Here's a partial list of the titles that Jane's Information Group publishes under the category Defence Equipment Intelligence:

Air-Launched Weapons
Ammunition Handbook
Armour and Artillery
Armour and Artillery Upgrades
Electro-Optic Systems
Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Fighting Ships
Infantry Weapons
Land-Based Air Defence
Military Communications
Military Vehicles and Logistics
Mines and Mine Clearance
Naval Weapon Systems
Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence
Radar and Electronic Warfare Systems
Simulation and Training Systems
Strategic Weapon Systems
Underwater Warfare Systems
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Targets

These publications are available for sale to anyone.

Question for the British government?

Are all Jane's Information Group / Defence Equipment Intelligence customers in Britain going to face terrorism charges for possession of these materials?

Police on Thursday charged a woman on terrorism-related offences for possession of a computer hard drive loaded with operating manuals for guns, poisons, mines and munitions.

Police said the charges against the woman were connected with the arrest last month of a man caught at Heathrow airport in possession of a night vision scope and a poisons handbook.

Police said among the items on the hard drive found in her possession were the Al Qaeda Manual, The Terrorists Handbook, The Mujahideen Poisons Handbook, a manual for a Dragunov sniper rifle, The Firearms and RPG Handbook, a manual for a 9mm pistol and a manual on how to win hand to hand fighting.

She will appear at the City of Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday.
posted by Kevin at 11:48 PM

Witness for the prosecution: A former U.S. Brigadier General!

Suggestion to Janis Karpinski: Don't fly.

Just days after his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S. civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The plaintiffs in the case include 11 Iraqis who were prisoners at Abu Ghraib, as well as Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo, whom the U.S. has identified as the so-called "20th hijacker" and a would-be participant in the 9/11 hijackings. As TIME first reported in June 2005, Qahtani underwent a "special interrogation plan," personally approved by Rumsfeld, which the U.S. says produced valuable intelligence. But to obtain it, according to the log of his interrogation and government reports, Qahtani was subjected to forced nudity, sexual humiliation, religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation and other controversial interrogation techniques.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that one of the witnesses who will testify on their behalf is former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the one-time commander of all U.S. military prisons in Iraq. Karpinski --- who the lawyers say will be in Germany next week to publicly address her accusations in the case --- has issued a written statement to accompany the legal filing, which says, in part: "It was clear the knowledge and responsibility [for what happened at Abu Ghraib] goes all the way to the top of the chain of command to the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld."
posted by Kevin at 3:09 PM

Absurd financial antics in Britain:

The 'life-long mortgages' from Britain's biggest lenders are aimed at first-time buyers who are desperate to get on the property ladder.

But last night the deals were described as 'madness' by experts...
posted by Kevin at 5:12 PM

The loving liberals and the smug satisfaction after the great victory on election day...

Shit for brains Democrats doesn't cut it for me anymore. I think kapo Democrats might be much more accurate:

Kapo was a term used for certain prisoners who worked inside the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. The term originated most likely from the Italian capo (meaning: 'leader'), and referred to prisoners who have been recruited by their captors to police their fellow prisoners.

Maybe, shit for brains, kapo Democrats...

Hmm.

If you're looking for a more coherent postmortem on the election, because I can't even bring myself to take this nonsense seriously anymore, see Ceremonies of the Horsemen by Jeff Wells.

Related: Waiting for Clarity On the Brink of Oblivion
posted by Kevin at 3:48 PM

That hypocrite, speed freak, Pastor Ted, probably didn't help the PR situation either:

The summer camp featured in the documentary "Jesus Camp," which includes scenes with disgraced preacher Ted Haggard, will shut down for at least several years because of negative reaction sparked by the film, according to the camp's director.

"Right now we're just not a safe ministry," Becky Fischer, the fiery Pentecostal pastor featured in "Jesus Camp," said Tuesday.

The documentary, which hit select U.S. theaters during the summer, portrays Fischer, 55, as drill instructor to a group of young evangelical children steeling themselves for spiritual and political warfare.

Related: Fatal Serpent Handling Antics
posted by Kevin at 12:11 AM

The same slobs who have this thing on their cars probably live in homes purchased with NO MONEY DOWN! Why not just get the 125% home loan from the start and go buy a shiny new car without the payment countdown/kill switch feature? Not only can you skip the re-fi hassles down the line, you can cruise right on over to WalMart in your new SUV.

Isn't that convenient!?

It just may be the ultimate in electronic alerts.

A system being used by some Valley auto dealerships reminds subprime borrowers to make their monthly car payments on time - or else.

The system, appropriately named On Time, is a starter-interrupt system that incorporates up-to-date financing information.

Three days before borrowers must make a payment, the unit flashes the number three, with the device counting down to two days and then one day if money hasn't been received.

In the event of non-payment, the device will begin to beep, and eventually On Time will disable a vehicle.

The system, made by Sekurus Inc. of Temecula, Calif., is designed for drivers with poor credit histories, typically when buying used vehicles with financing provided by a dealer.

Alan Underwood, manager of Jones Auto Outlet in Mesa, has used On Time for more than two years.

"This is for a person who wouldn't qualify for normal bank financing due to a derogatory credit history, a bankruptcy or repossession," he said.

It also can be used for buyers with no credit history.
posted by Kevin at 7:13 PM

I love it! You might as well piss-yourself laughing as the whole damn show unwinds. It's probably too late to do much else:

"My hands involuntarily clench and my eyes bug out in disbelief to think that a measly $40 billion as reserves against a whopping $5.5 trillion in depositor liability is a trifling $0.0073 per dollar! Two-thirds of one freaking cent!"

Things are so bizarre here lately that I spend all my time in the Bunker de la Mogambo (BDLM), nervously whining and watching various meters, dials and readouts registering unusual, and scary, seismic economic activity. With my wife out shopping us into the poorhouse, I am making good use of this sudden lack of supervision to gobble Halloween candy by the handful. Now I have a stomachache, and my mood is pretty sour...fearful and sour.

I assume that part of reason I'm fearful is that Total Fed Credit is down again this week, this time by $647 million, which is not a lot, I admit, but a far cry from the customary increases of three and four billion dollars a week! So if the Fed is not creating excess credit, and hasn't been for months, where is the money coming from?

Before you answer, the Fed itself is not absorbing our debt, and their hoard declined by $1.1 billion last week. The banks unloaded $33 billion in government bonds last week, too.

Hearing the raucous sound of the Mogambo Alert Klaxon (MAK), we rush to the Teletype machine to read "Alert! Alert! Money had better start coming from some damned where, and pretty damned soon, as you cannot get rising stock prices, rising bond prices, rising real estate prices and/or rising government prices without lots and lots and lots of new money!"
posted by Kevin at 3:58 PM

A fifth grader named 'Mark' reported to Alex Jones' Infowars TV show by phone that he had been sent home with a disciplinary report for visiting 9/11 Truth websites such as Infowars.com.

The 10 year-old Steiner Ranch Elementary student (in Leander I.S.D. near Austin, Texas) says that he was browsing such sites during his Computer Lab class period when a fellow student informed on him-- as though he were doing something wrong.

"He just ran up to my teacher in front of the whole class, saying he's searching terrorist stuff about 9/11," Mark told Jones.

Mark reports that his teacher was "shocked" and told him that he "shouldn't have been looking at conspiracy theory websites."
posted by Kevin at 1:58 PM

Nice, Fall weather in Southern California:

Temperatures in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday reached 97 degrees about noon, making it the warmest Nov. 7 since such record-keeping began in 1877. The old record, 91, was set 50 years ago. Tuesday's temperature exceeded Monday's peak of 95, which also was an all-time high for the date.

The county's hottest spot, according to the National Weather Service, was Woodland Hills, where the mercury rose to 101. The old record in that west San Fernando Valley community, also set in 1956, was 94.

Records were also established in Lancaster, with a high of 85, over a previous high of 84 in 1950; Long Beach, at 92, up from 87 in 1961; Los Angeles International Airport, at 93, up from 92 in 1956; and Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, at 94, up from 92, also in 1956.
posted by Kevin at 1:07 PM

Make your time:

Never in the history of Wall Street have so many earned so much in so little time.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch & Co., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. are about to reward their 173,000 employees with $36 billion in bonuses. That's a 30 percent increase from last year's record, and it doesn't include the billions more that will be paid by Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the three largest U.S. banks, as well as the hundreds of hedge funds and private-equity firms that constitute the financial industry.

Enriched by the unprecedented value of takeovers, equity trading and credit derivatives, "this year will be the best ever for the major brokerage firms," said Brad Hintz, an analyst at Manhattan-based Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

The average windfall for each individual at the five largest U.S. securities firms will be enough to buy a $165,000 Bentley Continental GT, the two-door coupe favored by Paris Hilton and Cher. They'll have plenty of change for a box of Romeo y Julieta cigars and a case of Pol Roger champagne - the stuff enjoyed by Winston Churchill, Britain's prime minister in the 1940s and 1950s.
posted by Kevin at 4:34 AM

At least 18 Palestinians were killed as they slept this morning when Israeli tanks shelled houses in Gaza.

Women and children were among the dead in one of Israel's deadliest strikes in the territory in months.
posted by Kevin at 4:29 AM

Survival Acres offers a vast selection of dehydrated, freeze dried and bulk storable food. I was pleased to accept their sponsorship because I know that many of you are executing your plans now and might be looking to stock up on emergency food supplies.

Thanks, Survival Acres, for supporting Cryptogon, and making all of these products available to people at such affordable prices.
posted by Kevin at 7:41 PM

The tone of the emails I've been receiving has changed dramatically over the past several days.

People are now terrified about the events unfolding inside the U.S.

Panic is setting in, and for some silly reason, people think this upcoming election holds the key to the future.

Guys, wake the F up. This Republican/Democrat thing is beyond embarrassing.

Please understand: THERE ARE NO POLITICAL SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS THE U.S. IS FACING. The outcome of this election is meaningless, one way or the other. The more you keep grasping for glimmers of hope within the political system, the worse off you will be.

The appearance of choice, as a mechanism of control, has served the elite well for several decades in the U.S. Appearances broke down after the 2000 Presidential election. And the 2004 Presidential election... Excuse me while I spit out the window just thinking about the candidates. Never mind the endemic vote fraud.

Will a big Democratic win calm people down? Maybe that's what They'll allow. It might ease the panic, so the ship of fools can sail on for another few months. If They were smart, that's what They'd do. Hell, maybe it'll be Hillary in 2008, with the ability to designate any American as an enemy combatant... Sure. Tell me another one.

But then again, maybe not. Maybe it's time to rub your noses in the Freedom.

I hate to be making so many Magic 8 Ball references lately, but that's what the U.S. political system has become. Believe in that thing and it will give you the answers you're looking for. You're totally doomed and clueless, but your belief in the Magic 8 Ball is somehow comforting. By all means, vote.

Jeff Wells recently wrote:

American politics isn't just theatre; it's dinner theatre, on par with a Medieval Times franchise. It can put on a decent show: the way the white and black knights joust you'd think they meant it, and that the guy who falls off his horse really gets hurt and the champion wins something of meaning. Voters are "treated like royalty" - every man a king! - but their crowns are made of tissue paper. And while the menu is all you can eat, all you can order is bullshit.

So, let's dispence with the bullshit about U.S. elections.

What varies, with the passage of time, is the number of people who get it. As more people get it, the more dangerous the situation becomes. The Machine will destroy itself rather than lose control. As the appearance of choice fails to serve as an effective mechanism of control, more overt mechanisms of control, which have been under construction for years, will be used.

Nothing that is happening now should come as a surprise to any of you. The entire program has been spelled out on Cryptogon and other sites---never mind the thousands of books---for years. The collapse of the U.S. into overt fascism is following a fairly predictable series of events. While the exact timetable is more difficult to nail down, when the state begins to require citizens to obtain "CLEARANCE" in order to leave, you've pretty much arrived at the end of the line. And then what? What excuses will be made? When soldiers are breaking down your door, will you point your TV remote control at them and try to change the channel? Tell them you voted? Tell them you paid your taxes? Ask them to please stay away from your daughter, because she's not a terrorist?

This has all happened before (it's happening now, actually, in many parts of the world, especially where U.S. influence is pervasive). What's different is that the technologies of political control have vastly increased the strength of the iron fist. The options are: get out of the way of that thing, to the best of your ability, or be crushed by the grip of it around your neck. Some might try to attack it directly, but that option should be seen as a creative form of suicide. (Oh yeah, you can attempt to join the ranks of the regime.)

This is the warning I've been repeating for years: You do not want to try to reach the exit as millions of other people attempt to do the same thing. Waiting for clarity is not often rewarded.

Many Cryptogon readers think that they're going to hedge their bets, and stay put for as long as possible, before making a strategic move. I like all of you. I love some of you, as you are my family members and closest friends, but please hear me: To know what's coming and to think that you will be able to time your exit properly is the height of folly.

It is not easy to pull off a strategic move under "normal" circumstances. Having made a strategic move, I'm in a position to speak on this matter with authority.

It's not easy.

The path is lined with red tape and bullshit under the best of circumstances. And the window of opportunity is closing with each passing day. To think that you will be able to do it after an event, when borders are closed, or mostly closed, when internal passports may be required to travel across state lines, when the fascists must approve your exit plans, when your cash is not convertible into foreign currencies or maybe even worthless...

Friends and family, you're in a clinical state of denial.

Let's fast forward a week, a month or a year from today; nobody knows exactly when it will happen... When you could have made it to a better place, with relative ease, you sat by and waited, wished and hoped it wouldn't come to this. And now, the freeways are jammed, the airports are closed and soldiers are checking your "papers." Some number of people are being loaded onto trucks, but you can't really see past the spotlights shining at you from the checkpoint up ahead...

"Oh, God, why did I wait for it to come to this?" some of you will think as you look at your spouse and children, who will be looking back at you, wondering the same thing.
posted by Kevin at 2:38 PM

Another Cheney-related blood ritual... on election day:

Vice President Dick Cheney will spend Election Day hunting in South Dakota, his press secretary said Sunday.

It will be Cheney's first hunting trip since February, when he accidentally shot a hunting companion while attempting to fire at a covey of quail on a private ranch in Texas.

Cheney, who voted early in Wyoming, will work Monday morning at the White House, and then depart Washington for South Dakota, said Lea Anne McBride, his press secretary.

Tuesday's trip, to a private hunting lodge near Pierre, is an annual outing, said McBride. She said he spent Election Day at the same lodge four years ago.

Cheney will be accompanied by his daughter, Mary, and his political director, Mel Raines, who will help him keep track of the election returns, McBride said.

Last February 11, Cheney shot his 28-gauge shotgun during a hunting trip in Texas, striking his friend Harry Whittington in the torso, neck and face.
posted by Kevin at 3:25 AM

I don't know if this is the same system I've been reporting on recently, but this will be of special interest to those of you who were thinking about driving or walking out of the U.S. to avoid any potential problems with the U.S. Government's Magic 8 Ball.

Think again.

In addition to air and sea travel, the system will apply to people leaving and entering the U.S. in automobiles and on foot.

This is frightening, even by my standards:

The federal government disclosed details yesterday of a border-security program to screen all people who enter and leave the United States, create a terrorism risk profile of each individual and retain that information for up to 40 years.

The details, released in a notice published yesterday in the Federal Register, open a new window on the government's broad and often controversial data-collection effort directed at American and foreign travelers, which was implemented after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

While long known to scrutinize air travelers, the Department of Homeland Security is seeking to apply new technology to perform similar checks on people who enter or leave the country "by automobile or on foot," the notice said.

...

In a round-the-clock operation, targeters match names against terrorist watch lists and a host of other data to determine whether a person's background or behavior indicates a terrorist threat, a risk to border security or the potential for illegal activity. They also assess cargo.

Each traveler assessed by the center is assigned a numeric score: The higher the score, the higher the risk. A certain number of points send the traveler back for a full interview.

The Automated Targeting System relies on government databases that include law enforcement data, shipping manifests, travel itineraries and airline passenger data, such as names, addresses, credit card details and phone numbers.

The parent program, Treasury Enforcement Communications System, houses "every possible type of information from a variety of federal, state and local sources," according to a 2001 Federal Register notice.

It includes arrest records, physical descriptions and "wanted" notices. The 5.3 billion-record database was accessed 766 million times a day to process 475 million travelers, according to a 2003 Transportation Research Board study.

In yesterday's Federal Register notice, Homeland Security said it will keep people's risk profiles for up to 40 years "to cover the potentially active lifespan of individuals associated with terrorism or other criminal activities," and because "the risk assessment for individuals who are deemed low risk will be relevant if their risk profile changes in the future, for example, if terrorist associations are identified."
posted by Kevin at 11:36 PM

The diabolical fascists at U.S. Immigration didn't think Cryptogon readers should have access to the original ENDGAME planning document that I linked to yesterday. They have disabled access to the document via Cryptogon.

How many of your tax dollars are being spent to protect you from seeing public U.S. Government documents?
posted by Kevin at 2:48 PM

Family values:


posted by Kevin at 2:24 PM