-800-882-8684. I look forward to meeting you at the event.

    Cordially,

    Page Robinson
    Program Director, Tactical Power Sources 2007
    IDGA

    P.S. Also, don't forget to join us on the day before for the outstanding pre-conference Mobile Power Sources Development Day featuring 3 interactive seminars: Designing Low-cost, Durable Fuel Cells for Military Applications , Designing and Manufacturing High Power Density Motor Systems and Future Technologies of Man Portable Battery Systems.

    This email was sent to: wooran@ec.rr.com

    This email was sent by: IDGA
    535 Fifth Av, 8th Fl New York, NY, 10017, USA

    "Yigaquu osaniyu adanvto adadoligi nigohilvi nasquv utloyasdi nihi" Cherokee - "May the Great Spirit's blessings always be with you."

    Saturday, January 13, 2007

    Help us take care of our veterans who worked so hard to protect and serve their country!

    We are beginning to work with a military-affiliated association that is assisting our wounded warriors when they return from the battlefield. Many of these men and women are permanently disabled and want to purchase a home together by combining their income. What programs would you be able to offer these veterans? Any information that you can offer me would be greatly appreciated. We will be presenting this proposal to the general on the local base here.


    Some of these veterans are discharged and waiting placement for permanent residence and some are still active-duty military status. Insofar as credit scores are concerned, I'm sure that we will have a mixed box of scores.


    Help us take care of our veterans who worked so hard to protect and serve their country!


    Jamie Sharpe/Loan Officer


    910-478-8810 cell

    Ray Thomas, commander of VFW Post 10386

    Ray Thomas, commander of VFW Post 10386 in Kingman, sat in on the discussion Wednesday with Coker. Coker said the only other person to whom he has put forth his idea is the commander of VFW Post 2555 in Golden Valley.

    Update on the Coker Project:

    He needs help to get it operational. I think foundation involvement/support with this project is a definite possibility.



    N.C. State Commander, Jim Goins has a friend who needs our help also. The materials and land have already been donated for a homeless veterans house. Now we need to get the house built. I was thinking about the Barn raisings that occurred years ago with the granges.


    Those were a shining example of Americans looking out for each other and a good format to use now.

    Argent Mortgage, Account Executive

    From: ALHarmon@argentmortgage.com



    Subject: Help Our Military Veterans!

    Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:06:38 -0800


    Hi,

    With these borrowers, we would consider disability as fixed income. Their

    income can be grossed up 123%. All of these fixed income borrowers would

    have to go full doc and the LTV would vary from credit score to credit
    score.


    Hopefully this will help you out, but let me know if you
    have further questions!!

    Thanks!!

    Angie Harmon

    Argent Mortgage, Account Executive

    phone: 910-431-0129

    email: alharmon@argentmortgage.com

    Friday, January 12, 2007

    National Legislative Service

    The mission of the VFW National Legislative Service is to represent the VFW position on various issues before the United States Congress.


    This is accomplished through testifying at congressional committee hearings as well as interacting directly with members of Congress and their staffs, and the staffs of Committees having jurisdiction over veterans legislation.


    The NLS not only works for the advancement of legislation beneficial to veterans but, also, has the responsibility to bring about defeat of legislation detrimental to our Nation's veterans.


    National Legislative Service

    Dennis Cullinan,

    Director

    200 Maryland Ave, NE

    Washington, DC 20002


    Phone: (202) 543-2239

    Fax: 202-543-0961 vfwac@vfwdc.org

    Thanx Robo

    I was referring to several projects.



    1st N.C. State Commander, Jim Goins's friend needs our help now. The materials and land have already been donated for a homeless veterans house to be located here in N.C. We need to get that house built. He will be in Jacksonville next week. I will post more details as I receive them.


    2nd The Commandant has promised to create two Wounded Warriors Regiments. Maxwell said they will be breaking ground next month. They both will need help, just not as much.


    3rd Evan Coker has no computer in his home. He has contacted several organizations for assistance. I will be faxing him some info later today. Until I can get out to Arizona I need a contact there to get info to him. Faxes are fine, but they can get costly. The cost of paper and ink is the problem. Every penny we save, is that much more for our wounded warriors, PAST AND PRESENT.



    4th Evan and I both have the same dream, we hope to get all states working together to assist our wounded. How they do this is totally up to them. My job is to get the right people connected. Ray Thomas, commander of VFW Post 10386 in Kingman has expressed an interest in this project.



    Wooran's Wounded Warriors was created to serve all Veterans.

    Where does the VFW comes into play?

    I am reading but still don't understand what and where things will be done. I understand Jamie is working as loan officer, that Coker has a 5 year requested use of land donated to a tribe and a theme park in mind. To me this is confusing and in rivalry with what the Wounded Warrior program is with the Maxwell and Conway group. It appears that Wooran Wounded Warrior program is something apart from the original program. Where the VFW comes in is still another confusing avenue. Then comes the issue of who and how many warriors will be in said homes or complexes. You did say Maxwell was setting up east and west coast locations. As an opener think along the following:


    1. DETAILED MISSION of intent.

    1.1 LEGAL ASPECTS

    2. INFRASTRUCTURE: Who

    2.1 NEEDED POSITIONS OF MANAGEMENT

    3. FINANCIAL

    3.1 FUNDS AVAILABLE and DISTRIBUTIONS

    3.2 GUIDANCE TO PLAN

    4. LOCATION

    5. METHODS OF OPERATIONS


    Give the above some serious thought. R

    Thursday, January 11, 2007

    BODY RITUAL AMONG THE NACIREMA

    Most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style. A single value or pat-
    tern of perceiving the world often leaves its stamp on several institutions in the
    society. Examples are "machismo" in Spanish-influenced cultures, "face" in
    Japanese culture, and "pollution by females" in some highland New Guinea
    cultures. Here Horace Miner demonstrates that "attitudes about the body"
    have a pervasive influence on many institutions in Nacireman society. Read More

    Tuesday, December 26, 2006

    NO SUCH THING as objective reporting

    Back in my heyday (sp?), otherwise known as when I was 20, I was a part-time copy editor for a city newspaper with about 25,000 daily subscribers. Every once in a while, I got to pick stories from the Associated Press to be put in the paper. Other times, I had to cut 1,000-word stories by more than half to fit the space allotted.


    What I learned:


    1. There is NO SUCH THING as objective reporting.


    2. Decisions on what to report is largely based on what the business believes the viewers/readers/listeners are interested in.


    3. As such, newspapers with a largely caucasian/Republican base are less likely to report on a Mexican family's struggle for citizenship or a black man proven innocent after years behind bars.


    4. The subjectivity doesn't end there. Even when stories are run, reporters decide what angle to take . Notice how many newspapers have a "Business" section versus how many have a "Labor" section. The little guy isn't focused on for two reasons. One, he doesn't pay the newspaper's bills, and two, she is still dreaming of when she's no longer poor and thus wants to know about stock markets and insider trading.


    5. Then there's what information to share about the story that's been decided on. Say, for instance, a newspaper is going to write about a high school track coach who's been convicted of pedophilia. The story could include the following information: how to talk to your children about pedeophilia; how many cases the coach was convicted of; two students' accounts of what a good teacher the coach was; one team member's account of walking in on the coach with a fellow teammate; how many people are convicted of pedophilia each year; what the school's going to do for the high school students; what background checks and other measures the school uses when hiring. Now, the newspaper only has room for half of the information I just listed. Someone has to choose.


    6. And how does that information get chosen? By people. Who are ALWAYS subjective. Say we have three reporters who can report the story. One is the mom of a child on the junior high football team. One is a sports fanatic. The third downloads porn during spare time. Think you're likely to get three different stories? Oh, yeah, baby. Now, the stories will almost always be accurate, truthful, and unbiased in the telling. But the telling of the story is only what we see. So much more goes on behind the wizard's curtain.



    :)Kim Edwards


    http://wooran.com

    An argumentum ad populum

    The mainstream media likes to keep us confused. I need no help in that department. It scares me when people blindly follow the herd. Many times the facts are never revealed to the public. More people need to challenge the information that is presented to them.


    An argumentum ad populum (Latin: "appeal to the people"), in logic, is a fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or all people believe it; it alleges that "If many believe so, it is so." In ethics this argument is stated, "if many find it acceptable, it is acceptable."


    Some things never change. I may be married to a marine, but I can't for the life of me see the logic in blowing things and people up. This just does not compute.



    http://wooran.com

    9/11/2006 RELIGIOUS TERRORIST ATTACK

    The mainstream media may not have alerted you to the fact that there was another bomb attack on American soil on 9/11/2006, on the fifth anniversary of the first 9/11 attack.


    If it seems strange that such an event wasn't picked up by the right wing conservative media echo chamber to fan the flames of fear in the U.S. and rally more Americans to the cause of fighting a global war on terror, the reason for this lapse is simple:


    The religious terrorist, in this case, was a Christian extremist who bombed an abortion clinic.


    Martín Rizzi said:




    I think that most religiously motivated terrorists would agree with this goal, in fact, many of them are actively working toward the goal of having only a single religion-- theirs.


    Personally, I think valuing diversity would be a better goal. I think people should not argue about things that can't be proven to exist. Carl Sagan spoke for me (you might go to my "Pale Blue Dot" thread if interested).


    I dont really know about this "religiously motivated terrorists" stuff;

    supposedly in Iraq these religiously motivated terrorists blow up mosques;

    i dont buy it; i think that religiously motivated terrorists is just a meme.


    Marcus B.


    http://wooran.com