Gary Farber disquisites on what an Amygdala might be. Justin and the Supreme Soviet of Blogistan say that it's a not very appetizing blob in the brain that causes sweaty palms and similarly unpleasant things. All this time, I've been thinking it was the name of the princess in Star Wars Episode I.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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US-backed Afghan forces were flushing out remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban after taking hold of theIR last known stronghold. US Major Bryan Hilferty told a news briefing at Bagram, that the Shah-i-Kot valley in eastern Afghanistan was now under the control of coalition forces. "In the past 24 hours the Afghan allied forces have seized the objective area, the ridge line known as 'the whale'... and the whole of the Shahi Kot valley," he said. Asked if coalition forces were in control of all known al-Qaeda and Taliban positions, Hilferty said: "We've seized the majority. We control the majority."
He estimated the number of remaining fighters still putting up resistance in the Arma mountains where the Shahi Kot valley is located numbered "in the range of 100". Hilferty also confirmed a ground offensive had been launched on Tuesday morning by Afghan commanders General Zia Lodin, leading Afghan troops allied to the US coalition, and Gul Haider, at the head of troops sent last week by Kabul's defence ministry.
The deputy commander of the Afghan defence ministry forces in the eastern Paktia province, Mohammad Aref, said late on Tuesday that Afghan and US troops had taken control of all known al-Qaeda positions in the Shahi Kot valley after a three-pronged offensive. "We entered at 11:30 am (0700 GMT) into Shahi Kot valley. It was a big ground offensive from three directions," Aref told reporters. He said US and local Afghans attacked from the northeast while Aref's troops launched an offensive from the east and west, encountering no resistance.
Pentagon officials in Washington said US and Afghan forces had begun flushing out more than 40 caves in the ridge dubbed "the whale" -- so named because from the air it looks like a huge marine mammal lying across the valley floor. The offensive came on the 11th day of Operation Anaconda, the largest US combat operation of the Afghan war. "We continue to reposition forces," Hilferty said. "We have more than 1,500 forces on the ground aggressively searching for the terrorists. Our goal is still to kill and capture al-Qaeda people." He said fewer than 20 militants had been captured and were being held at US military bases in Bagram and the southern city of Kandahar. The Pashtuns and Northern Alliance seem to have made up. Zia Lodin's done washing his turban, now that there are only a hundred or so Bad Guys who aren't quite stiff. Wonder if they potted The Heroic Mansour, or if he's one of the prisoners - that'd prove my thesis that the Head Cheeses seldom get shot. Most likely he's in Pakistan at Uncle Ahmed's house, sipping tea and telling every who'll listen how brave all the dead guys he used to command were and how they nearly whupped the Infidels, given the brilliance of his tactics. The jihadis are probably signing up in droves for the next Great Offensive.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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U.S. Marine helicopter gunships blasted cave entrances Wednesday in the rugged mountains, seeking to stop al-Qaida and Taliban fighters from escaping after U.S. and Afghan troops seized control of this valley. Afghan commanders said many al-Qaida and Taliban fighters â including their commander, Saif Rahman Mansour â got away before Afghan troops overran three villages and a commanding ridgeline early Wednesday. U.S. officials said they were holding about 20 prisoners who were being interrogated. Toldja so. Great Military Minds are too important to sacrifice to the plebian bullets and bombs that are good for the enlisted guys. At least that's what Great Military Minds say, and who should know better than they?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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Iraq's Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan reiterated on Sunday his country would not allow UN weapons inspectors to return. "Iraq's rejection of the teams of spies to return back to Iraq is firm and won't change," Ramadan was quoted by the official Iraq News Agency as saying. "Iraq is fully convinced that there is no need for them (the inspectors) to return," Ramadan said. "They had carried out vicious spying activities in Iraq for more than eight years." Ramadan's remarks came after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri ended a meeting in New York on Thursday aimed at allowing the inspectors to return Iraq. Another meeting is set for April. "I mean, like, hey! Trust us on this! It ain't like we'd nuke you or nuttin'."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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Angry at the Immigration and Naturalization Service for approving student visas for two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, President Bush on Wednesday told the attorney general to investigate and ordered the beleaguered agency to shape up. Bush said he was "stunned" to learn of the incident. "I could barely get my coffee down," he told a news conference, calling it a "wake-up call for those who run the INS ... (to) reform as quickly as possible."
Attorney General John Ashcroft threatened to punish those responsible. But Bush stood by INS Commissioner James Ziglar, who he appointed to the post, saying: "His responsibility is to reform the INS. Let's give him time to do so." Okay. Time's up. Fire them all and start a new agency from scratch. Take the resonsibility out from under Justice and put it with the Department of the Interior. That should rub Ashcroft's nose in it! Maybe they'll be able to administer it better than they do with the Indians. But if not, we can put it under Transportation next...
Cheeze. Is there an echo in here? Bill O'Reilly just suggested shutting INS down and starting over.
Iaian Murray says that James Sensenbrenner says the same thing. Is this a movement? Posted by Anonymous 3/14/2002 9:00:01 AM
I work for the INS. O'Reilly, Sensenbrenner and Vodkapundit are absolutely right. There is no drive, no care, no thought and certainly no sense of urgency or importance to the work done here. We just held up a reply to a Congressman for three days because it was deemed more sensitive to the bureaucratic egos of those involved to have the answer come from one guy, who thought his time was too important to be wasted on such trivia, than from me, who has done no work for two days because nothing has been assigned to me.
Hell, I volunteered to take care of this situation! But no, the result is secondary to the process.
Ziglar does not strike me as the one to repair this agency. He's put up pictures of himself wth the Senate, and written a lengthy "Commissioner's Value Statement", but nothing substantial I can see.
I could be wrong, of course. But I don't see it.
Why isn't INS part of the Department of STATE, which deals with the outside world? Oh, right -- they're dangerous idiots. They even let TOURIST AGENCIES in Saudi approve visas to come to America!
Posted by Anonymous 3/14/2002 12:07:18 PM
Today, 14 March, I received a letter from a citizen to answer. It was postmarked March 31, 2001. It has taken 50 weeks to go from the mailbox to my desk ... Posted by Anonymous 3/14/2002 5:26:04 PM
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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A man accused of storing a cache of potentially deadly cyanide in the Chicago subway system where he had been hiding for weeks was ordered held in jail by a magistrate who said he presented an extreme danger to the community. Joseph Konopka, 25, was ordered held without bond pending an investigation by a federal grand jury. Probably the community would also be a danger to him. Stuff cyanide in a subway around me and I'll be thinking "tire iron" if I see you on the street.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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Instantman IIEugene Volokh wastes a few CPU cycles on the University of Northern Colorado, which had nothing better to do so named its intramural basketball team 'The Fighting Whities.' They've managed to get a nice little tempest going in that little teapot, with the subject of course swerving back to naming teams after Injuns.
Asked if high school and college teams should stop using Indian nicknames, 81% of Native American respondents said no. As for pro sports, 83% of Native American respondents said teams should not stop using Indian nicknames, mascots, characters and symbols. Opinion is far more divided on reservations, yet a majority (67%) there said the usage by pro teams should not cease, while 32% said it should.
With the possible exception of the Washington Redskins (which I began mentally translating to "Washington Foreskins" around age 8), what's the fuss? Cleveland Indians? Atlanta Braves? If someone's holding your people up as models of toughness and heroism, something to be emulated, why get your back up? As a pure-bred Heinz 57 Merkin, the Injun part of me sees nothing wrong with it. The Italian half of me likes it and understands why they don't have the Pittsburgh Calabrese or even the Omaha Carbinieri. The 100% Hillbilly remainder of me thinks the whole thing's silly. And when was the last time you heard somebody bitch about the name of the Dallas Cowboys?
Wonder if the University of Kabul's team is the "Fighting Hindoos" or the "Wahhabis"?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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Kathy gives Allen Keyes a well-earned thumping for his ill-considered remarks on Comrade Fartybutt. Mr. Pencil tries hard to make a Grateful Nation ashamed of the fact that we have a First Amendment, but Keyes should have stopped with his first paragraph:
A free people should normally suppress such activities through private moral judgment and association. Pornographers should be shunned by all, and likewise Mr. Ted Rall should have been fired immediately by those with professional authority over him, or in contractual relations with him.
I'd kinda go along with those sentiments, and even bring up tar and feathers and the ever-popular rotted fruit toss. But then Keyes makes the mistake of thinking Pencil Boy is capable of "subverting our national resolve" and goes on from there to advocate Lincolesque crackdowns to protect Decent Merkins.
Well, hell. As long as we've got the tar and feathers out...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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Several people, including the JKLF vice president, were injured in clashes with the police in various parts of Srinagar which erupted during a demonstration to protest BJP MP Vinay Katyar's alleged remarks on the Hazratbal shrine. People took to the streets in Maisuma to protest the remarks that the holy relic at the shrine was not that of Prophet Muhammad but of a Hindu dharamguru, who, he said had settled in Mecca.
As the crowds tried to stop traffic by burning tyres and pelted stones to force shopkeepers to down shutters, police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse them. The protestors pelted stones at the police leading to clashes which lasted about three hours and injuring several people including senior JKLF vice-president Javid Ahmad mir.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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The Jamaâat-i-Islami has warned the government to restrain from converting the status of Islamic Republic of Pakistan into a secular one. It was resolved in the Central Executive Committee of the JI that the government is blindly following foreign dictation and wants to appease the Western countries by declaring Pakistan a secular State.
In a resolution, it was said that the status of Pakistan will not be allowed to be changed, that the interest-free banking system be introduced, harassment of the religious party leaders be stopped, the Constitution of Pakistan be restored and no amendment be made in it. If there's a secular state, then who can the mullahs, maulvis, maulanas, and similar clerical riff-raff boss around?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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President Robert Mugabe extended his rule of Zimbabwe for another six years on Wednesday, but the opposition slammed the election as "daylight robbery" and the poll drew a barrage of criticism from abroad. The United States led Western countries in condemning the conduct of the vote and President Bush rejected it as flawed. "Flawed" is a gem with a smudge in it. "Trashed" is a Zim election.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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The U.N. Security Council has adopted a U.S. sponsored resolution, affirming a vision of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel-within secure and recognized borders. The resolution demands an immediate end to all acts of violence in the region and urges Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take steps towards resuming peace talks. It also stresses the need to respect international humanitarian law. The Bush administration has previously called for a Palestinian state, but diplomats say this is the first U-S mention of a Palestinian state in a Security Council resolution. The measure was approved late Tuesday by a 14-0 vote. Yasser got what he wanted without having to give anything in return, unless you count a few corpses.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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Bodies of five iced snuffies were found by the army in a hideout in Kupwara. The thugs were found dead inside a cave during search operations. They were believed to have been gut shot during operations and later kicked it in their hideout.
Two snuffies departed this vale of tears in an encounter with troops in Varmul district. They are survived by their arms and ammunition. The encounter claimed two soldiers. Three other soldiers who sustained injuries were air lifted to Srinagar. Three other unidentified hard boys were greased by troops in Rajouri district.
Unidentified crazed killers shot dead Ghulam Hussain in Doda district. The bullet-riddled body of Wayil Wadar was recovered from his native village. Yet another body was found just lying around in Loran forest in Pulwama district.
Security agencies have claimed the arrest of several suspected hard boys from various parts of J & K. Reports from Varmul said one militant was feared drowned while two of his associates managed their escape when the security forces opened fire on them on the outskirts of a border town. Troops also raided a suspected hideout elsewhere in Varmul. Five hard boys were nabbed during the raid. A spokesman said one AK-47 rifle, 3 magazines, 4 pistols, a wireless set and some ammunition was recovered from the arrested militants. They are being questioned and no doubt have a good explanation.
In another surprise raid, troops arrested three Hizbul Mujahideen activists from Handwara.
Reports from Jammu said security forces seized 200 Kgs of RDX explosives after smashing a militant hideout at Topa Bachian in Poonch district. Two rocket launchers and some ammunition were also recovered from the hideout.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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An American military advance team is in Yemen to prepare for the arrival of more U.S. military personnel to train local troops in combating terrorism. U.S. officials say the team of fewer than 20 people is assessing what will be needed to carry out training. Details of the cooperation have not yet been revealed. U.S. officials indicate that in addition to training, some equipment will be turned over to Yemeni troops. This'll probably be a real low-profile operation. Doubt if we'll ever hear any real details about it outside the bar at the Fort Bragg O-Club.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
03/13/2002 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
