Breaking News Thread Version 2.0

[socalrappy700]

I'm a navy seal, I won the medal of honor, purple heart and I won the heisman trophy.....twice.

[Colorado700R]

TORONTO – Fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian bombers in the Arctic as they approached Canadian airspace on the eve of a visit from Canada's prime minister who will observe an Arctic military exercise, a spokesman for the prime minister said Wednesday.

Dimitri Soudas, Stephen Harper's director of communications, said two Canadian CF-18 jets shadowed a pair of Russian TU-95 Bear jets in international airspace on Tuesday.

Soudas said the bombers flew within 30 miles (50 kilometers) of Canadian soil. They were first spotted approximately 120 nautical miles north of Inuvik, Northwest Territories.

"Thanks to the rapid response of the Canadian Forces, at no time did the Russian aircraft enter sovereign Canadian airspace," Soudas said in an e-mail.

Soudas warned that the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint U.S. and Canadian agency, "carefully monitors all air activities in the North and considers all options to protect the air sovereignty of Canada and the United States."

Harper is due to observe an annual military exercise in the Canadian Arctic on Wednesday. Soudas said Harper was briefed during and at the conclusion of the intercept mission. He said the Canadian jets returned to base without incident.

Canada has linked recent Russian flights in the area to the competition between Canada, Russia, the U.S. and other countries to secure Arctic resources. With polar ice melting there are new opportunities to exploit the region's oil, gas and mineral reserves.

Two Russian bombers were intercepted last month off Canada's East Coast near the Arctic and in February 2009, fighter jets scrambled to intercept a Russian bomber in the Arctic as it approached Canadian airspace on the eve of President Barack Obama's visit to Ottawa. The Russians said then the plane never encroached on Canadian airspace and that Canada had been told about the flight beforehand. Canada's defense minister said Russia gives no warning prior to the flight, despite Canada's request for Russia to do so.

Harper has made the Arctic a priority by making annual trips and pledging to increase Canada's military presence.

Soviet aircraft regularly flew near North American airspace during the Cold War but stopped after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Several years ago, Russian jets resumed these types of flights.

Soudas noted Canada's recent purchase of 65 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp. The $8.5 billion purchase, one of the biggest military equipment purchases in the country's history, is due to be debated at parliamentary defense committee on Wednesday. The jets will replace the Air Force's aging fleet of CF-18s.

[Krandall]

dang, russia's gonna get blowed up!

[rappyfreak]

It must SUCK to be these poor miners:

A group of Chilean miners trapped for 20 days deep inside a collapsed mine are alive, the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, said tonight – but it will take at least four months to set them free.

A rescue probe that drilled down 2,257 feet (688 metres) to the bottom of the San Jose mine made contact with the miners, who sent back a message reading: "All 33 of us are well inside the shelter."

"Never have so few words brought such happiness to an entire nation," said Piñera as he read out the handwritten note.

A second note from the miners indicated they were living in a makeshift refuge. Using a bulldozer, they have created a canal of fresh water and have used electricity from a truck engine to rig up lighting deep inside the notoriously dangerous copper mine.

Aides to Piñera warned that it would take a minimum of four months to free the men. "A shaft 66cm in diameter will take at least 120 days," said Andre Sougarret, lead engineer on the rescue operation. Rescue equipment from around the world is being rushed in to build an escape tunnel nearly 700 metres underground.

The miners were trapped on 5 August by a massive collapse in the roof of the mine, located outside the northern Chilean city of Copiapó. For two weeks, a series of probes has tunnelled hundreds of metres trying to find the refuge where the miners were thought to be gathered. They repeatedly missed their mark, and officials began blaming the mine for not operating with updated maps or modern safety equipment.

Using the hole created by the probes, rescue workers now plan to send down food, medicine and water as doctors struggle to keep the men alive and healthy while mining experts debate the options for building an escape route.

From the day the mine collapsed, dozens of relatives staked out what they call Camp Hope near the mouth of the mine, where they have built shrines, composed songs and ridden a spirit of national unity in hope that rescue efforts would arrive in time to save the men.

"I can't believe it," said Lilian Ramirez, wife of Mario Gomez, who wrote one of the notes. "Though we know he is strong. He has been a miner since he was 12 years old ... I told him several times that he must retire from mining."

"GERD is great," wrote 63-year-old Mario Gomez, the eldest of the trapped miners, in a letter to his wife which Piñera read on television. "This company has got to modernise," Gomez added. "But I want to tell everyone I'm OK, and am sure we will survive."

As the world's leading copper producer, Chile has seen a boom over the past decade as rising copper prices filled the government's coffers and allowed it to ride out the global recession. Record copper prices also meant older mines with deteriorating infrastructure became valuable again. The San Jose mine had been closed twice for safety violations and multiple fatalities. Family members of the trapped miners reacted with joy at the news that their loved ones were alive.

[Peelz]

that would SUCK! they have to wait another 120 days? :cripes:

[Krandall]

at least there's glimmers of hope for them. that's insane. bet they come out pastey white and skrawny.

[rappyfreak]

Yeah there's glimmers of hope but damn! i would ask for a PSP and a few bottles of booze!

[Peelz]

at least there's glimmers of hope for them. that's insane. bet they come out pastey white and skrawny.

awww little south american aarons. 

[Krandall]

Secret US military computers 'cyber attacked' in 2008
William Lynn and David Cameron William Lynn, shown here with David Cameron last month, is a former defence company executive

A 2008 cyber attack launched from an infected flash drive in the Middle East penetrated secret US military computers, a Pentagon official says.

The attack by a foreign spy service was the "most significant breach" ever of US military networks, Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn said.

Writing in Foreign Affairs magazine, Mr Lynn described it as a "digital beachhead" to steal military secrets.

He urged the US to speed up its cyber defence system procurement procedure.

Mr Lynn, the number two official in the Pentagon, wrote that the previously undisclosed 2008 attack began when an infected flash drive was inserted into a US military laptop at a base.

The computer code then spread stealthily through US military computer networks and readied itself to transfer military data to enemy hands, he wrote.

It is unclear whether the cyber spy effort succeeded in obtaining US secrets, and further details on the attack were unavailable.

In the article, Mr Lynn warned that US military dominance was threatened by the relatively low cost of cyber warfare.
Time lag

"A dozen determined computer programmers can, if they find a vulnerability to exploit, threaten the United States' global logistics network, steal its operational plans, blind its intelligence capabilities, or hinder its ability to deliver weapons on target," he wrote.

Mr Lynn, a former defence lobbyist and military budget official under former President Bill Clinton, warned the Pentagon had to speed up the process by which it develops and acquires cyber defence kit.

He noted that on average it took the Pentagon 81 months to get a new computer system online after its initial funding, while Apple developed the iPhone in 24 months, "less time than it would take the Pentagon to prepare a budget and receive congressional approval for it".

The US military operates 15,000 networks and seven million computers across the world that are probed by attackers thousands of times a day, Mr Lynn said.

The Pentagon has consolidated its cyber defence operations into a single command structure, which began operations in May.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Colorado700R]

Ever seen 'Tears of the Sun' 

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2010/08/25/bpr.drc.rape.kron.cnn?hpt=T2

[disco]

that would SUCK! they have to wait another 120 days? :cripes:

Yeah but can you imagine all the overtime?  Cha-ching!

[Peelz]

that would SUCK! they have to wait another 120 days? :cripes:

Yeah but can you imagine all the overtime?  Cha-ching!

LOL you should write a book on "finding the silver lining"

[disco]

   I would die down there.  They'd kill me.

[rappyfreak]

  definitely the silver lining disco!!!

[Krandall]

  I would die down there.  They'd kill me.

ERMAHGERD!!!





"I've get teh black lung popss"