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Because of the heavy task of the "blue sky defense war" in Zhengzhou, it should be said that we have seen obvious progress and effects when we see the clear autumn air in Zhengzhou He Kebin, an academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering and professor of the school of environment of Tsinghua University, said at the 2020 annual meeting of the ecological civilization education research branch of the Chinese society of higher education on 19 May, the "blue sky defense war" needs a virtuous cycle, and at present it needs the collaborative governance of PM2.5 and ozone
On the same day, the 2020 annual meeting of ecological civilization education research branch of China Association of higher education was held in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The annual meeting was sponsored by the research branch of ecological civilization education of China Association of higher education and Zhengzhou University. The theme of the conference was "ecological civilization construction and regional innovation and development". More than 150 experts and scholars from all over the country attended the meeting.
During the meeting, experts and scholars focused on the theme of the conference, respectively on "thinking and suggestions on Ecological Civilization Education in the 14th five year plan" and "ecological civilization construction and comprehensive green transformation" under the new background, and put forward the frontier status and exploration direction of ecological civilization construction in China in terms of ideology, theory, practice and mode, which fully mobilized the participants Explore enthusiasm.
He Kebin pointed out in his report "a new journey of ecological civilization construction: blue sky defense under carbon neutral target". He Kebin pointed out that the content of ecological civilization construction is very rich. People now like to use "blue sky defense war" when talking about air pollution control. However, in the "blue sky defense war", ozone pollution has begun to take off.
"Why did I mention Zhengzhou? Because the pressure in Zhengzhou is very high, but in the heating period, this effect can still appear, which proves that the basic emission reduction has certain effect, but the concentration of ozone is rising continuously He Kebin said. "A lot of people ask why ozone is rising? From the perspective of emission reduction, it is the proportion of NOx and VOC synergy, which is relatively difficult in terms of technology and supervision, so it will lead to such a situation. At present, more and more blue sky can be seen, mainly due to the reduction of sulfur dioxide and PM2.5, but the reduction of nitrogen oxides is slow, and the reduction of volatile organic compounds is too small. "
Therefore, the "blue sky defense war" needs the collaborative governance of PM2.5 and ozone, that is, the coordination of atmospheric environment and climate management. "If this is achieved, the" blue sky defense war "will embark on a virtuous cycle of development
In addition, the meeting summarized the latest research results in the field of ecological civilization construction in China, discussed many innovative exploration paths, strengthened the influence of ecological civilization construction at home and abroad, and effectively promoted the exchange and cooperation between Chinese higher education institutions.
"I think for different social individuals, ecological civilization has penetrated into everyone's heart, and we all have the responsibility to build a beautiful China." Niu Wentao, an associate professor at Zhengzhou University's School of tourism management, said.


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New fire detection technology could help producers detect fire events early on in poultry houses, prevent bird loss and reduce insurance costs for the industry.
Current smoke detector systems are not able to reliably operate in layer houses, especially cage-free environments, due to the amount of dust in the air, leading to a high failure rate, explained Brandon Mulnix, Prism Controls director, commercial accounts, at the 2023 Poultry Tech Summit.
Additionally, standard sprinkler systems are difficult to incorporate into a poultry house due to obstructions that would prevent the water from reaching a fire, limited water supply in house locations and temperature limits in houses that producers preset.
“Fire sprinklers are designed to works at a ceiling temperature of 135˚ F (57˚ C) or greater. Poultry house environmental systems automatically turn on fans at 90-95˚ F (32-35˚ C), which fuels a fire,” explained Mulnix.
Smoke detection is key to preventing loss
Prism Control’s ThERM system is designed to detect smoke in layer barns and override a barn’s ventilation system when smoke is detected to prevent fueling a fire with oxygen.
The smoke detector technology uses air samples to detect smoke through sensors. After detecting smoke particles, it notifies the designated farm employee with an alert and calls the local fire department. The sensors are placed strategically throughout the house in areas where fires are most likely to start, such as near heaters, motors or other electrical sources.
The fire department and employees are notified of the smoke alarm before the temperature has a chance to rise and cause the fans to cut on, explained Mulnix.
The system integrates with a producer’s existing farm equipment and shuts down the systems that could worsen the potential fire. When triggered, the system gives employees a timeframe to determine whether a risk exists before turning the alert off and the equipment back on.
According to Mulnix, the smoke detector system could help producers reduce insurance costs because the cost of a fire event increases the cost of premiums for the entire industry.
“Farms are struggling to be reinsured at an affordable rate,” Mulnix said.
Mulnix said he hopes that, after more research and testing of the system, insurance companies will consider the system as a form of risk prevention when insuring poultry houses with the detector installed. Currently, the system is only installed in layer houses, but Mulnix hopes to expand into broiler houses soon.

domain: news


Posted: November 6, 2008
OH-15 depends on provisional & other uncounted ballots
According to this Dispatch report, the Republican candidate's lead in ballots counted so far has narrowed to 146. In addition to an unknown number of provisional and absentee ballots that remain to be counted, there are also an estimated 5000 absentee ballots with problems that voters are entitled to fix by Nov. 14. Meanwhile, a separate Dispatch article discusses the possibility that as many as 35,000 Franklin County voters may have been erroneously required to cast provisional rather than regular ballots. A large part of Franklin County lies within the 15th congressional district, so that these ballots potentially could affect its outcome. Also, a legal dispute over the procedures for counting provisional and other questionable ballots is pending in federal district court, as a result of a consolidation Tuesday of two separate lawsuits: NEOCH v. Blackwell and ORP v. Brunner. It took weeks to resolve the 2006 election over this congressional district, and the fight this year may be similarly protracted--although the initial margin of victory is ten times smaller this year than last time.


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Echinamax is a strong purple cone flower (Echinacea purpurea) extract produced from organic purple cone flowers grown in Finland. Echinacea is traditionally used both internally and externally for its anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties, for example to relieve the symptoms of common cold and inflammations.
Extract’s ethanol content approx. 60 %-vol.
How to use:
Adults 10 – 20 drops 2 – 5 times per day with water. For wound treatment several times per day.
Contains no lactose, gluten, sweeteners or yeast.

domain: medical


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Of course, there are other rich kings around. They know the in-depth intricacies of the various businesses they are involved in. Jim Ovia Net Worth: He is a very successful business man before he became the Ooni of Ife.
A very good choice as well for travelers who do not want to miss their flight. This is why they emerged the richest people in Nigeria. Well, this article is going to put all your answers to rest.
Zenith bank has its headquarters in Victoria Island, Nigeria. He was born on the 17th of October In fact, he is said to be the third most influential king in Nigeria presently.
Asides registering hotel business plan in nigeria the richest the CAC, you should find out other bodies that require registration and sort the processes out to avoid unnecessary embarrassment while running your business.
Jimoh Ibrahim runs Nicon the biggest insurance company in Nigeriaand Raymond Dokpesi owns the first indigenous cable network television in Nigeria. Forte said its shares rose in due to new investments in power generation and distribution. It will help improve your profits by great measures.
You cannot see because that is the secret of the business… the entire world is a big market waiting for anybody who knows the rules of the game. The class of your hotel will also determine the part of town your hotel will be situated, a medium class hotel can be situated in a busy part of town while a high class hotel can be situated in a more serene part of town.
He maintains his increasing wealth as the M.
Significantly, he happens to be a vigorous businessman who controls Mondola Group. He is the head of The Ibeto Group, the largest business enterprise from Nnewi, a city unique for its entrepreneurial spirit.
The Dangote Group maintains its prominence by distributing products including salt, cement, sugar, etc. Also, he is reported to have finished an academic programme at Oxford University with an M. If that is the case then, investing in hotel business in Nigeria is one smart move any Nigerian Entrepreneur can make right now.
A lot of people have a strange notion that this business is not profitable, however the proliferation of the sector all over the country has proven these ideas totally wrong, the sector is indeed profitable and practically self-sustaining.
It is also not as capital intensive as the franchise option, since the business can gradually grow into what the business owner desires. A hotel can defined as a commercial establishment which provides accommodation, feeding, and other guest services to customers for a price.
The king was born in15th of October to be precise.
He was born in a business-oriented family. B Lulu Briggs O. Kalu is the chairman of First International Bank Limited. Study the business intently. Meanwhile, this favourable economic growth can be attributed to the massive population contained in Nigeria. The mobile network company has over 24 million users in Nigeria, and also operates in Benin.
He is presently the 51st Ooni of Ife. Emmanuel Ojei Net Worth: Please let me know by leaving a comment below. Orji Uzor Kalu had his oil bloc license and his aviation license revoked; his airline business was grounded and the business accounts of his publishing firm The Sun was frozen, yet he refused to give up.
Do not leave any stone unturned in your study, find out what it takes to run a hotel business, measures to ensure growth and success, how to register, how to handle and relate with customers, etc. Starting Up a Hotel Business in Nigeria At this point it is expedient to discuss the different steps involved in starting up a hotel.
These successful Nigerian entrepreneurs refuse to be held down by their circumstance; instead, they reached out for their inner strength and went for success.
A rich Isoko man may not desire to share his knowledge with young people. Most of the time, these people are classified together with Urobo tribe. Ojei heads a worldwide group of companies whose scope of activities remain diverse and include Construction, Banking, Importation, Sales and services of motor vehicle and Oil.Mike Adenuga is the founder of Globacom in the yearwhich now has more than 27 million subscribers in Nigeria, making it the second largest telecommunication company in the country after South African giant MTN.
Nigeria has its fair share of rich kings and these rich and affluent kings are located in different part of Nigeria, both at the northern and southern parts. In this write-up, you will be enlightened about the 5 richest of these kings. Aliko Dangote was born in to a business oriented household in Kano State, Nigeria.
Unlike many other self-made billionaires, Aliko Dangote was born with a silver spoon. His grand father, Sanusi Dantata, was one of the wealthiest men in West Africa at the time.
Hotel business is one of the most lucrative businesses in Nigeria if you know what you are doing and of course, you are doing it right.
While some people will say it is not that lucrative, I beg to differ except of course if you set it up without doing your research well.
How to Invest in Hotel Business in Nigeria. Darlington Omeh, Business 1 Comment. Share. Tweet. Share +1. 0 Shares. a hotel business can be very challenging but the benefit outweighs the disadvantage, this depends on the type of the prospective hotel as there is need Business Plan.
To invest in hotel business you. Top 4 richest tribes in Nigeria. Before we start our journey towards richest tribe in Nigeria, we may need to settle the criteria for why we choose these .Download

domain: finance


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Nicole Richie shared this snap with her legions of fans
We caught up with NBC star Louise Roe as she plans her up-coming wedding. The dress! The flowers! The invites! We got all the scoop.
Find out all the latest twists and turns evolving on the reality show
Get J.K Hollan's best and worst moments here
J.K. Holland weighs in on Episode Five Living Department Store April 10, 2012

domain: entertainment


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A Comparison Between MRI And CT In The Assessment Of Primary Tumour Volume In Mesothelioma.
Published 2020 · Medicine
INTRODUCTION Primary tumour staging in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) using Computed Tomography (CT) imaging is confounded by perception errors reflecting low spatial resolution between tumour and adjacent structures. Augmentation using perfusion CT is constrained by radiation dosage. In this study, we evaluated an alternative tumour staging method using perfusion-tuned Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). METHODS Consecutive patients with suspected MPM were recruited to a prospective observational study. All had MRI (T1-weighted, isotropic, contrast-enhanced 3-Tesla perfusion imaging) and CT (contrast-enhanced) pre-biopsy. Patients diagnosed with MPM underwent MRI and CT volumetry, with readers blinded to clinical data. MRI volumetry was semi-automated, using signal intensity limits from perfusion studies to grow tumour regions within a pleural volume. A similar CT method was not possible, therefore all visible tumour was manually segmented. MRI and CT volumes were compared (agreement, correlation, analysis time, reproducibility) and associations with survival examined using Cox regression. RESULTS 58 patients were recruited and had MRI before biopsy. 31/58 were diagnosed with MPM and these scans were used for volumetry. Mean (SD) MRI and CT volumes were 370 cm3 and 302 cm3, respectively. MRI volumes were larger (average bias 61.9 cm3 (SD 116), 95 % limits (-165.5 - 289 cm3), moderately correlated with CT (r = 0.56, p = 0.002) and independently associated with survival (HR 4.03 (95 % CI 1.5-11.55), p = 0.006). CT volumes were not associated with survival, took longer to compute than MRI volumes (mean (SD) 151 (19) v 14 (2) minutes, p=<0.0001) and were less reproducible (inter-observer ICC 0.72 for CT, 0.96 for MRI). CONCLUSIONS MRI and CT generate different tumour volumes in MPM. In this study, MRI volumes were larger and were independently associated with survival. MRI volumetry was quicker and more reproducible than CT.


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This post is for an Motor alone, not a vehicle in its entire. Pictures are for REFERENCE purposes only! This ENGINE is sold as a Long BLOCK which consists from the ENGINE BLOCK, CRANKSHAFT, PISTONS, CONNECTING RODS and CYLINDER HEADS. Please feel totally free to contact the engine manufacturer if you have any fitting questions!
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The 9 most standard automobile motor issues uncovered
The engine is the heart of any functioning car. It really is one component of caring for and operating a car on which you simply can not spare on any aspect of it. It's not often basic to figure out what's incorrect with your engine, and fixing it isn't constantly any less complicated either. Verify out the nine most typical difficulties linked with automobile engine failures listed beneath if you suspect that your engine is suffering or, worse nonetheless, has failed absolutely. Thankfully, most engine problems aren't life-threatening and may be fixed inside a short period of time. On the other hand, in the worst-case scenario, a new engine could possibly be essential.
It really is vitally vital that your engine gets adequate oil to help keep all of its moving parts operating correctly. A lack of lubrication will cause unnecessary friction inside the engine, major to overheating and worse still, the engine seizing up. Preserve your automobile maintained regularly, which must incorporate an oil transform regularly to ensure that the oil levels are kept at an optimum level.
Failing oil pump
The breakdown of an oil pump has the possible to reduce the lifespan of any engine considerably. If an oil pump fails it'll nearly definitely starve the engine of necessary lubrication. Your engine oil ought to generally be of a proper viscosity, so that it might flow effortlessly via the pump.
Oil deposits and debris
An engine's spark plugs and intake valves, together with the combustion chambers, may possibly get clogged with deposits and debris if its oil is as well old or unclean to become changed. At your regional mechanic, they'll perform a routine oil filter cleaning to prevent dirt from getting into your vehicle's bearings and causing them to wear out prematurely.
Inadequate fuel and air compression
Poor compression of each fuel and air inside a automobile engine is really a recipe for failure. One of the most common factors for poor engine combustion is because of broken valve seals, holes inside cylinders and overused piston rings, causing air to flow out.
Leaking engine coolant
Leaking cooling fluid is one of the more straightforward engine defects to determine. If engine coolant is continually low when it’s topped up, it’s a sure-fire signal that there is a fault inside the cooling method. The coolant should be maintained clear of debris and deposits at all times as a way to make sure that your engine operates at a secure operating temperature.
Blocked engine radiators
Old engine coolant that is not been kept clean more than time can result in filling your engine’s radiators with undesirable sediment and deposits. Overheating engines are caused by a variety of various aspects. As a way to reduce corrosion of radiators, prevent using tough water inside your cooling system.
Extended engine detonation
The presence of excessive heat inside the combustion chamber of your engine may be the cause of a banging noise you hear while driving. A combination of overheating and high pressures creates engine detonation, also referred to as a spark knock, which can cause long-term harm to pistons, head gaskets and piston rings.
Damaged O2 SensorsD
An inaccurate oxygen sensor is dangerous not merely for your engine but for the rest in the automobile also. If your car's sensor fails to supply precise data on the quantity of oxygen within the exhaust as well as the amount of gasoline or diesel within the tank, you face the danger of inefficient driving and a correspondingly higher price.
Spark plugs which have observed greater days
This concern is particularly prevalent in older automobiles. Spark plugs are meant to begin your car's engine by igniting the compressed gasoline. When a spark plug ages, it produces a poor ignition, which could result in engine misfiring and stop it from turning more than. This can be one more challenge that leads to inefficient fuel economy and may also lead to really serious long-term harm for the engine.
Inside the event your engine is also damaged and has reached the finish of its life, at Used Engine Finder we are able to aid retain your automobile around the road with our massive array of second hand motors. In our supplier's junkyard recycling facilities, these old engines have already been very carefully disassembled ahead of getting completely cleaned and inspected to assure they are roadworthy.


The top boffins at Lumafield are back with another CT scan, revealing why Apple might be able to charge so much money for its Thunderbolt 4 cable in the process.
A USB-C head-to-head comparison of Apple’s $129 cable versus some much cheaper alternatives, such as an Amazon basics USB-C cable, shows that not all USB-C cables are created equal, and brings into sharp focus the nature of the fact that USB-C/Thunderbolt is really only a standard in so much as the plug is the same size.
So why does Apple’s cable cost almost as much as an Apple TV 4K, yet some can be bought for five bucks?
As the report notes, Apple’s cable offers many features, including Thunderbolt 3 and 4 with up to 50Gb/s of data transfer, DisplayPort output, and 100W of power.
“The connector has a hard plastic enclosure; beneath it is a metal shield that’s fully bonded to the shell of the connector — all made of stainless steel,” the scan reveals. “Where the cord leaves the connector, we find a single-piece strain relief crimped in from eight different directions that shields the entire bottom of the assembly.”
Lumafield says Apple has maxed out “on almost every point” of the cable’s design, with 24 pins mounted independently on a 10-layer PCBA, and details such as a detour in one of the circuit boards traces so it matches exactly the length of the other trace its paired with, aiding high-speed data transmission.
The scan also reveals “three distinct types of wires corresponding to its separate charging and data transfer capabilities” with shielding where necessary. Lumafield describes the cable as “a stunning piece of precision engineering.”
When you compare with the cheaper scanned cables, that pricing difference starts to make more sense. In the Amazon Basics USB-C to USB-C cable for example, the strain relief is “much simpler”, there are only 12 pins, not 24, and four pairs of pins “are jumped across rather than individually connected to the PCBA.”
A $5 NiceTQ USB-C cable tested was “much more primitive” than the others, with no metal shielding and only eight pins, of which half weren’t connected to anything.
Strangely, an even cheaper ATYFUER USB-C cable actually boasted a “much more sophisticated” construction, but Apple’s supremacy is clear to see. That still might make the $129 price tag too much for some to stomach, and Apple’s 1m option is a much cheaper alternative at “just” $69, but it's nice to know that you’re getting some decent engineering for your money.
These Thunderbolt 4 cables are vital for connecting devices like Apple’s Studio Display and Pro Display XDR to all of its best MacBooks and desktop models. It can even be used to connect your iPhone 15 Pro to a Mac for speedy data transfer of large files like RAW photos. It’s so snappy that you can even use an iPhone 15 Pro with software like Capture One during a photoshoot.
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Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.
Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9


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Between the 19th and 23rd of July, I had the great privilege to be able to attend the WEEC Conference, held at the Brisbane Convention and Entertainment Centre. I was invited to participate in a workshop by RMIT University, who were part of the School Community Learning Partnerships for Sustainability research project which included Hawkesdale College and 17 other schools on Victoria and Queensland. Our school was one of the case studies, identified as a successful example of school-community partnerships that work towards education for sustainability.
The conference was inspiring, challenging and dynamic, with academic researchers, teachers, government representatives and other stakeholders in environmental education from all over the world. I met people who had attended the 4th WEEC in Durban when I was there four years ago and made some new connections with like-minded educators. One of the highlights was meeting a couple of ladies who work in conservation education in PNG, who explained that, instead of the usual two coffee seasons in a year, a warmer climate has resulted in three or four harvests per year. Which means more money for highland communities, but it also means that some children are taken out of school to help with the coffee picking and more money is spent on alcohol. In addition, mosquitoes are becoming more prevalent in the highlands, due to the changing climate, which has brought malaria into areas that previously were free of the disease.
Another story I found very moving was from a keynote speaker from the Carteract Islands, which are being inundated with seawater as the sea level rises. They have built levies, but the soil is salty and many of the farmers can no longer grow their subsistence crops. So most of the men on the islands have moved to the mainland to find work and left their families behind. In some cases, the only men that visit are from the fishing boats that pass by. Significant numbers of young women on the islands have become pregnant and been disowned from their families, giving birth alone in the city hospital. When a particular young girl was given some money to buy some clothes for her baby, she did not return, leaving the baby in the hospital, because she had no means to look after it. This was a harrowing story and just one example of the unexpected social costs of climate change.
The conference was a timely and informative opportunity to discuss the national curriculum “Earth and Environmental Course” with experts in Education for Sustainability from many different countries and levels of education. On Monday I have been invited to review of the second draft of this course, and I attend with the knowledge gained from the WEEC conference, including perspectives from around the world, and the confidence to put forward my opinions.
Last week we have also had meetings with representatives of the Moyne Shire and AGL Energy, regarding the Macarthur Wind Farm Project – the ‘largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere’ being constructed about 14km from the school. We are proposing a partnership that will provide opportunities for site visits, incursions by expert speakers, work experience, traineeships, apprenticeships and perhaps annual scholarships for students to complete tertiary studies in renewable energy technologies, environmental engineering or similar. There are several large projects planned for the Moyne Shire and surrounding areas, including the Origin Energy gas-fired power plant near Mortlake and another proposed for Tarrone, the Penshurst and Ryan’s Corner wind farms and “Hot Rocks Ltd” are exploring possibilities for geothermal energy in the Hawkesdale and Koroit areas. I am keen to explore opportunities for corporate links and believe that school community partnerships can enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.

domain: sociology


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FRISCO, TX--(Marketwired - January 13, 2016) - OxySure Therapeutics, Inc. (OXYS) ("OxySure," or the "Company"), a global leader and medical device innovator of life-saving, easy-to-use emergency oxygen products with its "oxygen from powder" technology and other innovative medical solutions today announced that Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, a former Director of Ivax Corporation (together with its Chairman Dr. Phil Frost) will be joining OxySure's Strategic Advisory Board effective immediately. Ivax, a marketer of a patented asthma inhaler called Easi-Breathe and other branded respiratory drugs, was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries for $7.4 billion.
Dr. Zachariah is a prominent cardiologist, philanthropist, humanitarian, business and community leader and has been in Private Practice of Clinical and Interventional Cardiology at Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, since 1976. Dr. Zachariah is the President of the Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute, serves as the Section Chief of Cardiology at Holy Cross Hospital, and is currently a Voluntary Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami School of Medicine.
Dr. Zachariah has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Nova Southeastern University since 1993; Treasurer and Member of the Board of the Foundation for Excellence in Education; a member and former President of the Florida Council on Economic Education, a not-for-profit organization that educates students in kindergarten through high school on economic principles to better prepare them for personal and professional success in our free enterprise system; and he is a member of The Florida Council of 100, a statewide organization of business leaders who advise the Governor on issues of public policy.
Dr. Zachariah currently serves on the Florida Board of Medicine, having previously served from 1988 to 1992 and again from 1998 and 2002. He served as Chairman of the Board of Medicine from 1990-1992, from 2001-2002 and again from 2013-2014. From 2003-2010, he served on the Florida Board of Governors which oversees all public universities in the State of Florida; and was Chairman of the Governor's Task Force on the Obesity Epidemic in 2003. He has also served as the President of the American Heart Association - Florida Affiliate and as a Member of the Board of Governors for the Florida Medical Association.
Dr. Zachariah has also served as a member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health from 1990 - 1993, under President George H.W. Bush, and as a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islanders in 2001 - 2005 under President George W. Bush. He also served as Special Advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2002.
Dr. Zachariah has received numerous awards for his humanitarian work, community service, advocacy on behalf of children and his leadership in public health. He was awarded the "Ellis Island Medal of Honor" in 1988; the "Ellis Island American Legends Award" from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundations, Inc.; in 2000 the "George Washington Honor Medal" from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge; and the "Torch of Liberty Award" from the American Jewish Congress. Three Florida Governors, have proclaimed a "Zachariah P. Zachariah Day" in the State of Florida.
Dr. Zachariah graduated from the Armed Forces Medical College in Poona, India; completed a residency in internal medicine at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey, and had a Fellowship in Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. He has performed in excess of 25,000 heart procedures since he started his career at Holy Cross Hospital.
Speaking from the JP Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco Julian Ross, Chairman and CEO of OxySure stated: "We are delighted to have Zach join our team, and we very much look forward to working together to grow our business, enhance shareholder value, improve medical outcomes with our innovative products, and save lives."
Dr. Zachariah commented: "I am pleased to join the OxySure Advisory Board and I look forward to assisting Julian and his team as they develop this business globally. I believe OxySure is a game changer and a no-brainer as a companion product to Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) for post-resuscitation usage by lay rescuers in cardiac arrest events."
About OxySure Therapeutics, Inc.
OxySure Therapeutics, Inc. (OXYS) is a medical technology company that focuses on the design, manufacture and distribution of specialty respiratory and medical solutions. The company pioneered a safe and easy to use solution to produce medically pure (USP) oxygen from inert powders. The company owns numerous issued patents and patents pending on this technology which makes the provision of emergency oxygen safer, more accessible and easier to use than traditional oxygen provision systems. OxySure's products improve access to emergency oxygen that affects the survival, recovery and safety of individuals in several areas of need: (1) Public and private places and settings where medical emergencies can occur; (2) Individuals at risk for cardiac, respiratory or general medical distress needing immediate help prior to emergency medical care arrival; and (3) Those requiring immediate protection and escape from exposure situations or oxygen-deficient situations in industrial, mining, military, or other "Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health" (IDLH) environments. In addition to oxygen products for public/lay responder usage, OxySure also markets emergency medical solutions including AEDs (Cardiac Science, Philips, Zoll, Physio Control, Defibtech, and HeartSine), Quickclot Bleeding Control solutions, resuscitation products and pulse oximetry products. www.OxySure.com


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after David Hockney
There are two of you (you being singular, but in two forms). One of you is
in motion, swimming in marbled light; standing by the pool, one of you is not.
A vision of yourself, or a version, it’s unclear which, cuts through the water.
Perhaps it’s some of both, your likeness caught in a photographic emulsion
that drops to the floor like a shadow (but made of light) severed from its spring.
The figure slows as it bends the path you thought you were on, warm and cool,
a steaming apparition, a morning. The object in the mirror is closer than it appears.
Its arms move when yours stay still; its legs peel apart, electric, under the caress
of reflection, of dispersion. You propel yourself forward even as you stand in place.
Your arms break with a gleam, the dark flash of a blade husking the silk off the quiet
of yourself, moving closer to the figure standing by the pool, standing against the sun,
the way a vine grows new shoots from the same source, changing directions, turning.

domain: artistic


text:
Versailles Vandals Vex Kapoor 'Vagina'
VERSAILLES -- A massive sculpture commonly referred to as "The Queen's Vagina," currently on display outside of Paris in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, was spray-painted with anti-Semitic and royalist graffiti on Saturday night.
Art collectors of Art Kabinett social media network have viewed numerous artistic installations in this regal setting.
Vandals defaced the sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor with anti-Semitic phrases such as "SS blood sacrifice," and "the second rape of the nation by deviant Jewish activism." They also scrawled Catholic and royalist statements on the installation, including "Queen sacrificed, twice insulted," and "Christ is king in Versailles."
Kapoor, a 61-year-old British-Indian artist with Jewish family, announced Sunday he did not want the graffiti cleaned, and that the phrases would become part of the sculpture, which will be on display until November. A spokesman for the palace confirmed the graffiti would be kept intact, as per the artist's wishes.
"From now on, these abominable words will be part of my work, they will transcend it, stigmatize it, in the name of our universal principles," Kapoor told French daily Le Figaro. "I would rather heed the little voice that tells me to forget about the artist and think of the citizen."
Second Vandalism Attempt
The 200-foot long giant funnel made of rusty steel was already vandalized back in June, when the inside of the pipe was splashed with yellow paint. Le Figaro highlighted the anti-Semitic undertones of the June vandalism, suggesting the paint color was a reference to the identifying yellow Star of David badges Jews were forced to wear during World War II.
The official titled for the sculpture is Dirty Corner, and it is one of eight works by Kapoor that have been on display at Versailles since June 9.
In a May 2015 interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, Kapoor described the sculpture as "the queen's vagina taking power," earning the installation its controversial moniker.
Born in Mumbai in 1954, Kapoor moved to London to study art in the 1970s and soon became famous for his abstract geometric monumental sculptures. He is also known for designing Britain's tallest piece of public art, the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower, which was commissioned for the London 2012 Olympics.
Contemporary art installations at Versailles -- France's ode to baroque architecture -- have a habit of stirring up controversy.
In 2008, a man who claimed to be a direct descendant of Louis XIV tried to ban a Jeff Koons exhibition on grounds that the work was disrespectful to his royal ancestors.
Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme eventually lost his case against the organizers of the art show. In 2010, the Versailles, mon amour (Versailles, my love) collective rose up in arms against an exhibit of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami's work.
Institute for International and Strategic Relationships research fellow Jean-Yves Camus said he was confused by the variety of slogans spray-painted onto the sculpture.
"There are a few surprising elements in this case," he said. "The reference to the SS is inconsistent with the rest of the graffiti. Catholic fundamentalists and royalists — whatever you may think of them — are not neo-Nazis."
"The traditional [French] royalist community… does not condone this type of action," said the expert, who also works for the European Center for Research and Action against Racism and Antisemitism (CERA). "Having said that, there are also many small groups, who don't view ideological consistency as a priority."
Camus also highlighted what he called "an avowed hatred" toward modern art by groups on the far right.
"They often base their argument on the notion of a return to the values of our Greek and Roman civilization, where figurative art traditionally embodied beauty," he explained. "In that case, it's more a question of taste."
"But there is also a school of thought that has modern art labeled as deviant art -- a concept entertained by people who think that anything that's not classical art is inherently bad and soul-destroying. And often, people associate deviant art with Jews."
Officers with the urban safety police unit at Versailles are currently investigating the vandalism. Authorities declined to comment on how the vandals were able to gain access to the sculpture. The Palace of Versailles -- like many other French tourist spots -- has seen its security enhanced over the last decade as part of Vigipirate, France's longstanding national security alert system.
French president François Hollande tweeted his "solidarity" to Anish Kapoor on Sunday. Following a visit to the installation Sunday, French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin called the vandalism an "attack on freedom of creation. Unspeakable vandalism and messages of hatred on Anish Kapoor's work at Versailles. Stupidity and violence against culture."
Today's homepage Featured Art Video looks at the Anish Kapoor installation throughout Versailles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqnT7Qkz8fo&sns=em


text:
System Comparison of Hybrid and Fuel Cell Systems to Internal Combustion Engines
Increasing shortages of energy resources as well as emission legislation development is increasing the pressure to develop more efficient, environmentally friendly propulsion systems for vehicles. Alternatives such as fuel cell systems or hybrid propulsion are in discussion or have already been introduced. This paper gives a survey on the present technical status of internal combustion engines, hybrid concepts and current fuel cell vehicles. Different solutions will be presented, so that an evaluation of advantages and drawbacks can be given. The further potentials of each concept, as well as combinations of different systems are discussed, and an outlook into the future is given.

domain: literature


text:
Looking for something else?
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LaRosa Solo Saddle Bag With Fuel Bottle Holder For Triumph Bobber
The La Rosa Solo Saddlebag easily installs on your Triumph Bobber, providing some needed storage space while accentuating the lines of your bike. This bag was cut, stitched, dyed and crafted with the exact formula applied on all La Rosa products, using only top quality components. The additional bottle pocket allows you to pack a little extra motion lotion for your scoot or some white fuel for your cookstove.
- High quality, thick leather
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domain: hobby


text:
STAR GREEN ENAMEL CUFFLINKS
The Longmire star design is an unparalleled feat of elegance in cufflink form. This iteration sees emerald green enamelling integrate with the engine-turned solid 18k white gold to striking effect. The hand layered enamel is laid down in such a way to allow the spiral pattern to catch the light and shine and there is just something special about the green enamel and its interplay with the white gold surround. The star-detail at the cufflink’s centre is an eye-catching addition to a highly impressive contemporary piece.
- Circular star design cufflink
- Green enamel
- 18k white gold
- Dimensions 16mm across
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- Other colours available - please contact for details
Shipping: is free of charge; see here for details
Returns: if you are not completely happy with your purchase we will provide a full refund on receipt of goods.
- 03 01 096


I'm stoked to say that the Grouse Park blog is up and running for the 2011/2012 season! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Andrew Santos. Grouse Mountain is pretty much a second home for me and I get up there as much as I can. This is my second year with the blog and this season, along with the crew of bloggers, I will be posting tons of new content so you know what's going down in the park. The Park Crew has some sick new features that are just waiting to be seshed. If you haven't checked out the Cut line yet, get up there. You won't be disappointed. Here's a shot by Kaz Yamamura of me on opening day:
If you see me give me a shout, I'm always down to do some laps. For now you can check out my Vimeo here and Look out for some more posts coming your way.
See you in the Park!


text:
Results for: Wakeboarding HD
Classic Game Room reviews WAKEBOARDING HD for Playstation 3 PS3, a download game from Playstation Network from Tik/Creat. Is it Tony Hawk on a wakeboard or something else? It is fun arcade style racing, jumping, trick-pulling and star collecting mayhem. This CGR review of Wakeboarding HD has gameplay from PS3 showing Wakeboarding HD game play during the review as the video game is reviewed. If you enjoyed Wakeboarding in Wii Sports Resort then check this game out. Wakeboarding HD has trophy support for PS3 trophies to unlock in Wakeboarding HD.
Take to the waves in stunning HD with this PSN-exclusive wakeboarding sim from Creat Studios.
Exclusive trailer for the upcoming PSN game Wakeboarding HD. Be sure to visit *******www.psnstores****/ for all your PSN needs.
The first official reveal of Wakeboarding HD - *******www.thesixthaxis****
I got it on tape, it takes more than 2 minutes to retry Tutorial #9 and I think that there's something wrong for it to take so long to retry. And around 2:44 you'll see that after failing it takes less than 30sec for the retry screen to pop up.


A new report examining why middle-aged Irish men have the highest rate of suicide of all age groups in Ireland has been launched by the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland and the HSE.
Former Republic of Ireland international Jason McAteer, who has spoken publicly of his own experience of depression and suicidal thoughts after retiring from football, launched the 'Middle Age Man and Suicide in Ireland' report in Dublin today.
It sets out a series of recommendations for what can be done to reduce suicidal behaviour in middle-aged men.
"We funded this report as part of our national suicide prevention strategy, Connecting for Life, which identifies middle-aged men as a priority group, for whom there is evidence of vulnerability to an increased risk of suicidal behaviour," said the HSE's John Meehan.
The aim of the report was to explore the factors underpinning the higher suicide rates among middle-aged men at risk of marginalisation.
It focuses specifically on middle-aged men who are gay, transgender, members of the travelling community, victims of domestic abuse, members of ethnic minority groups, farmers, unemployed, rurally isolated or separated/divorced fathers.
The stigma attached to mental health and to men seeking support was also highlighted as a significant issue.
"The hope or expectation for finding a magic formula that will be the panacea for addressing the higher suicide rates among middle-aged men is not realistic – nor could it be in the context of the complexity and interplay of causes and risk factors," said Dr Noel Richardson, co-author of the report.
The report proposes more effective and gender-specific programmes, services, and resources that support the mental health and well-being of middle-aged men.
The HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention will now work with and support the Men’s Health Forum in Ireland in moving to the next phase, of implementing a number of the strategic recommendations.
Read the report in full here:


text:
CECIL, Ohio (WANE) – A man who police were in the process of getting an arrest warrant for trespassed and was shot in a home in Paulding County on Saturday morning. He has since been released from the hospital.
Police said they were called to a house for a trespassing complaint and, when they arrived, found that a man had been shot.
Their investigation revealed 28-year-old Kurtis P. Puckett trespassed on the property of 52-year-old Judd C. Spencer. 37-year-old James G. Weaver, a friend of Spencer, was also on the property at the time. Puckett got into a verbal fight with Spencer and Weaver and attacked and assaulted Weaver.
Spencer tried to stop the assault, but Puckett started to come after him aggressively. Spencer told reporters that he told Puckett to stop or he would shoot him. Puckett continued the aggression and Spencer retreated from him, firing a shot into Puckett’s hip.
Police then arrived at the scene and Puckett was flown to a Fort Wayne hospital.
“Investigators believe Mr. Puckett was under the influence of illegal drugs,” said Sheriff Jason K. Landers. “The property owner and his friend were presented with a stranger acting erratically and the man eventually became violent by physically assaulting someone.”
“I don’t want to see people being shot, but I wholeheartedly believe people have a right to protect themselves and their property, and in this case, it appears to be a justified self defense situation. My investigators will continue to process the evidence in this case and work with the prosecutor to determine if any further criminal charges are warranted.”
At the time of this release, an arrest warrant for Puckett was being obtained for misdemeanor levels of assault and trespassing, however, he has not been arrested.

domain: law


text:
Since early 2018, the Marine Corps has been issuing Marine recruits and officer candidates in entry-level training a “performance nutrition pack” of high-energy snacks to get them through the 10-hour stretch between dinner and breakfast. Now, nutrition specialists want to know which items in the packs these prospective Marines are most likely to eat.
Surveys were distributed this month at Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Virginia to gather feedback on the items in the performance nutrition packs that candidates were most likely to consume, said Sharlene Holladay, the Marine Corps’ Warfighter and Performance Dietitian.
The packs are assembled with purpose; they’re composed of off-the-shelf non-perishable food items that can include fruit-and-nut trail mixes, cereal, peanut butter and jelly packets, shelf-stable milk and more. A typical pack totals 500-600 calories in a ratio of 50-60% carbohydrates, 30% fat and 12-13% protein, Holladay said.
The intent is to give trainees a caloric boost before they head out to rigorous morning PT before breakfast; but that only works if they’re eating what’s provided.
Rct. Thomas Minnick Jr., Platoon 1014, Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, lifts a 30-pound ammunition can during his combat fitness test Feb. 11, 2014, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Octavia Davis)
“If you’re not consuming it, it becomes really nutrient-dense trash,” Holladay said.
The survey uses a Likert scale with ratings from one to five, inviting officer candidates to indicate what they are most likely to eat and most likely to discard. Feedback will be collected through the end of October, giving officials a 95% confidence rate in the results.
From there, the feedback will be used to design future nutrition packs. Holladay noted that tastes and preferences change over time with new generations of recruits, and the survey allows officials to stay current on popular items.
The rollout of performance nutrition packs at entry-level training, following a pilot program in fiscal 2016, mirrors efforts by other services to make sure trainees aren’t limited by chow hall meal times when it comes to fueling up.
The Marine Corps dispenses roughly 1,500 of the packs each month at OCS and the two recruit depots in Parris Island, South Carolina and San Diego, Holladay said.
This article originally appeared on Military.com. Follow @militarydotcom on Twitter.
ISIS fighters brutally committed a campaign of forced conversion and genocide against the Yazidi religious minority. After overrunning a Yazidi village, ISIS killed the men and took able-bodied women and girls as sex slaves. When one Yazidi slave gave birth, she was not permitted to feed her newborn son, according to Fox News. When the baby cried, the woman’s ISIS master beheaded him.
Xate Shingali shows other Yazidi women how to handle firearms during a display for visiting CNN journalists. Screenshot: YouTube/Hiwa Marko
Some Yazidi women want to punish ISIS for what they did to their people. Xate Shingali, a 30-year-old folk singer, leads the Sun Brigade. The Sun Brigade is part of the Women’s Protection Unit, abbreviated as the YPJ, an all-female branch of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units.
Many volunteers have friends and relatives kidnapped by ISIS. One of the unit members told CNN, “We are Yazidi. We are women. And we will destroy you and anyone who touches our women and dirties our lands.
The Yazidi women share the sentiment of the Kurdish women. CNN interviewed a 21-year-old Kurdish YPJ commander, known as Tehelden – the Kurdish word for ‘revenge.’ ‘They believe if someone from Daesh [IS] is killed by a girl, they won’t go to heaven. They’re afraid of girls.’
As a US-led coalition hammers ISIS’s oil infrastructure and other financial institutions in the Middle East, the terrorist group has cut salaries and infighting has broken out within the rank and file and senior leadership.
Reports of infighting within ISIS — aka the Islamic State, ISIL, or Daesh — aren’t new, but increased financial and territorial losses might be worsening the stress fractures that are splintering the group.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that ISIS is now facing an “unprecedented cash crunch” as the coalition ramps up strikes on its sources of wealth. Strikes have been hitting oil refineries and tankers as well as banks and buildings that hold hard cash.
ISIS salaries are taking a hit as a result of the financial losses. Some units reportedly aren’t being paid at all, and some fighters’ salaries have been cut in half, according to The Post.
The salary cuts specifically appear “to have significantly hit the organization’s morale,” according to Charles Lister, a resident fellow at the Middle East Institute.
“There are more and more frequent reports … of infighting, armed clashes breaking out in the middle of the night in places like Raqqa between rival factions,” Lister said on Friday during a panel discussion in Washington, DC, referring to ISIS’s de-facto capital in Syria.
“These are all indications of a significant drop in morale and a decrease in internal cohesion. And the cohesion argument was always something that analysts like myself always said was one of ISIS’ strongest strengths,” he said.
Part of what has made ISIS’s message so potent is the money that has come along with it — which is said to be a major factor in ISIS’s recruiting success. For locals in war-torn Syria especially, ISIS has been able to offer more money than people could hope to make elsewhere.
But the salary cuts have strained the loyalties of fighters to the group.
Abu Sara, a 33-year-old engineer from Iraq, told The Post that ISIS members are becoming disillusioned.
“Their members are getting quite angry. Either they are not getting salaries or getting much less than they used to earn,” Sara said. “All of the people I am in contact with want to escape, but they don’t know how.”
Some fighters “throw down their weapons and mingle with the civilians” in battle, according to Sara.
ISIS’s financial problems are compounded by the group’s territorial losses. Syrian forces recently retook the ancient city of Palmyra, while Iraqi forces are starting to move in toward Mosul, ISIS’s stronghold in Iraq.
Territorial losses could hurt ISIS’s recruiting efforts because they run counter to the group’s central message of “remaining and expanding.”
The losses also hit at ISIS’s coffers because taxation and extortion make up a large share of ISIS’s revenues. Unlike other terrorist groups that rely on outside donations from wealthy individuals, ISIS squeezes money from the local populations it controls.
But ISIS isn’t likely to disappear anytime soon.
Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi military strategist, told The Post that ISIS still controls significant oil resources across the territory it holds in Iraq and Syria.
“They’re not going through a financial crisis that will lead to their collapse,” Hashimi told the newspaper. “They still have 60 percent of Syrian oil wells and 5 percent of Iraq’s.”
A new generation of beach-storming landing craft will soon be helping GIs land on enemy shores – but unlike those used in the Normandy invasion, this version will be driven by soldiers.
In what may seem like a blast from the past, the Army just awarded a $1 billion contract to an Oregon company to build the so-called “Maneuver Support Vessel (Light)” for its soldiers of the future.
According to a report by Defense News, Vigor, a shipbuilding company in Oregon, won the contract to replace the Army’s old force of Landing Craft Mechanized 8 (LCM-8) vessels, also known as “Mike Boats.” According to the 16th Edition of the Naval Institute’s Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, the United States Army had 44 LCM-8s on hand.
The Army’s current landing craft are about 73 feet long and can go about 150 miles, and have a crew of four. The vessels are capable of hauling just under 55 tons, according to a United States Navy fact sheet. They can reach a top speed of nine knots when loaded.
The new Maneuver Support Vessel (Light) will be about 100 feet long, and able to reach speeds of up to 18 knots. Cargo options will include two Strykers, an M1A2 Abrams tank, or four Joint Light Tactical Vehicles with trailers.
An Army release noted that the vessels will be used to support “intra-theater transportation of personnel and materiel.” The vessels will help transport supplies and personnel in areas where ports are either degraded or denied, and to assist in bringing supplies ashore from prepositioned sealift vessels.
“Watercraft are not something we buy very often, but they are essential to meeting Army-unique maneuver requirements,” Scott Davis the Army’s program executive officer, Combat Support and Combat Service Support said. The Army plans to buy 36 of these new vessels by the end of 2027.
The Army used to have a powder chock full of electrolytes to add to water for rehydration. But there was a problem.
“It was terrible — tasted so bad that nobody would use it,” said Gregory Sumerlin, senior director of Government Military Accounts for DripDrop ORS (Oral Rehydration Solutions).
Enter DripDrop, with packets of lemon-, cherry- and watermelon-flavored powders that were on display Tuesday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual convention in Washington.
Sumerlin said the packets, which cost about $1.82 a piece, have been used by the Army for about four years. The other services also have shown interest, he said.
Medics in Afghanistan and Iraq have carried a supply of the packets, and troops also can keep a few stuffed in their packs, he said.
According to DripDrop’s website, the powders have “proven to hydrate better and faster than water or sports drinks, and are comparable to IV therapy.”
“By solving the taste problem, DripDrop ORS has made the most highly effective oral hydration solution known to medical science, practical for use by anyone who finds themselves with a hydration need where water and sports drinks just aren’t enough,” the site says.
The packets contain a balanced amount of electrolytes, including sodium citrate, potassium citrate, chloride, magnesium citrate, zinc aspartate and sugars to provide what DripDrop called “a fast-acting, performance-enhancing hydration solution.”
The product also has an endorsement from Bob Weir, co-founder of the Grateful Dead:
“There is no better test of a hydration drink’s effectiveness than a summer tour. If I didn’t have DripDrop, I’d have to rethink about how I would go about performing a 3.5-hour show.”
Germany’s military has been struggling with a variety of organizational and technical problems, like equipment shortages, debates over funding, and troop shortfalls.
Manpower in particular is a lingering issue for the Bundeswehr, which has shrunk since the end of the Cold War and further reduced after mandatory military service was ended in 2011.
From a high of 585,000 personnel in the mid-1980s, German troop levels have fallen to just under 179,000 as of mid-2018. In 2017, the Bundeswehr had 21,000 unfilled positions, and half of the force’s current members are expected to retire by 2030.
In mid-2016, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said the Bundeswehr had to “get away from the process of permanent shrinking.” (Women weren’t allowed to be in the armed services until 2000.)
Von der Leyen said she would remove the 185,000-person cap on the military and add 14,300 troops over seven years — a total that was upped to 20,000 in 2017.
Ursula von der Leyen with German soldiers during a visit to the Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf.
That approach has general support among the governing parties, though not without qualifications. Defense experts and politicians have said that any foreign recruits should be offered citizenship, lest the force become “a mercenary army.”
Another strategy that has been underway for some time is the recruitment of minors. The Bundeswehr has mounted a media campaign to bring in Germans under 18.
The military’s official YouTube channel has over 300,000 subscribers, and its videos have garnered nearly 150 million views.
The Bundeswehr Exclusive channel, which posts video series, has more than 330,000 subscribers, and its videos — like the six-week series called “Mali” that followed eight German soldiers stationed with a UN peacekeeping force in the West African country — have drawn more than 68 million views.
The service is also active on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, among other social-media sites. The army’s recruitment spending in 2017, about million, was more than double what it spent in 2011.
And since that year the service has signed up more than 10,000 minors, according to Reuters. 2017 saw a record 2,128 people under the age of 18 sign up, 9% of all recruits and an 11.4% increase over the previous year.
“I wanted to experience something and to get to know my own limits, to see how far I can go,” said Marlon, who joined the Germany army a few months before he turned 18.
Because of his age, he needed his mother’s permission to join, which she was happy to give. He told Reuters that she is now pleased that her formerly messy son is now more organized.
‘This is not a normal profession’
After the destruction of World War II and the division of the Cold War, the military is still a controversial topic for Germans. Many are skeptical of the service, reluctant to spend more on it, and wary of overseas military operations.
The Bundeswehr still struggles with the legacy of the Nazi Wehrmacht, and instances of far-right extremism in the ranks strain civil-military relations. Some military officers wear civilian clothes to and from work to avoid the stigma attached to their duties.
That attitude may be changing among younger Germans.
A recent survey of 20,000 students there found that the military was the third most attractive place to work, behind the police in first place and sports brand Adidas. Marlon told Reuters that a career in uniform was much more appealing than working on a car-production line.
A German infantryman stands at the ready with his Heckler Koch G36 during a practice exercise in 2004.
But the recruitment of minors has proved to be an especially contentious issue.
Some politicians and children’s rights advocates have criticized the government for the approach, describing it as misleading and decrying the precedent it could set.
The record recruitment numbers indicate that von der Leyen “clearly has no scruples,” Evrim Sommer, a legislator from the pacifist Left Party, said in early 2018, after requesting Bundeswehr recruitment data.
“Young people should not be used as cannon fodder in the Bundeswehr as soon as they come of age,” Sommer added at the time. “As long as Germany recruits minors for military purposes, it cannot credibly criticize other countries.”
Ralf Willinger from the children’s rights group Terre des Hommes told Reuters in August 2018 that recruiting minors is “embarrassing and sends the wrong signal.”
“It weakens the international 18-year standard, encouraging armed groups and armies from other countries to legitimate the use of minors as soldiers,” he added.
Germany military officials have said their recruitment efforts are in line with international norms and stressed that they need to compete with private-sector employers to attract personnel.
The German military also has rules in place about what minors can do while in uniform. While they undergo training like adult recruits, they are not allowed to stand guard duty or take part in foreign missions, and they are only allowed to use weapons for educational purposes.
The Defense Ministry has also said that minors have the ability to end their service any time in the first six months.
To some, those stipulations don’t change the fundamental nature of what the military is training minors to do.
“This is not a normal profession,” said Ilka Hoffman, a board member of the GEW Union, which represents education and social workers.
“In no other profession does one learn to kill, and is one confronted with the danger of dying in war,” Hoffmann added. “That is the one difference.”
This article originally appeared on Business Insider. Follow @BusinessInsider on Twitter.
Not many remember the Australians’ commitment to aiding the United States in Vietnam, but the Aussies were there, and they sent their best. Australia’s best troops included their very own Special Air Service, special operators in the mold of Britain’s SAS, formidable fighters capable of bringing the enemy’s method of irregular warfare right back home to Hanoi.
The Aussies weren’t content with the M-16, for a number of reasons, so they opted instead to do a little frontier mechanical work on their weapons. The end product became known as “The Bitch.”
When you want to use an M-16 but your standards are higher.
When the M-16 first took over for the M-1 Garand as a standard-issue infantry weapon, the result was less than stellar. It jammed. A lot. Frustrated troops began leaving their M-16s at home and using AK-47s captured from the enemy instead. The Aussies preferred a weapon that worked. Even after the weapon was updated to fix its issues, the Australians still opted for a different solution. They liked how handy the M-16 could be, but they wanted the stopping power of a 7.62 round.
But the barrel of the S1A2 self-loading rifle was so heavy… what to do?
“Cor, mate… I ‘ave an idea…”
The Australian special operators lopped that heavy barrel and its tripod off at the end of the gas block. Then, the MacGuyvers from Down Under fashioned special flash suppressors for the new muzzle for those who wanted it. For those who didn’t, they just left the weapon without any kind of suppression at all. The new, shorter barrel was louder and produced a much bigger bang for the buck.
They wanted the Communists to know who was pulling the triggers and raining death on their Ho Chi Minh Trail parade. If that weren’t enough, sometimes the operators would put a pistol grip on the end so they could control the weapons in fully automatic settings. Others preferred a grenade launcher attachment.
The US Marine Corps has identified the six Marines who were killed when their planes crashed off the coast of Japan early December 2018.
On Dec. 6, 2018, an F/A-18 Hornet collided with a KC-130 aerial refueling tanker, sending both aircraft into the sea. Only one of the two fighter pilots walked away from the crash, and all five of the tanker crew members were lost. The lone survivor was released from the hospital Dec. 13, 2018.
Capt. Jahmar F. Resilard, a 28-year-old F/A-18 pilot, was declared deceased last Dec. 7, 2018, while American and Japanese forces continued to search for the KC-130 crew members, who were officially declared dead Dec. 11, 2018, when military search and rescue efforts concluded.
The five Marines who were killed serving aboard the aerial refueling tanker were Lt. Col. Kevin R. Herrmann, 38, Maj. James M. Brophy, 36, Staff Sgt. Maximo A. Flores, 27, Cpl. Daniel E. Baker, 21, and Cpl. William C. Ross, 21. The oldest member had served in the Marine Corps for 16 years. Three were married, two with children.
The Marines released the following video honoring the dead.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the names of our fallen Marines,” U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Mitchell T. Maury, the commanding officer for the Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 (VMGR-152), said in a statement Dec. 12, 2018. “They were exceptional aviators, Marines, and friends whom will be eternally missed. Our thoughts and prayers remain with their families and loved ones at this extremely difficult time.”
The Corps has suffered a number of deadly aviation mishaps in recent years, including a KC-130T crash in Mississippi last year that killed 15 Marines and a sailor.
This article originally appeared on Business Insider. Follow @BusinessInsider on Twitter.
It’s peak hurricane season, as Hurricane Dorian has been reminding us.
But Dorian isn’t the only strong storm swirling: Four cyclones churned over the oceans this week. On Sep. 4, 2019, they lined up for a satellite camera.
The GOES 16 satellite, operated by that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with help from NASA, captured the above image of the Western Hemisphere on Sep. 4, 2019. It shows Hurricane Juliette, Tropical Storm Fernand, Hurricane Dorian, and Tropical Storm Gabrielle lined up across the globe.
At the time the photo was taken, Juliette in the East Pacific and Dorian in the Atlantic were Category 2 hurricanes. Fernand and Gabrielle were tropical storms with sustained wind speeds 45 mph and 50 mph, respectively.
Labeled image of the chain of tropical cyclones lined up across the Western Hemisphere on Sep. 4, 2019.
The image shows 2 hurricanes and 2 tropical storms
Dorian made a record-tying landfall in the northwestern Bahamas on Sep.1, 2019, as a Category 5 hurricane with 185-mph sustained winds. It ground to a halt on Sep. 2, 2019, flooding islands with a wall of water up to 23 feet high, ripping buildings apart with wind gusts as strong as 220 mph, and killing at least 23 people.
In the NOAA image, Dorian can be seen traveling north along Florida’s east coast, towards Georgia and the Carolinas. Since then, it has brought heavy rains and flash floods, lashed the southeastern US coast with powerful winds, caused tornadoes, and even caused bricks of cocaine to wash up on a beach. One man was reported dead in North Carolina after falling off a ladder while preparing for the storm.
Tropical Storm Fernand, meanwhile had just made landfall over northeastern Mexico at the time of this satellite image. The storm caused heavy rainfall, with a threat of flash flooding and mudslides, but it has since dissipated.
Hurricane Juliette has stuck to the open ocean in the East Pacific, and is expected to weaken over the next few days.
Tropical Storm Gabrielle has wandered harmlessly through the open Atlantic, and on Sep. 5, 2019, was “struggling to maintain thunderstorms near its center,” the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported.
Hurricane Dorian moves slowly past Grand Bahama Island on Sep. 2, 2019.
An above-average hurricane season in the Atlantic
NOAA recently revised its forecast for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season — it now projects a 45% chance that this year will see above-average activity. That could mean five to nine hurricanes in the Atlantic, with two to four of those expected storms becoming major hurricanes (defined as Category 3 or above, with winds greater than 110 miles per hour).
On average, the Atlantic sees six hurricanes in a season, with three developing into major hurricanes (defined as Category 3 or above). Hurricane season peaks in August through October, with especially high activity around September 10. The season ends November 30.
Hurricane category numbers don’t necessarily indicate the full destructive power of a storm, however, as they’re based solely on wind speeds. In Hurricane Dorian’s case, the storm has traveled slowly, so its effects have been prolonged.
Slower, wetter storms like this are becoming more common as the planet warms. Over the past 70 years or so, the speed of hurricanes and tropical storms has slowed about 10% on average, a 2018 study found.
Dorian is now the fifth hurricane to reach Category 5 over the past four hurricane seasons in the North Atlantic. In the last 95 years, there have been only 35 Category 5 hurricanes in the North Atlantic, so this frequency of strong storms is far above average.
This article originally appeared on Insider. Follow @thisisinsider on Twitter.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is now paying a veteran $500,000 to settle a lawsuit, in which the veteran alleged he suffered heart damage because of delays in care.
John Porter, an Air Force veteran who served in the Vietnam War, sued the VA in 2016, saying that the staff at the Des Moines, Iowa VA medical center failed to inform him for years that he was suffering progressive heart failure, The Associated Press reports.
Porter recounted that he first went to the Des Moines VA in 2011 because he was beginning to feel chest tightness. Subsequent tests revealed that he might be suffering from heart problems. Another test three weeks later indicated that his heart was only performing at half the ideal level, according to the text of the lawsuit. Still, no one informed Porter that the test was essentially showing progressive heart failure, even though he continued to experience fatigue and dizziness.
It was only when Porter visited a VA hospital in Phoenix three years later in 2014 that doctors examined old tests from the Des Moines facility and told Porter the results.
Kremlin leaders believe the United States wants regime change in Russia, a worry that is feeding rising tensions between the two former Cold War foes, a US defense intelligence report says.
The Defense Intelligence Agency report, which was released on June 28, says Moscow has a “deep and abiding distrust of US efforts to promote democracy around the world and what it perceives as a US campaign to impose a single set of global values.”
Despite Russia’s largely successful military modernization since the Cold War, the report says “Moscow worries that US attempts to dictate a set of acceptable international norms threatens the foundations of Kremlin power by giving license for foreign meddling in Russia’s internal affairs.”
“The Kremlin is convinced the United States is laying the groundwork for regime change in Russia, a conviction further reinforced by the events in Ukraine,” the report says, noting that President Vladimir Putin’s government has accused the United States of engineering the popular uprising that ousted Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president, Viktor Yanukovich, in February 2014.
Russia responded by illegally annexing Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014 and by supporting a separatist war in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 10,000 people since it began in April that year. Moscow’s actions in Ukraine led to rapidly deteriorating relations with the United States and its NATO allies, which imposed sanctions on Russia in retaliation.
While the report does not forecast a new, global ideological struggle akin to the Cold War, it cautions that Moscow “intends to use its military to promote stability on its own terms.”
The 116-page intelligence document, titled Russia Military Power: Building A Military To Support Great Power Aspirations, offers a comprehensive assessment of Russian military power, saying the Kremlin has methodically and successfully rebuilt Russia’s army, navy, and air force since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“The Russian military today is on the rise — not as the same Soviet force that faced the West in the Cold War, dependent on large units with heavy equipment,” the report says. It describes Russia’s new military “as a smaller, more mobile, balanced force rapidly becoming capable of conducting the full range of modern warfare.”
Speaking on June 28 at a graduation ceremony for military and police academy graduates in Moscow, Putin said that the Russian Army has become “significantly stronger” in recent years.
“Officers have become more professional. This was proven in the operations against terrorists in Syria,” he said. “We are intending to be growing further the potential of our army and fleet, provide balanced and effective ground for development of all kinds of military units based on long-term plans and programs, improve the quality and intensity of military education.”
“Only modern, powerful, and mobile armed forces can provide sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country and protect us and our allies from any potential aggressor, from pressure, and blackmailing from the side of those who don’t like a strong, independent, and sovereign Russia,” Putin said.
The DIA report portrays Russia’s intervention in Syria since 2015 as largely successful at “changing the entire dynamic of the conflict, bolstering [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s] regime, and ensuring that no resolution to the conflict is possible without Moscow’s agreement.”
Besides boosting Assad’s fortunes in his six-year civil war against Syrian rebels, the report says the Syria intervention was intended to eliminate Islamic extremist elements that originated on the former Soviet Union’s territory to prevent them from returning home and threatening Russia.
As Russia continues to modernize and encounter military success, “within the next decade, an even more confident and capable Russia could emerge,” the intelligence agency’s director, Marine Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart, said in the report’s preface.
The report was prepared before the election of President Donald Trump and reflects the Pentagon’s view of the global security picture shifting after nearly two decades of heavy American focus on countering terrorism and fighting small-scale wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
With its focus on the modernized Russian army and Russian insecurities about US intentions, the report is sure to fuel debate over how to deal with Putin in Congress.
Featured Image: Green Beret in Vietnam (not Gaspard); Photos: SF Association Chapter XXI.
‘A Warrior’s Warrior’ in MACV-SOG
During America’s long war in Vietnam, many of the Green Berets who fought there became legends within the Special Forces Regiment. And among those warriors were the men of MACVSOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group); the SOG warriors were among the finest the country has ever produced.
LTC George “Speedy” Gaspard was one of the most well-known and respected officers from that generation. After serving with the Marine Corps in World War II, Gaspard joined the Army. He was an original, volunteering for the newly formed 10th Special Forces Group and attending Special Forces Class #1. He would run cross border operations in the Korean War but really made his mark during the war in Vietnam, working in Special Forces A-Camps as well as running some of the most secret operations across the border into North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
Gaspard became a “Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment” in December 2010.
Shortly after I moved to SW Florida I got into contact with Chapter XXI of the SF Association. I was checking out their excellent website, saw a large segment dedicated to LTC Gaspard, and remembered a brief meeting I had with him years ago. More to that soon.
George Wallace Gaspard Jr. was born at Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Ala., on August 5, 1926. He was the son of the late George W. Gaspard of MN, and Annie Lou Bamberg of AL.
He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1944 to 1946 and fought in the final battle of World War II on the island of Okinawa with the 6th Marine Division. He first entered the U.S. Army on June 11, 1951.
In May 1952, Gaspard was a student in the first all-officer-class at the Ranger course. He then attended a special course at the Air Ground School located at Southern Pines, N.C. Afterward, he volunteered for the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), which had just been organized at Fort Bragg, N.C.
His first assignment was as a team leader of the 18th SF Operational Detachment. In November 1952, he attended Special Forces Class #1. The fledgling Special Forces unit, much of it comprised of World War II vets from the OSS, was anxious to get involved in the Korean War and conduct missions similar to those conducted in occupied areas of Europe and the Pacific during the war.
The SF troops were put in an active intelligence operation that utilized Tactical Liaison Offices (TLO). Although they were initially manned only by anti-communist Koreans, the TLO would eventually conduct “line-crossing operations” which included using Chinese agents to gather intelligence on the enemy.
However, the Far East Command (FEC), assigned the SF troops as individual replacements rather than as 15-man A-Teams that SF was employing at the time using the OSS WWII Operational Group model.
In March 1953, then 1Lt. Gaspard was assigned to FEC/LD 8240AU FECOM. He commanded four enlisted men and 80 South Korean agents, who were dispatched behind enemy lines to gather intelligence on the North Koreans. Obviously the threat of double agents, something that would later haunt SOG operations in Vietnam, loomed. An excellent piece on this facet of the Korean War, written by former SF Officer and USASOC Historian Eugene Piasecki, “TLO: Line Crossers, Special Forces, and ‘the Forgotten War'” can be found here.
Gaspard was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star for actions in combat during June 11-12, 1953.
In October 1954, Gaspard joined the 77th SF Group (A) as a guerrilla warfare instructor with the Psychological Warfare School’s Special Forces Department. He was subsequently transferred to the 187th ARCT and honorably discharged in September 1957.
From 1960 to 1962, he served as a civilian mobilization designee with the Special Warfare department in the Pentagon. In April 1962, he was recalled to active duty and assigned to the 5th SF Group (A) at Fort Bragg, commanding Det A-13. In September, he opened a new Special Forces Camp in Kontum Province at Dak Pek, Vietnam, which remained the longest continuously active SF/ARVN Ranger camp until it was overrun in 1972. That would be the first of seven tours of duty in Vietnam for Gaspard.
During the early days of Vietnam, there was a general lack of accurate reporting by the press on the fighting. However, there were a handful of reporters who were willing to walk in the field and endure combat with the troops. One of those was Pulitzer Prize-winning author and reporter David Halberstam. He was a special correspondent with the New York Times and not a wire reporter, so, he had the time to visit the troops and share a much closer look at what was truly transpiring on the ground.
One of the first people that Halberstam met in Vietnam was Speedy Gaspard. The two developed a friendship and Gaspard became a source of what was really happening in the outlying areas of Vietnam where SF was working by, with, and through the locals. Halberstam was so taken by Gaspard that he modeled the lead character of his war novel “One Very Hot Day” after him.
Captain Gaspard returned to Fort Bragg in 1963 as adjutant and HHC commander of the newly formed 6th SF Group (A). In July 1965, he reported to AID Washington, DC, and subsequently to AID Saigon, where we was assigned as a provincial adviser in Quang Duc Province. He was instrumental in the very tricky negotiations to peacefully transfer FULRO personnel (Front Uni de Lutte des Races Opprimées — United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races) to the Army of South Vietnam.
FULRO was comprised of the indigenous people of the Central Highlands of Vietnam (Montagnards). They were hated by the lowland Vietnamese, both in South and North Vietnam and referred to as “moi” (savages). At the time, Vietnamese books characterized Montagnards as having excessive body hair and long tails. The Vietnamese rarely ventured into Montagnard regions until after the French colonial rule. Then, they built several profitable plantations to grow crops in and extract natural resources from those bountiful areas.
The simple mountain people were excellent hunters and trackers. They immediately bonded with the Green Berets assigned to stop the communist infiltration of South Vietnam and the Green Berets responded in kind. SF set up the Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG), which trained and led the Montagnards in Unconventional Warfare against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese.
But the South Vietnamese government never trusted and hated the CIDG program because it feared the Montagnard people would want independence. (Such was their hatred for the Vietnamese that the Montagnards would continue to fight a guerrilla war against unified Vietnam for 20 years after the war ended. There were reports of genocide against the mountain people and over 200,000 died during the fight.)
Gaspard was promoted to major in 1966, and after completing his tour, reported to 1st SF Group (A), Okinawa. In October 1967, he returned to Vietnam and directed the MACVSOG “STRATA” program until September 1968.
The commanders in Vietnam, especially among the SOG personnel, were never satisfied with the intelligence collection activities conducted in North Vietnam. STRATA was conceived to aid the intelligence situation by focusing on short-term intelligence-gathering operations close to the border. The all-Vietnamese Short Term Roadwatch and Target Acquisition teams would report on activities across the border and then be recovered to be used again. Gaspard and the SOG Commander, Col. Jack Singlaub, briefed Gen. Westmoreland and Gen. Abrams on STRATA operations.
Once, a STRATA team became surrounded and required emergency extraction. Gaspard, riding a hydraulic penetrator, twice descended to remove a wounded agent. He was subsequently awarded the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross for Heroism and the Purple Heart Medal for his actions.
Moles inside South Vietnam’s government and military, even in SOG, were a constant source of leaks to the North, even in SOG. Some of these leaks came to light much later. However, Gaspard would remedy that. As written in a fantastic piece by SOG team member John Stryker Meyer, Gaspard moved the operations jump-off location out of South Vietnam and the intelligence leaks began to dry up.
“The unique aspect of STRATA, which operated under OP34B, the teams launched out of Thailand, flying in Air Force helicopters. The Air Force performed all insertions and extractions without pre-mission reports to Saigon. During Gaspard’s tenure at STRATA 24 teams were inserted into North Vietnam on various intelligence-gathering missions. Only one and a half teams were lost during that period of time that involved inserting and successfully extracting more than 150 STRATA team members during that time.” “Again, a key part to our success was having our separate chain of command and not telling Saigon. We worked with the Air Force on a need-to-know basis.”
It wasn’t until many years later that Gaspard realized the extent of the communist infiltration of the south, right into SOG headquarters. Meyer describes in his piece the horror felt when someone close to the Americans, someone who had been vetted, was in fact a spy for the enemy.
“During a 1996 Hanoi television show, Maj. Gen. George “Speedy” Gaspard, was shocked when he saw an individual he knew as “Francois” receive Hanoi’s highest military honor for his years of service as a spy in SOG. Gaspard, who had several tours of duty in Vietnam and in SOG, knew “Francois” and was “shocked” when he saw the program. Francois had access to highly sensitive information while employed by the U.S. Author and SOG recon man John L. Plaster, has a photo of Gaspard standing with Francois in Saigon when Gaspard had no idea of the spy’s real role for the NVA. That photograph of Gaspard and Francois is on Page 463 of Plaster’s book: SOG: A Photo History of the Secret Wars, by Paladin Press Book. “There’s no question that he hurt SOG operations,” Gaspard said. “Again, how do you gauge it all? When you look at the success rate of STRATA teams by comparison, you can see why they succeeded. We were disconnected from Saigon and we didn’t have the NVA and Russians working against us.”
Gaspard returned to SOG in 1969 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1971. He reported to 1st SF Group, Okinawa as the group executive officer, and later assumed command of the 1st Battalion. He retired in August 1973 after having served in three wars.
His earned multiple awards and decorations including the Silver Star Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with V-device and five Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with V-device and three Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Combat Infantryman’s Badge with one Battle Star, Master Parachutist Badge, Pacific Theater Service Ribbon with one Campaign Star, Korea Service Ribbon with two campaign Stars, Vietnam Service Campaign Ribbon with 15 campaign Stars, 18 other service and foreign awards including the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Gold, Silver and Bronze stars, U.S. Navy Parachute Wings, Korea Master Parachutist Wings, Vietnamese Master Parachutist Wings, Thailand Master Parachutist Wings, and Cambodia Parachute Wings.
LTC Gaspard was a member of SFA, SOA, VFW, MOAA, American Legion, and the Sons of Confederacy.
From 2004 to 2017 Speedy served as president, vice president, or secretary of the Chapter XXI President of the Special Forces Association. (The Chapter provided a lot of Gaspard’s personal biography listed here.)
In 1985, Colonel Gaspard entered the South Carolina State Guard and in 1987 was appointed Chief of Staff with the rank of Brigadier General. In 1991, he was inducted into the Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia.
In the early fall of 1989, when I was a student in the SF Officer’s course at Ft. Bragg, one of our fellow students was a young man named George Gaspard, the son of Speedy. Young George, whom we knew as “Buck” was an outstanding officer and an even better man who was very popular among the officers in the class.
We learned that General Speedy Gaspard was going to address our class. He first showed us an outstanding slideshow of pics he took while conducting some hair-raising missions with SOG. They were better than anything we had seen in any book or magazine. He then addressed the class in his self-effacing style and said: “standing before you is an old, fat man, but in Vietnam, I was an old, fat captain… but I relied on and surrounded myself with outstanding SF NCOs who made me look brilliant.”
He encouraged the future A-Team commanders to trust in their team sergeants and NCOs and they’d never be steered wrong. SF NCOs, he said, were the true leaders of Special Forces and officers need to realize it, work together, and take care of NCOs. Of course, sitting in the rear of the classroom was General David Baratto commander of the Special Warfare Center and School (SWC), who cringed a bit at those pointed comments.
Sitting in the back, my buddy Wade Chapple and I were stealing glances at General Baratto who looked pained… In a typical Chapple bit of sarcasm, he leaned over and said to me, “I think his (Baratto’s) head is about to f***ing explode.”
After the day was over, our entire class, including many of our instructors, joined Speedy Gaspard at the “O-Club” for a cocktail or three. He regaled us with some cool stories about the SF and SOG guys he served with. It was a memorable night. When we left that night, he made everyone feel that we knew him well. It was an honor to have met him.
LTC George “Speedy” Gaspard passed away on January 30, 2018.