[lsee]

Yah, and they can store their gear in one of those "surplus" lighthouses the government is prepared to give away.....

[ex-Texan]

Also heard that M.E. ships may have been modified to launch SCUD missles from about 300 miles off shore ....

[WIMom]

What? You haven't contributed to Free Republic yet?

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A Tribute to Freepers - Summer Freepathon! Thread 2

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[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Coast Guard Auxiliary Members PING

[BigBlueJon]

I know that this is a very serious situation, but I just had the most funniest vision of a half dozen greasey terrorists each strapping on 80 or so pounds of explosives and scuba equipment and slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Blub..blub..blub..gasp!

[Arkinsaw]

A blast from our Clinton Past

Coast Guard trims patrols due to pinch
Monday, May 29, 2000

SEABROOK, Texas -- Coast Guard boats that should be patrolling the Texas coast for safety violations are docked in Galveston. In Houston, helicopters that usually fly daily searches for drug smugglers are on the ground.

All along the Texas coast and into the Midwest, rising fuel costs have forced the Coast Guard to cut back nearly every type of patrol but search-and-rescue missions by about 25 percent, officials said.

"I had no other recourse," said Rear Adm. Paul Pluta, whose 8th Coast Guard District covers 26 states and includes 1,200 miles of Gulf Coast and 10,300 miles of navigable rivers.

Oil prices have increased dramatically in recent months, reaching $34 a barrel in March, almost $10 higher than in January. Prices were down to about $28 a barrel this month, but the Coast Guard still needs more money to make up for higher costs.

In the Pacific Northwest, Chief Warrant Officer Chris Haley said yesterday that the shortage is theoretical, so far. But he said his 13th District was fortunate that it had some financial cushion built in.

"They've told us to be prepared for operational cuts, and right now we're looking at our budget to see where we can cut, what we can cut, and still provide the best service to the public," Haley said.

The Coast Guard in the Northwest has not made any budget cuts yet, and a federal supplemental budget may make cuts unnecessary, Haley said. However, even if cuts are needed, he said, the Coast Guard in Seattle will try to ensure that search and rescue and other "consumer" services will not be affected.

For the 8th District, covering the cost of the higher fuel prices would take between $700,000 and $1.3 million, Pluta said. It's just the latest funding problem for a Coast Guard that's still using boats and planes dating back to the Vietnam era and before, he said.

Congress may appropriate more money to make up for the shortfall, but it could take weeks, Pluta said.

"With all the budget surplus out there, the Coast Guard should be given the money to do their job," said Frank Reynolds, 51, who keeps a 54-foot motorboat in Seabrook.

The cutbacks will mean fewer patrols for boating-safety violations, less frequent maintenance of channel markers and less time spent enforcing environmental regulations for fishing and shrimping boats, officials said.

In Galveston, the marine safety unit has reduced offshore flights and consolidated harbor patrols from three days a week to one, Lt. Marie Byrd said. In general, Coast Guard units have stopped routine safety patrols, but are responding to any reports of wrongdoing, Byrd said.

The effects stretch beyond the Texas coast.

"If the buoys aren't maintained, it could cause us problems," said Dave Harms of Lake City, Minn., who boats on the upper Mississippi River. "The barges are having enough trouble with low waters."

Shrimper Jody Collins, 53, said a lessening of the Coast Guard's presence around Seabrook may not be such a bad thing. Shrimpers already comply with environmental regulations, he said, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department duplicates many Coast Guard services, anyway.

"This is just a way for the Coast Guard to get more money," he said.

In his State of the Coast Guard address in March, Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral James Loy, said he was working with Congress and government agencies to increase funding.

The Coast Guard is feeling the pinch and that could mean more cutbacks, Jack O'Dell, a Coast Guard spokesman in Washington, said yesterday.

"People don't realize we have 3,400 people patrolling 144,000 miles of shoreline," O'Dell said. "If it's not a life-threatening situation, we have to ask how much involvement from the Coast Guard there should be."

[NautiNurse]

Ignition switch problems--otherwise ready, willing and able to patrol ping

[2sheep]

Excerpt from: Panama Canal & Hutchison Whampoa limited:

"Although presented as a commercial entity," according to the House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, "COSCO is actually an arm of the Chinese military establishment." The Clinton administration has determined that additional information concerning COSCO that appears in the Select Committee's classified Final Report cannot be made public without affecting national security." ...PRC Acquisition of U.S. Technology -- PRC Purchase of Interests in U.S. Companies ...The Cox Report

Interview with Chinese Dissident Harry Wu by J.R. Nyquist

The Chinese art of war: J.R. Nyquist shows it's just beating the superior with the inferior

CHINA'S STRATEGIC DECEPTION

COSCO CHOOSES CPR SERVICE INTO U.S. HEARTLAND

China Prepares U.S. War Scenarios

Canada Targeted by China Agents (target America?)

COSCO --

Click here for the BIG PICTURE

Right click on 2sheep to go to homepage and prophecies.  Prophet Henry Gruver said in 1995:  The next time the U.S. sends troops en masse to the Middle East, Russia and China will attack with a consortium of Arab nations, N. Korea and others.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

I hope to God all cruise ships (especially Disney line as they are so obvious) are on guard.

[SevenDaysInMay]

Cyber attacks are coming. Signal one if by Lan, two if by C.