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This report details two alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria on the opposition-controlled Damascus suburbs of Eastern and Western Ghouta, located 16 kilometers apart, on the morning of August 21, 2013. The attacks killed hundreds of civilians, including large numbers of children. Human Rights Watch analyzed witness accounts of the rocket attacks, information on the likely source of the attacks, the physical remnants of the weapon systems used, and the medical symptoms exhibited by the victims of the attack as documented by medical staff.
Our investigation finds that the August 21 attacks were likely chemical weapons attacks using a surface-to-surface rocket system of approximately 330mm in diameter—likely Syrian-produced—and a Soviet-era 140mm surface-to-surface rocket system to deliver a nerve agent. Evidence suggests the agent was most likely Sarin or a similar weapons-grade nerve agent. Three local doctors told Human Rights Watch that victims of the attacks showed symptoms which are consistent with exposure to nerve gas, including suffocation; constricted, irregular, and infrequent breathing; involuntary muscle spasms; nausea; frothing at the mouth; fluid coming out of noses and eyes; convulsing; dizziness; blurred vision; and red and irritated eyes, and pin-point pupils.
The evidence concerning the type of rockets and launchers used in these attacks strongly suggests that these are weapon systems known and documented to be only in the possession of, and used by, Syrian government armed forces. Human Rights Watch and arms experts monitoring the use of weaponry in Syria have not documented Syrian opposition forces to be in the possession of the 140mm and 330mm rockets used in the attack, or their associated launchers.
The Syrian government has denied its responsibility for the attack, and has blamed opposition groups, but has presented no evidence to back up its claims. Based on the available evidence, Human Rights Watch finds that Syrian government forces were almost certainly responsible for the August 21 attacks, and that a weapons-grade nerve agent was delivered during the attack using specially designed rocket delivery systems. The scale and coordinated nature of the two attacks; against opposition-held areas; the presence of government-controlled potential launching sites within range of the targets; the pattern of other recent alleged chemical weapon attacks against opposition-held areas using the same 330mm rocket delivery system; and the documented possession of the 140mm and 330mm rocket systems able to deliver chemical weapons in the government arsenal—all point towards Syrian government responsibility for the attacks.
Human Rights Watch has investigated alternative claims that opposition forces themselves were responsible for the August 21 attacks, and has found such claims lacking in credibility and inconsistent with the evidence found at the scene. Claims that the August 21 deaths were caused by an accidental explosion by opposition forces mishandling chemical weapons in their possession are inconsistent with large numbers of deaths at two locations 16 kilometers apart, and documentation of rocket attacks on the sites that morning, as evidenced by witness accounts, the damage visible on the rockets themselves, and their impact craters.
Without physical access to Eastern and Western Ghouta, Human Rights Watch interviewed by Skype from August 22 to September 6 more than 10 witnesses and survivors of the August 21 attacks, and 3 doctors who responded to the attacks. Human Rights Watch also reviewed available video and photo footage from the scene of the attacks, including high-resolution images obtained directly from a source who photographed and measured the rocket components found in the Eastern Ghouta attack, and conducted a detailed analysis of the weapon remnants captured in such footage.
Human Rights Watch asked Keith B. Ward, Ph.D., an expert on the detection and effects of chemical warfare agents, to review the clinical signs revealed by videos of hospitalized victims of the attacks, the victims' symptoms described by medical workers on the scene, and the reported clinical signs and symptoms exhibited by medical workers after working with the victims.
Human Rights Watch also used GPS data and satellite imagery analysis to map the precise locations were the attacks took place, and the exact positions where eight of the 330mm rockets impacted in Eastern Ghouta.
In researching this report, Human Rights Watch also used the extensive expertise of its Arms Division in the monitoring and identification of weapons, including chemical weapons. Human Rights Watch previously issued detailed reports and analysis on the last known chemical weapon attacks, conducted by Saddam Hussein's military in Iraq against the Iraqi Kurds, culminating in the Halabja massacre, which killed thousands of civilians 25 years ago, on March 16, 1988.[1]
In its investigation, Human Rights Watch was assisted by arms experts including Nic Jenzen-Jones, author of "The Rogue Adventurer",[2] as well as the independent investigation conducted by Eliot Higgins of the "Brown Moses" blog, who collected and analyzed photos and videos from the attacks.[3]
I. The August 21 Attacks on Ghouta
On the morning of August 21, 2013, dozens of videos began appearing on YouTube channels associated with the Syrian opposition showing large numbers of dead people, the victims of what the opposition claimed was a chemical weapons attack. The footage also showed many hospitalized victims who seemed to be suffering from symptoms from such an attack. Large numbers of dead animals, including sheep, dogs, cats, and wild birds, were also visible in the videos uploaded by the activists.
As more details became available, it became clear that the attack had affected two separate opposition-controlled districts in Damascus Suburbs governorate, located 16 kilometers apart. According to local residents, the Zamalka neighborhood in Eastern Ghouta was struck by rockets at some time between 2 and 3 a.m., and the Moadamiya neighborhood in Western Ghouta was struck by rockets at about 5 a.m., shortly after the completion of the Muslim morning prayer.
Victims consistently showed symptoms including suffocation; constricted, irregular, and infrequent breathing; involuntary muscle spasms; nausea; frothing at the mouth; fluid coming out of noses and eyes; convulsing; dizziness; blurred vision; and red and irritated eyes, and pin-point pupils. According to an expert review of the available evidence, the symptoms exhibited by the victims are consistent with exposure to a nerve agent such as Sarin. As discussed in part III. below, Sarin has been used in at least one previous chemical attack in the Syrian conflict.
Moadamiya, Western Ghouta
In Moadamiya in Western Ghouta, a witness who arrived on the scene shortly after rockets struck an apartment building next to the Rawda Mosque, told Human Rights Watch what followed after the rocket struck. His account directly linked the rocket strike to deaths associated with the alleged chemical attack in the area:
One rocket hit around 5 a.m. We were praying in the mosque near the turbi area 400 meters away [from the strike site]. We heard the strike and went to the site to help the wounded. We thought it was a regular rocket but when we got there someone was screaming "Chemical! Chemical!" The rocket fell in the first floor of a four-story apartment building. Everyone in the building died in their sleep. It didn't cause a lot of destruction...It made an opening in the wall. After the person was screaming, people covered their faces, with shirts dunked in water. We didn't smell anything,[4] but people were fainting. I covered my face with a shirt dunked in water and was rescuing people and taking them to the medical center…If anyone entered the building where the rocket fell they would faint.[5]
The witness identified a rocket as the weapon he saw on the scene after the strike.[6] He told Human Rights Watch that in the days following the strike, the United Nations Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic (the UN Mission) visited the site, examined the remnant, and took it with them, presumably for further analysis.
A second witness who works for the Moadamiya media center told Human Rights Watch that he counted seven rockets that fell in two areas of Moadamiya during the early morning of August 21.[7]He told Human Rights Watch that four rockets impacted next to the Rawda Mosque, and the other three in the area between Qahweh Street and Zeytouneh Street, which he identified as being approximately 500 meters to the east of the Rawda Mosque. According to the witness, all of the rockets were of the same type, identified by Human Rights Watch as a Soviet-produced 140mm rocket (see below).
From a review of a video of an expended rocket motor found on the street next to the Rawda Mosque in Moadamiya, Human Rights Watch has identified one of the rockets found in the Moadamiya attack as a Soviet-era surface-to-surface 140mm rocket, known as the M-14.[8] A separate video shot on August 27 shows UN inspectors measuring and photographing this rocket motor, which confirmed the remnant's length and width correspond with the dimensions of the Soviet 140mm rocket motor.[9]The first video clearly shows the 10 venture (exhaust nozzles) and electric contact plate of the rocket, which is a unique identification characteristic of the Soviet-made 140mm rocket, as well as the factory markings on the casing of the rocket, making the identification definitive. The 179 factory markings on the rocket refer to the soviet-era "Factory 179" in Novosibirsk, one of the largest producers of artillery and rockets during the Soviet period, and a known manufacturer of the 140mm M-14 rocket.
The expended rocket motor visible in the videos represents only part of the delivery system and not the weapon's payload. To date, no visual evidence of any type of intact or expended 140mm rocket warhead has been identified in videos shot in the areas of the August 21 attack.
The 140mm rocket is documented in standard reference materials as being present in the Syrian government's weapons arsenal. Designed in the 1950s, the Soviet Union transferred 200 BM-14 launchers,[10]the most common launcher for 140mm rockets made by the Soviet Union, to Syria in 1967-1969, presumably along with stockpiles of ammunition including 140mm rockets, according to the database on arms transfers maintained by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).[11]
According to a declassified US munitions catalogue[12]and standard international reference materials published by Jane's,[13]only three warheads were produced for 140mm rockets:
- M-14-OF high explosive-fragmentation;
- M-14-D smoke containing white phosphorus;
- A chemical warhead containing 2.2 kilograms of Sarin.
Based on witness statements describing the impact of the rockets and the absence of rocket remnants or reported types of injuries consistent with an attack using high explosive or incendiary payloads, Human Rights Watch believes there is little possibility that the rocket could have been carrying high explosive or incendiary payloads. Given the large number of casualties, this leaves a chemical agent warhead as a strong remaining possibility, which would be consistent with the symptoms displayed by the victims.
According to declassified reference guides, the 140mm artillery rocket has a minimum range of 3.8 kilometers and a maximum range of 9.8 kilometers.[14] Two witnesses told Human Rights Watch that the August 21 rocket attack on their area came from the direction of the Mezzeh Military Airport and the nearby Syrian 4th Armored Division base, which are located respectively four kilometers and five to seven kilometers from the site of the attack, and thus within the range of possible launching sites. The projected likely launch zone for the 140mm rocket impact near the Rawda Mosque encompasses multiple Syrian government military bases, training facilities, surface-to-air missile sites, the 4th Armored Division base, as well as the eastern section of the Mezzeh Military Airport.
Human Rights Watch has closely monitored the types of munitions and weapons used in the Syrian conflict, and has extensively reported on unlawful use of weapons by Syrian government forces, including heavy 240mm mortars against populated areas, antipersonnel mines, indiscriminate air-dropped bombs, at least six types of cluster munitions, incendiary weapons against civilians, and indiscriminate tactical ballistic missiles.[15] However, the attack on Moadadiya on August 21 represents the first known appearance of the 140mm rocket, which has not been documented in use in the current Syrian conflict. Human Rights Watch is not aware of any information indicating that opposition forces are in possession of the 140mm rocket, and its associated launching system.
Zamalka, Eastern Ghouta
Human Rights Watch documented the use of apparent surface-to-surface 330mm rockets in Zamalka, Eastern Ghouta on August 21. We found no evidence of any use of the 140mm rocket system used in the Moadamiya attack in Eastern Ghouta.
Witness statements and information including GPS locations of rockets found in the area provided by local activists, as well as satellite imagery locations that match the location in the videos, have allowed Human Rights Watch to confirm at least four strike sites in Zamalka where at least eight 330mm rockets struck on August 21. This is unlikely to be a complete account of the number of rockets used in the attack.[16]
- Two rockets struck al-Mahariq Street, one on the Ghazal building and the other on Mehyi al-Deen building;
- One rocket struck the Bostan neighborhood on Naher al-Tahoun street;
- Two rockets struck next to the Hamza mosque, one just next to the mosque and the other close to the nearby al-Kamal banquet hall;
- Three rockets struck the al-Mazraat neighborhood next to the al-Tawfiq mosque and next to the elementary school.
None of the witness accounts describing the impact of the rockets, and none of the images of the rocket remnants or the reported injuries sustained at the scene are consistent with an attack using high explosive or incendiary payloads, as there are no visible traumatic injuries on any of the victims or large impact craters visible at the scene of the rocket impacts. High-explosive payloads would have caused severe physical injuries to the victims and leave large impact craters, while incendiary weapons cause severe burns on the victims, and leave behind a distinctive burn scar where they strike. Based on the lack of evidence of a high-explosive or incendiary attack, and symptoms of victims that are consistent with a chemical attack, Human Rights Watch believes that the 330mm rockets found at the sites were used in the alleged chemical attack.
A member of the Zamalka media center told Human Rights Watch that he visited the scene of one strike in the al-Mazraat area of Zamalka just after the attack.[17] He said:
On August 21, I was in the media office when around 2 to 3 a.m. my friends called to say that rockets had hit Zamalka. When I heard that, I went to the field hospital in al-Mazraat neighborhood… After around 30 minutes rockets hit the al-Mazraat area. When the explosion hit I heard a very low sound, it was like the sound of a helicopter buzzing, and not the sound of explosion… I went outside the field hospital and started running towards the explosion site. I didn't reach the explosions site because I saw injured people on the ground and people screaming and running in all directions… I remember I went into one house and saw a man with his wife on the ground. The house was not destroyed. It was not where the rocket fell or had an impact but they were dead on the ground. After around 40 minutes rescuing people, I started feeling my body aching. I was feeling weak and unable to move. Then my eyes started hurting me and headache started. There was no smoke but there was a smell... I told my friend that I have to go to the hospital. He put me in a car and drove away… I remember very well when we left al-Mazraat in my friend's car, I saw a dog crossing the street. I shouted to my friend to be careful not to hit him but before I finished my sentence the dog by itself collapsed on the ground.
The same witness also confirmed to Human Rights Watch that he had videotaped and uploaded a large number of videos taken at the hospital of the wounded and dead.[18]
A second witness shared with Human Rights Watch several videos of remnants of the weapons used in the al-Mazraat area on August 21.The videos show the same 330mm rocket type.
The member of the Zamalka media center also shared with Human Rights Watch videos and pictures he took of rockets in the al-Mahariq strike site affected during the August 21 attack. The remnants in these videos are also 330mm rockets. On August 29 he visited the al-Mahariq strike site and photographed a 330mm rocket he found there and which he believes had been used during the August 21 attack. In the proceeding days, when the UN chemical weapons inspection team visited Zamalka, he took several videos of other 330mm rockets found at the al-Mahariq site, as they were being examined by the UN weapon inspectors.
The 330mm surface-to-surface rocket that appears to be associated with the August 21 attack on Eastern Ghouta is of a type not listed in standard, specialized, international or declassified reference materials. It is a rocket type that has not been documented before the outbreak of the current Syrian conflict, although it has been documented in a number of other attacks on opposition held areas in the months prior to the Eastern Ghouta attack, including at least one attack in which opposition activists claimed the government had carried out an alleged chemical attack (see below).
Human Rights Watch has obtained precise measurements for the dimensions of the warhead from a local activist in Eastern Ghouta, and these measurements determine that the estimated volume of nerve agent inside the warheads would be approximately 50 to 60 liters, compared to 2.2 liters for the warheads designed for the 140mm rockets. Prior to each attack, the warhead of the 330mm rocket would have to be filled with the 50 to 60 liters of nerve agent, a dangerous process that is normally conducted by specialized teams wearing protective gear to prevent exposure to the chemical agents. Human Rights Watch is not aware of any information that the opposition forces have ever possessed the amounts of chemical weapon agent necessary to deploy such rockets, or that they possess the expertise needed to fill the warheads without accidental exposure to the deadly nerve agent.
Using the measurements and high-resolution images provided by the Eastern Ghouta activist, Human Rights Watch has been able to reconstruct the characteristics of the 330mm rocket. Detailed measurements and high-resolution photographs provided directly by an activist in Eastern Ghouta allowed Human Rights Watch to define the diameter of the rocket as approximately 330mm; this is significant because these dimensions are compatible with the Iranian-produced 333mm Falaq-2 launcher, or close copies and derivatives thereof.[19] Iran is believed to be the only country in the world to produce rocket launchers in the 333mm category. Videos have appeared showing Syrian forces using the Falaq-2 launching system to launch what appears to be versions of the 330mm rockets, although the launches seen in the video occurred during daytime and are thus unrelated to the August 21 nighttime attack.[20]
The rocket is of a non-aerodynamic design and possesses a novel spin stabilization mechanism located just above the nozzle. The non-aerodynamic design of the rocket indicates that the rocket would be relatively short ranged and not capable of accurate targeting.
The consistency in the design of these rockets suggests that they were locally but industrially produced, and apparently designed to be deployed with the Iranian 333mm launchers or derivatives thereof. While Human Rights Watch cannot establish where the rockets were manufactured, their basic design and unique size matching the Iranian rocket launching system suggest a Syrian industrial origin. The production of a weapon specifically designed to deliver chemical weapons would be a violation of the 1993 Convention on Chemical Weapons, of which only five countries, including Syria, are not parties.
While a separate, high-explosive warhead version of the rocket appears to exist based on attacks in other areas, three design differences appear to distinguish the suspected chemical weapon type from the suspected high-explosive type: videos and photos of the weapons from attacks in Syria show that the chemical weapons variant has an additional plug or aperture on the payload (used to fill the container with chemical agent prior to firing); the high-explosive type measures at least 400mm longer; and the chemical weapons variant appears to be numbered in red numbers (with one documented rocket numbered 900, suggesting a significant number of the rockets were produced), while images of the high-explosive variant consistently show that it has black numbering, perhaps for ease of identification. All of the 330mm rocket remnants identified by Human Rights Watch in the Eastern Ghouta Zamalka attack are of the suspected chemical weapons variant, with red numbering, a shorter-sized warhead, and an additional fill plug.
Most significantly, the design of the payload of the rockets found at the scene of the Eastern Ghouta August 21 attack strongly indicates that it is compatible, and perhaps specifically designed, for the delivery of chemical agents. The payload of the rocket consists of a large, thin-walled container, capable of holding 50 to 60 liters of chemical agent which is loaded into the payload via a plughole, and a small central tube with a suspected bursting charge at the front, rupturing the thin-walled container and distributing the vaporized chemical agent.
The 330mm rocket has appeared in its high-explosive form in previous attacks around Damascus. The high-explosive version of the 330mm surface-to-surface rocket appears to have been used in the Daraya suburb of Damascus on January 4, 2013[21] and in Khalidiya, in Homs governorate, on August 2, 2013. Opposition forces blamed both attacks on the Syrian government, although Human Rights Watch could not independently confirm this allegation.[22]
On August 5, 2013, opposition activists filmed what appears to be the remnants of the chemical weapons-carrying variant (with the extra fill plug visible[23] as well as the red numbering system)[24] of the 330mm rocket in the `Adra suburb of Damascus, in what they alleged was a chemical weapons attack by Syrian government forces.[25] While Human Rights Watch could not independently confirm the allegations that Syrian government forces were responsible for the August 5 `Adra attack, the videos do show the remnants of suspected chemical weapons-delivery variant of the 330mm rocket, as well as dead and dying animals nearby, otherwise uninjured and showing signs of exposure to a nerve agent.
No evidence has been produced that opposition forces are in possession of the 330mm surface-to-surface rockets and their associated launchers. The only documented attacks using this weapon system in Syria have been against opposition-held areas and targets. The Syrian government is known to possess the Iranian Falaq-2 333mm rocket launching system, as several videos have emerged on social media allegedly showing Syrian government forces firing the 330mm rockets from truck-mounted 333mm launchers, although no videos have emerged from the nighttime August 21 attack.[26]
Death Toll
Because the August 21 attacks took place in two separate areas of Ghouta, and owing to the chaos resulting from the large number of casualties, it is difficult to establish a precise death toll. The areas affected do not have any large hospitals, and rely on several small, badly supplied underground clinics to provide medical assistance. According to the doctors interviewed by Human Rights Watch, these small medical clinics were overwhelmed by the number of victims, and many of the dead were never brought to the clinics and thus not registered. According to Médecins Sans Frontières, at least 3,600 persons were treated for symptoms consistent with exposure to neurotoxic agents at three hospitals it supports in the area in the first three hours following the attacks.[27]
Human Rights Watch has collected the names of 80 individuals believed to have been killed in the August 21 strikes in Moadamiya in Western Ghouta. Two sources told Human Rights Watch that 103 people were killed in the Moadamiya attack.[28]
Because the attack on Eastern Ghouta involved a much larger affected area, and several small clinics where victims were brought, a total death toll is more difficult to establish. A member of the Zamalka media center, stated during an interview with Human Rights Watch on September 4, and in a separate interview with local journalists on the same day, that the local council in Zamalka had registered the full names of 734 persons who were killed during the attack in Zamalka neighborhood.[29]
II. Identification of the Weapons Used in the Attacks
Human Rights Watch analyzed publicly posted YouTube videos from the attacked areas as well as higher-resolution images of weapon remnants provided by a local activist in Eastern Ghouta, and identified and analyzed two separate surface-to-surface rocket systems that are believed to be associated with the delivery of chemical agents.
By directly contacting the activists who videotaped and uploaded the videos of the attack available on YouTube, Human Rights Watch has been able to verify the reliability of the videos, and confirmed that they were filmed in the affected area. In the case of Eastern Ghouta, a local activist provided Human Rights Watch with high-resolution photographs and measurements of the 330mm rocket components. UN inspectors were also videotaped inspecting some of the same rocket remnants during their on-site visit, further confirming that the rockets are located at the scene of the attacks.
The first type of rocket, found at the site of the Eastern Ghouta attacks, is a 330mm rocket that appears to have a warhead designed to be loaded with and deliver a large payload of liquid chemical agent. The second type, found in the Western Ghouta attack, is a Soviet-produced 140mm rocket which according to reference guides has the ability to be armed with one of three possible warheads including a warhead that was specifically designed to carry and deliver 2.2 kilograms of Sarin.[30]
Our analysis does not exclude the possibility that additional weapons delivery systems were used in the Eastern and Western Ghouta attacks that have not yet been identified and analyzed. However, the two analyzed by Human Rights Watch are the only known rocket systems identified as associated with the attacks, according to local activists who have closely inspected both the affected areas.
In the hours after the August 21 attacks, local activists uploaded several videos of the remnants of rockets they said were collected from some of the sites of the attacks, including some showing remnants apparently filmed where they struck on the ground.[31] In addition, photographs taken by local activists including some taken at the scenes of the attack, appear to show the remnants of rockets used in the attacks.[32] By directly contacting the activists responsible for uploading the videos, Human Rights Watch has been able to obtain precise GPS locations where some rocket remnants were found, and has used satellite imagery to match the locations seen in other videos to precise map locations.
Because the areas in Ghouta where the alleged chemical attacks occurred were shelled by Syrian government forces prior to and after August 21, it is difficult to conclusively determine if the two types of rockets identified, the Soviet 140mm rocket and the 330mm rocket of unknown origin, were the ones used in the attacks. However, local activists say that they only found the remnants of these rockets in the hours after the attacks of August 21 and not before.
In addition, none of the rocket remnants reviewed appeared to contain high explosive or incendiary (flammable substances such as white phosphorus) payloads. According to local activists and doctors as well as publicly available videos of the dead and wounded, none of the injuries sustained by the dead and injured from the attacks appear to be the result of high explosive or incendiary weapons. In both the Eastern and Western Ghouta attacks, witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch described how large numbers of persons died without any type of traumatic injury in the immediate vicinity of the strikes involving the identified rockets.
III. Identification of the Nerve Agent Used in the Attacks
The precise identification of the specific chemical agent used in the August 21 attack requires the collection of samples from weapon remnants, environmental samples, and physiological samples from those directly or indirectly exposed to the chemical agent. Subsequent specialized analyses of these samples can reveal the specific agent itself or the reaction or degradation products characteristic of a specific agent. The UN investigative team has collected such samples, and will issue its findings after the completion of its investigation. In the absence of such testing, Human Rights Watch can only make a preliminary, indirect, circumstantial identification of the chemical that was likely used in the Ghouta attacks.
Human Rights Watch has sought technical advice from Dr. Keith B. Ward, a respected expert on the detection and effects of chemical warfare agents, who has reviewed first-hand and second-hand reports from local residents, the clinical signs and symptoms described by doctors, and the large number of videos that were taken of the victims of the August 21 attack.
The videos showed that several of the younger victims exhibited cyanosis, a bluish coloring on their face, especially around their eyes and mouth, which is consistent with suffocation or asphyxiation. The suffocation was likely either caused by excessive secretion of mucus and fluids in the lungs and air passages, or damage to the part of the nervous system that supports breathing, or both. A majority of adult victims in these videos also show signs of excessive secretions of fluids or mucus from the mouth and nose. Several of the patients shown in the videos were experiencing involuntary muscle spasms or convulsions. It is significant that there was no obvious indication of bodily trauma or excessive blood loss.
These observations are consistent with reports from witnesses, doctors, and the international aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).[33] For example, three local doctors told Human Rights Watch that residents affected by the attacks consistently showed clinical signs including suffocation; constricted, irregular, and infrequent breathing; involuntary muscle spasms; frothing at the mouth; fluid coming out of noses and eyes; convulsions; red and irritated eyes and pin-point pupils (myosis). In addition, they report that victims complained of nausea, dizziness, and blurred vision.
The clinical signs we observed on the videos and the signs and symptoms of the victims commonly reported by others are not consistent with injuries due to explosive concussions, fragmentation, or incendiary devices. Nor are they consistent with exposure to chocking/pulmonary, lachrymatory, incapacitating, vesicant/blister, or asphyxiant/blood agents. Rather they are a strong indication that the victims were exposed to a toxic organophosphate chemical agent (a "nerve agent") which acts by inhibiting enzymes necessary to the proper functioning of the nervous system. This class of chemicals includes the less toxic common pesticide Malathion, but the severity and extent of the clinical signs and symptoms coupled with the large death toll that resulted from the attack strongly suggests that a much more toxic chemical warfare nerve agent was used in the attack.
Syria is believed to possess at least two nerve agents, Sarin and VX, in significant quantities.[34] Sarin is a toxic but non-persistent nerve agent. Exposure is usually due to inhalation, and the agent rather quickly degrades and disperses into atmosphere. The agent VX is both more persistent and 5 to 10 times more toxic than Sarin. Exposure and death by VX is caused by inhalation or by skin, conjunctival, and mucosal absorption. There are reports that people were able to visit the sites of the attacks a few hours post attack and to handle remnants of rockets associated with the attacks without suffering signs and symptoms of exposure to nerve agent. This suggests that the nerve agent involved is more likely to be the less persistent and less toxic agent, Sarin, rather than VX.
Thus while our findings cannot be conclusive without laboratory analyses of environmental and physiological samples, the large number of victims of the attack, the clinical signs and symptoms that characterized both the victims and, later, the medical workers who treated the victims, and the fact that areas near attack sites were apparently safe to enter soon after the attack, all strongly suggest that the attack involved an organophosphate chemical more toxic that the pesticide Malathion, and was most likely a toxic but non-persistent chemical warfare nerve agent, such as Sarin, which Syria is believed to possess.
The use of Sarin in these latest attacks would be consistent with its apparent use earlier in Syria. There is laboratory evidence that Sarin gas has been used in previous attacks allegedly carried out by Syrian government forces, including an earlier attack in Ghouta. A photographer for Le Monde newspaper, Laurent Van der Stockt, was exposed to what he believed was a chemical weapon attack while in Jobar in April 2013.[35] In laboratory tests conducted upon his return to France, he tested positive for exposure to Sarin. Sarin was thus a likely agent to have been used in the Jobar attack, and is consistent with the symptoms experienced by those exposed to the agent during the August 21 attacks on Ghouta.[36]
Other samples collected by the Le Monde team from sites of suspected chemical attacks in the Jobar and Ghouta areas also tested positive for Sarin in June 2013.[37] During the same April trip, the Le Monde journalists also collected 21 hair, blood, urine, and clothes samples from victims of suspected chemical weapon attacks in Jobar and Ghouta neighborhoods of Damascus and had the samples tested by the Centre D'Études du Bouchet, a French laboratory specializing in the analysis of samples of nuclear, chemical, and biological agents. Thirteen of the samples tested positive for exposure to Sarin gas, while the other samples tested inconclusive.[38]
IV. Responsibility for the August 21 Attacks
Syrian Government Forces Responsibility for the Attacks
The evidence examined by Human Rights Watch strongly suggests that the August 21 chemical weapon attacks on Eastern and Western Ghouta were carried out by government forces. Our basis for this finding is:
- The large-scale nature of the attacks, involving at least a dozen surface-to-surface rockets affecting two different neighborhoods in Damascus countryside situated 16 kilometers apart, and surrounded by major Syrian government military positions.
- One of the types of rockets used in the attack, the 330mm rocket system – likely Syrian produced, which appear to be have been used in a number of alleged chemical weapon attacks, has been filmed in at least two instances in the hands of government forces. The second type of rocket, the Soviet-produced 140mm rocket, which can carry Sarin, is listed as a weapon known to be in Syrian government weapon stocks. Both rockets have never been reported to be in the possession of the opposition. Nor is there any footage or other evidence that the armed opposition has the vehicle-mounted launchers needed to fire these rockets.
- The August 21 attacks were a sophisticated military attack, requiring large amounts of nerve agent (each 330mm warhead is estimated to contain between 50 and 60 liters of agent), specialized procedures to load the warheads with the nerve agent, and specialized launchers to launch the rockets.
V. Syria and Chemical Weapons Under International Law
Syria is not among the 189 countries that are party to the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction.[39] However, Syria is a party to the 1925 Geneva Gas protocol, which bans the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices.[40]The use of chemical weapons is also prohibited as a matter of customary international humanitarian law, or the laws of war.[41]
The prohibition on the use of chemical weapons applies to all armed conflicts, including so-called non-international armed conflicts such as the current fighting in Syria. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in the Tadic case, stated "there undisputedly emerged a general consensus in the international community on the principle that the use of [chemical] weapons is also prohibited in internal armed conflicts."[42] In 1977, during a debate in the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, Syria supported a complete ban on chemical weapons.[43]


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Meet Your Models
Memories Of The Past
Given the state of storage technology in recent years, and then comparing it to say, 1995, when a 2GB HDD was considered state-of-the-art, the pinnacle for storage space and compare it to the 320GB, 500GB and 1TB models of today, you'll be totally flabbergasted for words. Now imagine what it would be like in 10 years time when we look back on our current 1TB models as an antique model while we all use ultra high capacity drives in the range of Petabytes and probably relying on solid state drives or even holographic storage technology! Mind boggling indeed, even for us.
Of course, let's not forget that while our storage capacity will increase, our requirements will likewise increase. Take the current digital explosion for example, where movies, videos and music all form part of our current lifestyle requirements; can you imagine not listening to your 8GB MP3 player or snapping photos with your 8MP digital camera? Or when HD multimedia files become the norm?
While most people store their data on their computer, should a problem arise and with no way of recovery but to reformat the hard disk, one would potentially lose a lifetime's worth of data and beautiful memories. The only solution to prevent this loss would be to conduct regular backups and face it, with our reliance on the digital medium; backing up our data seems like a really good idea in the long run.
To complement that line of thought, in this article, we test drive three ready-to-use retail external storage drives of 750GB in capacity: the Buffalo DriveStation Turbo USB, the Seagate FreeAgent Pro and the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus. Of course there's always the DIY route to external storage drives and for this reason, we've also compared the retail ready-to-use drives against the DIY option for knowledge sake and point of comparison in terms of usability, performance and cost. So keep on reading for our impressions and findings, but to start off here's a table of summary of the models that are compared in this article:-
|Buffalo DriveStation Turbo USB 750GB
|Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750GB
|Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus 750GB
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In my dreams I can fly, and when I think I'm about to fall, I stretch my wings so wide that I am suspended high into the air – just like Jonathon Livingston Seagull. You will see that I have a passion for anything that whizzes past me in flight. I wonder what it is like constantly viewing the land as bird might – hovering, watching, ready to swoop – free to go wherever you please. Free to escape.
"Above and Below" is my gentle lyrical way of painting a landscape with intrigue. Everything seems to be alive – even mountains.
Buy the Original – SOLD
Size – H92 x W122cm
Medium – Acrylic, granosite, charcoal on poly/cotton canvas
Original paintings will be delivered via the most respected art specialists within Australia; and for international deliveries, paintings will either be detached from stretcher bars, rolled and placed in a postal cylinder for safe shipment, or freighted via a respected freight service with an online tracking system.
Contact us for commercial pricing on bulk orders. Please review our full terms & conditions.


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Read "Submerging the 'I'" by Chuck Palahniuk
For three years, Chuck Palahniuk contributed to our ground breaking online Writers Workshop (which he also helped build, btw) with 36 writing essays. These were lessons from a best-selling author on how to improve your craft as a writer... the types of lessons they teach in $20,000+ MFA writing programs.
To look back and celebrate these exclusive essays, each month we are "unlocking" one and offering it for free on the site. Normally you would need a Workshop Membership on the site to view these essays, but until you're ready to make that important commitment, we'll offer you one of these a month.
For February, we have Submerging the I, a favorite essay among Chuck's writing fans, which helps you discover the secret for making a first-person narrator less obtrusive. Enjoy!


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Ever wondered where all the big names in the Big Apple sit for the hottest ticket town? Well, keep wondering. In the interim, check out this seating chart from today's Knicks game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The top four is OK, I suppose. Michael J. Fox, Seth Meyers, Padma and the Social Network guy are all legitimate. But, my goodness, the wheels fall off the wagon pretty quickly here. And yes, I am serious—I'm not including Johnny Mac (or that imbecile from 30 Rock) in the list of legitimate celebs. [@gonzocsn]


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Contact Us
Facilitate highest quality animal biomedical research and teaching while ensuring the most humane care possible and compliance with all animal welfare and health and safety policies and regulations. To achieve this, health care for experimental animals at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University (Einstein) is provided by the IAS veterinarians and veterinary technicians. Also, the IAS coordinates the purchase of experimental animals at Einstein and provides animal husbandry services.
Please note that in order to purchase animals you must have an approved animal use protocol. Protocols are reviewed and approved by the IACUC.
Institute for Animal Studies Van Etten, 460Telephone: 718.839.7100Fax: 718.862.1886 or 718.862.1887
See our entire IAS staff
The IACUC is charged with investigating any reports concerning the welfare, care and treatment of research animals from members of the Einstein community or from individuals outside of Einstein. To report an animal welfare concern, you may call or submit an e-mail to any of the IACUC members. Members' names, telephone numbers and E-mail addresses are provided at: IACUC Members. All reports are held in strict confidence and no employee shall be subject to discrimination or reprisal for reporting animal welfare concerns.


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SKF offers new online heater selection tool
2015 November 05, 13:30 CEST
SKF offers new online heater selection tool
Gothenburg, 5, November 2015: SKF today announced the introduction of its online heater selection tool for bearings and similar workpieces. Accessible via the Group's website: www.skf.com, this convenient tool makes it quick and easy for SKF customers and distributors to find the right heater for various applications.
In standard cases, the versatile selection tool utilizes an SKF bearing designation to determine the appropriate heater. However, for other bearing or annular components, a suitable heater can be found by defining the application and by specifying the dimensions and weight of the bearing or workpiece. The new heater selection tool chooses from SKF's comprehensive offering, including the electric hot plate, induction heaters and fixed induction heaters.
Hot mounting and dismounting of bearings and workpieces reduce the risk of damage to the bearing, shaft or workpiece and help to increase bearing service life and machine reliability. Suitable for most SKF bearings with a cylindrical bore, hot mounting is also used with many annular components.
The online heater selection tool is available via the following link: http://www.mapro.skf.com/heaterselect/
Aktiebolaget SKF
For further information, please contact:
Press Relations: Theo Kjellberg, +46 31 337 65 76; +46 725 77 65 76; firstname.lastname@example.com is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 15,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2014 were SEK 70,975 million ($8.5 billion) and the number of employees was 48,593. www.skf.com® SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF Group.


text:
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Online store:Mycare Stone
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All the information you provide on this website must be true and legal. All the products and services you sell on this website must be legal and in accordance with the laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China. You must not sell any illegal or prohibited products or services on this website. You must not make use of the website to conduct fraud, intellectual property infringement, piracy, or any other unlawful activity.
Our website is not responsible for the authenticity of the information provided by the users.
You should read the User Agreement and Privacy Policy before you register.


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An Eastwood exclusive, this handheld tool allows you to straighten steel, stainless steel, aluminum or copper tubing for brake systems, fuel systems and more.
Save time and money by using bulk coiled tube while still getting professionally straight results. Much quicker and less expensive than bench mounted tubing straighteners and you get way better results than trying to straighten the tubing by hand.
Plus you'll get better flow through your lines because there are no bends or irregularities. On top of all that, you can use this tool and a marker to index the tubing so all your bends are on the same plane.
- Straightens coiled, or bent lines
- Works on steel, stainless, copper, and aluminum
- Great for brake lines, fuel lines and more
- Easy to use
- Available in 3/16", 1/4" & 3/8"
- Saves time and money
Eastwood Handheld Tubing Straightener 3/16"
- Brand: Eastwood
- Product Code: 30537
- Availability: In Stock
- Includes GST


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Earlystimulus has been developed with the purpose of optimizing Parkinson's Patient referrals for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) therapy.
Find information on this new technique now available to our patients
Book your appointment at a location convenient to you
Referral templates, CPD event information and other resources
Our Melbourne-based neurosurgeons and spinal surgeons utilise state-of-the-art technology, training and skill to give patients advanced world-class surgical and non-surgical treatments. Robotic spinal surgery, deep brain stimulation, neuromodulation for pain, advanced brain and spine tumour surgery, and keyhole spine surgery are examples of the advanced neurosurgery we offer.
Our super specialised neurology practice strives to give you the best that modern medicine can offer without sacrificing the equally important values of dignity, respect and bedside manner. Our neurologists are experts in the treatment of headaches, neuropathic pain, Parkinson's disease, tremor, multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions.
Pain relief is our passion. We bring together a group of renowned pain specialists who use a state-of-the-art approach to the management of chronic pain, spinal problems and other painful disorders. We also offer a specialised pain management program- Precision Ascend- to help you to deal with your pain more effectively.
Neurosurgeon Professor Bittar has extensive international experience in deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease, tremor, and other movement disorders, as well as surgery for Tourette's, depression and OCD. He has produced a large amount of research in this area. Neurologist Professor Thyagarajan has decades of experience in the non-surgical and surgical treatment of movement disorders, and is an academic leader in this field.
We specialise in the treatment of brain tumours and spinal tumours. At our Brain and Spine Tumour Clinic, our primary goal is to treat your tumour effectively by working as a team to maximise your chance of achieving the best possible outcome. We strive to do this with compassion and empathy.
Our highly trained psychologists and psychiatrists can assist with a variety of psychological and psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression and chronic pain. Your mental health is equally important as your physical health.
The Headache Clinic brings together some of Australia's leading specialists in headache and facial pain, to offer you the benefits of leading edge medical care in this field. Our team includes neurology, neurosurgery and pain management.
Our highly qualified personal trainers, exercise physiologists and pilates instructors utilise a range of integrated services to help restore and maintain your health. Rehabilitation and prehabilitation are integral in avoiding and recovering from surgery.
Our specialists possess the highest academic and clinical qualifications. We are also experienced in the provision of a variety of medico-legal services, including medical reports and independent medical examinations.
Our Occupational Physicians specialise in the management of injured workers, workplace safety, and rehabilitation. We strive to get patients back to work safely.
Our integrated team of super-specialists bring complementary skills to treat brain, spine and chronic pain conditions.
We utilise leading edge medical science and extensive experience to provide the highest quality treatment.
Our multi-disciplinary team delivers integrated care, support and treatment as much (or as little) as you need.


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Tooling Article
Die Shop Slashes Lead Time via Automation
"Used in our die shop," says Quinn, "Revcam has eliminated as much as 95 percent of the setup time required to prepare blocks for machining, including squaring, chamfering and deburring." The software, also used at stamper Modified Technologies, Inc. (MTI), Fair Haven, MI, is programmed inside of AutoCad, and recognizes automatically all of the features within AutoCad. It looks at each feature and automatically develops the CNC machining programs required to make them, using best-practice techniques programmed into Revcam. MTI, which builds all of its own tools as well as those for its parent company, prototype stamper PTM Corp., also of Fair Haven, has used Revcam for five years.
"Revcam helped us revolutionize our toolroom," sales MTI general manager Jim Boelstler. "It's helped get everyone on the same page in terms of lean thinking, and paved the for a lean design and build process."
Automatic Feature Recognition
Quinn dubs the best-practices milling and grinding cycles developed for Revcam Smart Cycles. These program routines include automatic feature recognition, which applies to the top and bottom of a die detail and automatically matches all of the machining routines required to machine top and bottom block faces. Revcam's Smart Cycles include a software routine called Smart Drilling, which, since it automatically supports drilling from top and bottom, doubles the effective length of each drill tool.
The Revcam-generated CNC programming—which includes automatic feed, speed and depth-of-cut calculations, and algorithms to support chip thinning, automatic squaring and chamfering—therefore minimizes operator intervention and setups, resulting in a streamlined shop flow and little chance for errors. Using the software, RCM Tool and Modified Technologies have experienced, on average, a reduction in die-design time of as much as 20 percent, due to automatic feature recognition that eliminates nearly all manual detailing tasks such as dimensioning and standard feature specifying. CNC die construction also has reduced die-assembly time by as much as 75 percent—from a week to as little as one or two days thanks to the ability to hold tighter tolerances, as tight as 0.0002 in.
Adds Boelstler: "The software and the ability to employ CNC die-detail machining combine to triple to quadruple the speed of our die-detail manufacturing process—it's the equivalent of about four die makers."
One RCM customer, Donald Frattaroli, president of Ultraform Industries, Romeo, MI, notes "fantastic turnaround from design to delivery, in as little as four to six weeks, from RCM Tool." Ultraform supplies wire forms, fourslide stampings and small- to medium-sized progressive stampings to the automotive industry. "RCM builds 70 percent of our tools," adds Frattaroli.
The Next Step: Automated Die Manufacturing
…and that's exactly what Quinn and his team have done, by developing a gantry-style robotic system that transfers pallet-loaded die details among a CNC grinder and wire-EDM machine. When a machined detail comes back from heattreating, an RCM diemaker sets the detail into a pallet, specially designed and built by RCM to be carried by the gantry robot from machine to machine. The robot carries the pallet to a grinder for grinding on top and bottom, and then automatically moves it to wire-EDM machining without the need for another setup.
The line includes a Chevalier grinder updated with a new CNC control, and a pair of Fanuc Robocut wire-EDM machines. Mounted overhead within the gantry robot setup is storage and indexing capacity for 24 pallets. With a die detail fixtured into a pallet, the pallet indexes to position over the machine of choice and the two-axis robotic arm positions the pallet onto the machine bed.
Quinn calls his automated die-manufacturing line a Coordinated Manufacturing Concept, and hopes to construct several of the lines by attracting stamping companies as investors in the base equipment and robotic system. The investing companies then would attain priority access to the lines when they need dies built. Each integrated line would likely comprise a CNC machining center, grinder and two wire-EDM machines, to balance production flow. Quinn predicts one line should be able to generate tooling components worth $2 to 3 million per year.
"If we can find two or three stampers where the volume of new dies being developed is high enough, we can justify investing as a group in a few of these lines, to run side by side," says Quinn. "This creates an integrated die-build process—a stamping-die assembly line. Labor content is dramatically reduced, by a factor of at least four, and overhead becomes almost insignificant. The result is dramatically reduced pricing for new dies, maybe 25 to 30 percent less than today's prices. And at the same time, lead time might be slashed to as little as four to six weeks." MF
See also: FANUC America, Inc.
Related Enterprise Zones: Other Processes, Software, Tool & Die


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A nice writeup for haters out there.
Why is it wrong to praise Imran Khan? | Blog | DAWN.COM
And smalishah's avatar is the most classy one by far Jan certainly echoes the sentiments of CW
Yeah we don't crap in the first world; most of us would actually have no idea what that was emanating from Ajmal's backside. Why isn't it roses and rainbows like what happens here? PEWS's retort to Ganeshran on Daemon's picture depicting Ajmal's excreta
'You will look very silly said Mr Salteena with a dry laugh.
Well so will you said Ethel in a snappy tone and she ran out of the room with a very superier run throwing out her legs behind and her arms swinging in rithum.
Well said the owner of the house she has a most idiotick run.'
The Taliban are no more Wahabists than the Saudis. And it's also part of their culture. They are a backwards people, but an invasion for that reason is ridiculous. Let them operate how they have operated for the last few centuries.
The Taliban have always been against the drug trade in their country. It's the Afghan warlords who have promoted it and benefited from it.
Kids in Afghanistan don't get toys, they are presented with guns. That's how they have always operated.
It wasn't meant as a reason for invading them, but rather to point out that they weren't all sugar and spice and babies dipped in honey.
Yeah, but nobody is sugar and spice and all things nice.
Btw, will respond to some points that have been made which i disagree with in this thread later. A few different issues also getting mixed up.
Ftr, never been opposed to Imran and he would certainly bring some hope and probably be better than the rest who are useless, but don't think some of his proposed policies are practical or in some cases ideal for the region as a whole. West or no West doesn't matter in many of them.
the thing is that current policies have been making the situation from bad to worse for the last 10 years.....so why not change??
we are all waiting for the venom to start pouring
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Software upgrades include device drivers and firmware updates only for specific models. Check your owner's manual to determine if your product supports software upgrades.
1. Update to newest firmware
2. Firmware Version : 1.2.8
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Could Google become your next phone carrier? Rumors about Google buying up fiber optics, launching high-speed Internet and ensuring continued market share and relevance could mean Google is going into the carrier business.
The speculation of a Google phone network, fueled by CNNMoney, has been neither confirmed nor denied by Google, but even if Google was preparing such a move, it would likely take a decade for completion. From the CNNMoney story:
As long as Google can get 300,000 new phones a day into customers' hands via the existing carriers, and as long as those devices allow consumers to download anything they want, there's no reason for them to compete, says Forrester Research analyst Jeffrey Hammond. . . ."While I think Google could become a mobile provider, I'd view it as a nuclear option," Hammond says.
U.S. & World
Google's solid relationships with carriers like Verizon, allow distribution for their Google and Android products with minimal customer service or retail support. The company would also face opposition from federal regulators and the mobile industry who would fear the tech giant becoming larger.
I think it's more likely that Google is keeping its options open, testing the market, and seeing if becoming a provider is a worthwhile pursuit or, like Google Wave, it could simply be another grand idea to be shelved and forgotten.


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Paterson Classic Lo
Paterson Classic Lo
Made with waterproof suede and lined with 100% real Australian sheepskin, the Paterson Classic Lo boots for women are a constructed fit that will feel firm initially, but mould to your feet as you wear them for the ultimate in comfy cool. These ladies' boots come in classic colours such as black, brown and grey, as well as more colourful options like red, navy blue and green.
Colour: DARK GREY
Please consultSize Chart
Half Size?
We recommend a size up
- Thermal rating of -22°f / -30°c
- Waterproof suede upper
- 100% Australian sheepskin lining
- Anatomically shaped & removable 100% Australian sheepskin lined footbed
- Breathable sheepskin keeps feet cool in summer and warm in colder winter months
- Breathable waterproof membrane with sealed seams between the suede and sheepskin
- Moulded heel cup and toe cap for better fit and support
- Soft EVA midsole for comfort
- Superior double stitched seams for added strength
- Waterproof, durable, flexible rubber outsole with wave design for traction and grip
- Woolmark accredited
Product Description
Based on our ever-popular sheepskin boot silhouette, the women's Paterson Classic Lo boot combines waterproof natural suede, luxurious 100% real Australian sheepskin and a waterproof breathable membrane to create a stylish, trendy and fashionable yet functional boot. Mid calf in height, it features a sturdy but cushioned sole unit that delivers an anatomically correct fit and superior support for the ultimate in comfortable cool. The soles have traction and grip, making them ideal for icy, cold and wet winter weather. Our sheepskin is very breathable, so the Paterson Classic Lo for ladies can also be worn during warmer summer months as they keep feet cool. Available in classic colours such as Oak brown, Midnight blue, Charcoal grey and Black, as well as more colourful options like red, navy blue and green.
Incredible Comfort
1. New and improved outsole for added traction
stability in all conditions
2. Molded EVA layer for comfort & support
3. Anatomically correct moulded EVA insole for comfort & support
4. Soft sheepskin for the ultimate in warmth
Innovative Waterproof Technology
1. Waterproof suede and deluxe Australian
sheepskin lining
2. Breathable waterproof membrane with
sealed seams
3. Superior double stitched seams for added strength and durability
4. Sole attached with waterproof adhesive,
finished with waterproof suede binding
5. Anatomically correct removable sheepskin
lined insole
6. Molded suede heel cup and toe cap for better fit
7. Durable rubber EMU sole with quality EVA
comfort and support


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Information Security
- FeatureHoneyclients bring new twist to honeypots
- FeatureEverdream 7.5 product review: Data encryption, malware protection
- FeatureProduct review: LogLogic LX
- FeatureZENworks Endpoint Security Management 3.5 product review
- FeatureLumigent Audit DB 6.0 product review
- FeatureSIEM market, log management tools need a standardized log format
- FeatureProduct review: Seven integrated endpoint security products
- FeatureRemote computer access to files and systems must secure
- FeatureWeb 2.0 application development techniques introduce new information security risks
- FeatureProduct review: Workshare Professional 5
- FeatureProduct review: Paraben's P2 Enterprise Shuttle
- FeatureE-discovery forces security organizations to prepare for eventual litigation
- FeatureBruce Schneier, Marcus Ranum debate the realities of cyberwar
- FeatureInterview: CISO builds information security program from scratch
- FeatureInformation security officers need to sharpen their risk management skills
- FeatureViewpoint: Don't blame generation gaps for poor home security
iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
Product review: Seven integrated endpoint security products
Information Security magazine evaluates seven integrated endpoint security suites on their management capabilities, reporting, ability to detect and block malware, detecting and thwarting exploit attempts, and integration of the various desktop security capabilities in one package.
Yet desktop security technology is rapidly advancing, with host-based intrusion prevention systems (HIPS), personal firewalls and other defenses augmenting traditional antivirus and antispyware tools. Because of the severe constraints on the number of host security products our enterprises can deploy and manage, major security vendors have responded with integrated endpoint security suites, rolling a bunch of desktop defenses into a single package.
These endpoint security products have introduced a new dynamism into our industry, as antivirus vendors augment their wares with fresh features to compete against each other and hungry challengers. To help sort out all of this, Information Security evaluated seven enterprise endpoint security solutions. We graded each on its management capabilities, reporting, ability to detect and block malware, detecting and thwarting exploit attempts, and integration of the various desktop security capabilities in one package.
Specifically, we tested CA Threat Man-ager 8.1 and Host-Based Intrusion Pre-vention System 8; eEye Digital Security Blink Enterprise Edition; IBM ISS Pro-ventia Desktop Endpoint Security 9.0; McAfee Total Protection for Enterprise; Sophos Endpoint Security and Control 7.0; Symantec Endpoint Protection 11.0; and Trend Micro OfficeScan 8.0.
Bearing witness to the rapidly evolving nature of the endpoint security space, the three giants of the information security industry--McAfee, Symantec and Trend Micro--responded with beta versions of their suites that were nearly finalized for shipping. (We requested every product we analyzed be available for general purchase by our publication date.)
Many of the problems we encountered with testing and, in some cases, retesting updated versions of these products reflected the difficulties in dealing with beta builds of highly complex packages. But, further, our testing suggests this class of integrated endpoint security products is, for the most part, far from mature.
The immense complexity of these tools can be overwhelming, with more features than almost any distributed system in today's enterprise. If a given product provides really good security, but cannot be managed across an enterprise in a coherent fashion, it just isn't useful.
We looked at the ease with which each product could be used to configure systems, quickly determine their security state, and update settings based on attack activity.
We were particularly impressed with Symantec's management capabilities, but McAfee's completely new ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) is a major disappointment.
|Symantec is top-notch from a large enterprise perspective, with intuitive GUIs for policy configuration and status checking. Its overall dashboard clearly identifies potential problems associated with infection, out-of-date signatures or disabled functionality on managed hosts, offering advice to an administrator on how to fix each issue. The management GUI comes in two flavors: a full-blown Java-based interface for all aspects of the administration console, and a scaled-down Web-based interface that can be used for status checks and reporting, but not policy management.
Sophos also provided very solid management capabilities, organized, the vendor told us, around the KISS principle, which we assume stands for "Keep It Simple, Sysadmin." Sophos' GUI is designed to reduce the time and effort needed to configure and deploy the product. Sure, you don't have access to a lot of the fine-grained policy settings, but the overall options available for configuration are excellent. Checking the status of managed workstations is snappy, and alerts about systems that deviate from policy are easy to understand.
The Trend Micro management interface worked quite well in configuring and analyzing managed systems, especially for antivirus and antispyware. The new product architecture enables Trend Micro to package new endpoint product building blocks into plug-ins for rapid deployment, a design decision that will benefit Trend and its customers.
However, we were concerned that we couldn't discern client signature updates for its Intrusion Defense Firewall (the component that implements the firewall and HIPS functionality). Such information is vital in signature-based IPS products such as this one, which applies network-based IPS signatures to traffic going into the protected host. Trend Micro licensed this functionality from Third Brigade to create the first plug-in for its new architecture.
eEye Digital Security features a well-organized, intuitive management interface. However, the client GUI is clearly more mature than the enterprise management console itself, offering finer-grained insight into the configuration and alerts generated by the tool.
|CA's management console has improved significantly since we last looked at it in our antispyware analysis in May 2006. Its latest version is much faster and more interactive than previous versions. Still, checking the status of different workstations required moving between different screens, and policy configuration of this purely Web-based GUI was more difficult than with other products.
We found the IBM ISS product quite difficult to manage. Determining the current status of clients from the management console was cumbersome, and managing all of the separate features was complicated and confusing. Also, at several points we encountered cryptic error messages that didn't explain the problems we encountered in installing and configuring the product. Finally, the IBM ISS endpoint product is exclusively for Windows clients; it cannot be used to manage servers, Windows or otherwise. Server security is available only as a completely separate product.
McAfee's new enterprise management server, ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) 4.0, was a great disappointment. The more you loved the previous versions of McAfee's ePO, the more frustrated you will likely be with the new version.
McAfee has completely rewritten its flagship management product with a Web-based GUI, letting admins manage it from any browser in their enterprise.
The well-laid-out and quick GUI of earlier ePO versions has been replaced with a complex and bewildering Web-based interface. The easy drag- and-drop features of the thick-client ePO have been replaced with countless Web-based drop-down menus in screens that make it difficult to find what you need.
The difficult-to-use management GUI and default policy are of significant concern. While testing, we accidentally applied a baseline medium security policy to the McAfee management server itself. In the complex ePO 4.0 GUI, such mistakes are frustratingly easy to make--we did it while being guided step-by-step on the phone by McAfee support. By simply applying the default security policy to the management server, ePO killed itself. We were unable to get access to any of the management capabilities, and had to reinstall everything from scratch to resume testing.
To gauge each vendor's ability to detect and block malware found in the wild, we ran three tests using 8,114 recent malware specimens from a private collection graciously provided by antispam researcher Bill Stearns. Our zoo included a large variety of worms, bots, backdoors and viruses. For each test, we recorded the percentage of specimens not eradicated in each round of testing (See "Antimalware Scanning Results," PDF).
We then performed an on-demand scan of all malware that survived our first test, to assess the combined real-time and on-demand scan capabilities for identifying and eradicating malware.
Finally, we conducted on-demand scanning independently by disabling real-time scanning, copying all malware to the target file system, and then executing a scan of the entire zoo.
Trend Micro, CA and eEye all did very well, generally detecting and blocking or removing all but about 8 to 9 percent of the malware we threw at them in all tests.
|Symantec was close behind, missing 17.6 percent of specimens on the real-time scan, but performing on a par with Trend, CA and eEye in the on-demand scans.
McAfee was next, with 22.3 percent of our specimens eluding the real-time scan. The follow-up on-demand scan, however, produced some surprising results: Another 10.7 percent of specimens were detected, but none of those were deleted or quarantined. Likewise, in the pure-play on-demand scan, all of the 8,000-plus malware specimens survived, despite an avalanche of alerts. That's because this new McAfee product has a default action of alert-only for on-demand scans, in contrast to the competition and a departure from most earlier McAfee products.
With the help of McAfee support, we used the McAfee client to conduct an on-demand scan with a delete action, a process that requires several rather nonintuitive steps. After that scan, 11.6 percent of our initial specimens remained for both the on-demand scan following real-time scanning and the pure-play on-demand scan. Notably, McAfee blocks all .exe files from a network copy, even benign test files, due to another default setting. Such a feature is likely to cause problems in environments attempting to distribute programs via network file shares, and is certain to be disabled in some enterprises.
When we tested Sophos, every one of our specimens survived the initial copy because, by default, Sophos' real-time defenses only look at "read" actions, not "write" actions. Such an approach, possibly done to improve file system performance, prevents the malware from executing, but does not stop infiltration of malware into a file system. Sophos does offer an option for changing this default behavior.
In the end, both the real-time/on-demand combo test and the pure on-demand test left 36.7 percent of the specimens on the target machine.
Sophos' default behavior is to perform "in-place" quarantine, preventing future access of the file but leaving it in its current location. All the other products move malware to a separate quarantine directory or delete it. Sophos says its approach makes restoration of files misidentified as malware easier. If your antivirus tool makes false-positive matches on legitimate files, restoring access in their normal locations is a lot easier than scraping them out of a quarantine directory and finding their homes again. The Sophos tool can be configured to perform traditional quarantine or deletion.
|IBM ISS was rated lowest in this series of tests, crashing several times and scoring so poorly as to cause us to double-check that protection was enabled. IBM ISS leaves signature- based antivirus turned off by default, another indication that this product is typically used to augment another vendor's antivirus solution. IBM ISS has licensed BitDefender's antivirus and antispyware functionality in its endpoint suite, which we activated before starting our test regimen. The initial real-time test completed without the tool blocking a single file. According to IBM ISS support personnel, file copies across Windows network shares are not scanned, even with the on-write scanning option enabled. This stance mystifies us, considering that users could copy infected files on a file server back to their clients without any real-time protection.
The on-demand scanning was hardly better. The follow-up on-demand scan started off as expected, but halfway through the scan (according to the progress bar) scanning stopped and we were greeted with the message "Successfully Completed." However, the same GUI listed "Number of Files Remaining: 4,430" and we still counted 58.6 percent of our malware in the target machine's file system. This stop and start repeated several times during the scan. We re-ran this test several times, but 34.7 percent was the best IBM ISS managed in repeated on-demand scans.
Every vendor in our analysis claims to protect systems against exploitation using some form of HIPS technology. Different vendors use this term for a variety of disparate technical defenses (see "HIPS Hydra," below). Regardless of approach, we wanted to see how each vendor would fare against exploitation attempts in a series of three tests. We disabled each product's firewall component to focus the test exclusively on HIPS functionality.
|Our second test measured how well each product defended listening services on the protected system, particularly services associated with Windows networking. We attempted to exploit both the MSRPC DCOM buffer overflow flaw (MS03-026) and the LSASS buffer overflow issue (MS04-011). To add some variety to this network service testing, we attempted each exploit with both a standard command shell payload and the Metasploit Meterpreter shell, a more sophisticated and often harder-to-detect attack that provides specialized remote shell access running from within an exploited process. Our client-side and server-side testing relied on Metasploit Framework version 3.0, using all default settings except for the HTTP port for browser exploits, which we changed from 80 and 8080 to another number to simulate an attacker who tricks a client into clicking on a link with a port number in it.
Our third test was designed to look at how each vendor could defend against zero-day exploits of third-party applications. We created our own network-listening program with a buffer overflow flaw, and wrote some code to exploit it to give remote command-shell access on the target machine.
Overall, eEye performed best in detecting exploits. It was the clear leader in identifying client-side attacks, alerting on all of our tests, but by default did not block; it simply displayed the alert "Application Protection: Suspicious System Call." This default behavior could be altered to block such exploits, as a global switch applied to all such suspicious system-call detection. While blocking is the goal, concern over false-positive blocks makes eEye's default setting reasonable.
eEye successfully stopped all service exploits. However, in the process of blocking the MSRPC DCOM exploit, it killed the svchost.exe process, which made our Windows machines reboot themselves within 60 seconds. It is generally considered better to kill an exploited process rather than run the attacker's code, but re-booting could result in loss of valuable data.
eEye detected and alerted on our zero-day exploit; when we tweaked the configuration to an action of "Terminate Process," it blocked as well.
|IBM ISS came next. On the client side, it detected and blocked the VML exploit. However, the alert messages for the IE CreateObject and Firefox attacks didn't indicate that the product had detected the exploit action, only that it identified a Microsoft Windows shell banner passing across the network. An attacker could launch such an exploit without creating a banner, thereby dodging this form of detection.
IBM ISS identified and blocked all services-based attacks, with an alert that cited the specific exploit we used, the ideal behavior for the product under these tests.
It allowed our zero-day attack, again merely alerting to the presence of a Win-dows shell banner.
Sophos delivered reasonable performance in our client-side testing, alerting on two exploits as "Buffer Overflow" behavior, but missing the CreateObject exploit. The default action is to alert, but Sophos can be configured to block the attacks.
All of our services attacks were detected, but by default they were allowed through, giving the attacker control of the system. Sophos neither detected nor blocked our zero-day exploit.
McAfee detected and blocked our VML and Firefox exploits, but failed to detect our CreateObject exploit. McAfee detected and blocked all of our service exploits. For zero-day defenses, McAfee requires administrators to configure specific applications to be protected on a machine. By default, nothing other than specific Win-dows components is protected, so our zero-day attack went undetected. As an experiment, we configured McAfee to add zero-day protection to our custom vulnerable application. Unfortunately, our exploit still went undetected.
|Trend Micro and Symantec came next in our exploit testing. Neither identified nor blocked a single client exploit. Trend Micro support personnel indicated that the HIPS protection it licensed from Third Brigade (as well as the protections offered by other vendors) is often configured by default to look for browser exploits only on TCP ports 80 and 8080. Again, independent of our scoring, we tweaked our test to verify this claim, and Trend Micro did detect our attacks on those ports. Administrators can add lists of additional ports for browser and other HTTP-related defenses. Ideally, an admin would configure the endpoint security suite so it monitored for HTTP and HTTPS attacks on all ports allowed out through the enterprise's network firewall. In many organizations, unfortunately, the number of ports allowed outbound are rather high and change on a regular basis, making this synchronization of network firewall and endpoint security tool difficult.
Both Trend Micro and Symantec detected and blocked all of our services exploits, but neither detected our zero-day attack.
CA fared worst of the seven products in this series of tests, failing on most. It didn't detect or block any of the client exploits with its default security policy. Although not part of the scoring, we experimented with its "Restrictive Policy," which did block all of the exploits, but also prevented Firefox from accessing the network.
The next set of results were, if anything, poorer, as it did not alert or block our services exploits, even when we applied Restrictive Policy.
The one success was that CA detected and blocked our zero-day exploit under default policy.
|Though McAfee's management GUI was disappointing, ePO's reporting features are excellent, including more than 70 different reports that break down all aspects of the enterprise. The point-and-click custom report creation tool is stellar, making it easy for people who are not database experts to massage the information into highly useful reports.
Symantec is also solid, offering more than 70 reports, with impressive performance. Symantec's custom reporting capabilities are focused on defining filters for its existing reports to create useful subsets, a valuable capability but somewhat less flexible than McAfee.
The IBM ISS reporting tool provided good coverage, addressing long-term trends and top attacked and infected machines. However, getting at the report files is a little obscure. Admins have to remember where they were generated in the file system to open the report from within the management GUI. Further, to open a report, you have to right-click on it and go to "Properties," a bizarre GUI twist that takes some getting used to.
Trend Micro's reporting is handled by a separate product, Trend Micro Control Manager, which is not tightly bundled into the existing management GUI, making a little more work for installation and use. On the positive side, this separate reporting tool applies to all Trend Micro enterprise products, including gateway security appliances, antispam products, etc. It's included in the purchase of the endpoint suite, and provides a full complement of well-laid-out reports.
eEye's built-in reporting features are decent and offer some features for creating custom queries in its published database schema. However, building custom or tweaked report queries is a complicated process, even using the built-in templates.
CA's reporting for antivirus and antispyware is stellar, with more than 70 reports available. Unfortunately, CA's HIPS and firewall features offer very little reporting, with only about a dozen high-level reports providing much less visibility into these important aspects.
Sophos' reporting capabilities are quite skimpy. Only about a dozen reports are available. They don't include Top 10 style reports of most infected systems, users or groups. The look and feel of the reporting engine makes the product appear better suited for small and medium businesses, rather than large enterprises. However, Sophos publishes its database schema for customers to use with third-party reporting tools, such as Crystal Reports.
Endpoint security suites should integrate disparate components into a coherent, manageable whole. Most of the vendors have worked hard to integrate various aspects of their solution, with high marks going to eEye, McAfee, Sophos and Symantec.
Trend Micro's antivirus/antispyware integration is decent, but integrating the personal firewall and HIPS, licensed from Third Brigade, needs some work. These components are a plug-in inside the management GUI, with a separate set of configuration screens that don't have the same look and feel of the configuration of antivirus and antispyware. Further, on the client side, antivirus and antispyware is a completely separate program from the HIPS software.
CA was never one for deep integration of components in its antimalware solutions. Its endpoint security product continues to separate management of antivirus and antispyware on different screens, but at least they both are available in one GUI application. CA's HIPS, on the other hand, is a separately purchased product. It is installed and managed using its own GUI and a separate client package is installed on protected workstations.
|In the End, Take It Slow
Symantec's new offering looks very solid, and eEye is a worthy new competitor in the endpoint security space. Trend Micro has a decent solution and a promising plug-in architecture for future expansion. CA and Sophos did reasonably well, but neither shined consistently. Finally, we were very disappointed with the numerous glitches, unfortunate design decisions and poor performance of McAfee and IBM ISS.
Regardless of which vendor you choose, keep in mind that the endpoint security market is relatively immature--witness our beta testing of three major vendors--and the complexity of any of these products warrants a carefully planned deployment strategy. We urge you to experiment with the products on your own laboratory test systems with images from your production environment to make sure they don't have any adverse consequences on your particular application mix.
Double check default policy settings to make sure they offer reasonable protection, and if not, adjust them for your environment and risk profile. And, finally, have your support staff become familiar with the various quirks of these management GUIs before production roll-out.


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To celebrate the festive month, Cosmetic Candy will be giving away a goody a day up until December the 25th! To keep things interesting, I am giving away all kinds of goodies, not just beauty!
You can enter all the giveaways and winners will be chosen in the first week of January. Use the Christmas Giveaways Tag to see all the contests.
All contests are open internationally and you can enter using the comments or via Twitter.
Good Luck & have an wonderful Christmas!
Worth £30, today I have a posh hand cream for you!
Fine lines and wrinkles are dramatically reduced, with the appearance of wrinkle depth and roughness reduced by more than half in 28 days! Age spots and freckles are visibly lightened while skin is resurfaced, unveiling a smoother, more uniform appearance. Plus Younger Hands contains SPF 15 UVA/UVB protection to help prevent further ageing.
Method 1.
Answer the following question:
We all have bad habits associated with our hands; picking out noses, scratching bums, picking our nails. What is your hand-bad-habit?
I write on my hands, even with a sharpie. I got that bad habit from a teacher in primary school.
Method 2.
Follow me on Twitter and retweet (RT) the following message:
"RT @cosmetic_candy: Follow & RT to win a Skindoctors Younger Hands Hand Cream. Info: http://tinyurl.com/22rzl6f "
*Note: if you change the tweet, it will not count as an entry.
Good Luck!


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Click this link for the latest FOX renewal / cancellation information: [rssinpage rssfeed='http://feeds.feedburner.com/TvbythenumbersCancel/renewFOXShows' rssitems='1′ rssformat='Y']
Our Renew / Cancel Index predicts potential renewal or cancellation for scripted broadcast primetime shows by the end of the 2013-14 season in May, 2014. (includes results from September 16-November 3, 2013):
|Renew/ Cancel Index
|The Mindy Project
|😐 😐 😐
|Brooklyn Nine-Nine
|😐 😐 😐
|Bob's Burgers
|American Dad
|final season on Fox
|New Girl
|Family Guy
|The Simpsons
|Sleepy Hollow
After doing this for seven seasons, the level of anxiety from fans over completely safe shows no longer surprises the cancellation bear. Still, with so little new to write about on a weekly basis about the status of current Fox shows, he figured he'd throw out an obvious headline for the Bones fans.
The move to Friday isn't an indication of the "death" of the show, nor is Fox trying to "kill" the show. (Note to the crazy, networks need not "try" to kill a show. They just cancel it.) Fox simply needs a timeslot for Almost Human. By far, their best night for that is Monday. Given that, they could move either a rookie show that's aired 5 episodes (Sleepy Hollow), or a show in its eighth season, that presumably has viewers that will follow it. Only the truly myopic would suggest the former.
Could Bones still end after this season? Certainly not because of its ratings. Only the production company or the stars wanting to call it quits might end it, and the bear doesn't attempt to predict events like those.
Better to Follow The Bear, Than Be Chased By Him. You can follow the Cancellation Bear on Twitter via @TheCancelBear. The Cancellation Bear will retweet all the Renew/Cancel Index post titles and links as well as engage in a little more back and forth banter than we do on our standard @TVbytheNumbers Twitter feed.
*shows no longer on the air have their Renew/Cancel Index "frozen" at the point they left the schedule.
- 😳 – certain to be cancelled by May, 2014
- 😥 :cry:- more likely to be cancelled than renewed by May, 2014
- 😐 😐 😐 – toss up between renewal or cancellation by May, 2014
- 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 – more likely to be renewed than cancelled by May, 2014
- – certain to be renewed by May, 2014
The Renew/Cancel Index is the ratio of a scripted show's new episode adults 18-49 ratings relative to the new episode ratings of the other scripted shows on its own network. It's calculated by dividing a show's new episode Live+Same Day adults 18-49 average rating by the Live+Same Day new episode average of all the new scripted show episodes on the show's own network. The network's average ratings in the calculation are not time weighted (ex. hour long shows are not weighted twice what 30 minute shows are).
(F) -Fridays: Shows airing on Fridays were renewed with significantly lower than average Indexes.
How have the Renew / Cancel Index Worked Out In Past Seasons? See all the Renew / Cancel Index predicted renewals and cancellations from recent past television seasons.


text:
A miracle! It has to be!
Cos science can't explain
The sudden disappearance of
A tumor in the brain!
It has to be the angels, who
Looked down from up above,
And bathed young Oleg's cortex in
Their holy, shining love;
Or maybe it was Christ himself,
Although it may seem odd—
But healing is a habit for
The only Son of God;
Or else the intervention of
Some altruistic Saint,
Whose relic heard the family's prayers
(It's really rather quaint)
Or maybe it was Mother Mary
The kindly Blessed Virgin—
It couldn't be three hours with
A gifted neurosurgeon.


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Spring is almost here (thank goodness!) and soon Houstonians will be working in their gardens like busy little bees. You can fill your garden with some wonderful plants from our annual spring plant sale, which will be held on April 10th. Before then, however, you can take the opportunity on Valentine's Day weekend to learn about the world of beneficial insects at Hug-a-Bug! Put those pesticides down because your garden will love you, if you love bugs!
|photo credit: I Shutter
Pests can be a pain in your garden, but Mother Nature has a plan. This is where beneficial insects, such as ladybugs, come into play. Pesticides can harm creatures of all walks of life, not only targeting the pests, but beneficials such as butterflies and bees, not to mention defenseless animals such as frogs, toads, and lizards. They can also leave residue on your plants. Biological control is the most eco-friendly and effective method. Here are a few beneficial insects you'll meet at Hug-a-Bug, and you can even purchase for your own garden.
Ladybugs – Ahh ladybugs – beautiful, peaceful, and fierce predators! Most people are under the impression that these cuties of the bug world feed on nectar, but they are actually hungry for blood – aphid blood! Ladybug larvae and adults feed on plants pests, especially aphids. If aphids are in short supply, they will go after other soft-bodied pests such as whiteflies. At Hug-a-Bug, we will be giving away vials of ladybugs for you to release in the butterfly center or even in your garden at home!
| photo credit: yaybiscuits123
Green Lacewing
Green Lacewings – Not familiar with these guys? Well, pay attention to your front porch light at night and you might notice these dainty little bugs flying around. The adults have a green body with large, lacy looking wings – hence the name! The adults are harmless pollen and nectar feeders while the larvae, like ladybugs, munch on soft-bodied plant pests.
Parasitic Wasps – When most people hear the word wasp they think of red wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets. These are of course not favorable to people because of their nasty stings. But the vast majority of wasps go completely unnoticed by people. They are tiny and parasitic on other arthropods. Each species has a specific host, whether it is a type of caterpillar, aphid, mealy bug, scale, or whitefly. These tiny wasps have no stinger and buzz about protecting our plants from pests.
|photo credit: SMB(spidermanbryce)
Praying Mantis – You know this is one of my favorite bugs! Highly intelligent, expressive and thoughtful, they are just fascinating! Most people know the praying mantis because of its distinct appearance. They may not be quite as beneficial as some of the more specialized predators, but they are a friend to your garden none-the-less. If you don't like larger bugs such as caterpillars or grasshoppers munching on your foliage, these are for you!
Mother Nature is truly incredible! For every plant's pest, there is a predator or parasite out there to keep them in check. If you let nature run its course in your yard, you will have a very healthy little ecosystem to observe and admire.
If you need any help, all of these bugs can be purchased in large quantities from many places including Rincon Vitova, a pioneer in biological control.
I hope you will come join us at Hug-a-Bug this Saturday, February 13 in the Cockrell Butterfly Center from 11 to 2 to learn more about these fascinating beneficial insects and see them up close and personal. There will also be fun crafts and games for the kids and a chance to talk to the butterfly center's very own staff of entomologists and horticulturalists. We hope to see you there!


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Gun owners in New York have a message for you, you pathetic tragedy pimp
New York Governor Cuomo the Junior may have rushed throughhis new gun control law with such speed thatpolice will avoid its restrictions only through the blessed miracle ofselective enforcement, but he may have a little trouble getting the state's firearms owners to attend his party. The new law requires owners of those scary-looking rifles known as "assault weapons" to register their property (amidst assurances that, oh no, the registration lists will never be used for confiscation), but gun rights activists are actively urging gun owners to defy the new mandate.
According to Frederic Dicker at the New York Post:
Assault-rifle owners statewide are organizing a mass boycott of Gov. Cuomo's new law mandating they register their weapons, daring officials to "come and take it away," The Post has learned.
Gun-range owners and gun-rights advocates are encouraging hundreds of thousands of owners to defy the law, saying it'd be the largest act of civil disobedience in state history.
"I've heard from hundreds of people that they're prepared to defy the law, and that number will be magnified by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, when the registration deadline comes,'' said Brian Olesen, president of the American Shooters Supply, one of the largest gun dealers in the state.
Dicker quotes a Cuomo administration official admitting, "Many of these assault-rifle owners aren't going to register; we realize that." Which means that state officials were merely posturing rather than entirely ignorant of history when they penned the law and jammed it through. As I've written before, gun laws traditionally breed massive levels of non-compliance — even in places where you might think people have no strong history of personal arms, or of resistance to the state, When Germany imposed gun registration in 1972, the country's officials managed to get paperwork on all of 3.2 million firearms out of an estimated 17-20 million guns in civilian hands. Californians may have registered as many as ten percent of the "assault weapons" they owned when that state imposed registration in 1990 (though the New York Times put the figure rather lower, at about 7,000 out of an estimated 300,000 guns covered by the law).