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Somali government seizes Bulo Hawo town from al-Shabab
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Canadian Air Force base commander confesses to double murder
British-born Colonel Russell Williams, 47, was the chief of Canada's largest air force base until he was charged earlier this year.

It took 31 minutes to read out all 86 charges against him in the Ontario courtroom, before he admitted murdering Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38, and Jessica Lloyd, 27.

Williams - who filmed the rape and killing of Ms Comeau on a camcorder - faces an automatic life sentence, with no chance of parole, for at least 25 years.

The court in Belleville heard how the "shining, rising star" of the Canadian military sustained a disturbing double life of sexual perversion, which became more and more depraved over time.

He broke into homes and bedrooms of little girls, collected their underwear and photographed himself wearing it on his digital camera.

The Crown prosecutor said police had obtained more than 1,000 such pictures.

Williams would paintakingly file away the images on his computer in the hours away from commanding Canada’s busiest air force base, CFB Trenton.
Posted by: gromky || 10/19/2010 04:16 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  life sentence, with no chance of parole, for at least 25 years.

And WHY don't they just kill this POS???
Posted by: armyguy || 10/19/2010 8:15 Comments || Top||

#2  "And WHY don't they just kill this POS???"

Because he will have a MUCH more . . . difficult . . . time trying to stay alive and unbutchered in the Canadian Federal prison system where sexual monsters have to be kept from the general prison population lest they be rent into little tiny bloody bits and pieces.

This monster is about to endure a Hell on Earth that will be worse than death, quick or otherwise. His greatest fear will be that someone - perhaps a sadistic guard, for example - will NOT lock his cell door, or perhaps just walk away and leave him where other prisoners can get at him. It would be a huge positive for any other lifer to kill him. Their stock amongst other prisoners would skyrocket for doing that.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that Canada has some sort of Super-Max prison system. We don't have any such thing. We have a very "modest" system, unarmed guards, social activities, etc. with the result that lifers, more often than not, get to walk around and socialize with the other prisoners. This is the very thing that makes this Colonel Williams monster so very vulnerable.

I hope he spends 25 years of excruciating fear and terror and then dies of something very painful just as he his about to step out of the prison. He would, after all, be 72 years old should he live long enough to complete his sentence.

There is also the happy thought that 25 years of continuous Country and Western music for 24 hours a day might have some effect on his mental state.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 10/19/2010 10:57 Comments || Top||

#3  He and Paul Bernardo shared high school daze.

Must have been something in the water. Just saying.
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 10/19/2010 18:59 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Animated Ariel Sharon coma sculpture
In an introduction to the exhibit, curator Joshua Simon said the artwork enabled those viewing it to "rethink the political".

"Sharon's still breathing and beating body is an allegory for the Israeli political body - a dependent and mediated existence, self-perpetuated artificially and out of inertia, with open eyes that cannot see," he said.
As a description of the 'Israeli political body', this observation is both contemptuous and questionable; as a description of the state of the professional artistic community today, it would have been perfect. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate for the sculpture to have a likeness of the artist's head on the body.
Pic at Link
Posted by: KBK || 10/19/2010 10:02 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How nice! More 'edgy', offensive art. We'll see who has the last laugh when undead zombie Sharon rises up and rampages through Gaza. Put *that* in your moribund peace processor.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/19/2010 14:21 Comments || Top||

#2  I dare them to make a Mohammad one. They would all be dead and the building burned down in a week. I just so love how the "artists" feel brave insulting safe targets but pee themselves into censored submission against real threats to their free speech.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/19/2010 16:29 Comments || Top||


Finally some good news - Honor Flight flies veterans to D.C. memorials
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/19/2010 08:34 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I did this a year ago with Honor Flight, escorting a fellow Navy vet.

Good organization, good people.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/19/2010 22:54 Comments || Top||

#2  and good on you, Pappy
Posted by: Frank G || 10/19/2010 23:09 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Mugabe threatens diplomats
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zimbabwe President Bob (Muggsy) Mugabe will retaliate if European Union (EU) countries heed advice from his rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to expel diplomats that the veteran ruler appointed unilaterally.

President Mugabe and the PM are at loggerheads over several key appointments and the impasse is now threatening the inclusive government formed in February last year.

Last week, Mr Tsvangirai wrote to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, the EU and some European countries asking them not to recognise the envoys.

While the UN has made it clear that it cannot throw out the ambassadors, the EU has demanded an explanation from Mr Mugabe and the block may soon take action.

But the president's front man Mr George Charamba on Monday said Harare would reserve the right to reciprocate if its diplomats were thrown out of their postings.

"In diplomacy there is a principle called reciprocity," Mr Charamba told NewsDay, a privately owned paper. "You do to the other country what you want them to do unto you.

"If country A refuses to recognise ambassadors from country B then country B reserves the right to do the same." He said Zimbabwe was not benefiting from the presence of Western diplomats because of sanctions. The EU has maintained targeted sanctions against President Mugabe and his inner circle since 2002 citing abuse of human rights
... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you...
and electoral fraud.
Posted by: Fred || 10/19/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
An early goodbye to the HMS Ark Royal
And hello to the scrap heap
Posted by: Water Modem || 10/19/2010 08:55 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Invasion of the Falklands beginning in 5...4...3...
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/19/2010 9:45 Comments || Top||

#2  The final lights are being turned off in good ol' England.

This really reminds me of the Romans abandoning Britain to try to preserve some other parts of their empire. Only now, the English are abandoning themselves to save some other parts of their crumbling socialist society. The Roman example didn't work since the Western Roman empire fell anyway. I doubt the new modern approach will work either.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/19/2010 10:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Precisely right, Anonymoose.

And given that the bastard Obama (who expects the UK to maintain its presence in Afghanistan) gave the tacit green light to an invasion a few months ago, it would be very interesting to see how things would pan out, second time around.
Posted by: Bulldog || 10/19/2010 14:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Bulldog,

If you had the right people in place in government, they'd publicly point out that fact of Brits in Afghanistan, to include the point that Afghanistan is not in the immediate vicinity of NATO and then invoke the NATO charter requiring members help defend their territory or that of the others as they request the US uphold its part of the treaty by sending a full naval/marine task force to liberate the islands. Make or break time.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/19/2010 17:05 Comments || Top||

#5  But does that NATO charter include British Overseas Territory or just England proper?
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/19/2010 18:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Looking further at the charter, it reads:
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all...

And in Article 6:
For the purpose of Article 5, an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack:

* on the territory of any of the Parties in Europe or North America, on the Algerian Departments of France (2), on the territory of or on the Islands under the jurisdiction of any of the Parties in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer;
* on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in Europe in which occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force or the Mediterranean Sea or the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer.


So, in my un-lawyer view, the treaty states that the Falklands are fucked if teh 0ne does not choose to aid the English. And seeing how he has treated them, I would bet he would let the Falklands fall.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/19/2010 19:01 Comments || Top||

#7  They could sell it to the Mongolian Navy
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 10/19/2010 20:44 Comments || Top||

#8  They wanna build a knowingly cost-prohibitive QUEEN ELIZABETH-Class CVF in order to immediately mothball of them + then sell it afterward.

* OTOH RENSE > {Telegraph.UK] BRITAIN ENTERS "AGE OF UNCERTAINTY", according to a Report-Study from UK National Security Council.

ARTIC = BY YEAR 2020, LOCAL, REGIONAL EXTREMISTS may increasingly decide to stop verbal or diplomatic dialogues + begin to use VIOLENT ARMED FORCE = e.g. TERROR STRIKES, CAMPAIGNS TO ENFORCE THEIR GOALS.

Methinks its safe to say that the US + CHINA + WORLD, including GUAM-WESTPAC, WILL ENTER SAID SAME "AGE OF UNCERTAINTY", not just the UK or Euros.

* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > LAST SYMBOL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE SINKS.

ARTIC > Britain-UK's famed "Most Sneior Service", formerly the ROYAL NAVY, IS NOW THE "US AIR FORCE" [ + by extens the USDOD].

NO SURPRISE THERE.

IMO "USAF" read, US AEROSPACE FORCE = OWG US SPACE FORCE, no longer merely the AIR FORCE.
JUST WAITING FOR YEAR 2015-20/2025 FOR THE OWG-NWO USDOD + US CONGRESS [USAF = "...iff that is its Real Name" Anymore] TO MAKE IT OFFICIAL.

By these MoD cuts, the UK is trying hard NOT to say it has the USA + USDOD to cover its six, + only needs NATO, EU-level GMD-TMD + "DEFENSIVE" CONVENTIONAL, NUCLEAR FORCES.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/19/2010 21:07 Comments || Top||

#9  Also from KHALEEJ TIMES > BRITAIN TO END HISTORIC BASES IN GERMANY BY 2020 [1/2 of UK forces to be out by 2015, rest by 2020].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/19/2010 21:15 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China Is Said to Halt Exports to U.S. of Some Key Minerals
China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted shipments of some of those same materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said on Tuesday.

The Chinese action, involving rare earth minerals that are crucial to manufacturing many advanced products, seems certain to further ratchet up already rising trade and currency tensions with the West. Until recently, China typically sought quick and quiet accommodations on trade issues. But the interruption in rare earth supplies is the latest sign from Beijing that Chinese officials are willing to use their growing economic muscle.

“The embargo is expanding” beyond Japan, said one of the three rare earth industry officials, all of whom insisted on anonymity for fear of business retaliation by Chinese authorities. They said Chinese customs officials imposed the broader shipment restrictions Monday morning, hours after a top Chinese official had summoned international news media Sunday night to denounceUnited States trade actions.

China mines 95 percent of the world’s rare earth elements, which have broad commercial and military applications, and are vital to the manufacture of diverse products including large wind turbines and guided missiles. Any curtailment of Chinese supplies of rare earths is likely to be greeted with alarm in Western capitals, particularly because Western companies are believed to keep much smaller stockpiles of rare earths than Japanese companies do.

China’s commerce ministry has repeatedly denied that it has imposed an embargo on shipments to Japan, even though Japanese ministers and industry executives say the shipments to their country have been systematically blocked by Chinese customs officials since Sept. 21.
Posted by: tipper || 10/19/2010 17:12 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Having sold them the noose, we should not be surprised when it begins to tighten.

Get used to this sort of thing, you'll be seeing it a lot from China. Pro TIP: Bowing will help you to get to the front of the line of supplicants.
Posted by: gromky || 10/19/2010 17:30 Comments || Top||

#2  The US has these minerals; we just shut the mines down because it was cheaper and more expedient to get them from China. But if China won't sell, we can re-open the mines. We'll have to; not even Obama's EPA can stop that.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/19/2010 18:46 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder how many other vulnerabilities we have created because it was cheaper to outsource to China.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 10/19/2010 19:31 Comments || Top||

#4  But the thingmabob that does the job is
bippity-boppity-boo
Posted by: PrivateEye || 10/19/2010 19:32 Comments || Top||

#5  See also FREEREPUBLIC > BUSINESS INSIDER > THE GREAT GAME: CURRENCY WAR IS [only]THE START OF A 21st CENTURY STRUGGLE FOR RESOUIRCES, espec between the US + China.

ARTIC = RISING CHINA'S only real leverage at this time vee the US is its RARE-EARTH MINERAL RESERVES. GRAPH OF US-VS-CHINA OIL CONSUMPTION + IMPORTS indics that the Years 2017-2021 time frame may mark the beginning of a LT PERIOD/WAVE OF US-CHINA GEOPOL CONFRONTATION POSSIBLY INCLUDING MIL CLASHES OR WARS???

Lest we fergit, VARIOUS NET = CHINA itself says it RARE-EARTH RESERVES MAY RUN OUT IN CIRCA 15-20 YEARS [2025-2030] AT CURRENT PRODUCTION RATES.

IOW, RISING CHINA = akin to sovereign independent REPUBLIC OF NAURU [Pacific Island State] that is starting to run low on PHOSPHATE [aka BIRD, BAT GUANO/FERTILIZER]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/19/2010 20:41 Comments || Top||

#6  ION SINA, CHINESE MIL FORUM > TAIWAN'S LI DENG HUI: DAOYUTAI ISLAND [JAPAN Senkakus = CHIN DAOYUS = Taiwan DAOYUTAI] BELONG TO JAPAN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/19/2010 20:44 Comments || Top||

#7  If technology can get 33 miners plus six rescuers up 600 meters from below the ground, out in a remote desert - technology should be able to get a rare earth mine back into production fairly quickly, if the government works to make it possible, instead of working against it.

Unfortunately, our government exists to inhibit, not to enable. Sad state of affairs.
Posted by: Lone Ranger || 10/19/2010 21:35 Comments || Top||

#8  Dig here, Dig now.
Posted by: OldSpook || 10/19/2010 21:57 Comments || Top||


Xi Jinping on Track for Chinese Presidency
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has been appointed vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, which oversees the two-million-strong People's Liberation Army, virtually confirming his position as the country's next leader. The Chinese Communist Party appointed Xi to the new position in a planning meeting, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.

The four-day session of the party's Central Committee, which opened on Friday, also saw the announcement of a five-year economic development plan that puts more focus on the distribution of wealth and welfare rather than on economic expansion. The Chinese government is now expected to bolster social benefits, aid for senior citizens, state medical programs and other subsidies.

The position of vice chairman at the Central Military Commission is a stepping stone on the way to becoming president. Chinese President Hu Jintao was also appointed to the position in 1999, where he served for the next three years before being elected president. Xi will serve in the post until the next Communist Party leadership meeting in 2012, when he is expected to become the leader.

Xi (57) is a "princeling," the son of party veteran Xi Zhongxun, who was an ally of Deng Xiaoping and helped to oversee the economic opening process in southern China. He also graduated from the prestigious Tsinghua University and has been recognized for self-restraint and professional ability.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/19/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And his wife can belt out a mean number at the top of her voice. (Like the Betty Grable hairdo)
Posted by: tipper || 10/19/2010 17:45 Comments || Top||

#2  More from Peng Liyuan for your entertainment:
Hatred is Liked the Sea When Hate is Like the Mountain
Posted by: tipper || 10/19/2010 17:53 Comments || Top||


Economy
Remembering Whirlpool and it's many contributions as it leaves for Mexico.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/19/2010 07:27 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm just replacing all my appliances. This will be one less choice.
Posted by: armyguy || 10/19/2010 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  This seems more speculation at this point. A quick google of the company shows they have plants in Fort Smith, Arkansas; Evansville, Indiana; Iowa (Newton and Amana); Tulsa, Oklahoma; Ohio (Clyde, Findlay, Greenville, Marion and Ottawa); and Cleveland, Tennessee.

They also market many brands such as, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Gladiator Garage Works, Inglis, Estate, Brastemp, Bauknecht and Consul.

Even in the comments there is mention of a plant moving to Tennessee instead of Mexico, so I'll take this with salt. Even if only one plant goes to Mexico, this company is so huge that it might make sense to move a plant there for that market.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/19/2010 8:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Even if only one plant goes to Mexico, this company is so huge that it might make sense to move a plant there for that market.
Posted by DarthVader


Not if you live in Evansville, Indiana.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/19/2010 8:38 Comments || Top||

#4  It's getting impossible to find anything made here anymore.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/19/2010 8:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Not if you live in Evansville, Indiana.

If a comment posted is correct (all unconfirmed speculation as well), it was the unions digging in their heels and not willing to negotiate. IF true, I hold very little sympathy for the workers that should have ditched the unions years ago. Again, I don't know enough of the story from one little blurb and comments, but it once again sounds like the unions are cutting off their nose to spite their face.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/19/2010 8:44 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm no fan of labor unions, never have been. Evansville is a working man's town. A factory job at Whirlpool was hardly a status symbol. Difficult to compete at any hourly rate against Chinese slave labor, or $2.00 - $3.00 per hour rates of Mexico, not to mention the benefits and Workman's Compensation piece. Labor unions have been and remain a part of the problem, but not the entire problem I assure you.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/19/2010 8:59 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm just replacing all my appliances. This will be one less choice

I replaced mine a year ago, determined to not buy GE since they were selling to Iran--but found they were all under the same umbrella--Jenn-Air, Whirlpool, Maytag, etc
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 || 10/19/2010 10:44 Comments || Top||

#8  A union just voted themselves out of a job at Beechcraft in Wichita.
Posted by: bman || 10/19/2010 11:38 Comments || Top||

#9  I know a few factories who closed up shop and moved lock, stock, and barrel to China. In every case, the unions involved displayed nothing but bullet-headed stubbornness. Not saying that was the only reason they moved, but it certainly didn't help.
Posted by: gromky || 10/19/2010 16:02 Comments || Top||

#10  The unions aren't serving their workers very well, IMHO. They're more about the damn magic beans business than actual improving the lot of workers. They take the money out of the salary, one way or another, and the worker gets magic beans that may be worth pension payments... or may not.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/19/2010 16:57 Comments || Top||


Europe
Foreign Minister Will Not Permit Saudi Arabia To Finance Mosques in Norway
Part of a Goggle translation
Saudi government and wealthy individuals want to build mosques for tens of millions in Norway. They have allowed according to Norwegian laws Ãkonomisk support to religious communities. The assumption is that the Norwegian government approves funding, newspaper VG.

In a response to the Islamic Center Tawfiiq MFA writing that it would be "paradoxical and unnatural if it was given approval for funding from sources in a country where it does not open for religious freedom."
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/19/2010 12:01 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At least one country in the west realises the trouble Saudi Arabia brings!
Posted by: Paul D || 10/19/2010 15:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Spine. I love it. Just live up to your words, Norway!
Posted by: American Delight || 10/19/2010 17:52 Comments || Top||


German President Wulff says, entschuldigen Sie bitte, speak German or hit der Tür?
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/19/2010 07:04 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Uh, uh, JEDI MASTER YODA = Begin the EURO JIHAD has???

The greatest mission of the FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION + FORCE RAPIDE' > NOT across the High Seas, but the domestic/internal national security of METROPOLITAN FRANCE agz ISLAMIST, WELFARE "NEW REVOLUTION"???

Another historical BATTLE FOR ENGLAND as WON OR LOST IN SUNNY FRANCE???

{Theme(s) from "GIGI" here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/19/2010 21:43 Comments || Top||


Belgium fails to break political deadlock
[BBC] The latest efforts to form a government in Belgium appear to have failed, after coalition proposals were rejected by several parties.

It is more than four months since the New Flemish Alliance (NVA) won the most seats in elections in June - but it needs to form a coalition to govern.

NVA leader Bart De Wever was asked to submit his proposals by 18 October. But three French-speaking parties involved in coalition talks have rejected the plans.

Mr De Wever was given the deadline by King Albert II, who asked him to find common ground between the seven potential coalition parties.
Posted by: Fred || 10/19/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The latest efforts to form a government in Belgium appear to have failed,...

Maybe they could consult with Baghdad. /sarc off
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/19/2010 8:34 Comments || Top||

#2  Belgium gets a bad rap these days, not without cause, but let's remember they have superb choclate, guns and beer.
Posted by: Chuckles Unolugum4335 || 10/19/2010 13:45 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders supports legalizing pot
"What I think is horrible about all of this, is that we criminalize young people. And we use so many of our excellent resources ... for things that aren't really causing any problems," said Elders. "It's not a toxic substance."
Aw, c'mon. Why not clog up our jails with folks who smoke dried herbs, laugh a lot, and then eat four bags of doritos?
Posted by: gorb || 10/19/2010 00:48 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sorry. That last sentence not in italics is mine.

Hahahaha!
Posted by: gorb || 10/19/2010 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Look. Providing pot to the US is a multi-billion dollar industry. Probably a hundreds of billions of dollar industry. All the enforcement to date doesn't stop it.

After some many decades, one can probably come to the conclusion we aren't GOING to stop it. So why would we not want to legalize it?

Two reasons:

1. The people who are profiting from illegal pot want to continue to profit from illegal pot. They see "illegal" as simply a barrier of entry to industrial sized competition. Legitimate companies won't get into the business so that leaves all of the profits to organized crime, just the way they want it. These criminals have a lot of politicians in their pockets who in turn will fight tooth and nail to keep it illegal.

2. The drug "interdiction" industry is also huge. Many politicians use drug interdiction to bring huge amounts of pork barrel spending back home. The budget of the DEA is nearly 3 billion dollars and employs over 10,000 people. And they probably interdict less than 1% of the pot in this country. But there are politicians who will also fight tooth and nail to keep those programs running.

The reason pot is illegal is because there are a lot of very powerful people making lot very large amount of money from the way things are now.
Posted by: crosspatch || 10/19/2010 1:11 Comments || Top||

#3  "We really need to get over this love affair with the fetus and start worrying about children."

Joycelyn Elders

Posted by: Besoeker || 10/19/2010 6:41 Comments || Top||

#4  These criminals have a lot of politicians in their pockets who in turn will fight tooth and nail to keep it illegal.

One only has to look at the 'legalized' alcohol business on the link between the 'businessmen' and the politicians to keep in place monopolies on distribution and price manipulations and patronage. While our federal courts are swinging the 'commerce clause' like a warhammer to build their vision of a Utopian society by extending authority over anything that might have the faintest hint of a commercial transaction even though bound within a state, they seem very reluctant at best in dealing with the free flow of spirits across state borders. There will be no 'solution' that doesn't just move the problem from one category to another.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/19/2010 8:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Why not legalize it, after all the British and the Dutch both found their experimental tolerance with Pot was a failure. Naturally we should try.

Reminds me of the Swedish experiment with socialism that failed and was rolled back a decade ago, yet they're socialism is held up as a model by ignorant people everywhere.

Yet nobody holds up the Baltic States who declared a flat tax and watched their economies boom and the tax revenue roll in. No, lets follow the failed experiments time and time again.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 10/19/2010 9:18 Comments || Top||

#6  Well, it's never done me any harm!

Oh wait, this is crack...
Posted by: J.Elders || 10/19/2010 15:08 Comments || Top||

#7  One thing people don't often think about, in my opinion, is that "the government" is *YOU*.

When you say you support a law that makes something illegal, you are saying that YOU want to prevent your neighbor from doing something. Now if that something actually causes you harm, like throwing hand grenades in their front yard or storing dynamite in their back shed, sure. But if my neighbor wants to hit his bong in the privacy of his home, I don't have a problem with that. He can go ahead and make himself just as stupid as he wants to, I am not going to show up at his door with a gun (which is what law enforcement is ... it is an extension of YOU) and throw him in jail for it. That is simply idiotic.

Posted by: crosspatch || 10/19/2010 15:37 Comments || Top||

#8  There is still the question about how many beaurocrats will need to be supported per serving: USDA, FDA, Wed Tobacco Firearms, picker's union, local stipulations, don't lick toad commercials, so forth. What will that do to the price per serving as compared to just moonshining it? Jobs created sure, but who gets that tab unless the price per serving is taxed out of the consumer's market?

All the positive goals economically can be accomplished IMHO not by legalization but decriminalizing. Can grow for personal, cannot sell or distribute to minors without big fines, no consuming in public. Take something like a hunter's safety class, get a phishing license, OK to go if you have less than x on ya.

Now morally, not going to tackle that one, I agree and disagree with both sides. That guy next door who uses my FUTA to stay home and play video games until 40 years old then, yes, that would according to the current setup piss me off (why I like the idea of drug testing for those who receive any gov money and that includes alcohol). In my experience most work somewhere, and have a much better post big game work rating than the beer drinkers. I see it is helpful medically but worry about the potential in-your-face coolness advertising approach the alcohol industry takes.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/19/2010 17:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Mmmmm. Doritos.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/19/2010 18:08 Comments || Top||

#10  So wait...we're criminalizing tobacco and people want to uncriminalize pot? Sorry, if smoking is bad for you, then why would we allow it more?

I'm sick of this, either we have morals or we don't, just pick one. If we do have morals, then let's bloody actually have an actual war on drugs. Napalm the drug fields, execute dealers, smugglers and users. It'll fade in 2 generations.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 10/19/2010 18:32 Comments || Top||

#11  Marijuana is NOT innocuous. It isn't as harmful or addictive as cocaine or heroin, but is is not innocent. If somebody wants to get stoned in their own home, fine. But what if they show up at work stoned? Especially if their job is to fly an airplane, drive a truck, or operate on someone's brain? Do you want your doctor stoned when he cuts into your skull?
People may not fly into marijuana rages like they do with crack or angel dust. They just sit passive - but do you want everyone to be passive?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 10/19/2010 22:11 Comments || Top||

#12  yep. "Impaired" is an issue
Posted by: Frank G || 10/19/2010 22:17 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Obama temple visit to be cancelled due to headscarf requirement?
Obama's visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar is likely to be called off after a controversy over what he should use to cover his head. The White House team which visited India last month decided against Obama wearing the traditional scarf on his head. Indian officials were told off-the-record that Obama wearing a headscarf to visit the Golden Temple may convey an image of him appearing to be a Muslim. This is one misinterpretation Obama’s advisors did not want at any cost, given the political sensitivities over this issue in the US.



Posted by: ryuge || 10/19/2010 03:54 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Read that, .....we wish not to venerate Sikhism or memorialize the Sikhs who bravely fought the Nazis at the expense of Islam. Move along now, very little left to the imagination here.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/19/2010 6:53 Comments || Top||

#2  How about an Homburg? I've always liked Homburgs.
Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division || 10/19/2010 14:08 Comments || Top||

#3 
What does that say, other than the man is a dirty rat, when he wants to promote and protect the Muslim cause but doesn't want to be seen attributed to it. That is scary scary shit.
Posted by: kojack || 10/19/2010 16:31 Comments || Top||

#4  I think that he may have called off the visit to have the opportunity to advance the narrative that Americans are turning against him because they think he's a crypto-Muslim, rather than because of his policies or his incompetence ("You know how those bitter, scared folks in fly-over country can be"). That's what he probably tells his friends off the record.

I suspect that his more deeply felt motivation is that he is a thin-skinned crybaby who doesn't want anyone to be able to make fun of him in a silly outfit.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/19/2010 17:20 Comments || Top||

#5  And since H-MCD put this song on repeat in my head:

Posted by: ryuge || 10/19/2010 17:24 Comments || Top||

#6 

Engineers of the 8th Indian Division rest on the morning of 12 May 1944. They spent the previous night clearing enemy mines planted on the Gustav Line, allowing infantry and armour to break through during the drive that would take the Allies north to Rome.



A Sikh-manned Bren gun team of the 4th Indian division participating in manoeuvres prior to Operation Compass, the December 1940 offensive against the Italian Army in the desert of Western Egypt and Eastern Libya.



Indian Sikh soldiers storm a German trench, after exploding it with hand grenades. Circa 1945.




Posted by: john frum || 10/19/2010 19:43 Comments || Top||

#7 

Sikh mountain gunners cleaning Italian guns captured by the 5th Indian Division in Eritrea, north-east Africa. Circa 1941.



A Lieutenant Colonel from the 20th Indian Division, accepts the formal surrender of a Japanese Commander at Saigon, Vietnam in September 1945.
Posted by: john frum || 10/19/2010 19:46 Comments || Top||

#8  Awesome photo diary John.
Posted by: Incredulous || 10/19/2010 22:06 Comments || Top||

#9  unlike the Mighty Pak Army, India has tasted victory
Posted by: Frank G || 10/19/2010 22:16 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian chocolate thief faces hand amputation
[BBC] An Iranian judge has sentenced a man convicted of robbing a confectionery shop to have one of his hands cut off, Iranian media report.

The judge also sentenced the man to one year in prison.

Police jugged the man in May after finding $900 (£560), three pairs of gloves and a large amount of chocolate in his car, Fars news agency said.

Under Iran's Islamic law, amputations are usually reserved for habitual thieves.

Last week, authorities cut off the hand of a man convicted of two robberies in the north-eastern city of Mashhad.
Posted by: Fred || 10/19/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Home Front: Culture Wars
We Were Soldiers Once and Gay
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/19/2010 17:36 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Best headline of the month!
Posted by: Steve White || 10/19/2010 18:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Article I, Section 8;
Section 8 - Powers of Congress
The Congress shall have Power..
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;


The Law is Title X USC. TITLE 10 > Subtitle A > PART II > CHAPTER 37 > § 654

Note well -
(a) Findings.— Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United States commits exclusively to the Congress the powers to raise and support armies, provide and maintain a Navy, and make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.
(2) There is no constitutional right to serve in the armed forces.
(3) Pursuant to the powers conferred by section 8 of article I of the Constitution of the United States, it lies within the discretion of the Congress to establish qualifications for and conditions of service in the armed forces.


Your judiciary has voided that Constitution, has struck down the separation of powers, and has declared itself the ultimate unaccountable power in the country. With the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment to achieve Constitutional passage the judiciary has now decided to overrule the entire amendment process and impose its will over what remains of a republic. They've burnt the village in order to save it.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/19/2010 18:58 Comments || Top||

#3  P2K, you should know better by now that activist judges will not let something as silly as the constitution keep them from imposing their will upon us peasants!
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/19/2010 19:05 Comments || Top||

#4  to enforce that you would need a spineless, empty-suit, bowing and scraping POTUS, and a political DOJ with an unscrupulous AG and a leadership of lefty political hacks.....oh...wait
Posted by: Frank G || 10/19/2010 19:07 Comments || Top||

#5  As a gay patriot, I'd like to say that I agree with all the previous comments. And now - in order to cement my ties to the 'self-hating gay community' - something completely different:

Posted by: ryuge || 10/19/2010 19:21 Comments || Top||

#6  ryuge, I believe that you are a gay patriot, and not the one this blanket ban is intended for. See: Bawney Fwank and his heckling boyfwend. These are the activists who would put their gay identity over their unit prepardeness, their duty to Country, and their duty to the uniform and honor they swore on behalf of the nation. This is in behalf of drama queens and gay activism, not their service in the military. I have no doubt many gays served honorably and quietly. If you want to see the end result of this action, check out the gay pride parades in any major city. If I were gay, I'd be f'n embarrassed
Posted by: Frank G || 10/19/2010 22:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Oh, I agree, Frank. I think that the activists and the judges who don't allow the normal political processes to take place are very much the problem. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was a reasonable attempt at a compromise of a very difficult problem. Being in the military involves many sacrifices, and I don't think that keeping your sex life to yourself is necessarily the greatest sacrifice one would have to make. If that's too difficult for you, then the military is not the right place for you to be. To say that it's 'not fair' misses the point that without what the miliatry does, there would be no justice of any kind for anyone in our civilization. If, in the future, there are changes to be made to the policy, they should be made by our normal Constitutional political procedures, not by some judge trying to 'make life fair' without knowing what the consequences will be.

In addition, I like having an excuse to post an old favorite Monty Python sketch. :-)
Posted by: ryuge || 10/19/2010 23:40 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2010-10-19
  Somali government seizes Bulo Hawo town from al-Shabab
Mon 2010-10-18
  Merkel: German multiculturalism failed
Sun 2010-10-17
  German terrorist gets three year sentence
Sat 2010-10-16
  Nine militants killed in drone attacks in N. Waziristan
Fri 2010-10-15
  Attack on Iraqi politician kills four
Thu 2010-10-14
  Four drone strikes kill 11 in N Waziristan
Wed 2010-10-13
  Tamaulipas: 10 Die in Gang Firefight
Tue 2010-10-12
  15 killed in clashes in Mogadishu
Mon 2010-10-11
  Dronezap waxes eight in North Wazoo
Sun 2010-10-10
  Bangla: Lashkar's explosives expert captured
Sat 2010-10-09
  Norks confirm Sonny Jong Un's succession
Fri 2010-10-08
  Zapee ID'd as Mohammed Usman
Thu 2010-10-07
  US apologizes for attack on Pakistani soldiers
Wed 2010-10-06
  Qari Ziauddin ID'd as a Zap-ee
Tue 2010-10-05
  French police arrest 11 people with suspected Islamic extremists links


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