BMEWS
 
Sarah Palin knows how old the Chinese gymnasts are.

calendar   Monday - June 22, 2009

Getting Ready For The 4th of July

US beefs up Hawaiian missile defense




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MV Blue Marlin brings a Sea Based X-Band radar system (SBX) into Honolulu.



U.S. beefs up Hawaii’s missile defence amid warnings North Korea could fire rocket towards Pacific islands

A new anti-missile system ordered for Hawaii is partly a strategy to deter North Korea from test-firing a long-range missile across the Pacific and partly a precaution against the unpredictable regime, military officials have said.

The United States has no indication that North Korean missile technology has improved markedly since past failed launches.

Military and other assessments suggest the communist nation probably could not hit the westernmost US state if it tried, officials said.

The North’s Taepodong-2 could travel that far in theory, if it works as designed. But three test launches have either failed or do not demonstrate anything close to that range.

Nonetheless, past failure should not be considered a predictor, one military official said, and the seaborne radar and land-based interceptors were added this week as a prudent backstop.

A senior defence official would not discuss details of range estimates for North Koreans missiles, but said the same principle of caution for Hawaii would apply if the North appeared to threaten US territories in the Pacific.




Great idea. I hope they brought in quite a number of high altitude interceptor missiles as well.

Did you know we had SBX? I didn’t. And the thing has been around for years. SBX is a self-propelled seaworthy radar system, built on a semi-submersible Russian oil platform. It cost $900 million to build, and usually lives in Anchorage Alaska. However it can sail to anywhere in the Pacific, although when time is of the essence a ship carrier like the MV Blue Marlin (the same one that brought home the injured USS Cole from Yemen) can transport it much faster.

Sea-Based X-band (SBX) Radar is the tracking and discrimination radar used for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system. SBX will consist of a large X-Band half-populated radar mounted on a modified fifth-generation semi-submersible platform with Battle Management Command Control and Communications, which includes In-flight Interceptor Communication System Data Terminals and associated communications; power generation; facility floor space; and infrastructure, similar to a fixed radar installation.

The SBX provides detailed ballistic missile tracking information to the GMD system, as well as advanced target and countermeasures discrimination capability for the GMD interceptor missiles. The ability of the SBX to deploy to operating locations under its own power allows it to support actual GMD operations as well as realistic testing.

The SBX vessel, a self-propelled semi-submersible modified oil-drilling platform, was modified and payloads installed at shipyards in Brownsville and Corpus Christi, Texas. The initial sea trials took place in the Gulf of Mexico to ensure maneuverability and control of the vessel. In addition, the sea trials may include full power operation for satellite and calibration device tracking. Following the sea trials, the completed platform would transit from the Gulf of Mexico to its primary support base at Adak, Alaska. SBX performs tracking, iscrimination, and assessment of target missiles in support of missile defense tests, as well as, operation of the GMD system.

The platform is approximately 390 feet long, with a 238-foot beam, and an operations draft of approximately 75 feet. The height from water surface to the top of the radar dome is 250 feet. The deck area will be approximately 270 x 230 feet. The SBX has a displacement of 50,000 tons, and a hull weight is about 15,000 tons.

The radar antenna itself is described as being 384 square meters. It has a large number of solid-state transmit-receive modules mounted on a hexagonal flat base which can move plus-or-minus 270 degrees in azimuth and 0 to 85 degrees elevation (although software currently limits the maximum physical elevation to 80 degrees). The maximum azimuth and elevation velocities are approximately 5-8 degrees per second. In addition to the physical motion of the base, the beam can be electronically steered off bore-sight (details classified).

There are currently 22,000 modules installed on the base. Each module has one transmit-receive feed horn and one auxiliary receive feed horn for a second polarization, so there are 44,000 feedhorns. The base is roughly 2/3 populated and so there is room for installation of additional modules. The current modules are concentrated towards the center, so as to minimize grating lobes. This configuration allows it to support the very-long-range target discrimination and tracking that GMD’s midcourse segment requires. The array requires over a megawatt of power.

The radar is described by Lt. Gen Trey Obering (director of MDA) as being able to track an object the size of a baseball over San Francisco in California from the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, approximately 2,900 miles (4,700 km). The radar will guide land-based missiles from Alaska and California, as well as in-theatre assets.

The SBX is compliant with existing national and state environmental regulations and laws and will pose no threat to people or wildlife in Hawaii. It has completed many major milestones in its development, the two most recent being tracking satellites and completing sea trials. Early on Oct. 12, 2005, the radar aboard the SBX successfully tracked several orbiting satellites over a three-hour period. The radar acquired each object and maintained tracks for several minutes, demonstrating this key functionality for the first time. Achieving this milestone demonstrates the radar software is able to control thousands of individual transmit and receive modules.

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That’s some amazing technology. Wi-fi the thing in to several Aegis ships, a couple land batteries, and a few missile barges ( surely we have some of them, yes? Mate up another booster stage to some of those old Sprint missiles to give them an extra 20 miles of loft and mount the works on something the size of an oil tanker. Say, about 200 per ship. That seems right. ), and we should be able to knock out ‘Lil Kim’s Limpi-Dong missile as soon as we know it’s headed our way ... and with the super computers we’ve got these days, that should be figured out when the thing is about 12 feet above it’s launch pad. Ah, if only we had Frank J’s space laser.

PS - yes I cropped the first pic, an AP photo, and didn’t give them credit. Why should I, when they stole it from the Navy and then put their logo on it? Proper photo credit goes to Journalist 2nd Class Ryan C. McGinley, who snapped the shot back in January 2006.

See More Below The Fold

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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/22/2009 at 11:05 AM   
Filed Under: • MilitaryNorth-Korea •  
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Somehow this seems familiar

Now, where have we heard this one before?




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stolen from Theo’s of course!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/22/2009 at 10:25 AM   
Filed Under: • IranObama, The OneTyrants and Dictators •  
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Warning: it could go nuke-u-lar

http://www.drybonesblog.blogspot.com/


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President Drew would find some way of secretly airdropping 50 or 80 thousand old AKs, crates full of chi-com grenades, and Soviet RPGs. Who me? Wasn’t us! That’s not our stuff. Not at all!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/22/2009 at 09:54 AM   
Filed Under: • Iran •  
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Drive to promote ‘Britishness’ another Labour Party failure .

I like this fellow and read him often.  I don’t know if he’s always right, but I haven’t caught him being wrong on anything so far.

What’s the Polish for ‘Tarmac your drive, sir?’


By Richard Littlejohn

The Daily Mail

As part of its drive to promote ‘Britishness’, the Government announced a couple
of years ago that all immigrants would be required to speak English.

That message clearly hasn’t got through to Town Halls, hospitals and police headquarters, which are still spending more than £50million a year on translating official documents into dozens of different languages.

These include a guide for gipsies, written in Polish, and a women’s directory published in Albanian, Bengali, Kurdish, Somali and Urdu, among others.

Both of these were the work of our old friends at Haringey Council. How many people have read them? Precisely none.

I can’t say I’m surprised. There may be 193 languages allegedly spoken in the north
London borough, but I’ve yet to come across any Polish gipsies offering to Tarmac my drive.

Haringey admitted that of 77 different documents posted online in several languages,
26 of them went unread, including a lesbian, gay and transgender guide published in French.

This has been going on for years. Some councils even print election material in foreign languages, though why anyone should be allowed to vote if they can’t read the candidate’s name is beyond me.

On my way in to town, there’s a prominent notice next to a park, featuring a drawing of a crow with a cross through it and an exhortation in several languages, many of them scribble, not to feed the birds.

Why waste money on this nonsense, simply on the off-chance that an Albanian transsexual might one day wander into the Town Hall?

Some councils are even putting out leaflets in obscure languages such as Karen, which is apparently spoken in eastern Burma, and Ga, a dialect you only find in parts of Ghana.

Nope, I’ve never heard of them, either. And though parts of Britain resemble the Tower
of Babel, I’m prepared to bet you’d have to wait a long time for someone to ask you
directions in Sierra Leonean Creole (another one on the list).

The madness of multiculturalism is that while immigrants are encouraged to stick to
their own language, they can never integrate and become full citizens.

I’ve no problem with foreign language newspapers or people speaking their mother
tongue in their own homes and clubs. But we should ban the publication of official
documents in any other language.

If foreigners want to settle here and take full advantage of the benefits which go with that privilege, they should learn to speak the Queen’s English.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 06/22/2009 at 09:46 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeUK •  
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CAIR Bears

A link to an awesome page!

Warning: clicking the link while in certain parts of Africa could get you arrested and sentenced to death, and cause several nuns to be raped, mutilated, and murdered. Tolerance, you know.



CAIR Bears!



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Mohammed Bear - Mohammed Bear fools all the other Bears

(except Dhimmi Bear who is forced) into believing he is Holy.

His followers go on to continually divide and harass the world while claiming to be victims.

What a tricksey Bear he is!




A well done site that far exceeds anything The Vermont Teddy Bear Company™ could ever imagine making. It’s cute, sarcastic, and absolutely dead on, all at the same time.

Go, read, enjoy! And it’s not just this one article. Rude News is a pretty great blog too!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/22/2009 at 09:21 AM   
Filed Under: • Fun-StuffRoPMA •  
Comments (1) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Modern Revelations




The coming of the Obamalypse




And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land called America,

having lost their morals,

their initiative,

and their will to defend their liberties,

chose as their Supreme Leader that person known as “The One”.


He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning;

But He hypnotized the people telling them, “I am sent to save you.

My lack of experience, my questionable ethics,

my monstrous ego, and my association with evil doers are of no consequence.

For I shall save you with Hope and Change.

Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the land that he who preceded me is evil,

that he has defiled the nation, and that all he has built must be destroyed.”

And the people rejoiced, for even though they knew not what “The One” would do,

he had promised that it was good; and they believed. 


And “The One” said “We live in the greatest country in the world.

Help me change everything about it!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!  Change is good!”

Then He said, “We are going to tax the rich fat-cats.”

And the people said “Sock it to them!”

“And redistribute their wealth.”

And the people said, “Show us the money!”

And then He said, “Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody”

And Joe the plumber asked, “Are you kidding me?

You’re going to steal my money and give it to the deadbeats??”

And “The One” ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe’s personal records were hacked and publicized.

One lone reporter asked, “Isn’t that Marxist policy?”

And she was banished from the kingdom!

Then a citizen asked, “With no foreign relations experience and having zero military experience or knowledge,

how will you deal with radical terrorists?”

And “The One” said, “Simple. I shall sit with them and talk with them

and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!! We are safe at last,

and we can beat our weapons into free cars for the people!”

Then “The One” said, “I shall give 95% of you lower taxes.”

And one, lone voice said, “But 40% of us don’t pay ANY taxes.”

So “The One” said, “Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!! Show us the money!”

Then “The One” said, “I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!”

And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed…

And He said, “I shall mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage.

And I shall give every person unlimited health care and medicine and transportation to the clinics.”

And the people said, “Give me some of that!”

Then he said, “I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.”

And the people said, “Where’s my rebate check?”

Then “The One” said, “I shall bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!”

And the people said, “Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal!

But we don’t care for that part about higher electric rates.”

So “The One” said, “Not to worry. If your rebate isn’t enough to cover your expenses,

we shall bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over!”

Then He said, “Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted.

Let’s grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches,

free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing...”

And the people said, “Hallelujah!!” And they made him King!



And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes,

raised their prices and laid off workers.

Others simply gave up and went out of business

and the economy sank like unto a rock dropped from a cliff.

The banking industry was destroyed.

Manufacturing slowed to a crawl.

And more of the people were without a means of support.

Then “The One” said, “I am the “The One” - The Messiah - and I’m here to save you!

We shall just print more money so everyone will have enough!”

But our foreign trading partners said unto Him, “Wait a minute.

Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung!

You will have to pay more...”

And the people said, “Wait a minute. That is unfair!!”

And the world said, “Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced.

Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!”

And the people cried out, “Alas, alas!! What have we done?”

But yea verily, it was too late.

The people set upon “The One” and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung.

And the once mighty nation was no more;

and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope.

And the Change “The One” had given them was as like unto a poison

that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.

And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish,

“Give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!”

But it was too late, and their homeland was no more. 


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/22/2009 at 08:57 AM   
Filed Under: • Obama, The One •  
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Prison newspaper pulps 50,000 copies over fears cartoon of bearded pig in turban would offend Muslim

over fears it would offend muslims.
More kowtowing and appeasement to members of the ROP.  What else is new?
Same old same old. 


Prison newspaper pulps 50,000 copies over fears cartoon of bearded pig in turban would offend Muslims

By Stephen Wright
Daily Mail


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What, you mean this one?




A prison newspaper has been withdrawn for publishing a satirical cartoon of a bearded pig dressed in a turban.

Almost 50,000 copies of Inside Time were pulped as jail bosses took offence at the illustration accompanying the article ‘Porky’s Revenge’.

The piece, written by an inmate at Hull Prison, suggested that swine flu was the result of a failed plot by Osama Bin Laden to ‘eradicate every pig in Christendom’.

Andy Thackwray’s article was accompanied by an image of a bearded, turbanned pig standing on its hind legs and sneezing.

The Ministry of Justice said it was ‘extremely concerned’ that the article and cartoon might offend the Muslim prison population.

Diversity chiefs at Wormwood Scrubs prison in West London contacted magazine officials and the June issues were withdrawn - at a cost of up to £20,000.

The monthly independent publication will be reprinted without the offending pieces.

A senior prison source said: ‘There’s been a complete overreaction to this article. It’s insane political correctness.

‘We shouldn’t be worried about poking fun at the world’s most notorious terrorist, nor his dozens of followers in the prison system.’

The Ministry of Justice said: ‘As soon as we were aware, an instruction was issued to prisons to remove all copies of the relevant edition where this is practicable and we have raised the matter with the editorial team of Inside Time.

‘We would like to reiterate that the Prison Service is committed to ensuring that all prisoners are treated with decency and humanity, by staff and other prisoners, which includes respecting those of all religions.’

As of June 2007, there were 8,864 Muslim inmates out of a then prison population of 79,734.

The total has since risen to 84,000.

SOURCE



The original article:

Angry Andy - Porky’s Revenge!
By: Andy Thackwray - HMP Hull

Pig Flu? My arse! All this ooh ahh about rogue-gene-piggypox-bacteria-swine-bollocks is nothing more than a Government conspiracy to blag us all from finding out the truth about how this contagious virus actually came into being. Who does that bloody Gordon Brown think he’s kidding? Certainly not me! You see, I know the real origin of this so-called pig flu. Oh yes; there’s no two ways about it: it came into fruition from a botched, Muslim-led act of terrorism. All part of Osama Bin Laden’s global ‘war on pork’.

C’mon, it’s common knowledge to all and sundry that not only do the bloody Taliban have a grudge about everything except facial hair, but in particular they can be seen as being extremely prejudiced against the West’s vast population of porkers. So, to try and get in Allah’s good books, Bin Laden created his own ‘halal flu virus’ with the intention of eradicating every pig in Christendom, and by doing so piss off all Westerners by denying us our daily bacon.

Initially, Bin Laden’s war on pork was targeted to disrupt and inconvenience the Americans the most, because Osama and his boys are fully aware that the yanks are a nation of clinically obese lard arses who can’t function properly without their McRibs, hog roasts and occasional wild boar shoot. C’mon, can you imagine McDonalds without any bloody pork? It would be akin to Jodie Marsh without tits – nobody would want to go there!

Yes, not too long ago in a cave somewhere in deepest Afghanistan, our bearded foe created his halal flu virus to totally wipe out the pigs of the Western world, and hopefully see the end of pork as we know it. Only trouble was, the young terrorist Bin Laden hand-picked to fly across the Atlantic to carry out the wicked deed was not only a goat short of a full flock, he’d also never ventured out of his village before. So, with geography not being one of his strong points, coupled with his poor command of the English language, it’s not surprising that he got off the plane one stop early thinking he was in Kansas, America when really he was in Cancun, Mexico. There, he set the Bin Laden flu virus free on a Mexican pig farm instead of on an American one as planned – what a knob!

However, with brave, fairytale-style resilience, our little Mexican snouted amigos thwarted Bin Laden’s plan by quickly building up an immunity against his weak, cave-made, halal flu strain and, just like with the big bad wolf , the little swines saw the virus off and came out the winners - not even Al Qaeda could ‘blow their house down.’ The pigs got their revenge too by completely buggering up Mexico’s tourist industry by passing a more complex and stronger strain of Bin Laden flu back onto us humans, a strain which is at present spreading globally, faster than shit off a shiny shovel.

So, thanks to the resilience of our little pink pals, Bin Laden’s war on pork backfired. His stupid bloody idea had more cracks in it than London Ladies College. And the irony of it is: the only ones making ‘a killing’ out of Bin Laden’s war on pork are the bloody American owned pharmaceutical companies. Who’s a daft bearded bastard then?
So there you have it folks; forget all that bloody conspiracy bollocks in the mainstream media, you heard ‘the truth’ first here in Angry Andy’s Column. “May the pork be with you!”


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Posted by peiper   United States  on 06/22/2009 at 08:20 AM   
Filed Under: • UK •  
Comments (2) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Son wants to work in dad’s business. Dad decides to train but wait. In the nanny state,,,,,

In the socialist paradise things are never simple.batbatbatbatbatbat

I have to copy this darn thing out word for word. As usual, I can’t locate the link because the Telegraph didn’t put the story on line.  I tried to Google the headline but got nowhere.
See if you don’t agree this deserves a major Moonbat of the year even before the year is done with us.  If it’s accurate.

I don’t have problem where rules are in place for a reason, and reason prevails. But this article just blew me away with it’s unreasonable insanity.
Or maybe I missed something important. ??

SON NEEDS RISK SURVEY TO WORK FROM HOME
By Daily Telegraph Reporter

A FATHER who works from home was told to carry out a “risk assessment” and pay £350 (almost $700) so his son could join him for work experience.

Derek Coyle, 45, a property developer, wanted his 15-year old son to spend two weeks working alongside him to learn about the family business.

Mr. Coyle was contacted by his local council which said he would have to have the family home risk assessed.  Officials said he needed public liability insurance costing £350 for his son to work at the house, where he lives with his father. 

Mr. Coyle said: “I wanted to show my own son the business for his work experience. He lives here anyway.  But the council called and said they would have to assess our house for health and safety.  It’s a total waste of taxpayers’ money, sending council officers out here to do that.  On a day to day basis he would be at no more at risk than he would anywhere else.” His son was set to visit offices and building sites as part of his training.

A spokesman for Cornwall council said: “We are aware that legally a student can be placed with a parent for work experience without the usual insurance.  But we follow national guidelines in the administration of our work experience scheme.  The advice is that all placements should carry both employer’s liability and public liability insurance, including those with parents.

-30-


The article never did say how the council discovered the kid would be working with dad. So that leaves an unanswered question.  Something or someone had to contact them to get this bru-haha started. Right?

I can see where on a construction site with tin hats etc. there could be concern about a possible accident. But this reports about a ‘risk assessment’ of their house. And I don’t understand that at all. It just smacks of the usual intrusive big brother situation.
Or maybe just another avenue to squeeze more money out of ppl.


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 06/22/2009 at 06:52 AM   
Filed Under: • Daily LifeUKwork and the workplace •  
Comments (0) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

There have been many complaints that Britain does not do enough to state its case to the world.

The Telegraph has opened it’s files (telegraph.co.uk/war) on events leading to WW2. And it’s brilliant.
There’s much you already know I’m sure.  But this caught my eye in the hard copy this morning. Under 100 days to war opposite the obit page.  It should have had a featured place on the front page. And it might have if I were running the Telegraph.

There are a couple of things here I had not read before, and I thought I’d read quite a bit.
For example, I had not read anywhere before that Hitler and Gobbels said Belgium invaded Germany in 1914.  Oh yeah. And no surprise. It was the Jews (again) who paid them to do it.  If they really claimed that, I can’t believe it would have been with a straight face.  Makes ya wanna scream out loud knowing there might be ppl today who really believe that.

So then, this is a brilliant piece that appeared in the Telegraph on this date June 22.  1939.

Germany’s use of tactics of encirclement - June 22, 1939
There have been many complaints that Britain does not do enough to state its case to the world. In the main that case states itself.

By the Right Hon Winston Churchill, MP
Published: 12:01AM BST 22 Jun 2009

When Herr Hitler and his mouthpiece Goebbels give us their version of how the late Great War began, they make statements which do not carry complete conviction. According to them, England, in the pay of the Jews, made Belgium invade Germany in order to rob her of her colonies on which she depended for her living-space and daily bread. The German people, unarmed and unsuspecting, were taken at a grievous disadvantage and the Belgian expeditionary force sustained by the whole might of Israel might easily have captured Berlin if Corporal Adolf Hitler had not stood in its path at the critical moment.

When stuff like this is put forth million-fold, it may have a good effect in Germany. It certainly has a very good effect outside Germany.


Democracies’ Benefit from Dr Goebbels


So far as the English-speaking people are concerned, there could be no better propaganda than that served out by Goebbels. Every facility should be given by the governments of the British Empire and the United States for the widest and most constant dissemination of his views. We must be very careful not to occupy the ether when he is speaking.

Nothing that we could do should be half as beneficial as a nightly half-hour from him. He is the supreme propagandist for the non-Nazi forces throughout the world. Every opportunity should be given to the wage-earning masses in Great Britain, the United States, France, Poland and the smaller countries to hear every word he says. He ought to be paid a very large retaining fee by World-Jewry to keep at it.

If he finds the personal strain too great, we could offer special opportunities to Nazi speakers from his department to come and lecture in Britain. I have no doubt that the United States would give full police protection to such missionaries in the discharge of their task. If anything happened to Herr Goebbels, we should all regard it as a disaster. His is a precious life, and his voice belongs to mankind.


Where truth appears “very dangerous”

What an odd thing it is in this grave hour that Nazi Germany, with all its aeroplanes and cannon, storm-troopers, political police and brave armies, is terrified of words. These resolute and ruthless people who are eager to stand up to a cannonade are frightened at a whisper. But our poor, degenerate unpatriotic democracies – as they tell us we are – not only do not mind what is said about, us but welcome and positively relish the fullest expression of the Nazi views. Bismarck said in a phrase which may well be remembered – “If the Austro-Hungarian Empire disappeared, it would have to be invented.” So it is with our loquacious friend Goebbels. The void would be ghastly.

Lord Perth, a well-trained Foreign Office official, who happens to be what is called in America a “Blood Peer”, and has been long Secretary of the League of Nations and British Ambassador in Italy, cannot hope to compete with Herr Goebbels. He will merely keep a stream of facts flowing as a kind of accompaniment to the great soloist. The reason why his appointment has been criticised and even scarified in Berlin is because, and only because, the truth is very dangerous there.

It is formidable indictment of a regime that it is afraid of foreign words. No government that is soundly based minds foreign criticism. If it is just they profit by it and amend their ways. When it is unjust it puts them is a good position with their own people.


If Germany wishes for guarantees


When the Hitler regime have to seize and destroy every foreign newspaper which contains some item they do not like, when spies are put in the streets to make sure no dutiful German is listening in to the British or French wireless, when even private letters have to be censored in the post, one may be sure that the system of government has misgivings about its own foundations.

It must be dreadful to live like that because not only do British, American, Scandinavian, Swiss and French ideas percolate through all the barriers but they are studied with particular attention by the very large number of Germans who receive them. The more they keep it out, the more it counts when it does get in.

At the present moment an intense effort is being made in Germany to convince the German people that they are being encircled. It is probable that with the vast resources of German internal propaganda by Press and wireless, this impression will be imparted to the German people. Moreover, there is a good deal of truth in it. And there is never any use in hiding truth.

An alliance of armed and arming nations is being brought into being to resist in concert further acts of Nazi aggression. We are trying to make it as large and as strong as possible. But this encirclement is directed only against a further act of Nazi aggression. It will never have any physical existence unless or until Nazi Germany attacks and invades one of her neighbours. It is only by her own act that Germany can be encircled.

If she is content to lead an ordinary, decent, humane life and leave her neighbours unmolested, no one is going to interfere with her or with the way she chooses to be governed. Britain and France ask nothing for themselves in security that they are not willing to accord to Germany. If Germany wishes for any guarantee, she can have it tomorrow on the collective assurance of half the world.

But how does Germany stand herself upon the encirclement of other countries? The Axis Powers strain every nerve, in conjunction with General Franco’s Spain, to encircle France. Germany and Italy have obviously encircled Jugoslavia. The position which Italy has so recently seized in Albania, if joined to a Bulgaria friendly to the Axis, would make the encirclement of Jugoslavia absolutely perfect.

As he wrote this before the war broke out, and as an MP of the day and a very knowledgeable one, I think he missed it re. Franco surrounding France.
I have only by chance recently come into a copy of Count Ciano’s diaries 1937-1943, thanks to the wife’s passion for car-boot sales where she found a copy for me.  Anyone interested in the history of the period should get their hands on a copy.  It’s most informative.  Franco exasperated his would be axis allies.
He knew Spain’s limitations and inability to fight a world war.  By 1940, even Ciano began to understand the grip Germany had on his own country and saw disaster ahead.  But all that’s off topic.
Read the rest of this article HERE


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Posted by peiper   United Kingdom  on 06/22/2009 at 02:54 AM   
Filed Under: • HistoryUKWar-Stories •  
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calendar   Sunday - June 21, 2009

What? What? Speak Up Please!

Save Your Ears, You Only Get Two Per Lifetime




A friend, she of the .22 single action Ruger Bearcat, got a few rounds on target yesterday, with her very own gun. Great! I gather she used a set of those roll up foam earplugs. She wrote asking which earmuffs were the proper ones to buy for shooting sessions.

Hmm, that is a good question. While a good snarky answer could be “the ones that you’ll wear - good fit is everything”, purchasing first class hearing protection demands a bit of research.

First, let’s clear the air: guns are loud. Really loud. Somewhere in the vicinity of 140-165dB. Loud enough to cause you permanent total hearing loss. But they aren’t loud all the time. The typical bark from the muzzle only lasts a couple of milliseconds; a whole day’s worth of shooting at the range might expose you to 3 or 4 seconds of total noise. But it’s percussive noise. Gunblast can figuratively hammer the air right out of your lungs; what do you think it’s doing to your eardrums? Hearing protection is a must.

Next, let’s look at the actual sound of gunfire. It’s mostly low frequency. BOOM. 40-70hz. And most hearing protection is only rated down to 125Hz, and almost all hearing protectors offer much less protection at the lowest frequencies.

I looked around the internets, and I learned a few things. Most, if not all, of the earmuff companies feel you should wear a double layer of protection: earplugs and earmuffs. You betcha, that makes sense. Yet nobody does this. I started shooting back in the days when nobody wore hearing protection at all. It wasn’t such an issue at the indoor range with everyone popping away with their little .22 rifles. Until that psycho in the last lane opened up with a .357 Magnum. Horry Clap those are loud! In the early 80s I had, and still have, a pair of David Clark 10a muffs, the standard muffs everyone has. They seem to do an Ok job, but really ... they aren’t so great:image
Hz        dB      SD    Net Expected Attenuation
125       10.9    1.4     9.5
250       20.9    2.4    18.5
500       28.8    3.6    25.2
1000     32.8    2.6    30.2
2000     35.9    1.4    34.5
3150     37.4    2.3    35.1
4000     38.3    1.6    36.7
6300     37.5    2.1    35.4
8000     37.1    2.7    34.4
NPR Rating: 23dB



Years later I found the Peltor Bullseye Ultimate 10 earmuffs, and they were much, much better. imageThese muffs have an NPR Rating of 29-30dB. I don’t have that model’s specs, and they may be discontinued. They changed the “crack” of the blast to a “thump”, and it seemed quieter too. Plus, they cost half what the Clark muffs cost. These work fine, but get knocked off my right ear when I shoot my high combed Weatherby rifle. So far they are the best I’ve tried, but there may be better earmuffs available. And the getting knocked off the ear thing is bad, which is why I’m looking for some earplugs as well.



Right now, the best model Peltor muffs that I can find are the Optime III and the Bulls Eye III, imageboth of which far outperform the old Clark 10A muffs, and ought to get an NPR Rating of 34-35dB. Except that 30dB is the top rating, because the ANSI law is from 1974! [update: no, I am wrong. The new standard is ANSI S12.6-1997.
Hz        dB      SD    Net Expected Attenuation
125       17.4    2.1    15.3
250       24.7    2.6    22.1
500       34.7    2.0    32.7
1000     41.4    2.1    39.3
2000     39.3    1.5    37.8
4000     47.5    4.5    43.0
8000     42.6    2.6    40

It’s obvious these are much better than the first set. They are probably quite a bit better than my 10 year old Ultimate 10s, but these may only be for sale in Britain, for around $30.



Here in the USA, the Howard Leight company makes the Bilsom Thunder T3: image

Hz        dB      SD    Net Expected Attenuation
125       24.7    2.8    21.9
250       29.8    2.7    27.1
500       35.5    2.8    32.7
1000     38.5    3.0    35.5
2000     37.9    2.5    35.4
3150     39.6    3.1    36.5
4000     39.6    2.4    37.2
6300     41.9    2.6    39.3
8000     42.3    2.4    39.9
NPR Rating 30dB

Appropriately named, the Thunder T3 muffs seem tuned to better attenuate lower frequencies than the Ultime III muffs. And that seems just right for the rifle range. $20 at Amazon.

But we’re only halfway there. Like I wrote, gun fire is 140-165dB. The best of these muffs can take away about 22dB of that. Which means your ears are still getting 128dB or more. This is why you want earplugs as well.

Howard Leight MAX™ earplugs, about $1 per pair:image

Hz        dB      SD    Net Expected Attenuation
125       40.9    3.5    37.4
250       43.0    3.9    39.1
500       44.8    3.8    41.0
1000     38.9    2.8    36.1
2000     37.2    2.7    34.5
3150     47.4    4.5    42.9
4000     48.5    3.1    45.4
6300     47.7    4.4    43.3
8000     47.8    3.9    43.9
NPR Rating 33dB

It’s pretty obvious that the best earplugs are far more effective than the best earmuffs. And many people choose to just wear the earplugs alone. Plus, they’re cheap, weigh nothing, and they fit in your pocket.

But for the best protection - and what real good is just a little protection? Do you want to be just a little deaf, like me? Trust me, this sucks every day of my life - you ought to wear both. Together they can reduce gun blast down nearly 60dB, down to 100dB or less. Which is still loud, but hardly damaging at all, especially when you’re exposed to about 3 seconds worth in a whole day of shooting.

PS - (you knew I was going to mention this) - we ought to have sound suppressors on our rifles, like they do in Europe. They aren’t “silencers”, not even close. But they can knock another 30dB off the blast. And it’s for your own ear’s good!! Hey Nanny State, help us out here! And while you’re at it, extend the frequency testing at both ends: 63Hz and 16,000Hz, to get the really low sounds and the really high ones.

UPDATE: Aww crap. The government says that doubling up doesn’t add much more than an extra 10dB in protection. Sure. That’s why I can’t hear a damn thing when wearing both, and gun blast is about as loud as two hands clapping.

A personal hearing protection device (or hearing protector) is any device designed to reduce the level of sound reaching the eardrum. Earmuffs, earplugs, and ear canal caps (also called semi-inserts) are the main types of hearing protectors. A wide range of hearing protectors exists within each of these categories. For example, earplugs may be subcategorized into foam, user-formable (such as silicon or spun mineral fiber), premolded, and custom-molded earplugs. In addition, some types of helmets (in particular, flight helmets worn in the military) also function as hearing protectors. Refer to Nixon and Berger [1991] for a detailed discussion of the uses, advantages, and disadvantages of each type of protector. Items not specifically designed to serve as hearing protectors (e.g., cigarette filters, cotton, and .38-caliber shells) should not be used in place of hearing protectors. Likewise, devices such as hearing aid earmolds, swim molds, and personal stereo earphones must never be considered as being hearing protective.

Ideally, the most effective way to prevent NIHL is to remove the hazardous noise from the workplace or to remove the worker from the hazardous noise. Hearing protectors should be used when engineering controls and work practices are not feasible for reducing noise exposures to safe levels. In some cases, hearing protectors are an interim solution to noise exposure. In other instances, hearing protectors may be the only feasible means of protecting the worker. When a worker’s time-weighted noise exposure exceeds 100 dBA, both earplugs and earmuffs should be worn. It is important to note that using such double protection will add only 5 to 10 dB of attenuation [Nixon and Berger 1991]. Given the real-world performance of hearing protectors [Berger et al. 1996], NIOSH cautions that even double protection is inadequate when TWA exposures exceed 105dBA.

Ok, what’s the difference between dB and dBA? dB is decibels, and dBA is “A” weighted decibels. It’s a filtering algorithm that tries to approximate human hearing sensitivity. Beyond that, I don’t understand it. But I do recall from the audiophile world that it takes a heck of lot more power to make a low frequency sound seem to be as loud as a higher frequency sound. So maybe less hearing protection at low frequencies is Ok, since we can’t hear those frequencies well to begin with? Oh, and TWA means “Time Weighted Average”, and I think the test time is 8 hours. Do we have any aural experts who can ‘splain this stuff better?


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/21/2009 at 11:14 AM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •  
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calendar   Saturday - June 20, 2009

This Week On Pirates

Crime Pays!!





I was going to happily post that there were no hijackings by pirates this week in and around the Red Sea / Persian Gulf / Arabian Sea / Indian Ocean area. Plenty of incidents, but no captures:

14.06.2009: 1700 LT: Posn: 12:33.5N - 043:29.5E: Bab el Mandab, Red Sea.

Several speed boats were spotted in the vicinity of a LPG tanker. The speed boats picked up speed and started to cross the tanker’s bow. The boats came very close to the tanker and opened fire with automatic weapons. The tanker continued to make evasive manoeuvres and prevented the pirates from boarding.

15.06.2009: 1305 LT: Posn: 12:58N – 048:27E, Gulf of Aden.
One skiff approached an oil tanker underway at a speed of around 20 knots. At around ten meters distance from the tanker, the pirates fired several shots with guns and two RPG rounds. Master mustered all crew, increased speed, carried out evasive manoeuvres, fired parachute flares and informed Iranian warship in the vicinity. After about 20minutes the pirates gave up the attempt and move away. The Iranian warship was in attendance. Later a coalition helicopter arrived at scene. Ship moved away without any casualties and damage.

14.06.2009: 1435 UTC: Posn: 12:35N - 043:28E: Bab el Mandab, Red Sea.
Several skiffs chased a LNG tanker with intent to board. Tanker enforced anti piracy measures and prevented the boarding.

14.06.2009: 1740 LT: Posn: 12:57.9N - 043:09.3E: Bab el Mandab, Red Sea.
Four speed boats with 5-6 persons in each boat, armed with automatic weapons approached a tanker underway. Tanker made evasive manoeuvres, activated fire hoses. Later, the speed boats aborted the attempt.

14.06.2009: 1453 UTC: Posn: 12:59N - 043:09E: Bab el Mandab, Red Sea
Speed boats approached a bulk carrier underway. Ship took evasive manoeuvres and prevented the boarding.

13.06.2009: 0110 LT: Posn: 12:36N - 043:25E: Bab el Mandab, Red Sea.
Two skiffs were detected on radar by a chemical tanker underway. Tanker made evasive manoeuvres; increased speed warned other ships on VHF Ch.16 and contacted coalition warships. Later, skiffs aborted the attempt.


Alas, such was not the case:

12.06.2009:1334 UTC: Posn: 21:55N – 059:51E, Off Oman.

Armed pirates attacked, boarded and hijacked a general cargo ship underway.




This attack happened at the east end of Oman, right on the horn, just south of the city of Sur. You know, just across the bay from Pakistan.  Most of the way to India just about. Note the latitude and longitude - this attack happened within sight of land, maybe 5 miles out to sea. Oman has a navy, right? 10 or a dozen ships perhaps? Lasers mounted on aqua-camels or something?

MUSCAT, Oman, June 13 (UPI)—A cargo vessel was hijacked off the coast of Oman by suspected Somali pirates in what is believed to be the first pirate attack in the area, officials said.

The MV Charelle, a small German-owned cargo vessel sailing under the Antigua and Barbuda flag, was attacked 60 nautical miles south of Sur on the Omani coast, Ecoterra reported Saturday.

The U.S. Navy warned this week that Somali pirates were expanding their range of operations far beyond the East African coast.

So what happened? The pirates were gunned down, right? Captured and hung? Or at least caught and then let go with a stern warning and a nice warm lunch? Not hardly. Not at all actually. With the combined navies of The United States, Great Britian, France, Germany, Russia, India, Iran, and probably Singapore just sitting around like leaky rubber ducks in a dirty bath tub, they let them go. With the stolen ship. All the way the hell back to Somalia. 1500 miles. Through the busiest international waters on the planet. Past all the navies of all the world. And nobody did a damn thing. Not. A. Thing.

Pirates take hijacked ship and Lankan crew to Somali waters

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry is tracking the whereabouts of the New Zealand registered vessel with seven Sri Lankan crew members, including its captain and engineer, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in Omani seas a week ago. Ministry sources said it was watching the developments through our High Commissions in Nairobi and Canberra. Our High Commissioner in Canberra is also accredited to New Zealand.

According to available information the hijacked vessel “MV Cherralla” has reached Somali waters, but the pirates had still not found a safe location to drop anchor, they said adding that once they have a safe location they would follow the usual procedure of contacting the owners to obtain a ransom for the release of the ship and its crew.

In addition to the Sri Lankan crew of seven there are believed to be three Philippinos and one New Zealander on board the vessel.

[ German owned, New Zeeland registered, Sri Lankan and Philippino crewed. The shipping industry truly is international. Even though the two reports spell the ship’s name differently, it’s still the same one. ]

image

I am so unimpressed that I’m speechless. Pack up your sea bags, sailor boys, and go home. You’re all a waste of money. ALL of you.


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/20/2009 at 07:16 PM   
Filed Under: • Pirates, aarrgh! •  
Comments (3) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

Not Cox & Forkum


image





Just John Cox, who can’t resist the political cartoon now and again.

Gosh I miss those guys. They were great.



Of course, Ramirez ain’t too shabby either ...


image


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/20/2009 at 06:38 PM   
Filed Under: • Humor •  
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Tastes almost as good as it smells

Adventures in the kitchen, part MXXIV

Another rainy day here in Clinton. Pouring and drizzling the whole day long. The water pipe guys finished their job Friday and filled in the moat, so all that rain water gets to run downhill now and collect in our little pond, which is already filled right up to the top and draining out over onto the road.

Can’t get a whole lot done outside today, so it was a Saturday of housework and cooking. I made up this Mongolian Beef recipe I found over at The Crepes of Wrath. And it came out pretty darn good. I would recommend taking it up a notch or two by doubling the amount of garlic and ginger, or at least by using fresh ground ginger. I had to grind some from a dried root, and it’s just not the same. Naturally I put in about double the amount of dried pepper flakes, which gives things just a little bit of zip. Oh, and the recipe there neglects to tell you what to do with the other half of the oil: put it in the pan when you cook the meat. Mr. Wrath simmered his concotion for 10 minutes. That will work, but be careful: the corn starch can turn the sauce into tar if you overcook things. Still, it was a pretty easy dish, and tasy in a sneaky kind of way. It didn’t really impress either of us at first, but even though I made enough for 4, there doesn’t seem to be any left over at all. So I guess it was pretty decent after all. And the whole upstairs of our place smells great! [ our kitchen fan runs through the attic and vents out over the back deck. But because it’s quite cool today I left the back slider open ... and all the aromas came right back in the house! ]

image


I spent a couple hours this afternoon reading up on sous vide cooking. That’s “sue vid” to you other Francophobes. It means putting a chunk of meat in a vacuum sealer bag, sucking the air out, and then slow cooking it in a kettle of lukewarm water. Yeah, it sounded wierd to me too. But stop and think about it: depending on whether you want rare, medium, or well, the center of a steak is only heated to about 140 degrees. And it turns out that this method has been used in restaurant kitchens for ages. Once you “parboil” the meat up to the right temperature, you can keep it there for hours and hours and it won’t overcook. And all it needs is a quick walk across the grill to brown up the outside, and it comes out perfect. Every time.

My next though was about germs. Don’t we always hear how botulism, plague, liberalism, dengue fever, etc, will grow on meat in an instant if we don’t cook the stuff to a leathery gray death? Well, it turns out to be a bit of a crock. Sous vide came about as a blend of the chefly arts and the science of kitchenology. So sure, germs can grow, but once things get beyond 127 degrees or thereabouts they can’t.

So I’m eager to give this a try, if I can do it on the cheap. I picked up several other tidbits along the way:

All in all it sounds really cool. A precision temperature adjuster costs about $140, which hooks up to a big rice cooker that you use as a water bath. Vacuum “Seal-a-Meal™” devices you can get everywhere, along with the bags.

Industrial machinery costs several thousand dollars, but if you aren’t running a restaurant, you can do it on the cheap. You don’t even need the Seal-a-Meal™ gizmo.

image

Perfect steak, every single time!



Lots of links of course:
http://blog.khymos.org/2009/01/18/a-mathematician-cooks-sous-vide/
http://blog.khymos.org/2007/01/21/perfect-steak-with-diy-sous-vide-cooking/ [DIY sous vide, on the cheap]
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/14/magazine/14CRYOVAC.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
http://www.kamikazecookery.com/blogs/133
http://www.technogypsy.net/ [ lots of recipes and pictures here ]
http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html [wherein Science finds the perfect temperature to soft-boil eggs perfectly: 148°F for an hour. An hour! But to be Fair & Balanced, Non-Science says this gives you a rather gloopy egg. I guess you have to like soft-boiled to begin with.] It also list Pasteurization times for fowl, for those really worried about germs:
image

I’m pretty sure that these times will pasteurize beef and pork as well. Still, better safe than sorry.

I’d like to follow up on that guy’s DIY project. I can afford that rig. The commercial stuff costs more than I can sell my car for. ( hey, it’s nearly 13 years old already! ) And we have a vacuum sealer somewhere in one of these closets.

Next kitchen experiment? Gyro Lamb Loaf! To the best of my knowledge, Science has had nothing to do with this recipe at all!


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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/20/2009 at 02:40 PM   
Filed Under: • Fine-Dining •  
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calendar   Friday - June 19, 2009

Weekly Crowder, A Day Late

Crazy Pete’s Embryonic Stem Cell Sale






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Posted by Drew458   United States  on 06/19/2009 at 09:30 PM   
Filed Under: • HumorPolitically-Incorrect •  
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