HUGE RUSSIAN FLYING FORTRESS

In the 1930s the leaders and the scientists of the Soviet armed forces were fascinated with the concept of creating huge planes. They were proposing to have as many propellers as possible to help carry these huge flying fortresses into the air; as at that time jet propulsion had not yet been implemented.




Not many photos were saved since that time, due to the high secrecy levels of such projects and because of the purges of Stalin and the subsequent difficulties of the war years. Still, in theses photos you can see one of these planes planes - a heavy bomber K-7.





Nowadays modern history lovers in Russia try to reconstruct the look of this incredible beast in full color, according the plans recovered from top-secret Russian army archives. This is one example based on ideas of Russian aviation engineers of that era.









































These last series of illustrations depict the gigantic monster in conceptual combat against the experimental Nazi UFO - rumored to have been recovered by Allied scientists at the war's end and whisked away to Area 51 for future exploitation.

AMERICAs RULING CLASS

More on this theme from the American Thinker, July 19, 2010:

The Ruling Class Creates its Own Demise - by Henry Oliner

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/07/the_ruling_class_creates_its_o.html
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WHAT I LEARNED FLYING FIRST CLASS

I was flying across country and I got upgraded to first class - which is rare these days because they have me flying all these different airlines so I can't take advantage of all my miles. Anyway as luck would have it I'm sitting a couple seats next to this beautiful woman, and the seat between us was vacant.

She was reading this book the entire flight and I managed to catch a glimpse of the title - it was something about Sex Therapy.

WELL I couldn't let that one lay there so I said hello, and was charming and pleasant, and FINALLY when the conversation allowed I said, "I couldn't help but noticing what you're reading there. Are you some kind of therapist?"

"Oh yes," she smiled, "I'm a sex therapist, actually."

"That must be very interesting work."

"Well, in my work I come into contact with a lot of men like yourself, and I'm able to debunk a lot of myths that middle-aged white males seem to harbor about sexuality."

"Oh REALLY . . . ? ? ?"

"Oh yes," she continued. "For example, a common belief amongst white males is that the black men are the most well-endowed . . . "

"Well, I was in the Army, and I can tell you from being in the showers . . ."

She was shaking her head no. "American Indians."

"Hmmm!"

"Another myth is that Italian men are the most vigorous in bed, that they have the staying power and the drive."

"Well, yeah, I've heard that . . . "

She was shaking her head and smiling no, no, no . . . "Jewish men. They've got the chutzpah."

"Hmmm . . . "

"And Latin men are thought of as the best lovers."

"Oh yeah, those Latin lovers . . ."

"Cowboys."

"COWBOYS?"

"Without a doubt, women can't resist a cowboy."

We continued our conversation throughout the flight; the woman was as interesting a conversationalist as she was easy on the eye to look at. Then we were descending and the captain came on the intercom and made his announcement, and it was time to put things away and prepare for the landing.

"By the way," I said, "I haven't properly introduced myself."

"Oh yes. I'm Lauren," she smiled, offering her hand.

I took her hand and said, "My name's Tonto Goldstein, but my friends all call me Tex."




There was a time when Southwest clearly wanted to be the sexiest carrier in the air. In the early years after they took to the air in 1971, the stewardess uniform included orange hot pants and white go-go boots. Recruiters plainly asked candidates to wear dresses so their legs could be checked out. “We were selling sex,” admits current president, Colleen Barrett. Times have changed, and so has the dress code. Southwest stewardesses now display more fabric than skin, but we’ve seen a lot of them with figures built for the minimalist attire. Given society’s love for retro and Southwest’s laid-back business approach, we can still at least hope for throwback uniforms.



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RUSSIA: COORDINATED ATTACKS IN THE CAUCASUS

SUMMARY

Suspected militants launched an attack early July 21 in Russia's Northern Caucasus Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. The attackers targeted a police station in the town of Baksan, then the Baksanskaya hydroelectric plant in nearby Islamei. The attack - which damaged the power plant but created no disruptions in service - comes as Kabardino-Balkaria prepares for a critical presidential election. It also occurred months after the death of a prominent militant leader and not long before the anniversary of the militant attack in Nalchik. The attack follows the trend of Northern Caucasus militants' targets of economic significance.




ANALYSIS

Suspected militants in Russia's Northern Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria launched coordinated attacks on a local police station in the town of Baksan and the Baksanskaya hydroelectric power plant in the nearby village of Islamei early July 21. The attack on the police station resulted in minor damage to the building. However, the assault on the power plant left two private security guards dead and two technicians injured, and the turbine control room caught fire after three of four strategically placed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) detonated.


Russia's National Antiterrorism Committee claims it reviewed security camera footage from Baksanskaya and identified four attackers, though their names have yet to be released. STRATFOR sources in Moscow said the four individuals are likely linked to local militant leader Asker Dzhappuev, also known as Amir Abdullah, who heads the Yarmuk Jamaat in Kabardino-Balkaria. The targets in the July 21 attacks follow a trend STRATFOR has observed over the past two years after a Northern Caucasus militant leader ordered the militant groups to shift their target sets from those of social significance to ones with more economic value.


The suspected militants reportedly attacked the police station in Baksan at approximately 3:15 a.m. local time with grenades or small explosive devices. That attack appears to have been a diversion meant to preoccupy local authorities and first responders while the primary target, the Baksanskaya hydroelectric power plant, was attacked. Armed attackers reportedly penetrated the plant's security perimeter shortly after 5 a.m., shooting and killing two private security guards before taking their firearms. The attackers then entered the turbine control room, where they reportedly tied up two technicians and tortured them for information on the location of the turbines. The militants then placed up to four IEDs on three turbines and the oil switchboard (which keeps the turbines properly lubricated). The first blast came at approximately 5:25 a.m., and the next came 20 minutes later. The IED planted on the oil switchboard caused oil to leak and catch fire after the third explosion. The resulting fire reportedly consumed two stories of the facility housing the turbines and control room and was not extinguished until 8:30 a.m. Authorities located and removed the fourth IED, which Federal Security Service personnel safely destroyed.


RusHydro authorities have said three of the turbines will be offline for approximately six weeks for repairs, but there will not be interruption in electricity service in the surrounding regions. The Baksanskaya plant produced a relatively small amount of electricity (about 25 megawatts). Additionally, the plant had notoriously poor security: At any given time, two security guards have been on duty. Also, the plant has received threats as early as 2005.





The timing of the attack is critical. Kabardino-Balkaria is two months away from an important presidential election, and the attack is likely to help determine who Moscow chooses as the republic's leader. Also, Anzor Astemirov, Dzhappuev's predecessor, was killed in March, which means the attack could have been a retaliatory strike. Furthermore, the fifth anniversary of the Yarmuk Jamaat attack at Nalchik - the largest militant assault in Kabardino-Balkaria and one of the most notorious attacks in the Caucasus - is approaching, so anniversary attacks could be starting.


As STRATFOR has noted before, it is incredibly difficult, even for a conventional military force, to significantly damage large infrastructure such as a dam. While Northern Caucasus militants have claimed to have attacked the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam in Siberia (far from their normal target sets in the Northern Caucasus and Moscow), it was nothing more than a malfunctioning electric transformer that blew up, leading to a breach in the dam. The July 21 attack on the Baksanskaya plant appears to show that Northern Caucasus militants might have reined in their ambitions and chosen a more realistic target - the infrastructure that controls the productivity of the dam. Though electrical service appears to have been uninterrupted, it has caused a significant headache for regional Russian authorities, which is in line with the orders to target Russia economically.





Copyright 2010 Stratfor

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AMERICA's RULING CLASS - AND THE PERILS OF REVOLUTION

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the

An essay by Angelo M. Codevilla, from The American Spectator - Check It Out- this explains so much! Now I understand the deal about why Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the whole Tea Party phenomena are such a threat to the status quo, and why they struggle against us . . .

INCREDIBLE . . . THIS IS ON THE REQUIRED READING LIST FOR ALL OF Team STORMBRINGER!!!

- SEAN LINNANE SENDS

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THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH

Ken Follett's epic tale of medieval passion and greed . . . the building of a great cathedral . . . and of course lots of gratuitous slicing and dicing . . .



. . .opens on STARZ Friday 23 July at 10 pm ET/PT


I have a lot of respect for Ken Follett as a writer and as a worthy man. His novels are good; he also wrote On Wings of Eagles, the true story of how two employees of Ross Perot were rescued from Iran during the revolution of 1979. This book was made into a miniseries with Richard Crenna as Ross Perot and Burt Lancaster as Colonel 'Bull' Simons.

Dan Pfitzer (who shared a tiger cage with Nick Rowe for three years in the U Minh Forest) once told me that he advised Ken Follett's on the research phase of this book; my respect for Ken went up even more.

- Sean Linnane

TWENTY TEN by LLOYD MARCUS

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