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The BBC has defended its decision not to describe Hamas militants as "terrorists" in coverage of the recent attacks in Israel. UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the policy is "verging on disgraceful". A BBC spokesperson noted it was a long-standing position for its reporters not to use the term themselves unless attributing it to someone else. Veteran BBC foreign correspondent John Simpson said "calling someone a terrorist means you're taking sides". But Mr Shapps said the BBC needs to locate its "moral compass". "I actually think it is verging on disgraceful, this idea that there is some sort of...

Amateur radio volunteers from around the world have volunteered to assist University of Florida Professor Sam Lampotang and his engineering team in their quest to rapidly develop an open-source, low-cost patient ventilator that can be built anywhere from such commonly available components as PVC pipe and lawn-sprinkler valves.

Several high quality and cheap PCB antennas demoed for ham radio and survival communications by Survivalcomms You can click here to go to the video.

When US President Barack Obama phoned Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday night, in the middle of a security cabinet meeting, he ended any remaining doubt regarding his policy toward Israel and Hamas. Obama called Netanyahu while the premier was conferring with his senior ministers about how to proceed in Gaza. Some ministers counseled that Israel should continue to limit our forces to specific pinpoint operations aimed at destroying the tunnels of death that Hamas has dug throughout Gaza and into Israeli territory. Others argued that the only way to truly destroy the tunnels, and keep them destroyed, is for...

While frightened little school children in Israel hide under their desks during Palestinian rocket attacks, street mobs in the rest of the world are chanting “Israel must die, long live Palestine” over and over again in raucous voices growing louder. With Israel under attack, Palestinian protesters in Paris, London and in North American cities like Chicago and Calgary took to the streets in clockwork fashion. The protesters never have to duck from physical harm. They count on total impunity in the democratic settings where they conduct their activism.

This post is of interest to ham radio operators, and also anyone who wishes to monitor NOAA weather radio, police, fire, EMS, aircraft, marine, and other radio traffic using a $15 receiver plugged into your laptop. The Chinese USB "dongles", originally intended to receive the Far East mobile television service, are being re-purposed as VHF/UHF receivers for many different modulation schemes and protocols.  The software to re-purpose them runs either on a PC (Win/Mac/Linux), or on a single-board computer like a Raspberry PI (Raspian Linux). At about US$15, Ol' Backwoods just had to have one. The RTL-SDR receives on...

CAIRO: Egypt´s Islamist Freedom and Justice Party, formerly headed by President Mohamed Morsi, said on Wednesday Egypt would no longer stand by as Israel attacked Palestinians after air strikes killed a Hamas leader. The FJP, the political arm of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood movement, said Israeli air strikes that killed top militant Ahmed al-Jaabari in Gaza earlier on Wednesday required "swift Arab and international action to stop the massacres." The party, which fielded Morsi in a June election to replace toppled president Hosni Mubarak, said Israel "must take into account the changes in the Arab region and especially Egypt."

ARRL Field Day Overview ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada.  Each year over 35,000 amateurs gather with their clubs, friends or simply by themselves to operate. ARRL Field Day is not a fully adjudicated contest, which explains much of its popularity.  It is a time where many aspects of Amateur Radio come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as a contest, most groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities.  It is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Amateur Radio to local elected community...

SNIPPET: "ARRL Field Day is June 26-27, 2010 ARRL Field Day is the largest on-the-air operating event in Amateur Radio. It draws tens of thousands to the airwaves each year, bringing new and experienced hams together for a weekend of fun!" SNIPPET: "ARRL Field Day Overview ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. Each year over 35,000 amateurs gather with their clubs, friends or simply by themselves to operate. ARRL Field Day is not a fully adjudicated contest, which explains much of its popularity. It is a time where many...

[H]am radio operators will test their emergency communications capabilities with amateur radio clubs across the nation this weekend. The field day, the culmination of National Amateur Radio Week, known as the Nationwide Emergency Communications Drill, is intended to give the public a glimpse of the services amateur radio operators provide and a chance to meet the operators themselves. "In a disaster, when phone lines, cellphones and the Internet are all down, ham radio operators will be on the job," said Jon Clark, president of the Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Club. The club will set up at the north end of...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/05/un-report-israel-gaza-negligence

Cape Girardeau County emergency management director Dick Knaup and three volunteers took advantage of Tuesday's good weather... "We took the pieces of the antenna damaged by the storm off the tower and installed one new antenna and one old one," said Phil Nash, who volunteers for emergency management duties ... Amateur radio operators — nicknamed "hams" — are critical members of the communications process during an emergency. They are able to set up and operate off generators when telephones and other devices are not functioning. Knaup said amateur radio operators have a reputation for finding ingenious ways of creating a...

Is anybody near a transceiver as they read this? Please freep mail me. GeorgefromNewEngland

May 12, Gleaner News (KY) Severe weather drill highlights the importance of ham radios. In a severe weather drill Thursday, May 11, negative temperatures, freezing rain and sleet turned Henderson, KY, and its surrounding counties into a veritable ice kingdom. The objective of this drill: For emergency responders within the seven counties of the Green River Area Development District to share information regarding disaster preparedness. The event comprised three hospitals and seven counties −− Henderson, Union, Webster, Daviess, Hancock, McLean and Ohio −− and each county had to communicate with each other. Some problems involved written communications between the agencies...

Times Online January 30, 2006 Hamas faces cash crisis, as Israel stops tax funds By Sam Knight and agencies A member of the Palestinian police and Fatah supporter forces his way into the Gaza parliament, vowing that Hamas would not take control of security (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty) The price of Hamas's victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections started to become clear today as Israel refused to hand over nearly £25 million in monthly tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority. As unrest escalated on the streets - with 30 Fatah-supporting policemen briefly storming the parliament building in Ramallah this morning - the...

Amateur radio networks help victims of the hurricane With telephones down and wireless service disrupted, at least one group of people did manage last week to use technology to come to the rescue of those in need. Often unsung, amateur radio operators regularly assist in emergency situations. Hurricane Katrina was no exception. For the past week, operators of amateur, or ham, radio have been instrumental in helping residents in the hardest hit areas, including saving stranded flood victims in Louisiana and Mississippi. Public service has always been a large part of being an amateur radio operator. All operators, who use...

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, this week called on the Amateur Radio community to exercise patience as the Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans flooding relief and recovery efforts move into high gear. "I know many people would like to move now," Haynie said. "Please don't. I know many of you want to enter the fray, come to the coast and get involved. Please, not yet." Haynie instead advised hams eager to assist to make sure they're prepared, refresh their skills and knowledge of protocols and procedures. The ARRL now is seeking experienced Amateur Radio emergency volunteers to help supplement communication...

Hams Demand Apology By TIME Magazine: Hams around the U.S.A., and in other nations as well, have been writing to TIME Magazine. They are demanding an apology from TIME for failing to edit out a slur against ham radio in TIME's December 31, 2004 issue. That edition featured an article by Lev Grossman about Internet blogging. At one point, Mr. Grossman wrote this: “Before this year, blogs were a curiosity, a cult phenomenon, a faintly embarrassing hobby on the order of ham radio and stamp collecting.” KEN LINDER KC7RAD was apparently the first to spot this statement and started a...

At least four of the suspects in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center entered the United States from Canada. Suicide hijackers Mohammed Atta and Abdul Alumari crossed into Coburn Gore, Maine early that Tuesday before catching a 6 a.m. flight from Portland to Boston. From Logan Airport, they commandeered the two commercial jetliners that crashed into the World Trade Center. Other participants in the terrorist attack waltzed into the United States from locations in Canada. A third suspect appears to have entered the United States at Jackman, Maine, while others may have taken a ferry from ...

The term "HAM" is a nickname for those who participate in the hobby called amateur radio. The origin of that term is not known to us. The term "amateur" these days means "one who is not professional." Doen't know much about the subject.That was not the original meaning....(snip) Every year in June, HAMs generate disaster....(snip)Click HERE for entire article.