WASHINGTON â It was 42 degrees and raining lightly around 3 a.m. on Monday Secret Service spotters and guard detail inside cold, sleepy, when an inebriated off-duty employee for a government intelligence agency decided it was the best a good time to fly his friendâs drone, a 2-foot-by-2-foot âquadcopterâ that sells for hundreds of dollars and is popular among hobbyists. Jefferson Memorial low-level images are so boring. Wait till the guys back at the office see THIS shi*!
But officials say the plan was foiled, perhaps by wind or a tree, or stupidity, smoke filled apartment when the employee â who has not been named by the Secret Service or charged with a crime â lost control of the drone as he operated it from an apartment just blocks from the White House. Federal Employee - First incident requires a verbal warning. You can expect a new office nick, but none of this should impact your annual bonus.
He texted his friends, worried that the drone had gone down on the White House grounds, and then went to sleep. It was not until the next morning, when he woke and learned from friends that a drone had been found at the White House, that he contacted his employer, the National Geospatial-Intelligence No Longer Mapping Agency. He then called the Secret Service and immediately began cooperating with an investigation into the incident. Still sober enuf to text and document the incident for investigators. Just to be on the safe side, don't forget to mention this incident in your next security clearance periodic reinvestigation (PR).
The manufacturer of the drone that crashed on the White House lawn earlier this week says it is working to prevent future such incidents by erecting a no-fly zone in the devices' flight software. The update will essentially prevent the popular Phantom quadcopter from flying within the D.C. airspace.
DJI, which makes the drone that buzzed the presidential grounds, said Wednesday that it's rolling out an update in the next few days that will force its drones to obey a federal no-fly notice to pilots in the Washington, D.C., area. When users are within the 15-mile restricted zone, the drone's motors will not be allowed to spin up, effectively grounding the vehicle.
The update will add a list of GPS coordinates to the drone's computer telling it where it can and can't go. Here's how that system works generally: When a drone comes within five miles of an airport, Perry explained, an altitude restriction gets applied to the drone so that it doesn't interfere with manned aircraft. Within 1.5 miles, the drone will be automatically grounded and won't be able to fly at all, requiring the user to either pull away from the no-fly zone or personally retrieve the device from where it landed.
The concept of triggering certain actions when reaching a specific geographic area is called "geofencing," and it's a common technology in smartphones.
#2
Why should DC have to live in an altered reality? I think they should have to deal with the same crap I do. Drones, ID theft, fiscal responsibility, the list goes on.
[AnNahar] Canada is lending $200 million to Ukraine to boost the strife-torn nation's economy as it battles pro-Russian separatists, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Wednesday.
Awfully generous of them. Fortunately Canada is in a sweet spot, economically, and needn't look to get paid back any time soon.
After backing stringent Western-led economic sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine, Harper said Canada now wanted to help stabilize the Ukrainian economy.
The low interest $200 million loan comes after the same amount was lent to Ukraine last September, Harper said.
Sanctions imposed by Canada targeted Russian oil industry interests and banks and the assets of Russian and pro-Russian officials, in parallel to sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union.
The additional Canadian loan comes after a resurgence in violence in eastern Ukraine which included a rocket attack on the strategic port city of Mariupol that killed 30 people at the weekend.
European Union foreign ministers are to consider a new wave of sanctions against Russia when they meet in Brussels Thursday following the latest violence.
The Canadian government said the latest financing would be "conditional on the approval of the next review of Ukraine’s International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported program."
"As with any financial support provided by Canada, the loan will include necessary safeguards to ensure accountability and transparency with respect to the use of funds," a statement said.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday its fiscal 2016 budget proposal will fund early technology development and prototyping of a "next-generation X-plane" that would eventually succeed the F-35 fighter jet being developed and built by Lockheed Martin Corp. Now that China has the plans, I guess it won't reach as far into the future as originally designed. Then again, maybe that's why China has the plans. Defense Undersecretary Frank Kendall, the Pentagon's chief arms buyer, said the funding would be part of a new "aerospace innovation initiative" aimed at ensuring that the U.S. military continued to dominate the skies despite development of so-called fifth-generation stealth fighters by China and others. Maybe next time don't put all your plans in one place. And don't put them on the internet. He told the House Armed Services Committee the initiative would be headed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, with help from the Air Force and the Navy.
Speaking with reporters during a break in the hearing, Kendall declined to give details on the amount of funding involved in the new initiative since the Pentagon's budget will not be delivered to Congress until Monday.
Lockheed, Boeing Co and Northrop Grumman Corp have urged the department to start funding a new major aircraft development program given the dearth of new programs in recent years. Dearth? Maybe because the Eff-35 sucked up every stray dollar in the budget? Kendall said the new project was meant to ensure continued work for industry design teams as development of the F-35 neared an end.
He told reporters the project would also include work on development of a next-generation propulsion system, which has already been funded under a separate program.
Kendall said it was not yet clear if the new aircraft would be manned or unmanned. He said there have been promising developments in hypersonic technology, but it would not be practical to build an aircraft as large as a fighter using that technology.
The Air Force is investigating allegations that the No. 2 commander at its prestigious Air Combat Command told lower-ranking officers that talking to members of Congress about the capabilities of the A-10 attack aircraft is tantamount to treason.
The alleged comment by Maj. Gen. James Post has stirred concern in Congress about the Air Force muzzling officers in violation of their legal rights.
"This is very serious, to accuse people of treason for communicating with Congress," Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-New Hampshire, told Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, who testified Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Post is reported to have told Air Force officers attending a recent weapons and tactics conference in Nevada that it is their duty to support the service's budget priorities by refraining from offering opinions inconsistent with those priorities. Air Force leaders have proposed retiring the A-10 fleet but Congress has refused, and some inside the Air Force have sided with Congress.
Post's alleged comments were first reported by Tony Carr, a retired Air Force officer who writes a blog called "John Q. Public." Carr said he learned of Post's comments from a number of officers who were in the audience at the time Post spoke.
Carr said Post prefaced his remark in the closed-door conference by saying, "If anyone accuses me of saying this, I will deny it." He then said, "Anyone who is passing information to Congress about A-10 capabilities is committing treason." How can it be treason if you deny what you said?
"These comments can be seen as nothing less than an attempt to intimidate subordinates into refraining from exercising their rights to free expression and civic participation," Carr wrote.
The Air Force has not disputed that Post made the comment as reported.
"We are aware of the concerns surrounding the alleged remarks made by General Post. We take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with the Secretary of the Air Force Inspector General's investigation," said Capt. Andrew Schrag, a spokesman for Air Combat Command, which is in charge of the service's combat aircraft.
Another Air Force spokesman, Maj. Colin Hughes, said the Air Force investigation began Jan. 22.
In his remarks Wednesday, Welsh said the Defense Department is overseeing an investigation of the matter by the Air Force inspector general, and said he had personally intervened by calling Post after seeing a news report about his alleged comment.
Pressed on the matter by Ayotte, Welsh said he found it "not at all" acceptable for a general to make such a comment.
"I support any airman's right to discuss anything that you would like to discuss with them and to give you their honest opinion," Welsh said. "In this particular (Post) case, with the investigation ongoing, my job is to wait until the facts are known" and then make recommendations to his civilian superiors.
"It worries me about the climate and the tone that set if members â airmen, airwomen â are told that they would be committing treason for communicating with us," Ayotte said. It worries me even more that anybody who would do this could be that high up in the armed services, but then again, certain administrations promote the political over the practical.
Ayotte said she was concerned that the Air Force is quietly trying to find out which officers talked to Congress about the A-10.
Welsh said he was unaware of any such internal investigation.
"I would be astonished by that," he said, adding, "I would not condone it." Better do something very public about it.
#2
...Check out this guy's resume'. He should know better. I'm thinking he's been promised something, quite possibly his 3rd star and a Numbered AF if he can pull it off. Remember - the number two guy is always the hatchet man.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/29/2015 14:05 Comments ||
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#4
If true, court martial him, reduce his rank to the lowest possible and give him a dishonorable discharge. Do not just let him retire for the "good of the service"
I know. It's a "dog bites man (or woman)" story, but still...
[DAWN] LAYYAH: A 35-year-old woman was mauled by a pack of stray dogs in Choubara tehsil’s Nawankot area about 50 kilometres from here on Wednesday.
Sarwar Mai, 35, of Basti Sittarwali of desert union council Nawankot, was collecting fodder from gram fields when five stray dogs attacked her and mauled her to death.
An eyewitness, Muhammad Farooq, told Dawn the face of the woman was ripped apart by the dogs and her dead body was found in four pieces.
Sarwar Mai married 18 years ago but separated from her husband and had been residing with her parents for the last 15 years.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
#2
Back in 1998 or so I went to Australia and India back to back. In both countries I was teased about American guns. In both countries wild dogs caused trouble.
In the Australian Outback a pack of dogs moved into a town and the people had to wait for the military before they could go outside. In India a pack of dogs tore apart some little girl in the streets of Hyderabad.
Laugh and tease about American guns all you want, that pack of dogs wouldn't last an hour in most US towns. Two hours in some of the more liberal areas.
#3
teased about American guns. "You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass" Yamamoto..probably not an actual quote but applicable none the less...those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it..
#5
Semi feral dogs are a big problem everywhere in India. And you can't kill them or the animal rights people go ballistic. Same thing with the friggin monkeys.
[DAWN] Hearing a petition against illegal detention of Ramzan Sugar Mill employee’s wife and his four children, the Lahore High Court on Wednesday came down on Punjab police and placed the Chiniot Saddar station house officer under court arrest.
Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu also summoned the DPO and other police officials.
A bailiff had recovered Amina Ali and her four children from Sadar police station of Chiniot. Woman’s maternal uncle Prof Mustajab Qureshi had filed the petition for the recovery of the mother and her children.
Advocate Aftab Ahmad Bajwa, petitioner’s counsel, told the court Salman Shahbaz, son of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, got Muhammad Ali, husband of Amina, abducted through police and shifted to unknown place. Ali was assistant cane manager at the sugar mill belonged to Sharif family, he said.
The counsel said a police team raided the house of Ali and also picked up his wife along with the minors.
Amina, a position holder in her master’s degree from Punjab University, told the court she was a teacher in a government school. She said the police also abducted her mother from their Model Town (Lahore) house and later threw her outside the house. Requesting the court to get her husband recovered, she burst into tears.
Sadar SHO Muhammad Younas denied the charges and told the court he never saw the woman before.
Justice Sidhu lamented that the falsity of police department had become a universal truth. He observed the affairs of Punjab police were more depressing than other provinces rather it had become an unbridled horse.
The judge got the SHO arrested by the court’s security and summoned the Chiniot DPO along with other police officials on the next hearing. He also directed the petitioner’s counsel to bring the mother of Amina and her children in the court on Thursday (today).
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2015 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] The value of assets of Punjab 1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots.... Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... abroad is more than what he owns in the country.
According to the statement of assets and liabilities submitted by him to the Election Commission, the total value of his two properties in London is over Rs153 million. On the other hand, he has assets worth Rs108.24m in the country ‐ a 553-kanal agricultural plot (Rs3.6m), two properties in Murree (Rs16.60m), investments in the industrial sector (Rs720,000), a gifted Land Cruiser (Rs20.82m) and cash and bank balance (Rs66.59m).
Posted by: Fred ||
01/29/2015 00:00 ||
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Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A Kurdish official revealed on Tuesday evening that the ISIS organization had bombed large parts and tracts of the ancient Nineveh wall, indicating that such an act violates the right of human culture and heritage.
But a historically key part of Islam in jihad mode is to destroy the past, replacing it with their Muslim present. We musn't be judgmental about such an ancient tradition.
The media official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Mosul, Saed Mimousine said in an interview for IraqiNews.com, âISIS militants blew up today large parts and expanses of the archaeological wall of Nineveh in al-Tahrir neighborhood,â explaining that, âThe terrorist group used explosives in the process of destroying the archaeological fence.â
Mimousine added, âThe Wall of Nineveh is one of the most distinctive archaeological monuments in Iraq and the Middle East,â adding that, âThe fence dates back to the Assyrian civilization.â
Mimousine stressed that, âBombing the archaeological monuments by ISIS is a flagrant violation of the right of human culture, civilization and heritage,â calling the international community to âtake a stand to curb the destruction of historic monuments.â
[AnNahar] The Iraqi government and Royal Dutch Shell signed Wednesday an agreement in principle potentially worth $11 billion (9.6 billion euros) to build a large petrochemicals plant in the country's south.
"The deal is huge and the plant should be operational in five years," oil ministry front man Assem Jihad told AFP.
The deal, which still has to be formally agreed with the Anglo-Dutch giant, was signed by Industry Minister Naseer al-Issawi and envisions what would be the region's largest petrochemicals plant near the oil city of Basra.
"A heads of agreement for a potential petrochemicals project in southern Iraq was signed by representatives of Shell and the Iraqi government," said a company front man, declining to provide further details.
Assem Jihad said the plant would produce plastics, fertilizers and other petroleum derivatives that will help diversify Iraq's economy.
A very good idea.
Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of Iraqi revenue. The price of a barrel of crude tumbled to a six-year low of just under $45 Wednesday.
Iraq's deal with the Anglo-Dutch giant still has to be formally agreed.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/29/2015 00:00 ||
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#1
very cool...let's hope the on-board avionics are un-hackable...I don't want one of the things landing on my roof :) although on some ISIS' guys roof with a lot of left over fuel would be OK...
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[AnNahar] Canada is lending $200 million to Ukraine to boost the strife-torn nation's economy as it battles pro-Russian separatists, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Wednesday.
[DAWN] Hearing a petition against illegal detention of Ramzan Sugar Mill employee’s wife and his four children, the Lahore High Court on Wednesday came down on Punjab police and placed the Chiniot Saddar station house officer under court arrest.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A Kurdish official revealed on Tuesday evening that the ISIS organization had bombed large parts and tracts of the ancient Nineveh wall, indicating that such an act violates the right of human culture and heritage.
