Those who have lived during wartime or the Great Depression know that desperate times call for desperate measures.

British journalist Hunter Davies uncovered some of the most interesting austerity trends — for example, cooking sheep brains for dinner — in his book Cold Meat and How to Disguise It: A History of Advice on How to Survive Hard Times.

We've compiled some of the top trends here.

Families cooked sheep's brains for dinner to counter food rationing in WWI

Most sensible families were already in the habit of saving food, but the Ministry of Food also encouraged citizens to "experiment with food they had never tried before," namely oft-discarded parts like "nettles, dock leaves, whale meat, or ... sheeps heads or brains," says Davies. 

"Bread, fish, offal and vegetables were not on 'coupons,' as rations were called, and were usually available in season," writes Davies, "but almost every other item of food, such as sugar, tea, butter, margarine, cheese, jam and sweets, were all strictly limited to around 1-8 ounces per person."

Source: Cold Meat And How To Disguise It: A History of Advice on How To Survive Hard Times

People used DIY guides to build their own radios and record players in the 1930s

"Millions of husbands who set up home in the 1930s were being exposed to an avalanche of books, magazines and newspapers instructing, nay, commanding them to Do It Yourself," recalls Davies, whose father came of age during WWII.

The range of items to make was astonishing: One magazine called Hobbies Handbook taught men how to DIY everything from guitars to electric clocks to lamps and gramophones. 

"Many of these were must-have gadgets and adornments of the times, which every household longed to have, but they were still very expensive in the shops and beyond the reach of most ordinary working folks," says the author.

Source: Cold Meat And How To Disguise It: A History of Advice on How To Survive Hard Times

Fearful parents enrolled their kids in "funeral clubs," which acted like life insurance

"There was a sliding scale whereby you could insure against a child dying before the age of five, which cost only a few pennies a week, but all you got back was £3 when they died," explains Davies.

"Or you could insure them up to the age of ten and get more money back, but of course you paid for more. It was an age when all classes had large families—and lost many of them before they grew up." 

Source: Cold Meat And How To Disguise It: A History of Advice on How To Survive Hard Times

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One of the greatest traits in leaders is that they are able to handle being at the top so effortlessly that you wonder if they ever doubted themselves.

According to Deirdre Maloney, a speaker and author, these people do struggle, but they've also mastered how they're viewed by others.

"Great leaders know that every step they take, every decision they make, matters in the end," she wrote in her book "Tough Truths."

"They know they must strategize carefully, then act aggressively. They know they must think ahead — not just to their next step — but to the many steps after it. They know they must always be on the look-out for opportunities, and for others who will fight them for the same." 

In her book, Maloney shared 11 tough leadership lessons that aren't usually discussed by those on top.

Everything is politics

This is not about the politicians, but about the politics that we have to face every day, because "we interact with people who have what we want, and who want what we have to give."

This is not a bad thing. 

"Whether we want our boss to give us a raise, our child to stop squirming on the airplane, or the department store to take back our purchase when we don't have a receipt, every single interaction involves influencing and persuading others in order to get what we want.

And great leaders understand that this persuasion is everywhere and that not only do you have to have great work ethic, you also have to have the "ability to have relatable, effective and influential relationships."

Even when you don't think that someone you meet can do something for you at the moment, you know that they could be a significant factor in the future.

Source: Tough Truths

Success makes you unpopular

When you're a leader-in-progress, you will have people supporting you whether that's your boss or colleagues. However, once you start achieving the expectations that these people have, you'll become less-liked by them.

Your success has made you unpopular.

Maloney said that to be a great leader, you need to have a "strong will and an even stronger stomach." At the end of the day, you need to remind yourself that your job isn't to make everyone happy, but rather to improve the organization as a whole.

Source: Tough Truths

You aren't really that interesting

Everyone thinks that they're interesting, but great leaders know that their stories aren't as interesting to other people as it is to themselves. So they keep the focus on the other person. 

"They keep their stories short, their complaints even shorter. They don't send long emails or memos that go on for pages. They leave the other person wanting more."

Instead, when you turn the attention on the other person, they will inevitably share more about themselves with you, and when this happens, a bond is formed and that's how you get people to trust you.

During these conversations, those great leaders never get your name wrong and they're fully focused on what you're saying. 

Source: Tough Truths

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It was another busy week of earnings announcements.  Disappointing earnings announcements.

Even though they're about 5 percent off of their highs, stocks continue to be remarkably resilient.

Meanwhile, markets face tremendous amounts of political uncertainty with elections, a U.S. fiscal cliff, and even a Japanese fiscal cliff fast approaching.

This week we heard from the very best: SocGen's Dylan Grice, Goldman's Huw Pill, JP Morgan's Hajime Kitano, and Morgan Stanley's Gerard Minack just to name a few.

Hedge fund giants Seth Klarman and Hugh Hendry also chimed in.

DYLAN GRICE: Greek Austerity Is Reopening Deep Social Wounds And Could Lead To Civil War

"A harrowing BBC report suggests Greece is Balkanising once more. We are reminded that its civil war only ended in 1949 and that harsh austerity is reopening deep social wounds. Yet Spain'’s civil war ended only a few years earlier, and a generation ago it was a fascist military dictatorship. Couldn'’t it go the same way if subject to the same stress?"

Read more here >

Goldman's Hatzius Explodes One Of The GOP's Biggest Talking Points On The Economy

"We do not doubt that uncertainty shocks depress economic activity, or that uncertainty has risen substantially since 2006. But we do not believe that the economy’s poor performance has been caused by an exogenous increase in US policy uncertainty.

First, the observation that most forecasters have been surprised by the economy’s poor performance probably says more about the forecasters than about the economy. The historical record shows clearly that the bursting of a large asset price and debt bubble inflicts enormous and long-lasting damage on economic activity, and the recent US performance is no worse than that record would suggest.

Second, much of the increase in policy uncertainty is probably a consequence of economic weakness, rather than its cause. Indeed, if we “purge” the uncertainty index of its correlation with past economic activity, it shows a much smaller increase since 2006."

Read more here >

JPM'S HAJIME KITANO: The Conclusion Of The 2008 Financial Crisis Will Be Determined Next Week

"If the VIX index remains at its current level (16.6) next week, furthermore, its 52-week moving average will fall below the July 2011 level to its lowest point since February 2008."

Read more here >

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When you're hunkered down behind a thin sliver of cover taking heavy fire, there is no more reassuring sound than the twin engines of the A-10 Thunderbolt screaming in from the distance.

Check out the A-10 >

That's what you think anyway, until you hear the 30mm Gatling gun that pounds out 3,500 rounds per minute at the guys trying to kill you.

Then you know the most reassuring sound you'll ever hear.

The A-10 is an old plane that continues to provide massive air support to ground troops, both with that cannon, and with missiles that can take out a main battle tank in a single shot.

We looked at the A-10 over the summer, with it's distinctive shape, and historic time in service and decided it was time for another look.

Sometimes old really is good. 

The A-10 Thunderbolt II was introduced to service in the disco-driven year of 1977 — two years after Vietnam officially ended

Troops on the ground refer to the A-10 as the "Warthog" or "Hog"

What the 'Hog' lacks in pretty lines and smooth curves it makes up for in sheer determination and toughness and may suffer extreme damage while still holding to the skies

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Yesterday, G4 announced the cancellation of its two lead programming series come the end of the year, "Attack of the Show," and "X-Play."

The news comes less than three months before NBCU's plan to revitalize the network from geek to GQ chic come 2013.

The shows provided gamers with one of the first original outlets on television that offered an in depth first look at video games, films, technology, and more. Both series also heavily covered gaming events including E3 and San Diego's Comic Con.

Check out some of the most popular clips from the show >

Debuting in March 2005, "Attack of the Show!" was a big success with its original cast list consisting of Chris Hardwick, Olivia Munn, Kevin Pereira, and Adam Sessler.

Combined, both series aired more than 3,000 shows and launched the careers of many of its co-hosts from Kevin Pereira to Olivia Munn.

The show's cancellation isn't a complete surprise.

After Munn's exit in 2010 to pursue her acting career, the show never really regained traction using a series of guest hosts up alongside its final original cast member, Pereira, until naming Candace Bailey as Munn's replacement in January 2011.

DirecTV dropped the channel right before Munn's departure, citing it among its lowest-rated networks.

Kevin Pereira was the last original cast member to leave the show at the end of this May. He's currently working on a SyFy show, "Viral Video Showdown" which will debut October 30.

As of late, many viewers have been turned off by the younger talent consisting of eye candy hosts Bailey and Sara Underwood, feeling the show offers more fluff and less incentive for diehard gamers.

We've rounded up some of the show's most watched clips, as well as a few celebrity cameos.

And, naturally, we've included a few memorable clips of scene stealer Munn.

August 2010: James Cameron appeared on the show to talk about the re-release of "Avatar."

December 2009: Jimmy Fallon played "Tweet"-tac-toe on air when he went on the show to discuss coming to late-night television.

December 2008: Pereira and Munn take shots of hot sauce on air.

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Chicago became one of America's deadliest cities this year.

The city is on track to record more than 433 homicides — the total for all of 2011, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Currently, the Windy City has recorded about 100 more homicides than New York City and 200 more than L.A.

This interactive map by The Chicago Sun-Times is a pretty graphic, and shocking, display of all the shootings that have ravaged Chicago this year.

For the following slideshow, we focused on the shootings that happened this summer.

We've compiled accounts of some of the most horrifying crimes that have gripped the city so far this year.

All intersections and locations are approximate.

JUNE 17: A man shot three people sitting on a porch in the 2300 block of North Laramie Avenue.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times and CBS Chicago

JUNE 24: Hansen Jackson was shot in the chest in the 3700 block of West Chicago Avenue.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Sun-Times

JULY 1: A 19-year-old man was shot to death in a vacant lot in the 4100 block of West Van Buren Street.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times and ABC 7 News

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A "bundler" is a special person to a campaign. They're a wealthy person who is friends with many other wealthy people, fundraising for a candidate and convincing people to give to the campaign. 

Bush called them "Rangers" and "Pioneers." Romney has Olympic-inspired "Gold," "Silver" and "Bronze" titles for his bundlers (although he has refused to release their names). Obama just calls his "volunteer fundraisers," and the list includes a wide array of CEOs, financiers, and entertainers.

The latest list of these bundlers was released by the Obama campaign this week and we went through to identify the most rich and famous new donors who became bundlers this summer. 

Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright

A supporter of Hillary Clinton in 2008, Albright joined the ranks of Obama bundlers for the first time in the third quarter of 2012 and raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for the campaign. 

The first female Secretary of State also hit the campaign trail for Obama this cycle, telling voters at a rally in August that Democrats should blame the Bush administration "forever." 

Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton

Michael Lynton is the CEO of the Sony Corporation of America as well as Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. 

A 2008 Obama bundler, Lynton knows the benefits of taking on the role — the president appointed Lynton to the Broadcasting Board of Governors in 2010. 

Lynton joined the 2012 list of bundlers for the first time this summer, raising between $100,000 and $200,000 for President Obama. 

Gwen Stefani

The superstar became an Obama bundler for the first time this summer, joining the elite ranks of fundraisers who have pulled in more than $500,000 for the president's campaign. 

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For its 2012 list of the World's Best Banks, Global Finance choose winners in 12 categories ranging from best investment bank to best Islamic Financial Institution.

Citi led the way in three of the categories, and along with Deutsche Bank, was one of two institutions that chalked up more than one win. 

In evaluating the banks, Global Finance said those "with the most effective risk management systems and excellent service" came out on top.

They used objective factors such as growth in assets, profitability and  geographical reach as well as subjective opinions of equity and credit-rating analysts as well as corporate and financial executives.

Global Finance claimed that the decision was especially tough this year because many of the banks from the pool of potential winners found themselves in hot water. Examples included those embroiled in the Libor scandal this past summer. 

Corporate Bank: Deutsche Bank

Consumer Bank: HSBC

Private Bank: Julius Baer

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When we published our list of the 30 most powerful women in advertising, we also asked agencies and people in the marketing biz to tell us which women at competing shops they most admire or would love to hire, given a chance.

Click here to see who made the list>

From those confidential nominations, we've compiled this poach list of the most-wanted women in creative, management and account management.

Some of the names on our list are big-hitters who control major agencies, like Susan Gianinno, chairman and CEO of Publicis. How likely is it that she could be tempted to leave for another agency?

Well, consider that a select few big shops are looking to bolster their top talent. Earlier this month, we reported that DraftFCB CEO Laurence Boschetto is looking outside his agency for a new chief creative officer.

Furthermore, things have been in flux at McCann NY since Lori Senecal moved on to what's now Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners in 2009. Thom Gruhler stepped into her shoes as McCann's NY president for two years, before he exited to take on another role in the company. Colleagues told Ad Age he would be out by spring, which proved to be true when he moved on to Microsoft.

These women could fill any power vacuum.

20. Farrah Bostic, founder and creative strategist at The Difference Engine

Before starting her own company, Bostic worked at Digitas (as vp/group planning director), OTX, W&K, and Hall & Partners.

The Difference Engine is a mobile and web digital strategy and innovation company.

She has also been vocal about increasing women in the advertising industry. Her blog can be read here.

19. Colleen DeCourcy, CEO of Socialistic

Formerly the chief digital officer at TBWA, DeCourcy is currently the CEO of Socialistic, a company made up of content creators and technologists to deliver a "social agency model to clients."

More recently, however, DeCourcy made headlines for publishing a brutal confessional on of the advertising industry for Digiday, explaining the rampant sexism she faced earlier in her career. She now speaks regularly about fighting discrimination in the workplace.

18. Jen Neal, EVP of marketing for E! Entertainment

Neal comes from the agency side of things. She previously worked at PHD and was then CMO of BBDO NY.

Neal began working for E! as a consultant and she helped the network roll out a new logo and brand campaign. Neal was quickly hired and appointed EVP of marketing.

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One of the scariest parts of Halloween is the ability for the costume industry to turn even the most chaste and unobjectionable character or inanimate object into a "sexy" one.

It seems just about anything can get sexy thrown in front of it on Halloween, from a lamp to George Washington to, that's right, a body bag.

Adults, in the United States, will spend an estimated $8 billion on Halloween this year, mostly on themselves rather than their kids. But just because they're spending on average of $80 on costumes — up from $72 last year — that doesn't mean their spending it on more material. 

Mommy's Scooby Doo costume might have significantly less fur than her kid's. Ruh roh.

SEXY BODY BAG: This "Jane Doe DOA Body bag" costume makes us worry about what was on the costume rejection list.

SEXY GEORGE WASHINGTON: What would Martha have to say about this?

SEXY OSCAR THE GROUCH: Yandy.com calls this a trash monster. We call it a trashy monster.

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In keeping with tradition, billionaire hedge fund manager Marc Lasry, who runs Avenue Capital, has once again made his Upper East Side mansion spectacularly spooky for Halloween.

Lasry, who is married with five children, has decked out his palatial home with severed bloody heads, skeletons, ghouls, witches and less frightening inflatable decorations such as a mummy and Sponge Bob Square Pants. 

He's also known for putting the famous "Super Freak"-singing pirate skeleton at the front door of his home every Halloween. 

We checked it out last night and and have included photos in the slides that follow.  

Here's what you see as you walk down the street toward Lasry's home.

The severed heads situated on the fence are quite terrifying.

In fact, there are a lot of severed heads on display.

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An E. 64th Street townhouse, designed by the Tiffany & Company architect, John W. Cross, is on sale for $19 million.

The townhouse spans 6,600 square feet, has five bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, and a total of 14 rooms.

The home was built in 1910 and is currently vacant.

Welcome to 176 E. 64th street.

The ceilings are 12'6" high.

Three working wood fireplaces are in the home.

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OJ Simpson

The beneficiary of one of history’s most famous not-guilty verdicts saw his legal luck run out after a 2007 armed robbery in Las Vegas.

Simpson was convicted on 10 charges related to an attempt to regain some of his sports memorabilia, and he’s currently serving a 33-year sentence in Nevada’s Lovelock Correctional Center.

Here’s how life shook out for a few other acquitted defendants in high-profile trials.

Lizzie Borden

Although 32-year-old Lizzie Borden was never convicted of the 1892 ax murder of her father and stepmother, her highly publicized trial followed her for the remaining 34 years of her life.

Borden became close friends with actress Nance O’Neill, but she lived out the rest of her life as a recluse.

Although Borden remained largely out of public sight, mourners at her 1927 funeral remembered her as a quiet source of charitable donations. Her will certainly demonstrated her charitable streak; the largest earmark from her substantial estate was a $30,000 donation to the local Animal Rescue League.

Fatty Arbuckle

Silent film actor and comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was one of the biggest stars in the medium’s early days, but his career flew off the rails in 1921. Actress Virginia Rappe fell ill at a party thrown by Arbuckle and died several days later, and the rotund funnyman found himself facing accusations of raping and killing the young woman. Arbuckle weathered two mistrials for manslaughter before being found not guilty in a third trial.

The trial may have legally cleared Arbuckle’s name, but the scandal all but destroyed his Hollywood career. Hollywood briefly blacklisted Arbuckle entirely, but even after the ban was ostensibly lifted he couldn’t find work. Meanwhile, his existing films were rarely shown. (Many prints of Arbuckle’s films have been lost.)

Arbuckle eventually found work directing comedy shorts under a pseudonym before making an acting comeback with Warner Brothers in 1932. In 1933 he signed a contract to make a new feature film, but he died in his sleep the very same night.

Sam Sheppard

Sheppard, a Cleveland-area physician, was convicted of the 1954 murder of his pregnant wife in their suburban home. Sheppard spent nearly a decade behind bars before a 1966 retrial acquitted him.

After a brief attempt to return to medicine following his release from prison, Sheppard found an unlikely second career as a professional wrestler who went by the name The Killer before his death in 1970.

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As a salty mist rolls in from the tidal river, you duck into Moran’s Oyster Cottage and settle by the peat fire.

Willie, a seventh-generation shucker, draws you a creamy headed pint of Guinness and a dozen local oysters with a thick slab of brown bread.

See the best cities for foodies >

You’ve slurped a lot of bivalves in your life, but all—past and future—will be compared to these.

No matter how awe-inspiring you find the Cliffs of Moher, the cobblestoned streets of Galway, or any of the other attractions that brought you to Ireland, it’s likely that this meal or one like it—hearty, served by friendly folks in just the right setting—will be the memory you keep coming back to. Because, let’s be honest, often sightseeing is just something to fill the time between meals, right? So as part of T+L's bucket list of the 101 places every traveler should know, we’re serving up some of the world’s best foodie experiences.

We’ve got a few seafood places that could give Moran’s a run for its money, such as a harborside South African restaurant and an atmospheric little bistro in the French village of Sauzon. Closer to home, a gut-busting lunch stop along the Pacific Coast Highway and the finest comfort food Montreal cooks up may inspire you to book a quick getaway.

Then, of course, there are classic foodie favorites like Paris, Singapore with its street-food stalls, and the frozen-in-time local hangouts along the canals of Venice. You don’t have to take our word for it. In Oaxaca, Mexico, famous for its complex mole sauces, chef April Bloomfield shares her favorite regional Slow Food restaurant, while designer Anya Hindmarch names London’s best sausage toast.

There’s something for every taste. But every pick hits that sweet spot where food, company, and setting combine for a truly transporting—and delicious—experience. Find out where in the world to satisfy your cravings.

More From Travel + Leisure:

Travel + Leisure's Bucket List

World's Most Delicious Street Foods

World's Top Night Markets

The World's Strangest Museums

Travel + Leisure Survey: Best Beaches

San Francisco

Slurp oysters fresh from Tomales Bay at the Hog Island Oyster Bar ($$$), in the Ferry Terminal Market—or better yet, at its home base, 50 miles north.

Barcelona

Make a movable feast of a tapas crawl, from classic El Vaso de Oro ($) and modern Paco Meralgo ($) to the popular Bar Pinotxo ($) and locals-only Bomba Bar Cova Fumada ($).

Oaxaca, Mexico

“The food in Oaxaca, Mexico, is excellent: complex moles; chicken soups with different kinds of chiles; fresh street-side tacos. I love La Biznaga Restaurant ($$), which specializes in regional Slow Food dishes.” —April Bloomfield, chef

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With Halloween around the corner, ghost-hunters and thrill-seekers are looking for paranormal scares.

Sure there are the manufactured, artificial "haunted houses" where zombies and mummies pop out of dark corners. But those are fake. 

If you're looking for a true heart-stopping scare, just examine history and you'll find plenty of terror.

We've compiled a list of the five creepiest historic haunted places in America. From prisons to battlefields, these places have dark pasts that may have left unfulfilled souls behind. 

Washington Square Park, New York City

New Yorkers love to linger in the village's Washington Square Park, but most of them don't know the dark history behind it.

In the early 1800s, the site was a public cemetery where the poor, sick and undesirable were buried. Public executions also took place here until 1820; the convicted criminals were then buried in the same spot.

Several years later the bodies were exhumed, but many claim that the park is still haunted by the spirits of these ghosts.

The LaLaurie House, New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans' LaLaurie House has a gruesome, disturbing history that dates back to the 1800s, when a wealthy Creole family moved into this French Quarter mansion with a trove of slaves.

Madame LaLaurie appeared to have a sadistic streak and rumors spread about the young slaves who would routinely disappear from the home.

But it wasn't until a fire broke out in the home and firefighters came to inspect the scene that her cruelty was truly exposed: in the rubble they found tortured, maimed and disembodied slaves—many of whom were dead—strapped to operating tables, chained to walls, and stuffed into cages. 

Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, Penn.

Eastern State Penitentiary was the first prison in the U.S. to institute solitary confinement as a punishment. That practice is rumored to have caused mental illness among inmates—some of whom reportedly haunt the halls and cells today.

This prison, which dates back to 1829, was abandoned in 1971. Today it is a museum and Halloween haunted house. 

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When Nissan first brought the Sentra to the American market in the early 1980s, it was a success: After a year of sales, it was the best-selling import and fourth best-selling passenger car in the country.

But by the early 2000s, it had fallen behind competitors like the Honda Civic and Ford Fiesta.

The 2012 Sentra landed at number 40 on U.S. News' list of best affordable small cars.

To return the Sentra to the top of the list, Nissan has worked to meet the new realities of the small car market, which now demands fuel economy and amenities long reserved for luxury cars, as well as affordability.

It worked.

The 2013 Sentra is not a remarkable car; driving it is not especially enjoyable. Jalopnik complained about the noise of the engine (an issue I did not notice so much). Autoblog criticized the wood trim and "thin-rimmed" steering wheel.

But the Sentra has best in class fuel economy and is loaded with bells and whistles, from a rear view camera for backing up safely to the nifty tire fill alert.

After an afternoon driving the car from San Francisco to Napa Valley, I found plenty of things to like.

The S Model starts at $15,990; the SL premium model starts at $19,760.

Disclosure: Nissan provided travel and lodging expenses for us to visit San Francisco and drive the 2013 Sentra.

1. It's a good looking car.

Nissan shortened the front and lengthened the rear of the Sentra. I personally prefer longer hoods, but there's no way to call this car ugly.

2. It's spacious.

The rear seat offers an impressive 37.4 inches of legroom. The front has 42.5 inches. I'm 5'11", and had plenty of room, though a taller driver might be uncomfortable.

3. It's efficient.

The fuel economy numbers are the best in its class: The Sentra gets 40 mpg on the highway and 30 mpg in the city, for a combined 34 mpg, just shy of what some hybrid cars get.

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Iran's military has 545,000 active personnel and some of the most advanced military technology of anyone out there.

The thing is, the United States gave them a lot of it.

See the weapons >

Granted, it wasn't the modern Iran that  we stocked up with some of the hottest tech of the time, but the pre-revolutionary country that, at one point, was a key ally of the United States in the Middle East. 

Still, Iran has developed their own military industrial complex to develop, maintain, and upgrade military resources. 

And they've gotten pretty good at it.

So ignoring their possible but unconfirmed nuclear program, we run down all the military toys that we found the Iranians are playing with. 

Decades of United Nations embargo and a bunch of advanced Soviet and American tech laying around meant that Iran got busy, designing original weapons systems. We'll take a look at that stuff for the first time here. 

The AH-1J SeaCobra

The United States sold 202 of these helicopters to Iran from 1975-1978. As of right now, only around fifty remain in service.

Iran used the helicopters with disputed success in the Iran-Iraq War. 

The AH-1W, a similar aircraft, remains a cornerstone of the U.S. Marine Corps' attack helicopter fleet. 

The attack helicopter carries a crew of two, a max speed of 219 mph, and a service ceiling of 10,500 feet. It's 53 feet long.

Iran has also built an upgrade the Panha 2091, from AH-1J aircraft. Their efficacy is unknown. 

The RIM-66 Surface to Air Missile

A naval missile system designed by the United States and exported to multiple nations, these rockets pack a punch.

Entering into service in 1967 and made by Raytheon, this guided missile system can travel at three-and-a-half times the speed of sound and have an operational range of up to 90 nautical miles. 

The rockets are 15 feet long. 

The Iran Navy has these installed on a number of missile boats and frigates.

The S-300 missile system

This one is unconfirmed, but Iran claims that they have them and the sources are plausible. 

And if they do have the S-300, that's a pretty big deal. 

Iran claimed they had inked a contract with Russia on some of the systems, which the Russians categorically deny. 

They may have gotten some from Gaddafi. They may have scored some from Croatia or Belarus, or some parts from Russia. They have made the Bavar 373 system, which Iran claims has the same capabilities as the S-300. 

Still, this system would be quite a get. 

NATO called it the S-10 Gladiator. The Soviets developed in the 1970s, and it's been continually upgraded until the cessation of production in 2011. 

It's one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems in the field today.

There are even variations that have been designed to intercept ballistic missiles. The radar system can track 100 targets at once, and can simultaneously engage 12 of them. 

The 23 foot missiles used weigh two tons and have a range of between 56 and 93 miles. They travel at six times the speed of sound. The missile system has never been used in combat as yet, but NATO has trained for that eventuality

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America's Eastern Seaboard is bracing for Hurricane Sandy. 

The storm is barreling up the Atlantic Ocean and likely to converge with two other major weather systems — a winter storm in the west and a blast of cold air from Canada — as it moves ashore. 

The combined effect could be devastating.

"Most experts agreed that if the worst-case scenarios play out, it could be the most severe storm to hit the East Coast in a generation," The New York Times' Marc Santora writes. 

Here's what to expect if Sandy makes landfall.  

Hurricane Sandy is currently churning up the Atlantic with sustained winds of 75 mph.

The storm is beginning to spread out as it nears the U.S. East Coast. 

The latest computer models have Sandy landing somewhere between Delaware and Long Island. 

It has all the elements to turn it into a megastorm.

"Take a hurricane moving up from the south. Mash in a colder storm moving in from the west. Add a ridge of high pressure extending through the atmosphere above the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and Greenland, blocking the typical flow of the jet stream. That’s the recipe for what will become 'Post-Tropical Storm Sandy,'" writes The Scientific American's David Biello. 

Sandy could leave millions of people without power for more than a week.

"Generally, plan for a scenario where you are out of power for at least 3 days to up to a week due to strong winds and the likelihood of some downed trees and power lines," The Washington Post's Jason Samenow says. 

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Gather your kids, your batteries, and your jars of peanut butter, we hear this is going to be the big one.  

Hurricane Sandy is making its way toward the U.S. East Coast, likely to bring a nasty combination of wind, rain and snow to tens of million of people from Maine to the Carolinas.  

Many in Sandy's destruction path have taken to Twitter to express their distress.

Here's a sampling of the social media panic.  

Hurricane Sandy continues to surprise seasoned meteorologists.

The Weather Channel meteorologist previously compared Sandy to the "Super Outbreak" of 1974, considered the worst tornado outbreak in US history.

It's bad any way you look at it.

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When people say sex sells, most of the time, what they really mean is that sexy women sell.

For decades, advertisers have been finding different ways to feature women in ads in order to entice buyers. And, it would seem, the strategy works.

But the way women have been portrayed in advertising has changed over the decades, and changed the way society views women because of it. From housebound drudge to sexpot to business leader, ads are constantly arguing with us about women's role in society.

Here's how advertisements featuring women have shifted throughout the last century.

1890s: Led by Susan B. Anthony, the National American Woman Suffrage Association was formed in May 1890. At the same time, this ad from 1893 clearly says that a woman's place was in the kitchen, far from polling sites.

1900: Women were fighting for their rights across the nation, but it seems advertisers were not taking them very seriously. Note the quotation marks around "her declaration of independence."

1920s: The 19th Amendment to the Constitution was signed, giving women the right to vote. Yet this ad suggests that women were afraid to go beyond the walls of their kitchens.

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