Raw video during CYBER SHOCKWAVE.

Former high-level government officials participated in “Cyber ShockWave.” The event featured a full-day simulation of an attack on the U.S.’s mobile and Internet-based communications infrastructure.

Read more from The Cardinal …

TERROR CONCERNS AND ARRESTS BRING ‘ADJUSTMENTS’ TO PUBLIC AGENCIES AND PRIVATE COMPANIES

The Chicago Bears adjusted the list of items not allowed Bears games at Soldier Field to create the safest environment possible as recommended by the NFL. The adjustments are implemented about two weeks after two bulletins were sent to police departments on Monday, September 21, 2009 on concerns regarding terrorist’s desires to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels. The two bulletins apparently followed similar warnings regarding mass transit facilities.

The warnings came amid an investigation centering on Najibullah Zazi, 24, a Denver airport shuttle driver who authorities say received al-Qaeda explosives training in Pakistan and was found entering New York City two weeks ago with bomb-making instructions on his computer. Zazi claimed he accidentally downloaded the bomb-making instructions when he were searching for religious information on the Internet. Backpacks and cell phones were seized in raids on apartments Zazi visited in New York. Federal authorities allege Zazi, 24, tried to make explosives from beauty supply products purchased at Denver-area stores. Zazi reportedly told an inquisitive beauty store clerk he needed a large amount of cosmetic chemicals because he had “lots of girlfriends.” The clerk had a gut feeling something wasn’t right, but did not report anything to police.

The new items that are banned or scrutinized as part of the adjustments include the following effective October 4, 2009:
Any size backpack
Fanny packs/Hip packs/’man bags’
Duffel bags
Purses larger than 12″ X 12″ X 12″
Non-fitting, oversized camera cases
All other types of bags, regardless of size

Allowed after inspection:
Purses smaller than 12″ X 12″ X 12″
Diaper bags (with related items)
Medical bags
Clear zip-lock bags for personal food
Clear Bears Pro Shop bags with merchandise from stadium
Cameras (6″ lens max) and binoculars in fit-to-size case
Above items must fit into 12″ X 12″ template box at gate

Here is the full list of prohibited items listed on the official website of the Chicago Bears — chicagobears.com on October 4, 2009 …
Alcoholic beverages
Backpacks of any size
Bags, cases and purses larger than 12” x 12” x 12”
Fanny packs
Balloons and beach balls
Cameras with lenses longer than 6”
Cans, bottles or other beverage containers
Clothing or signage with offensive or vulgar language
Confetti
Coolers
Fireworks, smoke bombs
Ice chests
Illegal drugs
Laser pens and pointers
Noise-making devices (i.e., horns, whistles, etc.)
Poles to display banners or flags
Strollers
Umbrellas
Video or movie cameras
Weapons
Any other items deemed to be dangerous or inappropriate
Items permitted into the stadium, but subject to inspection include:
Diaper bags
Extra-clothing bags – clear plastic only
Small Camera/binocular cases

No Direct Threat, Police Nationwide More Proactive, Too
Counterterrorism officials have advised police departments to be on the lookout for any possible bomb-making at self-storage facilities. Terrorists have used self-storage facilities to build bombs.

In New York police presence has increased at transit agencies and police have extra officers with bulletproof vests, rifles and dogs assigned to spots such as Grand Central Terminal. At hotels, plainclothes officers handed out fliers with bold headers: “If you suspect terrorism, call the NYPD.”

Major Cities Police Chiefs Association Endorse iWatch
Los Angeles police Chief William Bratton and Police Cmdr. Joan McNamara have developed a 21st century version of Neighborhood Watch, known as iWatch, which is endorsed by police chiefs from 63 of the largest police departments in the United States and Canada. McNamara affirms that iWatch would have provided a systematic and valid way for that Colorado store clerk and others to report suspicious activity so police could launch investigations sooner. iWATCH is a community awareness program created to educate the public about behaviors and activities that may have a connection to terrorism. The program has compiled a list of (1) examples of suspicious behaviors and activities to report and (2) important places to watch.

Suspicious Behaviors and Activities
People drawing or measuring important buildings.
Strangers asking questions about security or building security procedures.
Briefcase, suitcase, backpack, or package left behind.
Cars or trucks left in No Parking zones in front of important buildings.
Intruders in secure areas where they are not supposed to be.
A person wearing clothes that are too big and too hot for the weather.
Chemical smells or fumes that worry you.

People asking questions about sensitive information such as building blueprints, security plans, or VIP travel schedules without a right or need to know.

Purchasing supplies or equipment that can be used to make bombs or weapons or purchasing uniforms without having the proper credentials.

Important Places to Watch
Government buildings
Religious facilities
Amusement parks
Sports/Entertainment venues
High-rise buildings
Mass-gathering locations—parades, fairs, etc.
Schools
Hotels
Theaters
Shopping malls
Bridges
Public transportation

The alerts come at a time when anti-terrorism experts held an emergency meeting to discuss a new method of terrorism revealed August 28, 2009 — a bomb hidden in terrorist’s intestines. Abdullah al-Asiri, an al-Qaeda terrorist and one of Saudi Arabia’s most wanted men, offered to give himself up to Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, the head of Saudi Arabia’s counter terrorism operations. Asiri also offered to urge other terrorists to surrender. During a conversation between the prince and the terrorist, a bleep was heard between two identical phrases repeated by the bomber and an apparent militant he was claiming to help surrender on the other end of a cellphone connection. The keypad sound or text message may have activated a short fuse on the bomb that exploded 14 seconds later, according to security experts. The explosion blew Asiri to pieces and left his left arm embedded in the ceiling, but did not kill Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef. The issues regarding detection of this type of explosive terrorism have security experts alarmed.

See also …
iwatchla.org
tlo.org
majorcitieschiefs.org
Telegraph.co.uk: New al-Qaeda ‘body bombs’ that can beat airport security are alarming terror experts

Preparedness is the management of personal, home and business practices that involve being ready for specific or unexpected emergencies, disasters, events or other situations. Preparedness involves minimizing risk (Risk Management) and minimizing actual damage when unavoidable situations occur (Disaster Recovery). Preparedness in a personal and family domain involves storage of water, food and supplies that might be used if prolonged interruption of products and services would occur after a crisis event.

Preparedness also involves many other possibilities or more extreme situations (Survivalism), such as having an evacuation plan, developing skills to prepare food, hunting, fishing, cultivating crops, living in low population areas to avoid fighting or competition of limited resources, and self-defense (including weapons).

Business preparedness often involves communications with customers and emergency plans (Business Continuity Plan) with internal resources and vendors, such as emergency electric power to restore refrigeration at a grocery store when prolonged power interruption occurs after severe weather.

Many specific preparedness plans exist, such as Earthquake Preparedness, Hurricane Preparedness, Tornado Preparedness, Epidemic Infection Preparedness, and Civil Defense.

A biography of James Wesley Rawles, a survivalist, has been deleted from Wikipedia for lack of notability and outside sources (Delete: nonnotable selfpublished author, no reliable sources to show notability).

James Wesley publishes a preparedness and survivalist blog — Survivalblog.com. He has also authored books on survivalism in fiction and non-fiction categories. Following is a Google cache of the last available Wikipedia biography of James Wesley Rawles.

James Wesley Rawles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Wesley Rawles (born 1960) is a non-fiction author, survivalist-fiction author, economist, blogger, and survival retreat consultant. He is known as an expert on how to survive major social and economic changes or catastrophes that could go on for years or decades, which is something he predicts will happen.^[1] Rawles is a Christian who regards himself as a conservative, constitutionalist libertarian.^[2]

History

Rawles was born in Livermore, California in 1960 and received a BA degree from San Jose State University. He was a United States Army Military Intelligence officer, serving from 1984 to 1993. He resigned his commission as an army Captain, immediately after Bill Clinton was sworn in as President of the United States. Rawles worked as an Associate Editor with Defense Electronics magazine in the late 1980s, and was the managing editor of The C3I Handbook and The International Countermeasures Handbook. He worked as a technical writer through most of the 1990s with a variety of California and Nevada companies including DAZIX, Grass Valley Group, Oracle Corporation, and Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). In 2005 he began full-time blogging. Sometime after 2001 he relocated to a remote ranch at an undisclosed location “Somewhere West of the Rockies”. ^[2]

He once owned a British “Ferret” Mk IV Scout Car. ^[3]

He is now a freelance writer, blogger and retreat consultant. His children are home schooled.^[2]

Survivalism Proponent

Rawles is an outspoken proponent of family preparedness, especially regarding food storage and his advocacy of relocating to lightly populated rural “retreat” areas.

Rawles was one of the many individuals warning about possible disasters related to the Year 2000 problem (Y2K).^[4][5][6]

Rawles credits Mel Tappan as the primary influence in the development of his survivalist philosophy as well as the impetus for launching SurvivalBlog.com.^[7]. Rawles has been called “The intellectual heir of Mel Tappan”, and has been described as “…the survivalist voice of reason, following in the footsteps of Mel Tappan.” ^[8]

Rawles was quoted by the New York Times in April of 2008 that “interest in the survivalist movement ‘is experiencing its largest growth since the late 1970s’”. He also stated that his blog’s conservative core readership has been supplemented with “an increasing number of stridently green and left-of-center readers.”^[9]

Economic Predictions

In a Usenet post in February of 2001, Rawles fairly accurately called the bottom of the two-decade long bear market in the price of silver that had brought silver down from a high of $50 per ounce, to under $5 per ounce.^[10] In the post, Rawles mentioned a low of $4.25 per ounce. It actually bottomed just a few months later (intraday) at $4.03 per ounce.^[11]

As of January, 2008, Rawles stills sees silver and gold in “primary bull markets.”

Rawles predicts a deep recession or possibly a depression in the near future, triggered by a housing market collapse and an “implosion” of global credit and the derivatives market.^[12]

SurvivalBlog

Rawles is the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, a very widely-read daily blog on survival and preparedness topics. According to its statistics page, it has more than 65,000 unique visitors per week.^[13] In his blog writings, Rawles recommends that investors put at least 25% of their portfolios into gold, silver, and barter goods. He also advises his blog readers to store four year’s supply of food^[14] in preparation for future hard times, and establish survival retreats. Rawles believes (as of his 2005-2008 writings) that the United States is headed for a hyperinflationary economic depression. Rawles favors the abolition of the fractional-reserve banking system, and a return to the gold standard. Rawles is also a proponent of Home schooling.

Books

His first book, Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse, a novel, was first released in 1998. It is set in the near future and describes a period of hyperinflation and a socio-economic collapse. While it is a fictional story, it is essentially a method to teach survival techniques in an interesting manner.^[15] It was re-released in December, 2006 in expanded form.

His second book, Rawles on Retreats and Relocation, was non-fiction. It describes how to geographically select a survival retreat and stock it with key logistics.

His third book, SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog, Volume 1, was non-fiction. It is a compendium of posts and letters from the first six months of SurvivalBlog.

He also authored an action-adventure screenplay, loosely based on his novel Patriots.

Rawles also co-authored the Rawles Gets You Ready preparedness course, released in August, 2006. He is also the author of numerous Internet FAQs, primarily on firearms topics.

Books

• Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse from Huntington House Publishers, ISBN 978-1563841552 (November 1998)
• Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse (33 chapter expanded edition) from Xlibris, ISBN 978-1425734077 (December 2006)
• Rawles on Retreats and Relocation from CafePress, No ISBN (January 2007)
• SurvivalBlog: The Best of the Blog, Volume 1 from CafePress, No ISBN (February 2007)

Screenplays

• Pulling Through (A feature-length action-adventure “spec” screenplay) WGAw (WGA script registration service) #714352 (April, 2007) ^[16]

Courseware

• Rawles Gets You Ready from Arbogast Publishing, No ISBN (August 2006)

Articles

Some Internet FAQs and Reference Articles by Rawles.^[17]

• AR-15 Magazine FAQ ^[18]
• M1 Carbine Magazine FAQ ^[19]
• M1911 Magazine FAQ
• M14/M1A Magazine FAQ
• The FN/FAL & L1A1 FAQ
• The Mauser Bolt Rifle FAQ
• The Pre-1899 Antique Guns FAQ
• European Ammo Box Translations (editor)
• Noncorrosive Priming Information for U.S. Military Small Arms Ammunition(editor)
• Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic
• Recommended Retreat Areas
• Retreat Owner Profiles
• Survival Gun Selection
• Derivatives
• The National Animal Identification System (NAIS)
• Peak Oil: Implications for Preparednes
  s and Self-Sufficiency

Other articles by Rawles:

• James Wesley, Rawles on Survival Fire Arms: The End of the World as We Know It at Y2KChaos

See also

• Survivalism
• Retreat (survivalism)
• Survival kit
• Survival skills

References