Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

The Australian swim duo who posed with guns at a California shooting range and posted the photo to Facebook will be forced to leave the Olympics after the swimming competition ends on the second Sunday of the Summer Games. Nick D’Arcy and Kenrick Monk are also banned from using social media for a month-long period beginning July 16 as part of the punishment stemming from the controversial photograph.

Posing with guns is apparently a no-no. . The Australians don’t like folks showing off with guns, so even though these guys were doing it in a place that was okay with it, someone at the Home Office thought it sets a bad example.

This is a pretty fair example of a culture war. Don’t kid yourself, we have always been at war with  Eastasia culture. Used to be a time that shooting and guns were laudable interests. Big celebrities of the day like Robert Stack, Sammy Davis Jr., Mel Torme, etc, etc. were bigtime gun fanciers and no one gave it a second look. Nowadays, well, it’s a whole other story.

Alabama City Reopening Fallout Shelters

Ever notice its the smaller places that seem to get the idea while the major metropolises just shrug their shoulders……

Ah, those harmless Chinese……..
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20070226/cm_csm/ynavarro;_ylt=AokIuKZaFUdImELOsJQYFuwDW7oF

Im no expert on economics but if the article is correct, this is a excerpt:

From time to time, US politicians have railed against these practices – and the collateral hollowing out of America that China’s”weapons of mass production” have brought about. However, any time that the Bush administration or Congress threatens any kind of significant and tangible action – as opposed to simply beating its chest – China can now credibly threaten to stop financing US deficits and start dumping greenbacks.
This is a very credible threat. If executed, inflation, the costs ofimports, and interest and mortgage rates would skyrocket. With higherhousing costs leading the way, consumers would soon be overburdened.The result: a nasty stagflation shock.
Some say that the Chinese would never take such an action because it would hurt them as much as Americans. But it’s Beijing’s view that the Chinese people are far tougher and better able to withstand any economic shock than Americans who’ve grown soft living the good life -and they are probably right. Chinese officials also take a far longer view of strategic action. So if a “dump the greenbacks” strategy need sto be implemented to break the back of a rising American protectionism,to secure Taiwan, or to achieve any other strategic goals, so be it.

So..China is in a position to cause havoc in the American economy with a flick of a switch, theyre expanding their military, and they arent shy about throwing their weight around if it suits their needs. Very interesting stuff.

Just when you thought it was safe to stockpile food, fuel, ammo and meds:
Seizure law riles Cooper City residents
COOPER CITY · The city has given itself the right to seize its residents’ personal property for public use in an emergency.

And although commissioners say it would use its new law only in “an exceptional disaster,” some residents are furious.

Some highlights:

“There’s always the possibility of abuse of power,” Commissioner Elliot Kleiman said, “but it’s not going to happen here.”
…
Cooper City businessowner John Sims owns two trucks, a 7,500-watt generator and chain saws.He said that despite the law, “I intend to not allow anyone on myproperty without a warrant. I’m going to use my equipment to protect myfamily prior to allowing the city to [take my equipment].”
…
Kleiman said Cooper City residents should be happy because their city has taken preventative steps to ensure their well-being.

Right at the top of the Things-Us-Paranoid-Survivalist-Types-Worry-About List is the idea that after exhaustively, expensively, and devotedly assembling everything you need to get through a crisis someone is going to come along and take it for themselves and leave you out in the cold, so to speak. The notion that its going to be .gov, with the law on their side, is just anathema. Imagine the scene as your house is an isolated oasis of light, heat, food and comfort. Then the clattering of boots on the doorstep and a knock on the door. Highway patrol cops in slickers say theyre there to take your generator and fuel because the local shelter needs it. What can you do? Anything involving shooting them wouldnt work out well since they firmly believe theyre in the right and that taking stuff from that nutball survivalist down the road is perfectly within ‘their rights’.

The obvious answers are:
a) be somewhere else completely with your gear when the Bad Thing happens
b) be so discrete and low profile no one knows you have these coveted items

This actually happened, from what Ive read, during Katrina … folks that threw a genset in the back of their truck and drove down to help Cousin Billy would get stopped at the various roadblocks and have their gear or even their vehicles taken for the use of the Powers That Be. Im of the salted earth school of resource denial. If I cant have it, youre gonna take it, and theres no way Im gonna change that then you better move fast ’cause I’ll torch the whole stack of Mountain House and cut holes in the water barrels before being forced to give it up to a bunch of .gov-sponsored looters.

Excellent reason to have redundant backups, offsite caches, and to be far away from the crowds when Bad Stuff happens.

Interesting theory. Its plausible, Im just not sure its probable. However, the scenario laid out is certainly within the means of even the most basic organization. Hell, any high school class could do it.l
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To the media, France is blaming poverty, unemployment, ethnic discrimination, social alienation, and frustrated youngsters for the arson riots in France. Behind closed doors, French intelligence is blaming Iranian, Syrian and Hizballah clandestine agencies operating in France. That’s why French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy suddenly ordered Wednesday that foreign nationals implicated in the riots be deported. The French secret service is now convinced that Iranian and Syrian agents, supported by the Hizballah’s extensive covert field networks, are behind the riots. French intelligence dismisses the claim that the woes of a ghettoized immigrant community, religion, poverty or unemployment provided the catalysts for the disorders. There was no apparent religious motivation for the riots. Youths interviewed on the streets by the media declared outright that they have no respect for religion or law. Poverty was not the motivation. The troubles began in suburbs with reasonable living standards, where the government had laid out budgets for kindergartens, schools, libraries, covered sports centers, health services and parks. French intelligence analysts noticed that no TV camera caught a single arsonist in action. From the beginning, they were unable to catch them because many roared into action in small bands of motorcyclists too fast to be picked up on film or by the police. They collected their supplies of petrol bombs from pick-up vans waiting at distribution points prearranged by SMS messages on their cell phones or communicated through Internet blogs. Young people with no money cannot afford pick-up vans, motorcycles, cell phones and computers for accessing the Internet.

The conclusions drawn by French intelligence? 1) The outbreaks were organized by a hand that supplied the equipment, weapons and orders to the arson gangs and planned the attacks down to the last detail including precise timing. The fires followed each other serially to ascertain constant flames through the night in places that were far apart. This created the effect of spontaneity and forced security forces and firefighters to dash up and down the country, always arriving too late to catch the petrol bombers. 2) The riots spread quickly to some 300 towns and smaller locations, which also lent them a semblance of spontaneity. But, except for isolated cases, the modus operandi of the attacks and internal communications was identical and clearly orchestrated. 3 This offensive must have been planned for some time, over months if not two or three years. A countrywide network of hundreds of sleeper cells was in place, all drilled in the same patterns of operation with enough funds to go into action at a signal. None of this is within the capabilities of local gangs. They style of this whole thing suggests that it was ordered and organized by Iran. Intelligence circles note that Iranian clandestine agencies show a distinct preference for striking indirectly through surrogate terrorist groups. They direct their offensives against US targets in Iraq through Sunni Muslim insurgent bands and against the British through local Shiite militias in southern Iraq and Hizballah. Tehran’s mode of operation in France fits this pattern. Read more on this at Debka Net Weekly. (subscription required)