View attachment 12277 Had this rare Sabertooth swamp cat run across my facility last weekend..So...

Being the weak minded type of guy i am, I chased him to under my pipeline's.

He's past the 12'' and 16'' and standing under the 18''.

I would at the time estimate him to be about 350# + and about 7/8 feet long...

But i could be wrong ?

The series of cyber attacks that repeatedly knocked major U.S. banking websites offline in the past nine months has been more powerful than the general public realizes, government officials and security experts told the Reuters Cybersecurity Summit.
A self-described activist group, Cyber Fighters of Izz ad-din Al Qassam, has claimed credit for the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that took down the websites of more than a dozen U.S. banks for hours or even days at a time. Members of congressional intelligence committees say the attacks are sponsored by Iran and show its growing capability in cyberspace.
U.S. banks, Internet service providers and security companies "have had trouble keeping up with the recent DDoS attacks that have had the sophistication and the level of resources that a nation-state entity like Iran can devote to them," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers told Reuters.
"As a result, many key parts of our telecommunications and financial services infrastructure have been stressed to a dangerous level," Rogers said.
In three waves of attacks since September, consumers have reported inability to conduct online transactions at more than a dozen banks, including Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N). Banks have spent millions of dollars to fend off the hackers and restore service.
In DDoS attacks, thousands of computers all try to contact a target website at the same time, overwhelming it with meaningless connections until it is rendered inaccessible.
The banks have said little about their frantic efforts behind the scenes to restore websites, and industry groups have generally played down the impact and severity of the attacks.
But Rogers, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, and FBI Executive Assistant Director Richard McFeely told the summit this week that the progression of intense electronic assaults had spurred new efforts to coordinate among companies, sectors, and governments.
"The increasing frequency with which we have seen that has really increased our relationship with financial institutions," Napolitano told the summit in Washington.
Most of the biggest banks rely on both AT&T Inc (T.N) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) for Internet bandwidth, with one as a primary provider and the other as backup, industry executives said.
During past denial-of-service attacks, those companies would work closely with their customers and perhaps outside security contractors to help weed out malicious traffic while allowing real customers to connect.
But beginning last fall, as the DDoS attacks grew in volume and as hackers rapidly changed tactics, AT&T and Verizon began swapping techniques with each other as well.
As things stand, "the vast majority of our interaction during distributed denial of service attacks is directly with our customers," said Edward Amoroso, AT&T's chief security officer. "We also communicate with other Internet service providers serving those customers."
The attacks were substantially larger than past denial-of-service campaigns that likewise relied on networks of computers infected by malicious software giving outsiders remote control of their web surfing and other functions. This time, the attackers used infected computer servers capable of delivering more traffic than ordinary personal computers.
More alarming was the rapid changes in website functions targeted by the machines, including the secure-communications protocols through which banks identify customers, according to George Kurtz, chief executive of security firm CrowdStrike.
"They used to change every few days, but then it was every hour, and then every few minutes," Kurtz said.
"The financial services group are tired about getting punched in the face," he said.
Officials said they were concerned that the attacks could be used as a cover for attempts at theft from bank accounts or to destroy critical data, but they had not seen evidence of that. They worry that the assailants are learning about the banks by monitoring their responses.
Though denial-of-service attacks by themselves do not destroy anything and have historically been seen as a nuisance, the sheer number of compromised computers available for rent to criminals and countries mean that enough firepower could be brought to bear to crash any Internet-facing site, experts said.
As a result, it is impossible to know how much defense is necessary and difficult to know how much is appropriate.
"It is a reality that nobody knows how much DDoS it takes before something starts to break," National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander, also head of the U.S. Cyber Command, told the summit.

Cyber attacks against U.S. banks more severe than most realize| Reuters

Between Iran, China and all the other state sponsored denial of service hacker attacks, at some point the system is going to be overwhelmed. What does that mean to the common man, not sure, but most likely whatever you have invested or deposited in the institution could be either at risk or not available.... and that is concerning for most folks.

Venezuelans scrambled to stock up on toilet paper Thursday as fears of a bathroom emergency spread despite the socialist government's promise to import 50 million rolls.
After years of economic dysfunction, the country has gotten used to shortages of medicines and basic food items like milk and sugar but the scarcity of bathroom tissue has caused unusual alarm.

"Even at my age, I've never seen this," said 70-year-old Maria Rojas. She said she had been looking for toilet paper for two weeks when she finally found it at a supermarket in downtown Caracas.

Thousands of rolls flew off the store's shelves as consumers streamed in and loaded up shopping carts Thursday morning.

"I bought it because it's hard to find," said Maria Perez, walking out with several rolls of paper.

"Here there's a shortage of everything — butter, sugar, flour," she said. But the latest shortage is particularly worrisome "because there always used to be toilet paper."

Economists say Venezuela's shortages of some consumer products stem from price controls meant to make basic goods available to the poorest parts of society and the government's controls on foreign currency.

President Nicolas Maduro, who was selected by the dying Hugo Chavez to carry on his "Bolivarian revolution," claims that anti-government forces, including the private sector, are causing the shortages in an effort to destabilize the country.

The government this week announced it would import 760,000 tons of food and 50 million rolls of toilet paper.

Commerce Minister Alejandro Fleming said "excessive demand" for tissue had built up due to a "media campaign that has been generated to disrupt the country."

He said monthly consumption of toilet paper was normally 125 million rolls, but current demand "leads us to think that 40 million more are required."

"We will bring in 50 million to show those groups that they won't make us bow down," he said.

That was little comfort to consumers struggling to find bathroom supplies. Several supermarkets visited by The Associated Press in the capital on Wednesday and Thursday were out of toilet paper. Those that received fresh batches quickly filled up with shoppers as the word spread.

"I've been looking for it for two weeks," Cristina Ramos said at a store on Wednesday. "I was told that they had some here and now I'm in line."

Finance Minister Nelson Merentes said the government was also addressing the lack of foreign currency, which has resulted in the suspension of foreign supplies of raw materials, equipment and spare parts to Venezuelan companies, disrupting their production.

"We are making progress ... we have to work very hard," Merentes told reporters Wednesday.

Many factories operate at half capacity because the currency controls make it hard for them to pay for imported parts and materials. Business leaders say some companies verge on bankruptcy because they cannot extend lines of credit with foreign suppliers.

Merentes said the government had met the U.S. dollar requests of some 1,500 small- and medium-sized companies facing supply problems, and was reviewing requests from a similar number of larger companies.

Chavez imposed currency controls a decade ago trying to stem capital flight as his government expropriated large land parcels and dozens of businesses.

Anointed by Chavez as his successor before the president died from cancer, Maduro won a close presidential election April 14 against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who refused to accept the result, claiming Maduro won through fraud and voter intimidation. He filed a complaint to the Supreme Court, asking for the vote to be annulled, though that's highly unlikely to happen since the court is packed with government-friendly justices.

Patience is wearing thin among consumers who face shortages and long lines at supermarkets and pharmacies. Last month, Venezuela's scarcity index reached its highest level since 2009, while the 12-month inflation rate has risen to nearly 30 percent. Shoppers often spend several days looking for basic items, and stock up when they find them.

Venezuelans scrambling to find scarce toilet paper - Yahoo! News

Shortages and long lines for TP and such are things we to be ready for in our preparation's. This made me think about what toiletries items, medicine, and assorted related items I have in my prep's, what I need and how long they will last. I have more work to do in this area for sure and thought I would ask- how others are addressing this area?

I have two 10/100 3 com "super stacker 2" 24 port hubs and one 10/100 3 Com "super stacker 3" 12 port switch to offer for almost free, almost free means you pay for the shipping. All are 19" rack mount with the rack ears.

I just hooked them up and pulled IPs and was able to surf through them beyond that no other testing or guarantee, as is as they say.

Sorry no out of the USA shipping, customs tags are a real pain.

I would guess shipping $15 to $17 to the lower 45.

1 per Monkey. First 3 to post I will take one win .

They are of this generation and look like this...

Homeland Security: Respect pro-Shariah Muslim supremacists | The Daily Caller
........................................................................
The Department of Homeland Security, which under Secretary Janet Napolitano has shown a keen interest in monitoring and warning about outspoken conservatives, takes a very different approach in monitoring political Islamists, according to a 2011 memo on protecting the free speech rights of pro-Shariah Muslim supremacists.
In a checklist obtained by The Daily Caller entitled “Countering Violent Extremism Dos and Don’ts” the DHS’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties notifies local and national law enforcement officials that it is Obama administration policy to consider specifically Islamic criticism of the American system of government legitimate.
This policy stands in stark contrast to the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis’ 2009 memo “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment” [pdf], which warned of the dangers posed by pro-life advocates, critics of same-sex marriage and groups concerned with abiding by the U.S. Constitution, among others.

A skilled cadre is imperative within any comprehensive preparedness system and should be supported through a grants program. This skilled cadre includes emergency management and homeland security personnel. Since such expertise remains the backbone of any system, their responsibilities would include (but not be limited to):

• Build and support statewide emergency management and homeland security all-hazards planning.
• Provide comprehensive and appropriate levels of training and conduct exercises for state and local personnel across the full spectrum of emergency management and homeland security responsibilities.
• Support the national priorities outlined in PPD-8 and the National Preparedness Goal.
• Conduct public education and outreach to further whole of community preparedness.

Within the skilled cadre grant, the existing EMPG would continue in its present form, including allocation method, match requirement, eligibility, management, appropriate funding, and flexibility. The existing policy continues that allows emergency management to administer EMPG if not the State Administering Agency (SAA).

A similar grant program will be established for state homeland security professionals affording the same opportunity to build and sustain a skilled cadre of personnel. This grant would be modeled after EMPG which has been proven highly effective due to the flexibility it provides along with accountability. EMPG currently maintains a 50-50 match requirement. Any match on the cadre-based grant for homeland security professionals should be instituted with a soft match option, and done so gradually over time in consultation with the states and professions involved.

http://www.emd.wa.gov/about/documents/GrantReformPackage.pdf

I wonder if this Cadre is the benefactor of all the ammo DHS has been purchasing? Found this while looking for some other info and thought it was interesting.

I tuned into the Whitehouse briefing today and the group who usually scrambles to suck up anything the chosen ones utter are PO'd. Mainly about the AP phone tracking. Tax records on conservative groups they could likely care less about but the combination of 3 scandals at one time has the media sharks circling.
And every audit will be blamed on Obama

If this drags on it will stall his agenda as even the Dems are distancing themselves from Barry

.....................................................................................................................
The IRS came after Billy Graham, too, his son charged Tuesday in a letter to President Barack Obama.
Franklin Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the family’s international humanitarian organization Samaritan’s Purse, said that the IRS notified the organizations in September that it was conducting a “review” of their activities for tax year 2010.






With the IRS admitting it gave extra scrutiny to conservative political organizations, Graham says he now believes that the review was part of an Obama administration effort of “targeting and attempting to intimidate us.”

Post your favorite Motivational Posters here.

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley on Thursday signed into law one of the United States' toughest gun control measures, even as opponents vowed to overturn it.
The legislation prompted by the Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre requires handgun buyers to undergo safety training and submit fingerprints to obtain a license.

It also bans the sale of 45 types of assault weapons, which have been linked to at least 461 U.S. deaths since 2004, according to the governor's office.

"We've chosen to take action by advancing the strategies that work to save lives," O'Malley, a Democrat mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2016, said in a statement.

The new law also reduces magazine capacity from 20 rounds to 10 rounds. People who have been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility will be banned from gun ownership.

Maryland joins Connecticut and New York in expanding assault weapons bans and restricting the capacity of magazines in the aftermath of the Newtown elementary school shooting that killed 20 students and six adults in December.

Colorado approved similar measures after a gunman killed 12 people and wounded 58 in July 2012 in a movie theater.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful gun lobby, has announced plans to challenge the new state gun control laws, including those in Maryland.

Republican State Assembly Delegate Neil Parrott said last month that leading opponents of the Maryland bill planned to back an NRA lawsuit, rather than petition for a referendum.

Senate President Thomas Miller criticized the NRA. He told a news conference in Annapolis that the NRA "is going to look for a conservative, right-wing-leaning judge, rather than going to the people of the state of Maryland ... because they know that if this bill went to the people, it would pass overwhelmingly."

A Washington Post poll in February showed that Maryland residents supported O'Malley's licensing plan. Eighty-five percent backed it, and 73 percent said they did so "strongly."

A Maryland woman, Sue Payne, has also launched a campaign to petition the bill to a referendum, filing paperwork with the board of elections last month.

Other features of the bill include mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms. It also strengthens the state's ability to regulate gun dealers and bars some violent offenders from obtaining a gun while on probation.

Maryland governor signs tough gun control law - Yahoo! News

A group of Colorado county sheriffs, angry about two new state gun control laws passed in the wake of last year's mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado, filed a federal lawsuit on Friday seeking to block the laws from going into effect.
The two laws, passed by the state's Democratic-controlled legislature with scant Republican support, ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds and require background checks for all private gun sales and transfers.
All but 10 of the state's 64 county sheriffs signed on to the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver. In their complaint, the sheriffs allege the new laws, which go into effect July 1, severely restrict citizens' constitutional right to own and bear arms.
The sheriffs, who in Colorado are elected, also complained that they were operating under tight budgets and did not have the money or manpower to enforce the new laws.
"They (the sheriffs) cannot expend these resources to conduct investigations that would be necessary to monitor compliance," the lawsuit said.
The bills were introduced in response to a shooting spree that killed 12 people at a suburban Denver movie theater last July and the slaying of 20 children and six adults at an elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December.
Connecticut and New York also have passed stricter gun laws in the wake of the shootings. The National Rifle Association, the powerful U.S. gun lobby, has announced plans to challenge the new gun control laws in all three states.
REASONABLE SAFETY MEASURES
Democratic state Senator Mary Hodge, who sponsored the magazine-limit bill, blasted the sheriffs and said the restrictions were reasonable public-safety measures.
"We can't just sit by and do nothing while first-graders and moviegoers are being mowed down in one fell swoop with weapons equipped with large-capacity magazines," Hodge said in a statement.
Joining the sheriffs in the lawsuit are a number of gun-rights organizations and a disabled gun owners group, who say that magazine limits would restrict their ability to defend themselves in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which bars discrimination against the disabled.
"Disabilities make it difficult to quickly change magazines under the stress of a home invasion," the lawsuit said.
Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who signed the bills into law, is named as the defendant in the lawsuit. His office had no immediate comment.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, a Republican, said in a statement that his role "will be to get court rulings on the legality of various aspects of the legislation as expeditiously as possible."
"Colorado citizens, and law-abiding gun owners in particular, deserve such clarification," said Suthers, who did not publicly oppose the two bills when they were debated in the legislature.
Separately, a Colorado pro-gun group, the Basic Freedom Defense Fund, said it was circulating a petition to recall the president of the state Senate, Democrat John Morse, because of his support for gun control measures.
Morse, a former police officer, said he would likely face a recall election later this year as a result.
"If they are successful in removing the Senate president in Colorado, it will have a chilling effect on anyone who takes them on but if they fail they will be exposed for the paper tiger they should be," he said.

Colorado sheriffs sue to block new gun-control laws - Yahoo! News

Hi, everyone



A Study in Slaughter is Book III of Schooled in Magic – the sequel to Schooled in Magic and Lessons in Etiquette, both of which can be found below. As always, comments and suchlike are very welcome.



I hoped to start writing properly on Monday, but real life got in the way (long story.) The story should begin properly on Wednesday.



I don't know how much of this book can be read in isolation, as it builds a lot on the previous books. Still, I hope you will enjoy it.



I’d also like to remind you that I have a facebook page, a blog and mailing list (for people who don’t like facebook), all of which can be accessed through my website (www.chrishanger.net/). The website itself hosts free samples, some free books and much else besides.



In particular, I am offering a Kindle book for free Monday to Wednesday – check this link for details. http://chrishanger.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/new-kindle-bookand-free-book-promotion/



Thanks



Chris

Got my May issue of SURVIVALIST MAG, the pioneer/homesteading issue and was pretty disappointed I have to say. Corcceigh Green, one of the writers for them is LIVING THIS LIFE NOW, and he wasn't included! Other great writers that either were raised that way or are living that way were not included. What was included was more of the same old same old and not especially interesting to me, and not of much use either. To say I was disappointed by this issue is an understatement as the last few issues were excellent. Well anyone can screw up once, so I hope they get it fixed. A twelve issue sub is only $30 and well worth the money based on past issues.

I'm betting heavily that there are monkeys with less knowledge and experience (make that zero for me other than CB) than I do with radio gear. We need, from the knowledgeable tree hangers, suggestions on the gear to get started down the road to comms.

Basic assumptions, then, and tying your expert hands for us cadets:
-Multi band (10 to 80 meter) single sideband capable, and covering the frequencies to be guarded.
-Transceiver for mobile or fixed locations, or separate receiver and transmitter for fixed locations.
-Antenna suitable for all receiving, and for transmitting on the "recommended" frequencies. One for fixed location, one for mobile. Stick with omnidirectional for this start to getting the gear up and running.
-If tranceiver, then a power supply for fixed station use.
-Price is a critical decision maker, so low end minimum capability is needed. (But a suggestion for pie in the sky wish for thing for the sake of comparison wouldn't hurt---)

For the sake of this discussion, leave off the very short wavelength stuff, mostly because there are no assurances that repeaters will be in service when things go all egg shaped. That leaves 2 and 6 meter stuff off the table. It's a given that there are bits and pieces of used gear on the market, but little chance that the average monkey will know if it's a deal or not, much less be able to bring sick gear back the health. So leave out used gear for now. Also, ignore any licensing requirements for the recommendations, that will be up to the buyer.

Let the ideas fly, but please come up with a concensus, if possible, on what we minmally need to cover the monkey net service.

found the attached image on Fox's homepage, thought is was a funny play on wordsView attachment 12276

The Word Association Game: I'll start by posting one word. You read the post and then think of a word that comes to mind when reading the previous one. Are you ready to play?

PICKLES!

No doubt a Netgear router failure......

Web monitor: ‘Syria has largely disappeared from the Internet’


“The outage appears to have begun at 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, or 9:45 p.m. in Syria. According to a blog post by Umbrella’s chief technology o…”


Syria – All Products – May 7, 2013 – Disruption – Traffic – Google Transparency Report

Last week was Nuclear stuff. 2 more MSA Millenium gas masks, 4 cases of Tyvek coveralls with booties, 2 cases of 20 NBC filters, and 4 CB camelbak bladders in CB "Gobags" for the family to hold under the bed

This week 8/5/06

I picked up 10 bales of TP. 30 'double' rolls a bail @ $.49 each

Also grabbed 10 bags (18 lb) of Cat food

Whatcha putting away?

How about the second paper gold beatdown? If you thought it was hard to find gold in your area before, just wait a few days.

I know some people that have money tied up in GLD ETF's, and I told them before that they were not a good idea, you need to have it in your hand. That money is almost gone now, and I doubt that it will return in value to what it was two years ago. At least not until the GLD has crumbled down and people that have physical can name their own price for it.

On another note, here's a good article about who actually owns your money when you deposit it in a bank: No BaNK DePoSiTS WiLL Be SPaReD FRoM CoNFiSCaTioN | Zero Hedge

Guess what- it's NOT yours anymore!

I am creating this thread as a place to consolidate all the prayer requests in one forum. If you have a need, a friend or relative who is sick, or any type of prayer request post it in here. Those of us who believe in the power of prayer will come here and check for new requests and offer our prayer support.