Author: Kate

Your Security Is In The Very Best Of Hands

A failed airport security test…

… ended up with a Slovak man unknowingly carrying hidden explosives in his luggage on a flight to Dublin, Slovakian officials admitted Wednesday.
While the Slovaks blamed the incident on “a silly and unprofessional mistake,” Irish officials and security experts said it was foolish for them to hide actual bomb parts in the luggage of innocent passengers under any circumstances.

How to Recognize and Fight a Terrorist on a Plane

Advice from a pilot;

Some things to look for: groups or pairs of men, a passenger talking to themselves, speaking Arabic, watching crewmembers (this is different than looking), staring at the cockpit door, long stays or multiple trips to the lavatory, reading a book but not turning any pages, nervousness, being unusual by trying to fit in, taking pictures/videos, not making eye contact. When you are at the boarding area and on the plane if you notice a suspicious passenger, look for others. How many? If it is one or two then they could be planning on bombing the aircraft or just making observations of crew procedures. 6 or more? Then this cell’s objective would be hijacking the plane by brute force. Also remember that there are sleepers that try to blend in with the other passengers and could be very hard to notice. A website reports a well-dressed man in custody that was also a passenger on Delta Flight 253. After an incident, your entire plane might be delayed for security and they will treat everyone as suspects. Also expect the government and airline to try to cover up parts or all of an event.

How various media suck about Afstan, especially when dealing with dead people

Posts by BruceR. (Canada’s best informed and most analytical milblogger), Terry Glavin and Damian Brooks are sort of brought together here at The Torch, with Michael Yon as a particular, er, target:

Afstan: Most recent Canadian deaths: “For shame”/Update: Our media and “hoo-hah”

Mr Glavin makes an especially important point: “This is war. Get used to it.” And I wrote a minor porkie.
More on Mr Yon:

The long arm of Stephen Harper’s law?

Michael Yon “Arrested”

Is there nothing that Obama can’t do?

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies. . . . When they handcuffed me, I said that no country has ever treated me so badly. Not China. Not Vietnam. Not Afghanistan. Definitely not Singapore or India or Nepal or Germany, not Brunei, not Indonesia, or Malaysia, or Kuwait or Qatar or United Arab Emirates. No county has treated me with the disrespect that can be expected from our border bullies.

So much for hope. But change! That’s another matter.

Y2Kyoto: You Don’t Need No Stinking Natural Gas

(bumped)
Now is the time at SDA when we juxtapose!
Times, Jan 3, 2010“The UK has 259 onshore wind farms, of which 108 are in England, 91 in Scotland, 33 in Wales and 27 in Northern Ireland. Planning permission has been granted for a further 222 and there are plans for another 270 after that.”
Express, Jan.5, 2010“SHIVERING Britain faces the prospect of gas supply shortages as the worst cold spell in 30 years keeps a stranglehold on the country.”
(Of course, we coulda warned ’em that the wind don’t blow when it’s cold, but what would a bunch of prairie hicks know about the reliability of wind power, anyway?)
Update: More…
neg.jpg
First shipment of unsold Al Gore books leaves dock in British relief effort… developing …..

The Libranos

Hard hit by the voter imposed ban on paper bags;

Six MPs who ran for the Liberal leadership in 2006 — including eventual winner Stéphane Dion — have missed the year-end deadline to repay loans made to their campaigns, the party says.
Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand in 2008 granted the candidates 18-month extensions to pay off debts, but the party admits tough economic times and the recurring possibility of another election meant they couldn’t meet the date.
Dion and MPs Gerard Kennedy, Martha Hall-Findlay, Maurizio Bevilacqua, Joe Volpe and Hedy Fry were all given extensions that expired on New Year’s Eve.

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