Archive for December, 2012

ARAK Upper To Go Into Production In Early 2013

From Guns.com:

The AR part is that it’s made to work with AR-15 lowers, but the upper is built around a long-stroke gas piston system like those used in Kalashnikov rifles. It also draws from the FAL deck with the type of adjustable gas regulator it uses.

Faxon Firearms does not have a website up yet, but they do have a Facebook page.

, , , , , , ,

No Comments

HSBC Bank Admits to Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Violations, Forfeits $1.256 Billion

From FBI:

HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC Group)—a United Kingdom corporation headquartered in London—and HSBC Bank USA N.A. (HSBC Bank USA) (together, HSBC)—a federally chartered banking corporation headquartered in McLean, Virginia—have agreed to forfeit $1.256 billion and enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department for HSBC’s violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA).

, , , ,

No Comments

Court Strikes Down Illinois’s Concealed Carry Law

From Chicago-Sun Times:

In a huge win for gun-rights groups, a divided federal appeals court in Chicago Tuesday tossed the state’s ban on carrying concealed weapons and gave Illinois’ Legislature 180 days to craft a law legalizing concealed carry.

, , , , , ,

No Comments

SVD Dragunov

, , ,

No Comments

Eco-Terrorist Surrenders

From FBI:

After a decade as an international fugitive, Canadian citizen Rebecca Rubin turned herself over to the FBI last week for her alleged role in the largest eco-terrorism case in U.S. history. Two more fugitives are still at large.

, , ,

No Comments

Al Assad’s Last Stand

Al Assad’s Last Stand is republished with permission of Stratfor.”

By Omar Lamrani

The battle for Damascus is raging with increasing intensity while rebels continue to make substantial advances in Syria’s north and east. Every new air base, city or town that falls to the rebels further underlines that Bashar al Assad’s writ over the country is shrinking. It is no longer possible to accurately depict al Assad as the ruler of Syria. At this point, he is merely the head of a large and powerful armed force, albeit one that still controls a significant portion of the country.

The nature of the conflict has changed significantly since it began nearly two years ago. The rebels initially operated with meager resources and equipment, but bolstered by defections, some outside support and their demographic advantage, they have managed to gain ground on what was previously a far superior enemy. Even the regime’s qualitative superiority in equipment is fast eroding as the rebels start to frequently utilize main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, rocket and tube artillery and even man-portable air-defense systems captured from the regime’s stockpiles.

Weary and stumbling, the regime is attempting to push back rebel forces in and near Damascus and to maintain a corridor to the Alawite coast while delaying rebel advances in the rest of the country. Al Assad and his allies will fight for every inch, fully aware that their power depends on the ability of the regime forces to hold ground.  Read the rest of this entry »

, , , , ,

No Comments

Standard Chartered Bank Agrees to Forfeit $227 Million for Illegal Transactions with Iran, Sudan, Libya, and Burma

From FBI:

Standard Chartered Bank, a financial institution headquartered in London, has agreed to forfeit $227 million to the Justice Department for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The bank has agreed to the forfeiture as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department and a deferred prosecution agreement with the New York County District Attorney’s Office for violating New York state laws by illegally moving millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on behalf of sanctioned Iranian, Sudanese, Libyan, and Burmese entities. The bank has also entered into settlement agreements with the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

, , , , , , , ,

No Comments

Alabama Men Arrested on Terrorism Charges

Alabama Men Arrested on Terrorism Charges

U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama and Stephen E. Richardson, Special Agent in Charge of the Mobile Division of the FBI, announced that Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair, 25, and Randy Wilson, also known as Rasheed Wilson, 25, both U.S. citizens living in Mobile, were arrested today on terrorism charges filed in the Southern District of Alabama.

, ,

No Comments

National Security leaks from the Obama Administration

These Intelligence and Special Operations Professionals were mocked, ignored and belittled by the National Media this summer when much of this activity was revealed.

From: OPSECTeam via YouTube

Intelligence and Special Operations forces are furious and frustrated at how President Obama and those in positions of authority have exploited their service for political advantage. Countless leaks, interviews and decisions by the Obama Administration and other government officials have undermined the success of our Intelligence and Special Operations forces and put future missions and personnel at risk.

The unwarranted and dangerous public disclosure of Special Forces Operations is so serious — that for the first time ever — former operators have agreed to risk their reputations and go ‘on the record’ in a special documentary titled “Dishonorable Disclosures.” Its goal is to educate America about serious breaches of security and prevent them from ever happening again.

Use of military ranks, titles & photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement of the Dept of the Army or the Department of Defense. All individuals are no longer in active service with any federal agency or military service.

, , , , , ,

No Comments

Google Accidentally Transmits Self-Destruct Code to Army of Chrome Browsers

From: Wired Enterprise

Google’s Gmail service went down for about 20 minutes on Monday. That was annoying, but not exactly unprecedented. These sorts of outages happen all the time. What was strange is that the Gmail outage coincided with widespread reports that Google’s Chrome browser was also crashing.

Late Monday, Google engineer Tim Steele confirmed what developers had been suspecting. The crashes were affecting Chrome users who were using another Google web service known as Sync, and that Sync and other Google services — presumably Gmail too — were clobbered Monday when Google misconfigured its load-balancing servers.

more

, , , , , ,

No Comments

LPD-17 San Antonio Class

From Defense Industry Daily:

LPD-17 San Antonio class amphibious assault support vessels are just entering service with the US Navy, and 11 ships of this class are eventually slated to replace up to 41 previous ships. Much like their smaller predecessors, their mission is to embark, transport, land, and support elements of a US Marine Corps Landing Force. The difference is found in these ships’ size, their cost, and the capabilities and technologies used to perform those missions. Among other additions, this new ship is designed to operate the Marines’ new MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, alongside the standard well decks for hovercraft and amphibious armored personnel carriers.

, , ,

No Comments

Middle East Most Serious Threat to U.S.

, , , ,

No Comments

Navy Sailor Indicted With Espionage

Robert P Hoffman II, a former U.S. Navy sailor has been charged with attempted espionage after he tried to deliver classified documents to what he believed were individuals working for the Russian Federation. Details

, , , , , ,

No Comments

The Marine’s IAR

From Small Arms Defense Journal:

Like most any significant change to the status quo, the SAW-replacement process has been difficult as various factions have made their often contentious positions known.  Details of this struggle within the Corps, spanning more than two dozen years, will be provided in Part 2.

, , , , , ,

No Comments

US Agents Banned From Using Firearms While Assisting Mexican Authorities

From Fox News:

U.S. agents on assignment in Mexico, where they are helping the local authorities go after violent drug cartels, are not allowed to carry weapons for their own protection, a situation that one lawmaker says could turn into “another Benghazi.”

President Obama gave tacit approval to Mexico’s prohibition against U.S. agents carrying weapons in March 2011, following the ambush killing of ICE agent Jaime Zapata and the wounding of his partner, Victor Avilla.

, , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments