November 4, 2009 by Tim McDowell.

“All things fade into the storied past, and in a little while are shrouded in oblivion. Even to men whose lives were a blaze of glory this comes to pass; as for the rest, the breath is hardly out of them before, in Homer’s words, they are ‘lost to sight alike and hearsay’. What after all, is immortal fame? An empty, hollow thing. To what then, must we aspire? This, and this alone: the just thought, the unselfish act, the tongue that utters no falsehood, the temper that greets each passing event as something predestined, expected, and emanating from the One source and origin.”

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Emperor of Rome, 161-180 AD

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December 4, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

merry_christmas.wmv

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September 29, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

MOGADISHU, Somalia —  As a heavily armed U.S. destroyer patrolled nearby and planes flew overhead Sunday, a Somali pirate spokesman told The Associated Press his group was demanding a $20 million ransom to release a cargo ship loaded with Russian tanks.

The guided missile destroyer USS Howard was stationed off the Somali coast on Sunday, making sure that the pirates did not remove the tanks, ammunition and other heavy weapons from the ship, which was anchored off the coast.

But the pirate spokesman warned that the pirates would fight to the death if any country tried military action to regain the ship, and a man who said he was the ship’s captain reported that one crew member had died.

Pirates seized the Ukrainian-operated ship Faina off the coast of Somalia on Thursday as it headed to Kenya carrying 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial amount of ammunition and spare parts. The ordnance was ordered by the Kenyan government.

A spokesman for the U.S. 5th fleet said the Navy remained “deeply concerned” over the fate of the ship’s 21-member crew and cargo.

In a rare gesture of cooperation, the Americans appeared to be keeping an eye on the Faina until the Russian missile frigate Neustrashimy, or Intrepid, reaches the area. The Russian ship was still in the Atlantic on Sunday, the Russian navy reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,429349,00.html

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May 15, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

On 14 May 2008 the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum issued the following Warden Message for Sudan: “This Warden Message is being issued to alert U.S. citizens of the need to exercise increased caution when traveling within the greater Khartoum area. Although the U.S. Embassy has received no information regarding the threat of continued armed conflict in the greater Khartoum area, the embassy has instructed its staff to avoid travel to Omdurman, with the exception of visits for official business purposes. A curfew remains in place in the central Umbeda district of Omdurman, from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. The embassy has returned to its regular curfew hours, which are 12 midnight to 5 a.m. every day. The Department of State continues to advise against all travel to Sudan.”

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July 13, 2007 by Tim McDowell.

“Al Qaeda is the strongest it has been since the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a new U.S. government analysis concludes,” according to CNN. “… Despite a campaign of military action and counterterrorism operations, al Qaeda has regained its strength and found safe haven in the tribal areas of Pakistan, the [classified] report says.” [View article]

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July 13, 2007 by Tim McDowell.

“Antiterrorism information-sharing and analysis is taking a back seat to criminal intelligence at the more than 40 state intelligence fusion centers, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service,” reports Government Computer News. “State governors created the centers, and the Homeland Security Department provides part of the funding. Their purpose is to fuse federal, state and local intelligence against terrorism, but CRS found [that] the fusion centers have gravitated more toward collecting and analyzing criminal intelligence and all-hazards intelligence. The service found few indications that the centers have been making efforts to become aware of terrorist plans and foil attacks.” [View article] [View CRS report]

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July 13, 2007 by Tim McDowell.

The Government Accountability Office reviewed “nine sector-specific plans” for infrastructure protection and concluded that “it is unclear the extent to which DHS will be able to use them at this point to identify security gaps and critical interdependencies across the sectors in order to plan future protective measures.” Only “10 of the 32 council representatives” that GAO interviewed “saw the plans as useful for the sector,” and “representatives of eight councils … believed the plans either did not represent a partnership among the necessary key stakeholders, especially the private sector, or were not valuable because the sector had already done so much work on its own and had progressed beyond the plan.” [View abstract]

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July 13, 2007 by Tim McDowell.

“The National Security Agency and the Homeland Security Department have designated 12 [more] universities as centers of academic excellence in the field of information assurance education,” bringing the total to 86 schools, reports Federal Computer Week. Those “carrying the title are eligible to apply for scholarships and grants promoting information assurance under federal and Defense Department programs.” The newly designated schools: Arizona State U., California State U. at Sacramento, Capella U. (MN), Champlain College (VT), Indiana U., Our Lady of the Lake U. (TX), Regis U. (CO), U. of Advancing Technology (AZ), U. of Alabama at Huntsville, U. of Illinois at Chicago, U. of Missouri-Rolla, and U. of New Mexico. [View article]

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April 6, 2007 by Tim McDowell.

Little article I wrote on Counter-Terrorism Financial Methods Co-Opting the Hawala System of Terror Financing

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April 6, 2007 by Tim McDowell.

Built with 24 tons of scrap metal from the World Trade Centers, the USS New York is commissioned and is now taking the fight back to the enemy… GO NAVY! 

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