If the latest bombing attempt in NYC is a statement on the availability of high explosives, the ATF is doing a great job at stopping the sale of these dangerous items.

ATF to get detection kits from UNDT

Published: May 3, 2010 at 2:13 PM

LOS ANGELES, May 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department is working to increase biological threat detection capabilities by purchasing new technologies from Universal Detection Technology.
U.S. company UNDT will deliver its 5-agent detection kits to support the counter bioterrorism initiatives of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Justice Department's federal law enforcement agency.
"ATF is a strong addition to our expanding customer base.

, comprised of other federal government agencies, local and state law enforcement, emergency medical services and hazmat (hazardous material) teams," UNDT Chief Executive Officer Jacques Tizabi said in a statement.
UNDT says the order for its widely deployed biological threats detection kits includes supplying personnel to train ATF agents on the use of the equipment.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2010/05/03/ATF-to-get-detection-kits-from-UNDT/UPI-50081272910422/

What is it with Littleton, Colorado? It looks like a person has to work in a bomb factory in order to get material for a bomb in the USA now.

 

Joint Investigation Results in Littleton Man’s Federal Arrest for Possession of Stolen Machine Guns and for Possession of Explosives, Destructive Devices  (click title to entry - thank you)

DENVER, Colo. — U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado David Gaouette, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Marvin G. Richardson, and Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman announced the indictment of Andrew Thomas Gunzner, age 21, of Littleton, Colo., for possession of stolen machine guns and destructive devices. Gunzner, who is in state custody, will be transferred to federal custody on a future date.

According to the indictment, on or before March 17, 2010, Gunzner did knowingly and unlawfully possess a Heckler & Koch, model MP-5, 9 mm machine gun. On March 16, 2010, Gunzner allegedly possessed an Olympic Arms .223 caliber rifle that contained a machine gun auto sear. Also on or about March 16, 2010, Gunzner stole firearms from the inventory of Prairie Arms Manufacturing, a federal firearms licensee, located in Littleton. Lastly, Gunzner did knowingly and unlawfully possess destructive devices.

Gunzner faces two counts of possession of a machine gun, which carries a penalty of not more than 10 years in federal prison, and a fine of up to $250,000. He also faces one count of theft from a federal firearms licensee, which carries a penalty of not more than 10 years imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000. Lastly, he faces one count of possession of a destructive device, which also carries a penalty of not more than 10 years incarceration, as well as a fine of up to $10,000.

According to state records, on March 17, 2010, at approximately 2:35 a.m., Gunzner was observed driving a silver Jeep Cherokee with red overhead emergency lights and siren activated. During the vehicle stop Denver Police officers found firearms, including a machine gun. During the investigation it was discovered that some of the firearms were stolen from Prairie Arms Manufacturing in Littleton, where Gunzner was employed.... 

Colleyville, Texas.  Fight nice.  War of the roses.  I think a bomb might be a dead giveaway.

 

COLLEYVILLE - The police chief of the Colleyville Police Department said they are working around the clock with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive to find a suspect after a bomb was found in a box outside a woman's home. 

At the Monday afternoon press conference, police played some of the 911 call made by the Colleyville mother who discovered a FedEx box with suspicious content inside just after 11 a.m. Sunday. In the call, the woman said her neighbor told her the content appeared to be a homemade bomb.

Police Chief Steve Dye said they have made no arrests, but said they are not ruling out any suspects, including the ex-husband of the woman who received the package, which police said may have been in front of the home for up to 12 hours before its discovery. 

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Colleyville-police-working-with-ATF-on-bomb-case-92684869.html

BP says U.S. Gulf oil leak flow rate unchanged

The Coast Guard has its hands full, but, rescue groups do not have the equipment for removal of living animals from the waters to safety.  If they can, the Coast Guard should assist the groups in locating the turtles and capturing them to release after rehabilitation.

The scientific community is not really familiar with capturing, so much as rescuing them when they have worked primarily in 'non-interference.'  The Coast Guard needs to initiate contact to provide services.  The scientists probably won't ask.

Perhaps the services of local fisherman can assist.  Local fisherman have radar on their boats.   Both the scientists and fisherman will have to be 'marshaled' by the Coast Guard for exemptions to the Endangered Species Act to allow for contact, also known as 'takes.'  The scientists would know the 'route' of the turtles and other endangered species.

Gulf oil spill: 23 dead sea turtles wash ashore in Mississippi

May 3, 2010 | 10:03 am

The carcasses of 23 sea turtles have been found along Mississippi's 70 miles of coastline, and have been retrieved for examination by the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, said Moby Solangi, the group’s president and executive director.

The carcasses were placed in garbage bags that were stacking up in the institute’s necropsy lab refrigerator unit. 

Although this is the time of year when dead turtles are often found on the beach, scientists say the number is more than double what they would expect. Necropsies will be conducted Monday afternoon by a team of four veterinarians. It’s unclear whether the deaths are related to the oil spill, which is still offshore. 

“This is the stranding season for sea turtles, but the numbers we are seeing are unusually high. It could be the result of heightened awareness and reporting, but they may also have been affected by the slick and floated this way,” Solangi said....


REGARDLESS, the lame excuses, BP is the most responsible for its operations anywhere in the world.  If  they overlooked safety precautions when purchasing and installing equipment, it has just as liable as the manufacturer.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill: turtle deaths soar amid fight to save wildlife

Tests take place to determine cause of deaths, as locals hope booms along coastline will protect commercial fisheries

Jackye Carroll was walking along the beach that runs outside her home in Pass Christian, Mississippi, early this morning when she came across a curious sight. The sun had just come up and the white sand beach was looking at its most beautiful, but there, just above the gently lapping sea of the Gulf of Mexico was a grey-brown mound of flesh about two to three feet in length.

She put on the gloves that she had brought along in anticipation, and turned the mound over to find that it was a Loggerhead, one of the five threatened species of sea turtle found in this region. The sand around it was being stained red by blood seeping from its nose and underbelly. It was dead....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/03/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-turtle-deaths-soar

The oil will make the long fought for species extinct in the Gulf of Mexico.  Its' habitat has been destroyed.

Turtle nesting season has begun

Posted on Monday, 05.03.1o

By STEVE PATTERSON, The Florida Times-Union

The Miami Herald

 JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. - Vida, a loggerhead sea turtle, was stranded for two days on a beach around St. Augustine, Fla., before someone saw she was alive and got help.
  
  When staff at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center returned Vida to the ocean months later in 2008, a battery-powered satellite transmitter on her shell chronicled her travels for researchers on shore for four months.

   That data could someday help protect her entire species.

   Nesting season for sea turtles in Florida and Georgia began Saturday with loggerheads, the region's most common turtle, poised to be named an endangered species.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/03/1610697/turtle-nesting-season-has-begun.html#ixzz0muELf9Mt

The New York Times Square bombing attempt has hallmarks of al Qaeda. My opinion, nothing official.

It was supposed to be a 'big bomb.'  Al Qaeda prides itself on such stupid things.
Not only that it has 'traits' of an attack Americans could recognize and grow higher rates of fear. 
The mechanism was McVeigh-like.  
I my humble opinion, this was supposed to be a successful attempt at something that would evoke more violence from the White Supremists of the USA to spur more in the way of mimics.
I hope I am wrong, but, I don't believe I am.  But, al Qaeda likes to 'recruit' 'nationals' by setting example and being big and bad.  
It might be that the alliance with Pakistan was suppose to evoke fear enough to break that bond.  The USA and Pakistan must be having considerable success.

I am not going to turn on my own country you jackasses !

Pakistani Man Convicted in 2008 Mumbai Attacks  (click title to entry - thank you) 

By VIKAS BAJAJ 

Published: May 3, 2010 

...The defendant, Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani, hung his head as a judge read a summary of the judgment to him in Hindi at a special courtroom in a jail here. Mr. Kasab, who spent most of the hearing bent over, held a grave expression but said nothing.

“The offenses committed by them was a brazen act of war against India,” Judge M. L. Tahaliyani said, referring to Mr. Kasab and nine other gunmen who unleashed a wave of violence with grenades and machine guns, attacking five-star hotels, a busy commuter train station, a popular bar and a Jewish center. He added, “It was not a simple crime of murder or intent to murder.”

Mr. Kasab faces the death penalty or life in prison; the court will meet Tuesday to consider his sentence...

A three month long technology fair opens in Houston on May 5th. How nice for them, they get to tout all their stories about profits and ignorance.

I was just wondering, perhaps they might even have some 'workshops' on morality and how over-extending their safety margin might be an issue prosecutable by death when innocent citizens die and their economies collapse.  

I guess the death penalty is more than any civilized society should expect for plutocrats.  But, negligent homicide probably should meet with some kind of penalty the industry recognizes.

This is Cameron International's Headquarters in Houston.  Nice building. 

Link:  http://www.c-a-m.com/

British Petroleum is claiming that their 'pressure control device' failed causing the current developing 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico.

5000 feet down, I demand to see the 'test data' that this device not only functioned at full capacity at that depth, but, had a 'fail safe' device that would work when it failed.  How much anyone want to wager that information doesn't exist because it was never tested that way.  The pressure at 5000 feet down crushed the mechanism and that is why the USA Navy can't get it to work.  I mean is it made of titanium?   

Not only that, but, what company installed it with guarantees to their ability to install the device without damage to its mechanism.  Was it tested BEFORE the well was attempted?  I don't think so.

"Drill here, drill now !"  

No one should bother to answer those questions until they've had a chance to 'lawyer up.'  Besides, I already know the answers.

I still demand for oil HOLE to be torpedoed closed.

The only possiblity of BP actually doing any good by August is that it ? might ? stop the leak. But, the oil already in the water will be spread anywhere a hurricane strikes in the Gulf including Central, South America, Cuba, Bahamas and Haiti along with the Caribbean Islands.

Oil Spill Halts Fishing off US Coast of Gulf of Mexico

02 May 2010

...Officials say the fishing restrictions will hold for 10 days as scientists study the effects of the oil spill on commercial seafood in the Gulf of Mexico.  The areas under the suspension include waters off the coasts of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the panhandle of Florida... (click title to entry - thank you)

The United Nations needs to be prepared to intervene in any of the Caribbean countries and those all along the Gulf Coast with supplies and food as the 'immediate' effects of the oil distribution 'inland' won't be realized and the people of those areas won't understand the 'idea' of contaminated food source.  The education of those peoples should begin now.


Kiss your economies good-bye !

Eight Major Hurricanes Expected

The 2010 Hurricane Season in the Atlantic Ocean will begin on June 1, 2010, and end on November 30, 2010. Atlantic hurricanes affect the eastern and Gulf coasts of the U.S. and the Caribbean nations. Those with interests in hurricane-prone areas must heed federal and state advice on preparedness, the season in general, and each specific storm in the season. 

http://www.mahalo.com/2010-hurricane-season-forecast

Solution could take months

The plan to stop the leak depends on a low-tech strategy that has never been attempted before in deep water.
The plan: to lower 74-ton, concrete-and-metal boxes into the gulf to capture the oil and siphon it to a barge waiting at the surface. Whether that will work for a leak 5,000 feet below the surface is anyone's guess; the method has previously worked only in shallower waters.

If it doesn't, and efforts to activate the shutoff mechanism called a blowout preventer continue to prove fruitless, the oil probably will keep gushing for months until a second well can be dug to cut off the first. Oil giant BP's latest plan will take six to eight days because welders have to assemble the boxes.



Satellite images indicate the rust-hued slick tripled in size in just two days, suggesting the oil could be pouring out faster than before. Wildlife including sea turtles have been found dead on the shore but it is too soon to know whether the spill, caused by an April 20 oil rig explosion, was to blame.






Even if the well is shut off in a week, fishermen and wildlife officials wonder how long it will take for the gulf to recover. Some compare it to the hurricane Louisiana is still recovering from after nearly five years.
"It's like a slow version of Katrina," Venice charter boat captain Bob Kenney said. "My kids will be talking about the effect of this when they're my age."





More than 6,800 square miles of fishing areas, from the mouth of the Mississippi to Florida's Pensacola Bay were closed for at least 10 days on Sunday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100503/NEWS07/5030324/1001/news/Obama-Oil-spill-may-be-unprecedented-disaster

Members of the U.S. Army National Guard put Hesco containers along the beaches of Dauphin Island, Ala., on Sunday. The containers are designed to absorb oil and turn it into a solid that can be recycled. (MICHELLE ROLLS-THOMAS/Associated Press)

As BP prepares to drill a relief well in the Gulf of Mexico, we look at the process involved

BP crews are set to begin drilling a relief well in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) to stem the flow from the MC252 well.

BP has relief well contingency plans in place to allow the company to regain control of a well. These plans are now being called into action in the GoM.

A drilling rig drills a relief well or second well to intersect the original, flowing well as deeply as possible. A specialized heavy liquid is then pumped into the flowing well to bring it under control. This liquid is denser than oil and so exerts pressure (known as hydrostatic pressure) to stem the flow of oil. Once the flow is stopped, the well can be returned to a safe condition. 
 

A relief well should be faster to drill than the original well thanks to the knowledge already gained about the geology and pressure in the reservoir. However, drilling a well of this nature presents many technical challenges to ensure that the flowing well is intersected in the right position and that the fluid pumping operations are effective. BP has assembled a world-class team of experts from within the company and key specialists in the industry to ensure that the relief well operations are conducted safely and successfully.

A second relief well could form part of the contingency plans in case the first well encounters any delays. This means that progress can still be made to stem a flowing well should one drilling operation encounter a problem.