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Clean Up the CCT With DDOE for MLK Day
On Sat., Jan. 19, the District Department of the Environment will be hosting an invasive-plant removal project in the C&O Canal National Historic Park, along the Capital Crescent Trail. We encourage trail users, regional cyclists, and those looking to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a service project to attend. A group will meet at the upper parking lot at Fletcher's Cove at 9 a.m. on Saturday and work along the trail between the cove and the bridge at Arizona Avenue. DDOE will provide tools and gloves. Volunteers will have to complete the National Park Service's volunteer service agreement.
Register online here (be sure to choose the C&O Canal/DDOE site in the drop-down menu). The event's Facebook page can be found here.


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Vantage Point Holdings LLC has filed a $1.5 million loan to build Vantage Point Golf Center – a driving range and 3,600-square-foot clubhouse – on Macon Road near Big Orange Road in the Grays Creek floodplain in Cordova. The limited liability company closed on the property and financed it in the past week, said the LLC's manager/owner, Chris Thompson.
Thompson, who will also manage Vantage Point Golf Center, said the company hopes to break ground in the next couple of weeks and complete it by August.
The range will have 10 to 15 lighted and heated stalls, but the focus will be on grass driving. Because of the lighted area, Thompson hopes to keep the range open until about 10 p.m.
Overall, the property can handle 60 to 70 golfers at one time, Thompson said. The clubhouse will have a café, small retail area and flat-screen TVs.
Prime Contractors Inc. is the project's contractor, the architect is SpiritArchitecture Group LLC and the civil engineer is Carlson Consulting Engineers Inc. – all local companies.
Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports
– Daily News staff
Dogwood Creek, a 278-unit apartment community constructed in 1997 in Collierville, sold to New York-based Somerset Partners LLC on Wednesday, Feb. 29, for $26 million, or $93,525 per unit.
Blake Pera and Tommy Bronson III with CB Richard Ellis Memphis' Multifamily Division represented the seller, G & I V Dogwood Creek LLC, a joint venture between Memphis-based Fogelman Venture Partners and a fund managed by New York-based DRA Advisors LLC.
Dogwood Creek is a Class A property located on Houston Levee Road that comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom units that average 985 square feet. Occupancy at the time of closing was 97 percent.
"The purchaser knew the asset well and wanted to expand their market presence with one of the premier properties and locations in the market," Pera said in a statement. "The seller had the property operating at a very high level, and the buyer will be able to build upon that steady performance through modest enhancements to the asset."
– Sarah Baker
Colgan Air Inc., the regional airline owned by Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines Corp., that was involved in a fatal crash in Buffalo, N.Y., would have to pay $153,000 for failing to give crews on other flights enough time to rest, under a fine proposed Friday, March 2, by the Federal Aviation Administration. The crash raised concerns about pilot fatigue.
Colgan Air Inc. operated 17 flights from June 2008 to February 2009 in which pilots and flight attendants were scheduled to work seven days in a row, the FAA said. Regulations require crew members be given 24 hours off after working six straight days. Also, Colgan didn't give three flight attendants their required rest periods after scheduling them to work at least eight consecutive hours, the agency said.
And a pilot was scheduled for more than eight hours of flight time between rest periods, the agency said.
Continental Connection Flight 3407, which was operated by Colgan for Continental Airlines, crashed on Feb. 12, 2009, near Buffalo, killing 50 people.
– The Associated Press
Doug Alrutz, a member of the bankruptcy and creditors' rights service team at Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP, has been elected to a five-year term on the board of directors of the Mid-South Commercial Law Institute.
Alrutz concentrates his practice in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial litigation, foreclosure and collection. As a member of the MSCLI board, Mr. Alrutz will help the institute further the study of commercial and bankruptcy law and elevate its standards.
The Mid-South Commercial Law Institute is one of the legal profession's preeminent resources of continuing legal education in the area of commercial and bankruptcy law.
– Andy Meek
MAA announced Friday, March 2, the closing of a public offering of $1.955 million shares of common stock, including 255,000 shares issued and sold as a result of the full exercise of the underwriters' overallotment option.
Memphis-based MAA received approximately $119.9 million in net proceeds from the offering after deducting the underwriting discounts and estimated expenses of the offering. MAA intends to use the net proceeds to partially fund acquisition and development plans for 2012, repay existing indebtedness and other general corporate purposes.
MAA is a self-administered, self-managed apartment-only real estate investment trust, which currently owns or has ownership interest in 48,537 apartment units throughout the Sunbelt region of the U.S.
The Tennessee Wildlife Federation is accepting nominations through Tuesday, March 6, for conservation achievement.
Winners will be honored April 18 in Nashville. The federation has sponsored such annual awards since 1965.
Winners for their stewardship of wildlife and their habitat will be chosen by federation staff, board representatives, conservation professionals and members of the media.
Michael Butler, the federation's CEO, said without the contributions of past winners, the organization would have failed in its mission.
A nomination packet is at http://www.tnwf.org.
The Daily News is a supporter of The Tennessee Wildlife Federation.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center will launch its inaugural Cancer Awareness Day Tuesday, March 6, with a fundraising drive.
Researchers will collect donations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the General Education Building lobby, 8 S. Dunlap St. and outside the UTHSC bookstore in the Madison Plaza lobby, 910 Madison Ave.
The objectives of Cancer Awareness Day are to increase awareness about the prevalence of adult cancer and to raise money to support adult cancer research under way in Memphis. All donations will be used for the newly created UTHSC Cancer Research Fund.
– Taylor Shoptaw
A judge has ruled the National Labor Relations Board can require most private businesses to put up posters telling workers they have a legal right to form a union.
But U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson limited how the board can enforce the requirement. She says simply failing to display the new NLRB poster isn't automatically a legal violation without other evidence of anti-union conduct.
The new posters are required effective April 30. They explain workers' rights to bargain collectively, distribute union literature and engage in other union activities without reprisal.
Berman's ruling Friday, March 2, disappointed business groups that argued the poster is too one-sided and seems to encourage workers to join unions.
Build-A-Bear Workshop, the interactive retailer of customized stuffed animals, is honoring the 1-year anniversary of its relationship with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Throughout the year, the company will help St. Jude with several initiatives.
Build-A-Bear guests can add $1 or more to their total purchase at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores and online at buildabear.com.
The "Cause for Celebration" party program was launched a year ago. So far, the program, which asks guests to donate $10 to the hospital, has raised more than $330,000. This year, Build-A-Bear's Huggable Heroes program will award $100,000 in prizes to 10 young people who provide extraordinary service.
– Aisling Maki
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by The Daily News Publishing Co. Inc. - All Rights Reserved

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The wall- or ceiling-mounted, Targa electric projection screen is a popular choice for auditoriums, conference and lecture halls, hospitals, hotels, boardrooms, and churches. Housed in a pentagonal steel case with matching endcaps that form universal mounting brackets makes installation of the Targa easy, whether wall- or ceiling-mounted. This free-hanging, fiberglass-backed projection screen maintains flatness thanks to the weight of the screen and bottom dowel. The motor is mounted inside the roller providing a clean, low-profile appearance.
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Different Machines to Meet All Needs
To provide you with better service
Founded in 1987, Acrusher has attained 124 patents on crushers and grinding mills over the past 30 years and has more than 30 overseas offices or branches built all over the world. Keeping customers in mind, Acrusher never stops the step forward. We make evolution on the outside in order to offer you better equipment; we make revolution on the inside in order to offer you better service.
Different Machines to Meet All Needs
Russia is rich in coal resources, coal resources need to be mined and processed for the production and life. Coal is to be broken and important mill crushing equipment
Crusher for crushing stone, commonly used impact crusher, also known as sand making machine. It is developed by combining the actual situation of domestic sand making and using high-efficiency sand and gravel equipment at home and abroad. The most important feature of a good stone
The random accumulation of construction waste pollutes water resources, affects the quality of the air, and gradually penetrates into the soil, deeply polluting the earth


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Acetyl-L-Carnitine—Essential for Maintenance, Protection, and Repair
This blog does not intend to provide diagnosis...
In this article:
- Acetyl-L-Carnitine – Small Molecule with a Big Job
- ALCAR Is Safe – But Has a Few Side Effects
- ALCAR for Depression – Depends on What Kind of Depression
- What Does ALCAR Do for Cognitive Impairment and Dementia?
- Signs of Possible Cerebrovascular Insufficiency
- Vascular Disease in Patients with a Diagnosis of Dementia
- ALCAR Works Better in Combination with Other Supplements
- ALCAR for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
- ALCAR for Attention Deficit Disorder
- Established and Potential Benefits
Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC or ALCAR) has been studied as a novel treatment for depression, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), noise-induced hearing loss, acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol) overdose, hepatic encephalopathy, and other conditions.
Acetyl-L-Carnitine – Small Molecule with a Big Job
L-Carnitine is an amino acid found mainly in meats and milk products. Once ingested, L-carnitine can be converted to acetyl-l-carnitine ALCAR), which travels to all parts of the body and easily crosses the blood-brain barrier to engage in crucial cellular tasks. For example, ALCAR is needed for cell membrane functions, neurotransmission, essential fatty acid metabolism, energy metabolism, and antioxidant protection (Pettegrew et al., 2000). Preclinical studies suggest that ALCAR may increase neuroplasticity (the ability of neurons to create new connections) and neurogenesis (the growth of new brain cells) in the hippocampus (where emotional memories are stored) and prefrontal cortex (higher level thinking and modulation of emotional reactions) (Wang and Pae 2017).
ALCAR Is Safe – But Has a Few Side Effects
Although overall ALCAR is safer and lower in side effects than prescription antidepressants and drugs used to treat cognitive impairment, it does have some disadvantages. The first is that ALCAR is slow to take effect. The benefits may not be seen or two to four months. The second is that most patients will need to take many pills, on average, three 500 mg tablets once or twice a day. The third is that ALCAR can have the following side effects: diarrhea, foul-smelling urine, constipation, nausea and dyspepsia (indigestion or stomach pain). Less common side effects include insomnia, agitation, and increased appetite.
ALCAR for Depression – Depends on What Kind of Depression
Although 10 double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled (DBRPC) studies of ALCAR for depression have been done, those showing significant benefits were mainly in elderly patients, patients with dysthymia (chronic mild-to-moderate depression), and those with medical conditions such as fibromyalgia or cancer (Wang et al. 2014). Many of the older studies used outdated methodologies that would not be considered high quality by today's standards.
Nevertheless, ALCAR does benefit many patients with depression. This may be attributed to its overall positive effects on cell functions, energy metabolism, and neurotransmission. Furthermore, older patients may have a condition called 'vascular depression,' meaning depression related to a decrease in the blood supply to areas of the brain involved in mood or mood-related functions. In such cases, improving the blood supply or perfusion of the brain can improve mood, orientation, cognitive functions, memory, and behavior.
Although ALCAR is not a first-line treatment for severe depression, it should be kept in mind for patients with dysthymia, possible cerebrovascular insufficiency, fibromyalgia, or an inability to tolerate prescription antidepressant medications.
What Does ALCAR Do for Cognitive Impairment and Dementia?
Since the 1980's researches have explored the use of ALCAR for treatment of neurodegenerative disease, including age-related cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. From these studies, it is possible to identify the types of individuals who may be more likely to respond to ALCAR.
Studies of cognitive impairment and dementia found that ALCAR was most effective in patients in whom cerebrovascular insufficiency was contributing to the decline in mental abilities. As we age, circulation through the smallest capillaries tends to decrease, depriving brain cells of oxygen and nutrients. As the cells become weaker, they become more vulnerable to damage or apoptosis (cell death) from even small reductions in perfusion, which can occur if the individual becomes dehydrated or overheated, undergoes surgery, has a drop in blood pressure, engages is excess physical activity, has untreated sleep apnea, or experiences a traumatic shock.
Signs of Possible Cerebrovascular Insufficiency
Dizziness, light-headedness, transient confusion, difficulty talking or remembering, mental slowness, problems with executive functions (planning, organizing, and getting things done), sudden weakness, or falling can be indicators of vascular insufficiency. Also, cerebrovascular insufficiency can be associated with changes in behavior, such as apathy (loss of interest), anxiety, or depression. The presence of diabetes, atherosclerosis, and heart disease are additional risk factors.
Finding evidence of diffuse vascular insufficiency on the brain scan of an older patient is so common that it is often read as "normal for age." Consequently, healthcare practitioners often tell such patients that their scan was 'normal.' However, when this finding occurs in a patient who is having symptoms that could be associated with vascular insufficiency, the situation and the brain scan should be re-evaluated. When neurons are struggling to survive, it makes sense to provide them with a better supply of oxygen and vital nutrients to prevent further loss and, in some cases, to help cells recover. A little more antioxidant protection might help as well. ALCAR, nootropics, cerebrovasodilators (compounds that help blood vessels open wider), nutrients, and adaptogenic herbs can improve mitochondrial function, bolster cellular defenses and enhance recovery.
Vascular Disease in Patients with a Diagnosis of Dementia
Only about 10% or fewer dementia patients have pure vascular dementia. Yet, among patients with dementia, 75% have evidence of vascular disease. Too often, when a patient is given a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, the neurological workup and treatment attempts stop. However, such patients are often older and therefore likely to have some degree of vascular insufficiency, which may be apparent on a brain scan. Treating the vascular insufficiency with ALCAR and other brain enhancers is worth trying, even if the primary diagnosis is dementia because just a partial improvement can make a big difference in the quality of life for the patient, the family and the caregivers.
ALCAR has a place in the treatment of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) as was demonstrated in a recent DBRPCT (Young et al. 2018). In this trial, 56 patients with vascular cognitive impairment, who were already taking donepezil (Aricept) were given either 1,500 mg ALC per day or placebo for 28 weeks. In the group given ALCAR, scores on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment improved significantly compared to the placebo group. However, scores on other tests of brain function did not differ. The greatest improvements with ALCAR occurred attention and language functions.
ALCAR Works Better in Combination with Other Supplements
Living organisms are so complex that it should not surprise us to discover that aging cells do better when given multiple nutrients to shore up their intricate cellular machinery. One promising vitamin and nutraceutical formula, call "NF," improved cognitive symptoms and other brain functions. NF contains folic acid, B12, Vitamin E, S-adenosylmethionine, N-acetyl cysteine and Acetyl-L-carnitine. In studies of patients with early-stage, middle-stage, and later-stage Alzheimer's disease, those who were given NF attained significantly better scores on neuropsychiatric measures, including memory and cognitive tests (Chan et al. 2008; Remington et al. 2009, 2015). The patients in these studies tolerated the formula well. No serious side effects were reported. Further studies are needed to confirm these encouraging findings. Each component in this formula has its own health benefits and is low in side effects. For individuals with cerebrovascular vascular insufficiency, a cerebrovasodilator, for example, Picamilon, could provide additional perfusion.
ALCAR for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
Just as excess sun exposure can cause oxidative damage to the lens and retina of the eye, similarly, excess noise exposure can cause oxidative damage to the inner ear which contributes to hearing loss. Studies have shown that certain combinations of antioxidants can protect against permanent damage from noise exposure (Choi and Choi 2015). Each antioxidant protects different parts of the cells that enable us to hear. In combination, these antioxidants have synergistic effects, that is, they enhance each other's effectiveness. One combination, ALCAR plus folate and Vitamin E significantly reduced cell damage and hearing loss (Dhitavat, et al. 2005) Magnesium and Vitamin A were also beneficial. The antioxidants were most effective if given before noise exposure, within 4 hours after exposure and when continued for 9 days after exposure.
ALCAR for Attention Deficit Disorder
Studies of ALCAR for ADHD have shown mixed and inconclusive results. These inconsistencies may indicate that it is more beneficial for subtypes, rather than for ADHD overall. For example, a reanalysis of negative results in a 16-week BDRPC study of 112 children with ADHD found significant benefits in those who had the inattentive, rather than the hyperactive or mixed forms of ADHD (Arnold et al. 2007). Furthermore, several of the ADHD studies ran for only six weeks, which may not have been long enough to detect an effect with ALCAR.
Established and Potential Benefits
Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC or ALCAR) continues to be a molecule of great interest to researchers because so many important functions have been identified in preclinical research. Effects on gene activation, transcription, protection of genes involved in methylation, and numerous other functions indicate a tantalizing menu of therapeutic possibilities. Strategic combinations using ALCAR and other supplements to enhance and protect cells throughout the body will require ongoing studies.
- Chan A, Paskavitz J, Remington R, Rasmussen S, Shea TB. Efficacy of a vitamin/nutraceutical formulation for early-stage Alzheimer's disease: A 1-year, open label pilot study with a 16-month caregiver extension. Am J Alzheimer's Dis Other Demen 2008; 23: 571-85.
- Choi SH, Choi CH. Noise-Induced Neural Degeneration and Therapeutic Effect of Antioxidant Drugs. J Audiol Otol. 2015 Dec; 19(3):11-119.
- Dhitavat S, Ortiz D, Rogers E, Rivera E, Shea TB. Folate, vitamin E, and acetyl-L-carnitine provide synergistic protection against oxidative stress resulting from exposure of human neuroblastoma cells to amyloid-beta. Brain Res. 2005 Nov 9; 1061(2):114-7.
- Pettegrew JW, Levine J, McClure RJ. Acetyl-L-carnitine physical-chemical, metabolic, and therapeutic properties: relevance for its mode of action in Alzheimer's disease and geriatric depression. Mol Psych. 2000; 5:616-632.
- Remington R, Chan A, Paskavitz J, Shea TB. Efficacy of a vitamin/nutraceutical formulation for moderate-stage to later-stage Alzheimer's disease: A placebo-controlled pilot study. Am J Alzheimer's Dis Other Demen 2009; 24: 27-33.
- Remington R, Bechtel C, Larsen D, Samar A, Doshanjh L, Fishman P, et al. A phase II randomized clinical trial of a nutritional formulation for cognition and mood in Alzheimer's disease. J Alzheimer's Dis 2015; 45: 395-405.
- Wang S-M, Han C, Lee S-J, Patkar AA, Masand PS, and Pae C-U. A review of current evidence for acetyl-L-carnitine in the treatment of depression. J Psych Res. 2014; 53:30-37.
- Wang S-M and Pae C-U. Chapter 5. Acetyl-L-Carnitine, N-acetylcysteine, and Inositol in the Treatment of Psychiatric and Neuropsychiatric Disorders. In edited by PL Gerbarg, PR Muskin, and RP Brown. Complementary and integrative Treatments in psychiatric Disorder. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association Publishing. 2017, pp. 53-74.


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- Publishers
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- series: King of the Flies
Comic book series : King of the Flies
The Origin Of The World
Readers have had to wait nine months for the second chapter in Mezzo and Pirus¿s creepily sexy suburban soap opera ¿ a French Twin Peaks graphic novel as written by Stephen King and drawn by Charles Burns ¿ but here at last is the second installment. Eric the fly-head-wearing teenager is back (as well as his hapless mother and her ¿fiancé¿), as are not-quite-ingénue Marie, the worldly Sal, Denis the drug dealer and his now one-handed father, and of course the loopy retro bowling thug Ringo... plus several new cast members, including one who died at the very beginning of the first volume and has now returned to roam the earth. Once again, the story is told through a series of seemingly unrelated short stories which eventually become intricately braided into one sprawling tale of a community haunted by obsession, rage, regret and despair ¿ in sum, a graphic novel for the 21st century. 64 pages of full-color comics


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In the classic story "Mary Poppins", the lead character told the children she was caring for that she would stay until the wind changed.
Things are a little different in Britain. In many parts of the US, the wind changes every five minutes, but she meant that there was a season (and a reason) she would remain and the wind would be a harbinger that her job was done and she would move on.
We might like to think that on a cosmic scale, things are more predictable than the weather in Kentucky but, if they are, it is only slightly. Researchers benefiting from data gathered by 11 spacecraft over four decades have determined that even the interstellar wind - the particles streaming into the solar system from interstellar space - changes direction.
Vestiges of the interstellar wind flowing into what's called the heliosphere -- the vast bubble filled by the sun's own constant flow of particles, the solar wind – is one of the ways scientists can observe what lies just outside of our own home, in the galactic cloud through which the solar system travels. The heliosphere is situated near the inside edge of an interstellar cloud and the two move past each other at a velocity of 50,000 miles per hour. This motion creates a wind of neutral interstellar atoms blowing past Earth, of which helium is the easiest to measure.
"Because the sun is moving though this cloud, interstellar atoms penetrate into the solar system," said Priscilla Frisch, an astrophysicist at the University of Chicago and the lead author on the paper. "The charged particles in the interstellar wind don't do a good job of reaching the inner solar system, but many of the atoms in the wind are neutral. These can penetrate close to Earth and can be measured."
Frisch became interested in this subject when results in January 2012 from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, showed that the interstellar wind was entering the heliosphere from a slightly different direction than had been observed by NASA's Ulysses mission in the 1990s. Frisch and her colleagues set out to gather as much evidence from as many sources as they could to determine whether the newer instruments simply provided more accurate results, or whether the wind direction itself changed over the years.
The earliest historical data on the interstellar wind comes from the 1970s from the U.S. Department of Defense's Space Test Program 72-1 and SOLRAD 11B, NASA's Mariner, and the Soviet Prognoz 6. While instruments have improved since the 1970s, comparing information from several sets of observations helped the researchers gain confidence in results from that early data. The team went on to look at another seven data sets including the Ulysses information from 1990 to 2001, and more recent data from IBEX, as well as four other NASA missions: the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, the Advanced Composition Explorer, or ACE, the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer, and the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging mission, or MESSENGER, currently in orbit around Mercury. The eleventh set of observations came from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Nuzomi.
"The direction of the wind obtained from the most recent data does not agree with the direction obtained from the earlier measurements, suggesting that the wind itself has changed over time," said Eric Christian, the IBEX mission scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "It's an intriguing result, which relied on looking at a suite of data measured in a bunch of different ways."
The various sets of observations relied on three different methods to measure the incoming interstellar wind. IBEX and Ulysses directly measure neutral helium atoms as they coursed through the inner solar system. IBEX's measurements are made close to Earth, while Ulysses' measurements reach out to the orbit of Jupiter.
The earliest measurements in the 1970s observed fluorescence that occurs when the extreme ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun scatters off the interstellar helium wind passing by the sun. Neutral helium atoms get caught by the sun's gravity, forming a focusing cone. As radiation from the sun bounces off these atoms, they give off light. Measuring the light provides information about the helium inflow direction.
The third technique to measure the helium wind relies on the fact that after this interaction with the sun's radiation, a fraction of neutral helium atoms gain an electron, and thus become charged. Many instruments in space are geared to study charged particles, such as instruments on NASA's STEREO and ACE. Such instruments can measure the longitudinal direction of the particle wind, providing one last set of historical observations to round out the picture.
The data from these diverse sources shows that the direction of the interstellar wind has changed some 4 to 9 degrees over the last 40 years.
"Previously we thought the local interstellar medium was very constant, but these results show that it is highly dynamic, as is the heliosphere's interaction with it," said David McComas, IBEX principal investigator at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.
While the reason for – and, indeed, the exact timing of – the shift is still unclear, Frisch pointed out that scientists know our solar system is close to the edge of the local interstellar cloud. Such an area of the galaxy might experience turbulence, and as we hurtle through space, the heliosphere could be exposed to different directions of wind. While the scientists don't yet know for sure how the direction switch happened, the team believes that additional observations should ultimately explain its cause, giving us even more information about the galaxy that surrounds us.
Citation: P. C. Frisch, M. Bzowski, G. Livadiotis, D. J. McComas, E. Moebius, H.-R. Mueller, W. R. Pryor, N. A. Schwadron, J. M. Sokół, J. V. Vallerga, and J. M. Ajello, '
Decades-Long Changes of the Interstellar Wind Through Our Solar System
', Science 6 September 2013: 341 (6150), 1080-1082, DOI:10.1126/science.1239925


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Friday, December 27, 2013
Fitness Friday: Christmas Favorites
Raw Threads Princess in Training Hoodie
I was first introduced to Raw Threads at the 2013 Disney World Marathon Weekend Expo when the runDisney booth ran out of Goofy Merchandise. Raw Threads had 39.3 shirts available, so I bought one and I fell in love. I absolutely love the material of their clothing. It's very lightweight and incredibly soft. Raw Threads also offers a wide variety of tops/clothing for your favorite runDisney race. Looking to dress as a Princess for Princess Weekend? Check out their Princess Tops. Want to dress as your favorite Villain for your next runDisney race? Check out their selection of Villain collection! The variety and selection is (almost) endless. I cannot say enough good things about this company.
I'm running the Glass Slipper Challenge during Princess Weekend in Disney World, so I'm warning you now, you will see this shirt a LOT over the next few months! :0)
I was SO excited to see this Raw Threads Princess hoodie in the box I unwrapped! Insert: awkward looking surprise face.
Rumble Roller
Do not let this "foam roller" fool you – it IS every bit as painful as it looks. Why did I ask for a Rumble Roller Christmas? Well, I saw this bad boy in Dick's Sporting Goods one day and decided to give it a whirl. I had two requirements I was looking for in a foam roller – I wanted one that wouldn't break down as quickly as my other foam rollers had in the past and it needed to give me a bit of a deeper massage than my other rollers. Hopefully this one will do the trick!
Mizuno Wave Inspire 9's
The final gift on my fitness favorites list is my brand new Mizuno Wave Inspire 9's. I began running in Mizuno's when the Mezamashii Project was introduced. While waiting for the brand new Wave Paradox, being introduced in January (which is replacing my old shoe, the Wave Nirvana), I'm wearing Wave Inspire's in the interim. Got it? That's a lot of Wave's! :0)
This color is absolutely my favorite!
After opening a few gifts for themselves, my dogs thought EVERY gift was for them! It was really funny!
I actually received 2 pair of Wave Inspires – one from my parents and the other from Jason. I kind of already started running in my pair from Jason a few weeks ago…
….so what I received was an empty box! Yeah, whoops.
I'm very excited to continue running in these and can't wait for the brand new Mizuno Wave Paradox (although I'm all set for a little while)!
Did you receive any fitness related items for Christmas? Please share! I want to hear all about your new goodies!
Disclaimer: All of these items were given to me as gifts from family which were purchased by my family. None of these items were received as compensation or for a review. All opinions are my own.
30 comments:
Santa must be a runner LOLReplyDelete
My fav fit gift was P90X3! I WANT a rumble roller!Replies
Hah Although Santa is not a runner, he did a very good job with the gifts! :0) I bet P90X3 is awesome!! Glad you had a good Christmas, Jill! :0)Delete
Brooks Pure Flows and Advanced Marathoning book!!!!!ReplyDeleteReplies
Awesome! Sounds like a great Christmas to me! :0)Delete
I looovveee raw threads. So, so soft, sweetest people ever, too.ReplyDelete
Thinking back....I don't think I got any running related items this year, HA!Replies
Yes, but you received other fun goodies instead! ;0) Agreed, I love Raw Threads!Delete
LOVE that photo of you opening the hoodie! Classic! :) My favorite fitness gift was a new gym bag...I desperately needed one! -ChristineReplyDeleteReplies
Haha thanks, Christine! Yay for a new gym bag!! Awesome gift! :0)Delete
I love the look on your face when you opened your hoodie. So cute!ReplyDelete
I got a Garmin Forerunner 220, which is super awesome. I sort of ruined the surprise for my husband as I tried to get it myself a few weeks before and had to come clean. I
I am scared of that Rumble Roller! I barely use my foam roller (though I should). I'll be interested in how you like it.Replies
Thanks, Kimberly! Sorry about the Forerunner surprise...but that's a great gift! Hope you enjoy it! The Rumble Roller and I haven't become friends yet...not sure if that will ever happen!Delete
My dogs did the same thing Karen! They were crazyexcited about all the gifts because they thought they all had treats in them! My oldest dog actually got excited when I started taking the stockings down, I guess she remembered from last year???ReplyDeleteReplies
SO funny!! Dogs are smart, I bet they did remember from last year!Delete
Love that you were super excited and surprised to get the hoodie! I love surprises too! I received several running items ( lots of clothes, cold weather accessories, and some running jewelry). One of our older labs loved opening gifts too and thought everything was for her! The lab we have now could care less about opening gifts so she let's our other dog open them and then she runs off with the present!ReplyDeleteReplies
That's too funny...dogs crack me up! Sounds like you racked up on running goodies!! :0)Delete
I LOVE the color of your Mizunos.ReplyDelete
Great gifts!Replies
Thanks, Abby! So do I! :0)Delete
By the way, are you going to be at the PHM meet up on Friday at the Polynesian resort? It's being Hosted by Meg at Runaway Royalty.ReplyDeleteReplies
I just discovered this meetup through twitter last week (I also found the fb group)! I would love to attend...hope it all works out!Delete
Love the hoodie! All my running skirts are from raw threads, but I think I need to branch out into tops as well.ReplyDelete
Sounds like you had a fantastic Christmas! :)Replies
Thanks, I did! Hope you had a great Christmas as well! :0) I don't have any RT running skirts...might have to look into those in the future! :0)Delete
Super cute shirt!!ReplyDelete
I was very happy to receive new YakTrax this year and about 10 tubs of electrolyte tabs! I think I'm all set for Glass Slipper Training now :) HahaReplies
Sounds like you are!! Love it! Glad you had a good Christmas! :0)Delete
aww yeah for purely twins and all the good things they do like those shirts!!ReplyDeleteReplies
Agreed! :0) Hope you had a great Christmas, Amanda!Delete
- AnonymousDecember 30, 2013 at 8:29 AM
You were a good girl this year!!! LOL! LOVE your Princess RawThreads top and you scored the Rumble Roller!!!! Love mine! It does the trickReplyDeleteReplies
Thanks, Nicole! It's starting to grow on me...Delete
I saw the Rumble Roller in the store the other day and it is way more intimidating than the Grid I have! Let us know how it works out!ReplyDelete
Love your running related gifts!Replies
Will do! It's growing on me...slowly. LOLDelete
I got the same Princess Raw Threads top, and i LOVE IT! it's so comfortable...I don't ever want to take it off. I was thrilled to also get my first Garmin watch, the Forerunner 220. Now I just need to figure out how to use it!ReplyDeleteReplies
Yes! I feel the same way...love it! Yay for a Garmin!! You're going to love it!Delete
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In 2011, as I prepared for my first expedition to Papua New Guinea, I stumbled upon an article from a 1932 issue of Natural History entitled "A Tenderfoot Explorer in New Guinea." Like me, the author was only twenty-three years old and inexperienced in the field, and he had been given the opportunity to travel to New Guinea to collect birds. The difference was that in the eighty years that separated us, he had become one of the most eminent writers and thinkers in evolutionary biology, Ernst Mayr. Thinking of Mayr, who died at the age of 100 in 2005, as an anxious young scientist packing for his first field expedition was both strange and comforting.
While Mayr was in New Guinea to collect as many rare and spectacular species as he could find, I was there with a more specific goal. As a PhD student, I had been given the opportunity to investigate speciation in a group of closely related finch species called munias (genus Lonchura). These small seed-eating birds are close relatives of the zebra finch, a model organism for song learning and passerine genomics. While they lack the bright colors and ornamental plumage of much of New Guinea's avifauna, the twelve species I am studying exhibit a diversity of handsome black, brown, and white plumage patterns.
The birds frequent grassy areas near gardens and villages; there my assistants and I set up mist nets to catch them. We photograph the birds, weigh them, take measurements, and take samples of blood and feathers. We also collect museum specimens and take tissue samples. These activities may not seem as glamorous as those of New Guinea's pioneer ornithologists, but our work is part of a new era of exploration. I am using the munias to understand, at the genomic level, the process of speciation that Mayr first described. With the tools of molecular genetics at our disposal, even the most common birds can reveal fascinating secrets.
Since my first trip in early 2011, I have traveled to New Guinea four times. When I returned from my last trip, my fieldwork completed, I reread Mayr's essay. His conclusion, about the formative effects of fieldwork on a young biologist, could have been written for me:
Looking back on my first expedition, I value more than the discovery of many specimens and facts new to science, the education that it was for me. The daily fight with unknown difficulties, the need for initiative . . . and all the other odds and ends of such an expedition, accomplish a development of character that cannot be had in the routine of civilized life. And this combined with a treasury of memories, is ample pay for all the hardships, worries, and troubles that so often lead us to the verge of desperation in the scientific work that takes us into the field.
Mayr's first trip to New Guinea would spark a distinguished career. Only time will tell what the result for me will be. But despite everything we have learned in the past eighty years, we still have so much more to discover. That is what drives me to keep exploring.


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Editor's Note: The following article is reprinted from the Today @ PC World blog at PCWorld.com.
Facing a growing chorus of dissatisfaction from users, pundits, critics, and lawmakers, Facebook is reportedly holding an all hands meeting on to address the company's latest privacy backlash. It's unknown what the social network intends to discuss at its meeting, but the company may consider temporarily suspending its new Instant Personalization feature, according to All Facebook.
The recent backlash and privacy concerns about Facebook began shortly after the company's F8 developer's conference in late April. During the conference's keynote speech, Facebook unveiled a variety of new user features, including the universal Like button and Instant Personalization, a feature that allows a Web site to cater to your personal tastes based on information from your Facebook profile.
The social network also unveiled other features such as the Open Graph API and social plugins, all of which are meant to add a social dimension to your user experience as you visit sites outside of Facebook. When you visit a site like CNN.com, for example, the activity stream plugin can show you a list of actions your Facebook friends have taken on the site such as what articles they have liked or recommended.
The FTC
Less than a week after Facebook unveiled its new features at F8, four U.S. Senators—Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Al Franken (D-Minn.), and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)—asked the Federal Trade Comission to set privacy rules for online social networks. The four senators also sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg detailing their concerns with Facebook's expansion of publicly available data, the company's third-party data storage policies, and privacy concerns surrounding the Instant Personalization service. Then, in early May, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and 14 other public interest groups lodged a formal complaint against Facebook with the FTC. The goal is to "restore privacy settings that were previously available…give users meaningful control over personal information, and seek other appropriate injunctive and compensatory relief."
Chief among the privacy complaints were concerns over the Instant Personalization service, and how difficult Facebook makes it to block the service completely. The complaint also took issue with Facebook's decision to make a user's likes and interests publicly available by default despite the fact that a majority of users signed up for Facebook with the understanding that information would remain private. The complaint also says Facebook's Privacy Policy is "designed to confuse users and to frustrate attempts to limit the public disclosure of personal information that many Facebook users choose to share only with family and friends."
As part of the complaint to the FTC, the public interest groups pointed to user dissatisfaction by listing several user groups that oppose Facebook changes such as the group Millions Against Facebook's Privacy Policies and Layout Redesign. The group has more than 2 million Facebook users and informs members of "privacy policy changes and attempts to inform users on how to protect their personal information," according to the complaint to the FTC.
There have also been several interesting reports on Facebook's expanding disclosure of user information. IBM researcher Matt McKeon posted an interactive graphic entitled The Evolution of Privacy on Facebook, which shows how making user information public by default has progressed over time.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Deeplinks Blog posted a timeline showing how Facebook's privacy policies have changed. Finally, on Thursday, The New York Times posted its own graphic called Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options that says you need to click through "50 settings with more than 170 options" to fully manage your privacy on Facebook.
Statements in the media
Attempting to confront concerns over Facebook and privacy issues, several Facebook executives have made public statements in recent weeks. In an interview with Computerworld, Ethan Beard, director of Facebook's developer network defended Facebook, saying that user response to Facebook's expanded features had been "overwhelmingly positive."
Several days later, responding to user questions in The New York Times, Elliot Schrage, vice president for public policy at Facebook, acknowledged user concerns over Facebook's recent changes, and said the social network intends to improve its "efforts to provide better guidance to those confused about how to control sharing and maintain privacy."
Perhaps Thursday's all hands meeting is the beginning of Facebook's effort to improve user guidance on issues of sharing and privacy as Schrage mentioned, or maybe the company is considering a roll back of new features as All Facebook suggests. Regardless, it will be interesting to see if Facebook announces any changes to its new features in the coming days, as the network attempts to deal with recent criticisms over its new features and data sharing policies.


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I don't usually stream Netflix onto my television to probe the inner workings of my mind, but it had that effect not long ago. While I was catching an old episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the actors' voices lagged a fraction of a second behind the movement of their mouths, making me so disoriented it completely ruined the show. Soon my irritation turned to puzzlement, and some self-observation allowed me to track my frustration to a precise source. I didn't care that the ominous soundtrack rose half a second late when Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe crept into the subway tunnel where they were about to find a body. I didn't care that the show's trademark duh-dung! sound marking a new scene was still duh-dung-ing after the scene started. It was only when people talked that I went batty. I would watch the characters speak, and then I'd switch to listening to them, and then I'd watch them speak again. I just couldn't meld the two streams of information in my head.
Thanks to Netflix, I was confronted with one of the most crucial tricks that the human brain uses to make sense of the world: combining input from all five senses into a single, coherent experience, updated many times a second in virtually real time. Because the techniques our brains use to meld the senses are far from perfect, it turns out, we can fall prey to a variety of illusions—and to maddening confusion when Netflix delivers audio and video out of sync.
Neuroscientists have come a long way since the mid-1900s, when they launched their first efforts to map out the brain's sensory pathways. They identified regions of the brain that became active when people saw things, other regions that became active when they heard sounds, and so on through the list of senses. The implications seemed straightforward enough. Separate systems of neurons handled information from different senses. Only after each system had produced a sophisticated representation of the world did the brain combine their perceptions into one experience of reality, like a film editor adding a soundtrack to a movie.
But later scientists began to discover that the brain sometimes broke these rules. And out of that rule-breaking came some intriguing illusions. One of the most famous such illusions is known as the McGurk Effect, named for its discoverer, Harry McGurk, a developmental psychologist at the University of Surrey in England. In the 1970s he filmed people repeatedly making the sound ga. Then he had a new audio track laid over the film so that ga was replaced with the sound ba. The new audio and video were perfectly in sync. Many people who watched the movie were sure that the speakers were actually saying da, a different syllable entirely. If they closed their eyes, they heard the correct ba. When they opened their eyes, it became da again. (If you don't know about the McGurk Effect, you may want to experience it via this very impressive video.)
Today a new generation of scientists is discovering just how powerful the McGurk Effect really is. University of California, Los Angeles, psychologist Ladan Shams has been able to create a McGurk-like illusion by displaying a flash paired with varying numbers of corresponding beeps. If Shams delivered a flash with a pair of beeps, participants were more likely to say they also saw two flashes.
These illusions provide evidence of a powerful strategy our brains use to cope with the uncertain signals we get from our senses. Certain regions of the brain take input from two or more senses and then combine them in a single sensory channel to sharpen the information overall.
Michael Beauchamp and Audrey Nath, neuroscientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, have pinpointed one of the crucial nodes where these streams of information meet. They delivered short magnetic pulses that briefly shut down different parts of the brain. When they applied the pulses to a strip of the brain near the ear, a region called the superior temporal sulcus, the McGurk Effect was diminished.
Beauchamp and Nath followed up on that study with a new one in which they scanned people's brains with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as they played McGurk videos of mismatched sounds and lip movements. They found that the left superior temporal sulcus became more active in people who experienced the illusion and remained less active in those who didn't. Beauchamp and Nath's work suggests that when the illusion occurs, it is because the superior temporal sulcus discounts some of the signals coming from one sensory region of the brain in favor of others.
We don't mix up our senses willy-nilly, however. There is a window of less than a tenth of a second in which a stimulus from one sense can affect the others. As my misadventure with Netflix showed, my brain was accustomed to balancing sight and sound to make sense of what people were saying without my even noticing, but the sound lag during that episode of Law and Order was so wide that the two sensory streams created confusion instead.
Sight and sound are not the only senses we mingle in our brains. What we touch can affect what we see or hear. Our very understanding of the shape of our own body can be informed not just directly, through our eyes, but also by the pressure of our feet on the ground, the stretch of ligaments in our shoulders, and the wiggle of balance-sensing nerve hairs in our inner ears. Together, our senses let us control our bodies, keeping us from falling over every time we stand up.
But this much integration comes with an astonishing ability to be duped. In 1998 Matthew Botvinick and Jonathan Cohen, two psychologists then at the University of Pittsburgh, found they could make people feel as if a rubber hand were really their own. All they had to do was put a rubber hand in front of their subjects and have them put their real hand behind a screen. The scientists simultaneously began to stroke the real hand and the fake one with paintbrushes. In a matter of seconds, people reported that the rubber hand felt as if it were part of their own body and that they even felt it being stroked.
Neuroscientist Valeria Petkova of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden expanded the rubber hand illusion in 2008. Instead of making people feel a rubber hand was part of their body, she wanted to swap entire bodies. First she had volunteers put on goggles fitted with video screens for lenses. The lenses, in turn, transmitted video from cameras positioned to correspond to a mannequin's eyes. The cameras were pointed down at the mannequin's body, so that the mannequin seemed to occupy the precise position of the volunteer's own body. One scientist stroked the abdomen of the mannequin, while another stroked the abdomens of the volunteers. The effect has been described as a total body swap—the synchronized acts of stroking made participants feel as if the mannequin's body were their own.
These results were intriguing but based largely on what the volunteers told Petkova about how they felt. That left the researchers wondering what was actually going on in their brains. To find out, they redesigned the experiment so that the volunteers lay in an fMRI scanner that recorded their brain activity. While the scan was in progress, participants looked down at their bodies and a scientist stroked their hand or abdomen. Then the scientists again took participants through the whole-body swap. Once the volunteers felt that the mannequin's body was their own, the same brain regions became active as when they actually looked down at their own bodies.
The tricks we use to integrate our senses take time to develop. As children grow up, they get better and better at combining sights and sounds. When scientists compare children of the same age, they discover a fascinating pattern: The ones who are better at combining sights and sounds tend to score higher on intelligence tests. It's possible, some scientists suggest, that helping children combine their senses through training exercises will enable them to do better in school. Manipulating our senses could also help people who have lost a limb. Researchers at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago are using the rubber hand illusion to teach amputees to feel artificial limbs as their own.
Learning how the brain mingles its senses can do more than shed light on the latest glitch in streaming video. It may also be able to help some people rewire their sense of reality for their own good.
Carl Zimmer is an award-winning biology writer and author of The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution.
He also has a blog called The Loom on this site.


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13 And as he went forth out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Teacher, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings! 2 And Jesus said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat on the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and [a]James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished? 5 And Jesus began to say unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. 6 Many shall come in my name, saying, I am he; and shall lead many astray. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be not troubled: these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be earthquakes in divers places; there shall be famines: these things are the beginning of travail.
9 But take ye heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in synagogues shall ye be beaten; and before governors and kings shall ye stand for my sake, for a testimony unto them. 10 And the [b]gospel must first be preached unto all the nations. 11 And when they lead you to judgment, and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother shall [c]deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children shall rise up against parents, and [d]cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
14 But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains: 15 and let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house: 16 and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. 17 But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! 18 And pray ye that it be not in the winter. 19 For those days shall be tribulation, such as there hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never shall be. 20 And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ; or, Lo, there; believe [e]it not: 22 for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But take ye heed: behold, I have told you all things beforehand.
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 25 and the stars shall be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken. 26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send forth the angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
28 Now from the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh; 29 even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that [f]he is nigh, even at the doors. 30 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished. 31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 32 But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch [g]and pray: for ye know not when the time is. 34 It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his [h]servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch. 35 Watch therefore: for ye know not when the lord of the house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrowing, or in the morning; 36 lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
- Mark 13:3 Or, Jacob
- Mark 13:10 See marginal note on 1:1.
- Mark 13:12 See 3:19.
- Mark 13:12 Or, put them to death
- Mark 13:21 Or, him
- Mark 13:29 Or, it
- Mark 13:33 Some ancient authorities omit and pray.
- Mark 13:34 Greek bondservants.


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Bob Woodward's "Obama's Wars" Gives Us Ringside Seats in How Pentagon "Rolled" the President
It's amazing, isn't it, how quickly Afghanistan can fall off the front page or off the news cycle. And then something horrible will bring it back. But only briefly.
Like in this news, an Afghan guy dressed in a soldier's uniform drove into a crowd that had gathered to see what US and NATO troops were up to in their neighborhood park. The guy donated a bomb – and people were killed – including 3 American soldiers. The park was in a relatively peaceful area of northern Afghanistan.
Then, there's "news" that seems to tell us 'everything is okay, and everything is under control', what with the new security arrangement between the U.S. and the Karzai government. On April 8th, it was announced that we and Afghanistan had signed a deal on the despised US-led night military operations – long an "obstacle to a long-term strategic partnership between the two countries, including a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after 2014, when all foreign combat troops are set to leave the country."
So, with this new deal, the Afghan Special Operations Unit – a newly formed group — will have the authority to search houses and private compounds and arrest suspected insurgents, while U.S. forces will provide support "only as required or requested."
This all is in the context of the Obama administration getting ready for a NATO summit this May on the future role of US forces in Afghanistan. Reportedly, the summit of members of the U.S.-led military coalition and Afghan President Hamid Karzai "is not expected to determine the pace at which coalition combat troops will be withdrawn over the next 19 months, or the size of a U.S. follow-on force, but rather to confirm that the coalition will move into a support role for Afghan forces sometime next year."
The training of Afghanistan's security forces has been a key element in the White House and Obama's withdrawal planning. Expected to reach their combined numbers of 352,000, the training of Afghan army and national police is supposed to be several months ahead of schedule. But, we'll see what the news brings. And how quickly Afghanistan falls off that frontpage or news screen.
So, it's our job – us – the alternative press – to keep Afghanistan in the news, in front of our fellow citizens, to keep the pressure on the White House and Pentagon. Because we do need to get the hell out of Afghanistan. Now.
In my first part of this series, I made the observation that, based on Bob Woodward's book, "Obama's Wars", Woodward gave us:
a front row seat into how the US military overrode a sitting President of the US on the very critical issue of war.
I made the outrageous claim that "the Pentagon railroaded Obama by boxing him in on his options, and substituted their strategy and plan for Afghanistan for his – the President's." I continued:
Without letting Obama off the hook for the final decisions about Afghanistan, the record does show that he was frustrated, cut-off, insulted, threatened implicitly, lied to, usurped, blocked, delayed, undermined, undercut, disobeyed, manipulated, "rolled" and maneuvered into accepting the Afghan war plan of the generals and admirals.
During the White House's Strategic Review of its plans for Afghanistan back in 2009, the Pentagon continuously refused to provide the President with serious and adequate options – despite his repeated and more and more frustrated requests and appeals. …[T]op Pentagon honchos undermined Obama's decisions constantly, by questioning them after initially agreeing to them, and by finding exceptions to what they agreed upon.
The military establishment forced the President into a box, where the Pentagon's option was the "last to stand". And in doing so, the military determined US policy in Afghanistan and circumvented civilian control of the military.
And now I'm back to substantiate this claim in this and a third part.
Based on my study of Woodward observations and analysis in his "Obama's Wars", he cited numerous incidences where the Pentagon chieftains overrode the sitting US President, Barack Obama, in formulating a military strategy for Afghanistan.
Fall 2009: Strategic Review of Options for Afghanistan
During the Fall of 2009 – a year after he was elected – President Obama began a Strategic Review of the Administration's options in the Afghanistan war, then in its 8th year. During this period the White House was developing its idea of a Counter Terrorism plan for Afghanistan. The basic idea was that this plan would involve two forces of 10,000 troops each. One would go after the Taliban, and the other would train the new Afghan army. Vice-President Joe Biden was taking the lead for the White House in building support for this option and sounding out the military on the Counter Terrorism idea.
Yet at the same time, General Stanley McCrystal – then the top US commander of our and NATO forces in Afghanistan – had a different plan. His plan called for an additional 40,000 American troops and which amounted to a totally different approach to the conflict.
Most of the top honchos at the Pentagon supported Gen. McCrystal's plan while despising the White House plan. Chief among these high-level uniforms was Admiral Michael Mullen, then the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – the very highest military official in the land – our land. It turns out – as Woodward noted – Mullen did not even want the Administration's option discussed and debated at the White House because he was so adverse to it. The admiral even refused to provide Biden and his uniformed allies the necessary information or data on it. (Woodward, pg. 236.)
For Obama, as I mentioned, the strategy in Afghanistan was based on the key element of transferring "security" to the Afghan government. The President's idea was to remove US troops when their Afghan counterparts were trained to successfully engage in the conflict. To this end, at an October 14, 2009 meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), the President discussed the ideas of "reconciliation and reintegration" – meaning reconciling with local tribal chiefs and former-Taliban elements, and reintegrating them into the governmental structures in Afghanistan.
This discussion forced an open display of division within the top echelons of the military – right in front of the President – which was verboten. Obama had turned to General Petraeus, then Commander of the US Central Command, near the end of the meeting and directly asked him about his experiences with reconciliation in Iraq.
As Petraeus was about to present his memo on the issue to the President – his commander in chief, Admiral Mullen – who had not seen it and who outranked the general – blocked Petraeus from handing Obama the memo and refused to allow him to response using his documents. Petraeus was then forced to proceed with his briefing without the famous memo – which Obama never did see. (Pg. 239- 241.) So, open discussion and debate was thwarted right then and there.
To bolster their plan of counter terrorism, the White House wanted the Pentagon to run war games on the option to flesh out details and figure out what additional planning was needed. But both General Petraeus and Mullen squashed the idea – successfully. The Pentagon never did run war games on Obama's option, but yet, that fact remained unclear to the President – as it appears that he believed that they had, and was relying on the Pentagon's analysis of the results. (Pg. 245.) Petraeus is now CIA Director.
Woodward documents how the tensions began to build between the White House and the Pentagon on which way to proceed in Afghanistan. Then-CIA Director Leon Panetta – siding with the Pentagon – wanted the White House to face reality. Woodward quotes sources that said that Panetta's advice to the President's aids was:
"No Democratic president can go against military advice, especially if he asked for it. So just do it. Do what they say." (Pg. 247.)
Panetta is now Secretary of Defense.
On the issue of Pentagon troop requests for Afghanistan, then White House National Security Adviser, General James Jones, a retired Marine, had been reviewing this history. Jones had come to the conclusion that former President Bush and his Robert Gates – his defense chief – had been punting for years – pushing key decisions about troop build-ups down the road. As he tried to patch this history together for a critique, Jones became offended by what he experienced as the inflexibility of the Pentagon brass, especially Mullen and General McCrystal, as neither would budge from their demands for 40,000 troops. (Pg. 249.)
At an October 26, 2009, meeting in the situation room – after 6 weeks of meetings for the Strategic Review, the President in a moment of frustration, declared that he wanted a decision about the troop additions in two weeks. During this entire time, Woodward documented Obama's complaints of the lack of choices from the Pentagon. Obama said: "We don't have two options yet. We have 40,000 and nothing." (pg. 251.)
During this meeting, General McCrystal laid out his recommendation: it was a plan to keep US troops in Afghanistan for 10 years at a cost of $889 Billion. Defense Secretary Gates chimes in – he gives McCrystal's request his full support. Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backs McCrystal's plan, and says the President should give him what he wanted. (Pg. 252.)
Clearly losing his patience, Obama replies:
"This is not what I'm looking for. I'm not doing ten years.
And then gesturing towards McCrystal's assessment, the President says:
"That's not in the national interest."
Clearly frustrated, Obama finally stated that he was not ready to make a decision, that he had a vision of an option that included a surge for less than one year; he wanted everybody to go back to the drawing board and think some more. More discussion is had. General Jones observed that the McCrystal plan did not address the turnover of security to the Afghans – clearly a huge gaping hole. At that point, Obama suggested a troop increase of only 15,000 to 20,000 American troops. Plus he stated: "I want an exit strategy". (Pg. 253.)
After that meeting and in a further sign of the polarization over US strategy and troop numbers between the civilian and military leaders, Woodward recounts how a group of advisers and aides led by Vice-President Biden held a meeting to organize a counter-balance to what they perceive as the "hawks" in the discussion. At that point, the hawks included Gates, Mullen, Petraeus, McCrystal and now Hilary Clinton. Attempting to rally themselves as a group, Biden is emphatic that Obama does not need to do a build-up of 40,000 troops – a clear indication of the split. (Pg. 254-55.)
A few days later on October 30, 2009, Obama had a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the White House, looking for allies. The President complained to them that for the past two months, Mullen, Petraeus, and McCrystal had been locked into their request for 40,000 and refused to budge from that position. Obama wanted the Joint Chiefs' opinion, pleading to them. He said: "I have one option that was framed as three options. I want three real options to choose from." (Pg. 257-58.) Yet, in the end, the Chiefs already had been side-lined by Mullen and were definitely out of the top loop, and … were not that helpful to the President.
"Disrupt" versus "Defeat"
As Woodward observes, Obama was trying to develop a strategy of "disrupting" the Taliban – a strategy counter to one that was geared to "defeating" them. The Pentagon wanted a real war, they wanted the enemy defeated. Yet, even though some military people agreed with the White House idea, Admiral Mullen was still the top dog and wheeled a lot power. This power was enormous as Woodward shows.
When the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Lt. General Karl Eikenberry, a retired Army officer, sent a memo to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton laying out his opposition to any plan that relied on a huge increase in US forces, saying that the Administration and Pentagon had "not studied every alternative," Eikenberry learned first hand of Mullen's largesse.
Once he was shown the memo, Admiral Mullen became very angry, and declared that the memo "is a betrayal of our system." When General Petraeus, Mullen's ally, found out about Eikenberry's memo, he went ballistic. And combined, the power that these two military men wheeled was sufficient to isolate Ambassador Eikenberry from the Pentagon, with Woodward editorializing that the cooperation between the civilian and military on Afghanistan had been "blown to pieces." (Pg. 261-62)
At a November 9th review of the McCrystal plan, the discussion was on the issue of how many Afghan soldiers and police officers would be trained with US funds. The hawks pushed for 400,000 – as a important part of General McCrystal's plan. Petraeus and Mullen wanted a long-term project, and wanted funds to order equipment, such as mortars, artillery, and other military infrastructure for Afghanistan. General Jones – the White House NSA adviser – saw that the Pentagon wanted to build in Afghanistan the same kind of empire they had built in Iraq. (Pg. 262)
Joe Biden commented that this plan would take six years. It was clear to the Vice-President during this meeting that the military leaders were not giving up their quest for 40,000 new troops. Biden found that they acted "as if it was written in the Holy text" and that they were becoming increasingly dogmatic. At that point, as Woodward documented, Biden unloaded and called the 400,000 number hollow BS.
But Mullen and Petraeus stuck to their argument, with Gen. McCrystal pushing back hard for that figure. To Woodward, it appeared that Petraeus' attitude was that because he had done it before, he could do it again; Woodward wonders for us whether the general had his own political ambitions. (Pg. 262-63)
Part 3 will be forthcoming.


text:
- From: Rik Cabanier <firstname.lastname@example.com>
- Date: Fri, 6 May 2011 17:38:36 -0700
- To: Dean Jackson <email@example.com>
- Cc: Chris Lilley <email@example.com>, Erik Dahlstrom <firstname.lastname@example.com>, firstname.lastname@example.com, www-svg <email@example.com>
- Message-ID: <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Thanks for the clarification Dean! In summary: - we will have 1 spec for both SVG and CSS - CSS might have features that don't apply to SVG. The spec needs to call this out. - Likewise SVG might have features that don't apply to CSS. - We should NOT remove existing SVG features (unless everyone agrees that they aren't necessary and are unused) With this in mind, I'll reword my original list: - remove section 6, the filter effects region - mark backgound-image and background-alpha as applying only to SVG content. Revisit when CSS compositing is defined. - mark section on the enable-background keyword as applying only to SVG content. Revisit when CSS compositing is defined. - change default behavior of an unknown filter to 'ignore' instead of the 'null filter' - remove filters that create an image and move them to the image-values spec (ie feTurbulence) for CSS. Leave SVG behavior intact - mark the feComposite filter as only applying to SVG. A future CSS/SVG compositing spec can address this better. On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Dean Jackson <firstname.lastname@example.com> wrote: > > On 06/05/2011, at 8:15 AM, Rik Cabanier wrote: > > Hi Chris, > > these were just the changes that have been discussed on the FX mailing > list. > In the start of this thread, I said that I wasn't aware that this was > intended to be a replacement for SVG filters. > > I personally don't think that this should be the case and I'm fairly sure > that Dean didn't intend this either. > > > My understanding was, and still is, that the Filters specification is > supposed to cover both the SVG and CSS use cases - ie. it is a replacement > for the SVG filters module. > > The CSS parts were intended to be additions that could be described in SVG. > Whether or not an implementation actually uses SVG filters is a detail left > up to them. Also, the CSS part was intended to be less powerful than SVG > filters - that's where the "dropping" of features comes from. They are just > not available in CSS, giving the implementation the option to never > implement them. > > It did get slightly confusing when the suggestion to drop enable-background > from SVG filters came up. It seems most implementors are happy with this. My > comment was that it was fine to remove it, but since there is content out > there that uses it (eg. Adobe Illustrator output) then we probably should > mark it as deprecated for a while before complete removal. > > Enable-background is important for the SVG compositing spec. Unless we want to simplify SVG blending (which I'm not opposed to), it is necessary. > The CSS filter spec just took the general approach of the SVG filter > specfor simplicity. If possible, we should not change behavior of > overlapping functionality but it should be OK to remove or add keywords. > > > At the moment I don't think there is anything in the CSS part that requires > a change in the SVG part. At least nothing that implies removal of SVG > features. > > I expect in the future we'll be tempted to add more effects - these should > be added to both CSS and SVG. If an effect is not appropriate in CSS, it's > ok for it to be SVG-only. SVG is always the way to do the more complex > effects. > > [Aside: If we start thinking of this spec as CSS vs Markup filters, rather > than CSS vs SVG, it might be helpful. There is only a little bit of actual > SVG in Filters] > Can you elaborate on what you mean with 'CSS vs Markup'? > > Dean > > > For now, the filter spec is supposed to be as simple as possible both for > implementors and web designers. > This means: > - easy syntax for basic filters. More complicated filters can be done using > a subset of SVG filter. The reason for their use is that they were already > well defined. > - no access to the background or blending for ease of implementation > - no enable-background. This concept does not exist in the HTML. > - no section support. HTML generally is not a fixed layout so 'sections' > don't make much sense. > > I agree that IF this is a replacemet spec, we need to thread more > lightly... > > Rik > > On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 5:01 AM, Chris Lilley <email@example.com> wrote: > >> On Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 11:29:45 PM, Rik wrote: >> >> RC> Thank Erik!I didn't know that this was a replacement for the current >> spec. >> >> RC> So far, I think these are the following proposed changes: >> RC> - remove section 6, the filter effects region >> RC> - remove backgound-image and background-alpha >> RC> - remove section on the enable-background keyword >> RC> - change default behavior of an unknown filter to 'ignore' instead of >> the 'null filter' >> RC> - remove filters that create an image and move them to the >> RC> image-values spec (ie feTurbulence) >> RC> - remove the feComposite filter and replace with the CSS/SVG >> compositing spec >> >> Given that your first sentence quoted above makes clear that you >> understand that this is a replacement spec that covers both HTML/CSS as well >> as SVG (and SVG/CSS) usage - please provide an analysis of the impact of >> such *radical* changes to existing on existing uses of SVG filters. >> >> > >
Received on Saturday, 7 May 2011 00:39:05 UTC


text:
Saturday, December 7, 2013
1982 - Megaforce
6 comments:
- AnonymousDecember 7, 2013 at 9:19 PM
Yeah, because when I think action hero, I think Barry Bostwick.ReplyDelete
I remember seeing that ad over and over and wanting to see the movie. I came across it once on tv in the late 90's and haven't seen it since.It seems like it would be one of those movies that is replayed. It must have been such a bomb. I never even see it mentioned. If they tweaked it a little it could of have been a GI Joe movie.ReplyDelete
Am I the only one who initially thought Ace Hunter was Chuck Norris??ReplyDelete
Jason--Ironically enough, if you think of this as the movie as a parody of Delta Force it makes all the sense in the world.ReplyDelete
Been looking for this movie for years. I used to watch it (And Spacehunter 3-d, which was on the same VHS tape) all the time as a kid.ReplyDelete
Terrible movie. I used to get this and Spacehunter confused all the time.ReplyDelete


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The Internet has loosened the control Chinese authorities hold over information in the country, but censorship there will remain strong despite Google's threat to leave China.
Chinese authorities say the Internet could be used to threaten social stability, a vague but paramount concern voiced by officials, and they have launched a range of campaigns in the past year to eradicate online content seen as "harmful." Twitter-style Web sites and others in China have helped Internet users post their thoughts — and grievances — directly and publicly online. But recent cases show that it remains off-limits and sometimes dangerous for Chinese citizens to criticize the government through blogs, message forums or even e-mail.
"In the last year … the liberal elements, the forces for change on the Internet have become more vocal and better at using tools like Twitter than they ever were," said Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of Danwei.org, a blog about Chinese media and urban life. "But this has been met with sort of the biggest sustained clampdown on the Internet that we've seen for years."
Google this month threw a spotlight on Chinese government censorship by saying it plans to stop filtering search results on its Chinese search engine, even if that means shutting down its China offices. One reason Google cited for the move was cyberattacks launched on the company from China, partly aimed at gaining access to the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Google did not blame China for the attacks and the country's government has denied involvement.
But dissidents including human rights lawyer Teng Biao have since said their Gmail accounts were recently hacked and set to copy all messages to another e-mail address. Chinese dissidents are often monitored or harassed by state security agents.
Another recent show of China's heavy-handed treatment of dissidents came when a Beijing court last month gave an 11-year prison sentence to Liu Xiaobo, a well-known human rights activist. Liu was charged with inciting subversion of state power for helping organize "Charter 08," an online petition calling for major political reforms.
Others who signed the petition starting in late 2008 were questioned by authorities in the following months. Liu was previously well-known for his participation in the 1989 democracy protests that were suppressed by the military in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
China has also arrested dozens of people and shut down thousands of Web sites in the past year in a string of crackdowns on online porn. Web sites that provide services like blogs are required by authorities to remove pornographic and certain political content when it is posted by users. Internet access in the western, largely Muslim region of Xinjiang has been almost totally cut off since ethnic riots there six months ago claimed nearly 200 lives.
Internet access has spread quickly in China and growing numbers of people use it to read news and chat with friends or in public forums. China reported having 384 million Internet users at the end of last month, the most in any country.
Authorities use a set of technical measures known as the "Great Firewall" to block access to certain content, such as the Web sites of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Those Web sites can still be accessed with a circumvention tool like a proxy server, but few Internet users are savvy enough to use such tools and the government appeared to step up efforts to block them last year.
But inevitably, authorities have failed to fully stifle the spread of politically sensitive information online. Room has grown for people to air complaints about the government on the Web, partly because complaints can help the country's central leadership keep watch over local governments, said Goldkorn. Internet users who didn't care about censorship before are also beginning to notice it, he said.
The Internet can also help sway public opinion and create pressure on the government, said Li Baiguang, a Beijing-based human rights lawyer. It did so in one court case two months ago in the central province of Shaanxi, where a man was sentenced to a year in prison for online defamation of an official, Li said. Han Xingchang, the head of a construction company, had told his staff to post messages in online forums criticizing the official, who was both a member of the provincial legislature and the chairman of a development company, after a dispute over payment for a contract, according to a copy of the ruling seen by IDG News Service.
Han likely would have received a longer sentence without public support for him online that was fueled by media reports, according to Li. One journalist opened a Web site dedicated to the case that also drove support, an employee at Han's company said.
But the case remains one of many examples in China of apparent abuse of power by local officials. The court ruling left vague why public investigators had taken on the case against Han at the request of the official, after refusing it on technical grounds when he first asked.
"From this case we can see that criticizing the government online is still dangerous," Li said. "The government is not used to it."


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Within the article, Justin Morneau suggests that the public backlash against Mauer might have been lessened if the team hadn't initially put out such a vague and mysterious diagnosis:
"Joe's not one to make excuses," Morneau said. "The reality is, he tried to come back too soon from knee surgery. Could [the Twins] have helped him out if they said he never built back his strength, instead of calling it bilateral leg weakness? I think it would have been a lot different if they said, he tried to come back too soon so he could help our team win."Morneau is sticking up for his friend and teammate, and there may be some validity to what he's saying, but I think he's missing the point. As I recall, the Twins made it fairly clear at the time that Mauer's ailment related to his offseason surgery, and I believe most people understood that the catcher had rushed himself back before he was ready. That was evident in his paltry April numbers and his very quick trip to the disabled list.
This resource, www.sportsmedicineschools.org, has information for people who want to help injured players like this out and get them back into the game faster.
Regardless of how you want to label Mauer's leg issues, though, the explanations we continue to hear ring hollow. Granted, he faced an abbreviated recovery timetable during the offseason because he didn't undergo surgery until December. But that still gave him two months to prepare for spring training, and once he arrived in Fort Myers he spent several weeks rehabbing there as well.
Mauer started a total of 16 games at catcher between spring training and the regular season before being shut down and placed on the DL, where he'd remain for over two months. Then, from his June 17 return through the end of August, Mauer batted .302 but managed a measly .375 slugging percentage, notching only 14 doubles and one homer in 255 plate appearances. He continued to complain of leg weakness and rarely caught more than two or three games in a row.
Catching is of course very hard on the knees and Mauer undoubtedly set himself back by forcing an early return. But the surgery -- which Bill Smith stressed at the time was a "minor procedure" -- is now nine months old and between the offseason, spring training and his DL stint, Mauer has had no less than five months to work on rehabbing it. That's more time than he's spent playing. His persisting issues simply don't add up; a healthy 28-year-old body should not recover this slowly.
Christensen's article continues to downplay the notion that Mauer is being afflicted by anything more than post-surgery complications. A passing reference is made to the "frenzy of speculation" about a "more serious illness" that arose when the bilateral leg weakness diagnosis was first announced. However, I've heard from multiple (albeit secondhand) sources that the Twins are privately concerned that there are deeper issues in play.
Hopefully none of those whispers will turn out to have substance. Mauer has looked much better at the plate lately, with a .346/.433/.538 hitting line since August 20th. Of course, the caveat is that August 20th marks the last time he caught in back-to-back games. At no point this season has he shown that he's capable of producing offensively while regularly crouching behind the plate. Perhaps Mauer's many years of catching have simply taken their toll and his legs aren't equipped for it anymore.
Reporters are doing a good job of shedding more and more light on this troubling situation, but I still don't believe we know the full story. For the time being, Mauer's future as a catcher is very much in doubt, which means finding another competent option at the position should be a high-ranking priority for the front office in the upcoming offseason.


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Homer Senior Citizens Inc. and Friendship Center Adult Day Services would like to give thanks to everyone in the community who so graciously helped us with our talent show. We have received much support from volunteers who donated time and talent to make the show a success: Pat Hagen, Chuck Buck, Beverly Buck, Allan Phelps, Floyd Seekins, Sunrise Sjoeberg, Tim Quinn, Jake Hodnik, Peggy Wright, Loretta Pyatt, Rhonda Gibson, Galen Gordon, Arlene Gordon, Alathea Clymer, Jack Vantrease, Dottie Webster, Nadine, Pence, Peg Perkins, Mary King, Cathy Stingley, John Baird, Steve Mueller, Marcia Lynn, Mike Murray, Lindianne Sarno, Atz Kilcher, Bonnie Kilcher and the Ukulele Band.
We also want to give a huge thank you to the Homer businesses that donated items for the door prizes: Caribou Family Restaurant, Homer's Jeans, Tangles, Alaska Wild Berry Products, Cosmic Kitchen, Upstairs Boutique, the Homer Bookstore, J&B Smokin BBQ, Vicky Hodnick, Blackbeary Bog, Duncan House, All About You and a thank you to Homer McDonald's for the use of their cooler.
These events don't happen without community support and we are fortunate to live in a community like Homer.


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Are you ready to repel a Kenya-style mall attack?
Taking on two squads of attackers who are likely to be trained in military tactics will be daunting for an unprepared police officer
Imagine you're working your shift on an early December day. Your local mall is crowded with holiday shoppers when you get a call that at least 12 armed assailants have begun to attack the mall. Dispatch says 911 callers have reported that the aggressors have hand grenades and long guns, and that they've started killing innocent men, women, and children.
Are you prepared to respond? As a patrol officer, do you have the tactics and equipment to take on two squads of six or more gunmen?
As we all know, the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya had such an attack take place late last month. That incident — which lasted about four days — reportedly claimed the lives of 61 civilians and six Kenyan soldiers. More than 200 people were reportedly wounded.
Decisive, Aggressive Action
We've learned from the 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 2004 Beslan siege that giving these extremist a stage and an audience for such a long period of time is one of their goals. Their theory is the longer it takes, the more people they can kill and the longer the international press covers the story, maximizing their exposure.
Here's my advice to any officer(s) responding to an attack in a mall: get inside the objective quickly and deliver swift counterattacks without hesitation. The actions of the first responding officers dictate how the incident plays out. Police in Mumbai allowed the attackers to gain a stronghold early on, which provided the terrorists a tactical advantage when it was finally time to mop up the mess later.
The same appears to have happened in Kenya.
Since Columbine, American law enforcement has a great track record responding to active shooters. The change was slow — but steady — and I think we've finally figured out the key to success when responding to active shooters. Get inside and take on the attackers.
As a uniformed officer, if you respond quickly and without hesitation you will at least interrupt the attackers' plan, and you potentially will bring them to ground.
That means, however, that you must continue to press forward during your counterattacks until the threat is neutralized. Do not stop and allow these militants the time to regroup, take cover, formulate a new plan, or take hostages.
Keeping them on the defensive as your backup arrives to supplement your response will deny them access to any more victims. Do this, and then the incident can conclude quickly.
Training and Preparation
The attackers in Kenya used rifles and lots of ammunition, but more alarming is their use of hand grenades. Another significant factor to consider is they were reported to have moved in squads.
Taking on two squads of attackers who are likely to be trained in military tactics will be a daunting task for an untrained and unprepared uniformed police officer. Your situational awareness as a "solo responder" will ensure that you recognize the need to transition into "teams" and "squads" so you can counterattack with an overwhelming force. For this, training and preparation are vital.
The reality of the Kenya attacks (and others) is that the attackers killed men, women and children with total disregard. When such an event happens here, such extremists will be a tougher adversary than the domestic active shooters we've dealt with in previous incidents.
We must interrupt their attack quickly, so they focus on us, denying them further victims. We must counterattack decisively and press forward until the threat is neutralized.
In a typical suburban shopping mall, this type of combat most likely won't end in a couple of minutes. The time it takes to battle two or more squads may be a couple of hours or several hours.
Can you honestly say you are prepared for such an attack? Many malls will provide local law enforcement access to the back corridors and halls for training and walk-throughs. They may also teach you how to operate their security cameras and how to gain quick access to them.
I hope we never face an attack like we saw in Kenya, but I am confident that if we do, American law enforcement will provide a quick and successful response.


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