North Texas Hospital Evaluating Patient For Potential Ebola Exposure

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – A North Texas hospital has a patient in isolation as they evaluate them for potential exposure to the Ebola virus.

Officials with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas released the following statement Monday night:

“Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas has admitted a patient into strict isolation to be evaluated for potential Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) based on the patient’s symptoms and recent travel history. The hospital is following all Centers for Disease Control and Texas Department of Heath recommendations to ensure the safety of patients, hospital staff, volunteers, physicians and visitors. The CDC anticipates preliminary results tomorrow.”

The patient’s travel history and specific symptoms remain unclear, but it is said to involve a high fever and vomiting. The name of the patient has not been released.

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Well ain't that awesome... 

UPDATE - CDC: Ebola virus confirmed in Dallas patient

I don't think it's Breakfast Jacks

Way to go Beaumont

The Most And Least Educated Cities In America

 

Which cities are the nation’s best and brightest calling home these days?

To determine the Most And Least Educated Cities In America, financial site WalletHub took a look at the 150 largest metros in the U.S. and ranked them according to nine weighted metrics, including percentage of adult residents with a high school diploma, associate’s degree, graduate or professional degree, or above; number of doctors per capita; percentage of workers with jobs in “computer, engineering, and sciences fields;” quality of public schools and universities; and the number of students enrolled in the top 200 universities in the U.S., per capita.

“Research has shown that skilled workers who are also degree holders tend to pump the most money into their local economies over time,” states the report.

This story from two weeks ago here 

Local station covered it today -

Beaumont bashed on SNL for being least educated

 Saturday Night Live from the weekend.

  


I travel across this wretched place daily to the salt mines because I choose to live as far away from it as possible. I'd have to concur 100% with them. They are eat up with teh stupidz.

Honesty

I'd give her a buck or two for the cause... Bless her heart.

 

U.S. beheading suspect, Muslim convert, to be charged Monday

OKLAHOMA CITY — A man accused of beheading a woman in Oklahoma will be charged Monday, authorities said.

Charges against Alton Alexander Nolen will include first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Jeremy Lewis, spokesman for the Moore police department.

Nolen, a recent convert to Islam, allegedly attacked a woman Thursday at a Vaughan Foods processing plant, soon after he learned he’d lost his job there.

Police said he walked into the front office and attacked one of the first people he encountered, Colleen Hufford, 54. He severed her head with a knife and then attacked 43-year-old Traci Johnson. Johnson is in stable condition at a nearby hospital for treatment of “numerous wounds,” according to police.

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Article says "No terrorism link found"...


Terrorism :

noun

 

1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes. 

 

2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization. 

3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

So he did it because he was a Flag Waving Patriotic American?

CAIR unavailable for comment...

What is it?

Got an appointment later

Three retired firefighters who worked at Ground Zero die of cancer on same day

Three retired firefighters who worked at ground zero died on the same day from cancer, an illness that many fear might be connected to toxic World Trade Center dust released on Sept. 11, fire officials said Thursday.

Lt. Howard Bischoff, 58, and firefighters Robert Leaver, 56, and Daniel Heglund, 58, died within hours of one another Monday.

Their deaths are "a painful reminder that 13 years later we continue to pay a terrible price for the department's heroic efforts," Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said in a statement.

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RIP Gentlemen. May your memories live long and your lives be celebrated by your families who knew your bravery on that day.

Dafuq? Man beheads woman in Oklahoma

(CNN) -- A man has beheaded a woman after a workplace dispute in Oklahoma, U.S. law enforcement officials told CNN on Friday.

He also tried to kill another woman, officials said.

The incident happened late Thursday afternoon at a Vaughan Foods processing plant in Moore, about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City.

There were no immediate indications of a link to terrorism, officials said.

A sheriff's deputy shot the suspect, identified by officials as 30-year-old Alton Alexander Nolan. He was taken a hospital and is expected to survive.

Lame ass CNN Story here 

Informative KFOR updated version here

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What do you want to bet he's been "touched" by Allah snackbar?

 

Military to allow undocumented immigrants to serve

A small number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. will have an opportunity to join the military for the first time in decades under a new Department of Defense policy unveiled Thursday.

The new rules will expand an existing program allowing recruiters to target foreign nationals with high-demand skills, mostly rare foreign language expertise or specialized health care training.

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That's it, they've lost their fucking minds...

Berlin Begins the Search for Lenin’s Head

BERLIN—More than two decades ago, not long after the Berlin Wall fell and Germany was reunified, lawmakers here decided to tear down an iconic symbol of the city’s communist past: a 60-foot statue of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the former Soviet leader.

Soon municipal workers removed the statue from Lenin Square in the eastern part of the city, cut it into 129 pieces and buried them in a large sand pit.

The head is apparently still there. But last month, in response to a longstanding proposal to unearth the head for a sculpture exhibit, city leaders said they couldn’t remember exactly where they’d buried the nearly 6-foot-tall, 3.5-ton communist artifact.

Now, after months of wrangling, the hunt is on to find Lenin’s head. Over the weekend, the Berlin Senate announced it will try and locate the Soviet leader’s long-unseen visage for an art exhibit called Unveiled: Berlin and Its Monuments, which is set to open next spring and feature historic German sculptures.

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I'd be willing to bet some of the old die hard commies have it hidden. You know they are suckers for failed ideas. It's a little tough to let go sometimes, we know...

Attorney General Eric Holder to Resign

Attorney General Eric Holder will resign, a Justice Department official tells ABC News. 

Holder was the nation's first African-American attorney general.

According to the official, "Attorney General Holder has discussed his plans personally with the president on multiple occasions in recent months, and finalized those plans in an hour-long conversation with the president at the White House residence over Labor Day weekend. 

"At a formal announcement later today, the attorney general plans to express his personal gratitude to the President for the opportunity to serve in his administration and to lead the Justice Department, which he will call the 'greatest honor of my professional life.' He will note he has loved the Justice Department since, when he was a boy, he watched how, under Attorney General Kennedy, the Department played a leadership role in advancing the civil rights movement. During his tenure as Attorney General, Holder has had Attorney General Kennedy’s portrait in his conference room." 

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Suspect in missing Virginia college student case arrested in Galveston County

GALVESTON — A man wanted in connection with the disappearance of a University of Virginia student was arrested Wednesday on the Bolivar Peninsula. 

Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr., 32, was in the Galveston County jail, Charlottesville, Va., Police Chief Timothy Longo and Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said. 

Matthew was found on the beach near Rollover Pass in the Gilchrist community at about 3:30 p.m., Trochesset said. 

Police said they believe Matthew was the last person with Hannah Graham, 18, before she went missing.

She was last seen Sept. 13 in an area of Charlottesville known as the Downtown Mall.

Story here 


Bonus addition with the sprinkles on top: 

Hannah Graham case suspect denied bond

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Now here's an idea I can get behind

 

VIRGIN founder Richard Branson has promised his staff that they can take as many days off work as they want — officially making him one of the coolest bosses ever. 

  

Branson says his daughter Holly got him on to the idea after hearing that video-streaming site Netflix does not track people’s holidays and suggested it would be “a very Virgin thing to do”.

“Dad, check this out. It’s something I have been talking about for a while,” she wrote to her father. “I have a friend whose company has done the same thing and they’ve apparently experienced a marked upward spike in everything — morale, creativity and productivity have all gone through the roof.”

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“The idea that everyone needs to work frantically to meet peoples’ needs is not true” says Google's Larry Page...

Pulp Fiction: 20 fun facts as the film turns 20

CNN) -- Quoting Ezekiel 25:17 from "Pulp Fiction" will likely get you laughed out of Sunday school class.

That's because the Bible verse, as recited by Samuel L. Jackson's character, Jules Winnfield, doesn't actually exist.

In the film, Winnfield speaks these words to people before he kills them: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

The actual Bible verse says, "I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them.'"

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This is one of my all time favorites. Nobody does movies like Tarantino. It's a cult following of sorts... Reservoir Dogs is his best work, I think. 

Let's go to work...

And didn't even have the common courtesy to give him a reach around

Woman inserts her finger into a dog's bottom after it attacked her beloved pooch...

It's a bit of an unconventional way to stop a vicious dog fight, but it seemed to work for one woman who used her finger to stick up another dogs bum.

Dog owner Ann Bendouli had to think quick when her beloved dog, one year old Jack Russell, Lexy, was being mauled to death by another dog on Hampton Beach in Melbourne's south on Sunday.

The unusual method has also seen an instant reaction from the social media world and #superstarfinger is now trending globally on twitter.

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Never in my life have I heard of such. Well I'll be...

White tiger kills man at Indian zoo

(NEWSER) – What is certain is that a young man was mauled to death Tuesday by a white tiger at the New Delhi zoo. What is less certain is how he ended up in the enclosure.

The Times of India and BBC use words like "tumbled" and "slipped": A witness tells the latter that the railing was "very low," and the man, identified only as Maqsood, may have accidentally fallen.

But a rep for the National Zoological Park tells the AP the man intentionally approached the tiger, going so far as to climb over the enclosure's low fence before jumping down 18 feet into a protective dry moat; the male tiger lives on the island the moat surrounds. Those who were on the scene say the tiger immediately approached Maqsood, and "silently watched him for nearly 15 minutes."

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I cannot fathom what would cause someone to willingly jump into a tiger exhibit, but hey, whatever gets your rocks off I guess...

 Katt Williams on Tigers :

 

More senior citizens caught with guns at DFW Airport

DALLAS — The recent uptick in senior citizens being arrested with firearms at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport could be linked to an increase in the number of older Texans successfully getting a concealed handgun license.

"I've noticed a trend lately [over] the last three or four months that there has been a large increase in seniors coming in saying, 'I need to learn to take care of myself,'" said David Prince, owner of Eagle Gun Range in Lewisville.

In July and August, DFW Airport police arrested 11 people for mistakenly leaving firearms in carry-on luggage, and almost half were seniors in their 60s and 70s.

All of them told investigators that they forgot a firearm was in a bag before placing it on the conveyor belt for Transportation Security Administration screeners.

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Good on them for arming themselves.The only thing predators respond to is violence.

 

Texas requests for gun purchases plummet

HOUSTON (AP) -- The number of Texans seeking federal permission to purchase firearms has dropped 18 percent this year as fears of tougher regulations subside.

The Houston Chronicle reports that experts attribute the slowdown to waning fears of stricter federal regulations. Gun sales spiked across the nation after the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school massacre in 2012.

Texans submitted nearly 1.1 million requests to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from January to August 2013. That number has dropped to about 910,000 for the same period this year. The bureau conducts computerized checks to determine if a person has certain criminal convictions or other issues that would prohibit the gun purchase.


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I think we're good...

Just sayin'

Black Mouth Cur fights huge male coyote

This is why I wanted a BMC. No fear in their hearts... That's what you call a Decoy Dog. That's a good dog right there...

To me, from a predator calling perspective, a decoy dog is any dog that draws the coyotes attention away from the caller to it itself [the dog] and helps the hunter put more fur on the ground. That is a very generalized description because every hunter is different and every hunter uses their dog to compliment their style of calling.

Tax refunds will be cut for ACA recipients

A significant benefit of the Affordable Care Act is the opportunity to receive money-saving tax credits up front to cut the overall cost of health insurance, but now hundreds of thousands of consumers could owe back some of that money next April.

Those affected took advance payments of the premium tax credit for health insurance. Some married couples could owe $600 or $1,500 or $2,500 or even more. It might feel like a raw deal for some who are already suffocating under the escalating costs of health insurance.

"Health insurance is confusing enough, and now they're adding the complexities of the Tax Code," said Lorena Bencsik, a member of the Michigan Association of CPAs and owner of Prime Numbers in Ferndale.

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Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered... 

Sunday morning coming down

Another beautiful Saturday

How's yours ? 

Going to give this a try

I grew up watching Bas aggressively denger de denger de deng the shit out of people in Pancrase and the UFC. He's an awesome dude. I figured what the hell, it can't be that bad, it's El Guapo. I've taken instruction in several disciplines before and I'll be honest, I get bored because the class is either full of kids or the action is way too damn slow and repetitive. Snooze fest... 

I'd much rather prefer to get down and dirty if I'm paying for monthly instruction. This should help with the solo workouts. He provides instructions going through the exercises and he's got a sense of humor. Don't ever let the idea that people with a heavy mid section are incapable of certain things. Everyone has a plan to whip up on the fat kid until they kicked in the jaw. 20lbs off of my frame would make a big difference and definitely help me sleep better. Better sleep means better performance during the day. Plus, hunting season is coming and I need to be a bit slimmer to haul bodies out of the woods. Dudes with soup bones like mine don't get slimmed down without being in hard labor camps, having a parasite, or being drug addicts. Sweat equity works. Look at the pyramids. I need a little extra motivation to help keep me fit. Fatigue will make cowards of all men.

Some get that, some don't...

Eight reported dead in attack on Ebola workers in Guinea

When Guinean government officials visited the village of Womme in the country’s southeast, they planned to educate people about Ebola and show them how to avoid it — in a region where many still believe the virus doesn’t exist.

But it all went disastrously wrong.

Villagers responded furiously, pelting the delegation with stones and beating the visitors with clubs, according to Guinean radio. The delegation, which included doctors and journalists, fled into the bush after the attack Tuesday.

The Guinean government said Thursday that eight delegation members had been killed, including several journalists, news agencies reported. There also were reports that 21 people had been injured.

“It's very sad and hard to believe, but they were killed in cold blood by the villagers,” government spokesman Albert Damantang Camara said, according to Agence France-Presse.

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Not the brightest group of individuals are they? 

Feds in El Paso: Rep. O’Rourke Called to Ban Contact with Judicial Watch

Federal law enforcement sources in El Paso say that a United States congressman called their office to prohibit contact with Judicial Watch in the aftermath of a disturbing story confirming that Islamic terrorists are operating in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Sources tell JW that Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat who represents El Paso in the U.S. House of Representatives, telephoned the area offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) in an effort to identify—and evidently intimidate—sources that may have been used by JW. On August 29 JW reported that the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) is working in Juarez and planning to attack the United States with car bombs or other vehicle borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED).

In the piece JW cites high-level federal law enforcement, intelligence and other sources confirming that a warning bulletin for an imminent terrorist attack on the border has been issued. Agents across a number of Homeland Security, Justice and Defense agencies have all been placed on alert and instructed to aggressively work all possible leads and sources concerning this imminent terrorist threat. In the aftermath of JW’s story Ft. Bliss, an El Paso Army base near Juarez, increased security measures and the sheriff in Midland County Texas—located halfway between Ft. Worth and El Paso—confirmed that he received an alert bulletin warning from the feds that ISIS may have formed a terrorist cell in or near Juarez.

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This is interesting... 

Shut your mouth or catch a dirt nap tactics there...

The signal will never stop. They can't shut us up. Ain't nobody scared of y'all...

My phone is taking FOREVER to update !!

H/T to a fellow Bearded Bastard, Jaxson

Uncle Bubba's young protégé

Trooper shooting suspect might try to target more officers, police say

(CNN) — He’s a survivalist with an extensive shooting background and a grudge against law enforcement, officials say.

Eric Matthew Frein apparently cut his hair into a mohawk-style haircut as part of his mental preparation for the attack on police and was active in a military simulation unit that reenacted Cold War-era European conflicts.

*Click here for extensive coverage from our sister station WNEP

And now authorities worry the man suspected of gunning down two Pennsylvania State Police troopers may be on the hunt for more officers.

Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan said Wednesday investigators are trying to determine why Frein may have attacked in the small, central Pennsylvania town of Blooming Grove. But they know that, generally, Frein “has made statements about wanting to kill law enforcement officers and also to commit mass acts of murder,” according to Noonan.

“He has very strong feelings about law enforcement and seems to be very angry with a lot of things that go on in our society.”

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Eagle Scout, Survivalist, Outspoken opinion on authority, avid shooter, marksman, war re-enactor, history buff, has a mowhawk...


Seeing where this is headed yet?
 

East Texas police department suspended from military surplus program

EUSTACE, TX (KLTV) - The Eustace Police Department has been suspended from the Department of Defense's program that provides military surplus to law enforcement agencies. 

The Defense Logistics Agency said the suspension occurred on September 8 and the department has been forwarded to the DLA's Office of Inspector General for an investigation. Eustace Police Chief Ken Holder was terminated by the city council during a meeting on September 4 for 'multiple violations of the employee handbook and police department code of conduct.'

Eustace leaders have not commented what sections of the handbook and code of conduct were allegedly violated by Holder. Eustace Police Department's entrusted property room was cataloged by members of the Texas Rangers to "determine whether the department has adequate controls over seized property, drugs, and evidence to ensure that they are tracked and safeguarded." 

An independent audit was asked for as a result of the removal of the police chief;  to establish a baseline for an incoming police chief to begin," Department of Public Safety spokesperson Jean Dark said Tuesday in a statement.


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He wasn't sharing his abuses of power with everyone else and got ratted out is what I'm thinking... Hey, it's a start.

Constitution Day

Happy Constitution Day to all of you Freedom and Liberty loving little domestic terrorists. Use your rights and be heard. We must all hang together or we will surely hang separately...

I am an American by birth and a Texan by choice.  I will never bow to or bend knee to those who wish to relinquish me from the birthrights of Rightful Liberty and Freedom for all Americans. Do no harm, but take no shit ever. Build your network of Patriots that will never stand in front of you, but beside you.

On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. I encourage all Americans to observe this important day in our nation's history by attending local events in your area. Celebrate Constitution Day and show your Love for the United States of America and the Blessings of Freedom Our Founding Fathers secured for us.

She's ours forever if we can keep her.

Up close and personal

That's what I'm talking about... Now that looks like fun! He just got a nice adrenaline hit of off that shit... I've been in similar situations tracking shot hogs before. If you don't get the meat the Yote's will. That's for sure. My little barefoot squaw refuses to go into the woods with me anymore because of things like this. She doesn't like being in the woods at night. She had a bad experience with a few hogs a couple of years back when it got dark and we got up out of the deer blind to walk 1.5 miles back to the truck. I ain't ever seen her hump it out on a trail like that before. She was bitching on the way in to the blind but not a peep was heard outta her on the way out. You can drop me off right in the middle of them for all I care. Bring it on.

CBCS!

Police K-9 found dead in patrol car

MADISONVILLE, Texas - Madisonville Police and the Texas Rangers are investigating the death of a K-9 officer, according to a report by KBTX.

Baron, a Belgian Malinois, was found dead Friday in the back of his handler's patrol car. He had served with Madisonville PD since June 2012. The dog was used for tracking, narcotics detection, and fugitive apprehension. His body was transported to the Texas A&M Veterinary School for an autopsy.

The department asked the Texas Rangers to conduct an independent investigation.

Chief Chuck May calls the death a "tragic accident" and says "policies and procedures are being reviewed to see what we can do to prevent incidents such as this from taking place in the future."

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And by "tragic" he means "it's tragic it wasn't a citizen that did this so they could bust out his windows, write him thousands of dollars in tickets, bring him up on animal cruelty charges, and go arrest him in their APC with the SWAT team"

Dick heads... 

Texas Police Prepare to Defend International Bridges From Militia Groups

 

 

MISSION, Texas -- Authorities prepare to use “whatever force is necessary” to defend international bridges between Texas and Mexico from U.S. based militia groups. The preparations by Texas law enforcement agencies are in response to recently discovered plans by militia groups to attempt closing several international bridges. The militia groups' plans are intended to be protests against the federal government's failure to secure the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The plans call for militia groups to begin blocking traffic on an undisclosed number of international bridges in the Rio Grande Valley on Sept. 20th, 2014.

 

“We will not allow these groups to disrupt the economic commerce of our region and we are prepared to use force to keep the bridges open,” said one law enforcement officer who spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity. The officer explained that the bridges are not symbols of illegal immigration, but rather, they are vital parts of the local economy. “We cannot allow them to be shut down by lawless behavior from people who claim to be promoting the rule of law.”

Breitbart Texas spoke with several law enforcement professionals about whether the reported plans by militia groups to close the bridges were true and, if so, what the law enforcement response to the planned incidents would be. All of the agencies with officers who spoke with Breitbart Texas explained they believe the threat to be credible. The officers indicated that local, state, and federal law enforcement are working together to deliver an appropriate response. 

“The international bridges are federal property,” said another confidential source. “We will back up the agents of the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol in defending these properties and make sure the lawful flow of people and commerce continues.”

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I know a few local dudes that are going down there doing patrols currently. I have been asked to join them and go for 3 day rotations on some Texas ranches along the border. Fuck it, I'm down... 

We only get one life on this Earth. It has to mean something. In the end I refuse to be a sick old man saying "man I should've way back when"...

Check this out... The Cartels have been marking up the border fence and our local guys have been marking over their shit with their own Patriotic message.

 

Despite wounds, Medal of Honor recipient killed up to 175 enemies, saved comrades

(CNN) -- As many as 175 enemy troops killed, 18 wounds from enemy fire, 38 hours of battle, 48 hours evading the North Vietnamese troops in the bush -- and one tiger. Those are the numbers behind Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins' Medal of Honor, an award he received from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony Monday.

Adkins of Opelika, Alabama, was honored for his actions in Vietnam's A Shau Valley more than 48 years ago. Then a 32-year-old sergeant first class, Adkins was among a handful of Americans working with troops of the South Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Group at Camp A Shau when the camp was attacked by a large North Vietnamese and Viet Cong force on March 9, 1966, according to an Army report.

"Adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position defending the camp," the Army report says. "He continued to mount a defense even while incurring wounds from several direct hits from enemy mortars. Upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp, he temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier, ran through exploding mortar rounds and dragged several comrades to safety. As the hostile fire subsided, Adkins exposed himself to sporadic sniper fire and carried his wounded comrades to a more secure position."

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"The Army says Adkins killed 135 to 175 enemy soldiers during the Camp A Shau battle. He suffered 18 wounds during the 86-hour ordeal."

I think this wallet should become a standard issue to anyone awarded The Medal of Honor... 

Now this is cool

The Beer Tree...

 

Laws be like

Yessir, Mr Tyson Sir! 

N-N-N-Now calm down Mike, no need to be like that...

Stance and reputation are everything...

A cold front in Texas ya say?

I'm no Columbo, but I know a grid pattern when I see it...

Russia And Iran Put Oil-For-Goods Deals Into Motion

Russia-Iran Oil-for-Goods Contracts
 
Representatives of the Russian and Iranian governments met in Tehran yesterday for the 11th meeting of the Iran-Russian Trade Council, where details of a ground breaking oil-for-goods swap between the two heavily sanctioned countries were revealed.

With both countries now sanctioned by the West, Russia and Iran have been in extensive negotiations on how to facilitate Iranian oil exports without breaching the UN Security Council nuclear deal that was agreed between Iran, Germany and the five UN Council permanent last January.

Sanctions on Iran had reduced Iranian oil production from 2.5 million barrels per day (BPD) down to between 1 million - 1.5 million BPD. Under the UN’s nuclear deal, Iran can only now export up to 1 million BPD. Iran has the world’s 4th largest oil reserves and both Russia and Iran are large producers and exporters of oil.

On August 5, Russia and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on oil-for-goods exchanges under which Russia could take 500,000 BPD of Iranian oil exports in returns for providing goods, services and equipment to Iran. This deal was said by Russian media to have been directly negotiated previously by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Yesterday in Tehran, details of one of these oil-for-goods deals became apparent, when an oil-for-power-plants was announced as part of a wide ranging economic cooperation agreement that was signed between the two parties. The trade agreement is said to be worth up to €70 billion.

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This is important.

Introducing the SackPack

Iconic Bond Villain Richard Kiel Dead at 74

 

 

If memory serves, although certain arch-villains like Blofeld returned time and again, Richard Kiel's steel-toothed Jaws is the only henchman to enjoy a return engagement in the 50 year James Bond franchise. And why not? I was 11 the summer the spectacular "Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) hit theaters, already a big Bond fan, and loved the 7-foot-2, (7 feet 1.5 inches, if you want to be picky) shark-eating menace. 

 

Kiel was the reason, too. Size alone won't earn you a 50 year career. You gotta bring something more, which is what Kiel did to all his roles, especially Jaws. There was a humanity there, something more than brute force. For the first time The Last Gorilla Between Bond And Victory gave off the impression that he was more than just muscle. 

There are reports Kiel turned down the role of Darth Vader to play Jaws. Good call. 

Two years later in "Moonraker" (1979), which (if you count admissions) is still one of the most commercially successful Bond movies of all-time, Jaws was given a full character arc and love interest. Kiel was more than up to the task and rightfully earned his status as an American cultural icon. 

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I flat out loved getting to stay up late as a young man to watch James Bond with the Men in my family. It was always a treat getting to a see little skin and watch Bond do his smooth operator bit on the ladies. Pure Player. 

RIP Big Man.