Terminology Flashcards
Tohu Bohu?
“Disconcerting Confusion”
“chaos and desolation.” It describes the condition of the earth before God said, “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3)
chaos, confusion - bringing order out of the of human relations
What does “ACLED” mean?
Armed Conflict Location & Event Dataset (ACLED), which facilitates analysis of both contemporary and historical patterns.
How that data can be used: ex: Detailed analysis of specific groups and actor types reveals important intra-regional discrepancies which have been largely obscured by characterisations of a regional, trans-national crisis.
Nomos?
in reference to “Time” “times are a changin’ “
What does “GWOT” mean?
Global war on terrorism
described as a “an illusion”
What is an NGO(‘s)?
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is the term commonly used for an organization that is neither a part of a government nor a conventional for-profit business. Usually set up by ordinary citizens, NGOs may be funded by governments, foundations, businesses, or private persons. Some avoid formal funding altogether and are run primarily by volunteers. NGOs are highly diverse groups of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, and take different forms in different parts of the world. Some may have charitable status, while others may be registered for tax exemption based on recognition of social purposes
NGOs are difficult to define, and the term ‘NGO’ is rarely used consistently. As a result, there are many different classifications in use. The most common focus is on ‘orientation’ and ‘level of operation’. An NGO’s orientation refers to the type of activities it takes on. These activities might include human rights, environmental, or development work. An NGO’s level of operation indicates the scale at which an organization works, such as local, regional, national or international.
The term “non-governmental organization” was first coined in 1945, when the United Nations (UN) was created.
What are the Zetas?
Los Zetas (pronounced: [los ˈsetas], Spanish for “The Z’s”) is a powerful and violent criminal syndicate in Mexico, and is considered by the U.S. government to be the “most technologically advanced, sophisticated, and dangerous cartel operating in Mexico.” The origins of Los Zetas date back to the late 1990s when commandos of the Mexican Army’s forces deserted their ranks and decided to work as the armed wing of the Gulf Cartel, a drug trafficking organization. In February 2010, Los Zetas broke away from their former employer and formed their own criminal organization.
Mexican Special Forces, men trained in the United States.
Los Zetas are well armed and equipped, and unlike other traditional criminal organizations in Mexico, drug trafficking makes up only around 50% of their revenue, while a large portion of their income comes from other activities directed against both rival drug cartels and civilians; their brutal tactics, which include beheadings, torture and indiscriminate slaughter, show that they often prefer brutality over bribery. Los Zetas are also Mexico’s largest drug cartel in terms of geographical presence, overtaking its rivals, the Sinaloa Cartel. Los Zetas also operate through protection rackets, assassinations, extortion, kidnappings, and other criminal activities. The organization is based in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, directly across the border from Laredo, Texas.
What is the PRI (in relation to International Politics)?
The Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI) is a Mexican political party that held power in the country for 71 years, first as the National Revolutionary Party, then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution. The PRI is a centrist party member of the Socialist International. However, the PRI is not considered a social democratic party in the traditional sense; its modern policies of neo-liberalism and privatization have been characterized as centrist or even as liberal. Its membership in the Socialist International dates from the Mexican Revolution (1910) and the founding of the party by Plutarco Elías Calles (1929), when the party had a clearer social democratic orientation. Along with their rival, the left-wing PRD (Party of the Democratic Revolution), they make Mexico one of the few nations with two major, competing parties part of the same international grouping. The PRI is the largest political party in Mexico, according to numerical observation.
The adherents of the PRI party are known in Mexico as priísta and the party is nicknamed el tricolor because of its use of the colors green, white and red.
Describe “Arab Spring” . . .
The Arab Spring (Arabic: الربيع العربي, ar-rabīˁ al-ˁarabī) is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010 and spread throughout the countries of the Arab League and surroundings. While the wave of initial revolutions and protests had expired by mid-2012, some refer to the ongoing large-scale conflicts in Middle East and North Africa as a continuation of the Arab Spring, while others refer to aftermath of revolutions and civil wars post mid-2012 as the Arab Winter.
The protests have shared some techniques of civil resistance in sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations, marches, and rallies, as well as the effective use of social media to organize, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and Internet censorship.
What is Ricin? What is it made from, what are signs of exposure, and what steps should you take when dealing with exposed individuals?
Ricin /ˈraɪsɪn/ is a highly toxic, naturally occurring lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis. A dose of purified ricin powder the size of a few grains of table salt can kill an adult human.[1] The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body weight (1.78 mg for an average adult, around 1⁄228 of a standard aspirin tablet/0.4 g gross) in humans if exposure is from injection or inhalation.[2] Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic, and an estimated lethal dose in humans is approximately 1 milligram per kilogram.
CDC Info:
Ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans. If castor beans are chewed and swallowed, the released ricin can cause injury. Ricin can be made from the waste material left over from processing castor beans.
It can be in the form of a powder, a mist, or a pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or weak acid.
It is a stable substance under normal conditions, but can be inactivated by heat above 80 degrees centigrade (176 degrees Fahrenheit).
Where ricin is found and how it is used:
Castor beans are processed throughout the world to make castor oil. Ricin is part of the waste “mash” produced when castor oil is made.
Ricin has been used experimentally in medicine to kill cancer cells.
How you could be exposed to ricin:
It would take a deliberate act to make ricin and use it to poison people. Unintentional exposure to ricin is highly unlikely, except through the ingestion of castor beans.
If made into a partially purified material or refined into a terrorist or warfare agent, ricin could be used to expose people through the air, food, or water.
In 1978, Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian writer and journalist who was living in London, died after he was attacked by a man with an umbrella. The umbrella had been rigged to inject a poison ricin pellet under Markov’s skin.
In the 1940s the U.S. military experimented with using ricin as a possible warfare agent. In some reports ricin has possibly been used as a warfare agent in the 1980s in Iraq and more recently by terrorist organizations.
Ricin poisoning is not contagious. Ricin-associated illness cannot be spread from person to person through casual contact. However, if you come into contact with someone who has ricin on their body or clothes, you could become exposed to it.
How ricin works:
Ricin works by getting inside the cells of a person’s body and preventing the cells from making the proteins they need. Without the proteins, cells die. Eventually this is harmful to the whole body, and death may occur.
Effects of ricin poisoning depend on whether ricin was inhaled, ingested, or injected.
Signs and symptoms of ricin exposure:
The major symptoms of ricin poisoning depend on the route of exposure and the dose received, though many organs may be affected in severe cases.
Initial symptoms of ricin poisoning by inhalation may occur as early as 4- 8 hours and as late as 24 hours after exposure. Following ingestion of ricin, initial symptoms typically occur in less than 10 hours.
Inhalation: Within a few hours of inhaling significant amounts of ricin, the likely symptoms would be respiratory distress (difficulty breathing), fever, cough, nausea, and tightness in the chest. Heavy sweating may follow as well as fluid building up in the lungs (pulmonary edema). This would make breathing even more difficult, and the skin might turn blue. Excess fluid in the lungs would be diagnosed by x-ray or by listening to the chest with a stethoscope. Finally, low blood pressure and respiratory failure may occur, leading to death. In cases of known exposure to ricin, people having respiratory symptoms should seek medical care.
Ingestion: If someone swallows a significant amount of ricin, he or she would likely develop vomiting and diarrhea that may become bloody. Severe dehydration may be the result, followed by low blood pressure. Other signs or symptoms may include seizures, and blood in the urine. Within several days, the person’s liver, spleen, and kidneys might stop working, and the person could die.
Skin and eye exposure: Ricin is unlikely to be absorbed through normal skin. Contact with ricin powders or products may cause redness and pain of the skin and the eyes. However, if you touch ricin that is on your skin and then eat food with your hands or put your hands in your mouth, you may ingest some.
Death from ricin poisoning could take place within 36 to 72 hours of exposure, depending on the route of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, or injection) and the dose received.
How authorities confirm cases of suspected ricin poisoning
If authorities suspect that people have inhaled ricin, a potential clue would be that a large number of people who had been close to each other rapidly developed fever, cough, and excess fluid in their lungs. These symptoms would likely be followed by severe breathing problems and possibly death.
If in suspected situations where ricin may have been disseminated, preliminary environmental testing by public health or law enforcement authorities detects ricin in powders or materials released into the immediate environment. Persons occupying such areas may initially be observed for signs of ricin poisoning.
CDC can assess selected specimens on a provisional basis for urinary ricinine, an alkaloid in the castor bean plant. Only urinary ricinine testing is available at CDC or the LRN.
How ricin poisoning is treated:
Because no antidote exists for ricin, the most important factor is avoiding ricin exposure in the first place.
If exposure cannot be avoided, the most important factor is then getting the ricin off or out of the body as quickly as possible.
Symptomatic ricin poisoning is treated by giving victims supportive medical care to minimize the effects of the poisoning. The types of supportive medical care would depend on several factors, such as the route by which victims were poisoned (that is, whether poisoning was by inhalation, ingestion, or skin or eye exposure). Care could include such measures as helping victims breathe, giving them intravenous fluids (fluids given through a needle inserted into a vein), giving them medications to treat conditions such as seizure and low blood pressure, flushing their stomachs with activated charcoal (if the ricin has been very recently ingested), or washing out their eyes with water if their eyes are irritated.
How you can protect yourself, and what to do if you are exposed to ricin
Get fresh air right away by leaving the area where the ricin was released.
If the ricin release was outside, move away from the area where the ricin was released.
If the ricin release was indoors, get out of the building.
If you are near a release of ricin, emergency coordinators may tell you to either evacuate the area or to “shelter in place” inside a building to avoid being exposed to the chemical.
For more information on evacuation during a chemical emergency, see Facts About Evacuation.
For more information on sheltering in place during a chemical emergency, see Facts About Sheltering in Place.
If you think you may have been exposed to ricin, you should remove your clothing, rapidly wash your entire body with soap and water, and get medical care as quickly as possible.
Removing your clothing:
Quickly take off clothing that may have ricin on it. Any clothing that has to be pulled over the head should be cut off the body instead of pulled over the head.
If you are helping other people remove their clothing, try to avoid touching any contaminated areas, and remove the clothing as quickly as possible.
Washing yourself:
As quickly as possible, wash any ricin from your skin with large amounts of soap and water. Washing with soap and water will help protect people from any chemicals on their bodies.
If your eyes are burning or your vision is blurred, rinse your eyes with plain water for 10 to 15 minutes. If you wear contacts, remove them and put them with the contaminated clothing. Do not put the contacts back in your eyes (even if they are not disposable contacts). If you wear eyeglasses, wash them with soap and water. You can put your eyeglasses back on after you wash them.
Disposing of your clothes:
After you have washed yourself, place your clothing inside a plastic bag. Avoid touching contaminated areas of the clothing. If you can’t avoid touching contaminated areas, or you aren’t sure where the contaminated areas are, wear rubber gloves, turn the bag inside out and use it to pick up the clothing, or put the clothing in the bag using tongs, tool handles, sticks, or similar objects. Anything that touches the contaminated clothing should also be placed in the bag. If you wear contacts, put them in the plastic bag, too.
Seal the bag, and then seal that bag inside another plastic bag. Disposing of your clothing in this way will help protect you and other people from any chemicals that might be on your clothes.
When the local or state health department or emergency personnel arrive, tell them what you did with your clothes. The health department or emergency personnel will arrange for further disposal. Do not handle the plastic bags yourself.
For more information about cleaning your body and disposing of your clothes after a chemical release, see Chemical Agents: Facts About Personal Cleaning and Disposal of Contaminated Clothing.
If someone has ingested ricin, do not induce vomiting or give fluids to drink.
Seek medical attention right away. Consider dialing 911 and explaining what has happened.
What does AWN stand for?
Alerts, Warnings, and Notifications
Alerts, warnings, and notifications are produced by agencies at all levels of government and serve a variety of mission and organizational needs. AWNs are a form of communication that enables authorities to share information about threats, events, and incidents with stakeholders for preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. Currently there are multiple government AWN protocols and methods and mechanisms for dissemination through a wide array of distribution channels between federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments.
Because of its complexity and the number of agencies involved, there has been limited progress in addressing the need for a broader, better integrated system of alerts, warnings, and notifications. This office, in coordination with its mission partners, is defining and developing a consistent AWN framework that leverages exchange standards for the ability to identify, access, share, and disseminate information. It is expected that alerts, warnings, and notifications will be a major focus area for the ISE over the next year.
Currently, there are some processes in place to facilitate the sharing of alerts, warnings, and notifications with and between state, local, and tribal government partners and the public. For example, the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) allows federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local government alerting authorities to use IPAWS and integrate local systems that use Common Alerting Protocol standards with the IPAWS infrastructure. IPAWS provides public safety officials with an effective way to alert and warn the public about serious emergencies using the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio, and other public alerting systems from a single interface.
http://www.ise.gov/alerts-warnings-and-notifications
RFI means what?
RFI - Request for Information
FYI means what?
FYI - Offering Information “For Your Information”
SOP(s) means what?
SOPs - Standard Operating Procedures
What is CONOPS?
CONOPS (plural CONOPSs) concept of operations (abbreviated CONOPS) is a doctrine and defined as being the “A verbal or graphic statement that clearly and concisely expresses what the joint force commander intends to accomplish and how it will be done using available resources. The concept is designed to give an overall picture of the operation. Also called commander’s concept or CONOPS.”
UPS means what?
Uninterrupted Power Source
RACR means what?
Real-Time Analysis & Critical Response
MCR means what?
Main Coordination Room
