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"Take us to Tehran!" : Turkish passenger plane hijacked
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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15:09 12 00:00 tu3031 [37]
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15:01 7 00:00 twobyfour [27]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
FBI Stalks the Big Bot Net
The Storm computer virus had been spreading since early in the year, grabbing control of PCs around the world. By August, Storm had infected nearly two million computers with a secret program that turned those PCs into unwilling slaves (or "zombies") of those controlling this network (or botnet) of computers. Many of you may have noticed a lot of recent spam directing you to look at an online greeting card, or accompanied by pdf files. That was Storm, the largest single spam campaign ever.

Meanwhile, the FBI announced that Operation Bot Roast had, so far, identified over a million compromised PCs, in scores of botnets. The FBI is trying to get in touch with as many of these computer users as possible, and direct them to organizations and companies that can help them clean the zombie software out of their computers. Help can be had for free, although many of the compromised PCs were found to be clogged with all manner of malware (illegal software hidden on your machine to feed you ads or simply track what you do).
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 20:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Houston men plead guilty in oil-for-food case
Follow-up. And they should be hung for treason.
WASHINGTON — Houston oilman David Chalmers, accused of funneling illegal payments to Saddam Hussein's regime at at time when Iraq was the target of strict economic sanctions, pleaded guilty today to a conspiracy charge. Chalmers' business associate at Houston-based BayOil, Ludmil Dionissiev, pleaded guilty to one count of facilitating a shipment of merchandise into the United States, knowing that shipment to not be authorized by law.

That leaves Houston oil tycoon Oscar Wyatt as the lone defendant still slated to go to trial in September on charges he made millions of dollars in illicit payments to Saddam's government for the privilege of buying Iraqi crude. Wyatt attorney Carl Parker said today that his client is not guilty and intends to proceed to trial. Parker said he does not believe today's guilty pleas will affect Wyatt's prospects. "I don't think it will mean anything to Wyatt," Parker said. "I think the government made a stretch trying to tie them together in the first place. They're not partners. They haven't acted together."

The charges stemmed from oil sales conducted under the United Nations' scandal-plagued oil-for-food humanitarian program for Iraq. That program was designed to allow Baghdad to export crude to help the Iraqi people while keeping the proceeds out of Saddam's hands.

But the Iraqi government began demanding that purchasers pay a secret surcharge to lift Iraqi crude. All three men were accused of funneling payments to Saddam's government from mid-2000 to March 2003.

Chalmers and Wyatt also were accused of trying to persuade U.N. oil overseers to lower the official selling price of Iraqi crude, so they could pay kickbacks to Baghdad and still turn a profit when reselling the oil, as well as engaging in prohibited financial transactions with Saddam's regime and violating U.S. sanctions rules.
Posted by: || 08/18/2007 15:09 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party

#1  Nice rope. Now we need a tree.
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:17 Comments || Top||

#2  "I don't think it will mean anything to Wyatt,"

In light of how uncontaminated he is by any sense of morals or ethics, probably not.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 16:34 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
11 Revolutionary Guard die in Iran helicopter crash
An Iranian military helicopter has crashed in the northwest of Iran, killing all the eleven Revolutionary Guard members on board.

Officials say the incident, which was caused by a technical problem, occurred near Tamarchin in West Azerbaijan Province Friday night.

The experts are still investigating the matter.

The area is well-known for its bad weather conditions and heavy storms.

Tamarchin is located in Piranshahr south of Urumiyeh the provincial capital of West Azerbaijan.
Posted by: Sherry || 08/18/2007 15:09 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [37 views] Top|| File under: IRGC

#1  Yes, a technical problem.
Posted by: Halliburton Heavy-Weather Division || 08/18/2007 16:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Spit.
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Technically, it was destroyed on impact.
Posted by: Brett || 08/18/2007 17:58 Comments || Top||

#4  11 Revolutionary Guard die in Iran helicopter crash
792 Virgins Sentenced to Eternity of Olfactory Repugnance.
Posted by: OyVey1 || 08/18/2007 18:46 Comments || Top||

#5 
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 19:03 Comments || Top||

#6  ...Probably on their way to the party celebrating being named a terrorist organization by Uncle Sam.


Pity they don't believe in irony OR karma.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/18/2007 19:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Right on the border with Kurdish Iraq. From Wikipedia

According to the 2006 census, The ethnic composition of Piranshahr is 88% kurdish and 12% turkish.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 20:00 Comments || Top||

#8  I hope there is enough planes/choppers with technical problems for all IRG.

If not, it is possible to channel some technically problematic parts to make it so?

And while at it, why limit that to IRG only? Do mullahs fly, as well?
Posted by: twobyfour || 08/18/2007 20:22 Comments || Top||

#9  Good.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 08/18/2007 21:11 Comments || Top||

#10  That "inshalla" crap doesn't maintain rotarty wing aircraft very well now, does it? Seems like lately old Allah ain't keeping the IRG under his wing too much either.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 21:16 Comments || Top||

#11 
Allan 1 - IRG 0
Posted by: macofromoc || 08/18/2007 21:29 Comments || Top||

#12  Guess they won't be slappping anybody around...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 22:40 Comments || Top||


Fifth Column
WND : Oliver Stone tries, tries again to help Iran
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 15:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [27 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  We're all Iranians now.

WooHoo!!!
Posted by: Danking70 || 08/18/2007 15:16 Comments || Top||

#2  "Stone's publicist referred to the bad image that the U.S. media has given to Islam and Islamic countries and said that the documentary could assist in countering such negative propaganda,"

Traitor, hang him.
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Don't criticize Stone. He is our second best deep cover CIA agent after Michael Moore. If they let him into Iran, he and his team will plant high tech GPS homing devices everywhere.

It was amazing that Castro survived after Stone shook his hand. He gave him enough high tech poison with that to kill a dozen elephants.

Dick Cheney must really be pissed off to order him there. It could be a real bloodbath.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 17:16 Comments || Top||

#4  ZObviusly, a desperate cry for help.
"Stop me before I film again!"
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 19:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Is there any doubt anymore that a sizable portion of US population is veritably insane?

Somehow, conflict with a smidget of remaining sanity compells them to engage in suicidal tendencies, but the disease progressed so that they project their state on the rest of us and want to take us with them.

Well, not only US population, it's everywhere, manifesting in different forms that seem to form symbiotic bounds, leftism and jihadism is one example... Lefties secretly hope that heir necks would be striken by self-destructive jihadis.

Insanity is on the rise and the prognosis is bleak--it will be very ungood until it is over.
Posted by: twobyfour || 08/18/2007 20:09 Comments || Top||

#6  No, they are not insane, they are the poisoned fruit of a very successful Comintern operation launched in the 1930s. The idea was to undermine the West's image of itself and destroy the will to fight back if and when the Soviet Union and its minions attacked the West. Most of the "peace movements" of the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and today have been run by true believers in the Comintern program. Notice that those "peace movements" have all demanded that the West not fight back,defend itself, aid allies, etc against any of the arrayed enemies and have NEVER demanded the same of those attacking groups.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 08/18/2007 21:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Shieldwolf, I've been indoctrinated by commie ideology for most of my childhood. That is until I were able to discern, discriminate and reason at the age of 13, when I was able to see through all that bullshit.

I was not alone. A majority of my peers went through the same process. There were some induhviduals that were eating it hook line and sinker, but at about the ratio of 30:2. The 2 corresponding those dummies that thought marxism was the best invention after sliced bread, if not the best. Two out of thirty.

So... riddle me that.
Posted by: twobyfour || 08/18/2007 22:34 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
UK to evacuate 22,000 Britons from Zimbabwe & more...
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 13:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [28 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Am I the only one surprised that there's still that many foreigners in Bobbyland?
Posted by: Danking70 || 08/18/2007 15:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Not exactly foreigners : just people that have a legal right to a British passport. Lots of the former Rhodesians had a British passport that they never surrendered.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 08/18/2007 21:26 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Today's Idiot(s)
Posted by: GK || 08/18/2007 13:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can't decide who's more idiotic: The old lady who apparently didn't know how to use a phone or the folks who left her there.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 14:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Her phone must be ringing off the hook with unsolicited calls from personal injury shysters.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 18:07 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Mugabe's War on the Western world: Black Leaders give him a Hero's welcome
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 13:03 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No need for the west to give it's wealth away feeding or protecting Mugabe and his fellow enablers.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 14:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Thugabe sure showed us eeevil white folks..what evil really is.
Posted by: Brett || 08/18/2007 14:27 Comments || Top||

#3  With their evil strategy, starving and dying of AIDS, we're doomed!
Posted by: Titus Hayes5692 || 08/18/2007 15:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Happy Birthday, Virginia Dare! And Many More…We Hope!
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 12:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas Bee Nahoul Abuses Cats, Lions at Gaza Zoo

From our friends at MEMRI

Following are excerpts from an episode of the children's program Pioneers of Tomorrow, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on August 10, 2007.

"We Must Arise in Order to Take Revenge Upon the Criminal Jews, the Occupying Zionists"

Nahoul, a giant bee: "My friends, Al-Aqsa awaits you. My dears, Al-Aqsa is very sad. My friends, Al-Aqsa is being held prisoner and is besieged by the criminal murderers of children. We must arise in order to take revenge upon the criminal Jews, the occupying Zionists. We must liberate Al-Aqsa. Do you know how we can liberate it and get hold of its key, just like it was liberated by Saladin?"

Child host Saraa: "How, Nahoul?"

Nahoul: "How? By means of morning prayers, blood, sacrifice, and pain, by means of martyrs, and with endurance. This is the key. I am so sad, Saraa."
[...]
"Allah Willing, We Will Regain the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Cleanse it of the Impurity of the Zionists"

Saraa: "Don't be sad, Nahoul. I, you, the dear children, even the older ones - the generation of the 'Pioneers of Tomorrow'... Allah willing, we will regain the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and cleanse it of the impurity of the Zionists."

Nahoul: "Allah willing."

Saraa: "On a different subject, Nahoul, let's see what you got up to this week."

Nahoul: "Nothing, Saraa."

Saraa: "Let's see for ourselves."

Nahoul enters the cats' cage at the Gaza Zoo.
Nahoul: "Meow! Meow! I'm opening the door and going in. I opened the door and entered the cage, and the guy didn't see me. I am now standing in the cats' cage. The cats here are asleep - the poor, wretched, imprisoned cats. I feel like abusing them. This cat is asleep. I feel like attacking it."

Nahoul picks up cat by its tail.
You've really got to click on the clip at MEMRI to truly appreciate the horror of this.
[...]
"Shoo... Meow..."
[...]
"I should get out of here before the guy comes, and I get scolded."
[...]
Nahoul throws stones and roars at the lions in their cage.
[...]
Saraa: "What have you done, Nahoul? Haven't you heard of the hadith of the Prophet..."

Nahoul: "No, Saraa, I haven't heard."
I don't need no stinking Hadiths when I'm having fun.

Saraa: "He said that a woman went to Hell because she locked up a cat, without feeding it or letting it eat on its own, Nahoul. Therefore, Allah punished her and sent her to Hell. If you keep doing this, you will have the same fate, Nahoul."
I ain't no stinking woman!
and nothing bad happens to Nahoul. There's going to be a lot of swingin' kitties in Ghaza. Such a wonderful kiddies show.
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble || 08/18/2007 12:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Afghanistan
German Woman Kidnapped in Kabul Eatery
Armed assailants abducted a German woman from a restaurant in Kabul on Saturday, officials said. Armed men pulled up next to a barbecue and fast food restaurant, and one of the men went inside and asked to order a pizza, said intelligence officials investigating the kidnapping. Two assailants waited outside, while another waited in a parked gray Toyota Corolla. The man in the restaurant then pulled out a pistol, walked up to a table where the woman was sitting with her boyfriend, and took her away. It was not immediately clear what happened to the boyfriend. Police, alerted to the kidnapping, spotted the speeding car and opened fire, but instead hit a nearby taxi and killed its driver.

The latest kidnapping comes amid heightened fears of abductions, after 23 South Koreans and two Germans were taken hostage in separate incidents last month in central Afghanistan. The German woman abducted Saturday worked for a small, nonaffiliated Christian organization called Ora International, a man affiliated with the group told The Associated Press. Based in the central German town of Korbach, north of Frankfurt, the group is active in 30 countries around the world and concentrates its efforts in Afghanistan on health issues and HIV/AIDS awareness, the group said on its Web site.

Julia Gross, spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, said German officials were "pursuing reports of a possible kidnapping of a German citizen." The latest kidnapping comes amid heightened fears of abductions, after 23 South Koreans and two Germans were taken hostage in separate incidents last month in central Afghanistan. One of the German men was shot to death, and the other remains captive. Taliban militants killed two of the South Koreans and released two after face-to-face talks with South Korean officials.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, said the group's demands for the release of the remaining 19 South Koreans remains the same—a swap for Taliban prisoners, which the Afghan government has ruled out. "That's why from our side, we say the negotiations have failed, but we're still ready for more negotiations if the Korean side is willing to meet our demands ... the exchange of prisoners," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 12:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Police...spotted the speeding car and opened fire, but instead hit a nearby taxi and killed its driver.
Keystone Kops with firearms. OR
"Barney, how many times have I told you to keep that bullet in your pocket?"
Posted by: GK || 08/18/2007 13:20 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Mortars, Bombs in Iraq's North Kill 11
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 12:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Head of crime syndicate killed in street shooting in Fukuoka
A gang leader was shot on a street in a residential area of Chuo Ward in Fukuoka City on Saturday evening and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, Fukuoka prefectural police said.

The man was identified as Yoshihisa Matsuo, 56, head of the major regional crime syndicate Dojinkai. The police are searching for two men who witnesses said fled from the scene.

They are also warning of a possible escalation in rivalry between gangster groups in the region. Dojinkai is one of the largest syndicates on the southern main island of Kyushu with around 950 members operating in Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures.

The police received a call that a man had been shot at around 6:15 p.m., and an ambulance took him to the hospital. Witnesses were quoted as saying they heard three or four gunshots and two men fled the scene in a white car.

Matsuo became chairman of Dojinkai, based in Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, in May last year. This appointment prompted some members to leave the syndicate to form a new group, and the two have subsequently been in conflict. Shootings and arson apparently related to the rivalry have since been reported.

Matsuo is believed to have been shot in the head as he got out of a car, the police said.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 12:41 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran's Guards: We'll 'Punch' US
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 12:40 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [21 views] Top|| File under: IRGC

#1  all the squealing and false bravado tells me the IRGC designation as a terrorist org must've hit somebody important in the wallet...heh
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 13:20 Comments || Top||

#2  We need to spike their "punch". WITH RAT POISON
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 14:32 Comments || Top||

#3  They want to use fists at a gunfight.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 14:36 Comments || Top||

#4  Fine, then we will shoot you right off the back side of their goats wives.
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Not really a lot of difference between these jerks and the PLA.
Posted by: RWV || 08/18/2007 17:04 Comments || Top||


Europe
This Demo Is NOT Being Banned
From the desk of Paul Belien

A far-left group of anti-American conspiracy theorists, calling itself “United for Truth” (UfT), is going to demonstrate in Brussels on 9 September. The group will march from the North Station to the South (Midi) Station in protest against "George Bush’s involvement" with the 9/11/2001 terror attacks in New York and on the Pentagon.

On its website UfT writes:

Recently the French Minister for Housing and the City Mme Christine Boutin (fat catholic moonbat) expressed her doubts about the official 9/11 report. Before, Michael Meacher, secretary of state in Britain and Andreas Von Bulow, ex Minister from Germany, stated clearly that 9/11 and the war on terror are orchestrated by the Bush administration. Prof. David Ray Griffin held on September 14th, 2006 a lecture (‘Should the truth be revealed or concealed’) in Copenhagen. In this lecture he asked for a European investigation to the facts of September 11, 2001. To make this demand stronger, the United for truth organization in Belgium, is organizing a European protest rally through Brussels, on Sunday September 9th, 2007. [...] The United for truth organization consists of members of various truth, peace and human right movements in Europe.

The 9/9 - United for truth rally will be the first major protest in Europe demanding a serious change and challenge to all politicians in Europe. The protesters [...] agree the 9/11 attacks and other terrorist acts, no matter if they were carried out by some so-called Afghan cavemen or by the governments themselves, inflicted the current policy of fear. [...] The protesters want to show their solidarity with the American people, who are also asking the same questions and demanding the same answers for years to their government.


Unlike the anti-Sharia demonstration, planned to be held next September 11 in Brussels, the “9/9 United for Truth” demonstration of September 9 has been authorized by the Brussels authorities. Last week the Brussels mayor, Freddy Thielemans, banned the anti-Sharia demonstration because he fears it will upset the Muslim inhabitants of Brussels.

Hey Freddy, doesn’t the 9/9 demo upset the Americans living in Brussels? Or have you banned the 9/11 demo because the organisers want to have one minute of silence for the 9/11/2001 victims?

See also:

Organizers of Brussels Anti-Sharia Demo Appeal against Ban, 16 August 2007

See You in Brussels, Freddy, 15 August 2007

Thank You, Mr. Mayor: Champagne for Everyone, 13 August 2007
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 12:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Doubled the price of gas, got a majority of Dems in congress and senate, costing billions of $$ a second.

Yeah, it was obviously a brilliant plan by Bush.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/18/2007 12:26 Comments || Top||

#2  If only the Jihidis were loony enough to attack the demonstrators....

Except, even if they caught one of the perps redhanded, spouting the jihadi drivel, the moonbats would see it as a Bush frame-up!
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 13:36 Comments || Top||

#3  The neo-Soviets have finally figured out that it was useless to cause enough European hatred for them to refuse American treasure and protection but it might work to cause the Americans to hate the Euros enough to leave them to their dark fate.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 13:54 Comments || Top||

#4  9/11 and the war on terror are orchestrated by the Bush administration.

So Bush invented Islam...?
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:39 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Soldier cleared of murder in civilian court 18 years ago to face court-martial in the deaths
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A soldier cleared of a triple murder in civilian court 18 years ago will face a military court-martial for the same crimes, an Army general ordered Friday. The Army will try Master Sgt. Timothy Hennis on three counts of premeditated murder in the May 1985 deaths of Kathryn Eastburn, 31, and two of her daughters -- Kara Sue, 5, and Erin Nicole, 3.

Hennis was convicted and sentenced to death for the crimes in 1986, but the state Supreme Court awarded him a new trial after finding the first trial was run unfairly and with weak evidence. A second jury acquitted Hennis in April 1989.

Last year after a detective reviewing the case uncovered DNA evidence that couldn't be tested using technology available in the mid-1980s. State officials couldn't charge Hennis again, so the new evidence was given to the Army, which recalled Hennis to active duty and began an investigation into the deaths. Hennis had retired from the military in 2005.

In ordering the court-martial, 18th Airborne Corps commander Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin dismissed a rape charge. In 1985, the military had a three-year statue of limitations on rape charges. The limit was changed in 1986, but not made retroactive.
Going to raise some interesting constitutional issues.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 11:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Double-dog-dare jeopardy?
Posted by: Jack Jang4445 || 08/18/2007 17:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmmm....

Okay - officially, retired pay is 'limited pay for limited duty' - that is, you are liable to callback up to age 62. As long as this guy was collecting retirement checks, this is legal.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 08/18/2007 21:07 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Book Review : India's silent warriors
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 11:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [21 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Aligns Itself With North Korea
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 11:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  This could prove amusing... though not so much for Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/18/2007 11:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Syria gets missile technology. Not sure what the NKors get. A friend?
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2007 11:59 Comments || Top||

#3  edible dissidents
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 12:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Is there a Club For Losers now?
Posted by: SteveS || 08/18/2007 12:22 Comments || Top||

#5  If there is Hugo wants to join.
Bob too.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/18/2007 12:26 Comments || Top||

#6  Bashar: "Kimmie I'll trade you your hairline for my chin."
Kimmie: "Me noh longah ronrey."
The comedy keeps comin' don't forget to tip your waitresses and drive safe.
Posted by: regular joe || 08/18/2007 15:12 Comments || Top||

#7  It's difficult to imagine how anyone could make a much more brazen statement of outright and intentional hostility towards the entire human race.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 17:56 Comments || Top||

#8  edible dissidents. heh.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/18/2007 18:59 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Navy Gets Upset, Pulls Video From YouTube
The Navy has pulled the plug on a YouTube video shot aboard the San Diego-based aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan because it shows sailors inappropriately using safety equipment, a Navy spokesman said. The four-minute, 18-second music clip, titled “Women of CVN76: 'That Don't Impress Me Much,' ” was posted May 23 on the popular Web site for videos. It was viewed more than 31,000 times before its removal last week – reportedly at the urging of Adm. Kirkland Donald, the Navy's director of nuclear propulsion.

Navy commanders have counseled the airman who produced the footage, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the San Diego-based Naval Air Forces command.

The incident illustrates the challenges that the military faces in an age of digital cameras and online video-sharing. The Pentagon frequently has found itself on the defensive – for security or other reasons – on issues involving the Internet and technology.

The theme of the Reagan video, set to a tune by country singer Shania Twain, is that women serving aboard the Reagan can do the same jobs as men. Until 1994, the Pentagon barred women from serving on combat ships. “The video was a lighthearted and positive depiction of the service of women officers and sailors aboard aircraft carriers and in Navy squadrons,” Brown said. “It showed the good humor and camaraderie of the ship's crew.”

But it also included fleeting shots of the door to the ship's nuclear power plant and of a sailor dancing while wearing a full-body radiation suit – items that might alarm the Navy's nuclear-propulsion officials, who are hypersensitive about the security. Under Pentagon rules, images of any part of a ship's nuclear plant cannot be shown to foreign nationals.

“The nuclear community is totally paranoid,” said Norman Polmar, an independent Navy analyst from Alexandria, Va. “They should be security conscious. But we're not the only people in the world with nuclear technology.”

Brown denied that anything in the video compromised operational security. What worried Navy officials, he said, was the “lack of propriety” in a few scenes involving the use of safety equipment.

Neither the Navy nor the ship's command sponsored the video, Brown said. But “Women of CVN76” spotlighted sailors from many departments of the carrier. Even the commanding officer, Capt. Terry Kraft, made a cameo appearance.

Brown said someone brought the video to the Navy's attention last week. Kraft was then summoned to the Pentagon for a meeting with Donald, a four-star flag officer who is near the top of the Navy's chain of command.
Bet that was a fun meeting.
The Navy didn't identify who made the video, except to say that it was a sailor assigned to an aviation squadron. The man who posted the footage uses the online moniker “PUMPIT01.” His other YouTube videos prominently feature members of VAW-113, a flight squadron based in Ventura County that embarks aboard the Reagan.

Earlier this year, the Army tightened regulations on war-zone bloggers out of fear that enemy fighters would glean useful intelligence from them.

Last week, the military newspaper Navy Times revealed that the online mapping site Google Earth carried a satellite photo that showed the exposed propeller of a U.S. nuclear submarine in drydock. The propeller is considered to be highly sensitive military technology.

Recently, the Department of Defense cut off access to 11 Web sites – including YouTube and MySpace, a social-networking forum – from its workplace computers. In doing so, Pentagon officials cited concerns about the amount of bandwidth used in accessing the sites, but some critics said it amounted to censorship.

At the same time, the Defense Department has used YouTube to post battle footage from Iraq, according to The Washington Post. “It's kind of a double-edged sword,” said William Knowles, a Chicago-based analyst who operates C4I.org, a Web site about government and military security. “It's one thing to have digital cameras on the battlefield, on the warship. But you'd hope there would be guidelines (about how to use them).”

Staying ahead of the latest technology is immensely difficult for Pentagon security officers, analysts say. “It's just like wildfire,” said Fred Villella, a retired Army colonel from Encinitas who runs the military security consulting firm System Defenses International. “I don't know if we're ever going to be able to catch up with the capabilities that are out there.”
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 11:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The NAVY always were tight-assed pricks, no humor seen or present in their Officer ranks.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 11:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Which NAVY are you talking about, Redneck? The nukes, the airdales, the SeaBees, the SEALS, the boomers, the bubble-heads, the FMF, or the skimmers?

Humor? The Thresher was a real knee-slapper, eh? And the Forrestal, the Thach and the Belknap all had great punchlines. I bet a nuke-accident would certainly cause great amusement. I bet it's especially funny when a cat-launch goes wrong, a marine falls overboard, or an AB gets hit by a rotor. I found it especially amusing when I got wounded during an operation because somebody fucked up. The two-year hospital stay and rehab was real Comedy-Central material.

Yeah, we officers should stand back and laugh our fucking fool heads off.

If and when you pull your head out of your ass, do some research on the number of Navy nuke accidents.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/18/2007 12:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Maybe things are getting a little out of hand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEkYqL9n7vo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqaWdkdFb3Y

http://youtube.com/watch?v=puVmKfCwb4M
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 12:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe things are getting a little out of hand

No, I rather think things are DEFINITIVELY getting a little out of hand :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwFk2VaDXok
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 12:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Pappy's got a point.

Here in Computer Land, when things go tits-up, we just reboot the server. Maybe some lost business and whiney customers. In the military, when it all goes wrong you end up with twisted, smoking wreckage and dead comrades. It's like running with scissors - explosive, fragmentation scissors. They can't afford mistakes. Sometimes being a 'tight-assed prick' can have survival value.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/18/2007 12:42 Comments || Top||

#6  What this means is "Do not f*ck with Naval Reactors NavSea 08".
Posted by: Penguin || 08/18/2007 18:15 Comments || Top||

#7  Thanks Pappy for proving my point. We're talking about a sailor dancing wearing rad equipment, not opening the seals to look at the pretty blue glow.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 18:42 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
Risks in a Muslim Reformation
Posted by: ryuge || 08/18/2007 08:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Can't reform something that is inherently flawed.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/18/2007 9:26 Comments || Top||

#2  This article is a bunch of nothing. What is her point? That Islam should not reform? Getting in a few digs that the reformation of Christianity was once a bloody business seems another attempt to sweep Islam's current problems under the rug with finger pointing and moral equivalence. We should consider ourselves lucky if Islam's reformation is only as bloody as Christianity's. In fact, we should all be so lucky if Islam's bloody reformation would result in societies as peaceful as those which Christianity produced.

Islam needs to either reform or to conquer to survive. Without bombing the modern world back to the stone ages, Islam will not be able to conquer IPODS, cell phones and Youtube.

Islam - as practiced 100 years ago is already dead. It was killed with global communications and access by its adherents to the modern world. The only way it is going to survive as it was, is to return the world to "as it was". That isn't going to happen unless Islam can blow up the modern world and convert the few remaining survivors to Islam. That's what this current fight is - the death throes of a backward culture in a modern world.
Posted by: Unutle McGurque8861 || 08/18/2007 11:47 Comments || Top||

#3  The only way it is going to survive as it was, is to return the world to "as it was". That isn't going to happen unless Islam can blow up the modern world and convert the few remaining survivors to Islam. That's what this current fight is - the death throes of a backward culture in a modern world.

Very well stated UG8861. What we are observing is the Islamic reformation. Contrary to the wishful thinking among the multicultis, the Jihadis are well within the mainstream of Islamic thought. Islam is nothing without its unifying principle of 'jihad.'
Posted by: SR-71 || 08/18/2007 12:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Islam is nothing without its unifying principle of 'jihad.'

Sadly, I think that is true. However, I do think that the majority of Islam's adherents would prefer to be able to move into the future and live in peace. How can they do that? I don't know. But they will never be able to achieve it through Jihad.
Posted by: Cravins Untervehr8884 || 08/18/2007 14:00 Comments || Top||

#5  But they are achieving their objectives of conquest quite well via immigration, separation, intimidation and population replacement. Western Euro societies won't last 100 years of muslim immigration before they collapse.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 14:10 Comments || Top||

#6  And it not been demonstrated the US will fair any better. It is just 30 years behind the curve.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 14:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Reform Islam. Right. Not a chance in hell. You can't reform pure evil.
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:47 Comments || Top||

#8  The Reformation was a time of intense focus on God and what He requires of people. As a movement, it was enthusiastic, narrow and far from tolerant. It and the Counter-Reformation brought two centuries of repression, war and massacre to the West. It's unlikely that anyone who lived through it would consider wishing a Reformation on Muslims.

Unlikely? I couldn’t be happier to wish ever more lethal strife upon this bunch of intolerant psychotic murderous lunatic gangsters.

a Reformation is sweeping through the Muslim world.

Too bad there isn’t any good news in that statement. As always, Muslims reserve only the choicest of outcomes for themselves. Islam’s resolute pursuit of a global caliphate will prove to be its own death knell. Only the most suicidal of cultures could fail to realize what is in store for those who do not resist such rank tyranny.

In Islam today it is usually radical reformers who have reached first for the sword.

Noticed that, did ya?

They will choose whether they prefer societies shaped by Sayyid Qutb, who advocated closing the Islamic mind to everything but the ancient texts, or Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes), who preferred the open embrace of all knowledge.

Read the writing on the wall, you moron. They’ve already chosen and none of it bodes well for the West or Islam’s long-term survival.

Meanwhile, the majority has yet to construct an effective ideological defense of moderation.

Yoohoo, lady! Get a farking clue. There is no “majority” trying to “construct an effective ideological defense”. What they’re trying to construct is a global caliphate—exactly as the Koran instructs them to do—and they’ll cheerfully kill anyone who gets in their way. What part of that is unclear?
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 17:38 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Multiple gunbattles in southern Thailand
As Thai military nab terror leader

One terrorist suspected insurgent was killed, while another armed jihadi militant and an official were wounded during raids and attacks overnight and Saturday morning in the southern provinces.

One terrorist presumed insurgent was shot dead during a clash with combined police and army personnel in Yala's Krongpinang district as a 20-man government team raided a village believed to be an insurgent hide-out. Five gunmen opened fire at the government unit. One gunman was killed, while the others fled. Police detained four young men for questioning.

Elsewhere, an army unit raided a village in Songkhla's Sabayoi district and detained an terrorist insurgent leader thought to be involved in the killing and beheading of a police officer and shooting an assistant governor. The 200-man military force arrested Nilo Asae and five accomplices in the raid on Saturday. Mr. Nilo has a bounty on his head for Bt 500,000. The soldiers also seized three weapons, ammunition, explosive devices, documents about plotting attacks, camouflage uniforms, cell phones, and marijuana. The detainees will be sent to a military camp in Pattani for further investigation.

Earlier in Narathiwat, four gunmen attacked a temporary military base at a school in Rueso district. Second Lt. Sarawut Timharn was shot in the leg and sent to hospital. The gunmen retreated after five-minute exchange of gunfire with the military.

An estimated nine gunmen attacked Rueso Hospital in Narathiwat's Rueso district around midnight Friday, shooting into the hospital buildings. Both police and military responded, surrounding the hospital and exchanged gunfire with the gunmen for about ten minutes. Police arrested Isma-ae Jemu, an assailant who was wounded, and two others, who denied being involved in the shooting. They said they were innocent bystanders who were caught in the crossfire between the assailants and the depending police and military personnel. An investigation is continuing.

And:

A soldier was wounded Saturday after terrorists insurgents fired more than 10 rounds of ammunition into a school in the troubled southern province of Narathiwat where a polling station for the public referendum on the draft constitution was set up. The incident took place in Ruso district when two unidentified terrorists travelling in a motorcycle and armed with war weapons fired into the school, wounding the soldier. Soldiers manning the temporary outpost at the school returned the fire but missed the targets.
This article starring:
ISMA AE JEMUThai Insurgency
NILO ASAEThai Insurgency
Posted by: ryuge || 08/18/2007 07:52 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Goose Creek Update - FBI: Accusations Against Middle Eastern Men May Prove False
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 08/18/2007 07:27 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  I went to the "article" linked to the headline, and didn't find much. Pretty thin.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 08/18/2007 8:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Thin? I'm gonna repeat here all the new news. Ready? Here it is:

The FBI is urging people not to jump to conclusions in the case of two men accused of having pipe bombs in their car, saying the allegations may not be true.

One former federal prosecutor said the agency's statement was "highly unusual."


But I don't see how they got the headline out of that 'news'.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 11:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Heard from the crime scene investigator that examined the car's trunk: Definitely pipe bombs and "interesting" chemicals.

Probably more PC horse$hit from the FBI.
Posted by: SR-71 || 08/18/2007 12:18 Comments || Top||

#4  So is anybody keeping track of how many terrorist attacks and/or foiled terrorist attacks occur in this country whether or not the authorities admit that we continue to be attacked by Islamist?
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 || 08/18/2007 12:59 Comments || Top||

#5  FBI doesn't want to get sued by cair. Justice department memo has informed all US gummint employees that dhimmi federal courts will issue summary judgements in muzz complainers' favor in ALL cases...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/18/2007 13:55 Comments || Top||

#6  If this gets any more surreal we'll need to page Salvador Dali to the white courtesy phone. Exactly who's side is our government actually on?
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 14:29 Comments || Top||

#7  The Global Terrorism Database. The search functions are crap. The database is comprehensive but tedious to wade through.

Global Incident Map Displaying Terrorist Acts, Suspicious Activity, and General Terrorism News
A well done GIS location map based database.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 14:40 Comments || Top||

#8  Goose Creek Update - FBI: Accusations Against Middle Eastern Muslim Men May Prove False Obvious.

There, fixed that.
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:25 Comments || Top||

#9  Another bookmark: MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
Well done site.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 16:36 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Rooters: Padilla Case "Tainted Victory"
Opinion, thinly disguised as news.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 07:16 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Is he going to jail?
Fuck Reuters...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 8:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Should'a been tried for treason during time of war [back dated to the assault upon Khobar Towers by AQ as their initiation of hostilities].
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/18/2007 8:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Imprisoned without charge, tortured, convicted, sentence to prison for a very long time. I call that a win for us, a loss for them. So a loss for reuters, I guess.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/18/2007 10:05 Comments || Top||

#4  The progressive community is wailing because Padilla was held for 3 1/2 years without charge. The news community is telling us all that it shows we can try terrorist cases in civilian courts (even though the charges finally made against Padilla didn't relate to what he was trying to do).

I can make everyone happy -- next time we catch someone like this, we immediately declare that person's citizenship forfeit (per USSC 1942), convene a military tribunal, try the man, and if convicted, give him a single appeal straight to the SecDef. If that appeal fails, shoot the SOB.

There now, that wasn't so hard, was it?
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2007 12:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Point of order here, they couldn't make the dirty bomb case because Joser admitted that with his Miranda Rights. So the Feds couldn't use that in court but there was a MOUNTAIN of othe evidens linking him to Al Quaeda and illegal activity. That's why he got convicted on associated crimes and not the primary one. The LLL Mo0b@t$ think that just because we couldn't get him on hte dirty bomb charges he should be set free...Think again.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 08/18/2007 12:19 Comments || Top||

#6  Like tainted love, a victory is a victory!
Posted by: OyVey1 || 08/18/2007 18:04 Comments || Top||

#7  Feds got Capone on tax evasion. They wanted him for a whole raft of activities, including a couple murders. But taxes is what they could nail him on in a trial.

At least Padilla's charges were terror-related.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 18:34 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Gaffney: Close Brooklyn Madrasa
Frank Gaffney | August 13, 2007

The story of the public school in Brooklyn that is poised to become a taxpayer-underwritten, Islamist recruitment and indoctrination center took a dramatic turn last week. The principal-designate of the so-called Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser, was forced to resign after she defended a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Intifada NYC" – making clear her radical ideology and proclivity for dissembling.
Send her to Gaza.
The question is no longer whether Ms. Almontaser was, as her critics in a group of parents, teachers and concerned citizens called the Stop the Madrassa Community Coalition have insisted, determined to use the KGIA to advance her theo-political agenda. Her claim that "intifada" actually meant nothing more than a "shaking off" and that its use in connection with New York City was unobjectionable was so preposterous – not to say alarming – that her supporters, notably Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Public Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, found it impossible to ignore the outcry.

Even before Ms. Almontaser was obliged to resign, however, she ran into problems with respect to another part of her agenda: Last week, the Board of Education felt constrained to reject her effort to make the school's kitchen "Halal," the Muslim equivalent of kosher.

Unfortunately, at this writing, it appears that the rest of Dhabah Almontaser's plan for the Khalil Gibran International Academy remains intact. If the school opens as scheduled in September, it will, as a practical matter, have to operate on the basis of her curriculum, with the teachers she has hired and utilizing her selections of Arabic-language textbooks.

Presumably, the same would be true of her plan reported in the New York Post last week to have "retired Arabic-speaking community members converse with the students during lunch periods" – although we are being assured that such interlocutors will be subjected to "background checks" before being given access to KGIA's students.
Tax dollars for the Muslim agenda.
The inadvisability of allowing the Almontaser influence to persist after her departure is made clear in an "Executive Summary" of her program, the only document about KGIA provided to date in response to a Freedom of Information Law request submitted by a member of the Stop the Madrassa Coalition, John Matthies of the Middle East Forum's Islamist Watch. A scathing critique of this summary is provided by two other coalition members, William Mayer and Beila Rabinowitz, who note on their blog, PipeLineNews.com: "[It] is actually a manual for creating an Islamist vocational school, one in which every activity is planned around creating social activists with an Arab supremacist mindset, in the mold of KGIA's activist/principal Dhabah Almontaser."

Mr. Mayer and Ms. Rabinowitz observe that "nearly every party and organization involved with KGIA does not just represent Arab Muslims, but hard core Islamists with a definite agenda." For example, according to Ms. Almontaser's Executive Summary, an organization known as the Arab-American Family Support Center "will have a constant presence on site" providing a "site coordinator" as well as staff members who will: serve as "student advisors and Arabic language teachers," offer "social services," and develop the "extended-day Arabic language and cultural arts programs."

If that were not enough, the AAFSC's director, Lena Al Husseini, also continues to serve on the KGIA planning committee. Ms. Al Husseini and her organization are closely tied to other Islamist groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA). CAIR and ISNA were recently designated as un-indicted co-conspirators in a terrorism-financing case.
The usual suspects. The MSA is the youth wing of the ISNA.
Like its sister organizations, the AAFSC promotes the image of Arab-Americans and Muslims as victims. In the words of Ms. Al Husseini's predecessor at AAFSC, Emira Habiby Browne: "There's a sense of being targeted, profiled and harassed. There's fear that no matter what you do, you are suspected as a potential terrorist. No one feels secure – even in their own homes." Should taxpayers be asked to underwrite the exposure of public school students to a pedagogy rooted in this sort of separatism, victimization and grievance?
Or as the anti-"orientalists" write: misrepresentation of the "other."
Posted by: McZoid || 08/18/2007 06:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [22 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Sounds nice, is it going to open on September 11th?
Why don't we just start buying them bombs.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/18/2007 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  There's a sense of being targeted, profiled and harassed.

Y'know, hon, you folks have become caricatures of yourselves. If I was you, I'd be embarrassed.
If this was actually happening, you'd know.
Believe me, you'd know...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 10:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Why don't we just start buying them bombs.

Excelent idea, short fused, and timers rigged to read wrong.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 10:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Better question: why doesn't Frank Gaffney run for President on a center-right Republican ticket?
Posted by: McZoid || 08/18/2007 13:50 Comments || Top||

#5  It would be a really terrible thing if that school madrassa got burned down.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 21:07 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Island airport plan cleared for takeoff
A plan to build an international airport on a man-made island off the coast of north Tel Aviv has been given a significant boost, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

A feasibility proposal approved at a meeting of the government-appointed National Planning Committee in Jerusalem last Tuesday calls for the construction of several islands 400 meters off shore. Under the plan, Sde Dov Airport in Ramat Aviv would be replaced by the island airport.

On and off the table for more than a decade, these artificial islands were deemed feasible for the first time, and a source close to the committee said further research was under way.

A panel chaired by the Interior Ministry's head of building and planning, Shamay Assif, drafted a general proposal for a chain of artificial islands stretching from Bat Yam to Netanya, the largest of which would hold a new international airport. "We are a growing economy. We are a small state. We need more power plants, more storage facilities for fuel, more harbor and airport facilities - things that usually take up a lot of space," Assif told the Post.

Representatives of the Airports Authority and the Transportation Ministry were not prepared to comment at this time.

Environmentalists say that the construction of artificial islands would disrupt the sedimentary flow along the coast, damaging the local ecosystem, and destroy the tourism industry on the Tel Aviv waterfront. Environmental watchdog organizations urge the Interior Ministry to investigate construction of an airport in the Negev, an option that Assif called "very complicated."
Send all the watchdogs out into the Negev for a few months to do an in-depth analysis of the proposal.
"We think it would be very irresponsible for us, the government, not to consider islands in the sea [for an international airport]," said Assif, who added that the National Planning Committee expressed a preference for smaller islands and a regional airport over a larger island that could hold an airport large enough to take the strain off of Ben-Gurion.

"Within 10 to 30 years, we will certainly have to think about creating another international airport," he said. "There will be an environmental impact. We know that small islands would have less of an environmental impact that bigger ones," said Assif. He added that the environmental feasibility of building an airport was still being studied.
Oh lord. Environmental impact reports have worked their way over there now. Their decision-making process is doomed.
Man-made islands are found across the world, including in Hong Kong and Dubai. However, none exist in open-sea conditions similar to those off the coast of Tel Aviv. "Our sea is not calm," Danny Kaiser, who was Tel Aviv's city engineer from 2000 to 2005, told the Post.
No sea is.
The Mediterranean coast experiences high winds and waves, and reaches great depths, he said. "To build an artificial island, one must have a very good reason."

An airport "is the one and only reason to build these islands. Otherwise, we are not yet at that point where we need artificial islands for people to live on... If the pros outweigh the cons, they will build it," he said.
Getting Gazans to supply the sand taken from their emergency cesspool berms for cheap would be a good pro. Then you could cancel the project.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 03:47 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How long before Paleos claim that it's their land?
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/18/2007 9:41 Comments || Top||

#2  the 14,893rd most holy site in Islam?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 10:01 Comments || Top||


Europe
"Take us to Tehran!" : Turkish passenger plane hijacked
Turkish passenger plane heading for Istanbul from northern Cyprus was hijacked today and forced to land for refuelling in southern Turkey, local media reported. It was not clear how many hijackers were on board, but they said they wanted to fly to Tehran, media said. Broadcaster NTV quoted the airline as saying there were 136 passengers on board the plane, which had come from Ercan airport in Turkish-backed northern Cyprus. Local media said the plane had been forced to land in the southern Turkish city of Antalya.
More:
TWO men who said they were al-Qaeda members attempted to hijack a Turkish passenger plane to Iran or Syria, forcing the aircraft to land in the southern Turkish city of Antalya, passengers and officials said.

Most of the passengers managed to escape after the plane landed, leaving only the hijackers and a few passengers and crew on board, officials said.

The plane, operated by the private Turkish airline company Atlas Jet, was en route from northern Cyprus to Istanbul, company manager Tuncay Doganer said.

The hijackers wanted to take the plane to Iran, but the pilot said they needed to refuel and the plane made an emergency landing in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya, he said.

There were 136 passengers and six crew aboard, he said.

When the plane landed, passengers broke down the back door of the airplane amd most of them managed to get out, one of the passengers who fled, Erhan Erkul, told NTV television. "They (the hijackers) said they were from al-Qaeda. They tried to break the cabin door," he said. "After we landed, we managed to break down the back door and jumped out. The hijackers could not intervene, they were in the front of the plane."

Another passenger who managed to escape said the two men said they had a bomb and wanted to go to Syria. "They spoke in Arabic, sometimes they spoke in English. One of them spoke a little Turkish," said the woman, who was not identified. She explained that the hijackers had agreed to free children and women but while they let them go out the front door, male passengers managed to force open the back door and flee.

Nine passengers and two crew members were still inside the plane, officials told Anatolia news agency.

"A small number of people are still inside," Mr Doganer confirmed, declining to give figures.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/18/2007 03:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [29 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  I'll let y'all noodle this one through but does it really sound like al-Q tactics?

Would Qaeda make a public demand to go to the heart of infidel Persia?

Discuss.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/18/2007 3:38 Comments || Top||

#2  The source of the picture is here. It's not clear if this is a stock photo or taken from a cellphone camera.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/18/2007 3:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Sure that's not taken from the time those ba$tards threw that Navy guy off the plane quite a few years back?
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 3:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Conflicting accounts:

One of the pilots on board the aircraft said by radio the hijackers were Iranian, and a passenger who escaped reported they were members of al-Qaeda.

The jet was seized shortly after takeoff from Ercan airport on Northern Cyprus, with one of the hijackers claiming to have a bomb and threatening to blow the airplane up.

However, they were reportedly unable to break down the pilot cabin door, and the pilots refused to comply with their demand to be flown to Iran.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/18/2007 3:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Given what we know from Iraq, Their being Al-q and Iranian is a real possibility.

The fact that the turks are being Jacked is a plus--both outfits hate the turks for (different) historical reasons.

Notice that they didn't even try for a western plane.

I am darkly amused by the Muzzie on Muzzie action. RoP indeed.
Posted by: N Guard || 08/18/2007 5:44 Comments || Top||

#6  ...and thank you for flying Jihad Airlines!
Posted by: Raj || 08/18/2007 7:47 Comments || Top||

#7  unless you have a VERY strong stomach do NOT look at the A/P article up right now: "Turkish plane hijacking ends peacefully"

Contrary to the eyewitness reports from the passengers themselves, the article states that: "the hijackers released the women and children on board"

more from the soft-soap article:
"The adventure that started early in the morning finally came to an end..."
[ah...it wsa all just one big "adventure")

and lastly:
"the hijackers, identified as Mehmet Resat Ozlu and Abdul Aziz Maliki, told an official they "apologized to the Turkish nation" for seizing the plane."

the A/P, supporting terrorism worldwide!!
Posted by: Justrand || 08/18/2007 10:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Not a good idea. Turkey belongs to NATO, which means they can easily get the best anti-hijacking teams on the planet there and quickly. Hopefully, they will be captured alive, for a while, at least.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 10:27 Comments || Top||

#9  pretty inept stupid highjackers, not being able to get into the cock pit nor stop the passengers from getting out.
Thank God for their stupidity.

Posted by: Jan || 08/18/2007 15:04 Comments || Top||

#10  However, they were reportedly unable to break down the pilot cabin door

Idea assembled in Amerikka land of the crushed Constitution and boiled baby ducks.
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 08/18/2007 16:03 Comments || Top||

#11  Close, Thomas, but that jet was most likely
a Bombardier CRJ700 or CRJ900 and made in Canada. Bombardier Signs Turkey's Atlasjet for Three CRJ900 Airliners.

Posted by: GK || 08/18/2007 21:01 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Edwards Calls Coulter 'She-Devil'
ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: Former Sen. John Edwards on Friday fired the latest round in his ongoing verbal feud with Ann Coulter, calling her a "she-devil" at a public event before quickly adding that he shouldn't engage in name-calling.
My ears are burning!
Edwards, Dimwitted-N.C., was railing against the right-wing media -- including Fox News and Rush Limbaugh -- when he reminded a crowd in Burlington, Iowa, that his wife stood up to Coulter in a public spat earlier this summer.
Ripped her a new one, she did!
"We know these people. We know their game plan. They're going to attack us personally," Edwards said. "They attacked Elizabeth personally, because she stood up to that she-devil Ann Coulter. … I should not have name-called. But the truth is -- forget the names -- people like Ann Coulter, they engage in hateful language."
Shame on anyone who would do that!
In June, Coulter went on ABC's "Good Morning America" and said she had learned her lesson after being blasted for suggesting in a joke before the Conservative Political Action Conference that Edwards was a "faggot." "If I'm gonna say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot," Coulter said.
Snort! :-) Err, ahem. :-|
That prompted Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, to call in to MSNBC's "Hardball" and challenge Coulter directly. "I want to use the opportunity … to ask her politely to stop the personal attacks," Mrs. Edwards said.

The call left Coulter uncharacteristically flustered -- and was shamelessly quickly turned into a fund-raising appeal by the Edwards campaign.
Good job, Ann! The more you can get Defeatocrats to spend their money on this guy, the better!
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 03:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But the truth is -- forget the names -- people like Ann Coulter, they engage in hateful language.

All Ann does is play by the same rules that the party of 'personal destruction' has played by for generations. As the old saying goes - they can dish it out, but they can't take it. BTW 'hateful language' is code talk for 'disagreeing with me'.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/18/2007 8:53 Comments || Top||

#2  remember, Elizabeth Edwards is the peace-loving spouse that hired the two hate-bloggers for her husband's campaign. Elizabeth is a stronger man than John. "She-Devil" is just weak-ass, Breck Girl, and I bet Ms. Coulter had a great laugh over it
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 9:01 Comments || Top||

#3  She'll kick your ass and make you like it, pretty boy...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 9:11 Comments || Top||

#4  She'll kick your ass and make you like it, pretty boy...
Sounds like my kinda woman.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/18/2007 10:00 Comments || Top||

#5  The best comment about this I've heard so far is that it just means that John Edwards feels threatened by strong, intelligent women.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 10:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Her eyes will make you dig your grave and lick the shovel clean, pretty boy........so watch it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/18/2007 11:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Excuse me for asking such a silly question, but what does any of this childish nonsense have to do with the issues facing this country which one would normally expected to be debated in a presidential campaign? And why is Elizabeth Edwards somehow always involved in these brouhahas? If John Edwards had any sense at all, and I'm not saying he does, he would tell his wife something like "I love you, dear, and we're all terribly sorry about your disease. But would you please just STFU?"
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 || 08/18/2007 12:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Just means Lizzie had her hand up John-boy's ass and was animating the muppet.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 14:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Yeah he's ready to be a leader of the free world.
Posted by: regular joe || 08/18/2007 15:01 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
U.S. diplomat retires - accused of anti-Arab comments
Today's idiot A U.S. diplomat accused of having said "the only good Arab is a dead Arab" in a voice mail left with an Arab-American group has retired from the government, the State Department said on Thursday. The diplomat, Patrick Syring, was accused of having made abusive, intimidating and racist comments in e-mails and voice mails to employees of the Arab American Institute, a Washington group that promotes Arab-American interests.

The State Department declined comment on the legal case against Syring, which was outlined in an indictment filed at a U.S. federal court on Wednesday, but said the diplomat had decided to retire.

Syring is alleged to have made the comments in a series of e-mails and voice mails to officials the Arab American Institute, including its president James Zogby, when Israel was at war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in July 2006.

"The only good Lebanese is a dead Lebanese. The only good Arab is a dead Arab. Long live the IDF. Death to Lebanon and death to the Arabs," Syring said in a voice mail recorded at the institute on July 17, 2006. IDF stands for Israel Defense Forces -- the Israeli military.

"Fuck the Arabs and Fuck James Zogby and his wicked Hizbollah brothers. They will burn in hellfire on this earth and in the hereafter," he wrote in an e-mail to Zogby and another institute employee on the same day.

The voice mails and e-mails, which were sent from a personal e-mail address, were quoted in the indictment. Syring served as a U.S. diplomat in the Middle East and most recently worked in Human Resources at the State Department.

He stands accused of violating U.S. law on federally protected rights and of making threatening communications.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to address the Syring case specifically other than to say he had retired. U.S. officials declined to comment on whether he had decided to retire before or after having allegedly made the remarks.

Speaking generally, McCormack said such comments were unacceptable to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"Let me just underline for you the seriousness with which the secretary approaches the idea that the State Department should be a workplace that in no way, shape or form tolerates discrimination or hateful language," he said. "It's just not condoned or acceptable in this department."

Calls to Syring's home in Virginia were not returned.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/18/2007 02:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Seems like they can dish it out but can't take it.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 4:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Human Resources guy? So I guess they're exempt from taking all those goofy classes they force on the rest of us?
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 8:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Before you judge the chap too harshly, imagine working for USDS yourself---how long before you'd snap?
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/18/2007 9:35 Comments || Top||

#4  sounds like a Frank™ and Honest Discussion
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 9:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Sounds like a nice enough guy to me, look for him to surface in a conservative think tank somewhere soon.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/18/2007 10:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Before you judge the chap too harshly, imagine working for USDS yourself---how long before you'd snap?

I think it needs to be said more often! And it needs to be said about a lot of other groups as well. The only good __________, is a dead ___________! Fill in the blanks!
Posted by: Natural Law || 08/18/2007 11:28 Comments || Top||

#7  I'll go first! Communist/Communist.
Posted by: Natural Law || 08/18/2007 11:29 Comments || Top||

#8  Ah - the legacy of Phil Sheridan lives on!
Posted by: Glinesh Dark Lord of the Hemps6193 || 08/18/2007 12:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Syring for Senator! Can't wait for his Murtha critique.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 14:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Natural Law, there is difference between holding an opinion & expressing it in an unappropriate venue.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/18/2007 16:53 Comments || Top||


Iraq
The House Bomb
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 02:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [35 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  sad learning lesson.
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 8:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Exporting their terror tactics to the homeland would be a first responders' nightmare. Reminds me of the mine found in a culvert in Canada.
Posted by: Danielle || 08/18/2007 12:22 Comments || Top||

#3  We have to make their supporters pay.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/18/2007 13:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Aerial remodeling would be the best response. Of course, AP, Rooters, etc, would scream bloody murder about "civilian" casualties, but a country at war with non-uniformed combatants cannot play 20-questions before an armed response.
Posted by: OyVey1 || 08/18/2007 18:38 Comments || Top||

#5  This is precisely why we invented those small-scale thermobaric munitions. No more house searches for snipers. Blow the entire damn place down and be done with it, preferrably before the sniper can evacuate his position. Anyone inside had better know farking well that having a sniper around means certain death. If not, they'll learn soon enough.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 21:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Tony Snow leaving before EoP because he needs to make more money - honest answer
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 01:59 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't doubt it, do you know what a house costs in Maryland or Virginia, in an "appropriate" area for a politico? I doubt you could find one for less than $900,000. And that would be a real dump.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 08/18/2007 10:28 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't know if Tony has dependents, but he may be thinking he'd like to have a bigger estate to leave behind when he goes.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 08/18/2007 11:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Cancer treatments cost a lot of money even for those that have blue cross blue shield.
Posted by: Heriberto Ulusomble6667 || 08/18/2007 15:21 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran's Guards have 'length and breadth' of Gulf covered
The chief commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday boasted of his elite force's military prowess, saying its missiles and ships had the "length and breadth" of the Gulf under cover.

"We have surface-to-sea missile systems that can cover the length and breadth of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman," Yahya Rahim Safavi, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards told Iran's international Persian language Jam-e Jam televison channel in an interview.

"No boat or vessel can cross the Persian Gulf without being within the range of our coastal missiles," he warned in the interview, which was reproduced by the semi-official Fars news agency.

Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 01:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under: IRGC

#1  Yeah, with all your old crappy equipment and a willingness to die like lemmings (i.e.: "prowess"), you might even manage to hit a few before being wiped out.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Again, this justifies the partitioning of Iran, to take away Iranian Kurdistan and Khuzestan, so that Iran can no longer menace Gulf shipping.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 10:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Map
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 11:56 Comments || Top||

#4  This gulf - are they talking about the Gulf of Rumsfeld?
Posted by: SteveS || 08/18/2007 12:44 Comments || Top||

#5  You left out Baluchistan, Azeristan, Luristan, Arabistan (Strait of Hormuz) and a few others ways to slice and dice.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 14:23 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
What's The Outlook For The ISS
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 01:13 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ISS was a boondoggle compromised in design to keep the Russians in line and their scientists busy. Putin's games should have led to the complete abandoning of the project. So what if that leaves the ISS in Russian hands, without US cash they can't get up there and the orbital inclination is nightmarish anyway.

The only thing the ISS is good for at this point is as a docking area for orbital vehicle assembly and even then the inclination is a problem.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 08/18/2007 10:28 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Division Rejected
The senior Air Force commander in the Pacific this week threw cold water on a Chinese military proposal to divide up the Pacific Ocean into U.S. and Chinese spheres of influence.

Gen. Paul V. Hester was asked about China's recent plan to give the United States control of the eastern Pacific region, while China would control the western Pacific.

"Our policy is not to cede space to anyone," Gen. Hester said in a telephone press conference from Hawaii. He said the United States "needs to be" in the western Pacific, "as opposed to running through a proxy, if you will, by ceding a certain part of territory and asking them to take care of it for us."

The proposal was made to Adm. Tim Keating, the overall commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, during a recent visit to China.
Rest at link.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 00:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Divide? Hee hee hee.
No.
Ours.
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 08/18/2007 2:05 Comments || Top||

#2  ???

Maybe it's the Chinese version of April Fools Day or something.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:54 Comments || Top||

#3  "If I see that the Russians Chinese are amassing their planes for an attack, I'm going to knock the shit out of them before they take off the ground."
Posted by: Curtis LeMay || 08/18/2007 7:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Russian resuming air patrols and this. Now China and Russia are having war games together.
Posted by: Boss Craising2882 || 08/18/2007 7:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Another Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere? No thanks.
Posted by: Glinesh Dark Lord of the Hemps6193 || 08/18/2007 8:34 Comments || Top||

#6  China couldn't "control" their coastline if we decided to make it so... nice try. Next time you want to play "Superpower Navy", make sure you bring one
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 9:09 Comments || Top||

#7  After the US, the big dog in Asia is Japan.
China is a poor third in terms of power projection.. and perhaps even less.. India has a carrier and an LPD..
Posted by: john frum || 08/18/2007 10:13 Comments || Top||

#8  Please, please, pretty please, let me have some ocean to play superpower in, whaddya mean NO?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 11:23 Comments || Top||

#9  No - China justs wants free reign for controlling all the oil in the ocean between them and Singapore.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 22:48 Comments || Top||


Good morning...
Posted by: || 08/18/2007 00:11 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Holy Cow, Batman!
Posted by: anymouse || 08/18/2007 1:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Google popped up her fan club like bang
38-18-36

Betty was the first model to receive residuals every time her picture was published.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 1:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Betty, I need to borrow your towel now . . . .
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:21 Comments || Top||

#4  I think Betty's got a package...disturbing
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 8:45 Comments || Top||

#5  I was thinking along the same lines Frank ... If the Rantburg ladies will forgive me: I think Ms. Brosmer decided to forget about the toe and went for the whole camel.
Posted by: Free Radical || 08/18/2007 9:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Still....
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 08/18/2007 15:59 Comments || Top||

#7  Frank, if you had just met her that's the one time you'd be praying it was her time and the 1950's era Kotex.

Posted by: Red Dawg || 08/18/2007 18:24 Comments || Top||

#8  Ima troll. I suck.
Posted by: gaisguima || 08/18/2007 23:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Nuke jihadis and spammers, the worst scum-o-earth!!!!!!
Posted by: twobyfour || 08/18/2007 23:39 Comments || Top||


Europe
Sarkozy says in America, 'France is back'
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday at the end of his US vacation that France is popular again in the United States and hailed the countries' "terrific" relationship. "France is back, there are no problems between France and the United States, or between the French people and the American people," said Sarkozy on the eve of his departure from a two-week family holiday in New Hampshire.

"And that is terrific," he added. "That doesn't mean there are no disagreements. We will have disagreements," said the French leader.

While on his vacation Sarkozy spoke last week with US President George W. Bush to firm up the countries' bond after several years of tense relations. The leaders met at the Bush family residence in Kennebunkport, Maine, and dined on an American picnic lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers, though Sarkozy's wife Cecilia bowed out at the last minute citing a throat ailment. She was seen out walking the next day but the apparent snub got little play in US media.
Well-bred people do not respond to poor manners except by pointedly ignoring them.
Sarkozy said strong US-French ties are all the more important because "the United States is soon heading into an election cycle" and will be choosing "a new team to govern."
Can't wait for Dem in the office, huh?
He summed up his US vacation as "fantastic" and praised Americans for being "very nice." "We did some exercise, took walks, relaxed as a family, it was wonderful,"said Sarkozy, 52, adding he "would have liked to have had the opportunity to come here when I was young."

"Americans were very warm with my family and me, we saw it multiple times," Sarkozy said. "Each time we went out to eat, or were out exercising, people were very nice." Americans are nice to most everyone.
Don't think I've forgotten what the French government and press did, and most especially the stab in the back over Iraq. I will smile and make nice and be happy enough if we can find ways to cooperate on useful endeavors, but do not for a minute think I personally have forgotten or forgiven.
"The friendship between France and the United States is not simply a friendship between two presidents, it is a friendship between two peoples."
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [22 views] Top|| File under:

#1  wow 1 peck on the ass cheek and everything's cool?
Posted by: Boss Craising2882 || 08/18/2007 7:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Next time, Mssr. Sarkozy, if the wife is going to act like she was raised by carnies, leave her at home.
Posted by: Jules || 08/18/2007 8:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Sure Fredo, all's forgiven and forgotten. Let's go fishin'.
Posted by: regular joe || 08/18/2007 9:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Wife and son were in Paris a couple of weeks back for three days. They had been traveling through Germany, Denmark, France and Switzerland. Wife said that the nicest and most helpful people she met were in Paris. She was really surprised, after all the discord before and after the start of OIF. One of the highlights of the trip was Paris.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/18/2007 11:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Color me skeptical after the de Gaulle-Chirac years.

Interesting data point, AP. Yeah, let's all go fishing!
Posted by: SteveS || 08/18/2007 12:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Sarkozy's wife Cecilia has "issues".
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:35 Comments || Top||

#7 
Don't think I've forgotten what the French government and press did,


Government has changed. Press is still the same.
Posted by: JFM || 08/18/2007 19:00 Comments || Top||

#8  Yup, and where I work has hosted some young French military from St. Cyr and I was glad to meet them.

I'm just concerned that the French public understand that what Chiraq did has very real consequences. We and the Iraqis have paid most of them, but there is a price owed from France too IMO.

Unfortunately, y'all are likely to pay it internally in the banlieus.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 19:53 Comments || Top||


Iraq
13 terrorists killed, 12 suspects detained east of Tarmiyah
Coalition Forces killed 13 terrorists and detained 12 suspected terrorists east of Tarmiyah Friday during an operation targeting an al-Qaeda in Iraq cell leader who provides guidance to senior terrorist leaders.

As Coalition Forces approached the targeted area, they immediately received heavy small arms fire from several buildings in the area. The ground forces returned fire, but when the enemy did not yield, Coalition Forces called for close air support. Enemy fire continued from other areas and ground forces used small arms and rocket launchers to return fire.

Still under fire, Coalition Forces moved to secure individual buildings. Despite the ground forces' repeated calls to come out of the building, hostile occupants of one building refused to comply. The assault force called for them to send out any noncombatants to be taken to a safe area, but again the armed terrorists did not comply. Coalition Forces escalated their level of force, including using airborne firepower against the enemy, until four armed terrorists emerged from the building firing at the ground forces. The four terrorists, including a female wearing a ski mask and wielding a rifle, were killed by aircraft and sniper fire. Secondary explosions erupted from the building after it was engaged by the aircraft, indicating explosives stored inside.

The ground forces, still taking fire from enemy positions, called in an additional force to help repel the terrorists' attack. The assault force continued to secure individual buildings as aircraft and additional units suppressed enemy fighters with small arms fire. Coalition Forces assessed that aircraft and sniper fire killed nine more terrorists in the fighting. Additionally, despite Coalition Forces' appeals for the terrorists to send out women and children to be taken to safety, a boy was killed in a building with an armed terrorist who had engaged the ground forces. "Terrorists continue to put innocent children in harm's way when they make bystanders unwitting participants in their illegal activities," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson. "Their disregard for human life is contrary to the values of decent people everywhere."

The ground forces detained 12 suspected terrorists during the operation.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli troops kill two Palestinians in West Bank raid
Israeli troops killed two Palestinians and wounded six others during a raid near the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, Palestinian sources said. Palestinian security officials said that a gun battle broke out between Israeli troops and local gunmen in the village of Kafr Dan. One gunman and a 16-year-old boy were killed.

An Israeli army spokesman said that "several gunmen were identified during an activity against terror infrastructure. The troops fired at them and identified hitting them." The Abu Amar Brigades, an armed group linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction, said that the gunman killed was one of its leaders.
This article starring:
Abu Amar Brigades
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Fatah


Africa Horn
U.S. considers putting Eritrea on terrorism list
The United States said on Friday it was considering putting Eritrea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism for allegedly funneling weapons to insurgents fighting the Ethiopian-backed government in Somalia. Putting Eritrea on the list would impose sanctions on the Horn of Africa nation, including a ban on arms-related sales, prohibitions on some U.S. aid and U.S. opposition to International Monetary Fund and World Bank loans to Eritrea.

The fragile interim Somali government, backed by troops from Eritrea's archrival Ethiopia, is fighting an Islamist insurgency in a conflict that has killed hundreds of people since December. A U.N. monitoring group last month said large quantities of arms, including surface-to-air missiles, were flowing from Eritrea to Somalia. Eritrea has denied sending the weapons.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gunfight between IDF and Islamic Jihad leaves two dead
Two Palestinians were shot and killed on Friday during one of two gunfights which had ensued between IDF troops and Palestinian gunmen near the West Bank city of Jenin.

The first exchange of fire broke out after soldiers entered the village of Kafr Dan, the residents said. Two Palestinians were killed; an Islamic Jihad gunman and one a civilian, doctors said. Several others were wounded. The army said troops operating in the village against terror infrastructure identified a group of gunmen and shot toward them, hitting them. Later Friday night, Palestinians opened fire at an IDF jeep in Kabatiya.

Meanwhile, at a checkpoint south of Nablus an explosive device was thrown at soldiers. No casualties were reported in either incident.

Earlier Friday evening the IAF fired two missiles at Palestinian rocket launchers in the northern Gaza Strip shortly after three rockets and 12 mortars were fired towards Israel. The missiles missed the launching squad that was on its way back from firing rockets toward Israel and caused no casualties, Hamas said. Witnesses said they heard two explosions after seeing Israeli helicopters in the area. The army confirmed that aircraft had fired at Palestinian terrorists who launched rockets.

All three rockets landed in the western Negev but the mortar shells failed to reach Israeli territory and instead landed close to the Gaza security fence. One rocket landed south of Ashkelon, the second near a kibbutz close to Sderot and the third in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. No casualties were reported in any of the attacks.
This article starring:
Islamic Jihad
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad


Home Front: Culture Wars
Report: U.S. failing brightest students
Because the U.S. education system doesn't properly cultivate its most promising pupils, as many gifted as non-gifted students drop out of school.

About 5 percent of both populations leave school early, Time magazine reported Friday. This is, in part, because those who write education policy generally focus on students of impoverished means or who have learning disabilities; they don't create programs that nuture children who are intellectually exceptional.
U.S. schools spend more than $8 billion a year educating the mentally retarded and about $800 million on programs for the gifted.
U.S. schools spend more than $8 billion a year educating the mentally retarded and about $800 million on programs for the gifted.

Although students who score 55 or lower on IQ tests require "special" education, Time said students with IQs that have IQs of 145 or higher often have trouble interacting with average kids and learning at an average pace. Of 62 million U.S. school-age children, about 62,000 have IQs above 145, while roughly the same number of children have IQs below 55.

A recent report showed students in six countries, including Japan, Hungary and Singapore, scored significantly higher in math than their highest-achieving U.S. counterparts, suggesting the U.S. education system isn't helping them achieve their potential.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [25 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of 62 million U.S. school-age children, about 62,000 have IQs above 145

Journalists aren't known for their math skillz.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 1:37 Comments || Top||

#2  "And the trees are all kept equal
by hatchet, axe, and saw."


-N. Peart
Posted by: no mo uro || 08/18/2007 6:05 Comments || Top||

#3  This is quite true. There are school districts that do an outstanding job with their gifted students -- some of whom also have ADD/ADHD or dyslexia, compounding the problem -- but most assume that gifted students will respond, at best, to extra homework. I know a number of parents in that situation who choose to home school the children; private schools are even worse at distinguishing normal bright children from gifted, who may not be any brighter, but think differently.

On the other hand, from what I've read and heard about the education systems of countries cited, I suspect they don't address the needs of the gifted any better; it's just that there's so much homework that everyone is too exhausted to notice. Trailing daughter #2 is friends with a lovely Korean exchange student who so enjoyed her first year here that she finagled a second year at a nearby school; back home kids are accustomed to getting no more than four hours of sleep a night -- they catch up as best they can during class time when they're supposed to be reading. Under such conditions thinking differently is a liability, even as the brightest normals thrive.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/18/2007 6:53 Comments || Top||

#4  One thing that is true:

The level of math and science skills in our high school grads, including their ability to think in an analytic, logical way, formulating and testing hypotheses, has declined measurably in the last 20 years.

The 'New Math' was supposed to teach concepts to kids who would pick up the tactical skills along the way as they needed them. It's clear that for many, neither concepts nor tools are learned. I've seen more than I want of undergrads in universities here who cannot do basic algebra, who don't grasp basic concepts in statistics and who just aren't comfortable putting together a linear proof.

These kids aren't about to major in engineering, computer science or the natural sciences. They do 'qualitative research' in the social sciences because complex analyses using structural equation models are beyond them - and they don't have the confidence or the core skills to learn how to do them.

We're now into our 2nd generation of such students - i.e. some of our faculty fall into this boat and therefore think the skills aren't needed.

Meanwhile, Chinese and other foreign students here may be iffy on the concepts, but they can differentiate equations and manipulate numbers with fluency. Which is one main reason they make up such a high proportion of grad students in our engineering programs.

And then they take those skills home.

Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 8:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Not just yours, lotp.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/18/2007 9:44 Comments || Top||

#6  I took a GED at 16 and escaped the tyrany of leveled window blinds regardless of sun, desks in dead straight rows, and "New Knowledge" around ten to fifteen yers old.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 11:28 Comments || Top||

#7  Teachers unions, government schools, lack of challenge, and laziness. Romans spoiled rotten.
Posted by: newc || 08/18/2007 11:33 Comments || Top||

#8  Our local community schools have done a great job, as many have brilliant parents with skills in math and science required for the regional engineering and high tech jobs, and do not put limits on gifted students. They identify bright kids early on and tend to group students according to learning styles, as all are not rote learners. If the subject or level the student is capable of is not offered, they may take the desired class through local colleges at state expense. We have had middle school kids taking college level calculus and go on to graduate with dual degrees from MIT in four years. We also have a high proportion of dual-parent homes supportive of education as compared to the many single- parent poverty-stricken barrios and ghettos. Also, some believe kids with ADHD and other disorders often self-medicate with illegal drugs, contributing to the drop-out rate of otherwise intelligent kids. Educators and policy makers are too often comparing apples and oranges and falsely blame the teachers for a societal problem.
Posted by: Danielle || 08/18/2007 13:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Let's try more tenure.
Posted by: jds || 08/18/2007 21:22 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Pak-Afghan jirga body presents proposals against terrorism
The second working committee of the Pak-Afghan joint peace jirga in Kabul was tasked with apprising of factors and circumstances, which contribute to the growth of terrorism and militancy. It also devised a mechanism to help Pakistan and Afghanistan combat this "menace" through cooperation and strategy.

Some 700 delegates from the two countries met in Kabul from August 9-12 to discuss ways to eliminate terrorism. The committee put forward the following recommendations for taking the fight on terror to a logical end:
  • The governments and people of Afghanistan and Pakistan consider terrorism a notorious, anti-human and anti-Islamic phenomenon and believe this to be the evil menace for the people of both countries.

  • Participants of the Afghan-Pak joint peace jirga unanimously declare from the platform of this jirga an extensive, comprehensive and unrelenting campaign against terrorism, and regard terrorism and other related inhuman activities as a major threat to humanity and Islam.

  • Members of the joint peace jirga propose establishment of a special jirga with a strong mandate and an authority of representatives from executive and legislative of both countries, religious scholars, tribal elders, intellectuals and civil society organisations to ensure practical and sustainable process of the campaign against terrorism. The jirga will meet regularly to:

    1. Monitor the implementation of decisions made at the joint peace jirga.

    2. Facilitate convening of the next joint peace jirgas.

    3. Expedite the ongoing process of dialogue for peace and reconciliation with the opposition.

    4. Ease visa restrictions and increase efforts for free trade and more people-to-people contacts.

  • The war on terror should be accelerated and reinforced in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

  • The governments and people of Afghanistan and Pakistan undertake not to allow their soil for terrorist activities.

  • The governments and people of Afghanistan and Pakistan pledge not to allow sanctuaries for any terrorist group to exist and operate in any part of their countries, and work closely together to coordinate their efforts more effectively in this endeavour.

  • The two governments and the international community should start and accelerate economic, social, welfare and educational projects in the areas affected by terrorists and should accelerate the pace of reconstruction and development in those areas.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Harrumph harrumph harrumph harrumph...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 8:49 Comments || Top||

#2  "Hey, I didn't get a harrumph outa that guy!" WHACK! "Harrumph the Govourner!" "Harrumph!"
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/18/2007 9:49 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Six arrested at Mohmand Agency check post
Political authorities arrested six people at a check post on Peshawar-Bajaur Road near Mohmand Agency headquarters Ghalanai on Friday.

Assistant Political Agent Syed Ahmed Jan said the arrested men had no identifying documents and were under investigation. Out of the six arrested men, though, five are said to be Afghans and one Pakistani. After preliminary investigations, the arrested have been identified as Aminul Haq from Charsadda, Riaz from Nangarhar, and Mohammad Umar, Jan, Essa Khan and Sabir from Afghanistan's Kunar province.
This article starring:
Aminul Haq from Charsadda
Assistant Political Agent Syed Ahmed Jan
ESA KHANTaliban
MOHAMAD OMARTaliban
RIAZ FROM NANGARHARTaliban
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [23 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Topless shoplifter raises a ruckus
TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Trenton, N.J., police kept a merchant from losing his shirt to a shoplifter but the suspect wasn't so lucky. The female suspect literally lost her top while trying to avoid being handcuffed Thursday night and fled down the street with her boobies honkers breasts flopping flapping in the wind, the Trenton (N.J.) Times reported Friday.
ED: Shoulda gone with "bouncing," I think. Maybe "bobbling." "Flapping in the wind" implies there was wind. In Trenton. In August. Right. It could happen, I suppose.
The 20-year-old woman was nabbed a short distance from the store and forced to lie face down on the pavement until police re-dressed her, officials said. The suspect -- who had an outstanding warrant -- faces fresh charges of shoplifting and resisting arrest.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A 20 year old's breasts flapping is a truly horrific sight.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 1:48 Comments || Top||

#2  "The suspect -- who had an outstanding warrant rack -- faces fresh charges of shoplifting and resisting arrest"

If eyewitness reports are to be believed.
Posted by: WTF || 08/18/2007 6:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Bust-ed!
Posted by: Mike || 08/18/2007 7:24 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm afraid I'll need to see some pictures Fred.
Posted by: Threremp the Really Smart8237 || 08/18/2007 9:18 Comments || Top||

#5  A turn-over for double dribbling.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 08/18/2007 9:56 Comments || Top||

#6  good thing she wasn't Helen Thomas's age. She'd get 3 feet and trip over them. Someone mighta got hurt
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 10:05 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Jihad against India, US is the only remedy, says LeT chief
Banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has said that jihad is the only remedy for all threats posed by India and US. The LeT chief told a large rally at Regal Chowk that the India and US were directly involved in terrorism and sabotage activities inside Pakistan.

He claimed that the Pakistan Government was alleging that jihadis and Afghan mujahideens were carrying out bomb blasts, but this was being done just to please America. "We have always stated that no mujahideen would ever get involved in suicide blasts against innocent civilians, and this stance was vindicated by the statement of the Parliamentary Secretary."
He claimed that the Pakistan Government was alleging that jihadis and Afghan mujahideens were carrying out bomb blasts, but this was being done just to please America. "We have always stated that no mujahideen would ever get involved in suicide blasts against innocent civilians, and this stance was vindicated by the statement of the Parliamentary Secretary."

He said US leaders have been threatening attacks on Muslim holy places, and added that the nation was not afraid of any such threats. Saeed said the rulers had caused great loss to the nation by befriending Washington and New Delhi, and allowing India to build a fence along the LoC, as well as by participating in the so-called grand jirga in Kabul.

Referring to a statement by the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence in the Senate, Saeed said that the Pakistan Government has adopted policies against Islam, and the wind of change has started blowing. Saeed said the statement of the Parliamentary Secretary signified changes at the top, and added that it was the inner voice of the whole nation.
He warned that if the rulers did not change their policies then they themselves would have to be changed.
He warned that if the rulers did not change their policies then they themselves would have to be changed. He further said that policies of the rulers had already created serious hatred against the Pakistan Army and the present situation resembled that of 1971, The News reported.
This article starring:
HAFIZ MUHAMAD SAIDLashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [25 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  sounds like Hafiz needs that magic moment.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 1:48 Comments || Top||

#2  I think setting your beard on fire may well do the trick.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:52 Comments || Top||

#3  How come these guys all look like they live in dumpsters?
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 9:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Is incitement of terrorist acts against the United States a federal crime?

Posted by: john frum || 08/18/2007 11:25 Comments || Top||

#5  How come these guys all look like they live in dumpsters?

Because they are pious Allan fearing men, that have cast off all the trappings of wealth!

/sarc
Posted by: Natural Law || 08/18/2007 11:34 Comments || Top||

#6  I read somewhere the red hair is indicative of the divide and conquer policies of the old Assyrian Empire, with intentional displacement of people groups to dilute their power. I'd profile.
Posted by: Danielle || 08/18/2007 13:08 Comments || Top||

#7  He said US leaders have been threatening attacks on Muslim holy places, and added that the nation was not afraid of any such threats.

We need that to change in a really big way and permanently so.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 21:11 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Bali bomber wounded in southern Philippine clash: military
A Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant wanted for the 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia, was reportedly wounded during an encounter between Army troops and Islamic extremists in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, the military said on Thursday. The information on JI member Dulmatin, which is being validated, was based on reports from soldiers who were involved in the firefight in Maimbung town on Aug. 9 and civilian informants, the military chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. told reporters.

Abu Sayyaf leader Doc Abu was also wounded in the same gun battle that left 15 government soldiers killed and several others wounded, Esperon said. Dulmatin carries a 10-million U.S. dollar bounty for his capture. He is believed to be hiding in Sulu with another suspect in the 2002 Bali attacks, Umar Patek.
This article starring:
DOC ABUAbu Sayyaf
DULMATINJemaah Islamiyah
military chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
OMAR PATEKAbu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf
Jemaah Islamiyah
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


Afghanistan
Two S Korean hostages arrive home
Two South Korean hostages freed from Taliban captivity arrived home on Friday. But there was little progress reported in negotiations for the release of 19 others still being held by the insurgent group in Afghanistan. The two women Kim Gina, 32 and Kim Kyung-ja, 37 were released earlier this week and had been undergoing medical care in Afghanistan before heading home. After arriving at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul, the two stood with grim expressions before a throng of journalists.

''I want to thank the Korean government and the Korean people for their concerns and sincerely apologise for causing such worries,'' Kim Kyung-ja said. ''I hope for the safe release of the rest of our team members as well.''

''All I wish for is the release of the rest of our team members,'' said Kim Gina.

They walked on their own to a waiting ambulance. The two were to be admitted to a military hospital south of Seoul because the government wants to keep them away from the media over concerns that what they say could affect negotiations to free the remaining hostages, news reports said.

Kim Kyung-ja works at a software development company and Kim Gina teaches digital animation at a local technical college, according to news reports.

A second round of face-to-face talks in Afghanistan between South Korean officials and Taliban militants on the remaining hostages ended Thursday with no breakthrough, the militants said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


India-Pakistan
Was Jamia Hafsa razed to suppress evidence?
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Who cares, it's still destroyed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 11:04 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Morocco says bomber was in main Islamic group
Moroccan police said on Friday a man who tried unsuccessfully to blow up a bus carrying tourists earlier this week had been a member of the country's main Islamic opposition group.

"Hicham Doukali, who blew himself up last Monday in Meknes some metres (yards) from a bus of tourists, joined al Adl wa al Ihsane as a member in 1998," police said in a statement quoted by the official MAP news agency. Al Adl wa al Ihsane is Morocco's largest opposition group, with around 200,000 members. The government tolerates it but does not recognise it as a legal party because it challenges the king's role and would like to curb his extensive powers.

The police statement did not say whether 30-year-old Doukali, who studied civil engineering before joining the government tax office in Meknes, 130 km (80 miles) from the capital Rabat, was still an Adl member when he detonated the gas cylinder he was carrying on Monday. Adl denied that Doukali was one of its activists. But it said more young Moroccans would follow his path if the authorities failed to tolerate moderate Islamists like those of Adl, who are against violence but seek broad reforms.

The explosion of the cylinder, stuffed with explosives, tore Doukali's left hand and badly wounded him in the chest. He survived, and was still in a Rabat hospital under police surveillance, police sources said. No one else was hurt in the attempted suicide attack in Meknes, one of Morocco's main tourist attractions.
This article starring:
HICHAM DUKALIal Adl wa al Ihsane
al Adl wa al Ihsane
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Arabia
Yemen blames rebels as Qatari mediators called home
Qatari mediators trying to broker a peace deal to end a Shiite uprising in Yemen were called home on Friday because of what a Yemeni official called rebel foot-dragging in implementing the plan. "They were recalled for consultations after foot-dragging by (rebel leader) Abdul Malak al-Huthi in agreeing fully to implement the timetable" of the agreement, the official close to the talks told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Didn't they have one of these 'peace agreements' in Yemen already? Or was that the one that ended the war between North Yemen and South Yemen? Or the one before that?
The rebels from the Zaidi minority in the northwest Saada region had given their preliminary agreement to a timetable brokered by a committee grouping political parties in the Yemeni parliament and Qatari mediators. The timetable stipulated a phased withdrawal of rebels from various locations where fighting has taken place and their replacement by regular soldiers. The process was to have been accompanied by the gradual release of rebels held by the authorities, and was to culminate in the departure of the leaders of the revolt to exile in Qatar.

In an interview published on Wednesday President Ali Abdullah Saleh accused Huthi of "misleading and procrastination." "He has to respect his word and withdraw from positions, otherwise a military solution will be the decisive end," he said.

A member of the committee told AFP that Huthi had demanded "more details about implementation of the timetable." Last month the committee accused the rebels of breaching the deal brokered by Qatar in June, and the Gulf Arab state subsequently recalled its mediators from the committee, reportedly because of wrangling among insurgency leaders. Under the deal the rebels agreed to lay down their arms, ending years of fierce fighting that has killed thousands in one of the world's poorest countries.

An offshoot of Shiite Islam, the Zaidis are a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen but form the majority in the northwest. The rebel aim was to restore the Zaidi imamate which was overthrown in a 1962 republican coup.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Indian Muslim clerics issue 'death warrant' against Taslima
Muslim clerics in eastern India issued a 'death warrant' against Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Friday, threatening her life if she did not leave the country where she lives in exile.
They're actually making the assumption that they live in an uncivilized country, the kind where holy men aren't held to the same standard of beheavior as normal people, where they can issue such decrees without being charged with incitement to murder. I guess the rest of us will find ou if that's the kind of country they live in or not.
The threat came after a meeting of dozens of clerics from prominent mosques in Kolkata - where the writer lives - who said she had invited their wrath through her 'repeated criticism' of Islam in her books and speeches.
There's a growing number of people world-wide who're inviting their wrath. The reason so many people are inviting their wrath is because of the misplaced arrogance of the holy men, who attempt to impose their own laws on the rest of mankind when the rest of mankind would as soon see them in hell.
While one prominent cleric said Nasreen had a month to leave, another said she had 15 days.
They weren't real good on arithmetic or even time keeping back in the madrassah, were they? Neither is in the Koran.
Anyone who killed her would get cash reward of Indian Rs 100,000, they said. "Anyone who executes the warrant will also be given additional rewards," said Nurur Rehman Barkati, a cleric of one of the biggest mosques in Kolkata. The move by the clerics came a week after Muslims in Hyderabad attacked Nasreen during the launch of a translation of one of her novels. Police said they had stepped up security around Nasreen's house in Kolkata. Nasreen said their illegal order destroyed India's secular image. "I have never hurt religious sentiments and strongly believe in freedom of speech," she said.
This article starring:
Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen
Nurur Rehman Barkati, a cleric of one of the biggest mosques in Kolkata
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [23 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad

#1  Order a hit get the electric chair sounds fair.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 1:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Nah, bury 'em under a pike of korans and set fire to the pile...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/18/2007 11:54 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey, it was the best thing that ever happened to Salman Rusdie's career..
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 19:45 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Chinese-made mattresses recalled due to toxic contents
I'm starting to sense a pattern here.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kinda makes me wonder if things like autism aren't "helped along" by this kind of crap.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Just one more Made in China product you don't want to put in your mouth.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/18/2007 9:09 Comments || Top||

#3  The Chinese must have a special chemical plant that just produces poisons for the contamination of manufactured goods...

Posted by: john frum || 08/18/2007 10:07 Comments || Top||

#4  I'll bet the Mattress Tag Police™ are all over this one.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 14:41 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran cleric warns US not to pick on Guards
A senior Iranian cleric said on Friday that plans by the United States to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist group invited a fight with the Iranian nation which America could not win.

"Americans should know that in this field, as with nuclear energy, they are dealing with the whole nation. And the great nation of Iran will never abandon its revolutionary people," Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran. "Americans should know that if they act madly in this regard, they would be entering a swamp they won't be able to get out of," the conservative cleric said in a speech that was broadcast live on the radio.

Khatami is a member of the Assembly of Experts, an influential clerical body which has the power to appoint or dismiss Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. US officials said on Wednesday the United States may soon name the Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist group, reflecting frustration over Tehran's nuclear programme and suspected role in Iraqi violence. The designation would be the first time the United States has placed the armed forces of any sovereign government on its list of terrorist organisations.
This article starring:
AHMED KHATAMIIranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: IRGC

#1  *cough cough* wetworks on Khatami *cough cough*
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 0:05 Comments || Top||

#2  "Americans ... would be entering a swamp they won't be able to get out of"
There is no problem getting out of a swamp when you can simply boil it and turn it into radioactive glass.
Posted by: Rambler || 08/18/2007 0:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Why couldn't we just smack their leadership and then stand back? The "revolutionary people" should know what to do.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Khatami is a member of the Assembly of Experts...

Man, that is fuckin' arrogant...
Posted by: Raj || 08/18/2007 8:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Why couldn't we just smack their leadership and then stand back? The "revolutionary people" should know what to do.

1. Which leadership? The mullahs, the Iranian government, or the IRGC? This isn't like taking down a couple dozen tribal chieftains.

2. "Revolutionary people"? Not enough cohesive leadership and more importantly, not enough organization. Yet.

3. What "revolutionary people" there are, are in the urban areas. In event the urban areas revolted (again):

a. The rural areas would still support the regime. And there is a lot of rural area.

b. The Baseej (which now responsible for internal security) has several units armed with heavy weapons stationed near the cities. They aren't yo' daddy's mine-clearers any more. Even the IRGC isn't sure who they answer to.

4. Which revolutionaries are you talking about? The marxists, the students, or the religious fanatics?
Posted by: Pappy || 08/18/2007 11:54 Comments || Top||

#6  This is why we seriously need space based microwave beam weapons. Just pick the house these guys are in, focus the beam and turn it on. Then they explode. We could do it to people like Syria and Iran's leaders, and anyone caught chanting "Death to America" Give em a taste of the real death ray. Exploding people makes a powerful statement and others will be less likely to open their mouths against us if it leads to being flash heated to 2500 degrees.

"Death to...*ZAP*"
Posted by: Silentbrick || 08/18/2007 12:25 Comments || Top||

#7  Come on, Pappy. You have to admit it's worth a try. The benefits far outweigh any negative consequences.

A.) The message sent to other Islamic theocracies would be priceless.

B.) The piper would be paid for 1979.

C.) A real price tag would be attached to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

D.) Iran's gander finally would be sauced for sponsorship of proxy terrorist wars.

E.) Lastly, just as with Zimbabwe's Mugabe and North Korea's Kim, there simply isn't anyone worse who could ever take the helm. Iran's Islamic theocracy is so far beyond the pale of this civilized world that decapitating their entire government could not possibly result in anything more evil that what is currently passing for leadership in-country.

If the West is ever to win the war on terrorism it is vital that Iran's Islamic theocracy be dismantled as an object lesson for all Muslims who aspire to a global caliphate. There is simply no room in this world for shari'a based societies. Their abuse of human rights is so manifest and manifold that they must be thwarted at every turn.

Iran—like North Korea—represents a pinnacle of crimes against humanity that requires immediate and catastrophic disassembly.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 15:08 Comments || Top||

#8  Hmmm what would be the impact of a decapitated Iran? A less organized rogue nation? Inability to coordinate and facilitate terrorism in Iraq? Fallow oilfields for our titular allies? Toothless condemnation of the international community? Am I missing anything?
Posted by: regular joe || 08/18/2007 15:24 Comments || Top||

#9  Am I missing anything?

You sure are, regular joe. As in people all over America loudly cheering from their windows and handing out candy to kids in the street.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 15:51 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian company to cut electricity
A Palestinian company supplying electricity to the central Gaza Strip announced Friday that it would cut off power later in the day since Israel had closed a crossing through which fuel is brought into the Palestinian area. "For two days we have not received fuel," the chairman of the Gaza Generating Company, Rafik Malikha, told a press conference in Gaza City. "The Israeli side is preventing vehicles from approaching the crossing."

The Israeli army spokesman said the crossing had been closed since Wednesday for security reasons he could not detail. The Gaza Generating Company supplies the Gaza Strip with about 25 percent of its electricity. The rest of the supply comes from Israel's Electric Company and Egypt. Israel has since Wednesday forbidden the company's supply trucks from approaching the Nahal Oz Crossing, Malikha said. The company's fuel reserves, which are only enough to produce power for two days, have run out, he said.

The company will shut off three of its four generators, Malikha said. It was not immediately clear how many of the Gaza Strip's 1.4 million people would be affected. The company supplies power to Gaza City and other central areas of the coastal territory. Almost all supplies for the Gaza Strip, including food, fuel and raw materials, come from Israel and through crossings controlled by Israel. The passages are frequently closed by Israel, which cites attempts by Palestinian terrorists to attack them.

Israel closed all of the crossings after the Islamic Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June, partially opening them a few days later. The United Nations has warned of a growth in poverty since Hamas's wrested control of Gaza, with unemployment on the rise and humanitarian aide in high demand.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Operation Chokehold?
Posted by: mojo || 08/18/2007 0:27 Comments || Top||

#2  I bet if a good will gesture ...
like say the return of a certain missing soldier were to take place.... there might be a return gesture like letting some fuel in....

Nah..
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 1:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Gaza Generating Company
I can't see this as a hold. Take your losses from GGC and put your money in Mexican Racehorse futures.
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 08/18/2007 2:01 Comments || Top||

#4  I see a bright future for the Gaza Generating Company. All they gotta do is start selling carbon offsets. "Pay us and we won't make electricity."
Posted by: WTF || 08/18/2007 9:21 Comments || Top||

#5  Typical Paleo and UN strategy---blame Israel on your troubles and bad decision making. If I was Israel, I would permanently shut down the border crossings. Dump the problem back on the Paleos. If the Egyptians are such strong supporters of the Paleos, let them fork up the money to keep this terrarium of septage going. And let Hamas and their ilk know where their water comes from, and it can be shut off, too.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/18/2007 11:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Nah, AP, don't tell 'em the water can be shut off. Show them! A reduction here, a reduction there, turn it off for a few hours, then a few days....
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 11:48 Comments || Top||

#7  I thought the Jihadis rejected modern things and want to revert back to the seventh century......Welcome!
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 08/18/2007 12:15 Comments || Top||

#8  A blackout in the heart of darkness. Go figure.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 16:06 Comments || Top||


Iraq
US commanders plan Iraq drawdown next year
WASHINGTON - military commanders plan to maintain the current level of about 160,000 troops in Iraq until next year and then start to draw down, a general said on Friday. Army Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno said security in Iraq had improved in recent months as the result of the “surge” in forces ordered by President George W. Bush but the gains did not yet represent enduring trends. Much would depend on Iraqis’ ability to build on that progress, he said.

Odierno, the top commander for day-to-day operations in Iraq, said extra units deployed for the build-up would leave between next April and August to keep a promise that their tour would not last more than 15 months. “The surge, we all know, will end sometime in 2008,” Odierno told reporters at the Pentagon by videolink from Iraq.

He said commanders would be faced with a decision on whether to replace the units. “Right now our plan is not to backfill those units,” he said. A final decision has not been made and would fall to Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, Odierno said.

But his remarks offered an insight into the thinking of commanders in Iraq before a much-anticipated progress report due next month to the Congress by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the ambassador in Baghdad.

Odierno said the total number of attacks in Iraq were at their lowest level since August 2006, and attacks against civilians in particular were at a six-month low. He did not give figures reflecting the number of casualties in recent and past attacks.

Civilian murders in Baghdad were down more than 51 percent since and Iraqi forces launched a crackdown in the capital earlier this year, he said. Odierno said the Baghdad murders were at their lowest level since just before the February 2006 bombing of the al-Askari mosque, a Shi’ite shrine in the city of Samarra, which set off a huge wave of sectarian violence. “Although our recent tactical successes are not yet enduring trends, we are heading in the right direction,” he said.

He echoed statements by officials that military operations cannot alone heal Iraq’s sectarian divisions and Iraq’s government must approve measures to foster reconciliation between Sunnis, Shi’ites and Kurds. “We understand that our recent tactical successes will only add up if Iraqis take advantage of them and ultimately the government of Iraq is a key to progress,” Odierno said. “We are setting the conditions in buying the government of Iraq time to improve their capacity in order to gradually and steadily empower the Iraqi government and not hand them too much, too quickly,” he said.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Not much reading between the lines necessary to see the surge is suceeding, at least in the Khaleej Times. It is a Reuters piece, however, so I'll watch the Washington Post tomorrow - they'll probably pick it up!
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 7:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Odierno's obviously doing a great job, but for the billionth time, can anyone here play this game? Body language conveying anything other than relentless determination directly undermines our mission and gets more Americans killed in the long run. At the same time, it is utterly irrelevant to the domestic political situation, where (as though it wasn't obvious from the start) the opposition and the pathetic weather-vanes of the GOP lack the guts to do anything dramatic on Iraq. Somehow the political geniuses all over DC incl. the White House cannot recognize the obvious fact that Americans are sensitive to perceptions of progress or utility in our efforts and sacrifice, and not hung up on dates and deadlines. I believe the DOD has done focus group work over the last few years that documents this and other common sense things - but apparently either that's a rumor or the results aren't shared with the WH.

Sheesh.

Show bloody, bared teeth and a slightly maniacal visage to the world until you get what you want. Then it's time for transparency about future plans.

Talking points for Odierno (he can use them without a royalty fee): "As we've said before our future actions will be determined by results and conditions here on the ground. Our actions on increasing or decreasing troop levels will be conditions-based, the only important conditions being our progress in achieving our objectives. There's no timetable in a war, and in this war the only end-point will be the achievement of our objectives. The enemy, and anyone else, had better think accordingly."

There - is that so hard?
Posted by: Verlaine || 08/18/2007 12:07 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Seven militants killed in Waziristan
MIRANSHAH/WANA: Two foreigners were among three militants killed on Friday after they ignored a signal to stop their vehicle at a checkpost in North Waziristan, as a suicide attacker rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a military convoy in Tank district, killing himself and injuring five soldiers, officials said. The foreigners were identified as Uzbeks. Their bodies were flown to Miranshah for a DNA test, official sources told Daily Times.

The militants were signalled to stop at Jalar checkpost, three kilometres south of Mir Ali town, but they did not, prompting an action from security forces. "The two foreign militants were killed instantly and the other injured militant died moments later. Their injured accomplice was taken into custody and is under treatment," the sources said.

Mir Ali town, according to local residents, is a stronghold of foreign militants and Uzbeks flushed out from Wana and surrounding areas of South Waziristan early this year, took shelter in the area. The military convoy came under attack on its way to Manzai from Tank city.

Meanwhile, security forces backed by gunship helicopters continued pounding targets of suspected militants in South Waziristan, after an ambush on a military convoy on Thursday. According to military sources, 15 militants and seven security personnel were killed in the clashes. "We have carried out heavy bombing of areas where militants were reported sheltering and attacking the security forces," the sources said.

Tribal sources in Jandola, main town on the border of South Waziristan, said big explosions were heard in the Chaghmalay and Sarwakai areas on Thursday night and Friday, adding that the security forces were using gunship helicopters and artillery against militants from Jandola base. Residents of Chaghmalay and Sarwakai were reported fleeing the areas, but the movement across Mehsud areas was almost impossible as all routes were either closed or risky to use.

A 21-member Mehsud peace jirga went to South Waziristan to hold talks with Mehsud militants, who kidnapped 15 paramilitary soldiers last week. MMA's MNA Maulana Mirajuddin is leading the jirga. He told Daily Times on Thursday that he was hopeful of the release of 15 Frontier Corps personnel, but Thursday clashes "concerned me".

"The jirga is meeting the kidnapers (appear to be tribal militants demanding release of their comrades from the government custody) at an undisclosed location in South Waziristan," sources in political administration of Wana said.

Agencies add: Militants attacked two security posts in the Tiarza area, about 20 km north of Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan region, security officials in the area said. The security forces suffered no casualties and killed four of the militants, they said. The two Waziristan regions are near the Afghan border, where security officials say remnants of Al Qaida and Taliban are hiding. There has been a surge in attacks on the security forces in the tribal region since July, when militants ended a 2006 peace deal, accusing the government of violating the agreement by deploying additional troops at checkpoints in the region.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Strong earthquake strikes eastern Indonesia
A strong undersea earthquake struck eastern Indonesia on Friday, the US Geological Survey and local officials said. No tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Hastert Officially Announces Retirement
Former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert officially announced today that he would not seek re-election to Congress, saying he still hoped to be an advocate for his home state of Illinois. Mr. Hastert, who became speaker at the height of the Clinton impeachment era, had served in the post until the Republicans lost their majority in Congress last year. The former wrestling coach and teacher ruled over the House as George W. Bush became president in the wake of the 2000 election mess and through the 2006 midterms, all the while in charge of the membership.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thanks for your service.
Posted by: Perfesser || 08/18/2007 11:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Sad to say that I'm glad he's gone.
Getting in front of the William Jefferson and his 9 frozen Salmon P. Chase's flap the way he did illustrates that nice guys do not, necessarily, make good legislators or leaders.
Another icon for the usefulness of term-limits...
Posted by: OyVey1 || 08/18/2007 18:25 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Extremists destroy one school, rig a second
Multi-National Division ? Baghdad Soldiers, responding to a tip, were investigating two schools that were rigged to explode in a rural area in northern Baghdad when one exploded Aug. 16. Soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, were investigating a tip gathered by Iraqi Army forces operating in the Al Awad area of northern Baghdad and conducting a deliberate clearing operation of one school when a second school nearby exploded.

The unit then started receiving small arms fire from insurgents in a tree line across the road from the school. The Soldiers then called in attack aviation to clear the tree line and the small arms fire ceased. The Soldiers then proceeded to clear the school damaged by the explosion. There they found containers filled with high explosives planted in several areas around the school, some of which had not exploded. The school was assessed to be a complete loss.

The second school which the soldiers originally were trying to clear was also rigged with multiple containers of high explosives, but none of them exploded. All of the unexploded containers were removed and destroyed by an explosive ordnance disposal team.

Al Qaeda extremists operating in the area are responsible for the emplacement of the explosives, according to Lt. Col. Peter Andrysiak, deputy commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. He said extremists are attempting to disrupt Coalition efforts to facilitate the restoration of services and stop insurgent activities in the area.

This incident marks the fourth and fifth time insurgents have targeted schools in the northern Baghdad area this year. "This is a testimony of how little the Al-Qeada cares about the citizens of Iraq. They provide nothing of value to the Iraqi people," Andrysiak said. "Al Qaeda is fearful of the largest reconciliation effort in Baghdad spreading to this area, but they haven't changed their tactics. They kill and destroy. We secure, rebuild and provide hope."

Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Home Front: Politix
Thompson, in Iowa, still coy on entering U.S. race
Then go back to Tennessee and let everybody else get on with the campaign.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think he's positioning for VP. It's the only explanation for this behavior.
Posted by: no mo uro || 08/18/2007 6:08 Comments || Top||

#2  The Cheney ploy, you think? I.e. 'I'm the strong, straight talking VP saying what the Prez can't' ??
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 8:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Fred is quickly becoming the Mario Cuomo of our time. Shit or get off the pot man...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 10:06 Comments || Top||

#4  His latest chief advisor is Spencer Abraham, not a muzzie, but a muzzie wannabe.
Take a hot shower, Fred.
Posted by: wxjames || 08/18/2007 14:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Agree wxjames. When Thompson hired the pro islamist Spencer Abraham, the boy went out the window in my book. Right now Fred can go to hell.
Posted by: Icerigger || 08/18/2007 16:44 Comments || Top||

#6  When Thompson hired the pro islamist Spencer Abraham, the boy went out the window in my book.

Glad to see I'm not the only one who feels this way. How much is Abraham being paid? Who's willing to bet more than a plug nickel that some percentage of those big bucks aren't going out the back door as terrorist funding zakat?

[crickets]
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 17:01 Comments || Top||

#7  Zakat? are you really that fucking stupid, or what?
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 17:35 Comments || Top||

#8  No, I just happen to believe that pro-Islamist people have no compunctions about supporting terrorism, financially or otherwise.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 17:59 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Scores trapped in Chinese mine
Chinese emergency teams are searching for 172 miners who were working underground when a coal mine flooded, state media has reported. Amid heavy rain in Xintai city, 450km (280 miles) south of Beijing, rescuers have already led 584 miners to safety, Xinhua news agency said. Senior Communist Party officials are now co-ordinating the rescue effort.
They're doomed.
China's coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with more than 5,000 deaths reported annually.

"There were 756 miners working under the ground when the accident occurred," Zhang Dekuan, deputy secretary-general of the provincial government, said. Of these, 584 were rescued, he added.

Xinhua reported that the mine, in eastern China's Shandong province, was overrun with surface water at about 1430 local time (0630 GMT) on Friday.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Surface Water from a new dam?
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 1:54 Comments || Top||

#2  It's Bush's fault.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 08/18/2007 8:07 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Jenna Bush to marry longtime boyfriend
All the lefty blogs, with Wonkette leading the way, are cackling that Jenna is preggers. Dunno if that's fake but accurate or not...
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We'll know in 7 months or so.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 11:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Who cares, I hope she is pregnant and the Bush though them a HUGE White House wedding. What are they going to cackle about? Heterosexuality? Marriage? Love? Might keep the left busy so we can get some serious work done.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 08/18/2007 12:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Pre-emptive engagement/wedding to head off Chelsea Clinton at the pass.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/18/2007 16:48 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Gunfight ends with release of hostages, two insurgents dead
After returning from a family member's funeral, four women and six small children were kidnapped by armed men wearing ski masks on a Baghdad street on May 1. The women and children were taken after having to witness the execution of their male family members. They were held for more than a month's time, during which the women endured daily rapings and beatings and were constantly threatened with beheading, one of the women later said in a statement given to U.S. Special Forces.

On June 1, their ordeal came to an end as Iraqi Security Forces and a U.S. Special Forces team freed the hostages during an air assault raid that targeted an al Qaeda in Iraq kidnapping cell south of Balad. The operation, called Operation Falkirk, was a combined operation conducted with U.S. Special Forces Soldiers and Iraqi Army Scouts to locate and detain suspected terrorists in Balad with ties to the kidnapping of two U.S. Soldiers taken captive after their combat patrol was ambushed May 12.

The raid resulted in a sustained firefight that left one U.S. Special Forces Soldier wounded, two insurgents dead, and the primary target of the operation captured and seriously wounded.

"We're always prepared for a gunfight," a team sergeant stated. "Operation Falkirk turned out to be much more than we originally planned for, and handed out a challenge."

During the operation, the Special Forces team and their Iraqi counterparts conducted the late-night air assault against three remote houses reportedly sheltering the terrorist group. Shortly after beginning the assault, the team came under heavy, small-arms fire from terrorists inside one of the houses. One Special Forces Soldier was hit and evacuated. Other members of the team immediately assaulted the house and overwhelmed the terrorists.

When the gunfire ended, two insurgents were dead, one of them in the stairwell leading to the roof where the women and children were discovered, the team sergeant said. At that time, the women and children were believed to be the family members of the insurgents, not victims of mental and physical abuse by their captors.

As the women and children were being escorted down from the roof, the sergeant said he noticed something didn't seem right. "(The women and children) had to step over one of the dead insurgents to go down," he said. "There was no reaction by any of the women or the children as they moved passed. Normally, the wife and children will collectively get hysterical over a dead family member, but not one word was uttered."

The other insurgent was also in open view as they proceeded through the house. But again, the sergeant said, "the women and children gave no reaction."

U.S. Special Forces team members began questioning some of the women, but soon received word that the house was wired with explosives. The team immediately evacuated everyone from the house. During the evacuation, the team received word that another terrorist had fled the area on foot during the initial assault. The fleeing insurgent had entered an adjacent canal and was hiding in thick reeds several hundred meters from the original objective.

Members of the Special Forces team, together with Iraqi soldiers, entered the canal in pursuit of the fleeing terrorist. In chest-deep water, a Special Forces sergeant eventually located the hiding terrorist. The terrorist then lunged at the sergeant and was shot in the chest by an Iraqi Scout providing security for the sergeant.
Ah yes, the sucking chest wound. Those hurt.
The assault force immediately pulled the individual from the water and rendered first-aid, saving his life.
Thus illustrating the difference between us and them.
"As it turned out, the male hiding along the river bank was the main person we were after and the leader of the terrorist cell," the team sergeant said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Odd that this happened six weeks ago. Anyone care to speculate for the delay?
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 11:50 Comments || Top||

#2  The women and children were taken after having to witness the execution of their male family members. They were held for more than a month's time, during which the women endured daily rapings and beatings and were constantly threatened with beheading, one of the women later said in a statement given to U.S. Special Forces.

Taking female captive for sexual slavery and doing daily chores at their camp, after slaugthering their relatives, was a staple of the algerian jihadis during the 90's civil war. I clearly remember a terrorist communique which read like a dark version of Mel Brooks' line about "stealing the women and raping the cattle", stating that since the algerian population at large was apostate (a paleo scholar living in London cared to made that islamically official), then the jihadis were entitled to "kill them, take their possessions, steal their livestock, and their womanfolk", this was put as clearly as that.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 12:00 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Lincoln Memorial Attacked
Posted by: Whomong Crolutle9790 || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When I saw it had been attacked by F4Js I believed planes had straffed the memorial. Too much reading about the F4F Wildcat, F4U Corsair and F4 Phantom.s
Posted by: JFM || 08/18/2007 3:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Hang them at the site, and leave their corpses to rot.
Posted by: Natural Law || 08/18/2007 11:37 Comments || Top||

#3  The protest marks the start of the group's US campaign.

Yes, this stunt should create a veritable tidal wave of support for their cause...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 11:45 Comments || Top||

#4  From MensNewsDaily.com

Here's an article headline from UK's Guardian:

Activist fathers held at gunpoint

Two British Fathers 4 Justice activists were arrested at gunpoint by a Swat team at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

*********

And now a few comments from our "friends" the US conservatives:

Lincoln Memorial Attacked
"#2 Hang them at the site, and leave their corpses to rot."

This is how you treat legitimate civil disobedience? These so-called "conservatives" are nothing of the sort: they are neo-fascist dogs.

Count me fed up.
Posted by: MNDNET || 08/18/2007 15:36 Comments || Top||

#5  These are FATHERS that have been shafted by the system, YOUR system. Apparently you've signed on to leftist liberal lies about dead-beat dads. I haven't been to this site before; are all you a bunch o' fookin' hairy-feminist lovers? If not, step up to the plate and defend those fathers that want their kids in their life. Don't just sit here bitching; do something, or suffer the consequences when it's your turn..
Posted by: Omeng Turkeyneck6409 || 08/18/2007 15:41 Comments || Top||

#6  2/3s of child support cases are in arrears in the US, probably higher in the UK where the nanny state absolves people even more from their actions. You can dip your dick but you can't dip into your wallet to raise the child YOU produced? Want to talk about shafted? Compare the number of mothers and children struggling to make rent to the number of dads clambering for custody. I dare say it's 100:1.

What this shows is a lack of responsibility and an unwillingness to face the consequences of their own making, much like the whining from those who so cavalierly violated the most sacred American national symbol and suffered the consequences. Want sympathy? Assure child support is paid by those who owe it and not the taxpayer. Only then will the long suffering public give a damn about you and your childish defacement of our symbols.

Go back to England and petition your own MPs or go piss on Nelson's statue. I don't care which.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2007 16:07 Comments || Top||

#7  I actually think this is good agit-prop, using the same method as the Usual suspects; I wish them luck, though, modern western societies have be re-rigged as fatherless societies, from "father knows best" to "family guy" (the show with Peter Griffin) if you wish, with all that entails. Courage, fellows!
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 16:07 Comments || Top||

#8  "Yet again Fathers 4 Justice in the UK has led the way with an audacious protest to raise the global profile of fatherlessness and the social catastrophe it is causing in first world countries."

Ya know, I thoroughly agree re: the social catastrophe, but the part about "once more the UK has led the way with an audacious.... " is pretentious posturing crap IMO.

Let's see. Non-citizens go to my nation's capital, scale a key landmark/memorial and people are surprised / outraged they were arrested? Post 9/11 they're lucky they weren't shot first and questioned later.

Sorry guys. I am 100+% behind promoting fatherhood. I am also quite aware of deadbeat dad cases that affect families I know. Deadbeat is wrong. Keeping fathers from kids is equally wrong and a social disaster.

But climbing the Lincoln Memorial in the height of tourist season, post 9/11, isn't "audacious". I can think of a lot of terms for it, but that one somehow doesn't spring to mind ....

JMNSHO
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 16:48 Comments || Top||

#9  Assure child support is paid by those who owe it

America has recently made passport renewal contingent upon having all delinquent child support over a few grand paid in full. You'd be amazed how these deadbeats suddenly can cough up tens of thousands of dollars when an overseas boxing match or business deal is suddenly at stake.

I watched my father liquidate most of our family's assets to pay high-priced lawyers so he could get child support payments whittled down to $75 bucks per kid each month. How curious that nearly all of his children have moved out of state or refuse to talk to him ever again.

Absentee fathers are a principal contributor to modern society's high juvenile crime rate and poor scholastic performance. The black community, especially, is crippled by such neglect. These slacking self-indulgent wankers should be pilloried and horsewhipped.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 16:55 Comments || Top||

#10  Sorry about that rant in #8.

As a baby boomer, I've had to put up with these sorts of 'clever' stunts for decades, aimed at a large variety of 'causes'. It's soooo last year / decade / generation.

When anyone - much less foreigners - does it on the Mall, at a memorial I love, it goes beyond being tiresome to me and moves smack into anger-making territory. No matter what the cause they are protesting / advocating / advertising / hoping to get Gretta Van Susteren or Nancy Grace to interview them for.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 17:10 Comments || Top||

#11  as a divorced father who spent close to $40K to get custody of my three kids, and successfully raised them myself, I have the ability to say good message - stupid presentation. Idiots. Way to turn people against what is an otherwise righteous position, F4J's!. BTW - my youngest turned 18 yesterday and starts college monday, so I have the right to be proud. For Brits to do this on an American National Memorial shows a tin ear of terrible proportions
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 17:41 Comments || Top||

#12  I have the right to be proud.

You most certainly do, Frank. Both of my parents attended one of the finest universities in this entire world yet neither of them ever bothered to help their children with any homework or gave a royal shit about them getting a higher education. Oh, did I mention that my father was a school teacher?

lotp, your rant and anger are both entirely justified.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 17:51 Comments || Top||

#13  BGTW, anon5089 made an important point. Father's rights issue is just a part of the problem. Men have been diminished and ridiculed for years in ads, TV shows and movies. It's corrosive and has had horrible effects socially.

I'm not willing to go back to a time when women were equally ridiculed and treated as inherently stupid / inept. (Yes, there was such a time in living memory, alas.)

Somehow we've got to find a way to restore dignity to our culture and respect both sexes on an equal basis without either ghettoing one or pretending there aren't differences between them. Us. Y'all.

Frank, big congrats on the youngest!
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 18:25 Comments || Top||

#14  BGTW
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 18:25 Comments || Top||

#15  Thx - it helped that I had children that were inherently good people, and family support in every way
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 18:35 Comments || Top||

#16  Father's rights issue is just a part of the problem.

Definitely so but—speaking as a man—those rights deserve to be on a back burner until socio-economic gender equality is finally achieved. Women are still inherently discriminated against in the working world, both financially and in terms of career advancement. During the 1980s my college graduate sweetheart was outraged at how I—with only a high school diploma—made more money than she did.

However, once that gender equality is obtained watch for all hell to break loose over things like a father's right not to have an unborn child aborted, custody and ex-wives paying child support to men who have custody. It will certainly make for some interesting times.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 18:35 Comments || Top||

#17  A man friend of mine has recently gone through a flesh-eating divorce and custody battle; the results were beneficial to no one, particularly the child.

I'm not sure how scaling the Lincoln Memorial helps the cause of my friend and his kid.

Leave our monuments alone, dammit.
Posted by: Seafarious || 08/18/2007 19:07 Comments || Top||

#18  lotp agreed. Congrats too Frank on your youngest.
I divorced after my kids were grown and out of the house, so that was good. Although I wish that my kids would have a dad, he has to do alot of work first, but it may be too late, the kids have already disowned him. Sorry too much info.
Posted by: Jan || 08/18/2007 19:11 Comments || Top||

#19  Glad to see this!!! Men in the U.S. are 4th class citizens. Too bad we don't have any "men" in the U.S. who have the balls to do this. Thanks to our UK brothers!!!!
Posted by: Denis || 08/18/2007 19:25 Comments || Top||

#20  no arguement for standing up for fathers rights, but during these times, not at the Lincoln Memorial for Petes sake.
Posted by: Jan || 08/18/2007 19:33 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Weapons recovered, suspect seized in raid
Soldiers with the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division and the 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division captured one suspected insurgent and recovered a weapons cache during a raid in eastern Baghdad Aug. 16.

During Operation Chesterfield in the New Baghdad District, Soldiers of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment based out of Fort Riley, Kan., and attached to the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, joined with their Iraqi counterparts in capturing the suspected insurgent, recovering two AK-47s, two pistols and 900,000 Iraqi dinar.

The suspect is being held for further questioning. The capture comes as insurgents have stepped up their activity against Iraqi civilians and police officers. U.S. and Iraqi forces have responded by driving into insurgent strongholds and setting up combat outposts and joint security stations as part of the Baghdad Security Plan to secure the capital.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Afghanistan
Bomber kills S. Afghan district chief, 3 of his kids
A suicide bomber killed an Afghan district chief and three of his children in southern Afghanistan on Friday, and five civilians were killed in fighting between NATO soldiers and Taliban in the country's east, officials said. The bomber blew himself up as Khariudin Achakzai, the chief of Kandahar's Zhari district, was coming out of his house in the city of Kandahar with five of his children, said Abdul Ghafar, a police official. Achakzai, two of his sons and a daughter were killed instantly, while two of his other sons were wounded, Ghafar said.

In the east, NATO troops were hit by a roadside bomb before coming under small-arms and mortar fire, the statement said. The alliance did not disclose the exact location of the incident. The ensuing gunfight left five Afghan civilians dead and three others wounded, NATO said. Two Taliban fighters were also wounded. There were no reports of alliance casualties. "Such incidents are regrettable, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those killed and wounded in this very unfortunate incident," the NATO statement said. "Every effort is being made to provide the best medical treatment to the injured Afghans."

Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply during the last two months. More than 3,700 people, mostly militants, have been killed in insurgency-related violence this year, according to an Associated Press tally of casualty figures provided by Western and Afghan officials.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
'Russia delivers air defence system to Syria'
Russia has begun delivery of modern air defence units to Syria while rejecting speculation that some of the weapons could be forwarded secretly to Iran, a newspaper reported on Friday. "The first part of the delivery to Syria has started", the centrist daily Nezavissimaya Gazeta reported, quoting information from a domestic military information agency.

A spokesman for Russia's arms export agency Rosoboronexport, contacted by AFP, declined to comment on the newspaper report. The report acknowledged that the delivery of the weapons, the Pantsyr-S1E self-propelled short-range missile air defence system, was particularly sensitive in light of Israeli claims last year that Russian arms sold to Syria had ended up in the hands of militant group Hezbollah.

Israel fought a brief war with Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon in July 2006 and afterwards accused Russia of indirectly supplying Hezbollah with relatively sophisticated anti-tank weapons, an accusation Moscow denied.

Nezavissimaya Gazeta quoted an official involved in Russian arms export policy as describing concerns that Russian air defense weapons could be re-exported to Iran as "silly rumours". "This is not possible," Vitaly Shlykov, a member of the state committee on foreign and defence policy, was quoted as saying. "One of the conditions for every deal is the prohibition on transfer of the weaponry to a third country."
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  "One of the conditions for every deal is the prohibition on transfer of the weaponry to a third country."

Rubbish. Forwarding on is expected and Russia is fully aware of where this will head. After all Hisbollah isn't a third "country".
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble || 08/18/2007 12:01 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
O'Bama campaign working to introduce candidate
Probably not a good idea. He started out by being pretty but unknown. Now he's reaching the pretty but stoopid stage. The more he opens his mouth, the dumber he gets. At the rate he's going, by December he's going to have the IQ of a stalk of broccoli.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Barack Hussein Obama

Went to school in a muslim country which he touts as a foreign policy credential. Check.

Offered to bomb nuclear-armed Pakistan to look tough. Check.

Slandered our troops in Afghanistan (that they just put in aristrikes on civilians.) Check.

Was against the Iraq war because he believed Sadam DID possess WMD's. Check.

What more do you want to know?
Posted by: WTF || 08/18/2007 6:49 Comments || Top||

#2  He has one big plus, Hillary hates him.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 11:34 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Paris Hilton launches easy-off clothing-line
Paris Hilton has unveiled her namesake clothing line.
... so to speak.
The 26-year-old heiress, author, singer, perfume designer and reality-TV star met a crowd of fans at the Los Angeles event. "It's a dream come true to have my own clothing line," she said, wearing a gold sequined mini-dress. "It's just Paris style: fun, bright and flashy."
"You might call it 'floozy!'"
The collection, which Hilton described as "really comfortable" and "really affordable," includes shoes, T-shirts and jeans. Hilton said she spent a year submitting and approving designs. "It's just from my closet to their closets," she said. "I'm just excited about it and everyone really loves it."
"It's all designed to be worn without underpants, of course! And if one or both of your honkers escape, they won't stray far!"
Additional pieces will be released next month, she said.
"Really, it's getting harder to come up with more places to accidentally bare! I'm working on it really hard, though. I managed to expose one of my ovaries last week, in fact!"
The heiress also discussed other newsy matters in her life: her pregnant pal, Nicole Richie ("She's going to be a great mom," Hilton said), and the pending sale of her Hollywood Hills home. "I'm going to miss my house because I love it. I really designed it to be my perfect taste," she said. "But too many people know where I live and I'd rather be in a gated community."
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  She needs to be in a gated community, all right - one where they don't let her out.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 15:56 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Saudis in Syrian diplomatic spat
Saudi Arabia has strongly criticised claims from Syria that it has lost influence in the Middle East. The Muslim kingdom branded criticism by Syrian Vice President Faruq al-Shara earlier this week "lies and fallacies". In a speech in the Syrian capital of Damascus, Mr Shara said Saudi foreign policy was "virtually paralysed".

But an unnamed source quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency said the Syrian remarks did not come from a "rational or prudent person".

Mr Shara said the collapse of a Palestinian unity deal brokered by Saudi officials in the holy city of Mecca showed the kingdom's influence was on the wane. He also criticised Saudi Arabia for not attending a meeting on Iraqi security hosted by Syria earlier this month.

But a Saudi official told the official press agency: "The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has followed with great surprise the distasteful statements recently made by ... (Mr Shara), which included numerous lies and fallacies aimed at harming us.

"Talk about the paralysis of the kingdom's Arab and Islamic role does not come from a rational and prudent person, as this role is well known to everyone.

"Perhaps Mr Shara had a slip of the tongue and meant by paralysis the policy he speaks for."

Correspondents say Saudi Arabia and Syria remain at odds over many issues in the Middle East, including relations with Iran and the political crisis in Lebanon. The BBC's Magdi Abdelhadi says the unusually strong Saudi statement reflects growing frustration with the regime in Damascus.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [22 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Interpol warrant out for Saddam's daughter
Interpol has circulated an arrest warrant for the oldest daughter of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Raghad Saddam Hussein, who fled the 2003 US-led invasion, is accused of terrorism and other offences. She helped organise the legal defence of her father, who was hanged last December for crimes against humanity.
That worked well. She may of more use to us at large than in jug, if y'know whudda mean.
She could lead us to the Kruggerrands ...
Last year Iraq put Raghad and her mother, Sajida, on a list of its most wanted fugitives, alleging they supported the insurgency in Iraq.
Bout damned time.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry told the BBC Interpol had notified member countries on Friday.
Jordan will no doubt cough her up, kinda like an Islamic hair ball...
Damascus is lovely this time of year ...
Before her father was executed last year, Raghad asked for his body to be buried temporarily in Yemen until, she said, such time as coalition forces were expelled from Iraq. The Jordanian authorities said last year that she was living in their country as an asylum seeker, but it is not clear where she is at present.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  hopefully she'll soon be reunited with her husband Kamel
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 8:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Great chance for the UN to show it can (or more likely CAN'T) compel extradition in such a case...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 08/18/2007 13:59 Comments || Top||


Insurgents launch attack from mosque
Insurgents launched an attack against Coalition Forces from a Sunni mosque in Tarmiyah, Iraq, in Baghdad Province, Aug. 16.

Soldiers from 4th Stryker Brigade Combat, 2nd Infantry Division, were attacked at their outpost with heavy small-arms fire which the unit confirmed came from the Honest Muhammed Mosque. The attack resulted in one Coalition Soldier killed and another wounded as reported previously in MNC-I press release 20070817-04. CF previously reported multiple small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks on nearby outposts originating from the mosque since May. "These insurgents displayed total disregard for the community by using a mosque, a sacred place for Muslims worship, as a sanctuary to commit their acts of terror," said Maj. Mike Garcia, spokesperson for 4th SBCT. "They are fully aware Coalition Forces treat religious centers with the highest regard. This is an obvious sign of cowardice."

After confirming the source of the attack, CF established an outer cordon of the area and attempted to locate the mosque's Imam. After being unable to find the Imam, CF talked to the mosque's groundskeeper in an attempt to resolve the situation.

CF conducted a tactical callout to individuals inside the mosque instructing them to come out. Two armed individuals were identified on the roof. The groundskeeper instructed everyone in the mosque to exit the mosque and surrender to CF. The groundskeeper and 20 people exited the mosque. After detaining the 20 individuals, the groundskeeper stated the mosque was empty. Two armed individuals remained on the roof.

An air weapons team engaged the armed individuals on the northeast corner of the mosque's roof with a Hellfire missile. The roof of the mosque only sustained minor damage.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [30 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Screw the Imams, let's turn the Groundskeepers.
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 08/18/2007 1:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Is this some kind of toned-down version of the missile that I have come to know and love?
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Sounds like they only destroyed the tip of the tower.
Posted by: Boss Craising2882 || 08/18/2007 7:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Come on, it was called the 'Honest Muhammed' Mosque? Someone's pulling me leg here...
Posted by: Raj || 08/18/2007 7:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Raj - it's on the premises of a used-car dealership ;-)
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 8:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Have we thanked them for the fries yet.
Posted by: Steven || 08/18/2007 22:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Sorry wrong post location.
Posted by: Steven || 08/18/2007 22:10 Comments || Top||


Europe
'Basque land not for sale' - bombers hit holiday homes
A reminder that not all terrorism is Islamicist.


Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That is the last where I would rent a holiday home. Except maybe Gaza.
Posted by: McZoid || 08/18/2007 1:49 Comments || Top||

#2  This is actually two combined situations. The first is that the British are buying up French properties in droves, as holiday homes. France is essentially a poor, agrarian nation supported by enormous agricultural subsidies from the EU.

The second is that Spain is starting to fracture between their divisive ethnic groups. Basques are just the noisiest group, the least "Spanish". In a lot of places in Spain, people do not call themselves Spanish at all, but by their regional names, such as Catalan.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2007 10:35 Comments || Top||

#3  France is essentially a poor, agrarian nation supported by enormous agricultural subsidies from the EU.

Wow. Heard about Concorde, the TGV, Ariane?

Let me edit your comment. France is a rich country with a strong agricultural lobby but manages to have the bill paid by those suckers of the EU. And also manges to milk British suckers by selling them old houses three times their price.
Posted by: JFM || 08/18/2007 11:24 Comments || Top||

#4  I agree with JFM. Mr. Wife takes as many business trips to France as to Japan, I believe. If only the French weren't so addicted to government bureaucracy...
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/18/2007 11:39 Comments || Top||

#5  France is essentially a poor, agrarian nation supported by enormous agricultural subsidies from the EU.

Sigh.

France :

GDP - per capita (PPP): $31,100 (2006 est.) (USA : GDP - per capita (PPP): $44,000 2006 est.; Japan : GDP - per capita (PPP): $33,100 2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.2% (USA : 0.9%; Japan : 1.6%)
industry: 20.6% (USA : 20.4%; Japan : 25.4%)
services: 77.2% (2006 est.) (USA : 78.6% 2006 est.; Japan : 73.1% 2006 est.)

The bit about the EU is true, too; it has wrecked french agrarian culture (french paysans are in a constant state of upheaval, and a very powerful and aggressive lobby, but in the same time, they're addicted to subsidies and State-sponsirship), which has became productivist and industrial, but in large part, the PAC/CAP (common agrarain policy) is a big scheme to get monies from Germany notably, inot the pockets of the french producers.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 11:47 Comments || Top||

#6  the PAC/CAP (common agrarain policy) is a big scheme to get monies from Germany notably, inot the pockets of the french producers.

Proving that the French are (most of the time) smarter than the Germans.
Posted by: JFM || 08/18/2007 12:46 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
BBC's FM radio goes off air in Russia
The British Broadcasting Corp said on Friday its Russian-language FM broadcasts have been taken off the air by its Moscow distributor, which said its programs were "foreign propaganda." The decision by Bolshoye Radio leaves the BBC's Russian-language services available only on medium and shortwave broadcasts.
"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Putingrad and all the ships at sea...hey, is this thing on?"
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
'Only caliphate can usher peace'
Jamaatud Dawa (JD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
...said the only way to eliminate terrorism from the world and to have lasting peace was to set up a caliphate.
said the only way to eliminate terrorism from the world and to have lasting peace was to set up a caliphate.

He expressed these views during Friday sermon at Jamia Masjid al-Qadsia at Chauburji, Lahore. Hafiz Saeed said foreign powers had decided as to which leaders would rule Muslim countries and for how long. He said Muslim rulers were subservient to foreign powers, so much so that legislation in Muslim assemblies was done in accordance to the wishes of foreign powers. Hafiz Saeed said rulers who themselves were not free, could not bring freedom to their peoples. He said it was necessary to get rid of western- backed Muslim rulers. He said the political scenario of world was rapidly changing due to the sacrifices of Muslims. He urged Muslim nations to unite in order to fight the onslaught of the enemies of Islam.
This article starring:
HAFIZ MUHAMAD SAIDJamaatud Dawa
Jamaatud Dawa
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  Is that the same caliphate that is calling for suicide bombers of muslim children, and muslim on muslim violence?
Posted by: anymouse || 08/18/2007 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Civilization could usher peace, too.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Oxymoron Alert, Civilized Muslim?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 11:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Cept, no moslem would ever be able to agree on how the caliphate should be set up ergo eternal warfare. Just like it is with moslems in all four corners of the earth. Eternal warfare. What a joke. It never worked and it never will. An arab pipe dream.
Posted by: newc || 08/18/2007 11:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Not necessarily. Look at the Islamic Paradise in the Gaza Strip! Finally free of the Joooos!
Posted by: Bobby || 08/18/2007 11:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Yeah? What about that "Not Muslim Enough" thing?
I guess that henna causes brain damage...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 11:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Caliphate, ya say? Check out Saudi Arabia. And Pakistan is a work in progress. Inspirational....
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/18/2007 11:53 Comments || Top||

#8  the only way to eliminate terrorism from the world and to have lasting peace was to set up a caliphate.

In other words, the terrorism isn't going to stop unless we give Muslims their way. Time to give Islam a major smackdown. It would be so nice to see idiots who write this sort of drivel show up with a toe-tag the next morning.

PS: Where ya been, Alaska Paul?
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 14:39 Comments || Top||

#9  Only when pigs fly and they pry my cold dead hands from my firearm...
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/18/2007 15:11 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt: 16 Muslim Brotherhood members arrested
Police on Friday arrested 16 prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders and businessmen for allegedly holding a secret meeting of the banned movement, a police official and the Islamic opposition group said. The arrests occurred as police raided a house where the group was meeting, the police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Essam el-Erian, a key Brotherhood leader was among the arrested, the official said, adding that the detained members' activities at "reviving efforts" of the outlawed group had led to the arrests. Authorities also confiscated Brotherhood material and publications, the official said. The Brotherhood's Web site identified the arrested as "top leaders of the group," and said they had gathered in the home of Nabeel Moqbil, a Brotherhood member and well-known businessman, in Giza, Cairo's twin city.
This article starring:
ESAM EL ERIANMuslim Brotherhood
NABIL MOQBILMuslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood


Home Front: Politix
Edwards would open talks with Iran if elected
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards says, if elected next year, his administration would open direct talks with Iran to try to contain Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Edwards proposes an abrupt shift in Bush administration policy toward Iran in an article he wrote for Foreign Affairs magazine's upcoming issue, saying he would boost U.S. diplomacy worldwide if elected in November 2008. Edwards does not rule out the option of military force, saying: "With a threat so serious, no U.S. president should take any option off the table."

But he would be prepared to engage the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a way that has not been done since the United States severed relations after Tehran's 1979 revolution. President George W. Bush has refused talks with Iran over its nuclear program, limiting contacts to talks about Iraq. Tehran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  "With a threat so serious, no U.S. president should take any option off the table."
Does this mean that the Breck boy will not take direct military action off the table?
Posted by: Rambler || 08/18/2007 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Edwards would open talks with Pinky and the Brain if it could get him an improvement in his ratings.
Posted by: 3dc || 08/18/2007 1:49 Comments || Top||

#3  I have a hard time understanding how the trial-lawyer skills he honed by ventriloquizing brain-damaged babies from their mothers' wombs would help him deal with Iran.
Posted by: WTF || 08/18/2007 5:48 Comments || Top||

#4  Well then, I guess we don't have to worry about opening talks with Iran...
Posted by: tu3031 || 08/18/2007 8:54 Comments || Top||

#5  A little channeling of Neville Chamberland and Bingo, Peace in Our Time. He'll even do it on contingency!
Posted by: Phinater Thraviger || 08/18/2007 9:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Is this guy still running? Or vying for that veep slot on the Kucinich ticket?
Posted by: regular joe || 08/18/2007 9:54 Comments || Top||

#7  He's not viable, I just read his exploits for the humor.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 10:55 Comments || Top||

#8  Shoudla said "Antics" not "Exploits".
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 10:57 Comments || Top||

#9  Neville Chamberlain at least gave strong support to Churchill when it was critically needed when sh*t finally hit the fan in WW2.

Breck Boy™ would never do such a thing. An expensive hairdo and an empty suit. There....I wrote his obituary in advance. Pfeh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 08/18/2007 11:50 Comments || Top||

#10  What will it take before politicians of either stripe finally realize that there is no such thing as negotiating with an Islamic country? Taqiyya precludes any and all possible successful outcomes from the get-go. Opening talks or anything else—save a king sized can of major whup-ass—merely gives unwarranted credibility to these thugs and guttersnipes.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 17:08 Comments || Top||

#11  Mookie, mookie, lend me your comb.....Mookie, Mookie?
...baby, you're the ginchiest!
Posted by: OyVey1 || 08/18/2007 18:30 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Doctor questions depression diagnosis
An Australian psychiatrist says clinical depression is being over-diagnosed.
That's because there's a fine line between depression and being unhappy. I believe there's also a certain controversy over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
Dr. Gordon Parker of the University of New South Wales said many people being diagnosed with depression may just be feeling a bit blue, the Australian Broadcast Corp. said Friday. "My personal view is that it is normal for humans to become depressed," he said.
Oh, Gawd, that tears me up! Stop, please!
"We can call that normal depression and there's also clinical depression."
I think it's where the twains meet that the problem lies.
Clinical depression was once diagnosed in about 5 to 10 percent of the population, he said. Current diagnostic criteria would cover up to 90 percent of the population.
Cheeze. Wotta downer. I may spend the rest of the day eating worms.
Parker says criteria introduced in the 1980s broadened the definition of depression to include minor conditions. "Clinical depression in the old days was black melancholia," he said. "Now we've got blue becoming the new black."
I was a lot happier back before the color shift. I'd come down with a case of the glums in the morning but by lunchtime I was my old self -- nasty, snarling, brutish...
For the progressive movement green has become the new black ...
Ian Hickie of the University of Sydney rejected Parker's theory in a debate published in the British Medical Journal. He said people with lesser forms of depression are more likely to be at risk from premature death than the general population and often go on to develop major depression. "The increased treatment rate is a Godsend," he said.
"Yeah. With the increased business we can finally afford that vacation to the south of France."
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Or are some realists finally grasping that under the massive black hole of national health care funding, that the ever rationalized 'syndrome' as the justification for any behavior will sweep all the funding into collapse [kill the goose that lays the golden egg]?

For tens of thousands of years, man existed at the basic level of survival [and still does in many places on the Earth]. I'm sure that wasn't a laugh riot. Had to be hard between planting and hunting season just to find food, particularly given the vagaries of weather and climate. Life is tough. Has to be even tougher if you live in a society that allows you the luxury of sitting around mopping about and not worry about were the next meal is coming from. /sarcasm off.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 08/18/2007 6:58 Comments || Top||

#2  I was a lot happier back before the color shift. I'd come down with a case of the glums in the morning but by lunchtime I was my old self -- nasty, snarling, brutish...

And your point is? We should all be so functional!
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 7:04 Comments || Top||

#3  What's next: challenging ADHD?
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/18/2007 9:47 Comments || Top||

#4  I consider it a good day when noon comes and I haven't quit, been fired, or killed anyone.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 08/18/2007 11:20 Comments || Top||

#5  That's very depressing, I think I'll go spend some time surfing for pr0n to cheer me up.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 15:00 Comments || Top||

#6  To whine or not to whine, that is the question...
The doc is right, most of the people now-a-days whine with fashionable passion.
Posted by: zazz || 08/18/2007 23:48 Comments || Top||


Iraq
14 suspects detained for ties to al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders
Coalition Forces detained 14 suspected terrorists Thursday and Friday around central and northern Iraq during continuing operations to remove senior leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Coalition Forces conducted three precision raids in and around Baghdad. Thursday, ground forces captured an individual suspected of leading an al-Qaeda in Iraq car bombing cell. Friday, Coalition Forces captured a suspected terrorist with ties to senior terrorist leaders in Baghdad. Near Taji, ground forces captured an alleged weapons facilitator working for al-Qaeda in Iraq's emir of the northern belts around Baghdad and detained two additional suspects.

In Salah ad Din province, Coalition Forces also targeted senior leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq during three operations Thursday and Friday. During a precision raid Thursday west of Balad, Coalition Forces detained one suspected terrorist while targeting an individual associated with the al-Qaeda in Iraq emir of northern Iraq who allegedly facilitates the movement of terrorist leaders. Five suspected terrorists were detained during operations Friday near Balad and Samarra targeting the al-Qaeda in Iraq communications network and an al-Qaeda leader known to conduct car bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion.

Based on information from suspects detained earlier in the week, Coalition Forces conducted an operation Friday targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders and their associates in Mosul. The ground forces detained three individuals with alleged ties to the terrorist leaders. "Al-Qaeda is feeling the pressure of our operations, and we're relentlessly pursuing the top levels of terrorist leaders," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson. "We will continue to target and then capture or kill the terrorists who direct and conduct brutal attacks against Iraqis."
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


India-Pakistan
Pakistan needs me: Musharraf
President General Pervez Musharraf said on Friday he had decided to contest the presidential election for another term because the country needs him.

Talking to federal and provincial ministers, senators, members of the national and Punjab Assembly, and district nazims from Gujranwala, Kasur, Okara, Sialkot, Hafizabad, Sheikhupura, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal and Lahore at Chief Minister's Secretariat here, President Musharraf said that he wanted to complete the mega projects and reforms introduced by him in the next presidential term.

A Pakistan Muslim League member who attended the meeting told Daily Times that President Musharraf denied that Pakistan was fighting the war against terrorism under foreign pressure. The president told the public representatives that the government had decided to participate in the war against terrorism in Pakistan's interest, he said.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I know Perv is a favorite chew-toy here at the 'burg but Pakistan does need him or someone like him who can keep the country from turning into Yet Another Islamic Sh*t-hole (but with nuclear weapons).

And yes, the 'someone like him' choice would be the better option except for the fact that there do not seem to be any candidates among the current Paki players.
Posted by: SteveS || 08/18/2007 9:22 Comments || Top||

#2  He's probably right---being the only one of their top people to realize that, sans USA interference, India would squash Pakistan like a cockroach.
Posted by: gromgoru || 08/18/2007 9:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Great graphic!
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/18/2007 14:20 Comments || Top||


60 'terrorists' arrested in Sui
Security forces on Friday arrested 60 "terrorists" and seized a huge cache of weapons and explosive from Sui during a search operation. Ten of the arrested were wanted in various terrorism cases, police said. Police said the search operation backed by armoured vehicles was launched after the killing of two security personnel in the Misri area on Wednesday. Ten Klashnikovs, 30 kg explosive material and 70 land mines were seized in the operation.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [22 views] Top|| File under:


Iraq
Maliki tells Sunnis 'we must unite'
Iraq's prime minister, a Shiite, flew to Saddam Hussein's hometown and told Sunni tribal chieftains that all Iraqis must unite in the fight to crush al Qaida in Iraq and extremist Shiite militias "to save our coming generations".

With the US Congressional majority increasingly eager to get out of Iraq, Nouri Maliki's bold incursion into Tikrit - a city once pampered by Saddam, its favourite son - underlined the prime minister's determination to save his paralysed government from collapse and prevent further disillusionment in Washington.

The sharp alteration of political course - a willingness to talk with former enemies - suggested a new flexibility from the hard-line religious Shiite.
Rather hard to run a parliamentary government if a big chunk of your cabinet won't show up and your majority is dwindling. Might be a good thing for the government to fall -- parliamentarily speaking -- and let the Iraqis go to the polls again.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  my post above is a dupe, sorry
Posted by: Frank G || 08/18/2007 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Not really, it has some useful info that the Channel 4 story doesn't have. We'll keep both. AoS.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2007 0:17 Comments || Top||

#3  hmmm...what can we use to unite us? Oh the jews!
Posted by: Boss Craising2882 || 08/18/2007 7:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Maliki's support of Shiite militias forks his tongue on this topic.
Posted by: Zenster || 08/18/2007 14:34 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Two paramilitary cops killed in Kashmir explosion
Two Indian paramilitary police officers were killed and eight others injured on Friday when their vehicle ran over a bomb planted by suspected separatist militants in Kashmir, police said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place near Sangam town, 40 kilometres south of Srinagar. A police official said damage to the vehicle had been substantial.

An air marshal on a flight out of Kashmir was arrested on Friday for allegedly sexually harassing a female passenger, police said. Angry passengers who witnessed the incident refused to let the plane take off from Srinagar until the man was removed from the plane, said GM Dar, a senior police officer at Srinagar airport. Only after he was arrested did they discover that he was an air marshal. The marshal reportedly handed a women a note saying he loved her and then made suggestive comments like, "Are you feeling the heat of love?" and "Don't be afraid of me, I'm also young." The 28-year-old marshal has been charged with verbally harassing the woman, said Dar.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [23 views] Top|| File under: Global Jihad


Iraq
MND-B aircrews respond to checkpoint attack, kill four insurgents
Multi-National Division-Baghdad attack helicopter crews killed four insurgents at approximately 9 p.m., Aug. 15, north of Baghdad after the insurgents attacked a civilian infrastructure security checkpoint. Apache crews from the 1st "Attack" Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, arrived on station at about 8 p.m. and observed about 150 civilian security personnel defending the neighborhood near the checkpoint.

The combination of civilian security personnel, the Apache crews and ground forces from Troop D, 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cav. Div., caused some of the insurgents to flee in vehicles. Up to six insurgents were unable to rejoin the vehicles and fled on foot to a nearby house, where they forced women and children to leave the house and provide a barrier between themselves and the Coalition Forces.

Ground forces and civilian security personnel moved to the house, and a local sheik confirmed that the five insurgents in the house were involved in the attack on the checkpoint. About 15 minutes later, the Apache crews observed the five insurgents fleeing the house on foot. The ground forces from Troop D, 1-82 FA, cleared the Apaches to engage the insurgents, and the aircrews fired on them ? killing four. One insurgent was detained by the ground forces and a civilian security hostage was released. "This successful operation by our Apaches in conjunction with Coalition Forces and Iraqi civilian infrastructure security personnel highlights the awesome teamwork and cooperation that has formed between the groups to root out and destroy insurgents for the purpose of bringing about a more stable environment for the Iraqi people," said Harker Heights, Texas, native Maj. Glen Heape, operations officer for 1-227th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  Totally cool. I hope this sticks.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2007 2:35 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
US says cannot renegotiate India nuclear deal
NEW DELHI - The United States cannot renegotiate a historic nuclear energy deal with India which has drawn strong criticism from politicians in New Delhi, the main US negotiator said in remarks published on Friday.

The comments by US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns come amid a growing chorus of demands from communist allies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government to scrap the historic pact they say is unfair and imposes American supremacy.

“We can’t renegotiate it because the agreement is done,” a statement from India’s Outlook magazine quoted Burns as saying in an interview. “Neither government wishes it to be renegotiated because it is now complete.” The interview is published in the latest issue of the magazine, due to hit the stands on Saturday.

Burns said he did not want to respond to criticism from India’s left parties as that would amount to getting involved in Indian politics, the statement said. “So I don’t have any particular message for them except to say that in the 21st century we have seen the global balance of forces shifting,” he said. “That it is in the common interest of India and the US to be partners, certainly on the effort to bring peace and stability in south and east Asia.”

Washington’s refusal to consider renegotiating the agreement came as communist parties, whose support is crucial for the survival of Singh’s coalition government, began a two-day meeting on Friday to decide their strategy on the deal. Singh has strongly defended the deal, saying it is crucial for India’s development and would not impact New Delhi’s foreign or security policies. Last week, he refused to budge and dared the communists to withdraw support.

While tough words have since been exchanged between the two sides and triggered fears that the coalition could be destabilised, the top communist leader indicated on Friday a compromise may be possible. “The honeymoon may be over but the marriage can go on,” Prakash Karat, general-secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest of the four left parties in parliament, told reporters ahead of the party meeting.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:



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Sat 2007-08-18
  "Take us to Tehran!" : Turkish passenger plane hijacked
Fri 2007-08-17
  Tora Bora assault: Allies press air, ground attacks
Thu 2007-08-16
  Jury finds Padilla, 2 co-defendents, guilty
Wed 2007-08-15
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Tue 2007-08-14
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Mon 2007-08-13
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Sun 2007-08-12
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Sat 2007-08-11
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Fri 2007-08-10
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Thu 2007-08-09
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Wed 2007-08-08
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Tue 2007-08-07
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Mon 2007-08-06
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Sun 2007-08-05
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