Clearance Jobs Spam

Read this spam I got from someone purporting to be using clearancejobs.com to find employees. Keep in mind that clearancejobs.com is for folks with US security clearances.

Good day,

Let me introduce myself. I am the Head Hiring Manager of Condor Company Viktor Horoshavin. At this moment we are seeking a new employee for the constant position in our Structure. In our search we addressed to Clearancejobs Administration like to one of the most professional and respectable organization helping to find employees who answer to all necessary requirements. It is not the first time when we resort to this organization during our work in the world market since the year 2004.
Your profile in http://www.clearancejobs.com/ answers to all criteria, needed to be embodied. If you are ready for responsible, professional and honest work then you can become a member of our Staff.
Our Company is specialized in producing and selling different kinds of office and home furniture answering to all requirements of taste, fashion and price. Condor Company was based in 2004. Since that time we have proved high quality and modern technologies of our goods and achieved world popularity in furniture industry. Our production is well-known among our customers in France, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands and Sweden. At this stage we are interested in widening our market and now represent our Product in the United States of America. We need a Professional who will be our Official representative in the USA and serve our financial interests.

Our requirements: USA citizenship. Responsibility, diligence and honesty.

Job description: Financial operations with our company�s wholesale lots. Reception of payments for wholesale lots. Preparation of monthly reports.
Conditions: Beginning salary $ 2500, 00. After probation period 15 % salary raise. Possibility of career growth.
Our job proposal can be taken as a part time position and will not give any negative effect to your present job status.

Please feel free to ask any questions. Our managers will be glad to give you more information if you are interested. Contact us by e-mail:

condor.manager@gmail.com

Thank you. Best regards,
Condor Company.

Should I gamble on that juicy 15% salary raise? I wonder what kind of clearance I need to make furniture?

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Update

This story won't go away. Here are some more tidbits:

• Wired (and others) offer speculation that the target was a nuclear bomb factory and not a reactor. I don't know if this is a case of making the story match the facts rather that the other way around.


• Aviation Week has some more info on Israel's EW capabilities. Nothing shocking, since the IDF has always had the technological edge on its opponents. Of course the US will be eavesdropping; we do lots of SIGINT in the region.

Washington D.C. Trip

Went to Washington D.C. for a week to see the sites.

• Washington Monument - always awesome. We didn't have trouble getting tickets since we stopped by early in the day. Apparently there is a walking tour that shows off some of the interior; I will give that shot next time.
  

 

• World War II Memorial - a bit underwhelming; it seems as though the designers went for quantity over quality. While deserving of a memorial, this detracts from the view from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.


• Lincoln Memorial - a classic.
  

• Korean War Memorial - having never seen this, I really liked it. The statues were impressive.


• Vietnam Veterans Memorial - goes without saying.


• Capitol Building - very worthwhile. Since we had to go through our Representative's office, we also got to visit his staff (although he was not there). Found out there is a staircase that leads up to the top of the Rotunda but is not open to the public. Make sure you find out about John Adams and how we use the acoustics in the original House chamber.

• National Mall - must have walked the Mall several times getting to all the places.
  
• White House - a difficult ticket to get and probably not worth taking little kids.


• National Gallery - didn't even get to a quarter of it; plan on spending days to see everything.


• National Portrait Gallery - unexpectedly nice.


• American Art Museum - ditto.


• Air and Space Museum - gets better all the time.

• Hazy Air and Space Museum - still a work in progress, but the sheer volume of historic aircraft make it a winner; the SR-71 is worth the trip just by itself.


• International Spy Museum - if you are interested in espionage, you can miss this. Don't expect much James Bond stuff, there is just a small homage to 007. The kids enjoyed it even though they didn't understand it.


• National Archives - first time here. They are trying to make it more than just the Charters of Freedom by adding some additional exhibits. Well worth it even thought the Magna Carta is no longer there.


• Natural History Museum - ours kids get to the San Diego version of this so this wasn't as big a deal to them.


• Marine Corps War Memorial - much more impressive in person.
  

• Flew in a helicopter (an R-22) with my uncle.
  

Fantasy Football Updated

My teams suck. I will be lucky to have a single one make the playoffs.

Honda Passport Rocker Arms

Here are some pics of an exhaust rocker arm and the hydraulic lash adjuster from a 1995 Honda Passport 3.2L V6.

Fire Photo

Here is my only photo of the fires. This was at Camp Pendleton just south of the Border Patrol checkpoint. The flames were mainly on the east side of the freeway but there were some on the west side as well. The San Onofre campground was empty.

Fire Story

As everyone knows, San Diego was consumed by several spectacular wildfires over the past few days. Here is our story.

Sunday afternoon

I had read on the internet about a fire starting in Ramona but didn't give it much thought. We left for the kids piano recital in Del Mar. In the space of just a few miles, the air got very thick and smoky. The recital was canceled due the the air so we went to George's beach to walk the dog. The air there was getting bad and in fact you could see the smoke cloud starting to creep northward. Went to bed without any concern.

Monday morning

I woke up as usual and headed to the office before dawn. It was smelly but I still wasn't concerned.

Monday 1000

Jyoti calls and says the air is getting very bad. I have been watching the news all morning and now it seems the Witch Fire has started to head west. Jyoti says a neighbor got a voluntary evacuation call, but we never receive one.

Monday 1100

Jyoti packs the car and kids and heads up to my parents in Orange County (they are well away from the fires there).

Monday 1200

I decided to leave work and head up to OC as well. I first stop by the house to see what is going on. The air is almost unbearable with ash and smoke.

Monday night

I spend most of the evening checking the news for information. The following are my best resources:

• UT's Fire Blog - once they moved it to blogspot it became the best news sources


• SD County Emergency - had the best maps (better than the Google mashups IMHO)


• Cat Dirt Sez - the best blogger following the fire


• Channel 10 News - had live streaming video, covered the western edge of the Witch Fire

Tuesday morning

Things got pretty tense as the Witch Fire headed westward into the Rancho Santa Fe. If you look at the map, we live a couple miles directly west of the Bridges community. The fire looked like it would wipe out a few estates in RSF and Olivenhain and head for us. Later reports said that the fire would have most likely follow Escondido Creek to the ocean. That is about a half mile from our house. Since our area is more dense than the areas to the east, I doubted that the fire would actually get to our neighborhood.

Tuesday afternoon

The wind died down and with it, the fire's advance. The flames headed back eastward towards Del Dios. A coworker of my mom's who lives in Encinitas and stayed the entire time, says the air is already getting better.

Tuesday night

The decision is made for me to go back tomorrow morning and see how things are. If they look ok, then the family will come down as well.

Wednesday morning

I got up early anticipating getting back home. My dad, says the 5 has been closed due to fires in Camp Pendleton. I wait until the freeway is open again and cruise the near-empty highways to home. The house is dusty but looks fine. Off to the office for a few hours work.


I was here during the 2003 fires and it is interesting to compare this event to that.

• Reverse 911 - although we didn't get a call, this great idea undoubtedly saved lives


• Evacuations - it seems that people evacuated sooner and in greater numbers; this might be due to the memories of 2003


• Air Support - the criticism of air support has already started, just like in 2003. I know the high winds prevented some flights on the first couple days, but it still seems that there is still some work to do to get Federal/Military assets to the scene


• Big Government - useless as usual. Didn't anyone care that FEMA had arrived? Most of the relief effort was already organized and rolling within hours. Is anyone else sick of those worthless interviews with governors, senators and presidents?


• Firefighters - continue to amaze me in their ability to handle multiple huge fires at the same time; our friend is a Cal Fire fighter and we know he was in the Ramona area but we will have to wait for details

I wonder if the Natural History Museum will update their Cedar Fire exhibit?

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Update

Yet more updates on this growing story.

• War and Piece blog quotes Intelligence Online in saying that the attack targeting an arms depot rather than a nuclear facility. The depot was apparently receiving a shipment of parts for Scud missiles. I seriously doubt Israel would risk an operation like this on Scuds. Everyone has Scuds, why were this so special?


• Arms Control Wonk thinks they were Scuds as well.

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Update

Some more updated on the Israeli air strike:

• It seems that some satellite TV broadcasts have been disrupted, possible due to EW jamming.
  


• Some more on the alleged jamming of the Russian-made Syrian AA systems. I find the story of the SAM countermeasures to be almost as interesting as the strike itself. It seems as though the Israelis, and by extension the US, have an ace-up-the-sleeve when dealing with even the newest Russian systems. If there is an eventual strike on Iranian targets, we will likely have tons of intel on the capabilities of the SAM's and the means to overcome them. This undoubtedly enhances our position when negotiating with the Iranians.

Del Mar Beach

First Guides trip of the year!

Wagner Baby

Looks like 4 got it right!

Israeli Air Strike on Syria Update

David Fulghum speculates on the reason that the Israelis so easily penetrated Syrian air defense. He mentions a system call "Suter" that infiltrates enemy air defense systems and discombobulates them. Very interesting stuff. I can imagine the Russians getting some frantic phone calls from their SAM customers right about now.

More Nukes!

I am glad to see new nuclear plants getting under way. IMHO, nukes are the only way were are going to satisfy our energy needs. All the other alternatives won't work out. The 'natural' energy sources like geothermal, wind and solar are too limited. Who wants endless miles of those ugly windmills all over the place? A recent Dilbert blog entry has an interesting discussion on the subject of energy.

Israeli Air Strike on Syria

The most under-reported story in the mainstream news has to be the mysterious Israeli airstrike on Syria. The target was an alleged nuclear joint venture between Syria and North Korea. The details of this story are right out of fiction:

• A North Korean cargo ship docks in a Syrian port to unload "cement." North Koreans scientists were reportedly at the target site.


• Then, reportedly, Israeli commandos infiltrated the lab to verify that nuclear weapons research was going on.


• The Syrians have a very dense air defense network, but no invading planes were shot down (at least know to us).


• The raiders apparently escaped via Turkey, leaving a fuel tank.


• What weapons were used? If the facility was indeed underground, perhaps new bunker-busting bombs were tested out?
  

The US certainly knew about the operation but there hasn't been an official acknowledgment by any government. Why keep it so secret? Is the Bush administration worried about Syria complaining? Perhaps they don't want to upset the apple cart that is the ongoing Nork negotiations.
If this story pans out, it would certainly bolster Bush's warnings about WMD's and would give the IDF some much-needed prestige. As for the Syrians, some of their military leaders have some explaining to do how all that money they spent on Russian SAM's wasn't worth the rubles it was printed on.
I find this story fascinating and can't wait for more information to come out.

Update
Here is more information on the commandos plus some speculation similar to my own on the silence from US and Israeli governments.
More analysis (albeit not very well unattributed) on the Syrian nuke program.

Dad Of All Bombs

The Russians are testing an enormous new thermobaric weapon, dubbed the "dad of all bombs."
According to the source, the bomb will have near-nuclear power but with the added benefit of, and I quote,

Unlike a nuclear weapon, the bomb doesn't hurt the environment,

.

Fantasy Football Week 2

After two weeks my teams are exactly opposite of what I would have expected. My best two teams are 0-2. They both feature Stephen Jackson at RB so that explains alot of it. My worst team is 2-0 and is looking All-World. That squad is is led by Tony Romo and Andre Johnson but has gotten lots of help from bit players. Week 3 is huge for those 0-2 teams. If they go winless again, it is time to write the season off.

Lives of Adventure

I came across this obituary in a recent paper for Count Michael Gaszynski. My first thought was that this gentleman led an incredibly rich and exciting life. My life is pretty boring in comparison.
But after reading the article again, it dawned on me that this person's life, and countless others of those born early in the 20th century, seemed exciting due all the wars and turmoil. Mr. Gaszynski was born in Poland right before World War I, had to flee during the Russian Revolution, fled Poland before World War II. He did settle down after the war to make cheesecake which is a bit more mundane.
On second thought, I really do appreciate the unexciting life. We could all use a bit of adventure, but not the kind that involves running for your life.

Zoo Urinals

The family and I went to the Nighttime Zoo this past weekend. I always love the evening zoo hours as most of the animals are more active, especially the cats.
One thing my son and I noticed about the bathrooms is that they don't have child level urinals. This is quite puzzling since half the patrons at the zoo are kids. Even my office has low urinals and kids are never there. Most of the bathrooms look like have been refitted with the no-water units, so why didn't they make them lower then? Very strange.

Car Repair Tip #234

When you change your windshield wipers blades, place a towel or other padding on the glass. If you don't and the arm happens to snap back without a blade, it can crack the windshield.

Amateur IMINT

IMINT & Analysis.
The wonders of free overhead imagery.