U.S. forces in the Pacific have been deployed to help with disaster relief in Indonesia, the Philippines, American Samoa and Guam and neighboring islands. Pacific storms and the earthquake in Indonesia have kept U.S. forces busy in recent days.
The commander of American troops in the Pacific region, Admiral Timothy Keating, says several U.S. Special Forces troops were on their way to Indonesia for a scheduled exercise when the earthquake happened. The admiral says their aircraft was diverted to the quake zone, where they joined a U.S. embassy team assessing the damage and doing relief work.
Another American military plane was sent with supplies, and a ship with helicopters capable of lifting heavy loads is on the way, at the request of the Indonesian government. The admiral says he is sending a senior officer to oversee U.S. military efforts to help the Indonesian government and U.S. civilian agencies.
Admiral Keating also reports that two U.S. Navy ships with several hundred Marines on board are off the coast of Manila, ready to help after the super typhoon passes. About 20 U.S. troops were in Manila helping after the last storm, and others have gone ashore to plan for the new storm. Keating says the Philippine government and military are leading the effort, but his troops are ready to help.
The admiral spoke by phone from his headquarters in Hawaii to reporters at the Pentagon. "We're forward deployed. We've got very capable young men and women. They're very well-equipped and well-trained. And they're out there providing disaster relief," he said.
Admiral Keating says U.S. Pacific Command has flown five large cargo planes to American Samoa, carrying search and rescue teams, food, vehicles and equipment for dealing with human remains, following the tsunami that hit that area. He says more flights may go in the coming days, carrying teams and supplies from the American Red Cross. He says a U.S. Navy ship is also in the area, with helicopters that can help with search and rescue efforts. The admiral says he has not received any request for help from nearby Western Samoa.
At the same time, Pacific Command has ordered nearly all military aircraft and ships to leave the U.S. territory of Guam, where a storm is also approaching. Admiral Keating says the military is ready to help on Guam, Tinian and Saipan if the storm causes damage.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
My in-laws live in Manila (Philippines). They had to evacuate their home and the water is up to one's chest. Some of their neighbors simply can't evac out - no place to go. So they are essentually living on the roofs of their sheet-metal homes - some are dirt poor and simply have no place to so and the government simply doesn't have the capacity to help (due to corruption).
And they got another super-typhoon on the way.
Its simply awesome to see the U.S. Military over there willing and able to give whatever assistance it can.
#3
Typhoon Meleor = NWS #20W appears to be moving away from Guam, heading 80 miles north of Saipan in the CNMI. Its mostly cool or sunny outside as interrupted by isolated, strong brief gusts of wind + rain.
Too bad the USAF canceled their scheduled air show.
IMO Guam received more rain + wind from 18W + prior smaller disturbances.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, announced that he will lead a delegation of U.S. Congressmen to Honduras today. The group will include U.S. Representatives Peter Roskam (R-Illinois), Aaron Schock (R-Illinois), and Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado). They plan to meet with Honduran President Roberto Micheletti, members of the Honduran Supreme Court, election officials, and Honduran business and civic leaders.
"I look forward to meeting with Honduran government officials about their continued efforts to ensure a free, fair, and uncompromised election this November," said Congressman Peter Roskam. "These values are sacred to any functioning democracy, and are especially important in Honduras where they are geographically susceptible to the aggressive dictatorial regime of Hugo Chavez."
Yesterday, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) attempted to block the delegation's trip at the last minute, denying committee approval. However, late Thursday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) intervened and approved the trip to allow the Senator and Congressmen to assess the facts on the ground in Honduras.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I hope those congressmen brought a whole bunch of cameramen, photographers, conservative bloggers, etc., with them. Hell, invite Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck to do a "Live from Honduras" show.
#2
Yesterday, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) attempted to block the delegation's trip at the last minute, denying committee approval.
How many visits to Cuba by Congressional Donks?
What about that Dear Commandante letter from Speaker Jim Wright to Daniel Ortega?
How about those Congressmen who went to Saddam's Iraq prior to the second Gulf War?
One set of rules for me, another set of rules for thee.
#3
Anonymoose:
Greta Van Susteren did an interview with Micheletti and he claimed Zelaya, in league with Chavez, was importing bombs. Several writers on her blog living in Honduras claimed Arabs were buying up the land, several planes had crashed with large shipments of cocaine from Venezuela, and they whole-heartedly wanted Zelaya out. I'm glad the senators are actually doing a necessary fact-finding mission, rather than jet-setting around the Mediterranean and Europe, vacationing on the taxpayers' tab.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep 30, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Brazil's Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that the country will have a new ambassador in Honduras soon. The new ambassador, Mario Roiter, will replace Brian Michael Fraser Neele, who will be relocated to Antigua and Barbuda. Roiter previously served in the Brazilian embassy in Kuwait.
The ministry said the change is not related to the recent crisis in Honduras, but is due to the expiry of Ambassador Neele's tenure. Neele was on vacation in Brazil when Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was deposed in late June, and did not return to his post since then.
Brazil and Honduras have been locked in a political impasse since Sept. 21, when Zelaya began taking refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa after returning to Honduras. Since then, the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti has been pressuring Brazil into handing out Zelaya. The embassy's phone lines were cut, as were power and water supplies. The embassy building is under siege.
Brazil opposed the coup in Honduras since the beginning. Besides pulling out its ambassador, the Brazilian government also suspended the visa waiver agreement and several cooperation programs with Honduras.
The Foreign Ministry said Ambassador Roiter will not take office until the Honduran crisis is solved since sending back an ambassador could give the wrong impression that Brazil recognizes the current Honduran government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
And I'm sure ambassador Roiter will be welcome as soon as the embassy's current resident clears out.
Posted by: ed ||
10/03/2009 17:00 Comments ||
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#2
Viva Honduras! You know, it's weird but coming down on the wrong side of this issue bothers me as much as all the other obaminable stuff Dear Leader has done.
#3
It bothers me more than most of the other stuff.
I've been in that country ... much of it is truly dirt poor, but there is pride in their democratic system and they have been good allies of the US, which is why we have military bases there. If you get to Tegucigalpa, go to the small national historical museum there and read how they see their history from the Spanish colonial days until now.
What the Dems and the EU have done is indefensible, stroking their own sense of purity at the expense of these people and their liberty.
Consumer bankruptcies soared 41 percent in September from a year before and climbed from August, as high unemployment and the housing market crash took their toll, the American Bankruptcy Institute said on Friday.
September filings totaled 124,790, the fourth-highest month since the bankruptcy law changed in 2005.
Filings also rose 4 percent from August, even as recent reports have indicated that the U.S. housing market might be stabilizing and consumer confidence appears to be recovering.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
There is still another wave to come of the financial crisis. Banks worldwide are carrying enormous undeclared liabilities on real estate loans.
And this time there will no stimulus programs to artificially inflate asset prices, because governments have run out of money.
You assume some level of competence by "governments". Well, the government of the USA is run by infantile, incompetent political hacks, who will not hesitate to simply PRINT money out of thin air. That is basically what happens when the Fed ultimately absorbs any T-bills that remain unsold at the end of any given auction.
It is so very strange to sit here and watch this train-wreck unfold - in slow motion - with the "talking heads" blissfully ignoring the obvious.
By 2012, they'll be riding Obama out of town on rail.
Maybe we should insist on seeing the university records of our next President, d'ya think??????
#3
Yup, the collapse in commercial real estate is still to come ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 10:22 Comments ||
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#4
Small rural banks to the rescue by pre paying three years of fdic assesments. Of course, they won't have any operating capital to loan farmers and ranchers, but what the hell? who needs to eat.
#5
I don't pretend to be over-informed in this area, but I do know from friends that credit card companies are contributing to this.
They jack the interest rates, even if the customer has no missed/late payments, to 30%, which means the bill will NEVER be paid off. I heard of one person who was paying $300 a month on a credit card, and $275 of that was going to interest. That person has never missed or been late with a payment to the CC company (though they were late with a different card).
It boggles the mind that a credit card company/bank thinks it's a good idea to raise the interest rate to usurous levels on someone who's already having trouble paying their bills (by way of not paying someone else on time), and it's even dumber that they do it to someone who's been paying their cc bill on time. It's almost like the cc companies WANT to lose their money. If you make it impossible to ever pay you off, most people will eventually say screw it and file bankruptcy; then you get nothing. I'd rather someone who owes me money pays me on time, but I'd also rather they pay me; why would I make it harder for them to do so? It's idiotic.
Ever read a credit card application contract? Standard boilerplate gives them the right to raise your interest rate if you're late with or miss a payment to someone else. What the hell are they thinking?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/03/2009 22:57 Comments ||
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Although some in the liberal media were all too eager to point out instances where some are celebrating President Barack Obama's "epic fail" in the media, it was just a matter of time before conservatives and Republicans got the blame for the President's inability to secure the 2016 Olympics for Chicago.
Enter MSNBC's Ed Schultz. During his Oct. 2 MSNBC show, the liberal host launched into a rant blaming the Republican Party and went as far as comparing the party to the anti-American antics put on by Jane Fonda during the Vietnam War.
"Now, the same crowd that says they support the troops didn't support the United States getting the Olympics," Schultz said. "They only support the troops when it's good for them. They only support America when it's good for them. They only support America when it's good for their political agenda. What the Republicans did, I think, rivals Jane Fonda sitting on a gun in North Vietnam."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm surprised he didn't invoke Rita Repulsa, given all the Morphin he's obviously been shooting.
#4
So, what exactly does this racist have against a third world country hosting the Olympics for the first time ever? It's not like they don't have the expertise to hold major international events...they have Carnival every year and will host the World Cup in 2010.
(I have to admit it's a shocka to have them actually come out and say that Hanoi Jane wasn't such a wonderful woman after all....that is new.)
#5
Looks like Valerie Jaret and the rest of the Obama Chicago crime syndicate won't be able to pawn off their slums on the Olympic vilage committee after all. But, on the upside, those slums are now shovel ready for Obama to get people back to work.
Posted by: Anna ||
10/03/2009 5:30 Comments ||
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#6
Now Hanoi Jane did something wrong? How is this? The press has been covering for her and saying it was legitimate dissent ever since it happened. I suppose it's a small step forward for them to finally admit that it was traitorous.
#7
Great - and just yesterday we had that humorless old fossil Garrison Keillor suggesting that Republicans be removed from any Obama-care coverage. Just great, just another part of what some call "the cold civil war."
#10
At least democrats admit what Jane Fonda did was wrong.
Thanks Badanov for finding the silver lining in Ed Schultz. Baby steps, Ed, baby steps ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 10:28 Comments ||
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#11
Any time MSNBC, and it's "commentators", are mentioned I'm reminded of the comment I read quite some time ago.."MSNBC has more letters in it's logo than it has viewers"...
#13
It has nothing to do with Obama apologizing for America.
Hosting the Olympics is very expensive, some cities are still paying after playing host.
Nice that Obama doesn't have nothing better to do than lower the importance of the Presidential office by trying so hard to get the Olympics here.
Just watch it on TV.
Posted by: Jan ||
10/03/2009 12:01 Comments ||
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#14
MSNBC's Schultz Blames 'Right-Wing Talkers' for Obama Olympic Defeat
#15
Can someone link Reid's video of "We have lost the war in Iraq" from 2005-06 time frame. Talk about embracing defeat. Donks count on Americans having short memories - Keep pounding them!
#16
Narcissists have a low pain threshold. It's nothing personal, just business. Narcissists think it's all about me. Normal people say it is all about us. Meaning all of us.
So, here is a little wisdom from Al-Aska Paul, residnet imam for you willing to listen.
Life is a series of lessons to be learned and mastered. There are no failing grades.
You are handed a lesson to learn. If you learn, you are handed another lesson.
If you do not learn, then you will be handed the same lesson in a different form.
Like the previous lesson(s) you will learn it or be handed the same lesson over in a different form.
As you grow older and gain wisdom, you grow as a person, getting more understanding and helping others along the way in this circle of life.
If you don't learn the lessons, you will become f*cked up, ugly, and bitter.
It's your choice. In the end you will forget all of this. But the trip will have been worth it if you learned the lessons life hands you. It can be fun and satisfying, like doing your best sharpening job on a chain saw, and watching the long wood chips come out of the fast opening cut in the log.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/03/2009 13:18 Comments ||
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#17
Gee wizz...even Vice President Oprah could not help Zero in Denmark...LOL...
#21
Another example of Obama's third world, bread and circuses mentality. Despots love the Olympics. They think it makes the rest of the world have a better opinion of them and the locals forget they are starving.
NEW DELHI: Nearly a dozen activists of a Tamil outfit on Friday barged into and vandalised the Sri Lankan High Commission here. No one has been arrested so far. Security has been strengthened there.
Around 3 p.m. nearly 50 people gathered outside the High Commission, located in the high-security Chanakyapuri, and raised slogans. Later some of them stormed into the premises, and broke nearly two dozen flowerpots. Then they left in their vehicles. The police said the protesters owed allegiance to the Puthiya Tamizhagam.
It all happened in less than two minutes. Even before the policemen deployed at the High Commission could swing into action, they had fled. No one was injured. We are making efforts to seek video footage from news channels which covered the incident, said Additional Commissioner (New Delhi) Shankar Dash.
In the forenoon, these people held a peaceful demonstration at Jantar Mantar protesting against alleged atrocities on Tamils staying in refugee camps in Sri Lanka. A few hours after dispersing, they called up some media organisations and informed them that they would hand over a memorandum to the Sri Lanka High Commissioner at 3 p.m., said Mr. Dash.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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Saudi Sheikh Muhammad Al-Munajid Describes the Virgins of Paradise, Says That In Paradise, A Man Has the Strength of 100 in Eating, Drinking, and Sex
Following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi Islamist lecturer and author Sheikh Muhammad Al-Munajid, which aired on Al-Majd TV on July 25, 2009 (To view this clip)
Sheikh Al-Munajid is known for his controversial statements and fatwas - including a fatwa stating that Mickey Mouse should be killed. He called the 2008 Beijing Olympics the "bikini Olympics" and referred to them as "satanic," and has stated that women must not exercise in public. He has also discussed how Western "beasts" use public toilets and wear colored underwear "to conceal all that filth."
Following the December 2004 Southeast Asia earthquake and tsunami, Al-Munajid called the disaster "punishment" for sex tourism on New Year's Eve and for drunkenness on Christmas. [1]
"The Women of Paradise Are Pure, Unblemished, Menstruation-Free, Free of Feces, Urine, Phlegm, Children"
Interviewer: "How does one conduct relationships in Paradise - whether with the black-eyed virgins or with Muslim women who entered Paradise?
[...]
"Muhammad Al-Munajid: Allan said that the black-eyed virgins are beautiful white young women, Nobody likes Whitey, but everybody wants his wimmen. Blondes! Give us blondes!
with black pupils and very white retinas, whose skin is so delicate and bright that it causes confusion. Allan said that they are like hidden pearls. They have wide eyes, like in a manga, you know? Gee, I love manga, and they have not been touched by man or jinn. They are virgins, who yearn for their husbands. They are all the same age, morally and physically beautiful. They are like precious gems and pearls in their splendor, their clarity, their purity, and their whiteness.
They are like hidden pearls - as pure as a pearl within a shell, untouched by man. Each one of them is so beautiful that you can see the bone-marrow through the delicate flesh on their legs. Hell yeah, I get very aroused by bone-marrow, for sure! Especially seen through flesh, spot on!
"Such brilliant beauty does not exist in this world. Where can you find such beauty? Whereas the women of this world may suffer, for days and nights, from menstruation, from blood for 40 days after childbirth, from vaginal bleeding and from diseases - the women of Paradise are pure, unblemished, menstruation-free, free of feces, urine, Dude, there go my golden showers fetish. Bummer.
phlegm, children... Moreover, Allan cleaned them of all impure and foul things, both in appearance and character.
"In character, they are not jealous, hateful, or angry. They are not greedy." [...] Hum, not sure that can be done, even by Allan, but, go on. In Paradise, The Women "Are Restricted to Tents, Locked Up for the Husband - There Is No Such Thing as Going Out"
"They are restricted to tents, locked up for the husband. There is no such thing as going out. When he comes home - they are there. There is no such thing in Paradise as a man coming home and not finding his wife there and having to go to his daughter's room. Allan described them as women who lower their gaze, and never look at anybody but their husband. As for deriving pleasure - the man is given the strength of..."
Interviewer: "Sheikh Muhammad, you said she looks only at her husband, but today, things are different. Today, husbands don't look only at their wives, or vice versa - except for a few, on whom Allan has taken mercy, you know, just like us, Holy People, the Proud, the Few, the Pure, real playas."
"In Paradise, a Man Gets the Strength of 100 Men When It Comes To Eating, Drinking, Passion, And Sex"
Muhammad Al-Munajid: "There are some pious, pure men, who have eyes only for their wives, and there are some pious, pure, and obedient wives, who have eyes only for their husbands. But today, in the marketplace, in films, and so on, people's eyes roam freely. The Internet... Fap, Fap, Fap... The people of this world... There is a big difference when it comes to deriving pleasure.
"In this world, men work hard and tire themselves out in order to derive pleasure. The Prophet Muhammad says that in Paradise, a man gets the strength of 100 men when it comes to eating, drinking, vomiting, passion, and sex. But sex, mostly. Because, Paradise is all about sex. Gee, I wish I were dead, I want some sweet loving, my wife is so ugly, she's almost 20."
#1
White young women whose skin is so delicate and bright that it causes confusion
Well, it might cause Arab men confusion, but ...
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/03/2009 16:04 Comments ||
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#2
"The Women of Paradise Are Pure, Unblemished, Menstruation-Free, Free of Feces, Urine, Phlegm, Children"
Sheikhy, you forgot "Anatomically not correct."
Posted by: ed ||
10/03/2009 16:29 Comments ||
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#3
I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world
Life in plastic, it's fantastic!
you can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
Imagination, life is your creation
Come on Barbie, let's go party!
A court in Burma has rejected an appeal for the release of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Her lawyers say they will appeal to a higher court. Lawyers for Aung San Suu Kyi say a district court in Rangoon Friday rejected their appeal for her release.
The democracy activist's lawyers had argued that the laws she was sentenced under are based on a defunct constitution and are therefore invalid.
Nyan Win is one of Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers. He says they will appeal to a higher court where they still have some hope. He says although the appeal was rejected, the court accepted their argument that the 1974 constitution could not be used. He says they argued that the restrictions imposed on Aung San Suu Kyi are according to the 1974 constitution, so the case against her should be annulled. But he says the court ruled the restrictions are still valid even though the constitution is not. He says they will prepare to submit an appeal to the high court.
In August, a court sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months house arrest for allowing an uninvited American man to stay at her home without official permission. The American man, John Yettaw, was sentenced to seven years of hard labor but released on humanitarian grounds and deported.
The trial was internationally condemned as a sham designed by Burma's military rulers to keep the opposition leader locked up through next year's elections.
The court's decision to uphold the sentence comes just days after the United States announced it would engage with Burma's military leaders to push for democracy.
Another unforced error by Bambi ...
But Washington says it will maintain economic sanctions against Burma until there are real improvements in the political situation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/03/2009 00:00 ||
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A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.
A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian -- a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver. The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.
The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad's birthplace, and the name derives from "weaver of the Sabour", the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior.
Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad's track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.
Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said: "This aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's background explains a lot about him.
"Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith. By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society."
A London-based expert on Iranian Jewry said that "jian" ending to the name specifically showed the family had been practising Jews.
"He has changed his name for religious reasons, or at least his parents had," said the Iranian-born Jew living in London. "Sabourjian is well known Jewish name in Iran."
A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said it would not be drawn on Mr Ahmadinejad's background. "It's not something we'd talk about," said Ron Gidor, a spokesman.
The Iranian leader has not denied his name was changed when his family moved to Tehran in the 1950s. But he has never revealed what it was change from or directly addressed the reason for the switch. Relatives have previously said a mixture of religious reasons and economic pressures forced his blacksmith father Ahmad to change when Mr Ahmadinejad was aged four.
The Iranian president grew up to be a qualified engineer with a doctorate in traffic management. He served in the Revolutionary Guards militia before going on to make his name in hardline politics in the capital.
During this year's presidential debate on television he was goaded to admit that his name had changed but he ignored the jibe.
However Mehdi Khazali, an internet blogger, who called for an investigation of Mr Ahmadinejad's roots was arrested this summer.
Mr Ahmadinejad has regularly levelled bitter criticism at Israel, questioned its right to exist and denied the Holocaust. British diplomats walked out of a UN meeting last month after the Iranian president denounced Israel's 'genocide, barbarism and racism.'
Benjamin Netanyahu made an impassioned denunciation of the Iranian leader at the same UN summit. "Yesterday, the man who calls the Holocaust a lie spoke from this podium," he said. "A mere six decades after the Holocaust, you give legitimacy to a man who denies the murder of six million Jews while promising to wipe out the State of Israel, the State of the Jews. What a disgrace. What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations."
Mr Ahmadinejad has been consistently outspoken about the Nazi attempt to wipe out the Jewish race. "They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets," he declared at a conference on the holocaust staged in Tehran in 2006.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
10/03/2009 07:46 ||
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#1
If it gets him killed, I'm all for it. (if it works, we try it on Mashaal next).
#2
Didn't Schicklgruber also have a Jew or two in his family tree?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/03/2009 13:14 Comments ||
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#3
Didn't Schicklgruber also have a Jew or two in his family tree?
Nope, I think this was disproved, and even confirmed a very short while ago by some DNA testing (glanced through the article, as i don't have much interest in adolf, unless it turns out he was really alesiter crowley in drag or something, which would be very kewl on some levels), much to the glee of some french Catholic idiot bloggers, who actually have an huge hard-on for nazis... even with that all pagan, anti-Christian theosophist thing, because, well, they are none too keen on juices, as you know.
I was born and raised on Chicago's South Side, not far from where the Games would open and close. Ours was a neighborhood of working families, families with modest homes and strong values.
Sports were what brought our community together. They strengthened our ties to one another. Growing up, when I played games with the kids in my neighborhood, we picked sides based not on who you were, but what you could bring to the game. Sports taught me self-confidence, teamwork and how to compete as an equal. Sports were a gift I shared with my dad, especially the Olympic Games.
Some of my best memories are sitting on my dad's lap cheering on Olga and Nadia, Carl Lewis and others for their brilliant perfection. Wouldn't she have been like 20??? Sitting on your dad's lap at that is a bit creepy.
Like so many young people, I was inspired. I found myself dreaming that maybe just maybe, if I worked hard enough, I too could achieve something great. But I never dreamed that the Olympic flame might someday light up lives in my neighborhood.
But today I can dream, and I am dreaming of an Olympic and Paralympic Games in Chicago that will light up lives and neighborhoods all across America and all across the world, that will expose all our neighborhoods to new sports and new role models, that will show every child that regardless of wealth or gender or race or physical ability, there is a sport and a place for them too.
That's why I'm here today. I'm asking you to choose Chicago, I'm asking you to choose America. I'm not asking just as the First Lady of the United States, who is eager to welcome the world to our shores -- and not just as a Chicagoan, who is proud and excited to show the world what my city can do, not just as a mother raising two beautiful young women to embrace athleticism and embrace their full potential, I'm also asking as a daughter. See, my dad would have been so proud to witness these Games in Chicago. I know they would have meant something much more to him too.
You see, in dad's early 30s, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As he got sicker, it became harder for him to walk let alone play his favorite sports. But my dad was determined that sports continue to be a vital lifeline, not just to the rest of the world, but to me and my brother. And even as we watched my dad struggle to hold himself up on crutches, he never stopped playing with us, and he refused to let us take our abilites for granted. He believed that his little girl should be taught no less than his son. So he taught me how to throw a ball and a mean right hook better than any boy in my neighborhood.
More importantly, my dad taught us the fundamental rules of the game, rules that continue to guide our lives today -- to engage with honor, with dignity and fair play. My dad was my hero, and when I think of what these Games can mean to people all over the world, I think about people like my dad, people who face seemingly insurmountable challenges but never let go. They work a little harder, but they never give up.
Now my dad didn't live to see the day that the Paralympic Games became the force that they are today, but if he had lived to see this day, if he could have seen the Paralympic Games share a global stage with the Olympic Games, if he could have witnessed athletes who can excel and prove that nothing is more powerful than the human spirit, I know it would have restored in him the same spirit of unbridled possibilities as he instilled in me.
Chicago's bid for the Olympic and paralympic movement is about so much more than what we can offer the games, it's about what games can offer all of us, it's about inspiring this generation and building lasting legacy for the next.
It's about our responsibility as Americans, not just to put on great games, but to use these games as a vehicleto bring us together, to usher in a new era of international engagement, to give us hope and to change lives all over the world. And II brought somebody with me today who knows a little something about change, my husband, the president of the United States, Barack Obama
#3
I'm sure she'd be happy if Chitown held the Special Olympics. Her criminal cohorts won't get rich, but that's not why they were going for it, right?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/03/2009 11:02 Comments ||
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#4
Interesting pitch. Most successful salespoeple try to explain how choosing their product will benefit the customer.
#8
I'm inclined to give her a half-pass on the daddy's lap thing - I bet she was remembering Tommy Smith & John Carlos in the 1968 Olympics and getting John Carlos' name mixed up with Carl Lewis. At age 4 or so sitting on Dad's lap would be quite reasonable.
#12
More importantly, my dad taught us the fundamental rules of the game, rules that continue to guide our lives today -- to engage with honor, with dignity and fair play.
#15
The one thing that Michelle did not mention in her sports virtue monologue is that, despite your very best efforts, sometimes you face defeat. How you deal with that defeat, and have the experience become an asset to you is what sets you off from the rest.
It seems that neither she nor her brilliant, all-knowing, all encompassing, god-like husband did not learn this fundamental tenant or ideal of sports.
They also did not learn about fair play and honor in competing for this olympic slot.
They should have congratulated Rio on their win and wish them well.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
U.S. forces in the Pacific have been deployed to help with disaster relief in Indonesia, the Philippines, American Samoa and Guam and neighboring islands. Pacific storms and the earthquake in Indonesia have kept U.S. forces busy in recent days.
NEW DELHI: Nearly a dozen activists of a Tamil outfit on Friday barged into and vandalised the Sri Lankan High Commission here. No one has been arrested so far. Security has been strengthened there.
Saudi Sheikh Muhammad Al-Munajid Describes the Virgins of Paradise, Says That In Paradise, A Man Has the Strength of 100 in Eating, Drinking, and Sex
