TUSK!!! this weekend!

I recently started watching The Americans on Amazon Prime, and early in the first episode there was a scene with this song. Brought back memories of 40 years ago (I can't be that old!), before MTV was great (hell, in existence), when cassette tape was high speed/low drag, and there was hope the Carter administration would soon be on the way out! :<) Here is Fleetwood Mac and one of their many great hits, TUSK!

Have a great weekend.

Officer Down

Police Officer II Michael Wayne Smith
Henry County Police Department, Georgia
End of Watch Friday, December 28, 2018
Age 33
Tour 7 years
Badge 5560
Incident Date Thursday, December 6, 2018

Police Officer Michael Smith succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained on December 6th, 2018, while struggling with a suspect at a dentist's office at 378 Jonesboro Road in McDonough.

The office staff had called police after the man entered the business and started to create a disturbance. Upon Officer Smith's arrival, the man became combative resulting in Officer Smith deploying his Taser. The Taser was ineffective and the man began to struggle with Officer Smith while attempting to disarm him of his service weapon. As Officer Smith struggled to retain control of his weapon it discharged a single round, killing the man and striking Officer Smith in the face.

Officer Smith was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He was later transferred to Piedmont Hospital for rehabilitation but suffered complications and died on December 28th, 2018.

Officer Smith had served with the Henry County Police Department for seven years. He is survived by his wife and 3-year-old son.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

K9 Down

K9 Hemi
Arkansas State Police, Arkansas
End of Watch Monday, July 30, 2018
Breed Dutch Shepherd
Gender Male
Age 6
Tour 5 years

K9 Hemi was shot and killed while attempting an apprehension of a subject involved in an earlier vehicle pursuit in Missouri.

The vehicle fled into Arkansas and was located by troopers near mile marker 56 on I-55 in Mississippi County. The vehicle came to a stop and the driver immediately fled onto nearby farm property. K9 Hemi was deployed for an apprehension and caught the subject, but the man produced a gun and shot him. The man was then shot and killed by officers after shooting at them.

K9 Hemi had served with the Arkansas State Police for five years.

Rest in Peace Hemi…till our next roll call at the Rainbow Bridge!

In Memory of all Police Dogs

They handled themselves with beauty & grace

And who could ever forget that beautiful face

Whether at work; or at home; whatever the test

They always worked hard; and did their best

They were real champions; at work or at play

But their lives were cut short; suddenly one day

While working on the job with their partner one day

They put themselves out on a limb; out into harms way

They gave the ultimate sacrifice; any dog can give

They gave up their life; so someone could live

The best of their breed; as his partner and anyone would say

Many hearts are now broken; that he had to prove it this way

Now as the trees are blowing in the gentle breeze

The sun is shining; thru the leaves on the trees

The meadows are green; and the grass grows tall

Off in the distance they can see a waterfall

As they look over the falls; down through the creek

The water flows gently; as a rabbit sneaks a peek

Far up above; in the deep blue sky

They see the birds soar high; as they fly by

They see animals playing; at the bridge by a waterfall

Chasing each other; and just having a ball

They play all day; from morning to night

There's no more rain; just warm sunlight

Off in the distance; they hear trumpets blow

Then all the animals look up; and notice a bright glow

The harps would play and the angels would sing

As they know they've come home; they've earned their wings

We remember that they died; in the line of duty

And are now with the Lord; sharing in heaven's beauty

Off to the meadows now; where they can play and roam free

With an occasional rest stop; under a tall oak tree

No more bad guys to chase; or bullets to take

Just a run through the meadow; down to the lake

A quick splash in the water; then back to the shore

Then it's off to the forest; to go play some more

These special dogs are back home; up in heaven above

They're cradled in God's arm's; and covered with His love

We'll light a candle for all of them; in the dark of night

In loving memory of all; these very special knights

By John Quealy

Officer Down

Corporal Ronil Singh
Newman Police Department, California
End of Watch Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Age 33
Tour 12 years
Badge 282

Corporal Ronil Singh was shot and killed while conducting a vehicle stop at the intersection of Merced Street and Eucalyptus Avenue shortly before 1:00 am.

Approximately three minutes after initiating the stop he radioed dispatch that shots had been fired. Responding officers found Corporal Singh at the scene suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his wounds.

The subject he stopped, an illegal immigrant with a gang affiliation, fled the scene. He was arrested in Bakersfield, California two days later while attempting to flee back to Mexico.

Corporal Singh had served with the Newman Police Department for seven years. He had previously served with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office and the Turlock Police Department.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

K9 Down

K9 Turbo
Columbia Police Department, South Carolina
End of Watch Saturday, July 28, 2018
Breed Labrador Retriever
Gender Male
Age 2
Tour 7 months

K9 Turbo died as the result of heat exhaustion while in his handler's department vehicle at C.A. Johnson High School.

Turbo had been left in the vehicle, which had its air conditioner on and its windows rolled down, while his handler was participating in active shooter training inside of the high school. When his handler returned at the end of the training Turbo was showing signs of heat exhaustion. He was taken to an animal hospital where he was treated for two days before veterinarians determined it was most humane to euthanize him.

Turbo had served as an explosives detection canine with the Columbia Police Department for seven months.

Rest in Peace Turbo …till our next roll call at the Rainbow Bridge!

In Memory of all Police Dogs

They handled themselves with beauty & grace

And who could ever forget that beautiful face

Whether at work; or at home; whatever the test

They always worked hard; and did their best

They were real champions; at work or at play

But their lives were cut short; suddenly one day

While working on the job with their partner one day

They put themselves out on a limb; out into harms way

They gave the ultimate sacrifice; any dog can give

They gave up their life; so someone could live

The best of their breed; as his partner and anyone would say

Many hearts are now broken; that he had to prove it this way

Now as the trees are blowing in the gentle breeze

The sun is shining; thru the leaves on the trees

The meadows are green; and the grass grows tall

Off in the distance they can see a waterfall

As they look over the falls; down through the creek

The water flows gently; as a rabbit sneaks a peek

Far up above; in the deep blue sky

They see the birds soar high; as they fly by

They see animals playing; at the bridge by a waterfall

Chasing each other; and just having a ball

They play all day; from morning to night

There's no more rain; just warm sunlight

Off in the distance; they hear trumpets blow

Then all the animals look up; and notice a bright glow

The harps would play and the angels would sing

As they know they've come home; they've earned their wings

We remember that they died; in the line of duty

And are now with the Lord; sharing in heaven's beauty

Off to the meadows now; where they can play and roam free

With an occasional rest stop; under a tall oak tree

No more bad guys to chase; or bullets to take

Just a run through the meadow; down to the lake

A quick splash in the water; then back to the shore

Then it's off to the forest; to go play some more

These special dogs are back home; up in heaven above

They're cradled in God's arm's; and covered with His love

We'll light a candle for all of them; in the dark of night

In loving memory of all; these very special knights

By John Quealy

Officer Down

Detective Deidre Irene Mengedoht
Louisville Metro Police Department, Kentucky
End of Watch Monday, December 24, 2018
Age 32
Tour 7 years
Badge 294

Detective Deidre Mengedoht was killed when her patrol car was struck by an impaired driver while conducting a traffic stop on I-64, between 4th Street and 6th Street, in downtown Louisville just after 2:00 pm.

Her vehicle was stopped in the right lane with its emergency equipment activated when it was struck from behind by a Metropolitan Sewer District tractor-trailer. The patrol car was pushed into the vehicle she had stopped and became engulfed in flames with Detective Mengedoht trapped inside.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was charged with driving under the influence and murder of a law enforcement officer.

Detective Mengedoght had served with the Louisville Metro Police Department for seven years. She is survived by a young son.

Rest in Peace Sis…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Iran shows again how far it has fallen

I worked at a Radio Shack back in the mid-90s, and the manager was from Iran. Moe lived in Iran until 1981, then got the hell out. Moe said he could quickly see what was coming, and he was more depressed every time he spoke of it. "Mike, the shah was no angle, but at least women could drive, walk in public, go to college, and we were not starving, or sending millions to die in a war with Iraq." But things got worse as time went on. And here is a classic example of how these rulers in Tehran are savages.

Iran sentences human rights lawyer to 38 years in prison — and 148 lashes

A prominent Iranian lawyer who defended women arrested for protesting the country’s mandatory head scarf law has been sentenced to a total of 38 years in prison and 148 lashes, according to her husband.

Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been imprisoned since being taken from her home in June, is already serving a five-year sentence.

The 55-year-old human rights lawyer was sentenced to an additional 33 years — and the 148 lashes — after being convicted of several more national security crimes this month, her husband, Reza Khandan, wrote on Facebook on Monday.

But the semiofficial Islamic Republic News Agency reported that a judge at Tehran’s Revolutionary Court said Monday that in addition to the five years of Sotoudeh’s earlier sentence for “colluding against the system,” she was sentenced to two years for “insulting” supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The report did not clarify which cases the judge spoke of, but a rights group said one appeared to be the 2015 conviction.

Sotoudeh told her husband in a brief phone call from prison that she was informed she faces 38 years and the lashes, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.

Khandan told the New York-based advocacy group that it is unclear what additional charges Sotoudeh had been convicted of and that his wife had not received the verdict in writing.

“I don’t know how many years she got for each of the charges because my conversation with Nasrin only lasted a few minutes and we didn’t get to the details,” Khandan said, according to a statement on the group’s website.

“I only know that the biggest sentence was 12 years for [encouraging] ‘corruption and prostitution,’” he said, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.

Hadi Ghaemi, the center’s executive director, said lashing is an unusual sentence for someone charged in a security case. He said it showed Iran is escalating its crackdown on human rights defenders.

“Sotoudeh is asking for rule of law. It shows how much [authorities] are afraid of her,” Ghaemi said in an interview Tuesday...

...In the decade following Iran’s disputed 2009 presidential election, more than 40 lawyers who defend political activists have been arrested.

But the Iranian judiciary intensified its clampdown in January 2018 after the country was rattled by its biggest anti-government protest in nearly a decade. The protests were set off after a woman was arrested in Tehran for removing her head scarf in public.

After the wave of unrest, authorities arrested at least seven human rights attorneys, including Sotoudeh, and announced that defendants held on political charges are only able to choose lawyers from an approved list.

Human rights lawyer Mohammad Najafi was sentenced in October 2018 to three years in prison and 74 lashes for “publishing falsehoods” and “disturbing the state.”

This isn’t the first time Sotoudeh has been imprisoned. She was arrested in 2010 for what Iran said was “spreading propaganda against the system.”

Sotoudeh was kept in solitary confinement during some of her time in prison and reportedly went on a hunger strike in October 2012 to protest how authorities were treating her family and for being denied the opportunity to see her daughter and son. She was released in 2013 when President Hassan Rouhani granted her a pardon.

A test for a free nation. Can you criticize, or ridicule, the heads of the government, and be safe from retribution from the government. I have no safety issue with calling B Hussein Obama a joke or a son of a bitch. At least no safety issue from the government. And I could not care what you call Donald Trump. In Great Britain, it is considered distasteful to openly criticize the queen, the head of state. The head of government, the prime minister, it's open season on her. But like many Third World nations (formerly a lot more advanced) Iran is still has a middle age political mindset on opinion of it's "leadership." Hopefully the people of Iran will be able to overthrow this oppressive regime and rejoin the first world.

Our nation's symbol is growing...

I kinda want to put in a voice over of "Honey! I'm home!" as the male comes in and starts to work on the nest, but these love birds are taking care of their soon to be baby. Too cool to not post.

An easily listening Telephone Line weekend...

I saw ELO for the first time last May, and unfortunately it will likely be the only time. Jeff Lynne is on his final tour, getting ready for a well eared retirement. I don't disparage the man for that, and I've got no doubt he will make occasionally appearances, with a smaller group of singers and musicians. Or he make another "Final Farewell" tour, like Phil Collins!

I'm not a big fan of extras to a music act, e.g. 100 dancers. I don't care about that, I want to hear music live. However, ELO, with the laser light show, works. I don't know if it's Lynne or someone else who sets that up, but the effect is great. And this song, Telephone Line, with the images of desperation in the search of love, calling out to someone, and praying for an answer. Too awesome, because it's true.

Enjoy. And have a great weekend

Officer Down

Officer Marmolejo

Officer Gary

Police Officer Eduardo Marmolejo
Chicago Police Department, Illinois
End of Watch Monday, December 17, 2018
Age 36
Tour 2 years, 7 months
Badge 10101

Police Officer Conrad Charles Gary
Chicago Police Department, Illinois
End of Watch Monday, December 17, 2018
Age 31
Tour 1 year, 9 months
Badge 12003

Police Officer Conrad Gary and Police Officer Eduardo Marmolejo were struck and killed by a South Shore Line commuter train while investigating a shots-fired call in the area of 103rd Street and Dauphin Avenue at 6:20 pm.

They were investigating the sounds of gunfire that had been detected by a ShotSpotter sensor in the area. As they arrived at the scene they observed a suspect running up an embankment toward the railroad tracks. They were both struck by the outbound train while they pursued him across the tracks near the 103rd Street Rosemoor station.

A handgun and shell casings were recovered near the scene by other officers. The suspect they were chasing was apprehended a short time later.

Officer Gary had served with the Chicago Police Department for 18 months and was assigned to the 5th District - Calumet. He is survived by his wife and child. Officer Gary was a U.S Air Force veteran.

Rest in Peace Gentlemen…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

A look back at 20th Century teaching...

My friend Darren at Right on the Left Coast has mentioned occasionally that his smart board is not necessarily more efficient as a chalkboard for teaching math. Personally I think if the instructor, briefer, presenter, cannot keep the target of your efforts engaged, it won't matter if the words and images are on a smart board or not. With that in mind I found this article and it's fascinating. Lessons from a 1917 classroom, found on old chalkboards, during renovations.

School Stumbles Upon Chalkboards From 1917 During Renovation, Perfectly Preserved Lessons Provide Rare Look Into Past.

Classrooms at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City were getting a routine facelift when renovators accidentally uncovered an incredible glimpse into the history of American education.

Construction workers were removing chalkboards– taking them down to replace them with new Smart Boards– when they stumbled upon some older chalkboards underneath. Luckily, they stopped to examine the chalkboards before destroying them, and they quickly realized that the boards were from 1917… Nearly 100 years ago! Stuck underneath layers of other boards, these antique chalkboards had been preserved with the chalk still on them, providing an amazing view of life in a mid-20th-century classroom.

Dates on the board are from late November and early December 1917, with illustrations celebrating Thanksgiving in untouched chalk.

“It was so eerie because the colors were so vibrant, it looked like it was drawn the same day,” said English teacher Cinthea Comer. “To know that it was drawn 100 years ago… it’s like you’re going into a looking glass into the past.”

Principal Sherry Kishore says she loves the discovery, and she’s been amazed to see how the school taught basically the same lessons back then as it does today, but the teaching techniques are totally different.

The wheel above, for example, is an outdated method for teaching multiplication. “I have never seen that technique in my life,” Kishore said.

Another common lesson that looks different is the Pledge of Allegiance.

“I give my head, my heart, and my life to my God and One nation indivisible with justice for all.”

It’s unclear why this pledge differs from the early version of the Pledge of Allegiance that was established in 1892, but it clearly borrows some phraseology from that Pledge.

One lesson that is no longer taught in schools today is a lesson on hygiene. One section of the board– pictured below– lists “My Rules To Keep Clean” with tips like “Take my bath often” and “Wash my teeth.”

Principal Kishore showed her 85-year-old mother the board, and the familiar curriculum left her speechless. “She just stood there and cried,” said Kishore. “She said it was exactly like her classroom was when she was going to school.”

Kishore’s mother would have started school in the mid to late 1930’s, over a decade after the boards were drawn, but the rediscovered chalkboards are no doubt more familiar to her than the high-tech chalkboards used today!
Principal Kishore has called this discovery the highlight of her career. She is working with the school district and the city to preserve the boards.

Lessons in needed subjects (reading, writing, and arithmetic), not gender studies and global warming. And it was part of what was needed to produced functional citizens for the republic, and that is not an exaggeration. When education was done right! :<)

Officer Down

Police Officer Jason Barton Quick
Lumberton Police Department, North Carolina
End of Watch Saturday, December 15, 2018
Age 31
Tour 1 year, 6 months

Police Officer Jason Quick was struck and killed by a vehicle while investigating another crash on I-95, near exit 22, at 6:50 am.

Rescue personnel and another officer who were already at the scene immediately rendered aid. He was transported to Southeastern Regional Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries.

Officer Quick had served with the Lumberton Police Department for 18 months. He is survived by his wife and two young children.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

I guess this settles the debate over global cooling, err warming...

Officer Down

Police Officer Edgar Isidro Flores
DeKalb County Police Department, Georgia
End of Watch Thursday, December 13, 2018
Age 24
Tour 1 year, 6 months
Badge 3423

Police Officer Edgar Flores was shot and killed during a traffic stop on Candler Road, near I-20, at approximately 5:00 pm.

During the course of the traffic stop, the suspect fled on foot with Officer Flores in pursuit. The man opened fire on Officer Flores, fatally wounding him, as he continued to flee.

The man was later shot and killed after he shot a police canine that located him hiding behind a nearby business. The canine was critically wounded.

Officer Edgar had served with the DeKalb County Police Department for 18 months.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the

lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh.

Been a long, strange week.....

So let's be Pink!

Yesterday, right after roll call, Armageddon happened. We had over 40 calls holding, and next thing you know two emergency calls drop, every unit was tied up or we didn't have cars for the other units. Had to ride like a mad dog to one emergency call after another for two hours. Was really fun....love days like that. :<) Well, today I'm working the desk and Armageddon again happened, all I could do it get units on the street. But things are quiet now. I get off in three hours, and I see a cigar and scotch in my very near future. So I'll leave you with a great version of a classic song from Jefferson Airplane. White Rabbit, performed by Pink.


Saw a great comment at the bottom of the video:

If Janis and Grace Slick had a lovechild, it'd be Pink!

Have a great weekend!

Officer Down

Sergeant Benton Hurley Bertram
Charlestown Police Department, Indiana
End of Watch Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Age 33
Tour 9 years
Badge 550

Sergeant Ben Bertram was killed in a vehicle crash while involved in a vehicle pursuit on State Road 3 at 10:30 pm.

He had attempted to stop a stolen vehicle but the driver refused to stop. As the pursuit neared State Road 56, in Scott County, Sergeant Bertram's vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree. Other officers in the pursuit immediately stopped and rendered aid but Sergeant Bertram succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

The driver continued to flee but was apprehended in Clark County. He was charged with resisting law enforcement resulting in death and auto theft.

Sergeant Bertram's canine partner survived the crash and was treated at a local veterinary hospital.

Sergeant Bertram had served with the Charlestown Police Department for nine years. He is survived by his parents.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

The real inventor of the Internet is a little put off by what his invention has become...

Two decades ago then Vice President Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet on this CNN  interview. His exact words, at 00.52 of this video, is "...I took the initiative in inventing the Internet..." One of the many delusions this man has inflicted the American people with over the decades. To be more accurate, the Internet is the descendant of the ARPANet, a Department of Defense project to secure networks in case of a nuclear attack.

Time went on, the World Wide Web was invented 30 years ago Tuesday, and the inventiveness of mankind has been shown incredibly. Look at the changes in business, medicine, expanded education, etc. that have happened because of a free people took something and ran with it. The Internet, to a much greater degree of the space program, has revolutionized life in the modern world with spinoff technology, and the ingenuity of people literally around the world.

Before you say, "No kidding Sherlock," I was drawn to the statement of the real inventor of the Internet (the World Wide Web to be exact) on the Internet’s birthday, and how it shows bureaucratic-industrial complex thinking:

Tim Berners-Lee on the Internet’s 30th B-Day: ‘Whoops! The Web Is Not the Web We Wanted. The World Wide Web, now ubiquitously known as the internet, turns 30 today. And, just like most growing things, the technology infrastructure that powers almost every communication and work tool we use has changed beyond even its very inventor’s recognition. “Whoops! The web is not the web we wanted in every respect,” said British computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who built the first version of the World Wide Web in 1989, at the “Web@30” conference at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) on Tuesday. For the past decade, Berners-Lee has published an open letter every March 12, taking the WWW’s anniversary as an opportunity to voice his opinions and concerns on the emerging issues facing our increasingly internet-reliant society. His past talking points included the dominating power of supersize tech companies, misinformation and intrusion to privacy. This year, outside his regular annual writing, the 63-year-old scientist made an onstage appearance at his old employer, CERN, to reiterate the idea of the “Contract for the Web,” a framework to govern the use of the internet he first proposed in November 2018. “The Contract for the Web is about sitting down in working groups with other people who signed up, and to say, ‘OK, let’s work out what this really means,'” Berners-Lee said. The Contract for the Web seeks a collaboration among governments, companies and citizens. Under the framework, governments are tasked to ensure the internet’s availability to every one and its respect to privacy; on the premise of privacy protection, companies are to make sure that the internet is affordable and prioritize the public good over profit when developing new technology; and finally, citizens should respect “civil discourse” when using it..."

Government’s should be “tasked to ensure the internet’s availability to every one and its respect to privacy…”  Mr. Berners-Lee, were you concerned when the previous presidential administration had the National Security Administration commence saturation monitoring of both the Internet and phone communications in the United States? You do know the US government is building a facility to store this information in Utah, with a reported five zettabytes of storage capacity? In more understandable English, that is five trillion gigabytes of storage. And that is just the start.

One of the facts of digital voice communications is a computer can scan countless communications, looking for words, phrases, or specific voices, which is the purpose of this facility. Even if it is used for the War on Terror, or other “legitimate” functions, can you be sure it will not be used for other, less legitimate, efforts?. Do you recall the FBI used a false affidavit to secure a warrant from the FISA court to conduct monitoring on the now President of the United States? If a president can be targeted by the intelligence bureaucracy, how can Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public stand against them?

“…on the premise of privacy protection, companies are to make sure that the internet is affordable and prioritize the public good over profit when developing new technology…”

Sir, profit drives the public good, in case you haven’t noticed recorded history. At the beginning of the Internet era, few companies offered access to it, and the cost were prohibitive. Remember CompuServe and AOL? In 1990, CompuServe was charging five dollars an hour for dial up Internet service! AOL came in and challenged them, offering service at 2.95 an hour. AOL later acquired CompuServe, offering package deals of $20.00 a month for unlimited dial up service. Did the US government need to do that Mr. Berners-Lee? No, the bureaucracy needed to get the living hell out of the way. If the FCC was in charge of the Internet in the late 80s (Say a “Net Neutrality” in an earlier form) we would still have dial up modems for our service.

Exaggeration? Slightly, but there is no question the government has hindered the use of the digital spectrum over the decades. May I recommend you read The Political Spectrum: The Tumultuous Liberation of Wireless Technology, from Herbert Hoover to the Smartphone, by Thomas Winslow Hazlett. Question, when was the first mobile phone call made? Most people believe it was on April 3, 1973, when Motorola’s Marty Cooper called Bell Lab’s Joel Engle in New York. While it was the first time a handheld device was used, the first mobile call, or better put, car phone call, was made in 1946!

The General Mobile Telephone Service was an analog telecommunications system that would allow a person to make a call from inside an automobile, with a limited area to a tower. You needed to use an operator for any “long distance” call. Was this Verizon or ATT on an iPhone, no. But it was the first step. And it was killed largely by the lack of useable bandwidth being licensed by the FCC (Hazlett, 2017). Bag and hand held phones started to come into the limited use in the 1970s, more common use in the 1980s, but one can only speculate on how much sooner mobile phones would have come on the market without the great “assistance” of the Federal Communications Commission and other parts of the federal bureaucracy.

Finally sir, your comment on the content of the Internet is the most troubling, “…and finally, citizens should respect “civil discourse” when using it..." Mr. Berners-Lee, what is civil to you may be obscene to others. A member of the Black Lives Matter movement may accuses police officers of killing unarmed black males at an excessive rate compared to white males. Is it “uncivil” when another person points out most black males are murdered by other black males, and in a given year police shoot and kill 15-20 unarmed black males. While much social media is “civil,” some is a sewer of profanity and extremism (see Twitter). But I would never want to shut down the discussion. Sir, I suggest you remember the wisdom of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in Whitney v. California,1927, "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence." The proponents of “Net-Neutrality” should remember that.

One of the many quotes from General George Patton, “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” The Internet is an incredible example of that. Mr. Berners-Lee, you are the legitimate inventor of it, if any man can make that claim. I suggest to use your considerable influence to insure it grows unmolested by the bureaucratic mindset that has hampered mankind’s progress for eternity. 

Officer Down

Police Officer Jermaine Brown
Miami-Dade Police Department, Florida
End of Watch Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Age 46
Tour 15 years

Police Officer Jermaine Brown was killed in an ATV crash while conducting an enforcement detail as the result of community complaints of illegal activity along a canal path.

He was responding to assist other officers on the detail when the ATV he was driving struck a tree south of the intersection of South Dixie Highway and SW 211th Street.

Officer Brown had served with the Miami-Dade Police Department for 15 years. He is survived by his wife and three children. His wife also serves with the department.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

Officer Down

Sergeant Matthew Troy Moreno
Las Animas County Sheriff's Office, Colorado
End of Watch Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Age 37
Tour 5 years

Sergeant Matthew Moreno was killed in a vehicle crash on Highway 12, near Valdez while responding to a domestic incident at 8:00 pm.

Sergeant Moreno's patrol pickup and a second patrol vehicle both collided with a vehicle that was traveling in the opposite direction. Sergeant Moreno and the two occupants of the other vehicle, including an infant, all succumbed to their injuries. A deputy in Sergeant Moreno's vehicle and the deputy in the second patrol car were both injured.

The investigation revealed that the vehicle that struck them was driving 96 mph in a 45 mph zone and its driver had twice the legal limit of alcohol as well as oxycontin.

Sergeant Moreno had served with the Las Animas County Sheriff's Office for five years. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and one stepson.

Rest in Peace Bro…We Got The Watch

Nemo me impune lacessit

Day is done, Gone the sun, From the lake, From the hills, From the sky. All is well, Safely rest, God is nigh. 

A very well deserved retirement...

When I started the police academy, I was 33. I thought I would be the oldest member of the class. Actually I was the 4th oldest. Even in the late 90s, police work was a second career for many people out there. I have a friend on the force who entered the academy at 38 (she retired after 20 years in the Army).

Well, we got a man in the largest police force in the county who beat all of them. From New York City.

'I wanted to protect the weak from the strong': NYPD's oldest cop, who joined the force at 48 after suing over age limit, retires

A rookie in 1999...at age 48!

Now at 68, the department's oldest cop,
ending a 20 year career.

When NYPD Detective Michael Cusumano’s partner was attacked by a drug suspect caught selling to an undercover, Cusumano jumped over a mailbox to knock the assailant to the ground.

His stunned 20-something partner turned to the perpetrator and said, “You just got knocked out by a 55-year-old.”

It wasn’t the first time Cusumano was underestimated because of his age.

After suing the NYPD, he entered their police academy at 48 — 13 years older than the NYPD’s age limit — and retired Thursday at 68 as the oldest cop on the force. The NYPD’s mandatory retirement age is 63.

"They say older people have no place in this job, it's for young people," Cusumano said. "But I was able to run after people until I was almost 60. I'd chase guys up four flights of stairs, no problem."

Cusumano ran his family’s kitchen and bath business for 30 years before he finally decided to pursue his lifelong dream of joining the NYPD.

“It’s the world’s greatest police force,” he said. “I wanted to protect the weak from the strong.”

He passed all the necessary written and physical tests only to be told he couldn’t enter the academy because he was too old. The city had long had an age limit of 35 for new recruits. The rule lapsed shortly before Cusumano’s application but by the time he was ready to enter the academy it was reinstated.

He fought back with a class action lawsuit along with 39 other older recruits. It took over two years before they reached a settlement allowing the recruits to join the academy. At 48, Cusumano was the oldest in the group. Since officers have to work 20 years to earn a pension, the settlement permitted him to work until age 68, five years beyond the department’s mandatory retirement age.

Cusumano was eager to work hard so he asked to be assigned to the 75th precinct in the high-crime area of Brooklyn’s East New York - an assignment colleagues told him he was out of his mind to request, he recalls.

After almost five years, he joined the narcotics squad, first in Brooklyn North and then back at the 75th. He made over 500 arrests, a third of which were felonies. In 20 years, he never took a sick day, he says.

“He was a hard worker with great ethics,” said retired NYPD Emergency Service Unit Detective Mike Rosato, 67, who once served with Cusumano in the 75th Precinct and was also part of the lawsuit by older recruits...

...But Cusumano said colleagues often gave him a good ribbing over his age.

“They’d say, ‘Oh let us do that for you, so you don’t have a heart attack,’” he recalled with a grin. “Meanwhile, guys younger than me went out with heart attacks and I was fine.”

When he got close to 60, he transitioned to less physical work, first at the Organized Crime Investigation Division and then with the Joint Federal Task Force on Homeland Security, the unit he is retiring from.

“There’s a lot older people can do with all the knowledge you learn on the job,” he said. “It’s not all about the physical stuff...”

...Cusumano plans to take on some projects in retirement, possibly helping out other law enforcement agencies in the city.

“I’ve still got a few good years left in me,” he said.

Detective Cusumano, I don't think you'll never fully "retire." Please don't. Keep motivating good men and women to work smart, and be coming home. A semi-retirement if you will. But please, take some time off. You have earned it, and more.

From the Deep South to the Brooklyn, happy trails.

What's going on in the World Today 190311

HYPERLINKS MAY REQUIRE AN EMAIL:

USA

Kratos Steals Boeing’s Thunder With XQ-58A First Flight

A week after Boeing unveiled a loyal wingman mockup in Australia, U.S. drone manufacturer Kratos completed the first flight of the XQ-58A Valkyrie, an experimental design ordered by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) 30 months ago.

After launching by rail, the XQ-58A on March 6 completed the first of five planned flights for the overall program. The 76-min. flight concluded with a parachute recovery.

For Kratos, the launch of flight testing 2.5 years after contract award is a strategic coup, as the manufacturer of target drones hopes to expand into the market for large tactical unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

The XQ-58A is designed to operate alongside manned fighters, performing a variety of strike and surveillance tasks during a mission. Credit: Air Force Research Laboratory.

“This will be the biggest strategic event for Kratos in our history,” CEO Eric DeMarco said on the eve of first flight. “In 30 months, to go from a white piece of paper to a 3,000-mi.[-range] strike drone—it’s unbelievable. I have a pretty good idea of what is going to happen when this goes, and, if you [could] see me, I’m smiling.”

The XQ-58A is the first flight demonstrator launched under the AFRL’s Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology. The goal of the program is to “break the escalating cost trajectory of tactically relevant aircraft,” the AFRL said in a statement.

Kratos hopes to sell hundreds or thousands of the UAS at a price point of $2-3 million each, `allowing future fighters to distribute strike and surveillance tasks to unmanned wingmen. Although Boeing has similar objectives for the Airpower Teaming System unveiled in Australia, DeMarco says the XQ-58A is designed with a very different philosophy...

DARPA Awards Raytheon Contract For 2nd TBG Hypersonic Weapon

DARPA has awarded Raytheon a $63.3 million contract “to further develop the Tactical Boost Glide [TBG] hypersonic weapons program.”

The funding includes a critical design review for the joint DARPA/U.S. Air Force program.

Raytheon, now the second company on the TBG program, also has released a new artist’s impression of its concept that, while likely still notional, shows significant changes from its earlier design image.

TBG is developing technology for an air-launched, tactical-range, hypersonic weapon that sits in capability terms between the Air Force’s rocket-boosted Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon (HCSW) and DARPA’s scramjet-powered Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC).

Where the HCSW (pronounced Hacksaw) will have a conical glide body derived from the Army’s Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, and based on Sandia National Laboratory’s Swerve winged reentry vehicle, TBG is developing a wedge-shaped glide body with higher lift-to-drag ratio for increased range.

In competition with Raytheon, Lockheed Martin in 2016 was awarded a $147 million DARPA contract to develop and flight-test the 500-nm-range TBG. At the time, this was described as the sole contract for the demonstration phase...


AFRICA

U.S. Bombardments Are Driving Somalis From Their Homes

Airstrikes on al-Shabab have tripled under Trump.

MOGADISHU—A rise in U.S. airstrikes on parts of Somalia over the past two years has prompted increasing numbers of civilians to flee their homes and exacerbated a humanitarian crisis fueled by years of war and extreme weather.

Some 450,000 people have been displaced from al-Shabab strongholds in the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions that frame Mogadishu, the coastal capital, where the United States is responsible for air operations, according to nongovernmental organizations and United Nations agencies that operate in the area—with a noted increase in the numbers since 2017.

Overall 320,000 Somalis fled conflict and insecurity (an umbrella term that includes airstrikes) in 2018, the highest in four years, according to recently released figures from the U.N.’s Protection and Return Monitoring Network. The U.N. and aid agencies do not differentiate between airstrikes and other violent incidents when calculating displacement figures.

The U.S. Africa Command has been conducting airstrikes in Somalia since 2007, targeting the al Qaeda cell al-Shabab—Africa’s most effective fundamentalist group—which is fighting the internationally supported federal government. During Donald Trump’s presidency, the U.S. strikes have tripled, according to public figures confirmed by the Department of Defense.

Across the country, more than 2 million people have been displaced by violence that has lasted more than two decades.

Al-Shabab is said to be responsible for a 2017 attack that killed between 500 and 1,000 people at a busy traffic junction in Mogadishu, and, more recently, the deaths of at least 21 people at a hotel in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. It controls swaths of the Somali countryside, and has infiltrated Mogadishu, where it regularly carries out bombings in government buildings, crowded restaurants, and hotels. The group regularly claims responsibility for assassinating civil servants.

U.S. military officials maintain that no civilians have been killed in the airstrikes over the past 12 years, but Somalis say that is not the case...

...In March 2017, the New York Times reported that Trump signed a directive designating swaths of Somalia as “active hostilities” areas for at least 180 days. The declaration permitted U.S. forces to target anyone deemed to be affiliated with al-Shabab, whether or not they posed a direct threat to the United States. According to the report, decisions could be made with less interagency vetting. This move purportedly gave Africom greater autonomy and flexibility to attack al-Shabab quickly, which top officers had been requesting.

That same month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had given the CIA permission to launch its own drone strikes. Previously the agency had gathered intelligence and shared it with the military, which conducted the actual strike. It is not known if the CIA has its own air program in Somalia.

The Pentagon reported conducting 45 so-called precision strikes in Somalia in 2018, an increase from 14 in 2016 and 35 in 2017. In 2019, Africom has announced more than a dozen strikes on its website...

ASIA

India’s Dogfight Loss Could Be a Win for U.S. Weapons-Makers

Boeing and Lockheed Martin are vying for India’s long-delayed fighter replacement program.

The pilot ejected safely into Pakistani territory and was captured by the Pakistan Army. Islamabad released the airman a couple days later in an effort to de-escalate a crisis that began when a Pakistan-based militant group killed more than 40 Indian security officers in a Feb. 14 suicide bombing in India-controlled Kashmir.

The loss of the jet shines a light on India’s aging military and may lend new urgency to New Delhi’s long-delayed fighter replacement program, analysts said. The renewed focus would be a boon for the U.S. aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which are eyeing the lucrative contract for more than 100 airplanes. In addition to the immediate cash value for whichever company wins the work, India’s fighter replacement also offers Boeing and Lockheed the opportunity to extend the production of legacy systems that are reaching the end of their service lives.

“It is hard to sell a front-line fighter to a country that isn’t threatened,” said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute. “Boeing and Lockheed Martin both have a better chance of selling now because suddenly India feels threatened.”

Still, analysts noted India’s poor track record of moving quickly on defense acquisition programs. The shootdown may accelerate the recapitalization, said Byron Callan of Capital Alpha Partners, but “India must have known they have an aged fighter problem for a long time.”

The circumstances around the incident itself remain murky. India claims—and several news outlets have reported—that an aerial battle took place, an exceedingly rare event in modern warfare, during which the MiG-21 first shot down a U.S.-made Pakistani F-16, before itself taking a missile hit. Both nations have technologically diverse air forces, and the skirmish involved U.S.-, European-, Russian-, and Chinese-made jets. The Telegraph reported that India’s 1980s-era French-built Mirage 2000s and much newer Russian-made Su-30 MKIs, first flown in the early 2000s, were present, along with Pakistani F-16s, French-made Mirage IIIs, and Chinese-made JF-17s.

For its part, Pakistan denies that its jet was shot down or that it used F-16s at all. Other reports, citing unnamed sources, said a JF-17 scored the shootdown. Still, the remnants of an AIM-120 missile, which the Indian government displayed publicly, do seem to indicate that F-16s were involved, as that jet is the only one in the vicinity that can shoot that particular missile...

CENTRAL/ZOUTH AMERICA

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

EUROPE

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

AFGHANISTAN

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

CHINA

In China's Backyard, Charting the Course of Most Advantage

Highlights
- In the mounting great power competition between the United States and China, both countries will strive to build influence among the smaller powers of Southeast Asia.

- Southeast Asian nations, however, will not fall into neat Chinese or U.S. spheres, instead playing the middle to gain advantages from both.

- This fits the strategy many pursued during the Cold War and, in the new great power arena, they will find it easier to preserve greater autonomy.

The growing great power competition between the United States and China has assumed center stage in Asia, where the Chinese push to build out a buffer in the land and maritime domains in its near-abroad is running up against the U.S. desire to maintain its dominant role in the region. The smaller states along the rims of the Western Pacific and Indian oceans, in particular, have become arenas of competition between Washington and Beijing, and in Southeast Asia, long the maritime and terrestrial crossroads of empire in the Indo-Pacific, their contest has reached a robust and deep level. The U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy hinges on enlisting the support of these smaller powers. China has countered by using its Belt and Road Initiative to specifically target these middle players in hopes of forging deeper economic and strategic ties.

The Big Picture
Stratfor has long tracked the burgeoning great power competition between China and the United States, particularly as it plays out in China's backyard — Southeast Asia. As their competition mounts, the region's lesser powers will seek to avoid being co-opted by either side and instead pursue autonomy — and wring advantage from both.

But as much as the United States and China would prize a stable of stalwart Southeast Asian partners, countries in the region have other agendas, making a future bipolar world composed of unipolar U.S. and Chinese blocs unlikely. Instead, Southeast Asian countries will tactically align with the great powers only when it suits their needs. And in doing so, they will choose the available option with the fewest strings possible. As Indonesian founding father Sukarno said in 1965, explaining the perspective of the newly emerging Southeast Asian states: "We want to be free — completely free. Free to be free. We want to be left alone."

Of course, it's impossible to truly fulfill a country's desire to be left alone — particularly so for smaller powers always in need, to some degree, of the benefits of a relationship with a great power. Even during the seemingly zero-sum competition of the Cold War, most countries in Southeast Asia managed to find room to maneuver among the clashing titans from East and West. And, in the current configuration of global power, ambiguity, overlap and limited alignments will be the rule...



IRAN

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

IRAQ

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

ISRAEL

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

KOREAN PENINSULA 

North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launch Facility: Normal Operations May Have Resumed 

A 38 North exclusive with analysis by Jack Liu, Irv Buck and Jenny Town

Figure 1. Partially dismantled transfer structure
appears to be rebuilt and operational.

Commercial satellite imagery from March 6 of North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Station (Tongchang-ri) indicates construction to rebuild the launch pad and engine test stand that began before the Hanoi Summit has continued at a rapid pace. Given that construction plus activity at other areas of the site, Sohae appears to have returned to normal operational status.

At the launch pad, work on the rail-mounted transfer structure appears to have been completed by March 6 and the structure may now be operational. The cranes have been removed from the pad and the overhead trusses that were being installed on the roof have been covered. The mobile structure is now situated at the far end of the launch pad adjacent to the checkout building.

Several vehicles are parked near the gantry tower and the exhaust pit and debris remains on the launch pad to be cleaned up. 

Figure 2. Rebuilding continues at the engine test stand.

At the engine test stand, poor imagery resolution prevents a clear assessment. However, progress has been made on rebuilding the support structure for the stand, the materials that were there as of March 2 are now gone and debris remains littered across the service apron.

Figure 2. Rebuilding continues at the engine test stand.


Image Pleiades © CNES 2019, Distribution Airbus DS. For media options, please contact thirtyeightnorth@gmail.com.
At other areas of the site, activity has also picked up. Vehicles can be seen at the horizontal assembly building and the security administration building. There is also a vehicle parked near the observation building. It is not possible to determine the purpose of these vehicles.


A Snapshot of North Korea’s Supply Chain Coal Activity

The August 2017 UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2371 was the most recent resolution passed that placed a number of sanctions against North Korea, probably the most critical of which was against its coal export industry. Rich in a number of natural resources, coal and limestone yield the most in mining tonnage each year, but arguably, coal has provided the greatest source of currency to the economically struggling nation. What imagery reveals about the country’s coal production and distribution is an important piece to understanding the state and health of North Korea’s coal industry.

North Korea is heavily dependent on its natural resources for both its domestic energy production and trade for foreign currency. Of its many resources, mining plays a critical role, and coal is the dominant ore in terms of production. For many years, China has been the North’s largest foreign consumer, accounting for approximately 40% of the DPRK’s coal export market. However, now with a series of UNSC sanctions in place, the market dynamic for this resource has dramatically changed for North Korea.

Monitoring North Korea’s coal activity requires context and a timeline of key events to understand what is seen on imagery. In 2015, China stopped importing the North’s anthracite coal due to its high sulfur content. This was, in part, an effort to help reduce its air pollution levels. Within a few months, however, coal imports began to flow again, but with tighter quality inspections.T

RUSSIA

Don’t Believe the Russian Hype

Moscow’s missile capabilities in the Baltic Sea region are not nearly as dangerous as they seem.

Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia’s potential to seize territory in its near abroad and prevent NATO from reinforcing the victim of the aggression has become a source of alarm. If there is ever such a land-grab operation against one of the Baltic States, it is feared, Russia could use its military might and geographic position to create a “no-go zone” and keep NATO reinforcements from reaching the annexed territory in time by cordoning off the theater of operations. This could be done using a combination of long-range anti-air, anti-ship, and anti-land missile systems, known in military jargon as an anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capability. After Russia’s attack on Ukraine in 2014, Western defense officials began to worry about their ability to operate within the reach of Russia’s missile systems

The possible implications of Russian A2/AD capabilities were felt most acutely in the Baltic Sea region, where NATO reinforcements to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania could be stopped by missiles from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad sandwiched between northern Poland and Lithuania. Similarly, Russia’s presence there could stymie the use of Western air power in the region. In Sweden, there are fears that Russia, in a crisis or war, might grab the island of Gotland—located about 120 miles from Stockholm and 220 miles north of Kaliningrad—and deploy missile systems there to seal off access to the Baltic States. Until 2016, the island was de facto demilitarized, whereas today there is a mechanized company of some 150 Swedish soldiers protecting the island...

SYRIA

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT

MIDDLE EAST GENERAL

First phase of US missile system sale to Saudi Arabia moves forward

(CNN) — The first phase of Saudi Arabia's long awaited purchase of an advanced US missile defense system has been finalized with the formal awarding of a contract on Monday.

Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract for Phase I "long lead items" of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system, to include early engineering development, test equipment, key personnel and initial training development, according to a statement from the Pentagon.

The Defense Department said the first phase of the contract will cost $945,900,000.

The State Department had previously estimated the cost of the entire THAAD sale to be $15 billion.

President Donald Trump included the THAAD purchase in his list of proposed $110 billion in arm sales that he touted during his 2017 meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The list was a memorandum of intent to fulfill nearly $110 billion in arms sales over the next 10 years. What the Pentagon announced Monday is the first installment on the THAAD sale...

CYBER ISSUES

As Trump and Kim Met, North Korean Hackers Hit Over 100 Targets in U.S. and Ally Nations

North Korean hackers targeted banks, utilities and energy companies in the United States and Europe over the last 18 months, according to the security firm McAfee. New York, a financial hub, was a major target.Todd Heisler/The New York Times

North Korean hackers targeted banks, utilities and energy companies in the United States and Europe over the last 18 months, according to the security firm McAfee. New York, a financial hub, was a major target.Todd Heisler/The New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — North Korean hackers who have targeted American and European businesses for 18 months kept up their attacks last week even as President Trump was meeting with North Korea’s leader in Hanoi.

The attacks, which include efforts to hack into banks, utilities and oil and gas companies, began in 2017, according to researchers at the cybersecurity company McAfee, a time when tensions between North Korea and the United States were flaring. But even though both sides have toned down their fiery threats and begun nuclear disarmament talks, the attacks persist.

In 2017, Mr. Trump mocked Kim Jong-un as “rocket man” in a speech at the United Nations, while North Korea tested missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States. The attacks began soon after that. Though the two sides failed to reach an agreement last week, Mr. Trump struck a conciliatory tone toward his North Korean counterpart.

The revelation of North Korea’s most recent hacking activity adds new details to the tensions surrounding the summit meeting last week, which ended abruptly without any deals. After their first meeting, about eight months earlier, North Korea had agreed to stop test-firing its missiles.

“For 15 months, they haven’t tested weapons because of this negotiation but over those same 15 months they have not stopped their cyber activity,” said Victor Cha, the Korea chairman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington...

INTEL GENERAL

To Woo a Skeptical Trump, Intelligence Chiefs Talk Economics Instead of Spies

WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials who brief the president have warned him about Chinese espionage in bottom-line business terms. They have used Black Sea shipping figures to demonstrate the effect of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. And they have filled the daily threat briefing with charts and graphs of economic data.

In an effort to accommodate President Trump, who has attacked them publicly as “naïve” and in need of going “back to school,” the nation’s intelligence agencies have revamped their presentations to focus on subjects their No. 1 customer wants to hear about — economics and trade.

Intelligence officers, steeped in how Mr. Trump views the world, now work to answer his repeated question: Who is winning? What the president wants to know, according to former officials, is what country is making more money or gaining a financial advantage.

While the professionals do not criticize Mr. Trump’s focus, they do question whether those interests are crowding out intelligence on threats like terrorism and the maneuvers of traditional adversaries, developments with foreign militaries or geopolitical events with international implications.

“If Trump tailors it to his needs, that is fine and his prerogative,” Douglas H. Wise, a career C.I.A. official and a former top deputy at the Defense Intelligence Agency, said of the daily briefing. “However, if he suppresses intelligence through that tailoring, that is not helpful. He is no longer making informed decisions because he is making decisions based on information he could have had but didn’t have...”

TERRORISM

Satellite images show buildings still standing at Indian bombing site

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - High-resolution satellite images reviewed by Reuters show that a religious school run by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in northeastern Pakistan appears to be still standing days after India claimed its warplanes had hit the Islamist group’s training camp on the site and killed a large number of militants.

The images produced by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator, show at least six buildings on the madrasa site on March 4, six days after the airstrike.

Until now, no high-resolution satellite images were publicly available. But the images from Planet Labs, which show details as small as 72 cm (28 inches), offer a clearer look at the structures the Indian government said it attacked.

The image is virtually unchanged from an April 2018 satellite photo of the facility. There are no discernible holes in the roofs of buildings, no signs of scorching, blown-out walls, displaced trees around the madrasa or other signs of an aerial attack.

The images cast further doubt on statements made over the last eight days by the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the raids, early on Feb. 26, had hit all the intended targets at the madrasa site near Jaba village and the town of Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

India’s foreign and defense ministries did not reply to emailed questions sent in the past few days seeking comment on what is shown in the satellite images and whether they undermine its official statements on the airstrikes...


MISC

NOTHING SIGNIFICANT TO REPORT