3 Feared to be Dead After Alaska State Trooper Helicopter Crash

Photo Credit: AP

An Alaska State Trooper helicopter carrying a trooper, a pilot for the agency and a rescued snowmobiler crashed in the south-central part of the state, leaving the three aboard feared dead, a spokeswoman said Sunday night.

Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said the aircraft went down Saturday night, the wreckage spotted Sunday, and no survivors have been found.

Peters said that though the three are feared dead, there has been no confirmation of any fatalities. “This is a huge, profound tragedy for us. We can replace the helicopter but we can’t replace what went down with it,” she said. “It’s been a bad day.”

Wreckage of the helicopter burned, but Peters said it was not known how the fire started or how long it lasted.

The trooper helicopter was on a mission to pick up a snowmobiler stranded near Larson Lake 7 miles east of Talkeetna in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

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Iran: 2013 Will Be 'Fall of American Empire'

Photo Credit: WND

The “American empire” will fall this year, the head of Iran’s Basij forces claimed Sunday, a message that was approved by the Islamic regime’s supreme leader.

“America should not think that with some diplomatic dialogue it can solve its dossier (problem) with the nation of Iran,” Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi said. “The path of this land is directed by the martyrs. America with its hollow slogans … thinks the Iranian nation will believe it.”

The Basij commander was speaking to an audience of the 10th conference of “Journey of Enlightened Land” commemorating the “martyrs” of the eight-year war with Iraq, according to the Journalist Club, an outlet run by the Revolutionary Guards intelligence division.

Naghdi called President Obama’s actions deceitful, saying, “Obama in letters sent to the Islamic Republic promised to put an end to the Iranian nuclear dossier but … reacted in a different way.”

As reported in January 2012, Iranian officials revealed the contents of an Obama letter to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that indicated a deep desire by the U.S. president for a dialogue with the radical leaders of Iran. Iranian officials also claimed that a subsequent oral message by Obama delivered through the Swiss ambassador in Tehran was even more revealing than the letter delivered to the Iranian supreme leader.

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US Sends F-22 Stealth Raptors to Join B-2's as North Korea Declares a "State of War"

Photo Credit: DVIDSHUB

The United States has sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea to join Seoul forces in military drills as North Korea warns the Korean Peninsula has entered “a state of war.”

A senior U.S. official confirms to Fox News that the F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base in South Korea from Japan on Sunday to support ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.

North Korea has increased its threatening rhetoric in recent weeks, including vowing to launch a nuclear strike on Washington. In a statement released Sunday, U.S. military in South Korea urged North Korea to restrain itself.

“(North Korea) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, North Korea said Saturday its armed forces, “will blow up U.S. bases for aggression in its mainland and in the Pacific operational theatres including Hawaii and Guam.”

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DHS Finally Responds to Senate Demand for Ammo Info but its Numbers Don't Pencil Out-page 2

I should note, however, that the CPB 30% figure for operations and reserves is questionable enough given the limited firearms usage of these agencies in the field. A quick perusal of the nation’s news reveals that very few rounds are fired by these agencies in the line of duty.


So what is DHS doing with several hundred million rounds of extra ammo? No one seems to have given a reasonable answer.

Certainly, no one can fault DHS for wanting to make certain that its component agencies have what they need for any constitutionally-prescribed civilian duties. But arming them with many times the ammo necessary for current missions serves only to worry civil libertarians and drain the federal treasury. And not giving forthright and timely answers to a US Senator can only serve to drive even more speculation as to what these federal agencies are up to.

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