Old-fashioned fake-out results in freedom for hostages
Now, when I first heard that the rebels were tricked into releasing the hostages, I was trying to figure out how, and I was thinking it was something stupid like "We will give you this bag of gold for these hostages" the rebels agree, and the bag of gold was just the gold foil-wrapped chocolates. The truth, however, was cool as hell.
(Full article below)
"The Colombian government's bloodless rescue of the hostages Wednesday was the product of a perfectly executed ruse that depended on old-school spy games rather than high-tech gadgetry.
Agents spent months worming their way into the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, an insurgent force that has waged war on the Colombian state for 40 years, Gen. Freddy Padilla de Leon told CNN.
The agents gained the rebels' trust and rose to the top of FARC's leadership council as well as a team assigned to guard the hostages.
When the time was ripe, the moles used the authority they'd gained within the group to order the 15 hostages moved from three separate locations to one central area, and the game was on.
"We convinced the FARC that they were talking to those of their own," said Gen. Mario Montoya of the Colombian army. "It was all human intelligence."
Once the hostages -- including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three American contractors -- were gathered, the agents ordered a 90-mile march through the steamy jungle, Montoya said.
Such relocations were not unusual for the hostages or the rebels, who constantly move about to avoid detection by the Colombian military.
Little did the rebels know that the military was about to pull off a bait-and-switch that would leave them standing in a jungle clearing, not realizing they'd just been hustled out of their most valuable assets. Photo See former hostages, officials exult »
The agents told their FARC comrades that an "international mission" -- such as the Red Cross or a U.N. delegation -- was coming to visit the hostages, Montoya said.
At the appointed hour, an unmarked white helicopter set down in the jungle along the trekkers' path. Colombian security forces posing as FARC rebels jumped out, some wearing shirts emblazoned with the likeness of revolutionary icon Che Guevara. Background on FARC »
The helicopter crew told the 60 or so real rebels that the chopper was going to ferry the hostages to the meeting with the "international mission," Montoya said.
During their 22 minutes on the jungle floor, the government pilot and co-pilot spoke in code with their colleagues, authorities said, using phrases such as "Generators OK" that carried a secret meaning to the security forces.
All 15 hostages were handcuffed and placed aboard the helicopter, along with two of their guards, leaving the rest of the FARC detachment on the ground.
Once the chopper was up and safely away from the landing zone, the fake rebels persuaded the real ones aboard to hand them their weapons. Moments later, both rebels were on the floor of the aircraft, cuffed and blindfolded by their erstwhile comrades, Betancourt said."
I'd bold the awesome parts, but seriously, this whole thing is just awesome. Look at this! My god, it makes the spying, theft and sneakiness I see in Eve absolutely PALE by comparison! THIS would make a cool movie, and while I know there are movies with this premise, knowing it was based on a true story would make it that much cooler.
A twitter by the wife made me think (I know, that's never a good sign, but bare (bear?) with me). You know you you can friend someone and they can friend you back, and you both have friends lists? What about a friends with benefits list? On a related note, if you have a one night stand with someone and regret it and they friend you, would you friend them back? Actual friends vs the people you know lists? Make a livejournal for your dog so you can friend your best friend? (what if your dog doesn't friend you back?)
]]>I have the desire to voxinate, but I have nothing that I want to voxinate about. What kind of blogospherian am I if I don't regularly voxinate?
(I really have to make up my own words more often.)
]]>I got out of bed around 6:30am, it's now 9:40am and I still haven't woken up. My mind feels so totally empty, like the wind could blow through it. My co-workers can see this. Man, I feel like I haven't had a decent nights sleep in so very long. I blame the sun. I just can't sleep well when the sun is down.
But maybe last night was because of the two pots of green tea I had an hour before I went to bed. Getting up to pee every two hours sucks.
SPeaking of that tea, I need to take a picture of the label of the green tea. I call it Fuck You tea, but it's only because the name starts with fuku.
Good god, I hope I wake up soon.
]]>I don't like eggs. I can cook them very well, but for the most part I don't eat them. Yet I like egg drop soup. Go figure.
(Yes, I could have used Twitter, but darn it, I like Vox!)
(Yes, I also know they are both by Six Apart, but so is Livejournal and you don't see me posting there, now do you)
(No, I don't care that Livejournal is technicially run by some Russian group)
(This space intentionally left not blank)
(I need to find my Sim Earth manual)
()_()
So this is Web 2.0, huh? User created content.
So... what exactly is different? Hell, Jenni Cam was a web 2.0 creation before most people were even web 1.0! Blogs? Hell, that's been on the web for about that long too, and don't you dare tell me that message boards are web 2.0! Newsgroups nearly pre-date the internet, let alone the web.
The only reason there is more and more people posting videos, blogs and what not is that there are more people on the internet and there are actually sites on the internet that do it for free. No more saving up your AOL minutes so you can upload a meg of very highly compressed video to your Geocities page!
Now I know that there have been many other people who have said this (and given my memory, maybe even myself), but I wanted to say it. What brought this on? Some Detroit Free Press article about the networks losing viewers to other forms of entertainment, and really, who can blame them? Shortly after highschool, my total tv viewing time was maybe 20 hours a week and since then, while my time is actually pretty close to 10 program hours, my actual time is a bit less since I fast forward through comercials (which probably means I am hated by ad people, but who cares?) and instead of watching whatever is on, I only watch what I want to, so no sitting through a talk show because there is nothing else on. But what if I have nothing recorded and I don't feel like going on the computer? Free on demand movies.
...
I may have had a point when I started this post yeserday, but who knows what that was.
]]>Is it so odd that I consider manufacturing a hobby?
They laugh at me for bringing a snickers and Dr. Pepper to meeting, but when they are groggy and falling asleep, I am awake, so who's laughing now? Well... not me, because it's a meeting and breaking into laughter in the middle of one is bad juju.
]]>Ah, one of life's greatest little sins: Personalized climate control. Put in the window units, power them up, and you have a cool, low humidity environment for you and your family to enjoy. Isn't it wonderful?
So here's how my adventure has been so far. After work Thursday, I pulled out the A/C units from the garage and tested them. Father-In-Law's works, Sister-in-law's is still noisy as hell, bedroom one works fine, and the living room one seems to be working too. Not so bad. Let's just get a new one for the living room (12,000 BTU) and the Sister-in-law can have the living room one. But I'll deal with that later since she said she is fine. Put in the one in the bedroom so the wife can live and the one in the father-in-law's room so he will shut up. And it was good.
FRIDAY! It's hot, it's humid, so of course NOW she wants AC. I put it in. We go to Sears to get a new unit for the living room. Stupid front panel doesn't fit right. Why does the unit's case look like a parallelogram? Why does it sound like there is something loose in it? Eh, no matter, I'll put it in. It's brand new, so it must work, right?
...
Right?
(Say it with me Lex.)
Yeah, so that sucked. I should have tested it. But if should haves were dollars, I would be drinking sweet, sweet Starbucks right now.
SATURDAY!
So Sears... again. Bought the SIL (because sister-in-law takes too long to write, as does this explanation on what SIL means, even thought I could have just used copy and paste to make my work a lot less, but no, I had to type in a few sentences to explain it) a new 5000 BTU unit, returned the old one... WTF do you mean 15% restocking fee? Are you telling me that even thought I JUST bought this last night, and it doesn't work, and I am just getting the same model, I have to pay a 15% restocking fee? (Granted, I said it fairly politely, because seriously, it was hot there (they sell AC at Sears but theirs doesn't work.) and he is just following policys). May I speak to your manager? Oh, she said never mind? Then I'll go return this at a register, get a new one, and take it home.
So I take it home (amazing how that works, isn't it?) try it out in the back of the FIL's (just guess) minivan, and THEY WORK! And then they were installed. And my house is now noticeably cooler, and after a shower, I feel better and can enjoy it. Ahhh....
For years I have been thinking about building my own vehicle from scratch, and while some details in my mind change, I always have the same general idea for a single person vehicle that will get me to and from work. You know what? I think I am actually going to go for it soon.
But Fire Storm, you may say (and while talking to yourself may be a good way to organize your thoughts, and as I keep saying here, talking to your monitor is never a good sign!), why don't you just buy a car? Well, I'll tell you Mr and/or Ms (who am I to judge?) internet user! Because I want to! I want to learn to weld, I want to make something with my own hands! I want to trust my life to something I built! Wait a minute...
NO TIME FOR LOGIC!
Seriously, pretty much any vehicle I can purchase is overkill for my work commute. I just want something small, light and cheap that can carry myself to and from work, carry my work bag, and a grocery bag or two would be nice. I don't need 120hp, 4 doors and seating for 5 and the cargo space to carry a months worth of groceries to go to work. Given fuel prices, I am considering electric with a range of about 60 miles (50% buffer for my daily commute), and in the past I considered a 3 wheel vehicle so it can be classified as a motorcycle, I am now considering a 4 wheel vehicle simply to help with a few design issues.
I just need to figure out what to do for lighting (car/motorcycle parts for headlights or roll my own?), how I make body panels... let's see, what else... oh yeah, design the whole thing, learn about all the assembly skills, research laws, and all that. Hell, I should be done by this time next week!
This will be a cool project.
]]>Now that the wife is working, and now that gas prices are near a billion dollars (give or take a lot), I've ben dropping her off and going across the street to Borders, sitting in the cafe, drinking coffee and reading (mostly comic books), and the wife is afriad that I am going out of my mind with boredom.
Yep. It is abolute torture sitting, relaxing with a book with coffe. I don't know how long i can stand all this plesant relaxing. I mean, it's not like I do that with my wife to relax, no siree.
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