Currently soldiers wear body armor known as the Improved Outer Tactical Vest, which weighs about 33 pounds with all of its soft armor attachments. The new plate carriers, which would be issued as an alternative to the IOTV, could shave about 16 pounds while providing the same 7.62mm ballistic protection.

Better is better ...

"Cosmic radiation can go right through the spacecraft, and right through electronics on the way, generating charge inside the device that can cause electronic systems to produce errors or even die," Cressler said. "There’s a lot of interest in improved hardening capabilities from NASA, the Department of Defense and communications companies, because anything that flies into space has to withstand the effects of this radiation."

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is denying charges by the TSA employees' union that he intentionally chose an airport screening line in order to provoke a confrontation over full-body imaging. Meanwhile, the American Federation of Government Employees insists the freshman lawmaker was not singled out for harassment due to his vote against collective bargaining for TSA workers. The incident occurred last Monday at the Salt Lake City International Airport, and a videotape is under review by TSA officials. Chaffetz, who sponsored a bill that would limit full-body imaging, says he wants the video made public, while the TSA argues that releasing the footage could compromise security.

The question that immediately comes to mind whenever someone says that an action will compromise security is "Whose security?" ...

Adafruit's first open source Homeland Security non-lethal weapon project - The "Do-it-yourself Handheld LED-Based Incapacitator: THE BEDAZZLER". After attending a conference where the $1million "sea-sick flashlight" (THE DAZZLER) was demoed by Homeland Security, Adafruit decided to create an under $250 version and here are the source code, schematics and PCB files! This is not a kit - but it is an Arduino project!

Some of the comments are pretty funny ...

The bank asked Google for information on the owner of the Gmail address, but Google said the bank had to get a court order to get access to that information. Last week, a judge in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., ordered Google to deactivate the Gmail account and Google complied, Pederson said.

It's unfortunate that the whole thing came up, but Rocky Mountain seems to have behaved well once they realized that they screwed up ...

The Star-Telegram reports that, at least in Texas (where they know a thing or two about guns), prices have started coming down and bullets have begun showing up on store shelves again.

It's about time ...

We’ve all been there. You climb into bed, you turn off the nightstand lamp, and you think “Did I close the garage door?” Save yourself the midnight trip to check on the garage with this ingenious hack. Instructables user kcj2010 hated peeling himself out of bed to double check on the garage door and hated waking up in the morning realising he’d left it open even more. His solution was to wire a sensor to his garage door and place an indicator light hidden in the light fixture of the master bedroom.

Sounds like a good idea ...

For one night only, Bridgewater had its own drive-in off Summer Street on Friday. That was where nearly 100 cars were pulled into fields to watch a firebomb explode as part of the new Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz movie that was filmed on Thursday and Friday in a Cumberland Farms field off Curve Street.

The driveway alarm alert system operates according to a series of sensors. Each sensor can be configured individually and once it is activated it sends a signal to a transmitter. The transmitter is quite powerful and can emit a signal up to 300 feet through walls to the receiver in your home, for example. It’s good to know that the system is entirely waterproof and weatherproof and can be easily mounted and adjusted to your needs. Rather than just been notified that there is a problem of some kind some way, the beauty of the driveway alarm alert system is that each sensor can be matched to a specific message. You record the message in your own voice when you are setting up the system and therefore will know the nature of the problem, whether it relates to the dog in the flower bed or to the pool area.

The problem with this type of system is that everyone in the household must alter their behavior or you have so many false alarms that you quit adequately responding to the alarms ...

Taking cues from conservative blogs and the Drudge Report, Fox News and its online properties flogged a YouTube video that purports to show "[s]chool kids taught to praise Obama." Indeed, in discussing the significance of the story, Fox News host Megyn Kelly said that the video, which the school's superintendent has said was unauthorized, "is getting attention on the Drudge Report website this morning."

They used to call it the Wall St. Journal test. Critically examine whatever it is your fixin' to do and ask yourself how you will feel about it if you wake up tomorrow and find a story and pictures about it on the front page of the WSJ ...

They recorded a video of themselves blowing up a turtle with a homemade pipe bomb. Now a sixth person has come forward in the killing of the animal. The man was charged Wednesday night. He is in the group seen in the video we first showed you on NEWS10 over the weekend.

I know, it's fun, but don't do it ...

The document validates what many of us have been saying for some time now that the decision to use social media technologies should be a risk-based business decision and not an IT security decision.  Further, it states that "The safe use of social media is fundamentally a behavioral issue, not a technology issue."  Everybody say 'Amen!  Not only do the "Guidelines" recommend developing organizational policy for the use of social media, but that the policy should focus on personal and professional user behavior when using government information.  The "Guidelines" call for, among other things, augmented training requirements for employees and additional security monitoring and configuration controls.  I can already see CISO's across the nation smiling.

“We are working overtime and still can’t keep up with the demand,” said Al Russo, spokesman for North Carolina-based Remington Arms Company, which makes bullets for rifles, handguns and shotguns. “We’ve had to add a fourth shift and go 24-7. It’s a phenomenon that I have not seen before in my 30 years in the business.” Americans usually buy about 7 billion rounds of ammunition a year, according to the National Rifle Association. In the past year, that figure has jumped to about 9 billion rounds, said NRA spokeswoman Vickie Cieplak.

In the wake of a recent planned attack on a synagogue in New York City, one former NYC cop is offering rabbis a new way to protect themselves and their worshipers. Rabbi Gary Moscowitz is teaching his peers everything from martial arts to gun handling.

Why is this in any way innovative ...

I've found it almost impossible to find information on Swiss laws regarding self defense. I am shocked and horrified, but there have been 6 (six) muggings at knife point and a break-in in my neighborhood. I just want to know what my rights to protect myself are here in Ticino. Any ideas? Thanks!

It amazes me that an unambiguous right to self-defense isn't in common law. Probably interferes with too many shenanigans ...

The problem of securing data isn’t just about managing it during the life of a drive, but also ensuring it is securely deleted once that drive is no longer used. Seagate’s Secure Self-Encrypting Drives (SED) are being advertised as a complete solution as they not only encrypt while the drive is in use, but deleting the data on the drive at the end of its life only requires the deletion of the encryption key rendering all data unreadable. No more data deletion policies or paying another company to securely dispose of the drives.

MediaPost is reporting that Rocky Mountain Bank, a small institution in Wyoming, accidentally e-mailed the names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and loan information to a Gmail address. When it realized its mistake, it e-mailed the address again and got no response–so it went to court, and a California appellate court judge has told Google that it must deactivate the Gmail address in question. Even though nobody’s accused the e-mail recipient of doing anything wrong.

I imagine they were able to determine through google that the e-mail hadn't been read yet. It that is the case,  deactivating the address will keep the address owner from recovering the data. Sounds like they're moving heaven and earth to protect the data, whether for their customers or for their business reputation ...

The new measure, formally titled UNSC Resolution 1887, expresses the Council's grave concern about the threat of nuclear proliferation and the need for international action to prevent it with a series of conferences leading to treaties to ban nuclear testing and production of fissile (bomb-making) material.

It seems unlikely that they can actually get that particular genie back in the bottle ...

Voice Data Fax Encryptor is a single system Securing all three Voice/Data/Fax in a single casing. It operates over low data rate channels (from 4800 bps), ensuring operability over satellite networks, including INMARSAT, as well as full bandwidth analog channels.

The showing of the video had been eagerly awaited by news organizations as a highlight of the case. In fact, its emotional impact appeared to be a factor in the defense decision to request a nonjury trial. After rejecting repeated defense motions to exclude the video, the judge approved its playing as evidence in court Tuesday and said copies could be distributed to news organizations that had long sought them.

Hmmm ... catastrophic loss of invisibility ...

We have vague terror threats guaranteed to strike fear in the heart of every American because they reference football stadiums, hotels, and mass transit. We have President Obama today calling for a renewal of expiring Patriot Provisions

I was wondering when someone would bring this up ...

Mayor Keith McDonald is licensed to carry and planned on keeping the ban in place. That is until he says he got dozens of persuasive e-mails against the ban and talked to his wife. "I said do you feel safer when I'm carrying my gun? And she said 'yes' and so I was like other families probably feel that way."

Tokenization protects against data breaches by replacing primary account numbers (PANs) and other sensitive data with a different value, a "token." The PANs and matching tokens are stored in an encrypted database, and the organization uses the token, instead of the PAN, to process and record transactions within its own systems. If hackers gain access to those systems, they only receive meaningless tokens and are unable to sell or use customer information.

This is pretty cool ...

It is important for you to carry some form of protection with you wherever you go. Whether you prefer to have pepper spray or one of the many stun guns that are available, it doesn’t matter. You can even have both if you want. Don’t be caught off guard. Show them that they cannot mess with you! You have a right to protect yourself, so you should do what you can to make sure that you are safe when in public or at home and even when you are at work.

Just don't try to use either one in a gun fight ...

The nine new cameras expand the SANYO industry-leading family of security video products that are driving high-definition into CCTV. The growing demand for high quality HD video in the security industry has created the need for HD cameras in various configurations. By combining HD video with security features, SANYO can help security professionals seize this opportunity by offering proven HD video in a variety of form factors for different applications. The new cameras join the award-winning SANYO VCC-HD4000 resulting in the industry’s first complete HD lineup. 

"The 24-year-old stepped out of his vehicle with an AK 47 Assault rifle and said, 'give me all you got'", Sergeant John Sullivan with Dayton Police said. Officers say instead of money, Anderson got bullets.

Oh, and ... uh ... keep the change ...

The honest way to do this is to adopt a form of the administrative detention system other countries use for national-security threats. That way, the government could hold everybody who was reasonably suspected in a mass-murder plot rather than just those against whom it can currently scrape together evidence of some crime — any crime — while the other plotters stay at liberty, destroy evidence, and flee. 

Yeah, that whole constitution thing is down right inconvenient ...

Undermine our allies. Embolden our enemies. Diminish our country. Those nine words define the Obama Doctrine with respect to American security policy. All three elements were much in evidence in the president's benighted decision last week to cancel the "Third Site" for intercontinental-range missile defenses in Eastern Europe. They will be on display as well during this week's several conclaves with foreign leaders. The cumulative effect is predictable: A world in which the United States has fewer friends, more enemies, and less options for assuring its security. 

It's hard to picture us having very many fewer friends or very many more enemies ... the previous andministration made sure of that.

When the Raymond, New Hampshire, selectmen refused permission to a local resident to hold a yoga class on the town green in honor of the United Nations International Day of Peace, they may not have anticipated the decision would draw gun-toting libertarians and others to the site to show support for First and Second Amendment rights. Molly Schlangen, the yoga instructor who had planned to hold a complimentary class on the green on Sunday, held it instead at her studio in the neighboring town of Epping. But two other gatherings were held on the town common that day. At noon about 20 members of the Free State Project, a movement to draw people to New Hampshire to work for smaller government and greater protections of individual liberty, showed up to demonstrate their support for freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble, as well as the Second Amendment right to bear arms. Several of them were wearing guns, in accordance with the state's "open carry" law.

The fact of having to ask should tell you that it's time to throw the bums out ...

The use of this statute may have very well have prevented a variety of mass terrorist attacks, as it is a quick and effective way of getting violent prone extremists off the streets early -- before an attack takes place.  These dangerous folks often crack and lie under the gauntlet of professional interrogators aided by intensive search techniques. Civil libertarians argue, however, that this strategy often ensnares unsophisticated blowhards whose threat potential is minimal or overblown. The fact that the strategy is purposefully preventative in nature means that in many cases we’ll never be able to conclusively prove how bad the threat actually was.

It's odd that they chose not to remain silent ...

Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin says he likes Mayor Greg Nickels' proposed ban of guns on more than 500 city-owned properties. Conlin also says state Attorney General Rob McKenna's opinion that Seattle lacks the legal authority to ban guns on its properties is wrong.

Perhaps he will have his ass handed to him in next election's primaries, just like Nickels did ...

Kangin had denied the charges made against him 5 days ago and now the truth is finally out. The police have decided Kangin did try to stay out of it which makes it self defense but he must go to court for a further and more detailed decision about his punishment because he is charged with an act of violence violation.

Brox’s program worked like this: When casino security guards detained people on misdemeanor charges — such as trespassing, disorderly conduct and petty theft — they would attempt to route the detainees into the program as an alternative to calling police to arrest them. While the people were detained, they were shown a video that presented them with the “option” of enrolling in the program to avoid a criminal record. The detainees were charged $500 to enroll, and Brox paid $100 to the casinos for each person who completed the program.

Hmmm ... I'd hate to be the one that signed a company up for this. I suspect the ramifications will be widespread and costly.

Utah gun owners are protesting Nevada's decision to reject Utah-issued concealed-weapon permits. On July 1, the Nevada Sheriffs' and Chiefs' Association, which sets the Silver State's permit recognition requirements, dropped Utah from the list of states whose permit holders also may carry concealed firearms in Nevada. The reason: Utah does not require permit holders to prove their proficiency with a live-fire test on a shooting range.

It would be nice if everyone just went the Vermont route, but absent that, it would be nice if an independent organization came up with a tasty 'best practices' guide so that everyone could agree and get on with it.The pointlessness of this situation comes from the fact that everyone can 'supposedly' open carry with out any permit at all.

These electronic locksets by Kwikset work with Control4 and the Schlage LiNK system to send you an email when someone enters the door (with the correct combination, of course).

Interesting ...

The change allows health-care companies to do a self-assessment of the potential privacy and fraud risks stemming from a data breach and leaves it up to them to decide if a notification is justified. If a breached company decides there is no harm, it will have no obligation to disclose the breach to anyone -- even if it had taken no measures previously to protect the data. "The harm standard completely undermines the purpose of mandatory notification, which is that covered entities protect their patient data with strong safeguards," said Harley Geiger, legal counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a Washington-based think tank. "Now an entity can avoid both encryption and notification because they can decide that any information that was released poses no risk," he said.

A much better way to defend yourself against physical attacks is to carry a self defense weapon with you. Most people assume that this must mean a gun or a knife, but in fact there is a wide range of non lethal self defense products from which to choose. Pepper spray canisters, a very common choice, come in styles small enough to fit inside a purse or even a jacket pocket. Just pull out your pepper spray canister and press the button to discharge the pepper spray straight in your attacker’s face. This spray will stop them in their tracks. If you’ve never seen pepper spray in use, you’ll be astonished at how fast your attacker goes down. This method gives you up to 30 minutes to safely get away from the situation.

In most situations, a victim is literally surrounded by self-defense weapons but the vic doesn't recognize them as such because they haven't trained themselves in the use of 'pick-up' weapons. Pens, paperweights, brooms, picture frames ... all can be used to good effect in battle IF you've taken the time to familiarize yourself with how they might be used. REMEMBER: When seconds count, the Police are only minutes away ...

A security guard has been shot and killed during a bank robbery in west Dallas, according to FOX affiliate KDFW. The body of the victim was left in the bank's drive-through bank lane, covered by a tarp as detectives and FBI agents combed the area.

Today's the day, everyday ...

The Obama administration offered to hit the "re-set" button in its relations with Russia and the scrapping of the Polish-Czech facility is a good step in this effort. A sea-borne option provides greater flexibility, responsiveness and doesn't violate anyone's sovereignty or vital interests while still placing an impediment in the way of Iranian ambitions. The United States and Russia should now have a freer hand in cooperating against Al Qaeda and Russia has less incentive to aid Iran. One hopes that the global fight against Al Qaeda and Islamist extremism will be strengthened, Iran will be contained and the American homeland will be made safer, not only from terrorism, but from the missile threat that led to all this activity in the first place. 

This was a pretty provocative installation so abandoning it may have been the right move. It increased our invisibility with only minimal corresponding decrease in invincibility. Hopefully, the Poles and Czechs will come to see it that way, too. After all, it wasn't an anti-tank installation ...

The proposition could be legally dicey. Nickels acknowledges that state law preempts city ordinances on firearms, but notes that property owners may impose conditions for carrying guns on their land. Nickels argues the city can therefor impose restriction on firearms on park property, which it owns, like any other property owner.

Hmmm ... so the city owns the property and isn't just a steward for the actual owners, the citizens. No wonder he got routed in the primary. Be gone ...

A major problem inherent in dealing with security against terrorism via political means is the tendency to focus what are always scarce resources on highly visible efforts—what some have termed “security theater.” The alternative is to base security policy on serious risk analysis, putting resources where they achieve the greatest bang for the buck. That kind of analysis in aviation security suggests that spending $4 billion per year on screening every passenger and bag (rather than focusing resources more on higher-risk passengers) and stationing air marshals on airliners are not cost-effective uses of security dollars. If we spent less of these resources on security theater and more on preventing airfield perimeters from being breached and lobbies from being targeted by suicide bombers, we’d likely be better off. And by the same token, serious risk analysis might suggest spending relatively less on aviation security and relatively more on rail and cargo security.

Focus on detecting means, and motive becomes irrelevant ...

Some really cool space pics ...

The budget cudgel was approved despite pleas from Amtrak that it lacks the manpower, equipment and extra financing to effectively meet the deadline and that it faces a shutdown if federal funds are lost. Among other changes, baggage cars would have to be securely retrofitted and manpower increased. The warning cut no ice with the majority as the chief sponsor, Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican of Mississippi, intoned a lock-step mantra: “Americans should not have their Second Amendment rights restricted for any reason.”

Heh, heh ...

A person who learns martial art is less likely to get into fights unless cornered. Parents could complement trainers by teaching responsible and caring behaviors to children learning martial arts. By doing so, parents are putting the kids on the right path as they begin their journey to the world of martial arts.

With funding from the US Department of Homeland Security, Draper Laboratory and other collaborators are building technology to detect potential terrorists with cameras and noninvasive sensors that monitor eye blinks, heart rate, and even fidgeting. The project, called the “Future Attribute Screening Technology,’’ is aimed at allowing security checkpoint personnel at airports or large public events to make better, faster decisions about whether a person should get follow-up screening. At a demonstration of the technology this week, project manager Robert P. Burns said the idea is to track a set of involuntary physiological reactions that might slip by a human observer. These occur when a person harbors malicious intent - but not when someone is late for a flight or annoyed by something else, he said, citing years of research into the psychology of deception.

Perhaps we could work on a machine that tells us whether a person has the wherewithall to interfere with a flight (such as by carrying exposives) and not worry about whether they have the desire to interfere with the flight.

"Yale has done a very good job of protecting people who work in that building from those who don't and who might object to the (animal) research taking place there who might resort to violence," Bulger said. "That security measure, however, doesn't address situations that might arise between employees" on the premises.

At least not in the way carrying blam-blams would ...

The Jianguomenwai Diplomatic Residence Compound is a glum, Stalinist-style group of buildings constructed in the 1970s to house the first foreigners allowed to live in China after the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution ended. Although there are plenty of newer, swankier developments available, Jianguomenwai is still favored by some diplomats and journalists for its bargain rents and convenient proximity to an avenue leading to Tiananmen Square. But the apartments may be a little too close to the capital's most famous landmark. In late August, residents were notified by the compound's managers that, during the planned Oct. 1 parade marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, they should refrain from opening "any window or balcony door" facing the parade route. Nor should they stand on the balcony to watch the procession. "When I asked them what would happen if we did go out on the balcony," one resident says, "in so many words they said we could get shot." 

You get the impression that life is fairly cheap in China ...

When American lives hang in the balance, it is not enough to tell us we have treated terrorists with sensitivity to our highest ideals. We want to know that those charged with keeping us safe have done everything necessary to carry out their charge. I am heartless enough to say that I am not in any way concerned for the comfort of those who might have information we could employ to protect Americans. And when thousands die and the FBI tells us that they treated those who had that information with the highest Constitutional consideration, I am realistic enough to say they will not be forgiven.

Or ... he may just like people being tortured ...

Why the hell would you want to encrypt your data anyway?
Lots of reasons ... looks like a pretty good primer ... I kill me, sometimes!

This is just the latest in a long line of techniques aimed at foiling non-lethal crowd control weapons. Ever since police and security forces started using non-lethal weapons for crowd control, people have been looking for ways to counter them, trying everything from onions, tinfoil and Viagra.

Patrick Swayze was brilliantly successful in pretty much everything he tried. He was a popular and accomplished dancer, actor, horse breeder and pilot (Patrick held an instrument rating for his twin-engine Cessna). But what impresses many people the most is the quality of the man himself. Patrick married Lisa Niemi in 1975, and their marriage lasted all his life. Patrick was raised as a Roman Catholic, but also studied Tai Chi and several schools of Buddhism. More to the point, Patrick established a well-deserved reputation as a thoroughly honest and hard-working man, a fighter for what he believed in, be it his work, his family, or his values. To the end, Patrick showed the world a man worth respect, admiration, and purpose.

In Roadhouse he lists three rules for bouncers that happen to be three excellent rules for Security personnel as well. If you're involved in Security, Roadhouse should be in your collection ...

DeputyDaniel Belgard said he saw a crowd gathering in front of the gym near Tommy Oliver Stadium. Inside the crowd, two women were arguing and then began fighting, Belgard wrote in an incident report. As he attempted to pull the women apart, someone in the crowd sprayed him with pepper spray, Belgard wrote.

Probably his associate, happens all the time ...

A thunderstorm that would encompass an area from San Francisco to the Mississippi River was recorded on Saturn. The storm, recorded by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, has lasted an amazing 9 months so far and became a record setter for the longest lightning storm recorded in the solar system. The previous longest storm duration was 7 ½ months, also set on Saturn, between November 2007 and July 2008.

Fascinating ...

Baltimore police say a Johns Hopkins University undergraduate student armed with a samurai sword killed an intruder he discovered in his garage. 

Forget guns, knowing katanas are widely available in society would probably significantly reduce crime ...

But contactless transactions can also improve security because dynamic cryptograms make each payment unique. The chip card must be present to generate a valid cryptogram, which is verified online when the transaction is authorised. Therefore, expanding use of contactless cards throughout the US payment system would lower fraud because stolen payment information could not be used to make fraudulent cards, argues the group. In contrast, end-to-end encryption is less secure because it does not end reliance on magnetic stripe cards. Since payment cards would still use static cardholder data for processing, they would remain vulnerable to the primary type of fraud that end-to-end encryption is trying to prevent, which is credit card cloning using stolen data. 

GKN Aerospace was awarded the $425,000 contract in July by the VIP Protection subgroup of the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office. The challenge? To incorporate dimmable films with armored glass, offering visual and physical protection to VIPs traveling in armored vehicles.

Hmmm ... that should be helpful ...

This is a similar argument as that used by politicians who wish to ban so-called “assault weapons“. They argue that guns designed primarily to kill people should be banned, on the theory that citizens don’t need guns to kill other citizens. This argument completely ignores self defense. Self defense is the main reason that I and many people own firearms. Having a gun that was designed for self defense is critical, as a “sporting” gun is often dangerously inadequate for self defense purposes.

I waited my turn, and it appeared to be about time for me to ask the question, when the debate moderator, Rick Amato, unexpectedly called upon the Disk Jockey, a retired cop, who had been sitting behind his DJ booth, to ask “his” question. A few citizens behind me groaned in protest. I was then shortly thereafter told by Mr. Amato's assistant in a consolatory tone that I was not going to get a chance to ask my question, since the final question was reserved for the co-moderator of the event. The CCW crowd behind me, which had grown by a few additional individuals by now, overhead this. Thus begun the low murmur of discontent that, in retrospect, is a sound that can only be generated by seriously angry men.

The Tea Bag Brigade has been around now for quite awhile. You would think that the political types would think twice before shutting folks down after they waited patiently for a chance to be heard.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents even escort Crist to personal events, which means Florida taxpayers are on the hook for security when Crist is at private homes raising money for his U.S. Senate campaign. (Previous governors had the same level of security.) Which raises a question: Because Crist is careful to avoid using state aircraft to get to personal and political events, should Crist's campaign repay the state for security at nonofficial events? No, he says.

He's right. The baddies don't clock out as soon as Crist does. If the taxpayers are going to pay for his security at any time, they should pay for it all the time he's in office.

For the second time in two months, San Jose police temporarily yanked the entertainment license of Club Wet after reviewing a YouTube video of a chaotic incident inside the club. The video shows multiple fights and a member of the club's security team brandishing what appeared to be a stun gun.

There's really no way to regain control of a situation like that once it's lost. In a quick viewing I don't see anything particularly out of line and the Security appears to be using restraint ...

The story is this: a local Washington D.C. Coast Guard unit decided September 11th was a perfect day to conduct an anti-terrorism training. Because these trainings are so common, the Coast Guard did not bother to notify other law enforcement agencies in the area. Unfortunately, the calendar date put people on high alert and when a transmission about the mock hostilities was broadcast over an unencrypted marine band frequency, the major news agencies hearing the information interpreted what they heard as if it were real. In true ‘War of the Worlds’ fashion, these journalists decided to report that the anti-terrorism training exercise was in fact a true defensive strike against attacking terrorists.

Kinda inconsiderate ...

Spaghetti junction: A computer graphic depicting gravitational corridors that weave around planetary bodies. It is hoped spacecraft could travel along the currents as ships do on the ocean . Scientists in the U.S. are trying to map the twisting ‘tubes’ so they can be used to cut the cost of space travel.

Cool pic ...

This is common-sense evidence that statehouse bullying tactics by the gun lobby do not necessarily translate to the local level, not when people have a chance to disinvite [legal] guns into areas designed for adult relaxation and children’s play.

Mmmm, Tennessee parks, the safe place to rape, rob and murder ...

A 74 year old Lewes, Delaware man used a machete and his .25 caliber pistol to defend himself against a pair of home invaders who were threatening his life.

Chop, chop, blammo ... don't mess with the old dudes ...

An Israeli male was taken into custody shortly before shabbos after he fired at Arab attackers in the Givati parking lot area near the Kosel. The intended victim explained he and a friend were under serious threat by a large group of Arabs, compelling him to fire in the air. After the warning shots did not distance the crowd, he fired at their legs, in accordance to protocol, injuring a 13-year-old and a 40-year-old. The Arabs told police they were attacked without provocation by the soldier. The male remains under house arrest but he was released from custody after police realized his version of the events that took place was indeed credible. His story appears to have been confirmed by security camera tapes viewed by police.

It appears that crowds DO lie ...

The Virginia Tech failure occurred when a warning about possible gunfire in November did not reach students and staff. Although the emergency was determined to be a false alarm — the sound attributed to a nail gun — the failure was of considerable concern to university officials at that time. “We created the industry that [Everbridge] is in based on the tragedy of April 16, 2007,” he said. Hincker said Virginia Tech was the first in the nation to develop such an expansive emergency notification system, and the failure of the Everbridge system was because the school was “using the system outside of the bounds of what [Everbridge] had designed.” During successful tests, getting the word out about an emergency takes about 25 to 30 minutes, he said. The failure “caused us some heartburn last year,” he added. 

Surprise, surprise ... anything to avoid arming the citizens ...