Free Republic

CNN just can't abide people telling anyone the truth about how Obama's cronies are either admitted Communists, like the disgraced Van Jones, or just think Commies are awesome, like Anita Dunn. Comrade Dunn is the White House Communication Director who gave what appeared to be a commencement speech wherein she clearly states that Mao Tse-tung is one of her political heroes. She goes on a long, serious discussion explaining exactly why Chairman Mao was so wise and how his wisdom could guide her audience in their future endeavors.

On Thursday, F.B.I. agents descended on a house in Jackson Heights, Queens [New York City], and spent 16 hours searching it. The most likely reason for the raid: a man who lived there had helped coordinate communications among protesters at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh. The man, Elliot Madison, 41, a social worker who has described himself as an anarchist, had been arrested in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24 and charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. The Pennsylvania State Police said he was found in a hotel...

The B-52 aircraft deployed as part of the U.S. Air Force fleet are to be equipped with secure Extremely High Frequency Communication Systems to enable them to remain in contact with other elements of the military in space, in the air and on the ground. The revolutionary EHF has been found to be more reliable and less susceptible to atmospheric conditions than other frequencies. The Boeing Co. said Tuesday it received a $5.4 million initial contract to begin work on developing technologies required to integrate the new EHF satellite communication system on the U.S. Air Force B-52 fleet. No timeline...

The United States and its allies in Afghanistan must "wrest the information initiative" from the Taliban and other insurgent groups that have undermined the credibility of the Kabul government and its international backers, according to the top U.S. and NATO commander in the country.

Getting your ham radio license is an idea well worth considering if you think comunications might be restricted under some circumstances.

I just got done reading a book about England during the Dark Ages. By the way, there exists startling similarities between Ethelred the Unready ("unready" in this sense meaning "uncounseled") and Pa Kettle in the White House; in fact, one can predict Pa Kettle's foreign policy strategy by reading of Ethelred's. Anyway. There is much mention of military communications during this period (say, circa 500-1066 A.D.), which was facilitated by lighting beacons. Apparently it took a rider on a fast horse four days to get from the North of England to London, but with the use of beacons, messages could...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Toward the end of his encyclical "Charity in Truth," Pope Benedict XVI included a brief but strongly worded analysis about the "increasingly pervasive presence" of modern media and their power to serve good or immoral interests. The two pages on communications were barely noticed in an encyclical that focused on economic issues, but they underscored the pope's cautionary and critical approach to today's media revolution. In particular, the pope zeroed in on the popular assumption in the West that the penetration of contemporary media in the developing world will inevitably bring enlightenment and progress. "Just because...

LOS ANGELES—In two separate cases, three men have been sentenced to federal prison for attempting to transport sensitive and advanced U.S. technology to the People's Republic of China (PRC). Two men were sentenced yesterday, and another man linked to one of the schemes was sentenced last week to five years in prison. William Chi-Wai Tsu, 61, a Beijing resident, was sentenced yesterday to 40 months imprisonment for his role in exporting high-tech integrated circuits with military applications to the PRC. In a separate case, Tah Wei Chao, 53, of Beijing, was sentenced yesterday to 20 months imprisonment after pleading guilty...

6/29/2009 - CAMP TAJI, Iraq (AFNS) -- It is often said communication consists of three parts: the sender, the message, and the receiver of the particular message. It is also said that if there is a glitch with any of the three parts, the communication cycle is broken. A team of joint expeditionary tasking Airmen here work to make sure the vital cycle is not broken, thus contributing to overall mission accomplishment. Overall, 1,500 JET Airmen with the 732nd Air Expeditionary Group serve at the more than 60 locations throughout Iraq. "Our job as computer-system administrators is to issue, maintain...

[H]am radio operators will test their emergency communications capabilities with amateur radio clubs across the nation this weekend. The field day, the culmination of National Amateur Radio Week, known as the Nationwide Emergency Communications Drill, is intended to give the public a glimpse of the services amateur radio operators provide and a chance to meet the operators themselves. "In a disaster, when phone lines, cellphones and the Internet are all down, ham radio operators will be on the job," said Jon Clark, president of the Antelope Valley Amateur Radio Club. The club will set up at the north end of...

The last five years have taught me that I bring only three skills to the anti-jihad movement. The first is a knack for writing propaganda. By “propaganda” I do not mean the 20th-century version as practiced by the Nazis, the Soviets, the New Deal, and other huge and repressive state enterprises. I use the word in its original sense, which was derived via the Romance languages from the Latin verb propagare, “to cause to increase or spread, as of a plant”. In the 18th century it referred to the work of a committee of cardinals (congregatio de propaganda fide, “the...

Just after midnight on Thursday, April 9, unidentified attackers climbed down four manholes serving the Northern California city of Morgan Hill and cut eight fiber cables in what appears to have been an organized attack on the electronic infrastructure of an American city. Its implications, though startling, have gone almost un-reported. Continued....

(United States Army) This week the Army not only launched an official blog portal, but also an Army fan page on Facebook.

JERUSALEM – Israeli fighter jets were scrambled to escort a Delta Air Lines plane flying from New York to Tel Aviv after the pilot activated a hijacking alert by mistake. Transportation ministry official, Dani Shenar, told Israeli media Saturday that nobody was hurt in the incident. He said two jets hovered briefly over the plane carrying over 100 people and escorted it safely to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. A technical malfunction had prevented the pilot from communicating with the airport's control tower. The transportation ministry said it will launch an investigation.

1/27/2009 - SATHER AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNS) -- Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq directorate of communications officials in Baghdad currently are using Air Tasking Order concepts to shape the cyber battlefield for the Iraqi government. "We are trying to help people build a nation and create national self-sufficiency," said Col. Karlton Johnson, the MNSTC-I's director of communications. "We needed a strategy that would outlast all of us. Something enduring that we could pass on to our successors," he said. "MNSTC-I/J6's mission is to build up Iraq's (command, control, communications and computer) capacity and help them continue on without coalition support. We...

A French crew has begun to repair two undersea cables in the Mediterranean that were severed on Friday, disrupting internet and phone communications. A robot submarine will locate the ends of the cables on the sea bed and bring them to the surface to be re-connected. They were cut somewhere between Sicily and Tunisia, probably by an anchor. Egypt says it has been able to restore most of its communications by re-routing services, but other parts of the Middle East remain badly affected. Experts have warned that it may be days before the fault is fixed and that the knock-on...

Tech Central: er, something's happening Millions of people across the Middle East and Asia have lost access to the internet after two undersea cables in the Mediterranean suffered severe damage. Huge numbers in Egypt and India were left struggling to get online as a result of the outage, when the major internet pipeline between Egypt and Italy was cut. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) throughout the region, including those in United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, also reported problems. International telephone calls, which have also been affected, are being rerouted to work around the problem. Industry experts told The Times...

I used the "recommended server" for my test, which is only 150 miles from here. Test and post results. See who's fast and who's slow. Use the "hyperlink" option to copy and paste your result.

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait, Nov. 20, 2008 – The Ohio Army National Guard's 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is making its presence felt in three key areas of Central Command: Kuwait, Iraq and now in Afghanistan. About 40 soldiers from the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team prepare for an upcoming mission to Afghanistan to establish critical communications assets. The Ohio National Guard brigade, nearing the end of a yearlong tour, is sending about 40 signal soldiers into Afghanistan to establish critical communications assets. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. About 40 soldiers from the brigade have been...

Win or lose, many marketing experts agree that Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency will provide the blueprint for political campaigns to come. There is the message and design discipline, the embrace of social media, and—most importantly—an openness to the idea that candidates, like brands, are built from the bottom up rather than the top down. As Scott Goodson, founder of agency StrawberryFrog says, "He is not a brand in the traditional sense, he is a cultural movement." Call it Politics 2.0. Headed by chief strategist David Axelrod and manager David Plouffe, and with help from new media director Joe...

The way I see it, there are three albatrosses we should be hanging around the necks of the Democrats: 1) sky high oil prices (anti-drilling, global warming nonsense); 2) the mortgage meltdown: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Countrywide (Jim Johnson, Jamie Gorelick, Chris Dodd); and 3) Iraq defeatism: (Harry Reid: "this war is lost," etc., etc.) My question is: where are the attack ads showing Reid, Gorelick, Dodd, Anthony Mozillo, Chuck Schumer and the rest of the traitors? I can write them if need be, for God's sake, we should win Congress this Fall. Does anyone know what's going on in...

"The number you have called cannot be connected."Ever heard a recording like this on your telephone? On Sept. 11, 2001 messages like that were commonplace in New York and Washington and incredibly frustrating for first responders trying to coordinate rescue operations and families attempting to contact loved ones. Now think about that kind of message being heard by virtually every cell phone subscriber in an entire country. That may be about to happen in Iraq. If it does, it could well derail progress made in recent months and have long-term adverse consequences for U.S. interests in the region. In December...

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan , March 12, 2008 – With the growth of Afghan national security forces since the establishment of democracy in Afghanistan, the need for consolidated information and authority has become essential. Sgt. 1st Class Eric R. Lasica (left,) a joint regional coordination center mentor with 508th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, assists Afghan National Police 2nd Sgt. Farhad Sidiqi, the battle noncommissioned officer for the center, on a map-reading program in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, March 4, 2008. Photo by Spc. Nathan W. Hutchison, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. One way...

/10/2008 - BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFPN) -- Multi-National Force - Iraq officials here have recently established a new team of experts to help improve coordination of communications policy, services and infrastructure initiatives throughout Iraq. The Iraq Communications Coordination Element recently began operating under the direction of Brig. Gen. Steven J. Spano, Multi-National Force - Iraq's deputy chief of staff for communications and information systems. Members of the ICCE will help the Iraqi government identify gaps and opportunities in current and future communications initiatives and then help with prioritizing, integrating, and synchronizing these different efforts across the country. The idea is to...

The Yahoo link is a video link. I'm posting it to stress a point about the English language. While there have been many discussions about making English the official language of the USA, I seldom involve myself with the politics of the proposal. Instead, I have always maintained English is the worldwide language of commerce. This video clip supports my position. Not requiring English proficiency, especially in the USA, almost certainly assures certain people will be imprisoned in the lower class.

KANDAHAR: Taliban militants destroyed a telecom tower in southern Afghanistan, the second such assault in two days, after warning phone companies to shut down their towers or face attacks. Militants burned the base station of a Roshan mobile phone company tower in Kandahar city late Saturday, said Qarim Agha, a police officer in the area. He said authorities tightened security around other telecom towers in the city. Last week, a Taliban spokesman said militants would blow up towers across Afghanistan if mobile phone companies did not switch off their signals overnight. The militants fear US and other foreign troops are...

Two Canadian bird smugglers were foiled on Sunday when they tried to cross the U.S. border with four exotic pigeons stuffed into their jackets. The discovery was made as the two Canadian citizens attempted to enter the United States through the Lewiston Bridge border crossing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. When the men were asked to remove their jackets, authorities found four live pigeons stuffed into the inside pockets. Kevin Corsaro of CBP public affairs said they could face criminal charges. “The smuggling of such birds increases the chances that a communicable bird disease, such as exotic newcastle or...

LEWISTON, N.Y. -- Border agents pulled four live birds from the pockets of a pigeon collector and a traveling companion trying to enter the United States from Canada. The pair were stopped Sunday at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge border crossing. They told inspectors they were on their way to visit an uncle near Rochester, says Customs and Border Protection spokesman Kevin Corsaro. The Uxbridge, Ontario residents, whose names were not released, were asked during a secondary inspection to remove their coats and that's when the birds were found. One man told CBP officers he is a pigeon collector who belongs to...

Anyone else using Vonage? I hooked mine up yesterday in 5 minutes. The quality is outstanding. So far so good. A good month and Bellsouth and MCI can kiss my arse..

Can't access data on PDA Phone, and "all circuits are busy" when I dial my cell provider's cutomer service lines (all of them). Local stations are inaccessible on DishTV. I know there was a major line out of Dallas down on Monday that mucked up air traffic at DFW, among other things, but yesterday everything worked fine for me. I've searched Google News but can find nothing regarding what's going on today.

Construction continues at the site of the new Al Mamoon telecommunications center in Baghdad, Iraq. The center will improve Radio, telephone, cell phone, and internet service in the Baghdad region and connect Baghdad with the rest of the country and the world. Photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav, 65th PAOC, Massachusetts Army National Guard. BAGHDAD — Communication in Baghdad can be an exercise in frustration, a hit-or-miss proposition due to both geography and technology issues. That will change as reconstruction of a major communication facility continues.The war resulted in the destruction of the Al Mamoon telecommunications. The Al Mamoon was the...

We are customers of McLeodUSA Communications. They serve businesses and customers in several states. Our phones went down two hours ago and there is no answer from customer service. I did finally get through to someone in sales who told me that it was a "nationwide, catastrophic failure" and that all of the their techs are working on it. Is anyone else a McLeodUSA customer or is any other network having issues?

Soldiers Bring Mobile Communications to Battlefield New vehicle gives commanders more choices, faster. By Spc. Ben Hutto3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq, Aug. 21, 2007 — Staff Sgt. Matthew Hancock looked over the schematics the 82nd Airborne had put together for a mobile tactical operations center and knew that he could build something similar for his battalion. "This is the first time a mechanized Army unit has engineered, built and deployed a vehicle like this. We are proud of what we’ve done. We feel like we have raised the bar for the Army."Staff...

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2007 – Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. troops teamed up to stop a group of Taliban insurgents from crossing the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan during a March 7 incident, officials said. Pakistani border forces reported that an insurgent vehicle was attempting to enter Pakistan from an area where Afghan and U.S. soldiers were attacked near the Afghan village of Shkin, in Paktika province. Afghan and U.S. forces responded with two 105 mm artillery rounds, resulting in a direct hit on the insurgents’ vehicle. Secondary explosions were observed, leading the force to conclude that the vehicle was...

Paris-based satellite company Eutelsat is investigating "unidentified interference" with its satellite broadcast services that temporarily knocked out several television and radio stations. The company declined to say whether it thought the interference was accidental or deliberate. The problem began Tuesday afternoon, blocking several European, Middle East and northeast African radio and television stations, as well as Agence France-Presse's news service. All transferred their satellite transmissions to another frequency to resume operations. Theresa Hitchens of the Center for Defense Information think-tank in Washington DC, US, says there have been cases of deliberate satellite jamming in the past, but it is hard...

The Al Mamoon stairwell stands ready for removal. Story by Norris Jones Gulf Region Division US Army Corps of Engineers BAGHDAD -- A 13-story 1600-ton rectangular concrete stairwell, the last remnant of the old Al Mamoon Exchange and Telecommunication Center near Baghdad, was removed Saturday to make room for a new seven-story telecommunications building on the nearly 230 by 442 foot site. “(The) facility will be a visual symbol that Iraq is connected to the global community,” said Karem, a Gulf Region Division resident engineer in Baghdad’s International Zone.The Ministry of Communication offices will be in the building as...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Aug. 7, 2006 -- Coalition commanders and prominent religious leaders in the Khost Province conducted their first shura, or meeting, July 26 to provide a forum for open discussion of provincial issues. Army Lt. Col. David A. Bushey, Task Force Wolfpack commander, and Navy Cmdr. John F. Wade, commander of the Khost Provincial Reconstruction Team, clarified Coalition policy toward the religion and culture represented by the mullahs in attendance. “We make three promises to all Afghan citizens, “ Bushey told the assembled mullahs. “The soldiers under our command will respect your religion, they will...

Nokia's days as the world's number one mobile phone vendor could be numbered, according to analysts. A new report from Strategy Analytics found that over the last four quarters, Motorola has averaged growth of around 52 percent, while Nokia has managed just 32 percent.

Jefferson hires crisis-seasoned PR aideCongressman target in corruption probe Friday, July 07, 2006 By Bruce Alpert Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., points to a map as he talks with Congressman William Jefferson at a presentation during a briefing on the levee system in Southern Louisiana in New Orleans, Thursday, July 6, 2006. The briefing covered the state of current levee reconstruction and what actions need to be implemented in the future to ensure South Louisiana residents are safe from the flooding associated with hurricanes. (AP Photo/Bill Haber) WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, the target of a high-profile public corruption probe,...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (May 25, 2006) -- A Milwaukee native was awarded the Bronze Star May 19 for his loyal devotion to duty during times of danger and distress while deployed to Iraq. Master Gunnery Sgt. James G. Apriesnig was acting as communications chief for Headquarters Company, Regimental Combat Team-8, 2nd Marine Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from March 2005 to February 2006 in Fallujah, Iraq. Apriesnig planned and supervised the installation, operation and maintenance of a communications architecture that provided connectivity between the headquarter element, a reconnaissance battalion, three infantry battalions and three military...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (May 16, 2006) -- As the hot Iraqi sun was beating down, sweat ceaselessly dripped from the faces of Marines erecting a radio tower. They grimaced while pushing a metal extension of an expandable antenna in the air as commands to tighten up the slack on guidelines were yelled. The tower seemed intimidating as it hovered more than 25 feet above the Marines' heads and could have crashed down if they weren't careful, but that didn't deter them and eventually the system was set up and secured. Marines of Communications Company, 1st Marine Logistics Group, must overcome...

A U.S. appeals panel sharply challenged the Bush administration Friday over new rules making it easier for police and the FBI to wiretap Internet phone calls. A judge said the government's courtroom arguments were "gobbledygook." The skepticism expressed so openly toward the administration's case encouraged civil liberties and education groups that argued that the U.S. is improperly applying telephone-era rules to a new generation of Internet services. "Your argument makes no sense," U.S. Circuit Judge Harry T. Edwards told the lawyer for the Federal Communications Commission, Jacob Lewis. "When you go back to the office, have a big chuckle. I'm...

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 3, 2006 – A unique Afghan National Army communications unit reached a milestone recently by demonstrating its capability to plan, deploy and establish a communications station. Maj. Abdul Anan (left) and Capt. Gul Mohammed, officers with the Afghan National Army's Communications Support Element, perform radio checks during the unit's first deployment recently. Courtesy photo   The Communication Support Element is providing ANA leadership with the capability to extend command and control systems to a deployed operations center anywhere in Afghanistan. The battalion-sized unit is being developed to support the needs of the National Military Command Center in...

Communications Center Aids Iraqi Police Response The Joint Communications Center and local initiatives to reduce the threat of vehicle-borne improvised explosvie devices have contributed to increased public safety for the citizens of Tal Afar. By U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class John J. Pistone Multinational Security Transition Command—Iraq TAL AFAR, Iraq, May 2, 2006 — Located high above the city, in what is known as “The Castle,� Iraqi police are receiving much needed assistance in their fight against terrorism. Nestled safely behind the wall of this castle is the Tal Afar Joint Communications Center, a joint environment where Iraqi...

Standing in his K Street office with a headset glued to his ear, Andrew Jay Schwartzman thinks of himself as a guerrilla leader launching lightning raids against the nation's big communications companies to defend the public interest. In a corner office three blocks down K Street, former Federal Communications Commission chairman Richard E. Wiley commands an army of lawyers on behalf of many of the country's major telephone, cable and media groups. Operating at opposite ends of the spectrum, the two are among the thousands of lawyers......

UDIENZA AI PARTECIPANTI ALLA PLENARIA DEL PONTIFICIO CONSIGLIO DELLE COMUNICAZIONI SOCIALI Alle 12.30 di questa mattina, nella Sala Clementina del Palazzo Apostolico Vaticano, il Santo Padre Benedetto XVI ha ricevuto in Udienza i partecipanti alla Plenaria del Pontificio Consiglio delle Comunicazioni Sociali ed ha loro rivolto il discorso che riportiamo di seguito: DISCORSO DEL SANTO PADREYour Eminences,Your Excellencies,Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Vatican today on the occasion of the annual Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. I wish first to thank Archbishop Foley, President of...

President Bush will have to reassure his Republican base that the United States is winning the war in Iraq and the economy is improving before his anemic poll numbers begin turning upward, election pollsters and strategists say. Mr. Bush's numbers fell last week to the lowest levels of his presidency as insurgent violence in Iraq worsened and as criticism increased over the administration's handling of the economy and its approval of a proposed takeover of terminal operations at six U.S. ports by an Arab-owned firm. A half-dozen polls show that Mr. Bush's overall job-approval numbers have fallen to the 38...

A century-old hobby filled with dots and dashes is embroiled in a debate about its future and what level of training should be expected of those called on to help during local and national emergencies. Morse code, a slowly dying language, has become radio's equivalent of Latin: historically important, but increasingly irrelevant in a world of cell phones, computers and instant messaging. With mariners and the military having moved to other technologies long ago, ham radio operators are virtually the sole practitioners of a technique that made national and international communication possible with the telegraph.

Last month, a briefly worded press release went nearly unnoticed. It simply read: "Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging Services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage." After 155 years, and millions of telegrams and Telex messages, a major part of American history quietly slipped into obscurity. For more than 100 years, Socorro was part of that history. With today's telephones, cell phones and e-mail, we can contact almost anyone we wish immediately and cheaply. This wasn't always the case. In Socorro's early days,...

When another disaster on the scale of Hurricane Katrina comes along, the League will be able to deploy "ham gear ready to go," thanks to manufacturers' donations of Amateur Radio gear, ARRL members' generous monetary contributions and a federal grant. The ARRL Ham Aid-sponsored "Go Kits" now being assembled at League Headquarters are the third leg of a program that's already reimbursed certain out-of-pocket expenses for ham radio hurricane zone volunteers and helped restore Amateur Radio backbone infrastructure along the US Gulf Coast. "To me, this is a first step in ramping up ARRL's ability to support Amateur Radio volunteers...