Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Combating the threat

In recent years, we’ve built a whole new set of technological and investigative capabilities and partnerships—so we’re as comfortable chasing outlaws in cyberspace as we are down back alleys and across continents. That includes:

  • A Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters “to address cyber crime in a coordinated and cohesive manner”;

  • Specially trained cyber squads at FBI headquarters and in each of our 56 field offices, staffed with “agents and analysts who protect against investigate computer intrusions, theft of intellectual property and personal information, child pornography and exploitation, and online fraud”;

  • New Cyber Action Teams that “travel around the world on a moment’s notice to assist in computer intrusion cases” and that “gather vital intelligence that helps us identify the cyber crimes that are most dangerous to our national security and to our economy;”

  • Our 93 Computer Crimes Task Forces nationwide that “combine state-of-the-art technology and the resources of our federal, state, and local counterparts”;

  • A growing partnership with other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and others—which share similar concerns and resolve in combating cyber crime.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Heave for victory

Battles fought for sports carnival glory during Kapyong week

COMPETITION was hot during 3RAR�s recent Kapyong week sports carnival, which featured three sporting events � an athletics carnival, a swimming carnival and a battalion cross-country run.

With A Fd Bty invited to compete, unit pride was at stake, which only added to the competitiveness of 3RAR�s companies, who were also eyeing the events precious points to add to their scores for champion company at the end of the year.

But XO 3RAR Maj Kahlil Fegan said it wasn�t all about winning, and enjoying the day was equally important.

�The main objective of the sporting activities is to develop a bit of group and team cohesion in a sporting and physical environment,� he said.

�The competitions also do wonders for the morale of the soldiers as they can be quite enjoyable and highly contested.�

Kapyong week and preparation for the Kapyong parade is the only time in the battalion�s training cycle when all its soldiers are in the battalion � making up two full company groups (250-300 on parade).

It was a busy couple of days, according to Maj Gavin Keating, sports officer 3RAR, �but really the guys who did all the work were the officers who ran each of the events�.

Capt Tim Wakeling, A Bty 4 Fd Regt, ran the cross-country with more than 120 participating. Lt James Donohoe, B Coy, ran the athletics, and Lt Gavin Rudrum, mortar pl, ran the swimming carnival.

Maj Keating said the sports carnival was a great opportunity for the soldiers to get together in their company groups and compete against other companies.

He described the carnival as a critical step in building esprit de corps within the battalion। �That�s what being a soldier is all about: not everyone needs to be a star athlete, it�s not about athleticism, it�s about toughness on the battlefield,� he said।What we look for are people who are determined, who don�t give up � not necessarily people who can run the fastest. What we are looking for is battlefield toughness and things like the tug-of-war bring that out.�

Maj Keating said the airborne battle group was a very close-knit team and 3RAR considered A Fd Bty one of its own.

He said he understood A Fd Bty liked to maintain its own distinction, but that 3RAR enjoyed the best working relationship with any field battery in the Army.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

RED MULBERRY - Morus rubra, Linn

ORIGINALLY THIS WAS OUR only mulberry in Missouri. However, early settlers introduced the white or Russian mulberry and cultivated them both for their berries and as fodder for an attempted silkworm industry. Birds have helped spread the white mulberry so much that in many places it is more common than red mulberry. Early explorers found Choctaw squaws wearing capes woven from pounded red mulberry bark. The fruits were also an important food source for Indians.

Man, in the past and present, has used the mulberries for fresh fruit, jams, wine, and even ink. The Chinese made the first paper from trees, using the fibers of the inner bark of mulberry.The leaf may or may not be lobed. It is heart-shaped, 2 to 4 inches wide and coarsely toothed on the edges. White mulberry leaves are similar but smaller and shinier.The bark on older trunks somewhat resembles that of elm. With age it becomes gray-brown and slightly furrowed.

The fruit looks like a blackberry. It turns from green to red to blue-black when fully ripe. Birds flock to these trees when the fruit is ripe. If a squirrel hunter can find a heavily fruited tree in the spring he is almost assured of squirrels.

It is a small tree seldom exceeding 30 feet in height and 8 inches in diameter. Usually it grows in narrow valleys and on lower north and east slopes. White mulberry, on the other hand, may sometimes grow to a height of 50 feet and 16 inches in diameter. It is becoming common in bottomlands and is usually the mulberry seen around towns.

The twigs of red mulberry are moderately stout and zigzagged on new growth. The buds are larger than on white mulberry and have a two-toned appearance with green and brown bud scales.Since the tree is so small it has little commercial use. It is very durable, tough and makes good fence posts. Game species of wildlife and songbirds find it extremely valuable. Turkeys, grouse, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, foxes, and even skunks eat the berries as do scores of songbirds.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Vitamin E Enhances Elders' Immune Systems

Long-term nursing home residents who took 200 International Units (IU) of vitamin E daily for one year were 20 percent less likely to catch colds or other upper respiratory infections than peers who took a four-IU capsule of this essential nutrient. The federally recommended upper limit for vitamin E is 1,500 IUs a day

Because of seniors' highly vulnerable immune systems, upper respiratory infections pose a greater health threat to them than to most other age groups.

Researchers studied the weekly health reports of 617 men and women, all over age 65, who participated in the vitamin E study. The scientists, based at the ARS Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, Mass., reported their results in a 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.Foods rich in vitamin E include sunflower seeds, almonds, wheat germ and leafy green vegetables.