KILLEEN, Texas (AP) -- A Fort Hood soldier and his wife have been accused of injury to a child for allegedly forcing their 3-year-old daughter to beat up an older boy as they videotaped it, Killeen police said.
Dennis Michael Bittinger, 22, was arrested Wednesday and his wife, Rhonda Nicole Bittinger, 23, was taken into custody Thursday, police said.
The fight allegedly occurred Saturday while the couple babysat for the 5-year-old son of a friend, police said. When the boy's mother arrived to pick him up, she turned on the couple's video camera, which had previously been used to tape the children playing.
Police said the tape shows the soldier commanding his daughter to knock the victim down, kick him and hit him in the face. The girl follows her father's instructions as the boy cries and pleads for her to stop, police said.
The tape also shows the man declaring his daughter the "winner," and he shoves the boy and demands to know why he didn't defend himself, police said.
The incident left the boy with bruises.
Bond has been set at $100,000 each for the husband and wife, who were being held in the Bell County Jail Thursday night. It wasn't immediately clear if they had a lawyer.
Bay County sheriff's deputies made their first lewd and lascivious arrests of spring break.
A Dread Spring Offensive we can all look forward to.
It started with a wet t-shirt contest that took place Tuesday night at Hammerhead Fred's bar on Thomas Drive.
"Come to Hammerhead Fred's and git hammered!"
Investigators say the male DJs and customers used alcohol to help encourage the female participants to remove the t-shirts, expose themselves, and allow the audience to fondle them and bite their breasts.
Cuz us guys are like that
Capt. Rickie Ramie of the BCSO Special Investigations Unit explained, They had taken a contest and basically there were females up there performing oral sex on one another, that was the original complaint. And we sent in a couple of investigators in at the time to see what was taking place. Inside they saw, certainly things that would be classified as violations of the law."
Just who do you have to bribe to get on this undercover detail?
Sounds like BCSO needs to have a force reduction: if they have time to bust nymphettes in wet T's, there must be no real crime about.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/24/2006 09:16 ||
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"And we sent in a couple of investigators in at the time to see what was taking place. Inside they saw, certainly things that would be classified as violations of the law."
It only took 4 to 5 hours of close investigative work to make that determination!
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 ||
03/24/2006 10:11 Comments ||
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What is wrong with the cops this week. First the Texas cops are arresting folks for being drunk in a bar, now they are going after wet-t-shirt competitions?
Glad the border is sealed, murderers all caught and crime is down to zero. Damn, learn priorities folks.
#5
Another 'consenting adults' issue for the federal judiciary. They asked for it when they pandered to one group, now its time to start dealing with all those 'worms' they've let loose.
Left-handed snails are better than righties at defending against predators, according to a new study that suggests lefties have the same competitive advantage in nature that they enjoy on the baseball diamond or in the boxing ring. The study, published in this month's Royal Society Biology Letters, suggests that snails whose shells coil toward the left were more likely to survive crab attacks than those whose shells coil toward the right.
"It's just a frequency issue," said Yale geologist Gregory P. Dietl, one of the study's authors. "As long as you're rare, you're going to have an advantage."
The researchers studied about 1,800 snail fossils, looking for scarring evidence of a predator attack. Scarring was found more frequently on right-handed snails, the study said. Researchers offered two explanations for the advantage. Because most crabs are right-handed, they said, cracking into a shell that opens on the opposite side might be more difficult. Alternatively, researchers said crabs might simply not be used to attacking lefties, just as baseball pitchers face fewer left-handed batters.
"It's the same thing here in nature," Dietl said. "These snails that are left-handed, they have an advantage. It doesn't become an advantage if lefties are just as common as righties."
#2
Now I have a comeback when somebody makes fun of the way I hold a pencil and always write uphill........("Stand back yuo North-paw slime, lest ye be smiten by my mighty left hand")
Bulgarians have been warned by a self-styled Lunar Embassy to hurry to buy real estate on the moon as only a limited number of properties were left for sale. "We have already had over 30 orders since we opened the embassy two days ago," 'coordinator' Denislav Stoichev said. "A one-acre property on the moon will cost you 40 leva ($A34.60)," although plots on Mars and Jupiter's moon Io were also available, he added.
The Plovdiv lunar embassy is the first in Bulgaria but one of dozens around the world, licensed by the Galactic Government's CEO - in this case celestial executive officer - US entrepreneur Dennis Hope. In 1980, Mr Hope proclaimed himself the owner of the moon and all planets and satellites in the solar system (except for the Earth), by exploiting a loophole in the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty, which states space property "is not subject to national appropriation" but says nothing about private or corporate owners.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Sure, speculate in lunar realty if you want, but it's risky. What if the market craters?
Posted by: Mike ||
03/24/2006 6:59 Comments ||
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I demand the Lunar government install infrastructure improvements before I even consider this. For example, they might wanna fill in all those holes...
#7
Ah, but you are still subject to the Galaxians with Disabilities Act. You'd best start installing those tentacle faciltators tout suite or the fines will be staggering.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/24/2006 18:03 Comments ||
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#13
Bah! All of you back off! I claim personal and direct ownership of every other planet in the universe not thus far claimed (ie youse who have claims in already will have those claims validated by my personal authority)!
Anyone else who files a claim has to make it through me and has to file all the valid paperwork and pay the proper fees forthithy before you receive a properly imprinted and signed authentic document describing your claim.
Thanks,
FOTSGreg (aka Fire On The Suns Greg - www.fire-on-the-suns.com)
NAIROBI - Drought stricken Eritrea has expelled a number of international non-governmental organisations working in the country, adding to a long list of expulsions of foreign aid agencies. We received a letter to cease operations saying that (aid organization) Concern did not meet operational requirements, said Austin Kennen, Eritrean desk officer for Concern speaking from Dublin on Thursday.
The Irish organization is one of an unknown number of aid agencies that received letters informing them that their operating permits had been terminated without any elaboration. Concern assists some 100,000 people in Eritrea in fighting soil erosion and also offers water and sanitation services. It was not immediately clear what would become of the organizations 100 local and three foreign staff members.
Last year Eritrea expelled United States government aid agency USAID and also threw out 180 Western peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in Eritrea that polices a buffer zone along Eritreas disputed border with Ethiopia. Eritrea is believed to be furious with the UNs inability to force Ethiopia to respect a boundary commission ruling that awarded an Ethiopian-administered border town to Eritrea.
Asmaras increasingly tough stance with foreign aid agencies, however, belies the countrys increasing need for drought relief aid. A recent WFP report says food has become more expensive and shortages more likely since the government slashed free foreign food from 1.3 million people last August to only 72,000.
They want to be stoopid, it's going to be hard to stop them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Nigeria's first census in 15 years is under increasing attack from separatist groups who have attacked officials in the south of the country with acid and machetes in order to disrupt the headcount. Members of the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) attacked at least seven officials in the market town of Onitsha in Anambra state on Wednesday, the second day of the census in Africa's most populous country. Uzor A Uzor, of the human rights group the Civil Liberties Organisation, said: "I counted at least seven enumerators who came to report at the police station yesterday that they were attacked with acid."
One of the victims, Felicia Nwachukwu, said three MASSOB members on a motorbike sprayed acid on her back and attacked a colleague with machetes before speeding off. "We were numbering houses when they came and poured acid on me and slashed my colleague's hand," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2006 00:00 ||
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The Civil Liberties Organization then added:
We blame Bush.
YAOUNDE: Some 127 people were feared drowned after a boat carrying 150 passengers sank off the port of Kribi on Cameroon's Atlantic coast, state radio said on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2006 00:00 ||
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For years, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has claimed to be protecting his people from the corrupt and greedy Venezuelan elite class, represented by the Venezuelan political opposition. Now he is protecting them from an external foe, the US, which he has accused of intending to invade Venezuela. Riding on the rhetoric of an eventual US invasion, Chavez is building up a massive civilian militia answerable directly, and only, to him. That militia, however, is more likely intended to deter a military coup than a US invasion.
After the 2002 attempt to overthrow his government, Chavez changed tactics, taking on a larger role as protector of his people from the US. As such, he must continue to claim that the US will someday invade Venezuela and that they only thing that will keep the Yankees at bay is two million trained civilians.
The formation of a civilian militia gives physical presence and weight to Chavez's rhetoric that the US will one day invade. Considering the many rumors of a palace coup and the shuffling of military commanders in Chavezs top brass, however, the formation of a civilian militia looks more like another bulwark intended to protect himself against a military-led coup detat.
The only conventional army likely to threaten Chavez is Venezuelas own military forces, the FAN. In the event of a successful FAN-orchestrated coup, two million hardcore supporters with military training could be ordered to drag the country into a civil war. Given the worlds dependence on Venezuelan oil, such a possibility would have serious international repercussions.
The first week of March saw the beginning of a two million-strong reservists program, which Chavez has been talking about for years and officially announced on 14 April last year.
Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Benavides is in charge of training the instructors, who will in turn train the reservists. He has emphasized the art of guerrilla warfare. In an interview with the BBC, Benavides lined up a group of civilians to demonstrate the art of surprise in guerrilla warfare. On the surface they look like ordinary people on the street. But if you look underneath their jackets, you will see they are hiding knives, catapults, and pistols, the BBC quoted him as saying to an audience at the training grounds.
Taking lessons from the Viet Cong and the Cuban Revolution, Benavides will train officers to teach a volunteer militia how to conduct urban guerrilla warfare. The civilian militia adheres to the doctrine of asymmetrical warfare.
Harnessing a large force of militarily trained civilians to a doctrine of guerrilla warfare has many of Venezuelas older generals confused because it is a doctrine not espoused by the FAN, nor is it a doctrine Chavez himself was trained when rising through the ranks of the Venezuelan military.
In training and military doctrine, the civilian militia will be completely separate from Venezuelas traditional military rank and file. Additionally, the militia is not part of the traditional chain of command. Its leaders report directly to Chavez and no one else. Since Chavez has made public his plans for a civilian militia that he controls, some of his loyalists in the military have expressed concern at this circumvention of the traditional chain of command. Perhaps knowing that his civilian militia announcement would provoke ire, Chavez made some command structure changes to protect his back with hardcore supporters.
Colonel Cliver Antonio Alcala Cordones, for one, would not hesitate to carry out presidential orders to use lethal force against military rebels or civilian dissidents, argue analysts with the US-based private intelligence company StratFor. Alcala is currently the commander of the elite presidential honor guard, tasked with protecting Chavezs life.
Another hardcore Chavez supporter, Major General Ali de Jesus Uzcategui Duque, has been given command over the countrys internal defense strategy, called Plan Republica, according to StratFor. This plan has a Caracas metropolitan area element called Plan Avila. In the event of a military rebellion or civilian uprising, Plan Avila would be initiated to protect the palace, prominent public services buildings, and the oil infrastructure. General Uzcategui also has the authority to impede any military orders or actions the president finds disagreeable. Analysts argue that by placing these men in their current positions, Chavez is working to defend himself from the possibility of an assassination attempt by a close personal aide or a military rebellion led by an officer in command of the countrys best-trained soldiers.
When Chavez talks about territorial invasion, he implies that an outside aggressor would invade Venezuela to capture control of the countrys energy assets. Since the coup in 2002, Chavez has focused his rhetoric on the eventual invasion of US military forces. He has repeated his belief that the US would invade so often that US ambassador to Venezuela, William Brownfield, said in April last year that the United States has never invaded, is not invading at this moment, and will never invade Venezuela. But Chavez doubts the sincerity.
A string of events that points to plans to overthrow Chavez contribute his paranoia. When Chavez announced in April last year that the planned civilian militia force would be under his direct control, reports at the time indicated that FAN ranking commander General Raul Baudel strongly objected to the unilateral decision to control what would become a considerable force of trained and armed Chavez supporters. Chavez made his announcement during a ceremony to commemorate the second anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow his government. The message to his enemies was quite clear.
Almost two months after the announcement, Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel announced that the government suspected the political opposition was planning a military coup. Two days prior to that announcement, Venezuelan Defense Minister General Jorge Garcia Carneiro said that pamphlets urging a military revolt against Chavez had been circulated in various military installations around the country.
Not a month later, opposition leader Andres Velasquez, announced that Chavez had decided to postpone a military parade because he believed it would be the stage for an attempt on his life. FAN Commander General Baudel said there was no intelligence to back up such claims. However, Chavez claimed he had intelligence that pointed to an assassination attempt on 24 June, the day of the parade. The day before the parade, General Melvin Lopez Hidalgo, a member of Venezuelas National Defense Council, confirmed that an officer had been arrested at Fort Tiuna at the FANs Third Army Division base in Caracas. It remains unclear if the arrested officer was connected to the alleged assassination attempts or the anonymous pamphlets.
Audio tapes that allegedly contained details of a planned military coup surfaced in early December. Nicolas Maduro, chairman of Venezuelas National Assembly and member of the Fifth Republic Movement party, presented the tapes to the National Assembly on 8 December. They allegedly contain a conversation among retired army officers, who were plotting to overthrow Chavezs government by blowing up oil infrastructure before taking over military headquarters.
What military analysts call asymmetrical warfare, also referred to as fourth-generation warfare, is characterized by war between a nation-state and a non-state actor. Latin Americas history is riddled with examples of how asymmetrical warfare has been used to overthrow a government, such as the Cuban Revolution, or used to prolong a struggle, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
In some cases, these non-state actors have been integrated into politics, such as the FLMN in El Salvador. Chavez is in a position to take advantage of this history to promote his ideology of a region-wide resistance against US imperialism. It is convenient rhetoric that veils what many believe are his intentions to deter a military coup. By the end of 2007, it is quite possible that a total of two million Chavez supporters will have been trained and reinserted back into their normal lives, ready to resist at a moments notice. It is highly unlikely that this militia will be called to protect Venezuela from an outside invader.
Rather, they could be called on to protect Chavezs regime from a cadre of military officers and others who want to remove him from office. If Chavez manages to survive such a coup attempt, he may go quietly or he may seek to embody the spirit of Cubas Fidel Castro and regional revolutionary hero Ernesto Che Guevarra by leading his faithful into a civil war. The FAN is believed to have at least 80,000 professional soldiers, who could be forced to face two-million urban guerrillas.
A civil war in Venezuela would be intense, extremely destructive, and spell doom for the future of Venezuelas economy, society, and oil output. Due to the nature of asymmetrical warfare, it would be nearly impossible to completely eradicate a group of dedicated and trained Chavez supporters.
Wonder how dedicated they'd be supporting a dead man, cuz this stratgy depends on Chavez being alive to direct his guerrilla army. Which means Hugo is the first to go.
Sam Logan is an investigative journalist who has studied security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism, and black markets in Latin America since 1999.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/24/2006 09:02 ||
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Given the worlds dependence on Venezuelan oil, such a possibility would have serious international repercussions.
Another bit player. Now if he'd fork over 2 or 3 billion in ready American we might, just might stage a small fleet exercise to fire up his supporters.
#4
Article: The FAN is believed to have at least 80,000 professional soldiers, who could be forced to face two-million urban guerrillas.
Easier said than done. Every family in Iraq had firearms prior to the invasion. Did that make them able to resist Saddam's secret police, let alone his army divisions? No.
#5
Sounds like a tailor-made program for country-wide chaos the moment that Chavez loses control of his minions. Just what a Latin American country needs - the society-wide dissemination of subversive & guerilla training & equipment. He's going to make that country more ungovernable than Colombia if he goes through with it.
On the plus side, oil wealth is much less localized than cocaine wealth. Venezuela doesn't have that grass-roots drug-money ready & waiting to finance each town's own set of mutually antagonistic gangs & thugs. Well, less so than the Andean states.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/24/2006 14:27 Comments ||
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I wonder if or when Venezuela will get into the cocaine business? Given that Hugo has put them on the highway to hell, it would complete the picture.
#7
sounds like a couple stealth bomber - full throttle passes over the capital and Hugo will wet himself into exile
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/24/2006 20:20 Comments ||
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Chavez is going to find out that the classic counter to cult of personality is the removal of the Dear Leader. It only takes one very unhappy soldier with an AR-50 to put an end to President Huff n Puff.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday it will use new unmanned drones to help provide security during a summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in July. RIA news agency quoted Deputy Interior Minister Mikhail Sukhodolsky as saying the ministry had already tried out the gadgets but said he gave few details about the drones. "The Russian Interior Ministry is having its first experience of using pilotless flying apparatus, the first models of which we have already put into action," Sukhodolsky said. "We plan to use such technology for the first time during the Group of Eight summit in St Petersburg," he said.
President Vladimir Putin will host U.S. President George W. Bush and other G8 leaders at a summit in his home town of St Petersburg to crown Russia's first presidency of the rich nations group.
Just a guess, but I'll wager we won't see large numbers of moonbat protestors at this G8 meeting
Posted by: Steve ||
03/24/2006 13:34 ||
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Hao Wu (surname Wu) may be the first blogger in China to get nabbed by its secret police. He has a lot video material they could use. Too bad his sources trusted him. He has American papers - they don't.
Chinese authorities are holding a documentary film-maker who was researching the countrys underground churches, while a social activist best known for his work with rural communities infected with HIV/AIDS has been missing for more than a month and is presumed detained.
Wu Hao, a documentary filmmaker who lived in the United States from 1992-2004, was detained by the Beijing division of Chinas State Security Bureau on the afternoon of Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006, according to a statement on the Harvard-backed Global Voices Online Weblog, for which Wu was a part-time editor.
On that afternoon, Wu had met in Beijing with a congregation of a Christian church not recognized by the Chinese government, as part of the filming of his next documentary, Global Voices said.
The Public Security Bureau has confirmed that [Wu] Hao was in fact detained, Rebecca MacKinnon, Global Voices founder and research fellow at Harvard Law Schools Berkman Center for Internet and Society told RFAs Cantonese service.
Filming with human rights lawyer
But they have no information about any charges, or how long until his release, she said.
An official on duty at the Beijing Public Security bureau promised to call back, but no such call was received. I cant call out on this phone. If you leave your details, I can call you back with the information, the official said.
Hao had also been working with Gao Zhisheng, a lawyer specializing in human rights cases.
He came and did a couple of shoots with me, on the subject of my daily life and my work, before the lunar new year, Gao told RFAs Mandarin service.
The next day [Feb. 22], he had arranged to come again, but that was the day that he went missing. I called some friends in America to let them know, Gao told RFA reporter Ding Xiao.
Police removed editing equipment and several videotapes from Wus apartment on Feb. 24, and Wu later called home but was unable to speak freely.
One of Haos friends has been interrogated twice since his detention, Global Voices said in its online statement.
AIDS activist believed detained
The reason for Haos detention is unknown. One of the possibilities is that the authorities who detained Hao want to use him and his video footage to prosecute members of Chinas underground Churches, it said.
We are very concerned about his mental and physical well-being. Wu was Northeast Asia Editor for Global Voices, but his personal blog, Beijing or Bust, was not that of a rights activist and contained little criticism of the Chinese government.
#1
No surprise here, as many Chinese choose God or Buddha over Marx and Mao. As for the HIV/Aids, various unconformed reports on the Web had reported as recently as January 2006 that HIV/Aids is spreading far faster in the rural countryside than Beijing's ability to stop or contain the same. Doubts also exist with Beijing's ability vv BIRD FLU, MAD COW, INFLUENZA or TUBERCOLOSIS.
The Chinese Government is imposing new or higher taxes on a range of goods and fuels as part of its efforts to control energy consumption and protect the environment. Car taxes will go up, while disposable chopsticks will be subject to a new tax. The tax on chopsticks may seem a curious way for the Chinese leadership to demonstrate its new found commitment to the environment. But from next month, a 5 per cent tax will be levied on every pair of disposable, wooden chopsticks. China gets through about 10 billion boxes a year.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2006 00:00 ||
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gromky: I always thought that most disposable chopsticks were made of bamboo. I guess I thought wrong.
The non-disposable ones are made of bamboo. They have tensile strength. The disposable ones feel like pine - flex them and they break. Plus they're real soft, like pine, and unlike bamboo.
#8
Bamboo, pine - pfui. My chopsticks (a Christmas gift) are jade.
Wonder what the ChiComs would tax me for that?
If they could, of course. ;p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/24/2006 14:29 Comments ||
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#9
Found myself a pair of those jade chopsticks in the thrift shop, Barbara. Paid all of a whopping $5.00 for them. The jade flute I got in Taiwan cost a few more frogskins.
#11
BS: Bamboo, pine - pfui. My chopsticks (a Christmas gift) are jade.
Disposable ones are used at restaurants. Hygiene standards at restaurants in China aren't exactly tip-top. Customers feel a little more secure using disposable flatware.
#15
Zheng Fei - It was my understanding that Asian people often brought their own chopsticks, and it wasn't considered insulting to do so. Is that incorrect?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/24/2006 21:43 Comments ||
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BS: Zheng Fei - It was my understanding that Asian people often brought their own chopsticks, and it wasn't considered insulting to do so. Is that incorrect?
I've never personally encountered the practice - and I've dined in a variety of restaurants throughout Southeast (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia) and Northeast Asia (Hong Kong, China, Korea, Taiwan).
#17
BS: Zheng Fei - It was my understanding that Asian people often brought their own chopsticks, and it wasn't considered insulting to do so. Is that incorrect?
What I have seen is this - in some regions, (1) the first pot of steaming hot tea is poured into a teacup, (2) the chopsticks (if not disposable) are rinsed in the tea, (3) the cup of tea is poured into a bowl, (4) the cup is rinsed in the bowl, (5) the tea is poured out of the bowl into a large communal bowl meant for that express purpose and (6) the bowl of water is taken away. Dishes are served banquet style.
Canberra, 24 March (AKI) - Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Australia in response to the steps taken by Canberra to grant temporary visas to 42 people from the Indonesian province of Papua. The Indonesian authorities said that they "regretted" the move by Canberra and according to a report on Australia's ABC News Online, the Indonesian foreign minister, Hassan Wirajuda said that Jakarta was "afraid this would weaken cooperation" between the two countries.
The decision to recall the Indonesian ambassador to Australia Mohammad Hamzah Thayeb was announced less than 24 hours after Australia's ambassador in Jakarta Bill Farmer was summoned to Jakarta's foreign ministry for a formal diplomatic protest. Australia has tried to play down the dispute by saying that they did not support the aspirations of the separatists in the Papua province. Reports say that among the 42 Papuan refugees are some pro-independence activists.
Indonesia has been accused of human rights violations in the low-level insurgent movement that has been going on in Papua for decades. Papua was granted self-rule by its Dutch colonists in 1961, but was then annexed by Indonesia, which did not honour that agreement. Some newspapers in Jakarta accused the government of Australian prime minister John Howard of supporting separatism in Papua.
Jakarta has said that the refugees have nothing to fear and that warned Australia that granting the Papuan's asylum would only further strain relations between the two countries.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/24/2006 08:07 ||
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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi joked about declaring war on France on Friday and pretended to massage President Jacques Chirac, making light of a clash between their two countries over energy mergers.
Leaving for the second day of European Union summit, Berlusconi told reporters: "There is no news, unless you journalists want us to declare war on France."
Inside the conference room, the Italian leader walked up to the seated Chirac and put his hands on the French president's shoulders in what looked like a neck-rub, prompting a startled laugh.
Tension between France and Italy has risen since the Paris government engineered a hasty merger between state-owned Gaz de France and private French utility Suez to fend off a feared bid from Italy's Enel.
Diplomats had expected Berlusconi, trailing centre-left ex-European Commission President Romano Prodi in opinion polls ahead of an April 9-10 general election, to use the summit to attack the French action.
In the event, he focussed his public comments on attacks against Prodi and insisted that he would confound the polls and win re-election.
#4
A northern Italian had a great retort when someone impugnes the bravery of the Italian army.
In World War I, 300,000 Italians died in the twelve battles of the Isonzo, half of their total war casualties. They fought a heavily fortified enemy in mountains on the far side and overlooking a river, during heavy rains, an impossible mission.
Posted by: Nick ||
03/24/2006 20:05 Comments ||
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ITS WAR - SEND IN THE FRENCH NAVY, assuming of course their props don't fall off. Kind of hard to fight decisive naval battle wid go-go modern warships that have to depend on wave/sea motion to get there. How can Radical Islam's Navy of mad Mad MAD M-A-D Camels/Camel-kazes lose???
#1
Rome has been waiting for this one for a millennium. You see the muzzies eliminated all the other of the competing Bishops [Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, etc]. The last competitor was Byzantium at Constantinople. There has always been a historical rivalry of who is in charge. When the muzzie took Constantinople, the authority of the Eastern Church was claimed by Greek and Russian Orthodox leftovers. Now if the Vatican can get Istanbul/Constantinople, theyd have claim to the sole lineage from the early church [disregarding the Protestant view of matters]. Like theyve been working this angle for centuries. The muzzies are going to make it happen for Rome by keeping up the self destructive behavior.
#2
The article contains a detailed denunciation of the lack of religious freedom that afflicts the Christian minorities living in Turkey today. And before that is a recollection of the massacre of the Armenians and the expulsion of the Greek Orthodox: the two terrible acts of cleansing of the non-Turkish and non-Muslim element from which contemporary Turkey was born.
This is a fair assessment as far at the Armenians are concerned. They got screwed. However, as is later indicated in the article, this is NOT in fact a fair or accurate representation of what happened to the Greek Orthodox.
After the end of the war between Greece and Turkey, in 1922, the Turkish government, having won the conflict, established within the peace treaties with the agreement of the Western powers that an exchange of populations take place. In this way, most of the Greek Orthodox had to leave Turkey, which they considered their land, and to move to Greek territory, where they did not even speak the language. It has been determined that 1,344,000 Greek Orthodox Christians were deported to Greek territory, and that 464,000 Greek Muslims were transferred to Turkey.
....and the result of this agreement, which was known as the Treaty of Lausanne, was that about 2 million people didnt suffer the usual Balkan fate of genocidal annihilation at the hands of their ethnic cousins. Additionally, some 250,000 Bulgarians were peacefully shifted from Greece and Turkey to Bulgaria. In one of its few acts of utter competency, the League of Nations supervised the entire exchange to the overall satisfaction of the parties involved.
Was it ethnic cleansing? Yes. Was it genocide? No. Did is save untold lives and prevent a second Balkan War? Yes. Is there something to be learned from the Treaty of Lausanne? Yes. Sometimes it is better for everyone if you separate, take a breather, and dont try a brave multicultural experiment.
#4
Well, Ive heard a lot of allegations over this issue and, being that we are talking about the Turks here, Im fairly certain that most of them are true. With that said, there has been an attempt by academia in recent years to spin the Treaty of Lausanne as a tool of genocide, when in fact it largely prevented genocide from occurring. Mark my words: if it hadnt been for that treaty, the Bosnian Genocide would have occurred over a much, much larger area and included far more countries than Yugoslavia.
MINSK: Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko won last Sunday's presidential election with 83 percent of the vote, the country's central elections commission said Thursday after all ballots were counted. The runners-up were Alexander Milinkevich with 6.1 percent, Sergei Gaidukevich with 3.5 percent and Alexander Kozulin with 2.2 percent, Nikolai Lozovik, the commission's secretary, told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2006 00:00 ||
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Only 83%?
Slacker. They'll probably cancel his Tool of the Tsar membership.
Posted by: Jans Snomble4884 ||
03/24/2006 1:31 Comments ||
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#2
You mean Jimmy Carter hasn't certified the results yet?
PARIS: Around 420 people were arrested on Thursday during protests across France against a youth jobs programme, mainly for violence, vandalism and attacks on security forces, police said. In the central Paris area of Invalides, police said that 140 people were arrested after violent incidents and clashes with security forces. A total of 18 officers were slightly injured in clashes around the country, they said.
Rampaging French youths set fire to cars and looted shops, marring protests the law, which Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin had agreed to discuss with unions. Aides said that Villepin would meet senior trade union officials on Friday to try to defuse a crisis that has triggered a national strike threat and drawn hundreds of thousands of protesters on to French streets. In Paris, riot police fired teargas in clashes with youths, dubbed "casseurs" by the French, in the Invalides areas near the Foreign Ministry, witnesses said.
Youths threw stones at police and set fire to the door of an apartment building in running battles at the end of a largely peaceful rally by thousands of students and workers against the CPE First Job Contract. "This time, there are lots of young criminals on the march who are there to steal and smash. This discredits the movement," said Charlie Herblin, a 22-year-old worker on the Paris march
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Put them to work making little rocks from big rocks.
Posted by: ed ||
03/24/2006 1:23 Comments ||
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#2
Oooo! Oooo! A French General Strike! How progressive and romantic. It's May 1968 all over again. This time I can enjoy and take notes.
#4
Notice here they call them "students and "workers";the end of a largely peaceful rally by thousands of students and workers against the CPE First Job Contract. "This time, there are lots of young criminals on the march who are there to steal and smash. This discredits the movement," said Charlie Herblin, a 22-year-old worker on the Paris march
Yet, it is Rampaging French youths who set fire to cars and looted. I'd like to see the names of those arrested.
#4
Someday, the French are going to wake up, realize that "my little cabbage" is a term of endearment in their language, and switch to speaking anything else.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/24/2006 8:43 Comments ||
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CALHOUN, Ga. -- Desmond T. Doss Sr., a conscientious objector whose achievements as a noncombatant earned him a Medal of Honor in World War II, died Thursday. He was 87. His death was announced by Seventh-day Adventist Church officials in Calhoun, near where he lived for many years. Doss died Thursday in Piedmont, Ala., where he and his wife had been staying with her family, said Pastor John Swafford. Doss, who refused to carry a weapon during his wartime service as a medic, was the subject of a book, "The Unlikeliest Hero," and a 2004 documentary, "The Conscientious Objector." He was invited to the White House in October 1945 to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, from President Truman for his bravery in April and May that year.
On the island of Okinawa, he carried 75 wounded soldiers through a fire-swept area to the edge of a 400-foot cliff and lowered them to safety, according to his citation. Later, the medic braved enemy shelling to treat an artillery officer. He also crawled to a wounded soldier who had fallen 25 feet from the enemy's position, rendered aid and carried the man 100 yards to safety while exposed to shooting.
During a night attack, he was seriously wounded in the legs by a grenade, his citation said. Five hours later, others began carrying him to safety, but he saw a more critically injured man and crawled off his stretcher, directing the medics to aid the other wounded man. While awaiting their return, he was struck again. He bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and crawled 300 yards to an aid station, the citation said.
Doss "voluntarily joined the Army as a conscientious objector," church officials said in a statement. "He was harassed and ridiculed for his beliefs, yet he served with distinction. "Doss never liked being called a conscientious objector," the statement said. "He preferred the term conscientious cooperator."
Now this is a real hero who stood by his beliefs and still served his country and his fellow soldiers. Thank you sir and God be with you.
A statue of Doss was placed on July 4, 2004, in the National Museum of Patriotism in Atlanta.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/24/2006 08:30 ||
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#1
Now this is a real hero who stood by his beliefs and still served his country and his fellow soldiers.
Very true. This guy proved you can stand up for your beliefs, help out your fellow man and be patriotic at the same time. Rest in peace. We need more people like that.
Citation: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. He was a company aid man when the lst Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them 1 by 1 to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On 2 May, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On 5 May, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On 21 May, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
03/24/2006 9:28 Comments ||
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#8
The 77th also fought on Guam, and helped liberate camps set up by the Japanese to hold local Chamorros-Guamanians - according to the local beliefs of many elderly survivors, the Japanese ultimately intended to kill all of those held in these camps. Several groups were misled by the Japanese to travel to selected areas around Guam for work detail or other where they ended up being abused and later massacred.
#9
I lived in that area of Georgia for several years and met Mr. Doss in Church several times.
Like Mr. Doss, I was born and raised a Seventh Day Adventist. I was a teenager during the Vietnam war, and the Church gave us the following counsel:
1. Do not volunteer: you will be obligated to carry arms by doing so, and the Church cannot help you in any way.
2. When Drafted, apply for 1AO, not 1O status. 1AO allows you to support direct military operations, such a a front-line medic, as was Mr. Doss. 1O status means you object to even indirect support of the war effort. A 1O says, "I won't have anything to do with this dirty war," while a 1A0 says, "There are some things I cannot do in good conscience, but there are things I can, and will, do that will help the war effort." Almost all became medics, like Mr. Doss, and the Church actually cooperated with the Pentagon in setting up pre-draft boot-camps so that the option of making an Adventist a medic was more attractive to the Pentagon.
3. If there is a situation where you decide, despite your intentions, that you must pick up a weapon and shoot the enemy, the Church WILL NOT SECOND GUESS YOU. In times like that, they realize that you cannot be accoutable to anyone else but God and your guts, and so refuse to be a judge in that matter.
I eventually left for doctrinal reasons, and in retrospect, I do not think I would have grown spritually if I had remained. But they laid a good foundation, and there should be no doubt that they are patriots.
Rest in peace, Mr. Doss. However, if he DOES show up at the pearly gates, given the beliefs Adventists teach, he's bound to be more than a little put out. ;)
#10
reasonable reservations - committment made and, should we say, overachieved a little? What a hero and stud - an admirable character regardless of your position on the violence. Right hand of God/Jesus in my view of heaven.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/24/2006 23:13 Comments ||
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CALCUTTA, India -- Adwaitya the tortoise, once owned by the man whose British East India Company helped colonize India in the 18th century, has died at the age of 255. Adwaitya, or "The only one," was one of four giant Aldabra tortoises given to Robert Clive by British seamen who caught them in the Seychelles Islands, reports The Times of London. The other three died soon after they arrived in India.
In recent years, Adwaitya had numerous illnesses. "Our records show the tortoise was born in 1750, but some have claimed he was born in 1705," said the Calcutta zoo's director.
"Adwaitya, who delighted the zoo visitors for 131 years, died (Wednesday) morning. His shell will be preserved in the zoo."
Clive, who became known as the "Conqueror of India," arrived in South Asia 1743 as a clerk in the East India Company. But it was his military skill that helped him lay the foundation for eventual British rule of India. Clive died in 1774. "It appears I am destined for something; I will live." -- Robert Clive
#6
AS 6196:
God did not see fit to give reptiles a burning curiosity. They are content with a good meal and sunshine when they want it. Our turtle, Leon, is quite content in a small horse trough, with clean water flowing at a gentle current, a sun lamp, and Reptomin Turtle Food. He will patiently sit for hours in the corner where the current slows, waiting for the turtle food to float into easy reach.
I think God invented turtles to give us a good laugh. Leon is good for my morale; he's got a ridiculous perpetual frown and his little legs paddle wildly when he jumps off his sunning platform into the water.
I'm going off topic for a minute to remind everybody that, if you see somebody selling turtles smaller than four inches long, they don't know diddly about turtles and they're breaking the law. Don't buy a cute little turtle who's undersized for any reason, and don't buy any reptile unless you're ready for a long term investment, including making room for it as it grows. Leon will grow to the size of a dinner plate and can live for 30 years.
Some morons have let their oversized pythons loose in the southern US, where they pose a threat to livestock, small children, and the endangered species in the Everglades.
Bird flu has arrived in the Gaza Strip. While it is impossible to know whether or how the virus is going to mutate, it has a much better chance of becoming dangerous in Gaza.
Quite a good article that highlights an issue that is widely ignored in our PC times. Namely, the pandemic is much more likely to start in some places than in others. It doesn't go to the next step, which is some places will do much better at containing its spread (once it does start) than others. Think of the dire warnings of 15 years ago that we were all at risk of catching AIDS.
No one has really considered the geopolitical consequences of a pandemic that runs unchecked through some regions, but is contained in others leaving some populations immune and others not. It would divide the world into two in terms of travel and communication.
#2
While I think I understand why Gaza has a high potential for multiple fatalies from bird to human transmission (lack of automation, lack of sanitation), I don't understand why a mutation to a human to human virus is any higher in Gaza then anywhere else.
#3
mhw: Right now, it is believed that H2H is less common because the virus enters the body through cells deep in the lungs. Typically, flus enter through sinus and throat cells, and the eyes, so infection is much easier. So, the virus might just need to "learn" to attack cells higher up to spread easily via H2H.
The easiest way for avian flu to "learn" *might* be in an area where B2H infections are more likely.
Gaza is just one such place, however, and better off than most, as Israel has made it abundantly clear that they will provide some of the best medical resources in the world *instantly* when there is any sign of the disease in the Paleo areas.
Vast areas of Asia, Africa and Oceania do not have anything approaching this level of assistance so are far more troubling.
#4
Here in Guam, iff someone uses the term BIRD FLU, many old-timers would not know what was being described or referred to - iff, however, one uses the alternate term BLUE-COLORED/HEADED CHICKEN, then they'll know what is meant. The head is cut off and thrown away, and the remainder is boiled, broiled, or barbecued at high heat. The top layers of broth or excess, dripping fats are often skimmmed - to my memory, no one I know has ever gotten sick, not even those whom still chose to cook a chicken + head with some blue discoloration. Here in Guam most farm animals are kept separate from primary domiciles and in clean environments - its a matter of [male] pride for one to know how to raise a healthy animal, be it for agricultural production or for cockfighting, as well as to prep/cook one for large groups of people. BIRD FLU, etal. will truly be life-threatening iff, e.g. like ROE V. WADE and Govt. subsidized Universal Abortion-on-Demand, and women on perm welfare, the Gummermint starts telling economy-based/dependent men Govt., etal. will unilater 150% take care of everything and anything from now on without need of anything from men. Don't need our money, don't need our romance, don't need our sex, don't need women of any age, don't need God, Govt. and Third Parties will take care of any kids, etc. .............. @so why do men need to cook!? IS WHY, WESTERN OR ASIAN, POPULATIONS IN SOCIALIST STATES ARE DYING ERGO AMERICA NEEDS TO BE LIKE THEM!?
...They looked at 2,169 distinct avian virus genes. There were two viruses that showed a protein tag at the end of one of the nonstructural genes that actually looks to help cause the cytokine storm that makes this a unique illness.* And guess which two viruses they were: 1918 H1N1, and the current H5N1...
*Cytokines are a class of proteins produced by white blood cells whenever the body finds itself responding to an infection. They vary in functionsome cytokines attack invading microbes directly, others relay chemical messages from cell to cell, still others bind with cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain to produce fevers. Cytokines are toxic not only to infectious agents in the body but to the body itself: Much of the pain and discomfort that accompany illnesses like the common flu, for example, are in effect hangover symptoms from the toxic effects of the body's own immune response. The term "cytokine storm" refers to the immune response that occurs when the body is confronted with an infectious agent that reproduces at great speed and in huge volume. This "viral storm" generates an equally huge immune responsethe cytokine stormthat can take such a toll on lung tissue (the main battleground where the virus and the immune system face off) that it deprives vital organs of enough oxygen to function, and sets off cascading organ failure.
...This virus is quite different from what we see with the standard annual flu, and what we saw in 1957 and 1968, because of the cytokine storm it causes. In 1918, the vast majority of the people who died were healthy young people, 20 to 40 years of age. And that was in large part because they had the strongest immune systems...
...If you put 1918 H1N1 into animal models at very, very low doses, it basically kills all of them in 24 hours. The lab science people had never seen that. At 16 to 24 hours, that virus was different from anything they'd ever seen in killing these animals. The only virus that was similar was H5N1, and it was fatal at much lower doses. H5N1 is the most powerful influenza virus we've seen in modern human history. What makes them so similar is that they both cause this cytokine storm phenomenon.
Which essentially results in a person's drowning in his or her own blood as it fills the lungs, right?
It's even worse than that. You get that kind of leakage, yes, but it also goes in and begins to shut down all your vital organs. It's a domino effect. Your kidneys go down, then your liver goes down, you have all this destruction through necrosis of your lungs and your internal organs. Everything goes.
...There are not a lot of mild, asymptomatic infections out there [with H5N1]. We're now aware of six studies involving over 5,000 close contacts of H5N1-infected people, in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong, in which less than one person per thousand contacts had evidence of an H5N1 infection that was missedthat is, a mild infection.
This [virus] is not causing a lot of asymptomatic infections right now. Some people are saying there's a lot of mild [H5N1-related] illness all over out there, but it's just not true. That means we're not artificially inflating the mortality rate by missing a lot of infections. I'm actually pretty confident that the real mortality is almost that high.
So for that number to drop all the way down to a couple percent is a pretty big drop. Which says to me that when people talk about 1918 as a worst-case scenario, well, maybe that isn't the worst-case scenario. That's hard for people to hear, because then they think you're really trying to scare the hell out of people. But you know what? It's just the data.
If this virus were to ultimately go human-to-human, none of us know what the human mortality would be...
...Right now, given the amount of virus needed to make vaccines for H5N1it needs a lot more antigen [than typical flu strains] our total worldwide capacity right now, in one year's time, is only enough vaccine to protect 100-200 million people worldwide. That's in one year after a pandemic starts. And that's it. You can't make any more, given the limited capacity we have...
...Eighty percent of all the drugs we use in this countryall the childhood vaccines, everythingcome from offshore. Your cardio drugs, your cancer drugs, your diabetes drugs, 80 percent of the raw ingredients come from offshore. I could go through a whole laundry list of other critical and essential products and services that come from offshore. If the rest of the world experiences a pandemic, we're still screwed. That's what people don't understand. Somehow they have this attitude that we can wall ourselves off in the Eighth District of Minneapolis and be okay...
...With the H5N1 virus, the virus storm that precedes the cytokine storm is so remarkable in those first 24 hours that if you don't have the (antiviral) drug onboard in those first 24 hours, it may only have limited impact...
...We have anecdotal data on people who got the drug early and appeared to do better, but then, after the typical five-day course was stopped, they died on day ten...
...For example, I talked [in that article] about the 105,000 mechanical ventilators (in the United States)? On any given day, 70,000-80,000 of them are in use, and in a normal flu season we butt up against the 100,000 mark. We have no excess capacity there whatsoever...
...We'll run out of masks and respirators overnight, because it's a global just-in-time supply chain. There are two manufacturers who have the largest share of the market there, but with virtually no surge capacity. We'll run out of IV needles. We'll run out of IV bags. We'll run out of drugs very quickly...
...So the whole medical system will collapse, at a time when we still need drugs for heart attacks, cancer, and everything else. We'll be in freefall. That may sound scary, but it's a reality. And unlike Katrina, where the hurricane did some of the destruction and separated people from health care through evacuation or otherwise, the same thing's going to happen here in every city, town, and village in this country as well. We're all going to need things at the same time, and there won't be any products...
...Right after Katrina, when FEMA was trying to rescue itself, they put out a call for anyone who had a refrigerated truck unit to come and sit in one of several parking lots in the Gulf states down there, in case they had 10,000 bodies, etc. A contingent of them went. Not all of them, by any stretch of the imagination. Within 72 hours, major food manufacturers throughout the United States reported that they couldn't ship their goods. They had no trucks. We have a razor-thin capacity in this country right now on virtually everything. They had to get FEMA to release the trucks. Cities like Seattle have already come to the conclusion they won't be able to have refrigerated trucks, because of that issue. For their work with corpse management, for example, they've already mapped out where every one of the ice arenas in Seattle is...
#2
Color me blase. When this disease shows signs of being infectious, I'll start to get worried. Remember Ebola and the mad cow disease? Both are fatal. But neither showed signs of being very infectious. Ebola got its start in Africa, where hygiene is indifferent and presents an ideal environment for spreading disease. Same with bird flu and SARS. If they can't spread in China, India, Pakistan and Indonesia (where the natives use their left hands in place of toilet paper), all of which are hygienically-challenged, you're not going to see any serious problems in the West.
You have some good points, but, we just can't predict what happens when human to human.
The only thing on the good news front is the timeline. 24-48 hour kill rate is too fast for massive, massive destruction ... well, given today's populations. 1918, or before and global, problem of a different scope.
The problem is, and we can't stop it no matter what, the bugs will adapt. We adjust our health care and technology to a certain level, and they will out do us. It is pure math.
We divide once or twice every 50 years or so. They do it every 30 minutes or so.
We offset by technology, but there is the law of delimiting returns. It is an iteresting race. At some point we have to come up short, and massive corrections in population are the result.
#6
The only thing on the good news front is the timeline. 24-48 hour kill rate is too fast for massive, massive destruction.
Its well documented that in 1918 many people were killed in 24 hours or less, yet the flu spread just fine.
In fact, I would argue exactly the opposite. A person becomes highly infectious very quickly which makes containment a lot more difficult. Hence spread is much more rapid than 'normal' flu.
#7
I'd be interested in knowing how many human deaths there have been in Western countries.
Among people who are not from 3rd-world countries with 3rd-world ideas about sanitation.
Though I understand it's nothing to sneeze at, I suspect this flu (presuming it jumps to human-to-human transmission) is going to be less of a problem in Western cultures where there is at least a modicum of sanitation.
(I'd be concerned about nursing homes, though.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/24/2006 21:40 Comments ||
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#8
The big jump from bird to human B2H to H2H may not be as difficult as all that. Right now, it is believed that H2H hasn't erupted en masse solely because the virus only takes hold in cells deep in the alveoli of the lungs, unlike typical flu that enters in the cells of the sinuses, eyes and throat.
So, how different are the cells in the lungs from those higher up?
As far as mutation goes, it is much like a computational problem. Individual animals that do not immediately die from the disease, like swine, may have several mutations of the same disease in their bodies, in a darwinian race to establish supremacy and efficiency. In a herd, each animal is doing the same, but with different mutations.
The "winners" of the individual animal viruses are exchanged around the herd, in a "semi-finals", until the best mutation is the sole survivor.
Herd after herd and flock after flock produce increasingly efficient mutations, even though many good possibles are eliminated through death. But when you add up all of those individual and group efforts, an awful lot of possibilities are generated.
Now, consider human interaction at many stages of this process. Swine, in particular can catch both human and avian influenza, and within their bodies the two different types of viruses can and do exchange RNA.
This means that humans are not needed to produce a virus that will transmit easily H2H.
Remember that *most* typical flus are uptaken in the upper respiratory system. It is a common mutation that allows them to do this, so there is a very good chance that a common influenza will give that mutated gene to H5N1.
In addition to its virulence, H5N1 is also believed to have an optimal incubation period, anywhere from 10-17 days, with an extended period of communicability. This bastard seems to be tailor made to kill humans.
#9
CoasttoCoastAM had a recent episode where Noory's guest commented that what is being [wilfully] under-reported or nono-reported in the Medias is how stocks in poor countries are born, raised, eat, and processed in hyper-polluted, unsanitary industrial conditions, and that left alone, these viruses can easily mutate over time to threaten mankind. IOW, the world doesn't need exploding Commie Biowar factories or research complexes - all thats needed is for enviro wastelands/dumps to stay polluted AND HUMAN-OCCUPIED for periods of time.
EFL.
Desmond T. Doss the only person to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for non-combat achievements in World War II and the first conscientious objector to receive the medal died Thursday. He was 87. Doss, a longtime resident of Walker County, was born Feb. 7, 1919, in Lynchburg, Va. Doss was serving as a medic in the Armys 77th Infantry Division on May 5, 1945, when he helped 75 wounded soldiers escape capture on the island of Okinawa under Japanese attack.
As a Seventh-day Adventist, Doss religious convictions required strict adherence to Gods law, particularly the Sixth Commandment, Thou shalt not kill. But despite his objection to killing and war, Doss was a patriotic American who wanted to serve his country.
In April 1942, the slight, 5-foot-6-inch, 23-year-old enlisted and was given the Armys 1-A-O conscientious objector status. He refused to carry a weapon and to perform duties on Saturday, when the Adventists celebrate the Sabbath.
For his bravery Doss received the militarys highest award from President Harry Truman on Oct. 12, 1945.
The Army had estimated the number of men Doss saved on that day in May at 100, though the humble Doss stated that it couldnt have been more than 50. The Army decided to split the difference and put 75 on his citation.
Jackson said that Doss was active with the JROTC program at LaFayette High School and spoke to the cadets on many occasions.
Doss was a Seventh-day Adventist member from childhood and Dr. Ed Wright, president of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference of the denomination, described him as a real inspiration to our church and specifically several generations of young people. He was a very humble man, deeply convicted as to not bearing arms.
A statement released by church officials said, Doss never liked being called a conscientious objector. He preferred the term conscientious cooperator. RIP, Mr. Doss. You'll have at least 75 references at the pearly gates.
Most modern "conscientious objectors" are simply cowards or not loyal to the US and the Constitution.
#1
An example the "Christians" for "peace" would do well to follow.
If they weren't on the other side.
Rest in peace, Mr. Doss. You were a great and good man, and this non-pacifist honors my fellow Virginian for a truly honorable life.
Don't worry - where you are now, you'll never have to cross the paths of those clowns nowadays who besmirch the name of true and honest pacifism and patriotism, even after they die.
But they'll be a whole lot warmer than you.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/24/2006 21:34 Comments ||
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#2
From the US Military Medal of Honor site, about Mr. Doss:
He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them 1 by 1 to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On 2 May, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within 8 yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On 5 May, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On 21 May, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, this time suffering a compound fracture of 1 arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station.
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.
Bay County sheriff's deputies made their first lewd and lascivious arrests of spring break. 
Bulgarians have been warned by a self-styled Lunar Embassy to hurry to buy real estate on the moon as only a limited number of properties were left for sale. "We have already had over 30 orders since we opened the embassy two days ago," 'coordinator' Denislav Stoichev said. "A one-acre property on the moon will cost you 40 leva ($A34.60)," although plots on Mars and Jupiter's moon Io were also available, he added.
Nigeria's first census in 15 years is under increasing attack from separatist groups who have attacked officials in the south of the country with acid and machetes in order to disrupt the headcount. Members of the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) attacked at least seven officials in the market town of Onitsha in Anambra state on Wednesday, the second day of the census in Africa's most populous country. Uzor A Uzor, of the human rights group the Civil Liberties Organisation, said: "I counted at least seven enumerators who came to report at the police station yesterday that they were attacked with acid."
For years, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has claimed to be protecting his people from the corrupt and greedy Venezuelan elite class, represented by the Venezuelan political opposition. Now he is protecting them from an external foe, the US, which he has accused of intending to invade Venezuela. Riding on the rhetoric of an eventual US invasion, Chavez is building up a massive civilian militia answerable directly, and only, to him. That militia, however, is more likely intended to deter a military coup than a US invasion.
The Chinese Government is imposing new or higher taxes on a range of goods and fuels as part of its efforts to control energy consumption and protect the environment. Car taxes will go up, while disposable chopsticks will be subject to a new tax. The tax on chopsticks may seem a curious way for the Chinese leadership to demonstrate its new found commitment to the environment. But from next month, a 5 per cent tax will be levied on every pair of disposable, wooden chopsticks. China gets through about 10 billion boxes a year.
MINSK: Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko won last Sunday's presidential election with 83 percent of the vote, the country's central elections commission said Thursday after all ballots were counted. The runners-up were Alexander Milinkevich with 6.1 percent, Sergei Gaidukevich with 3.5 percent and Alexander Kozulin with 2.2 percent, Nikolai Lozovik, the commission's secretary, told reporters.
PARIS: Around 420 people were arrested on Thursday during protests across France against a youth jobs programme, mainly for violence, vandalism and attacks on security forces, police said. In the central Paris area of Invalides, police said that 140 people were arrested after violent incidents and clashes with security forces. A total of 18 officers were slightly injured in clashes around the country, they said.
CALHOUN, Ga. -- Desmond T. Doss Sr., a conscientious objector whose achievements as a noncombatant earned him a Medal of Honor in World War II, died Thursday. He was 87. His death was announced by Seventh-day Adventist Church officials in Calhoun, near where he lived for many years. Doss died Thursday in Piedmont, Ala., where he and his wife had been staying with her family, said Pastor John Swafford. Doss, who refused to carry a weapon during his wartime service as a medic, was the subject of a book, "The Unlikeliest Hero," and a 2004 documentary, "The Conscientious Objector." He was invited to the White House in October 1945 to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, from President Truman for his bravery in April and May that year.
CALCUTTA, India -- Adwaitya the tortoise, once owned by the man whose British East India Company helped colonize India in the 18th century, has died at the age of 255. Adwaitya, or "The only one," was one of four giant Aldabra tortoises given to Robert Clive by British seamen who caught them in the Seychelles Islands, reports The Times of London. The other three died soon after they arrived in India.
