11
POPSFederal Air Marshals Too Busy Being Criminals to Protect You The Federal Air Marshal Service presents the image of an elite undercover force charged with making split-second decisions that could mean the difference between stopping a terrorist and shooting an innocent passenger. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general also flagged gaps in the background checks. "We can reassure the public that these dedicated professionals go out there every day and put their lives on the line to make sure that everyone is safe," Bray says. Before 9/11, the Air Marshal Service was a nearly forgotten force of 33 agents with a $4.4 million annual budget. Now housed in the Transportation Security Administration, the agency has a $786 million budget and an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 air marshals, although the official number is classified.
4
POPSWhat is Blackwater Doing in Alaska? The Blackwater guards are nominally employed by Chenega, an Alaska Native corporation associated with the Alaskan coastal village of Chenega Bay, population 86. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, architect of the “Bridge to Nowhere” and recently convicted of a seven-felony string of corruption charges, is one of the principal proponents of the anti-missile system and was also instrumental in writing laws which help secure government contracts for Alaska Native Corporations. Chenega gets contracts through the Small Business Administration, rakes off a percentage, then lets giant Blackwater provide the actual services. Since 2000 Chenega has received over $1.1 billion in sole-source or non-compete bids from the Army, Air Force and Department of Homeland Security. It's good to have friends in high places.
0
POPS Valkyrie For War Czar
that in the event of blood actually being shed, all operations should be immediately terminated and forces extricated in the most humiliating way possible, with strategy to be determined by regular polling. However, that was the 1990s, and we also know that in the post-9/11 era, Clinton briefly grew a set and strongly favored invading the heck out of belligerents who had made her husband look like an ineffective skirt-chaser. It was only the prospect of being president herself that made Hillary turn into a peacenik, but we know from the Democratic primary that Hillary does not give up. She will gouge the eyeballs out of anyone who stands in her way. News reports indicate we are being increasingly quagmirized by a bunch of 19th-century dishcloth-wearing savages in the rocky passes of the Hindu Kush, with al-Qaeda thumbing its aquiline nose from across the border in Waziristan, and the mullahs of Iran insisting on becoming a world-class nuisance, not to mention the Putinistas
0
POPSJapan's Ultra-Nationalists Live On The world, it seems, cannot yet rid itself of neo-nazies, ultra-nationalists in Japan and Russia, or various fundamentalist crazies. Let's hope that election of Senator Obama to US Presidency begins to point toward a new direction for the global society.
6
POPS‘Israel of the Caucasus’ and just as warlike!!! The list of Israeli personnel involved in either supplying arms to Georgia or training elite Georgian military units speaks volumes for the extent of Israeli involvement in a country to which it feels close psychological attachment. Kezerashvili's ties to Israel have been well known since his father told the biggest-selling Tel Aviv daily, Yediot Ahronot, a year ago: "He has a lot of friends to this day in Israel, and he has maintained good relations with them." Recently, his pro-Israeli sympathies have been fortified by Saakashvili's typically over-the-top description of his country's role in the face of Russian aggression as the "Israel of the Caucasus"
5
POPSJuan Cole's "The Coming McCain Military Draft" McCain will need to institute a draft for young American men (and, given the times, maybe for women as well). McCain, just like the recent Bush Administration's hawkish rhetoric has been proven by the Russian/Georgian conflict to be nothing more than a bluff. Sure, there was a lot of tough talk and fist shaking at the Russians but no real actions were taken against them either by the Bush Administration. I wonder if those young McCain supporters realize what they are asking for? I doubt it. Though many of us already were seeing the writing on the wall, after many started serving in these theaters on second tours, than third, than forth, than for some fifth......................, the Military nor Country can sustain these misadventures let alone protect from the Blowback which will be from the Hatreds we've created!
10
POPSWhy The Danish Bumblebee Can Fly "Tax rates... there is no evidence that these are adversely affecting the ability of these countries to compete effectively in world markets, or to deliver to their respective populations some of the highest standards of living in the world. World-class educational establishments, an extensive safety net, and a highly motivated and skilled labour force.”
3
POPS"A Window into the Future of Sound" continues Like many wonderful discoveries, the first example here arose from failure. In an attempt by the UK Ministry of Defense to find a suitable sound dampening material for their helicopters, they instead stumbled upon a unique honeycomb structure that conducts sound with surprising efficiency. The technology has since been sold to NXT Sound; marketed as SurfaceSound, the innovative design is being crafted into folding flat-panel speakers (14 mm thick) and "speakerless" automobile interiors and mobile phones.
9
POPS'Why did Neanderthals have such big noses?"
continues The traditional answer has been that Neanderthals have a big nose because they have a big mouth and a wide jaw, useful for ripping apart tough food, says Nathan Holton, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Iowa. "People have tried to explain the Neanderthal face as designed to produce high levels of bite force and trying to explain the rest of a wide nasal breath as part of a larger tend," he says. To put this theory to the test, he and University of Iowa colleague Robert Franciscus, measured facial dimensions in dozens of Neanderthals and humans, ancient and modern. By correlating changes in the size of nose width, the distance between canine teeth, and other features, the researchers could determine whether or not big mouths went with big noses. Holton and Franciscus found a slight link between nose and mouth, but not enough to explain Neanderthal noses. However, another measurement – the degree to which the face juts forward – seemed a better match for n
7
POPSMilitary Probing Abuse of Power by Top Gitmo Brass This is what an evil man looks like. He's not clad in an orange jumpsuit and his name isn't Ahmed or Salim or Omar. This heartless bastard is oddly enough, named Hartmann. You gotta laugh at the stupendous irony.in that. Smile, Mr Hartmann! You're on not-so-candid camera!
0
POPSMilitary Recruitment Center Vandalized
Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881 – June 21, 1940), nicknamed "The Fighting Quaker" and "Old Gimlet Eye", was a Major General in the U.S. Marine Corps and, at the time of his death, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history. In his 1935 book, War Is a Racket, Butler presented an exposé and trenchant condemnation of the profit motive behind warfare. His views on the subject are well summarized in the following passage from a 1935 issue of "the non-Marxist, socialist" magazine, Common Sense – one of Butler's most widely quoted statements: "I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the r
10
POPSThe real X files are revealed... Clarke said the papers showed the government could not conceal anything and that people were not going to find "that elusive bit of evidence that proves we're being visited by aliens". I am not sure that we are, yet if we do, how would humanity describe itself best?
0
POPSIdeological paradigms for Odinga's and Obama's "Change" campaign in history In any "decent" tyrant's biography, there is a "practice" run...for Herr Hitler it was Guernica...for Obama it was Kenya through his counterpart Odinga in a number of ways.Tyranny(socialism,communism) is forever tweaking itself on the insane notion that "We'll do better next time if it's only done 'right' "...such is the insanity of rebellion against God
1
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update