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Boing Boing readers following the violent convulsions of the drug war in Mexico, and fans of the AMC narco-drama Breaking Bad, will likely find these photos from a secret Mexican meth lab to be of interest (particularly in light of the TV show's most recent episode, "Salud.") I can't find Jesse, Mike, Gus, or Heisenberg in any of these photos—but then, these images shot just today are the real thing. Above: a full-face respirator gas mask hangs on a wall above plastic containers at the clandestine drug laboratory discovered in Zapotlanejo, on the outskirts of Guadalajara, September 23, 2011. Soldiers found 133 tons of a drug catalyst used in crystal methamphetamine production (phenylacetic acid, perhaps?) and 180 kg of crystal meth ready for consumption at the laboratory located on a ranch about 38 km (24 miles) east of Guadalajara, according to a local media. The meth is no "Blue Sky," by the looks of it, and the modest gear would look out of place at the Pollos Hermanos superlab. Surely Jesse would not approve of the conditions, and it looks to be below even Don Eladio's standards. But again: this is real life. |
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view Inside A Clandestine Mexican Meth Lab as presented by: Boing Boing |
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There are some large cottonwood trees East of our house that have had a bird nest for years. In 2005, we saw some Great Horned owls nesting there (see bottom pictures) ... but a few years later, the nest was taken over by some Red-Tailed Hawks. I didn't see any action in 2009, but in 2010, the Great Horned Owls came back to the nest - perhaps the next generation! |
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view Great Horned Owl Nest as presented by: Alek Komarnitsky |
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Goodyear blimps have been a regular sight in Southern California, even before World War II when the U.S. Navy used them to keep an eye on the West Coast. Now, Goodyear turns a new page as it will be working with German manufacturer ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik to build three new blimps beginning in 2013. Here’s a look at the Spirit of America and its grassy air field in Carson, as well as some historic photos of Goodyear blimps. Carlos Marquez, assistant chief airship mechanic and rigger, climbs the 30-foot mast that holds the Spirit of America in place to release the blimp for a flight, on May 4, 2011. The shadow of the blimp can be seen as the airship moves over the South Bay. |
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view Goodyear Blimp as presented by: Los Angeles Times |
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Defying a deadly government crackdown, tens of thousands of protesters on Wednesday poured into the streets of Yemen’s second largest city in the latest demonstrations against the long serving president. Two groups of protesters met up in the city center where a general strike had closed shops and banks in what activists were calling the “Tsunami of Taiz” and the largest demonstration in this troubled southern city to date. More than 120 people have been killed since Yemen’s protests calling for the removal of President Ali Abdullah Saleh began on Feb. 11, inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. In Taiz alone, 16 people were killed Monday when government forces opened fire on demonstrators. The rising death toll across the country has helped inflame public opinion against the government and sent even more people flooding into the streets of the Arab world’s most impoverished country. Running out of food, water and oil, Yemen is wracked by a tribal rebellion in the north, a separatist movement in the south and the presence of an al-Qaida affiliate operating in the remote mountainous hinterlands. Saleh has been a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Qaida, but there are signs he is losing American support. An injured anti-government protestor looks on after being treated in a field hospital during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. Tribesmen loyal to Yemen's embattled president on Tuesday clashed with a group of soldiers whose commander has sided with the opposition, and the fighting in a suburb of the capital Sanaa left three tribesmen dead, according to tribal elders and military officials. An elderly anti-government protestor reacts during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday, March 26, 2011. The White House urged governments in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain to cease attacks on protesters Friday, while saying the violence against protesters in those countries have not risen to the same level as in Libya, where Western forces are engaged in military action to stop violence perpetrated by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Supporters of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh hold his posters and wave their national flag during a rally supporting Saleh in Sanaa,Yemen, Friday, April 1, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have packed a main square in the capital and are on the march elsewhere across the nation, demanding the country's ruler of 32 years step down. |
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view Captured: Yemen Unrest as presented by: Denver Post |
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In 1942, soon after the United States entered World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order creating the Office of War Information (OWI). The new agency was tasked with releasing war news, promoting patriotic activities, and providing news outlets with audio, film, and photos of the government's war efforts. Between 1939 and 1944, the OWI and the Farm Security Administration made thousands of photographs, approximately 1,600 of them in color. OWI photographers Alfred Palmer and Howard Hollem produced some exceptional Kodachrome transparencies in the early war years depicting military preparedness, factory operations, and women in the work force. While most of the scenes were posed, the subjects were the real thing -- soldiers and workers preparing for a long fight. Gathered here are some of these color images from Palmer and Hollem, complete with original captions from 1942. Also, be sure to see archival movies in our new Video Channel. All of the FSA/OWI photos are available from the Library of Congress. This girl in a glass house is putting finishing touches on the bombardier nose section of a B-17F navy bomber in Long Beach, California, She's one of many capable women workers in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant. Better known as the "Flying Fortress," the B-17F is a later model of the B-17 which distinguished itself in action in the South Pacific, over Germany and elsewhere. It is a long range, high altitude heavy bomber, with a crew of seven to nine men, and with armament sufficient to defend itself on daylight missions. Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American Aviation's Inglewood, California, plant, in October of 1942. B-25 bomber planes at the North American Aviation, Inc., being hauled along an outdoor assembly line with an "International" tractor, in Kansas City, Kansas, in October, 1942. |
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view World War II: The American Home Front in Color as presented by: The Atlantic |
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AMC’s zombie drama “The Walking Dead” returns for its third season on Sunday, and for cast members who play “walkers” (the zombies), preparing for the role involves careful, professional application of the ugly stick. Last week, David Walters Banks, on assignment for The Wall Street Journal, photographed Xan Angelovich undergoing this transformation by co-executive producer Greg Nicotero and special-effects makeup artist Andy Schoneberg. Ms. Angelovich before make-up. They apply make-up to her teeth. Ms. Angelovich on the set. All photographs by David Walter Banks for The Wall Street Journal. |
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view Backstage: The Walking Dead as presented by: Wall Street Journal |
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Last month, reports surfaced, later confirmed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has been delivering bags of cash to Karzai for a decade, in part to buy continued access and cooperation during the war. The New York Times reported that the payments had not resulted in the influence the CIA sought, and had instead fueled corruption and empowered warlords. A further report by the U.N. stated that opium cultivation across Afghanistan had increased for the third year in a row. As Western troops continue the long process of preparing for their December 2014 withdrawal, evidence of significant progress in Afghanistan remains elusive. The photos below are just a glimpse of this conflict over the past month, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan. An Afghan woman in a burqa walks along a road on a windy day on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 16, 2013. Afghans at the Karte Sakhi cemetery on the foot of Karte Sakhi's Shrine in the foothills of TV Mountain in Kabul, on April 26, 2013. The shrine is the second most sacred place of Shia worship in Afghanistan. A U.S. Black Hawk helicopter arrives, after a NATO helicopter crashed killing two American service members in a field near Gerakhel, eastern Afghanistan, on April 9, 2013. The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force said the cause of the crash is under investigation but initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time. |
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view Afghanistan: April 2013 as presented by: The Atlantic |
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62 days have passed since the initial explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the crude oil and natural gas continue to gush from the seafloor. Re-revised estimates now place the flow rate at up to 60,000 barrels a day - a figure just shy of a worst-case estimate of 100,000 barrels a day made by BP in an internal document recently released by a congressional panel. Louisiana's state treasurer has estimated environmental and economic damages from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could range from $40 billion to $100 billion. Collected here are recent photographs from the Gulf of Mexico, and of those affected by the continued flow of oil and gas into the ocean. James McGee vacuums oil in Barataria Bay on the coast of Louisiana. Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill washes ashore in Orange Beach, Alabama. Plaquemines Parish Coastal Zone Management Director P. J. Hahn holds up an oil-stained Sandwich Tern in Long Bay on June 19, 2010 west of Port Sulpher, Louisiana. The bird was reported and delivered to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for rehabilitation. |
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view Oil In The Gulf Two Months Later as presented by: Boston Big Picture |
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