Stratfor

Here's a nice simple explanation from Stratfor Global Intelligence regarding how and why, despite stringent regulations, US banks continue to launder money from around the world.

As always, Stratfor Global Intelligence blows the doors off of all competition in the News and/or Analysis business.

The first chart will link you up to the full analysis, they do have some free stuff which I mooched for years, you may have to register or fool around some to get this story.

The second chart will link you to a much larger version of the chart that you can actually read.

 The distinction between Core, Franchise and Grassroots attacks is interesting to me.

Basically core is al Qaeda itself, Franchise groups are those that have some loose affiliation and/or allegiance to al Qaeda, and Grassroots are individual people who have been inspired by al Qaeda and have taken matters into their own hands.

To begin with, I'm still not entirely certain of what works and what doesn't with regards to the free stuff at Stratfor.

I hope this works ... you might have to fool around with something.

I've created a link from the photo below to Stratfor's latest article regarding Inspire Magazine, the al Qaeda english language jihadist magazine.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, "There's a magazine out there for everybody".

As I have also said before, I subscribe to Stratfor.

I don't even know what it costs anymore, mostly because I'm afraid to.

Still, as far as I'm concerned, Stratfor is the single best site in the world for a "news junkie".

The “Open Source Jihad” section contained a photograph of the U.S. Capitol building with a Christmas tree in the foreground on the first page.  

The “What to Expect in Jihad” section featured a graphic of a sticky note with a to-do listreading: buy handguns, make a bomb in mom’s kitchen, blow up Times Square and “pull off Mumbai near Whitehouse ‘till martyrdom.”  

This section also had a graphic of an envelope marked with the word “Anthrax.”

The photograph of the U.S. Capitol, followed by a reference to an armed assault directed against soft targets near the White House (and the anthrax envelope), will certainly raise some eyebrows in Washington — especially since the Open Source Jihad section of the second edition of Inspire had a photo of the Chicago skyline, and the subsequent plot involving explosive devices hidden in printer cartridges were in packages sent to Chicago.

Don't bother running out, I already checked Barnes and Noble ..... no luck.

Must've gone like hotcakes.

From Stratfor Global Intelligence.

This week's Mexico Security Memo.

·         Teachers from a school in China, Nuevo Leon state, discovered a severed head in a plastic bag near the school building.

·         Unidentified gunmen shot and threw two grenades at a police station in Ebano, San Luis Potosi state, and left a body inside a cardboard box near the station. Two passersby were injured in the attack.

·         Nine people were injured when a grenade exploded outside a shopping center in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state.

Feb. 15

·         Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a man as he drove his car in the Riveras de Linda Vista neighborhood of Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon state. A group of gunmen later arrived and drove away with the car and the man’s body.

·         Police found the blindfolded body of an unidentified man bearing signs of torture in Leon, Guanajuato state.

·         Suspected members of Los Zetas opened fire on two U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents at a roadblock in San Luis Potosi state, killing one and injuring another.

Feb. 16

·         The Mexican Prosecutor General’s office announced the arrests of 13 suspected members of Los Zetas and the seizure of bank accounts containing more than 16 million pesos (about $1.3 million). The suspects had participated in the illegal extraction and sale of 175.855 million liters of natural gas condensate from 2007 to 2008.

·         Four unidentified gunmen were killed when their vehicle crashed into a tree as they fled from soldiers in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon state. The suspects reportedly opened fire on soldiers investigating reports of firefights in the area.

·         Several firefights between unidentified gunmen against police and soldiers were reported in Zitacuaro, Michoacan state. Two people were killed and a fuel station was set on fire during the incidents. The security forces reportedly intended to arrest a local leader of La Familia Michoacana identified as “El Morsa.”

·         Unidentified attackers in a taxi threw two grenades at a police station in Tamasopo, San Luis Potosi state. No injuries were reported in the attack.

Feb. 17

·         Unidentified gunmen shot and injured a police officer driving in southern Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state, who managed to escape into a local restaurant.

·         Two federal police officers and one gunman were injured in a firefight in Cuautla, Morelos state.

·         Six severed heads were abandoned near a police station in Moralillo, Panuco municipality, Veracruz state. A message attributing the crime to the Gulf cartel was found near the heads.

Feb. 18

·         A 16-year-old boy with an AK-47 was among five suspected members of the Artistas Asesinos gang arrested following a shootout with Mexican federal police in Juarez, Chihuahua state.

·         Soldiers killed five unidentified gunmen in a firefight in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon state. Three gunmen also died when their vehicle rolled over in Juarez, Nuevo Leon state, after fleeing from a military patrol.

·         Security forces raided a safe-house in Mexicali, Baja California state, and seized approximately 9 tons of marijuana. The drug shipment were found inside several container and tanker trucks. An unspecified number of people were arrested.

·         Unidentified people threw four bodies from a bridge in Chilpancingo, Guerrero state. The victims had been shot to death.

Feb. 19

·         Five gunmen in Ixtapaluca, Mexico state, shot and killed two police officers. One gunman was killed in the incident, which began after the police officers asked a group of people to identify themselves.

·         Soldiers in the Unidad Modelo neighborhood of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state, raided a house and arrested three people. Three men were arrested in the raid and were removed from the house covered in blankets, according to unofficial sources.

·         Between Feb. 17 and Feb. 20, 53 people, including a Juarez police officer, a municipal patrolman and a state investigator, were killed in cartel-related violence in Juarez, Chihuahua state. It was reportedly the deadliest 72-hour span in that city in recent memory.

Feb. 20

·         Police in Puente de Ixtla, Morelos state, arrested four suspected members of a La Familia Michoacana cell as they were driving a stolen vehicle.

·         Authorities announced that 12 taxi drivers and passengers were killed in Acapulco, Guerrero state, from Feb. 18 to Feb. 20.

·         Soldiers in the Morelos neighborhood of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon state, freed a kidnapping victim and arrested eight suspected kidnappers. 

That's your war on drugs, completing it's perfect work.

 From Statfor Global Intelligence, the single best source for international news analysis anywhere ..... bar none.

Your Navy is certainly keeping busy.

Betcha we could sell half of it and take a big damn bite out of the national debt.