#2
Geebus giving us necks a bad rep. Listen this woman looks dumb enough to think they were real and she likely has no conception of 1 million. If she thought they were real is there a crime?
#4
WalMart does attract more than its share of kooks.
I'm surprised she came in the middle of the afternoon since most of the wierdos come there late at night.
Fed up neighbours in Kapenguri, a remote town in north west Kenya, have forcibly washed a 52-year-old bachelor. The farmer John Kasokong had allegedly not bathed for 10 years and his odour reportedly overpowered local people. Well, that explains why heâs a bachelor.
Irritated by his state, four muscular men trapped him while on his way from his farm and tied him down with ropes before giving him a thorough wash. Fire hoses, brooms and industrial grade soap.
Many people are said to have watched the public drama including the local chief. Soon to be featured on "Kenyaâs Funniest Home Video".
Neighbour Rogers Kimwei said they could not bear Mr Kasokongâs body odour and were forced to hatch a plan to clean him. Even the hyenas were beginning to complain about the smell.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2004 9:22:22 AM ||
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Kenya's elite volunteer hazmat team springs into action . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
03/09/2004 12:31 Comments ||
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"GI Parties" weren't necessarily common in the military, but they did take place. Depending on the unit, they could range from "occasionally" to "frequently". Most guys got the message after the first one - "either clean yourself, or the rest of us that have to put up with you will see you get clean". GI scrub brushes leave a unique pattern of welts...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 12:56 Comments ||
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#3
Does this story stir up any ugly memories mucky?
I know all Rantburgs are virile and dangerous.But they also know someone who needs this
According to Dutch firm Cobeco, a sex pill, which claims to combat brewerâs droop, has been developed. The pill by the name of Paraxine can rid the bloodstream of alcohol 55 per cent faster than the natural rate and can help to get over hangovers quickly. I like that part. I also wonder how it will go with drink driving
"It will help with those tricky post-drinking moments," a spokesman was quoted by The Sun, as saying. According to the report, a majority of the 250 male testers affirmed that the pill helped in bed after heavy drinking. If successful, the pill will be released in Britain at a price of 12 pounds for a box of 10 pills.
Posted by: tipper ||
03/09/2004 8:41:01 AM ||
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#1
i hate when that happen but it also good natural defence. there times i woke up next someone and was glad it wasnt workin the night before.
#8
I doubt it'll do anything for my allergic reaction. Alcohol breaks down in to some nasty chemicals in the bloodstream. I'm allergic to one of them, and it causes my joint tissue to become swollen and inflamed. As a result, I've NEVER been so drunk I woke up to anything I wasn't expecting! That also means I've never had the 'problem' this pill is designed to "fix". 8^)
Life is good...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 12:53 Comments ||
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#12
Well, these Dire Straits lyrics finally came true:
Doctor Parkinson declared âI'm not surprised to see you here
You've got smokers cough from smoking brewer's droop from drinking beer
I don't know how you came to get the Bette Davis knees
But worst of all young man you've got Industrial Diseaseâ
He wrote me a prescription he said âyou are depressed
But I'm glad you came to see me to get this off your chest
Come back and see me later - next patient please
Send in another victim of Industrial Diseaseâ
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/09/2004 20:06 Comments ||
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Mucky, that first comment was probably the most terrifying thing I've ever read.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWW!!!!!
Shares in British oil and gas firm Cairn Energy surged 23% on Tuesday after the company announced its second big onshore find this year in India. Shares in the firm have already seen huge rises since news in January of an oil discovery in Mangala field located in Rajasthan in north-west India. The Mangala field has an estimated 450 million to 1,100 million barrels of oil and potential reserves of between 50 million to 200 million barrels. The finds "were look-alikes, but now we can see the second one is not going to be as big," said analyst Peter Hitchens of brokerage Cheuvreux. The companyâs chief executive Bill Gammell said the Mangala field alone could produce 50,000 barrels a day. "In India they only produce around 600,000 barrels a day and import around 1.5 million," he said. "Thatâs a great incentive for us to develop and produce as much oil as we can in Rajasthan." I had missed the news that India had discovered oil. Guess this area will soon be declared the 5,276th holiest site in islam.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2004 10:44:53 AM ||
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#4
so why doesn't the pillar pay 25 percent of the un budget???
although we do get very good intel out of having the un here it is high time send them packing. let brussels take the general assembly and the baggage that goes with it.
Posted by: Dan ||
03/09/2004 21:37 Comments ||
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BANGUI (Reuters) - Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appealed from exile in Africa on Monday for peaceful resistance to what he called the "occupation" of Haiti and insisted he had been abducted by U.S. forces. One of Aristide's lawyers and a secret writer for the Dave Letterman Show, Gilbert Collard, said in Paris he and an American colleague would file lawsuits in France and the United States in the next few days, alleging that French and U.S. authorities had kidnapped the Haitian president, once they received full authorization from Aristide. "The suits will target the Bush administration and the French government," he said. "If we get support from some African states, we will also appeal to the relevant commission of the United Nations."
L'horreur! Not the United Nations!
A group of Aristide supporters from the United States met him on Monday, a day after being refused access. "I'm reassured in the sense that his material situation is pretty good," said Brian Concannon, an attorney representing Aristide's lawyer in the United States. "I'm not reassured in the fact that he's in an area where it's difficult to communicate with the outside world."
You managed to get there. You can stay, too.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/09/2004 00:12 ||
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Aristide to Sue US, France
Aristide is American? Who knew? :-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/09/2004 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
One of Aristide's lawyers and a secret writer for the Dave Letterman Show
LOL - At this time of day, I needed that. :)
#3
"his material postion is pretty good"--riight--began career as a left wing liberation theology priest--left office the richest man in haiti--is that the haitian dream or what?
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
03/09/2004 2:38 Comments ||
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#4
If somebody sues you, don't you get some kind of right of discovery which is basically the right to fishing expedition through all their crap? I wouldn't think he would want us looking closely at his financial records.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/09/2004 4:56 Comments ||
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#5
"I'm not reassured in the fact that he's in an area where it's difficult to communicate with the outside world."
My word! That might mean he can't have instant access to the mainstream media and certain constantly offended activists.
#8
I agree with #6, this asshole was saved rather than kidnapped as the rebels were already in the capital. This shud tell America to leave the people alone and not interfere and act as world policeman, things back fire 90% of the time.
#9
If somebody sues you, don't you get some kind of right of discovery which is basically the right to fishing expedition through all their crap?
Super Hose, absolutely! This should be fun.
#10
We should heavily dope Aristide, have him convert to Islam without his knowledge, then "encourage" him to go back to his Catholic roots. Let the games begin...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 13:14 Comments ||
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I'm confused(again/yet)
"...alleging that French and U.S. authorities had kidnapped the Haitian president, once they received full authorization from Aristide."
This seems to say that Aristide gave full authorization for the kidnapping.
"...said Brian Concannon, an attorney representing Aristide's lawyer..."
An attorny representing his lawyer. Ah... the plot thickens and the game is afoot.
Posted by: Larry Everett ||
03/09/2004 18:14 Comments ||
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Not to defend or excuse the corruption of Mssr. Aristide, nor diminish what Haitians have endured, but history may find ol' Jeannie to be a decent stepping-stone from where they been to where they goinâ.
If the French and UN donât fuck it up, Haiti may actually have a chance of living up to itâs potential as a tropical paradise, what with the USA not in the mood for piss ant problems in the neighborhood, what with the War on Terrorists and all.
From East-Asia-Intel.com
Japanâs parliament is set to pass legislation giving the government authority to ban port calls by ships regarded as threat to security. The legislation states that the cabinet can halt vessels from entering Japanese ports if action is regarded as "necessary for the nationâs peace and public security." The restrictions will be a major blow to North Korea, which relies on ship visits for carrying cargo, passengers and currency, which are needed by the impoverished communist state. The new legislation is likely to pass before the end of the current Diet session, June 16. North Korea also has used ship visits to conduct intelligence-gathering operations against Japan. North Korea: Actions, meet consequences.
#2
Man this is a hot spot. But you know Kim reminds me of a child taking a tantrum...Pay attention to me..I'm in my prime of life and I got Nukes. I'm important...waaah. That is in summary the policy of NORK land.
South Korean opposition parties submitted an impeachment motion against embattled President Roh Moo-hyun on Tuesday, National Assembly official Oh Se-il said. Party officials said Monday they would try to impeach Roh after he was found to have violated election laws with comments aimed at influencing parliamentary polls. The proposal was submitted to National Assembly on Tuesday with the support of both the Millennium Democratic Party and the main opposition Grand National Party, MDP official Kim Young-chang said. The motion needs a simple majority of the 273-member assembly to make it to debate. The motion was submitted with the support of 159 members, more than half, Kim said. Who is likely to succeed him? Anybody know??
Posted by: anon ||
03/09/2004 9:06:05 AM ||
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South Korea will deploy Russian tanks and other combat vehicles along the heavily fortified zone separating it from communist North Korea, a foreign news agency reported on Tuesday. Ainât irony ironic?
The tanks are part of a US$534 million shipment of Russian arms, including military helicopters, taken by South Korea in 2002 to offset a US$1.95 billion debt owed by Moscow. Short of hard cash, but plenty of arms laying around.
The T-80 U tanks and BMP-3 infantry combat vehicles will be arrayed along eastern and central sections of the zone by yearâs end. Think Kimmi will denounce the Ruskies for arming the South Koreans? Me neither.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2004 9:02:30 AM ||
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man things have turned upside down and inside out....
Posted by: Dan ||
03/09/2004 10:45 Comments ||
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Not yet #1. Upside down and inside out will be when President Kerry ships M1A2's to Kimmie for promises to shut down the Nork nukes.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/09/2004 11:16 Comments ||
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Hope they sent lots of spare parts. They'll need them.
#5
When some poor creep owes you money, has no cash and offers you some golf clubs or a frig or a PC in a box never opened in partial payment of the debt, you take what you can get.
#7
Is this kinda stupid?If South Korea is going to use the Russian armor(why not sell it?)wouldn't it be wiser to use it for southern reserve units.Instead of putting it on border where supposed foes use similar equipment,perhaps leading to massive confusion if attack came,and where infitrators would have familiarity w/armor and could possib use themselves.
Posted by: Stephen ||
03/09/2004 17:48 Comments ||
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There might be confusion, but I think that's what the SK forces are hoping for. I suspect the SKs will have better C3 over their T80s than the NorKs will.
Taiwanese leader Chen Shui-bian was in a statistical tie with his opponent before next week's presidential vote, according to a poll released Tuesday. The survey by the United Daily News reported that 38 percent of those polled backed Chen, while 41 percent supported the challenger, ex-Vice President Lien Chan. The survey's margin of error of 2.6 percentage points means the two are in a statistical dead heat. The newspaper poll was one of the last before the vote because Taiwanese law prohibits the release of polls 10 days before elections.
In an interview with TVBS cable news Tuesday, Chen predicted that the victorious candidate would only win an additional 3 percent to 5 percent of the vote. Chen wouldn't say that he expected to win, but he said that he was sure that he would get more than the 39.3 percent of the votes that he won in the three-way race in 2000. "I'm extremely confident," Chen told TVBS. Lien has promised voters he will do a better job managing the economy and improving relations with rival China. Chen has said that he will assure that the island's economic recovery will continue. The president also says he's the only one who can protect Taiwan from China's threats.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/09/2004 00:02 ||
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The head of a civil rights and legal services advocacy group wants Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to apologize for saying he wouldnât be upset if he could be known as the second black president. "John Kerry is not a black man â he is a privileged white man who has no idea what it is in this country to be a poor white in this country, let alone a black man," said Paula Diane Harris, founder of the Andrew Young National Center for Social Change. I told you itâs going to be fun.
Last week, Kerry told the American Urban Radio Network: "President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldnât be upset if I could earn the right to be the second." Easy, John, all you have to do is cheat on your wife and have "the man" try to put you in jail.
Kerryâs spokesman Chad Clanton said: "This was intended as a light-natured remark about President Clintonâs strong legacy with African Americans. It is a legacy that John Kerry would like to build upon if elected president. John Kerry has a record of fighting for civil rights and as president he will continue this fight." "Depending on which group of voters heâs speaking to......is this mike still on?"
Harris also criticized civil rights leaders who "sit back and ignore these types of comments, a practice that further insults African Americans. It seems that all these leaders care about is their personal agendas in how a âJohn Kerryâ will keep up their personal causes," she said. Well, duh!
More Tales of the Easily Offended™. I almost feel sorry for Kerry. Almost.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2004 2:37:25 PM ||
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"..It seems that all these leaders care about is their personal agendas in how a âJohn Kerryâ will keep up their personal causes," she said.
Just as bad is the fact that a John Kerry seems to be a more-than-willing tool.
#4
That remark by Kerry will help destroy his "black" vote base, if he ever had one. Now the DNC will really have to depend upon illegal aliens, felons, and the dead constituency to win. They better get their grave robbing coyote subcontracting felon cozying registration drive in full swing.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/09/2004 16:00 Comments ||
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#8
Ya and while your at it your Highness John Fonda Kerry how about an apology for all the VETS you betrayed. What a pathetic piece of excrement that has been thrown at NAM vets.
#11
Keep it up, Tin Man. There ain't enough oil in the universe to help you.
He's about as black as the snow his "help" was shoveling off the stairs today at his bazillion dollar townhouse up on Beacon Hill.
So Teresa Heinz-Kerry passes out buttons that say âAsses of Evil,â with pictures of Bush, Cheney, Rummy and Ashcroft on them. There you have it: the President of the United States is an Evil Ass. Iâd love for someone to put this question to Kerry in the debate: Senator Kerry, your wife handed out buttons that called the President an Evil Ass. Do you believe he is Evil, an Ass, or both? And if I may follow up, Iâd like to ask if you can possibly imagine Laura Bush doing that. Thank you.
This happened on December 7, a day whose significance was not noted in the blog entry, and the author includes this interesting note:
He also spoke about the recent Bush Thanksgiving visit to our military in Iraq, carrying a platter laden down with a fake turkey, smiling for a photo op.
Iâd love to know if Kerry said it was a fake turkey, or whether thatâs the authorâs addition. A glimpse into the heart of the faithful followed in the next paragraph:
People were hungry for the food we had prepared, but more so, hungry for Johnâs message of hope.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/09/2004 18:17 Comments ||
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Do you believe he is Evil, an Ass, or both?
The answer to this is the standard Democrat response. "She is entitled to her opinion," or "Well, it's out there," or "That's the rumor." Two thoughts 1) Kerry will never try to reign in his meal-ticket, 2) so far the Democrats are in a one sided race to the bottom (of common decency). I hope the Republicans can avoid the bait and will only follow so far.
Posted by: Scott ||
03/09/2004 18:27 Comments ||
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#4
Mike you're right I wouldn't want to associate a patriot ,which Mary Licnoln was, to a left wing commie loving, socialist, burn the flag and desecrate it, anti American, tasteless , unpatriotic , kittly litter eating miscreant whore which Teresa Heinz is. She has the same stature to me as Jane Fonda. (sometimes I wish I could write better-however with
Rantbuger help I shall soon exceed my own expectations on how to really cuss and keep it cool)
EFL
To hear some folks tell it, families of the 9/11 victims have risen en masse to denounce President Bush for using brief images from Ground Zero in his campaign commercials. But now it turns out that this whole furor is driven by a tiny group thatâs motivated by a far-left agenda and a festering hatred of the president - and has some quite dubious financial ties. Leading the rhetorical charge has been an outfit called September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows - which, the group admits, has only a few dozen members and represents relatives of no more than 1 percent of the 9/11 victims.
... before the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, a Peaceful Tomorrows delegation went to Baghdad to "demonstrate solidarity" with Iraqis - a move that Saddamâs deputy, Tariq Aziz, termed at the time "a very important international development." And back in January 2003, the group said had it had gotten a "verbal commitment" to the fund proposal from the junior senator from Massachusetts - John F. Kerry. Little surprise there - because Peaceful Tomorrowsâ parent group, the San Francisco-based Tides Foundation, has received millions from foundations controlled by Kerryâs heiress wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry. A spokesman for Kerry insists that her donations to Tides were earmarked specifically for environmental charities based in Pennsylvania. But money is fungible - and the Tides Foundation has a lot more than greening the earth on its plate. It has given millions to anti-war groups since 9/11 - particularly the extremist MoveOn.org.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/09/2004 10:56:30 AM ||
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just kerry's wife following in his footsteps in supporting the flag of an enemy state......
Posted by: Dan ||
03/09/2004 12:40 Comments ||
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#2
Well on March 20th these asswipes will be marching in Pittsburgh and other cities. The 60's are back. My BP goes up when I see protestors. I detest them for what they are, traitors, whether misled or not, to their country. Our troops don't need them right now, but obviously the left wing thinks it's time to divide the country. Though I suspect this time it's mostly one on the war against terror. I saw them when I came back from NAM and I still hate them.
#3
Oh and thank you Teresa Heinz and MR Sorry ass SOROS for supporting them through your munificent charities as the Tides Foundation and move on.org.....What a pathetic lot.......I think OLD PAT would have some suitable punishments for these bastards.
#4
More importantly, Tides also funds a number of Islamist Fronts....particularly, CAIR and the National Lawyers Guild. The Guild's recent convention featured indicted lawyer, Lynne Stewart. Remember he/she was arrested for helping her client-(convicted 1993 WTC bombing mastermind, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman,) communicate with his terrorist cells in Egypt. NLG also posted a petition for Post-Conviction Relief for convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
EFL
Likely Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry slammed President Bush over the weekend for not supplying U.S. troops in Iraq with enough body armor to protect them from attacks. Put...foot...in...mouth.
But, it turns out, Sen. Kerry actually voted against supplying the troops with more body armor in 2002. Start handing outt that rope.
Addressing a Texas audience on Saturday, the Massachusetts Butt Weaval Democrat said it was "shocking" just shocking, I tell you! that "tens of thousands of other troops arrived in Iraq to find that â with danger around every corner â there wasnât enough body armor." Given just the rite amount of rope...
But Bush campaign press secretary Scott Stanzel told WABC Radioâs Steve Malzberg on Sunday that Kerry "voted against supplying body armor to our troops when it mattered most" â when President Bush included the request as part of the $87 billion appropriation for the Iraq war in 2002. ...wrap that rope around oneâs own neck and...
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
03/09/2004 7:00:34 AM ||
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Part of the reason I'm no longer a Democrat, after having been one for 31 years, is what Bill Clinton taught his party: that it's perfectly OK to lie; that truth has no intrinsic value; that the notions of "character" and "honor" are meaningless; and the only thing that matters, EVER, is that Democrats must win.
It's a lesson they've learned all too well- to the point, I suspect, where many of them simply no longer know what truth is. They appear to think that you can say whatever you want, and if people end up believing it, then it must be true.
This is what gives Kerry the ability to blame Bush about a situation for which he himself, and others of his ilk, are far more to blame.
And I doubt that he has even the slightest pang of conscience for doing it, either.
So help me God, I'll never vote for another Democrat so long as I live. How the hell could I have ever been one?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/09/2004 7:17 Comments ||
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As much as I would like to see Kerry exposed as the double-talking fraud that he is, I have trouble with the argument in this article.
The $87 billion appropriation bill referred to here was voted on in October/November 2003 -- four/five months ago.
The Army had purchased enough of the advanced body armor for the troops that it was planned for, combat troops. As we got into the liberation of Iraq further, the decision was made to purchase it for all the troops. That created a shortage that took some time to fix.
Making ceramic body armor plates requires a little more quality control than making your average toilet. The German manufacturers of the Stryker armor found that out.
Body armor was available, just not the newest, lighest version. Link 1 Link 2
#4
Don't hold your breath waiting for this to be reported..... Kerry's media lapdogs at BBCCNNABCCBSNBCMSNBCetc... will never report it.
But they will gleefully repeat whatever lies Kerry and the gang make up. Its enough to make you sick.
#5
Oh, come on, people. Kerry's logic is irrefutable. He didn't vote again body army by voting against a bill that contained provisions for body armor because the body army provisions in the bill that he voted against were not the body armor provisions that were billed as the armor provision that certain bodies provided for in the bill. In other words, it's all Bush's fault.
#7
Don't hold your breath waiting for this to be reported..... Kerry's media lapdogs at BBCCNNABCCBSNBCMSNBCetc... will never report it. But they will gleefully repeat whatever lies Kerry and the gang make up. Its enough to make you sick.
But....they will willing, falling over themselves actually, to take the Bush campaign adverstising bucks that will point all this out! Another reason I can no longer trust the media to even be slightly biased but actually promoting visibly anything that is left-wing, anti-captitalist, eastern establishment elitist. Name one major media outlet that is not anti-American virtue, pro-gay and pro-abortion culture? There ain't any!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
03/09/2004 9:37 Comments ||
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#2,#6 Ptah, the NewsMax article reads when President Bush included the request as part of the $87 billion appropriation for the Iraq war in 2003. not 2002. See link.
Chuck Simmins,#3, makes a better argument.
#9
Jack - I was speaking (typing?) of the news media and morning talk shows. You know the ones who accepted (an repeated as gospel truth) Hillary's 'vast-right-wing-conspiricy' BS without question? Hell they still worship the toilet Hillary shits in....
You ARE right in that the networks will take money from Bush. So Kerry gets a free ride on their news hours and morning shows while Bush has to pay for pretty much every second of airtime.
#10
what the hell is higlander saying.......GK go back and recheck your facts.
Posted by: Dan ||
03/09/2004 10:39 Comments ||
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#11
newsmax - my god man
Posted by: Dan ||
03/09/2004 10:40 Comments ||
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#12
To me, the point is that Kerry was a US Senator in 2002. If the mistake was that we didn't provide top-of-the-line body armor for all the troops, why didn't Kerry do something about it in 2002, before he voted for the war resolution? Especially considering that he's running on his combat record. Hindsight's a wonderful thing.
Highlander, LOL. The scary thing is I almost understood that. I've got to stop reading the NYT.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/09/2004 10:48 Comments ||
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#13
Dan, the article posted by Dragon Fly is from NewsMax and the paragraph in question now reads 2003. GW signed that appropriation bill on Nov 6, 2003. What other fact should I check? I Googled "Kerry is an asshole" and got 28,700 hits.
So,there's plenty to bitch slap Kerry about about, but let's do it right. Bush's campaign press secretary Scott Stanzel could have made a better argument using some of the points made by RBers in in this thread.
#14
Kerry voted against a Nov 2003 supplemental defense spending bill that would have funded the body armor; the bill passed anyway although with some changes, which GWB signed. Part of what was changed was funding to fully update & equip troops with the latest light-weight body armor. (see www.gop.com for details) Perhaps related, Kerry's web site (www.johnkerry.com) announced on Mar 7 that if elected he would sponsor a bill to reimburse those military members or their survivors who bought their own body armor.
Posted by: Sofia ||
03/09/2004 17:25 Comments ||
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#15
#14 "If elected he would sponsor".Why wait?But that would mean Kerry would actually have to do something.Won't hold my breath.
Posted by: Stephen ||
03/09/2004 17:42 Comments ||
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#16
I don't want to rain on the party but the GOP Election Committee better start soon on exposing something more than this guys dismal voting record. Where are the questions about his highness Kerry's real war record. That punk McAwful had no problem dizzing the prez. Time for that committee to GET OF YOUR ASSES and kick some.
An article from Dhimmi Watch, on the disgusting treatment of an army nurse.
ACAIRâs Andrew Whitehead and Front Pageâs Lee Kaplan report on the strange case of Captain Edwina McCall, targeted by CAIR with the willing compliance of the US Army. (Thanks to Andrew Bostom.)
Why has a dedicated army officer decided to quit the U.S. Army? A finger can be pointed at the director of the militant Islamic-supporting Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Based in Washington, D.C., this Saudi-funded group claims to be a defender of Muslim civil rights, yet CAIR has defended terrorists and attacked anyone who does not toe its Islamist party line as an âIslamophobe.â CAIR new headquarters in D.C. were financed with an interest-free loan from the Saudi Islamic Development Bank, and several of its officers have been indicted for terrorism-related activity. Terrorism expert Steve Emerson has stated before Congress that CAIR is a front group for HamasâŠwhich is not surprising, since its executive director, Nihad Awad, has publicly supported Hamas. Most recently, CAIR has attempted to ruin the career of a dedicated army officer and nurse.
Captain Edwina (Tiger) McCall, U.S. Army (reserve) returned from honorable service in Landshtul, Germany, on February 10. Landstuhl is where the U.S. military treats American soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. During her year of service, Captain McCall received the highest possible marks in all categories on her evaluations and had the strongest recommendations for promotion from her superiors. She was not only a highly skilled nurse, but she also determined treatment plans for thousands of soldiers being sent stateside, only one of four such nurses in her command.
She worked with many difficult cases, including burns, gunshot wounds, missing limbs and soldiers who were blinded defending America abroad in the War on Terror. She had to deal with cleaning bloody wounds, post-operative care, and just âbeing thereâ for the wounded. She was part of an essential team that visited U.S. military hospitals prior to the first Gulf War, assessing their capability to handle large numbers of wounded. In short, this nurse embodied everything good military nurses strive to be: efficient, compassionate, caring dedication to Americaâs young soldiers.
But Captain McCall has decided that she will no longer volunteer for active duty with the army she loves. As she says, âItâs changed.â
Captain McCall, who never heard of CAIR or its activities before this incident, was participating in an internet discussion board where people were opposing the U.S. military in Iraq and supporting militant Islamic goals. She bristled at remarks deriding her service as a U.S. Army nurse and attacking the United States with statements accusing Christians of abusing American Blacks and Indians. Many of those with whom she chatted called her âignorantâ for believing the U.S. was trying to help the people of Iraq. During her exchange she alluded to the incarceration of Japanese-Americans and foreign nationals during World War II, however offensive, as having a purpose. She asked if doing the same to militant Muslims in the U.S. might be a necessity to prevent another 9/11. She also made the mistake of using her military e-mail return address.
On December 4, 2003, Ibrahim Hooper faxed a letter to the office of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, writing, âIt is my unfortunate duty to bring to your attention bigoted anti-Muslim comments sent to our office by an officer in the U.S. military.â Hooper then listed several comments by Captain McCall he felt were âIslamophobic.â He closed the fax by writing: âI respectfully request that the extremist and Islamophobic views of this officer be investigated and appropriate action be taken. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.â These were ridiculous comments from a man who has refused to denounce terrorism. Nonetheless, they got the Armyâs attention.
On December 15, 2003, the U.S. Army sprang into action. Captain McCall was escorted to headquarters at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to be informed that she could be facing three charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The nurse was facing charges of violating:
1. Article 92 â Failure to Obey Order or Regulation.
2. Article 133 â Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman.
3. Article 134 â General Article (This article â sometimes called the âcatch allâ article â is used to punish military personnel when a more specific violation is not covered by any other article.)
The Army then denied Captain McCall âall access to government-owned computers, to include official business.â This affected her ability to make daily submission reports to the Pentagon, a key component to her job at Landshtul.
In addition, junior personnel under her were called into the office and allowed to read the comments made by CAIR. They were then asked if this officer had made any comments about Islam. Many of the junior personnel refused to read CAIRâs comments on the ground that âit was none of their business.â They knew Captain McCall personally and none had ever heard her making âanti-Muslim statements.â Yet on December 19, the nurse was subjected to a command-directed Mental Health Evaluation, the results of which have never been made known to her. Two of her superior officers told her off the record they were asked to âsoftenâ her Officer Evaluation Reports to make her look incompetent, but they refused.
In her statement to the Army, the nurse included the following:
âI was led to believe the people involved were students. The statements in the letter to Secretary Rumsfeld were taken out of the context of the entire text. CAIR had many subjects (on the discussion board) and they were encouraging responses. They had many subjects that I considered anti-Christian and anti-American. I had no idea that using this forum was against any law. I was encouraged to participate and speak freely by those involved in the conversations.â
She was never interviewed by the Army for what she was accused of writing, just presented a âtranscriptâ of what CAIR claimed she said. âThe transcript looked like things had been cut and pasted to say things out of context and was full of spelling and grammatical mistakes as might be made by someone who speaks a foreign language.â
To date, CAIR refuses to make public all of the exchanges that occurred on the discussion board prior to Captain McCallâs âoffense to Islam.â
The United States is fighting a âWar on Terror.â The enemy is militant Islam. Why did the Secretary of Defense listen to the lies and distortions of a group that has a history of supporting this ideology? What message is the Army sending to its troops when it will not stand up for them against the militant Islamists at CAIR? Why didnât Brigadier General Elder Granger, the Commanding Officer of Europeâs Regional Medical Command, stand up for his nurse and tell the authorities that his unit does not entertain complaints from extremists?
Word had it back in Germany that Captain McCall was due for a highest commendation medal for her service. That has been scrapped by the Pentagon because of this incident. The Captain also believes her fate would have been much worse had not the CBS show 60 Minutes contacted her superior officers seeking to know the story. It was only then that the Army began to back down.
She has since returned to the U.S. disgusted.
Ibrahim Hooper has not responded to an e-mail request to provide a comment and a full transcript of the internet forum in question.
The U.S. military has lost a fine officer during wartime. Meanwhile, CAIR is still lobbying in Washington and lending verbal support to terrorist groups such as Hamas. This miscarriage of justice should be corrected.
#4
60 Minutes has this?
Well, first, let's see if they run with it. Anyone want to lay odds on that? Nah, me neither.
Second, if they go with it, how hard do they hold that piece of shit Hooper's feet to the fire? If they do, that'll be a first, so I wouldn't bet the house on it. He was probably "misinterpeted".
The Army kissing up to these pieces of maggot shit is a goddam disgrace.
#5
Let's roll. Copy the URL, paste appropriate cuts of this article into an email, and send it to your GOP Rep or Sen. This'll determine whether they are RINO.
EFL
(Source: Los Angeles Times; published March 7, 2004)
(Reproduced courtesy of William B. Arkin)
Marines arriving in Iraq this month as part of a massive troop rotation will bring with them a high-tech weapon never before used in combat - or in peacekeeping. The device is a powerful megaphone the size of a satellite dish Thatâs a wide range
that can deliver recorded warnings in Arabic and, on command, emit a piercing tone so excruciating to humans, its boosters say, that it causes crowds to disperse, clears buildings and repels intruders. "[For] most people, even if they plug their ears, [the device] will produce the equivalent of an instant migraine," says Woody Norris, chairman of American Technology Corp., the San Diego firm that produces the weapon. "It will knock [some people] on their knees." Â Sounds like a cross between my ninth grade English teacher and the fire alarms in my office Â
American Technology says its new product "is designed to determine intent, change behavior and support various rules of engagement." The company is careful in its public relations not to refer to the megaphone as a weapon, or to dwell on the debilitating pain American forces will be able to deliver with it. The military has been equally reticent on the subject. And thatâs a problem. Three paragraphs before the but. Not bad for the LAT
The new sound weapon might, in some scenarios, save lives. It might provide a good alternative to lethal force in riot situations, as its proponents assert. But the U.S. is making a huge mistake by trying to quietly deploy a new pain-inducing weapon without first airing all of the legal, policy and human rights issues associated with it. That was our big mistake at Hiroshima too. But now the LAT will solve our probelem by pre-announcing delivery of the weapon.
This is a weapon unlike any other used by the military, and it is certain to provoke public outcry and the conspiracy theories that often greet new U.S. military technology. If the military feels that its new-style weaponry brings something important to the battlefield, and if testing has shown it to be safe, then why not make our reasoning â and research - transparent to the world? And the design specs and the op manual and the train the trainer manual Â
Is actual combat in a foreign country the appropriate place to test a new weapon? Clearly not. Letâs use LA.
Apparently, we are about to find out. Â
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
03/09/2004 7:16:25 PM ||
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emit a piercing tone so excruciating to humans, its boosters say, that it causes crowds to disperse, clears buildings and repels intruders. "[For] most people, even if they plug their ears, [the device] will produce the equivalent of an instant migraine
I wonder if the Ex-Mrs.JerseyMike was involved in its development?
#4
I think he's right. I think the Marines SHOULD test this new weapon before deploying it.
I recommend testing it at full volume at the LA Times. For a month. Any seconds?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 23:19 Comments ||
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#5
LOL! Hard to stop laughing (at LAT melodrama) long enough to do it...
I second, it, OP!
Wotta buncha maroons, 1st Class. Every tool available should be in the inventory for when that tool is the right tool. In this case, obviously, they can try the weapon on Sadr's bunch when they run one of their staged demonstrations - or similar moment. Just in case, of course, you would also have shitload of hardballers armed to the eyeballs, in case it requires AA batteries and you brought AAA's. Sheesh.
The link takes you to a *.pdf article in Small Arms Review on the weapon, which is a modification of the near-legendary Barrett .50-cal sniper rifle.
A single-operator man-portable weapon firing HE and shaped-charge ammunition with a range of 2,000 yards . . . and it has a sniper scope.
Ye gods! Talk about "reach out and touch someone!"
Posted by: Mike ||
03/09/2004 1:07:57 PM ||
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Perfect for home defense.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/09/2004 13:14 Comments ||
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LOL. Yeah, Rex, real close quarters weapon....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/09/2004 13:34 Comments ||
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#3
I have a birthday coming up...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/09/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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From http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn02-e.htm
As a side note I must point out that the Barrett M82A1 rifle was recently (2002) used as a platform for experimental OSW (Objective Sniper Weapon) prototype. The M82A1 rifle was fitted with shorter barrel of 25mm caliber, and fired low-velocity high explosive shells developed for 25mm OCSW automatic grenade launcher. The experimental OSW showed an increased effectiveness against various targets but the recoil was beyond the human limitations.
To paraphrase Crocodile Dundee, "That's not a sniper rifle, THIS is a sniper rifle:"
http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn63-e.htm
CheyTac papers state that the entire System is capable to deliver sub-MOA accuracy at the ranges of up to 2500 yards (2270 meters).
Posted by: ed ||
03/09/2004 13:40 Comments ||
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#5
Heck, guys, if you want something in the 1-inch range, I've got an old 10-gauge double-barrel goose gun I'll let you have for a couple of grand... 36 inch barrels: left full choke, right half choke. Only weighs about seventeen pounds...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 14:16 Comments ||
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Just the thing in case the dinosaurs return. I've been wanting a T-Rex head over my mantle.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2004 14:22 Comments ||
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36 inch barrels: left full choke,
Yikes OP! Excellent for quick quail work. Hatfield wouldn't have to worry about retrieveing...
Out of curiosity what brand and age is it? (Not that I know much about shotrifles)
#8
Shipman - the buttplate says WEAVER and 1908. Whether that's the shotgun make or the guy who built the buttplate is beyond me. The rest is worn and barely readable as ANYTHING. I know it's been in the family at least since 1910. It's in my brother's gun cabinet in Spring, Texas, along with my Browning 16-gauge bird gun and a M-1 Garand I used for deer.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 15:56 Comments ||
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Speaking of big bore....the Nevada State Museum used to have a 2 ga punt gun on display at Carson City. This thing had a cery long barrel. It was mounted on a shallow boat called a punt. They would shoot up to 100 ducks at a shot. Here is a conceptual picture of one (ignore the drawing of the water kiss fountain....).
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/09/2004 16:17 Comments ||
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A.P. , it's for pickin' em off as they're negotiating the "Mundi's Asparagus" ...which is on the near side of the moat.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/09/2004 16:19 Comments ||
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Go to that place
(http://www.liberty-belles.org/events.htm)
and you will find a VERY good reason for using
good old 50 cal sniper rifle instead of that thing.
#12
The Barrett 25mm has more than 60 Ft Lbs of recoil torque. It does not use the same ammo as the 25mm fused stuff for the OICW, but instead needs standard dummy impact rounds. Barrett was having trouble getting that last time I talked to him about the program.
Note that there are other methods than shoulder firing this weapon that will maximize its accuracy and effectiveness. Unfortunately, I can say no more.
Posted by: remote man ||
03/09/2004 16:43 Comments ||
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I am getting a stiffy from the word: "Payload-Rifle".
Virginia Postrel
Last week, President Bush was attacked by members of the Democratic Party for using images of 9/11 in a campaign ad, and by the next day there was the normal political and media uproar over this burning question: Should the President be scolded for daring to use such images, or should he be defended? I do not wish to weigh in on this question because, like many burning questions being asked today, I think it is absurdly irrelevant, like the burning question whether President Bush should have worn a flight jacket while aboard a helicopter. Instead the question I want to ask is how our nation permits such "issues" to become burning questions in the first place. Do we have nothing more urgent to worry about? The answer to this question should be an easy one. Yes, we do have many more urgent things to worry about; and by far the most urgent is what to do about 9/11.
Here I am not talking about what to do about future 9/11âs -- catastrophic terror that may or may not happen in our near or our distant future -- I am referring back to the 9/11 that occurred on a beautiful morning over two and a half years ago. And our most urgent question today is: What should we as a nation do with our collective memory from that day? Increasingly the answer that is being given to this question by liberal Democrats is simple, Repress it. Push it out of our mind. Pretend that it never happened; or if you absolutely must refer to 9/11, pretend it was something along the lines of an earthquake or a freakish tidal wave -- a natural disaster without the slightest political implications. A tragedy, of course, but something we should all put behind us and move on. That is why the Democrats and the liberal media became apoplectic at the images of 9/11 that appeared in the Bush campaign ad. It was not Bushâs use of the images that was so disturbing to them, but the images themselves. Democrats and liberals do not want to be reminded of 9/11; nor do they wish their country to be reminded of it either. Not because it is perceived as a campaign theme of the opposite party, but because 9/11, if rightly understood, requires a complete rethinking of their own warm and fuzzy vision of multilateral harmony in a conflict free world. The memory of 9/11 must be repressed because otherwise liberals would have to come to terms with the concept of The Enemy. They would have to face the grim and disturbing truth that there are people out there who relish the thought of pointlessly killing thousands of our fellow citizens, simply because they are our fellow citizens -- not for a political objective, or to achieve a military goal, but just because they see us as their enemy.
A friend of mine recently said that he did not like the concept of the enemy and that, as far as he was concerned, all men were his brothers. But what if the man whom you wish to regard as your brother does not return your fraternal feelings of affection; what if he regards your offer as an insult to his honor? "You dare to call yourself my brother, you dog?" In which case, what do you do then? Do you respect his feelings, and accept him as your enemy? Or do you treat him as an inferior being and wave aside his protestations as if he were a four year old child -- "Now, now, Bobby, you donât really mean to say those bad things about mommy." To insist that your enemy is not your enemy when he insists on being one is to rob him of his humanity, and to endanger your own existence -- and all for the sake of preserving an unsustainable illusion. To recognize an enemy, and to treat him as one, is not to dehumanize him -- on the contrary, it is to treat him as your equal. It is to take him seriously. It is to meet him on his own terms. But that is just what liberal Democrats cannot bring themselves to do. They insist on pretending that 9/11 was just a kind of glitch, instead of seeing it as an act of devotion carried out by men who were motivated by the highest ethical purpose that they could comprehend.
This is the terrible truth revealed by 9/11. It was not an act of crazed loonies, unlikely to reoccur; it was the symbolic gesture of an entire culture -- a culture that looked upon those who died in carrying out their mission as heroic martyrs who triumphed over a vastly more powerful enemy. That is why so much of the Arab world celebrated the great victory accordingly, by dancing in the streets and cheering the collapse of the Twin Towers -- another set of images that liberals are forced to repress, since to acknowledge such behavior is to acknowledge the concept of the enemy that is embodied in such wild rejoicing at the annihilation of men and women whom you had never met. It is almost as if we, as a nation, are entering into what psychologists call denial. Instead of making the necessary adjustments to reality in response to 9/11, we are engaged in a process of denying it, both by outright repression of all public memory of the event and by making it a subject of incomprehensibly stupid political controversy, dividing us as a people into warring factions over absolutely nothing -- and often it would seem for no better reason than to have something to bicker about on radio talk shows.
When I wrote my book, Civilization and Its Enemies, I said that we had not yet comprehended the significance of 9/11. Today we are not any closer to understanding it; and, indeed, as a nation we seem to be drifting farther and farther away from the true issues raised by it. The Bush administration has announced that its campaign theme will be that we are in Iraq to keep other 9/11âs from happening on our soil; but how could anyone who understood the first 9/11 possibly think such a thing? If the first 9/11 was brought to us by Arab nationals living in Hamburg, acting out a fantasy, how could the occupation of Iraq have prevented it then, and how could it prevent another such event in the future? Here is a genuine issue for the Democrats to criticize. They could point to it and say, "This shows that the Bush administration does not really yet understand the nature of the beast that we are dealing with." And yet, instead of taking on this question, they insist on beating up the President for daring to remind the American people that 9/11 ever occurred. The Bush campaign can be justly rebuked for trying to argue that anything we can do in Iraq will prevent another 9/11, because of all people they should know better. But what rebuke is appropriate for those who wish to pretend that 9/11 never happened at all?
Posted by: tipper ||
03/09/2004 1:30:48 AM ||
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Just what in the hell is Mr. Bush supposed to do to get re-elected? Living and working in a foreign country I clamor for news but I'm gettin pretty pissed at reading such drivel. "Bush slammed for....Bush blasted for...Kerry slammed Bush on....Dems blast Bush on....! I suppose by November he'll be slammed or blasted for pissing. BTW, 9/11 belongs to us all. I was in China at the time and felt feelings I never knew I had. I won't forget, and to me 9/11 belongs to me, and the rest of America. I don't mind our C in C reflecting on it. He was in the hotseat and performed like a true commander. I hope he wins in the biggest landslide in America's history. Chine
#2
We get the propaganda garbage flowing out of the dominant left-wing media due to the fact most journalists are America-hating, unqualified, uncredentialed, unprincipled, unlicensed, unregulated, ungoverned, democrat partisans dedicated to getting their boy elected to the presidency. What are the qualifications to be a journalist? There are none. It is not a profession. Anyone can claim to be a journalist. Journalists are not qualified to tell me anything. They are authorities on nothing except how to get paid reading aloud or writing their useless views.As for me, when I stopped watching the ABCNBCCBSPBSCNN network and began resisting any inclination to read either the NYTimes or DCPost, I rediscovered the happiness and joy I knew as a child.
#3
Journalists are vultures. The way I see it, they're more in the entertainment industry than anything else.
Posted by: Rafael ||
03/09/2004 4:00 Comments ||
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Chiner, God bless you for holding up the Stars and Stripes overseas!
And Rafael, I'm not entertained--are you?
Garrison, I knew a child's happiness, too, when I stopped depending on ABCNBCBSPBSCNN and the NYSlimes and the WashedUPPost for my news and found fine (right wing war-) blogs like Rantburg!
#5
Refering to 9/11 as a tragedy is part of the journalists game of denial. A tragedy is an odd occurance and calling 9/11 one is slap in the face to me.Every time I hear one of those bubbleheads say that, I want to put my foot through the TV. Don't tell me what I saw was a tragedy, it was an attack.
#7
It's gratifying to hear the Libs' gut's starting to churn from their 9-11 consciences, but still pathetic to watch them continue to grasp desperately at the blame-Bush mirage.
Posted by: Chad ||
03/09/2004 10:46 Comments ||
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You guys worry too much. The dems are blowing their entire wad way early in the campaign. If they had an ounce of intelligence they wouldn't be slamming bush (especially when it's just rhetoric and not factual) on things this early. By the time november rolls around people will be tired of hearing all this bs and completely discount it. Bush should also be careful not to respond with their "A" material on Kerry until about august/september... then bring the heat. They could go for the early knockout of Kerry but if he doesn't stay down they'll have nothing left when it counts.
#11
JerseyMike--You're damn right about the 9/11 attacks being referred to as a "tragedy", as if they were akin to lightning strikes or earthquakes or some other act of nature. That was an act of war against our country deliberately and conscientiously planned and executed and should never be referred to as anything but.
Posted by: Dar ||
03/09/2004 13:04 Comments ||
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This quotation is from Lee Harris over at Tech central.His book Civilization and Its Enemies is a must read.
Posted by: Ted Miller ||
03/09/2004 13:04 Comments ||
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#13
I won't "rest easy" until November is long gone, and Bush is sworn in in January, 2005. Until then, there's always a chance, however slim, that the America-hating, freedom-bashing, UN-loving American answer to cheese-eating surrender monkeys just might sneak a win. I have vowed to get up each morning, make sure that any dummycrat lying talking points are noted and countered, and that I can do whatever I can to ensure a defeat for the preemptive-surrendering dogpiles running for public office in the United States. I wish I had someone stronger than Bush to push in their place, but I'll take half a loaf when I can't get a full one. It's better than being TAXED to provide the WHOLE LOAF so the dummycrat idiots can give it to our enemies.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 16:04 Comments ||
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Just my comment , but get this out EVERYDAY to anyone you can send an EMAIL too. Average people are really ignorant on these issues. I know. One lady didn't know about Jane Fonda's acts in NAM. Don't take anything for granted. Most don't have a clue. As Rantburgers WE MUST EDUCATE the masses.
#15
Following on last comment I made, there is a wealth of knowledge here. It is all factual, unlike most sites I've visited. I don't mean to preach but the polls concern me. J Fonda Kerry CANNOT become our next CIC. Maybe I'm lecturing to all who are already doing this. But registering voters is one of the most important things that we can do. Some of you live in Red States. I'm in a blue State , PA. But I'm gonna be doing this until election day. We have to register the Reps and those uncertain so that they can at least vote. I'm done ranting...for now.........
Uniformed police cooperated with baton-wielding thugs who attacked women commemorating International Womenâs Day in Tehran on 8 March, Reuters reported. The authorities had withdrawn permission for the womenâs rally to take place, according to Reuters. A Tehran police official named Turani said on 7 March that he had no information from the Interior Ministry about permission for such an event, Fars News Agency reported. Meanwhile, President Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami in a 7 March speech called for an end to negative views about a womanâs societal role, IRNA reported. He criticized narrow-mindedness and said, "Unfortunately our society has suffered great losses due to incorrect understanding of womenâs ability and adoption of wrong policy to deal with women." Khatami added that there are other problems facing Iranian women, such as policy-making, economics, and family affairs.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/09/2004 6:41:38 PM ||
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"He criticized narrow-mindedness"
not narrow, just very small
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/09/2004 19:07 Comments ||
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That is HELL on earth. This is very sad. Sometimes you just have to cry about this sort of stuff....Society has a long way to go.......Very sad...Geez I'm getting Feminist here right..Well sign me up...
Muslim extremist group Zarb-e Momin now threatens to kill PCP correspondent Pervaiz Iqbal from Quetta
Quetta. September 2, 2004. The zarb-e-Momin, a Muslim extremist group operating in Pakistan is grave threat to Pakistan Christian Post volunteer staff. The Pakistan Christian Post, the only voice of Pakistani Christian on globe, is major target of Muslim groups to end this voice. Mr. Prevaiz Iqbal, PCP correspondent from Quetta is new selected target of Muslim group Zarb-e Momin.
The Zarb-e Momin magazine is also published by this extremist group and as cover itââ¬â¢s presented as Muslim preaching group but it acts to diminish the voice of Christians by its hidden hands.
Mr. Pervaiz Iqbal receives the threat e-mails now from this group. The e-mails have pressured him to stop working for Pakistan Christian Post unless into face dire consequences.
The Balouchistan province of Pakistan with long stretched bordering Afghanistan and Iran seems to be new front of Al Qaida operatives in recent months. The Chief Minister of Baluchistan conveys was attacked killing armed personnel and law enforcement agencies are under constant attacks of terrorists. The Balouchistan province was considered to be peaceful area from years of terroristââ¬â¢s action in Pakistan except ethnic and communal attacks. In prevailing law and order situation in Balouchistan the threats of life to Mr. Pervaiz Iqbal are very serious.
The Muslim extremist group Zarb-e- Momin has been sending threat and hates e-mails to Pakistan Christian Post bureau chief of Karachi Rev. Khalid Soomro and Rev. Stephen Nazir, correspondent from Faisalabad. The house of Rev. Khalid soomro was burnet down in July 2004 in an attempt to kill him but he survived with his family of this fatal attack. Rev. Khalid Soomro family is in hiding in Pakistan and shelter less. Rev. Stephen Nazir is also in hiding and run to save his life. In such circumstances the threat to Mr. Iqbal cannot be easily ignored.
Here is threat e-mail mailed to Mr. Pervaiz Iqbal:
Pervaz Iqbal Masih
I am editor of Zarb-e-Momin a large weekly-circulated newspaper; Our Original Language is Arabic by Allah.
Why you are and your News Paper Pakistan Christian Post Supports Rev. Wilson Fazal (Quetta) Rev. Stephan Nazir (Faisalabad) and Rev. Khalid Mansoor Soomro (Karachi).
First of All I see Rev. Khalid Soomro and Rev. Stephan Nazir, Rev. Khalid Soomro Challenged our Organization (MARKAZ DAWA) and Islam. Rev. Soomro sends me one Article and challenged me.
Article
"Allahââ¬â¢s Commands to Fight in the Qurââ¬â¢an"
Why Muslims Must Fight Against Unbelievers
I send you only Introduction Article
Introduction
1. Allahââ¬â¢s order for the Islamization of the whole world
2. The pre-determination of all Muslims to bare arms and fight for Allah
3. Allahââ¬â¢s unrestricted call to fight, to Muhammad and to Muslims
4. The retaliatory war: How Allah justifies the war against non-believers in the Qurââ¬â¢an
5. How Allahââ¬â¢s call to arms is supposed to be carried out
6. Rewards for carrying out Allahââ¬â¢s call to arms
7. What Allah says to Muslims who are unwilling or hesitate to fight?
8. What happened in the great Battle with the Muslim persecutors (at Badr in 624)?
9. Allahââ¬â¢s call to arms during an Islamic civil war.
I am very upset after reads this article Rev. Khalid Soomro is very dangerous for Ummat-e-Muslma and Aalam-e-Islam, Brother Please Personally asked for Rev.
Soomro Stop Biblical Evangelism in Islam, Rev. Stephan and Rev. Khalid Soomro
Please stop your all activities. And you Parvaz Iqbal not involve (matter) Rev. Khalid Soomro, Wilson Fazal and Stephan Nazir
This is my last letter and I promise to you after I will action (Al-Qaida) (Jesh-e-Mohammad) (Markaz Dawa)
Keep us in your prayers.
Posted by: ||
03/09/2004 6:14:41 AM ||
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Looks like the "permanently offended" are coming out in droves on this. Donât they have a life to live?
Once upon a time, a fabled horseman from the Wild West accepted an unusual challenge from a Middle Eastern businessman and rode his American mustang to victory against the odds in an extraordinary 3,000-mile Arabian desert race known as the Ocean of Fire. That, at least, is the "true story" touted by the Walt Disney Company as the basis for its film Hidalgo, which has just opened in the United States.
The premise is certainly bringing in audiences beguiled by its old-fashioned adventurism and derring-do sensibility. But it has also triggered a cultural row of rare intensity, as historians, Native Americans and Arab and Muslim interest groups have all piled into Disney, accusing the company of giving credence to outrageous fabrications in the interests of promoting a crude American cultural imperialism and making a fast buck. "Pony baloney," one critic has called it. "Liar, liar, chaps on fire," intoned another.
The film stars Viggo Mortensen - fresh from his triumph in The Lord of the Rings - as Frank Hopkins, who conquers the Middle East and his hundred competing Bedouin riders with the sort of ease and bravado the US military now hunkered down in Iraq can surely only fantasise about. The historical Hopkins, whose memoirs form the basis for the film script, claimed to have been the son of a Sioux princess, a US Cavalry trooper from the age of 12, a witness to the massacre at Wounded Knee, a buddy of the Indian chieftain Black Elk and President Teddy Roosevelt, the champion of hundreds of endurance races, including a 2,000-mile marathon from Texas to Vermont, and a regular performer in Buffalo Billâs touring Wild West Show. It was while performing with Buffalo Bill in Paris in 1889, he said, that an Aden businessman, Rau Rasmussen, invited him to compete in the Ocean of Fire, a 1,000-year-old race across Saudi Arabiaâs Empty Quarter and up through Mesopotamia into Syria. Despite the harshness of the terrain and the physical disadvantages of his horse, Hidalgo, he crossed the finishing line in 68 days, anywhere between one and two days ahead of the nearest competition. (The film, naturally, makes the finale a lot tighter.)
The problem is, Frank Hopkins was almost certainly a fabulator and a confidence man whose tales of heroic deeds were little more than tall stories. There is no mention of him in US Cavalry records, or in accounts of the Battle of Wounded Knee, or in the extensive records of Buffalo Billâs travelling show. His name does not crop up in Teddy Rooseveltâs voluminous correspondence. There is no evidence that the Texas-Vermont race was even run. He was never photographed in the saddle, except as an old man "re-enacting" the exploits of his youth. As for the Ocean of Fire, it too appears not to have taken place, either in 1890 or in any other year of its supposedly glorious 1,000-year-old history. The notion of a 3,000-mile race from Yemen to Syria is in itself laughable. As the Arab News newspaper wrote recently, a race of that length starting in Aden would finish up "somewhere in Romania". Even following the most circuitous route, the horsemen would finish north of Armenia.
Awad al-Badi, an authority on Western travellers to Arabia based at the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, put it bluntly: "The idea of a historic trans-Arabian horse race ever having been run is pure nonsense ... simply from a technical, logistical, cultural and geopolitical point of view." Much of the damning evidence against Hopkins has been unearthed by an equestrian exploration group called the Long Ridersâ Guild, which got wind of the Disney film early in the production process and took huge offence at the notion of a big-budget production glorifying a horseback exploit that never took place. "This movie is a massive distortion of history, which further degrades the reputation of the Walt Disney company," say the Guildâs founders, Basha and CuChullaine OâReilly.
(CuChullaine - the Hound of Cullen, another tall tale, perhaps?)
They recruited more than 70 academics and experts to look further into the historical record and expose Frank Hopkins as a hoaxer. Their research raised questions about just about everything, starting with the year of Hopkinsâ birth, variously reported as 1865 and 1884. They could find no evidence he had ever ridden a racehorse or even set foot in the American West. The only known records of employment that they found showed he was a shipyard boilermaker, a digger of subway tunnels in Philadelphia and a horse handler for the Ringling Brothers circus. The fact that Disney has bought into Hopkinsâ fantasies, all the while promoting them as an "incredible true story" in its movie trailers, has touched countless cultural raw nerves. One of the worldâs leading Native American scholars, Vine Deloria of the University of Colorado, is furious at the uncritical repetition of Hopkinsâ claims about his role in Sioux history. He wrote: "Hopkinsâ claims are so outrageously false that one wonders why Disney were attracted to this material at all, except of course the constant propensity to make money under any conditions available." And the Council on American-Islamic Relations has written to Disney to complain of negative stereotyping of Muslims and Arabs in the film. Other Arab commentators, such as Hussein Ibish of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, point to the uncomfortable parallels between the film and the real-life fantasy of US domination in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. "The idea," as Mr Ibish puts it, "that being a frontiersman in the United States prepares you for dealing with another group of savages." Lighten up, itâs only a movie
Disneyâs response to this barrage of criticism has been awkward, not to say contradictory. The filmâs screenwriter, John Fusco, clings to the notion that his story is based on rigorously checked historical sources, and has even started a website in his defence. But last week a documentary aired on the History Channel, a Disney subsidiary, borrowed much of the Long Ridersâ research to trash Hopkinsâ claims. Disneyâs executive director of international publicity, Nina Heyn, was quoted last year as saying, in an apparent moment of unguarded honesty, that "no one here really cares about the historical aspects", a line the company has been careful not to repeat since. The company has a large investment to protect - some $80m in production costs alone - at a time when the Disney name has been mired in controversy and its chief executive, Michael Eisner, has faced open revolt from his shareholders, and from Roy Disney, nephew of the companyâs founder, Walt. The filmâs release date has been postponed twice, perhaps because of the awkward resonances of last yearâs Iraq war, when it was originally set to hit the cinemas. A tale of conquest of the Orient, based on entirely false pretences ... Now where have we heard that one before?
#2
It is sad that Hollywood has to make up stuff and call it true. If they really want to do a great film about a ride of endurance they should do one about Portugee Phillips ride to Fort Laramie through 240 miles of a Wyoming blizzard after the Fetterman massacre. But that will never happen, as the bad guys would have to be Indians, which won't happen anymore in PC Hollywood.
#5
The only good thing to come out of this is that the light of fact is being shined onto this tall tale (although for all the wrong reasons).
As somebody who is constantly amazed by actual historical events that defy the abilities of any scriptwriter to dream up, it is a shame that Disney felt the need to give this a "based on a true story" stamp.
Posted by: Carl in NH ||
03/09/2004 22:18 Comments ||
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A team dispatched from Kabul to investigate reports of self-immolation by women in the western Afghan Herat Province discovered that most of those cases occurred among women in forced marriages, the Kabul-based daily "Hewad" reported on 7 March. Soraya Parlika said the cases her investigative team probed "revealed that 70 percent of these women were forcibly married, 20 percent of them were living in extreme poverty, and the remaining 10 percent were engaged in immoral activities [presumably prostitution]." Parlika reportedly added that women might also be setting themselves alight as a result of "influence of the neighboring country, Iran, on them," although the "Hewad" report is vague on this last point. Parlika said there have been fewer incidents of self-immolation by women in Herat than the media have suggested, however, "Hewat" did not cite figures.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/09/2004 6:39:53 PM ||
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How do you spell Hell on Earth. God Bless them. This is very sad to read.
By Rick Atkinson, Washington Post.
Original article published Sunday. EFL.
Hat tip: Brothers Judd
Old saying: Amateurs study tactics; professionals study logistics.
After taking command of the 101st during the summer of 2002, [Major General David H.] Petraeus had been preoccupied with 1003 Victor, code name for the U.S. militaryâs secret plan for conquering Iraq. But because of the political and diplomatic byplay in Washington over the winter, the 101st did not receive a formal deployment order until Feb. 6, 2003.
The commanderâs immediate challenge was not the conquest of Baghdad, but rather how to get 5,000 vehicles, 1,500 shipping containers, 17,000 soldiers and more than 200 helicopters to Kuwait by mid-March, in time for any attack on Iraq. Deployment occurred in three immensely complex phases: from Fort Campbell to Jacksonville, Fla.; Jacksonville to Kuwait City; and Kuwait City to a battle assembly area. Army logisticians called the phases fort to port, then port to port, then port to foxhole.
In one conversation in early March, as the 101st began to flood into Kuwait, Petraeus had rattled through the events of the past few weeks. To haul equipment from Fort Campbell to Jacksonville required 1,400 rail cars. The CSX rail-freight company had promised four 30-car trains each day, but as the deployment began, only three a day, on average, had arrived. "I had a conference call with the president of CSX at 11 one night," Petraeus said. "He was on the phone with some of his executives and I was trying to explain to him why it was absolutely critical that we get to the port as quickly as possible. The ships were going to be there on certain dates. There was no margin for error. As I was telling him this, he interrupted me, twice."
"Did you lose your temper?" I asked.
"No, but I told him he was contributing to the diminished combat effectiveness of my division. There was a long silence on the other end. He fixed it."
(A spokesman for CSX noted last week that the company ultimately moved 1,900 rail cars out of Fort Campbell during a two-week period in February 2003, and was applauded by Army officials for "timely assistance.")
One challenge led to others. Several hundred stevedores hired in Jacksonville insisted on long lunch breaks and hourly pauses. The military, never tolerant of goldbricking, fired them and used soldiers and nonunion supervisors to load the ships. When Washington delayed the deployment order, which among other things provided the authorization needed to pay for moving the division, Petraeus concocted an elaborate training exercise that happened to take 112 helicopters to Jacksonville; mechanics there removed the rotor blades and shrink-wrapped the fuselages in protective plastic for eventual loading onto the ships. "As an infantryman, I used to be no more interested in logistics than what you could stuff in a rucksack," he told me. "Now I know that, although the tactics arenât easy, theyâre relatively simple when compared to the logistics."
. . . "Everyone has the full range of emotions," he once noted. "Itâs just a question of how fast you get there." He was cautious and private, and his formal statements to reporters or television cameras had a stilted, calculated tone. Off-stage, he could be tart, funny and occasionally cynical, suggesting at one point that the expatriate Iraqi resistance in London was "trying to fax Saddam to death."
Occasionally he ruminated on how to strike the balance between oversight and meddling. "You think youâre being inspirational," he mused after we visited his 3rd Brigade as it coiled near the border on March 21, "but most of the time youâre just getting in their way." Clearly he retained a visceral awareness that 17,000 lives were in his hands, and that no occasion could be more solemn or profound for a commander than ordering young soldiers into harmâs way.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/09/2004 6:27:59 PM ||
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#1
After getting shot in the chest on the firing range....
"Petraeus recuperated at the Fort Campbell hospital," Keane continued, "and he was driving the hospital commander crazy, trying to convince the doctors to discharge him. He said, 'I am not the norm. I'm ready to get out of here and I'm ready to prove it to you.' He had them pull the tubes out of his arm. Then he hopped out of bed and did 50 push-ups. They let him go home."
Hat tip LGF
Palestinian tyrant leader Sharkey Arafish Yasser Arafat, center, waves to Palestinian women who packed into his compound to mark International Womenâs Day, outside his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Monday, March 8, 2004. Others unidentified. Going to do anything about honor killings?
14-year-olds would rock the vote under this plan By Ed Fletcher -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Weary of diminishing voter participation in state elections, a group of lawmakers proposed a radical solution Monday: Let Californians as young as 14 cast ballots. (Yes he said 14!) Under a proposed amendment to the state constitution, those age 14 to 17 could vote for state and local offices and measures, but not for anything dealing with the federal government. Ballots cast by 14-and 15-year-olds would count as a quarter of a vote. Votes cast by 16-and 17-year-olds would count as a half a vote. (This is like out of the 1800s)
"We believe it is time to open the voting franchise to young Californians at the age of 14 and let them register and vote and to be seriously included in the process," said Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, principal author of the proposal.
(Is anyone surprised that a Democrat proposed this?)
Since the national voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 with the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1971, participation in that age group has steadily decreased. (And why is that?)
Voter participation overall also has been slipping. Vasconcellos said the proposal amounts to meaningful reform that could make lifelong voters out of young people. "People who are engaged early stay on," he said. "Experience is the best teacher." But although most agree that something should be done to improve voter turnout, the solution proposed Monday is far from the consensus answer. "Terminal dumbness," said Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate. "All they will do is further depress voter turnout" because it would create a larger pool of eligible voters. Gans said society has to draw the line somewhere, and children donât have the "judgment or perspective" to be serious voters. There is a big difference, he said, between giving voting rights to people old enough to fight for their country and giving them to young people living at home and working weekend jobs. (Finally a voice of reason)
Itâs unclear, at best, whether the measureâs backers could get the bipartisan, two-thirds support they need to put the amendment on the ballot. (Donât be so sure they donât)
Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, was noncommittal, but he said that Vasconcellos was "thinking outside the box." (and outside our planet)
Sen. Ross Johnson of Irvine, the Republican vice chairman of the Senate elections committee, was more direct. "To waste taxpayer money having children cast votes would be ridiculous at any time, but in the face of our current fiscal crisis, it is an obscenity," he said in a statement. But Vasconcellos and the measureâs other authors - Sen. Edward Vincent, D-Inglewood, and Democratic Assemblywomen Sarah Reyes of Fresno and Carol Liu of South Pasadena - envision young people talking politics in school before heading to the polls. (Fellow politburo members)
Reyes said young people could handle the responsibility. "Many of the young people here are probably more politically savvy than some of the adults who are voting today," said Reyes, referring to a group of young people the lawmakers brought to their news conference. One of them, 16-year-old Thien Vinh Nguyen of C.K. McClatchy High School, said the bill "would ensure that students learn about politics and recognize the importance of voting while still in high school and be in the practice of voting by the time they reach 18." Belno Lange, a social studies teacher at Casa Roble High School in Orangevale, said he could see 16-year-olds voting but isnât sure about high school freshmen casting ballots. "From my standpoint, I donât know if 14-and 15-year-olds are looking at those issues and have enough background in order to make a valid decision," Lange said. (Amen Brother)
Although there have been earlier and ongoing efforts to allow people to cast votes at a younger age - including a current state effort to allow some 17-year-olds with approaching birthdays to vote - experts say they have never heard of an effort to give some citizens less than a full vote. "Iâve heard of lowering the voting age ... and Iâve heard of bringing in young people as poll workers, but that is the first Iâve heard about a fractional vote," said Doug Chapin, director of electionline.org a Web site offering nonpartisan election reform information. "If nothing else, it is good that people are thinking about trying to get more people in the process." Richard Smolka, editor of Election Administration Reports, was more critical. "I donât know any reason why something like this would lead to lifelong voters," Smolka said.
There were supporters of the effort. "Young people have a lot to contribute," said Veronica De La Garza, Youth Vote Coalition executive director. She said this proposal by itself wouldnât solve the youth-participation problem, but along with voter education, it could help. Al Fawcett, administrative services officer for the Sacramento County registrarâs office, said the proposed system probably would make elections more costly and complicated. Counties would have to create a way to ensure youth ballots arenât counted as regular ballots, Fawcett said. I have kids this age and believe me they are NOT ready to vote for dog catcher let alone Congressman or President. My daughter (14) would vote for anyone that owned or professed an affection for cats. My son (16) would vote for who ever looked âcoolestâ or could speak intelligently about animae. The bottom line is that the Dems are trying to dredge up some more voters for their dumb ideas. You canât tell someone who worked his way up the income ladder that he need to pay more taxes so someone else can sit on the a$$ all day. But if you tell a 14-year-old that that âevilâ rich guy doesnât want to share his income with this poor single mom you know how they would vote. When I was young I was VERY liberal. But after working since I was 13 I canât understand why someone who is 25 canât get up and go to a job. Finally, the low voter turnout is on the Democrats side and not the Republicans. The Republicans have seen a surge in voter registration and voting, while the Dems are declining in both.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) ||
03/09/2004 11:03:45 AM ||
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#1
Bad idea, but not as bad as Britain's Liberal Democrats pushing for votes for criminals.
Does anything better expose the corruption and desperation of today's left better than these attempts to push the gullible and naive, and the anti-social into the electorate pool?
#2
Bad bad BAD idea. I was once an idiot liberal up until the time Clinton got elected (I was 18-19 at the time, unregistered).
By the time I did some research trying to figure out how a draft-dodging, wife-cheating smarmy dirtbag could have gotten elected, I had been converted to the side of Liberty, Individual Rights, Low Taxes, and no tolerance for Liberals aka the Fifth Column.
I never looked back. Thanks Bill!
(But seriously... no child under the age of 18 has the slightest clue about the way the world works. Anyone who witnessed the internet Deaniacs last year probably took note that a LARGE percentage of them were either 14-17 years old, or at least had the maturity level of children of that age.)
#4
Oh, goodie, just what we need: more clueless, idealistic idiots who believe the purpose of government is to serve them a free lunch.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/09/2004 11:52 Comments ||
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#5
People this is far worse than a case of bad judgement. This is all about establishing a voter block that would be under the literal control of the Democrat party via the teacher's union. If you think the political indoctrination of our children in public education is bad now (or if anyone doubts it at all) this would make it exponentially worse. Liberals are losing the ideological battle at the ballot box. They'll do anything, propose any asinine idea in order to maintain power.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/09/2004 12:13 Comments ||
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#6
Some other potential voters were forgotten like convicted criminals, the local zoo, mental health wards, Europeans etc.. Drooling on your ballott does not constitute a reason to not vote.
#7
Rex - I was about to point that out - people that young are 'under-the-influence' of the teachers-union (aka Democratic Party).
I wouldn't be suprised if they require a 'democratic' vote to get an 'A'. Why not? They already require teachers to contribute to the Democratic Party in order to work (at least in washington state) - do you think the children would be immune?
Besides most people that young dont know anything outside of their own hormones anyway (hell a lot of alledged adult don't either .... look at Clinton....).
#8
They failed to get illegal aliens voting privileges, so this is the logical next step.
Posted by: Lil Dhimmi ||
03/09/2004 12:28 Comments ||
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#9
I've been wonderin' where the dumocrats would come up with their next batch of airheads. As the dumocrats lurch evermore leftward, those with any sense in their party leave and go elsewhere. Then they turn farther leftward to attract the "gutter snipe" needed to fill their ranks. Well, I thought they had nowhere left to go to attract voters..... obviously, I was wrong.
I have never been a liberal, and I was raised poor as dirt. My mother raised 3 kids on $50 a week. She cursed the "bleeding heart liberals". NEVER did my mother ask for food stamps or free medical care...or anything. She knew what was happening to our country. She knew government was THE PROBLEM, not THE ANSWER. I only wish she were alive today, so I could TRY to repay her steadfastness.
Posted by: Danny ||
03/09/2004 12:29 Comments ||
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#10
I didn't even bother to get my driver's license until I was 18 because I didn't feel I was mature or responsible enough to handle it. And now, with high school kids far dumber and lazier than even the worst of my compatriots, the teacher's unionssocialist legislators DemocRATS are floating this turd as a serious idea?
#12
Vasconcellas is about as far left as you can get. Check out this loony rant about how we stole California from Mexico, and he has no problem with them taking it back. Just the kind of guy I want representing me!
Posted by: Dar ||
03/09/2004 13:12 Comments ||
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#13
Ooh--even better, somebody has that exchange on Real audio here.
Posted by: Dar ||
03/09/2004 13:16 Comments ||
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#14
porto rican disenfranchise to
muck you saying the porta ricans are not respecting wendies?
#16
this is so wrong it gives me a toothache. First of all, in a democracy we have a "one (wo)man, one vote policy. So that alone makes this violate the spirit, if not the letter of the constitution.
Second of all, this is supposed to "teach" young people about voting? Huh? Is there something difficult about the process? It's not like they don't understand what it's about -- they vote for school president, vote for decisions throughout childhood using the democratic process, etc. What am I missing?
#17
I would not mind letting kids vote if their parents would forgo theirs. It would be a good test for all concerned. I'd probably let my 17 yr. old vote for city and county commisioners and I'd forgo my vote.
#18
Let me see if I have the concept...
First graders get 1/12 of a vote, second graders 1/6 of a vote,etc.... Great idea. The LLL teachers union can then dictate influence how the kiddies vote.
#19
In 2003, for the first time since the 1850s, a majority of newborn children in California were Hispanic.
As usual, when I see something like this, I start asking who/whom. Who does teenage voting benefit and to whom does it put the screw? This violates at least two clauses of the Constitution, so it will be struck down immediately if passed. But it provides a sickening insight into the Third World political shenanigans coming to a governing body near you unless we adopt a more assimilationist stance immediately. We need a melting pot, not a tossed salad.
#20
Will the Dems soon want fetuses to be able to vote or does that open up that icky rights of the unborn thing? Probably will take a pass on it. Who wants to have to listen to some NOW witch rant and rave about that. Nevermind.
Pakistan may have given China access to a key US fighter jet at the height of the Vietnam War in a quid-pro-quo transaction that may have endangered the lives of American pilots, according to US government documents made public here The revelation, contained in a secret December 1968 memorandum written by George Denney, deputy director of intelligence and research at the State Department, comes as the administration of President George W Bush seeks to broaden security ties to Islamabad as part of the war on terror. Congress also currently has growing questions about a nuclear black market network run by top Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and how much authorities in Islamabad knew about it.
The Denney memo and other documents obtained by the National Security Archive, a freedom of information group, and released over the weekend paint a picture of deep dissatisfaction with Pakistan within the US foreign policy community, which felt deceived by the countryâs leaders. "In July 1968 an intelligence source revealed that Chinese technicians had been allowed to examine US-provided F-104 aircraft at Pakistanâs Sargodha Air Base and to collect F-104 spare parts and material samples which were taken back to China for analysis," Denney wrote to then-secretary of state Dean Rusk. He pointed out that he believed the Pakistani action "violates the terms of acceptance" that Pakistan signed when it took delivery of the jets. Citing the same intelligence source, Denney noted that the Chinese had been also allowed to take back home for examination a complete F-104 engine, including key parts of its innovative fuel control system. The deputy chief of intelligence hastened to reassure his boss that Beijing "probably will not derive great advantage" from such unprecedented access, but warned that "a precedent appears to have been set, and China can be expected to make further requests along the same lines."
Beijing was a crucial ally of Hanoi during the Vietnam War, and intelligence experts believe any information gleaned by the Chinese about the F-104 Starfighter, one of the mainstays in the US Air Force at the time, had likely found its way into Vietnamese hands. The F-104 was designed in the wake of the Korean War at Lockheedâs super secret "Skunk Works" facility to challenge leading Soviet-made fighter jets. Dubbed by pilots "a missile with a man in it," the Starfighter was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous official world records for speed, altitude and time-to-climb. For these reasons the North Vietnamese Air Force usually avoided direct engagements with the F-104, according to US veterans, but actively sought information about the plane. The alleged Pakistani favor followed massive deliveries of Chinese weapons that Pakistan needed to boost its arsenal against India, according to the document. They included at least 160 T-59 tanks and 124 MIG-19 fighter-bombers shipped between 1965 and 1968 - and a 1967 Chinese offer of an interest-free credit of about 40 million dollars.
The F-104 episode added to what a top US diplomat called a string of developments in US-Pakistani relations that were "counter to US interests" at the height of the Cold War. They included a refusal to send troops to Laos, flouting of obligations in the now defunct SEATO alliance, and suspected deliveries of spare parts for C-130 aircraft to Indonesia, which at the time was involved in hostilities against Malaysia. The diplomat, Thomas Hughes, who headed intelligence and research at the State Department, noted in a 1965 secret memo that the record of bilateral ties was "a disappointing one considering the US investment in Pakistan."
Posted by: tipper ||
03/09/2004 9:18:24 AM ||
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#1
Unfortunately its hard to bypass geography. The only practical access to Afghanistan is through PAkland, Iran or a couple of ex-soviet union stans, which in practice means Russian itself.
if we want to support Afghanistan then the only real alternative to dealing with the Paks is to detach Baluchistan from Pakistan.
Posted by: Phil B ||
03/09/2004 9:30 Comments ||
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#2
"For these reasons the North Vietnamese Air Force usually avoided direct engagements with the F-104, according to US veterans." Not to take away from the engineering genius that created it, but I was under the impression that the F-104 had such a short range that the NVAF waited for them to turn back before attacking the strike aircraft in relative safety. That combined with the fact that it could not carry a large offensive load made it a poor choice for Southeast Asia.
#5
The Denney memo and other documents obtained by the National Security Archive, a freedom of information group, and released over the weekend paint a picture of deep dissatisfaction with Pakistan within the US foreign policy community, which felt deceived by the countryâs leaders.
The National Security Archive is a left-wing organization that routinely takes positions that run counter to US interests. They want to have it both ways - on the one hand, they think that dictatorial regimes that are US allies (not friends, allies) are essentially propped up by the US, and on the other, they also attack these alliances on the basis that these countries stick it to the US. They can't seem to figure out that Pakistani betrayal is an indication that our allies can stick it to us and still survive - they are not our puppets - we don't keep them in power - they do. If we don't ally with them, they certainly have other options - including China. To paraphrase Marlon Brando in Godfather, we need to keep our friends close, but our allies closer.
#6
..The -104 did go to Vietnam very early on during a brief period of panic by the USAF, which was convinced that the then-almost nonexistent PVNAF was going to come charging south. (The F-102 was also sent there too, and a certain TXANG Lt named Bush wanted to volunteer to go over with them, but that's another story) The -104 was not one of the USAF's favorite aircraft, and it was very badly suited for service in SVN - it demanded a heavy duty, fixed maintenance support network, it developed some problems in service there that hadn't appeared stateside (most notably a bad habit of blowing off cannon access covers) and was horribly vulnerable to ground fire.
The important thing to remember was that by this point, the F-104 was at best a second-line aircraft, almost completely in service with the ANG, and rapidly being pulled out from there. Whatever the Soviets got from the Paki -104s told them nothing more than the fact that the USAF had built an extremely fast US version of the MiG-21.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/09/2004 13:12 Comments ||
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#7
The F104 carried a limited payload and was thus completely unadequate for ground atack roles so I don't see why anyone would have flown it low enough
to take ground fire.
It was designed to be an interceptor ie a plane who can go from ground to the position and, very important, altitude than the bad guys in record times. This needed a fast plane with, for that tiume, a very high climb rate from the deck even at the cost of maneuverability (a smart F104 pilot would not allow himself in aturning duel against another fighter but would use the vertical).
#8
THe F-104 was called the "Widowmaker" by the German Air Force, for good reason. It's strictly an air defense fighter, and virtually worthless in any other role. It's pirmary puprose was to take out Soviet bombers coming over the North Pole. By 1965, the majority of them had been retired or transferred to the Air National Guard. China may have learned something from the F-104s in Pakistan, but the best lesson would have been to steer clear of the "Widowmaker".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 14:33 Comments ||
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#9
My info was that the high accident rate in German Starfighters was due to local modifications who spoiled the aircraft: something about increasing the payload beyond the original specifications.
#11
Only the F-104C was deployed to Viet Nam. It did have a short range, but it was used in some early MiG-Cap missions.
The F-104C didn't have the "big engine" which was the GE J79 (the same general engine that was used in pairs in the F-4, although there were specific differences between the engines). Another big difference was the refueling mechanism. The F-104C used the drogue and probe method and the F-104G was set up to take fuel from a "boomer" like the F-105 and F-4 (from a normal KC-135 tanker).
The Starfighter was in country for about 18 months to two years and then was removed from the combat zone.
The aircraft was designed as an interceptor and dogfigther and wasn't designed to deal with the conditions in Viet Nam.
#12
The F-104's nickname of "Widowaker" was not entirely justified. The plane had its tendencies and a pilot needed to know how to deal with them. One of the reasons for the high accident rate on take-off was a function of the airplanes design.
It took a tremendous amount of fuel to get the plane airborne. With the big engine at 100% military power (or greater) and the afterburner in operation, the plane could empty its tanks in a couple of minutes. Because of the fuel burn, the centers of lift would shift forward as the fuel burned off. This would cause, under the right weather conditions, the airplane to "sink" about 24 to 60 inches. When a pilot is trying to get his craft airbone, a sudden sink of 2 to 5 feet gets noticed.
The sink happened often in warm dry conditions, but wasn't as common in cold weather. Based on these conditions, a number of Starfighter pilots around here said that the high accident rate was caused by the "sink" suddenly happening on some pilot overseas who hadn't felt it for months or years. When they felt the plane sink, the natural course of action for any pilot is to "do something." Unfortunately, doing something in that situation could get you killed. You had to just "ride it out" and wait for the airplane to catch up with itself.
Whether the story is true or not, it makes a good story and a lot of former Starfighter pilots all told the same story.
In terms of being a dogfighter, there are a lot of Starfighter pilots (Fighter Weapons School graduates, etc) that swore by the Starfighter in a tight fight. They regularly took out F-4's in air-to air training. When the F-15 first came out, the Starfighter training programs were still going on and there were a number of training missions between the two aircraft. The story around here was that the Eagle could take the Starfighter out at a distance because of the advanced radar and weapons systems, but in a close range fight (using the visual engagement rules that were required in a lot of the Viet Nam war), a good Starfighter pilot and his plane could more than hold their own against the Eagle drivers.
The general rule was "Don't let the Starfighters get close."
EFL. Just the intro.
"SARGE! Sarge!" The tugging on Sgt Euan McGilpâs arm was insistent. "Sarge! Sarge!" McGilp, ducking to avoid the bullets zipping overhead and attempting to keep his head below the level of his Warrior, ignored the hand grasping the fabric of his sleeve. "Sarge! Sarge!" Scott Hendersonâs voice was increasingly urgent. McGilp tore his gaze away from the rooftops where Iraqi militia men were crouched behind the low parapets, popping up every few seconds to fire at his exposed position. Clustered around their vehicles, with open ground on one side and a labyrinth of alleyways on the other, the men of D Company the Black Watch were sitting ducks. In the early morning light, the militia men seemed to be everywhere. Bullets were bouncing off the ground a few metres from McGilp and his men... The Scotsmanâs been running a few accounts of British actions in Iraq last year. This is the latest.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
03/09/2004 6:21:25 AM ||
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Update... The plot thickens
Zimbabwe has impounded a US-registered aircraft which landed at Harare airport with military equipment and 64 suspected mercenaries, Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi announced Monday. In Washington, a US State Department official denied that the plane was registered in the United States, though said it might once have been. "It is not a US registered aircraft right now," the official said.
Mohadi said that a "United States of America-registered Boeing 727-100 cargo plane was detained last (Sunday) night at about 1930 hours (1730 GMT) at Harare International Airport after its owners had made a false declaration of its cargo and crew. The plane was actually carrying 64 suspected mercenaries of various nationalities. Further investigations also revealed that on board the plane was military material." State television showed footage of the plane late Monday. Some of the equipment shown included satellite telephones, compasses, radios, military knives and boots, bolt-cutters and sleeping bags. The television said that most of the suspects were white, "heavily built males". The equipment found aboard the plane was usually used by "commandos on a special mission" it added.
Big fat guys? On a commando mission?
In Pretoria, meanwhile, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said that "the South African government is concerned at unconfirmed reports that some of the people on board may be South African nationals". Pahad did not say where those reports came from, but added, in a statement: "Should the allegations that those South Africans on board are involved in mercenary activities prove true, this would amount to a serious breach of the Foreign Military Assistance Act which expressly prohibits the involvement of South Africans in military activities outside South Africa without the due authorisation of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee." Mohadi said full details would be issued in due course but that in the meantime investigations were under way to establish the "true identities of the men and their ultimate mission".
The plane was moved to a military airbase, AFP was told. What had been done with the men aboard was not immediately clear. A US embassy official in Harare claimed "We know nothing about it" and the mystery deepened when the official in Washington confirmed: "It is not a US government or a US commercial aircraft as far as we know. I understand that at one point back in the 1970âs someone may have owned it in the US but it hasnât been a US aircraft since the early 80s. I have no idea who owns it. There is no US citizen on board."
President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly accused the US government and the former colonial power, Britain, of trying to oust him since he was re-elected in controversial polls two years ago. Relations between the United States and Zimbabwe worsened last week when US President George W. Bush renewed sanctions imposed on Mugabe and other government officials a year ago for allegedly undermining democracy in the southern African country. Washington said it was widening the existing sanctions regime against Zimbabwe to include seven government-related businesses. Bush said the Zimbabwe government was causing a breakdown of the rule of law, economic instability, and fomenting politically motivated violence, but Information Minister Jonathan Moyo responded angrily, referring to the Americans as "hamburger-eating imperialists".
Last month the EU extended sanctions it had imposed against Zimbabwe, to include an arms embargo as well as travel restrictions and a freeze on any overseas assets of 95 government officials, including Mugabe. The economy of the former British colony has been in a nose-dive in recent years with international support drying up, and rates of inflation and interest skyrocketing to record highs of more than 600 percent. Mugabeâs reputation as an African statesman started fading in recent years after the country -- once the regionâs breadbasket -- slid into economic decline as land reforms which had been left unresolved for years, were jump-started with the violent occupation of white-owned farms.
Posted by: tipper ||
03/09/2004 1:53:57 AM ||
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#1
Another account claims the airliner strayed into Zim airspace, was intercepted and forced to land by Zim fighters.Whatever actually happened, if the the Queen of England and her EUropeon allies are looking for a cause for war, they have one: 64 hostages.
#4
This sounds suspicious like a coup attempt a few years back. I think in the Comoros where the men flew and succesfully took over the country. I couldn't find an online source but I recall the weapons had been smuggled in earlier.
Posted by: Phil B ||
03/09/2004 6:24 Comments ||
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#10
referring to the Americans as "hamburger-eating imperialists"
Yeah, everyone knows we're hamburger-eating, beer-drinking, war-mongering, zionist-supporting capitalists! Get it right, dammit!
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2004 9:58 Comments ||
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#11
It looks as if the plan came from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3545507.stmSouth Africa. The company that bought the plane says the men were hired to guard mining operations in DR Congo & stopped in Zimbabwe to purchase mining equipment that would be cheaper there. FWIW [smile]
#12
Here's the quote from BBC story: However, a senior executive of Logo Logistics Ltd which is believed to have chartered the plane, said that the group were heading to eastern DR Congo to guard mining operations there.
"They stopped in Zimbabwe to pick up mining equipment, Zimbabwe being a vastly cheaper place for such," Charles Burrow told Reuters by telephone from London. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authorities in South Africa, Moses Seate, has said the plane took off from the domestic Wonderboom airport, north of the capital Pretoria. If confirmed, the plane looks likely to have been attempting an illicit journey by making an international flight from a domestic airport.
If the men on board are confirmed as mercenaries, it appears they failed to receive required authorisation from South Africa's National Conventional Arms Control Committee. Speaking earlier to the BBC's Network Africa, Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said the crew and passengers aboard the plane had been detained pending further investigation. He said ministers would be trying to ascertain the intended destination of the plane, and would give further details about the plane after the meeting. Mr Mohadi insisted the detentions were legitimate, because "the fact they did not display their cargo means they have become suspects".
Posted by: Steve ||
03/09/2004 10:20 Comments ||
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#13
The only time you'll see 64 white, "heavily built males" in the same room is at the Olympics.
Charles, I see at least 64 heavily built white men, women and children every time I take the kids to the Golden Corral. The beach is worse.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/09/2004 11:57 Comments ||
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#14
LOL,SH. The Golden Corral does tend to attract 'em doesn't it?
#15
The only time you'll see 64 white, "heavily built males" in the same room is at the Olympics.
Or a Marine Recon platoon. The rest of the 90 might be black, Hispanic, and/or Asian, but the rest of the numbers are about right. Recon seems to attract the BIG guys...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 13:06 Comments ||
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#16
GOD the Golden Corral Loves Marines Heavily built males, because they Kill eat everything they see...
Quoted from Full Metal Jacket Golden Corral Diners creed
#19
Any chance these guys can make a side trip to the Central African Republic and shut up a certain loudmothed ex-priest?
Maybe JB could become Bob's priest... They DO think alike and all.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/09/2004 22:09 Comments ||
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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.
