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Locked on 11/03/2004 12:43:19 AM PST by Admin Moderator, reason:
Thread #21: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1268023/posts |
Posted on 10/12/2004 8:58:00 PM PDT by nwctwx
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You have Freepmail.
Also saw this at TB2000 public section-
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c...MNGG09CO721.DTL
There's an old saying in the military: It ain't raining, we ain't training. So what happened at this California National Guard base Tuesday counted as serious training.
Leaden skies dumped buckets of cold water on hundreds of Army and Air National Guard members throughout the day, providing an added measure of mud and chaos to the disaster scenario at hand. It was the kind of day Col. John Bernatz, who spent most of his 30 years in armored units, cheerfully calls "good tanking weather."
But it would have been deadly serious training in any case. The team Bernatz directs is one of a number launched this summer as a major component of the National Guard's response to a terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction.
The federal government paid for 12 of these teams nationwide, including one in California, based in Orange County. But the California Guard decided it needed six, Bernatz said, because the Golden State has so many terrorist targets that the Guard may need to be in as many as six places at once, so five more are being trained, paid for by the Guard.
"We live in a new world today," he said. "We live in a world where an enemy has brought a war back to our shores."
The team training at Camp Roberts on Tuesday -- only the second in the state -- will be based in Sacramento and will be the primary responder for the Bay Area. Each team costs about $1.4 million to equip, Bernatz said, and about $500,000 a year to maintain. The team was assembled from Guard members taken from several units, including Company C, 297th Support Battalion, a medical company based in San Mateo, and the 95th Civil Support Team in Hayward.
The company-size teams of 122 soldiers are so novel that they are known by an acronym that contains an acronym. They are a CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or High-Yield Explosive) Enhanced Response Force Package, or CERFP.
In an emergency, civil support teams like the one from Hayward will respond first and will quickly be followed by a CERFP, designed to assemble within six hours -- a tall order since the team is made up mainly of weekend Guard members.
That makes training like Tuesday's all the more important. The exercise followed a fictional scenario in which a private airplane sprayed an unknown agent on the crowd at an Oakland Raiders game and a suitcase bomb tainted with radioactive material exploded in the stands. Hypothetical results: 2,000 injured, unknown numbers dead, 35,000 flee -- contaminated -- back to the Bay Area.
As the rain beat down, volunteer victims wearing a horrifying host of mock injuries were trucked to the scene, where Guard members in bioterror suits screened them for contaminants, treated their wounds and decontaminated their shivering bodies with water in specially designed tents before taking them away for medical treatment. The team's goal is to treat and decontaminate 60 patients an hour.
Some of those on the team were assigned, but many volunteered, including Capt. Daniel Heany of Clayton. Heany said he was drawn to the unit in part because he has a new child and the CERFP members may not be deployed overseas during their 24-month tour, but also because the mission tied into the reason he joined the Guard in the first place.
"A lot of us got into the National Guard for national defense," he said. "You go into it expecting this kind of scenario."
Many team members shook their heads sympathetically at the wretched volunteers as they stripped to their shorts in the rain and mud, but "victims" like Staff Sgt. Dwayne Ball, completing his fourth trip through decontamination, said it was worth the misery.
"If we have a national disaster, we're going to be able to help people out. They're going to need it," he said, shivering under a gray Army blanket at the end of the decontamination line. "It's hard to prepare for something like this. You never know when it's going to happen."
In addition to the total lunar eclipse occurring on October 27/28, October 27 is also Ramadan's Night of Power, although I see no mention of it in the news.
Another thing to note is that at Khayma.com?wael/3days besides the photos, there are two series of numbers. One lists 13, 14, and 15 (possibly white days as you mention) and the other numbers 27, 28, and 29 coincide with the eclipse nights and include the following Friday. They keep repeating the word Friday in their latest communique in such lines as Does Alhda be next Friday? Does he be next Friday or what? That same Friday they also point out is the middle of Ramadan.
At Jill St. Claire's site under Now,The Jihadis Are Calling Osama The Al Mahdi!!! there's an interesting graphic featuring a pulsating moon that overlooks an idyllic Islamic landscape.
What could be a better "go" signal for moon worshipers than the moon itself?
Airplane Stowaway Prompts Investigation
By Mary Conway
October 22, 2004
A teenager's desperation to get to the United States ended in tragedy Thursday night, after the teen’s body was found in an airplane wheel well.
A worker at Detroit Metropolitan Airport discovered a stowaway's body in a wheel well on a plane that landed in the Detroit area early Friday morning.
Airport officials did not know who the young man was Friday, but believed he was about 16 years old.
"It’s tragic, but it’s also scary that somebody could get on and could be somebody with a bomb, or a terrorist," passenger Kim Vice told Action News.
The death aboard American Airlines flight 926 raises serious concerns about the security of air travel. Metro Airport administrators say the flight traveled from the Dominican Republic to Miami, before arriving in Detroit at 12:49 a.m.
An American Airlines employee who had been changing a tire found the young man dead around 1:00 Friday morning.
"The ramp worker discovered the deceased body in the wheel well, under the left wing of an American Airlines aircraft," airport spokesperson Barb Hogan told reporters in the early morning hours.
The 67 passengers and six crew members on board the flight had already deplaned when the body was found.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner ruled that the young man died from high-altitude asphyxia, meaning that he could not breathe. The part of the plane where his body was discovered is not pressurized, and gets very cold.
Sources say the young man was wearing only a tee-shirt and jeans, and carrying a few coins from the Dominican Republic.
"He obviously wanted to get out of there really bad to put his life in danger," passenger Becca Eby. said.
The Transportation Safety Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and American Airlines are all investigating how this could have happened, and why it wasn’t discovered.
"It just as well could have been 100 pounds or 150 pounds of high explosives, and there is a failure in the security system, and many of us have believed for a long time that ramp security is inadequate," aviation expert C. William Kauffman told Action News. "TSA, immigration, customs, somebody obviously was not doing their job."
The body was found within 11 minutes of the plane’s landing in Detroit. There are major concerns about why the plane was not checked in Miami.
American Airlines said very little Friday, and would not confirm where that plane had stopped. Metro Airport officials, meanwhile, were told the plane’s last stop before Miami was the Dominican Republic.
Officials say similar incidents occur about six times a year, but stowaways don’t usually make it as far as the young man did in this case.
http://www.detnow.com/wxyz/nw_local_news/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15924_3274487,00.html
Thanks to both of you. You offer interesting posts and insight.
nCa, Ashgabat, 23.10.2004 -- In keeping with the established tradition, President Niyazov signed a decree Saturday to amnesty 9000 prisoners on the eve of Gadyr Gejesi (the night of power, the 27th night of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan).
“Let’s release all those who regret their mistakes,” said Niyazov after signing the decree.
It is estimated that at present there are about 15000 prisoners in Turkmenistan.
Niyazov signed a separate decree, allowing the release of all the foreign prisoners in Turkmenistan.
About 150 prisoners from Uzbekistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Armenia and other countries are held in Turkmen prisons for various offences. All of them would benefit from this decree.
The release of prisoners would start on 8 November 2004 and by 10 November all prisoners who qualify for amnesty would be able to go home.
In case of foreign prisoners, their embassies would arrange for their passage back home.
Names of all the prisoners who are due for release would be published in the national newspapers of Turkmenistan.
Every year Turkmenistan releases more than 50% prisoners on Gadyr Gejesi.
Link
Thank you Selene.
That is interesting.
REUTERS.com: "BODY FOUND IN WHEEL WELL OF PLANE IN DETROIT" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: ""He was a thin black male in his early 20s," said Detroit Metropolitan Airport spokeswoman Barbara Hogan. She said a ramp worker found the apparent stowaway at about 1 a.m. EDT, minutes after the Boeing 737 ended its three-hour flight from Miami. Martha Pantin, a spokeswoman for AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, said she was unable to comment on reports the flight to Detroit originated in the Dominican Republic with a stopover in Miami.") (October 22, 2004) (Read More...)
STARBULLETIN.com - HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN: "STUDY OF PLANE WRECKAGE FINDS NO STRUCTURAL DEFECT The Cessna 310 that crashed Sunday likely exploded on impact" by Gary Kubota (October 21, 2004) (Read More...)
WJLA.com (AP): Charlotte, North Carolina - "FBI INVESTIGATING PUNCTURES IN US AIRWAYS JETS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Puncture holes were found in the bellies of two US Airways jets at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, which the FBI (website) said was not likely caused by normal wear and tear. Officials said the punctures discovered Monday morning during routine visual inspections are similar to damage recently found on another US Airways jet in Florida. No passengers were in the planes, which were temporarily grounded for repairs. US Airways, Charlotte's dominant carrier, said the planes had punctures about the same size as holes a screwdriver would make.") (October 20, 2004) (Read More...)
FLORIDA TODAY.com (WKMG Local 6): Orlando, Florida - "FBI PROBES POSSIBLE BULLET HOLES ON US AIRWAYS JET" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The FBI is investigating several suspicious holes that appear to be bullet holes found on a US Airways plane after it landed at Orlando International Airport, FLORIDA TODAY news partner WKMG Local 6 News has learned. According to a police report obtained exclusively by Local 6 News, an Orlando baggage handler discovered the holes before unloading luggage form the Airbus aircraft earlier this week. The flight being investigated originated in San Francisco and had a stop in Charlotte, N.C., before landing in Orlando, according to the report.") (October 15, 2004) (Read More...)
KSAT.com: San Antonio - "SAN ANTONIO TO SEND $130,000 FOR TRAIN DERAILMENTS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The San Antonio Fire Department will send a bill topping $130,000 to the Union Pacific railroad to cover some expenses related to three recent train derailments in Bexar County. Fire department officials said the bill going to Omaha, Neb.-based Union Pacific is for costs related to use of the department's hazardous materials response team. There have been five train derailments in the county since May, but fire department spokesman Randy Jenkins said the hazardous materials team responded to three of them. Bexar County also plans to send Union Pacific a bill for labor and equipment, but county officials said they had not yet added up the charges.") (October 15, 2004) (Read More...)
Thanks for linking that article, JP.
A Father's Last Vote
Post no 173
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1224500/posts?page=173#173
Reference the 800 pound torpedo:
A torpedo warhead is usually in the 300-800 pound category of explosives. Torpedos themselves usually weigh about 2000 pounds, give or take a few hundred. The warheads usually have pretty stable explosives compounds, and require a booster to detonate, as well as a detonator device.
There are a few holdovers from the WWII days that occasionally wash up on shore in the East Coast after being underwater for years and years.
American torpedos from WWII like the MK 14 were designed to explode at the end of run ( EOR), so its possibly foreign.
Information courtesy of my Navy days. I was a torpedoman.
"A Hendrick Motorsports plane carrying two pilots and eight other passengers crashed into Bull Mountain, about 10 miles west of Martinsville, Va., site of Sunday's Subway 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race, the FAA confirmed.
FAA spokeswoman Arlene Murray said a Beech 200 owned by Hendrick left Concord (N.C.) Regional Airport and crashed about 12:30 p.m. Eastern Sunday, near Martinsville Speedway."
Naming Bin Laden the Al Mahdi during this Ramadan is significant.
If Bin Laden comes out from under a rock and declares Jihad, thats really significant.
Oh, dear.
Thank you Write_Handed_Writer.
IPN Reporting small plane crash on Route 8 in Patrick, VA. 10 Fatals.
While I've seen some posts over the past months toy with the idea of UBL as the "Al Mahdi;" I don't believe this is a universal belief among the Muslim population. I base my OPINION here from years of surfing those sites of interest.
MY OPINION MIGHT BE WRONG OR MIGHT BE RIGHT.
If anyone can post original source urls to verify and reject
my opinion: I would appreciate it.
Thanks for posting this article JP.
Al Qaeda threat is growing in Europe
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=94510&Sn=WORL&IssueID=27214
OPINION: I agree that Europe is one of the
hot spots to watch.
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — A plane carrying members of the Hendrick Motorsports organization lost contact with the Federal Aviation Administration on its way to a NASCAR race on Sunday, and a search was underway for the aircraft.
NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said the FAA has notified the National Transportation Safety Board, and “they’re investigating to see what might have happened or what has happened.”
Hendrick owns the teams of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Brian Vickers, who competed in Sunday’s Subway 500 in the Nextel Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway.
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