Tag Archives: police

International

Tremor Event Has Begun: Pacific Ring of Fire, August 2019

Video

Incomplete list of seismic/natural disaster reports from around the Pacific Ring of Fire, August 2019.

A Mega-Tsunami on Early Mars

Crack in Pacific seafloor caused volcanic chain to go dormant for 10-million years

What tourists/travelers need to do in after a disaster

AUSTRALIA: Oil industry seismic operations delayed

Hidden ‘Jurassic World’ of Volcanoes Uncovered

KitKat introduces rare volcanic chocolate

CANADA:  Researchers discover why oil industry fracking causes earthquakes

BC school district braces for mega earthquake

CHILE: 6.8 earthquake reveals stress is building on the megathrust

Increased Volcanic activity threatens fish farms, plans being made to evacuate the fish!

CHINA: Insurance industry adopts new earthquake catastrophe model, to predict insurance payouts and identify buildings most at risk of failure

5.0 hits Taiwan

COLOMBIA:  5.3-magnitude quake hits 28 km NW of Guapi

ECUADOR: There are 47 volcanoes in Ecuador, and 27 of them are potentially active, and five of them have erupted since 2000.

EL SALVADOR:  Colossal volcano behind ‘mystery’ global cooling finally found

FIJI:  5.0 earthquake – Fiji Islands Region on 27AUG2019

5.9 earthquake – Fiji Islands Region (Wallis & Futuna) on 22AUG2019

 A floating ‘island’ made up of volcanic rock, meandering through the Pacific.

GUATEMALA: Appeals for more help from International Red Cross, for dealing with the 2018 eruption (is this why so many Guatemalans are flooding into the U.S.?)

HONDURAS:  Mysterious white smoke emanating from mountain that is not considered a volcano

How many U.S. taxpayers know that over the past four decades a small outpost in Honduras has housed a mix of U.S. military forces, backed by aid organizations to provide medical assistance and disaster response for Latin American countries? 

INDONESIA:  volcano chaser documenting Indonesia’s volatile craters

Activities banned within 3 kilometers from the summit of Mount Merapi

Huge Oil Spill in Land of Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes

JAPAN: belief in link between deep-sea fish sightings and quakes finally debunked

Asama-yama erupts

Underground links between quakes and eruptions of Japan’s biggest active volcano

5.4-magnitude quake strikes Aomori Prefecture

Video of Aomori Prefecture conducting a disaster drill, a week after 5.4 quake, in conjunction with U.S. Misawa Airbase:

MEXICO:  Dramatic eruption by Mexico’s Popocatepetl 

5.5 earthquake – Chiapas, 12AUG2019

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Video explainer of U.S. taxpayer supported Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief exercise PACIFIC ENDEAVOR:

PERU: Oil industry to increase offshore seismic operations

Proposes earthquake resistant cities

PHILIPPINES: 6.3 magnitude on the Richter scale shook the Luzon island

5.0 earthquake – Mindanao, 11AUG2019

European Union brings relief to victims of powerful earthquake

RUSSIA: Karymsky volcano spews

5.0 earthquake – East of Kuril Islands, 25AUG2019 

Lightning strikes Ebeko volcano during eruption

TONGA: 5.4 earthquake – 24AUG2019

5.0 earthquake – 24AUG2019

new submarine volcanic eruption discovered

UNITED STATES: Watch tsunami waves from a 9.0 earthquake hit the Pacific Northwest in new simulation videos

Alaska; After major quake, budget cut to seismic monitoring system

California;  UCBerkeley is in the middle of conducting seismic evaluations of the more than 600 buildings on campus.

Ridgecrest earthquakes caused up to $5 billion in damage to China Lake naval base

At Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, U.S. Navy SeaBees were recognized for their efforts to help with recovery after the July earthquakes.

In San Diego, the U.S. Navy conducted exercise Citadel Rumble, enlisting the help of Amateur Radio Emergency Service to test emergency radio communications between USN hospitals during natural disasters.

Groundbreaking earthquake catalog may have just solved a seismic mystery

Community Seismic Network has installed 1-thousand sensors across the region

Hawaii;  Large Earthquakes, Hilina Fault System Relationship

What does water in Halema‘uma‘u mean?

Montana; More small quakes reported

60 years ago 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed 28 people

Nevada; UN Reno gets 1-million additional tax dollars for ShakeAlert quake warning system

Oregon;  Critics blast Oregon repeal of tsunami-zone building ban

A 6.3-magnitude earthquake just struck

$1.6-million in additional taxpayer funding for ShakeAlert warning system

Washington;  Funding from the U.S. Geological Survey is expected to double the number of sensors in the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network

Seismic Tremor Event Has Begun, Seismologists Say

Wyoming;  1959 quake changed landscape, structures and more in Yellowstone, 160 new geysers sprang to life

VANUATU: Mount Yasur is – incredibly or frighteningly, depending on how you look at it – open to members of the public game enough to walk up and peer into the belly of the Earth.

5.5 earthquake – Santa Cruz Islands (Vanuatu), 22AUG2019

6.3 earthquake strikes between Vanuatu, Solomon Islands

PACIFIC RING OF FIRE, JULY 2019: “LOST IN TIME”

U.S.

Dorian: How to evacuate thousands of U.S. Marines

Image

On 03SEP2019, the threat of Hurricane Dorian forced Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, to start evacuating basic trainees.

Their new temp-home will be Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia.

The trainees packed their rucks, and were handed a box of rations, and told to “Get on the bus!”

  Hundreds of contracted tour buses rolled in to take them to Georgia.

It’s actually easy to evac thousands of military personnel, they’re under orders, and the food and transportation are provided.  Realize how hard it is to get millions of silly-vilians to evacuate, without providing taxpayer funded food and transportation, or a place to go-to, before-hand.

I don’t know if this guy is yawning or yelling, but I’m sure there was a lot of hurry-up-and-wait.

VEHICLE I-D: USMC HAWKER HUNTER(?) spotted in South Carolina

VEHICLE I-D: USMC AAV7 VID-FEST

WHAT DO THE MARINES DO WITH ALL THAT AMMO THEY CAN’T USE?

MARINES GUILTY OF ENDEMIC VIOLENCE? GHOSTS OF MY FATHER & GRANDFATHER!

Hurricane HARVEY: MARINES USE AMPHIBIOUS COMBAT TANKS TO SAVE LIVES!

Technology, U.S.

Airborne Hurricane Hunters, when did it all start?

Video

The first hurricane (typhoon) hunter was a pilot flying a Second World War T-6 Texan through the eye of a hurricane, on a dare!  Realizing that flying through a hurricane was doable, the U.S. Air Force set upon a long journey of modifying aircraft to collect weather data about hurricanes.

The first data collected, in 1944 by B-25 bombers (WB-25 Army Hurricane Reconnaissance Unit), is credited with saving hundreds of lives.  Prior to the development of airborne hurricane hunters, thousands of people in the United States died as a result of hurricanes, but after the use of flying weather trackers the average death toll dropped significantly.

Painting by Thomas Wojahn of a WB-50 of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Falcon Alpha Mission-1957.

Perhaps the name The Hurricane Hunters came from the the title of a book first published in 1955 about the U.S. military’s obsession with tracking hurricanes. Download your free copy here.

Silent U.S. Navy film, from 1961, showing the use of the EC-121 Warning Star (WV-2) ‘AWACS’ as a hurricane hunter:

Hunter AFB, WB-47E City of Savannah Hurricane Hunter I, September 1963.

Even the B-47 strategic bomber (WB-47) was used as a Hurricane Hunter.

WC-130 Hercules f the 815th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, 920th Weather Reconnaissance Group, being prepared for a mission to monitor Hurricane Allen, August 1980.

Official USAF video history report, including the T-6, B-25, B-29 (WB-50) and C-130:

A USAF WC-130 Hercules from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, ‘Hurricane Hunters’, Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. USAF photo dated 1995.

But it not just lives that are saved with the creation of airborne hurricane hunters, in this 2018 video report about the purpose of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi) it’s revealed that mass evacuations of the public cost one-million USD per mile of coastline!  Taxpayer costs can be reduced by providing accurate weather data to allow for more timely evacuation orders:

HurricaneHunters.com

WC-130J & WP-3D: HUNTING DORIAN

T-6 SNJ TEXAN POKEY AIRPORT, 2012 & 2014

Technology

Dorian more powerful than U.S. military aircraft?

Video

02SEP2019, U.S. Coast Guard deploys C-130s in anticipation of Hurricane Dorian.

Evacuation of E-8C J-STARS from Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, 02SEP2019:

On 01SEP2019, U.S. Customs & Border Protection transferred one of their UH-60 Black Hawks from Puerto Rico to Homestead, Florida, to be used in hurricane rescue operations:

U.S. CBP also deployed P-3 Orions to Homestead, Florida, 31AUG2019.

Florida National Guard helicopters staged in the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, in anticipation of Hurricane Dorian, 01SEP2019.

MH-60R Sea Hawks assigned to USN’s Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 48, in Florida, were sent to Maxwell Air Force Base, in Alabama, to escape the wrath of Dorian, 01SEP2019.

Video of preparations to exodus Naval Air Station Jacksonville:

Video of arrival at Maxwell AFB:

On 30AUG2019, Florida National Guard F-15C/D Eagles evacuated to Ohio.  Video of arrival of Florida Eagles at Wright-Patterson AFB:

A USN Patrol Squadron 26 P-8 Poseidon arrives at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 30AUG2019.

30AUG2019, USN’s Patrol Squadron 10 evacuates P-8 Poseidon from NAS Jacksonville:

On 30AUG2019, Little Rock Air Force Base, Alabama, began accepting military aircraft from locations within the projected path of Hurricane Dorian:

HC-130 Combat King from Georgia.

A-10C Thunderbolt-2s from Georgia.

At Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, A-29 Super Tacanos were locked down in the hangers: 

29AUG2019, KC-135Rs evacuate MacDill Air Force Base, Florida:

WC-130J & WP-3D: HUNTING DORIAN

SLOW DISASTER RELIEF: FLORIDA MILITIA DISCOVERS A MAJOR CAUSE, NEW PREPS FOR HURRICANES!

ALABAMA MILITIA PREPS FOR HURRICANE USING WORLD’S LARGEST MAP OF ALABAMA!

Technology

WC-130J & WP-3D: Hunting Dorian

Video

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, U.S. Air Force Reserve out of Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, went hunting for a hurricane named Dorian.  Video, WC-130J take-off preps, 31AUG2019:

The crew of the WC-130J Super Hercules gathered data for the National Hurricane Center.  Video, onboard the WC-130J, 31AUG2019:

Personnel from the U.S. Naval Academy observes data from the Navy Airborne Expendable Bathythermographs deployed from the WC-130J Super Hercules. USAF photo by Lieutenant Colonel Marnee A.C. Losurdo.

Preparing to drop a Navy Airborne Expendable Bathythermograph into the hurricane. USAF photo by Lieutenant Colonel Marnee A.C. Losurdo.

WC-130J returns from Hunting Dorian, 05SEP2019. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Christopher Carranza.

USAF photo by Randy Bynon, 13NOV2019.

Video from NOAA (National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration) WP-3D Orion (aka N42RF Kermit the Frog-Sky Hopper), flying the Eye of Dorian, 01SEP2019:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration WP-3D Orion, Keesler AFB. USAF photo by Randy Bynon, 13NOV2019.

2017: WC-130J SUPER HERCULES TRACKS HURRICANE HARVEY

HARVEY: WHAT’S A DROPSONDE?

International, U.S.

New Jersey National Guard saving pets in Qatar!

Image

19 August 2019 (05:28 UTC-07 Tango 06) 28 Mordad 1398/17 Dhu l-Hijja 1440/19 Ren-Shen 4717

A struggling pet shelter in Doha, Qatar, has only three full-time staff members and more than 130 dogs and cats!  It’s looks more like a farm.

Staff Sergeant Lia Carter, New Jersey National Guard.

“We started out just wanting to find the animals in Doha, Qatar’s capital, and see what was going on with rescues.”-Staff Sergeant Lia Cater, New Jersey National Guard, who helps rescue strays in her hometown of Queens, New York

“We took 100 pounds of dog food and 50 pounds of cat food. The shelter’s staff was overwhelmed to see us. They had never had such a large group come out all at once and volunteer.”-Staff Sergeant Lia Cater, New Jersey National Guard, who helps rescue strays in her hometown of Queens, New York

“They primarily need people to come out and walk dogs, help the dogs exercise, and give the animals some personal attention.”-Staff Sergeant Lia Cater, New Jersey National Guard, who helps rescue strays in her hometown of Queens, New York

“This program gives something for everyone to look forward to. It is also good for relations between the U.S. and Qatar.”-Sergeant Jimmy Simmeron, New Jersey National Guard

“We are going to have to stop being the policemen of the world.”-Donald Trump, August 2015 interview with Hugh Hewitt

OPERATION APPALACHIAN CARE; PROOF OBAMACARE FAILED, AND OBAMA KNEW IT DID!

GREAT RENEGER: GUARD DEPLOYMENTS SO COMMON EVEN BEERS ARE NAMED AFTER THEM

Kit Bashing, Technology

Soviet Great Patriotic War ‘Bat’ to be resurrected from the dead!

Image

“For the first time in the world, a Tu-2 bomber will be reconstructed to its operational condition on the premises of the Novosibirsk State Technical University. The reconstruction work will be carried out by Aviarestavratsiya. This work will take three years.”-Science and Higher Education Ministry

The Tupolev 2 bomber of World War Two fame is being brought back to life in Russia.

A Tupolev TU 2 WWII Soviet front line bomber (NATO reporting name Bat) on static display at Monino Museum, Russia. TASS photo by Marina Lystseva.

According to TASS, the resurrection was supposed to start on 21AUG2019.  The specific plane to be restored to flying condition had a long history, first flying with the Soviet forces during World War Two, then flying with Chinese forces until the 1980s(!), and then ending up in the United States in the hands of the War Eagles Air Museum in New Mexico (read a description of the plane and how the Chinese used it, here).

War Eagles Air Museum, before restoration. Photo via David and Paula Barnett.

War Eagles Air Museum, after restoration.

The U.S. museum restored the Tu-2 to the point it could be used as a static display.  In 2019, the Russia based Aviarestavratsiya (air restoration)/Winged Victory Memorial supposedly acquired the plane and will bring it back to Russia: “This is not a plane that was shot down or was broken. We have not yet studied its series numbers and have not yet tracked its exact history. The plane will be studied and analyzed in detail. Each element will be reconstructed or restored.”-Boris Osyatinsky, Aviarestavratsiya/Winged Victory Memorial

However, as of 2022 the War Eagles Air Museum in New Mexico still lists the Bat as part of their displays.

By the way, China still has several Tu-2 bombers on display:

Photo via Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution.

Photo via Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution.

For kit builders there are several brands to choose from:

The ‘Bat’ served with many countries in many wars.

The old East German VEB-Plastikart (now known as adp Master Modelle) kit.

More info: https://alchetron.com/Tupolev-Tu-2

Tupolev TU-2 – Photos & Video

VEHICLE I-D: RF-84F THUNDERFLASH & YRF-84F, AN APPEAL TO MONOGRAM!

Technology

Germany finally adopts the Minigun?

Video

In June 2019, Germany began test-firing its new MG6 minigun from its H145M special forces helicopters.

Bundeswehr video of H145M armed with MG6 minigun, posted in August 2020:

Night-fire of minigun:

 

HI-TECH FAIL: NATO GERMANY PROVES MULES STILL RULE MOUNTAIN WARFARE

VEHICLE I-D: NATO GERMANY SHOWS OFF ARMORED FIGHTING VEHICLES, IST KOOL!

U.S.

Rescuing dogs, and dogs who’ll rescue you!

Video

Fast spreading forest fire forced the Alaska National Guard to rescue 26 people and two dogs from a recreation lodge on 23JUL2019.

On 19JUL2019, Kentucky Air National Guard’s Master Sergeant Rudy Parsons checks out para-rescue dog Callie after a skydive. She’s carried in a bag strapped to his front. According to the press release, Callie is the only para-rescue dog in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Kentucky National Guard’s Callie the rescue dog taking part in Patriot North disaster training in Wisconsin, 17JUL2019.

KENTUCKY DOG CALLIE TRAINS TO RESCUE ALASKANS FROM A HC-130J!

Official video report, from February 2019, about Callie the first U.S. para-rescue dog who can jump out of a perfectly good airplane:

On 07JUL2019, a woman and her dog were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, after a small landslide caused her and one of her three dogs to fall, at Lake Michigan.

Video of Lake Michigan rescue:

THE U.S. MILITARY TRAINS TO SAVE YOUR PET FROM DISASTER!

WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PETS AFTER PARADISE IS DESTROYED BY THE FIRES OF HELL?

Official video of California National Guard’s efforts to help the pets of the victims of the 2018 Camp Fire:

Dramatic U.S. Coast Guard video of dog (and people) rescue after Hurricane Florence, in South Carolina (just one of dozens of similar rescues):

FEMA search & rescue after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

HURRICANE MARIA: FREE SHOTS FOR PUERTO RICO PETS!

From March 2013, this FEMA search & rescue dog is about to take a trip on a C-17 during Patriot Hook, at Los Alamitos Army Airfield.

HURRICANE HARVEY: VET=VETERINARY EMERGENCY TEAM, HELPING ANIMALS IS GOOD FOR YOU!

Kit Bashing, Technology

Hurricane Maria Vehicle I-D: CBP’s Black helicopters deploy to Puerto Rico, quick Minicraft kit review

Video

In Arizona, awaiting night time load-up into C-5 Galaxy, destine for Puerto Rico. Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 01OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

C-5 delivers the CBP UH-60s to Puerto Rico. Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 03OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 07OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 07OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 13OCT2017.

Minicraft first issued its 1:48 scale UH-60 kits in 1986.  In 2001, Minicraft re-boxed it as a U.S. Customs Black Hawk.  The box art, and even photos of completed kit on the sides of the box, depict it with a FLIR pod under the chin, but no such animal can be found on the sprues.  All you get is a crappy looking search light.  I’ll have to scratch build the FLIR, or steal it from a different helicopter kit.   Many of the Customs Black Hawks have the bent tip rotary wings, the Minicraft kit still has the straight blades from the 1980s.  The Minicraft markings are for U.S. Customs, which ceased to exist as an independent agency in 2003, merged with U.S. Border Patrol, and parts of Immigration and Naturalization Service, becoming today’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  As you can see from the photos above, the CBP markings are slightly different from the old U.S. Customs markings, and today’s Black Hawk has an extended nose for housing the FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) as well as mounts on the side of the cockpit for other electronic gadgets. The interior of the Minicraft UH-60 is devoid of details, but can be expeditiously improved using the old-but-gold Monogram crew figures from the still viable Monogram UH-1 Huey (interesting that the Monogram ‘copter first issued in 1959 is more detailed than the Minicraft ‘copter first issued in 1986).

PJ Production also has a new resin set of 1:48 U.S. helicopter crew figures, although they’re sold as Vietnam era crew figures I think they could be used for late Cold War Black Hawks.

IDAHO BLACK HAWKS HEAD SOUTH, DOWN CENTRAL AMERICA WAY, YOU PAID FOR IT!

VEHICLE I-D: BLACK HAWK WITH SKIS

RF-84F THUNDERFLASH & YRF-84F, AN APPEAL TO MONOGRAM!