A bizarre video of Britney Spears belching and ranting at her husband has shocked fans worldwide.
Well, I'm certainly shocked. Britney Spears? Less than a model of probity and intellect? I'd never have guessed...
The pop star - who appears whacked out confused as she speaks to the camera - moans about being ugly and whinges at husband Kevin Federline while eating what appears to be takeaway chicken and chips.
Mmmmmm! Kentucky Fried! Keeps you from having that gaunt look, like Mother Sheehan has...
She also moans that she has "missed out on life."
Traded her youth for filthy lucre, did she? It happens to all of us. We start out with the same amount of youth and end up with different amounts of filthy lucre, but the trade's made in every case...
When pushed further on the topic she says, quite irrationally: "Things! Y'know! Huh? Where've I been? Huh? I wanna drink at home! Have you seen Back to the Future?"
"I wanna be eight years old again, instead of sitting here eating greasy chicken with a male model or a dancer or whatever the hell it is you do. I don't wanna have stretch marks..."
The dishevelled girl on camera is a far cry from the megastar fans once knew, when she had a string of chart hits and a glamorous lifestyle.
If she got a couple tatoos she'd pass unnoticed in a bit part on COPS.
The video, which has already been seen by two million people on the internet in the past few days, reveals Britney burping, scratching her legs incessantly and rambling about random thoughts such as time machines. The 24-year-old, who is seven months pregnant and mother to baby Sean Preston, says she believes travelling through time is a possibility. Referring to the film Back To The Future, she asks: "Is that possible? To time travel...? Yes it is Kevin. I think other people are ahead of us."
"Or behind us. If they can travel through time they can be whenever they wanna be."
Federline, who is not seen in the video, replies: "Maybe, but they wouldn't tell the world. Can you imagine how many people would go back and change s***?".
Maybe they have. Maybe we're actually living in the better alternative.
The pop star, who is wearing a baseball cap and vest, also says: "I'm ugly. My jaw hurts."
I don't think I want to touch that one at all. Maybe Kevin should buy a kinkajou...
As she let out an enormous burp, her husband tells her: "Dude, we're going to do clips of you burping."
Video at the site show a pretty girl starting on the downslide of youth and beauty with an IQ in the dull normal range. I suspect that when her looks are gone she'll become a political activist...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2006 10:12 ||
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I suspect that when her looks are gone she'll become a political activist...
#2
With all due respect, does this belong on Rburg? I thought the Powers That Be decided to get rid of the fluff pieces...
Posted by: Mark E. ||
08/12/2006 11:02 Comments ||
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since Fred did the inline comments, I'd say YS is wrong
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2006 11:05 Comments ||
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Someday I'm going to write a history of the war. One of the things our grandchildren will be interested in when they're forced by their teachers to read up on these times will be what the rest of the world was doing while serious young men and women were trying to fight off an evil and implacable enemy.
I'll probably used the Shattered Nation graphic a lot in the next couple weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2006 11:11 Comments ||
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#5
Heard this yesterday. White Trash Hall of Fame material.
#8
I'd still hit it...if she'd keep her mouth shut
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2006 11:42 Comments ||
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Frank: I'm suprised.
You realize we send the _ugly_ ones off to Hollywood to become "singers," right?
Posted by: Phil ||
08/12/2006 12:54 Comments ||
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The purty ones are sent to Nashville to become "singers".
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2006 12:58 Comments ||
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I dunno. The only purty singers I know of from around here are local performers noone else has ever heard of...
Posted by: Phil ||
08/12/2006 13:12 Comments ||
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I think part of the equation is that the Big Media Conglomerates _want_ weak-willed no-talent white trash types to be their stars because they want people who will be both pliable and totally dependent on them for their lot in life.
So all we wind up seeing is airwaves, both video, radio, and coaxial, filled up with 24 hours a day of vacuum being pushed at us.
Posted by: Phil ||
08/12/2006 13:15 Comments ||
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I dunno, somehow the studio system was that, but past stars were more behaved, at least publically, being on leash from their studio. Nowadays, it seems we've got the worst of both studio systems and post-60/70's independent stars.
#14
I was thinking of Faith Hill (Mississippi). But then I am partial to her since she is a dead ringer for my first love. Oh, the regrets we have from our youth.
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2006 13:49 Comments ||
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With all due respect, does this belong on Rburg?
#16
For a tattoo, she would have to get "fart-wings", alternatively known as the "cashier's stamp", and the "mark of the FSGA" (Future Slave-Girl of America).
That is, the "winged" lower back tattoo that can be exhibited by low cut pants.
Paris Hilton got no love this week from her pet kinkajou Baby Luv in fact, the racoon-like animal bit her. The heiress was not badly hurt but did visit a hospital emergency room to receive a tetanus shot, her publicist, Elliot Mintz, told The Associated Press on Friday. Hilton was frolicking with her exotic pet early Tuesday morning "the way some people play with their cats and dogs" when the animal became excited, Mintz said.
"So how'd ya get bit on the butt, Miss Hilton?"
"I was frolicking with my kinkajou."
"Yep. That'll do it every time."
"Baby Luv bit her. It's a superficial bite on her butt left arm," he said. Hilton, concerned that she was bleeding, called Mintz at 3 a.m., and he took her to the hospital.
"It's 3 a.m. and I can't sleep... Hmmm... I'm out of sleeping pills and the pool boy's gone home. I think I'll frolic with my kinkajou."
"She was seen by a doctor, who treated the wound, gave her a tetanus shot, cleaned the wound and applied something to it," Mintz said. The 25-year-old "Simple Life" star and her publicist left the hospital around 5:30 a.m.
"Remember, Paris: All publicity is good publicity."
"Yeah. Getting bit on the butt by a kinkajou's good publicity. That's why I pay you so much, Mintzy."
Mintz said Hilton's butt arm did not appear to be swollen the next day. Baby Luv was checked out by a veterinarian Wednesday. "I don't view kinkajous as aggressive animals. The same kind of thing could have occurred frolicking with a German Shepherd," Mintz said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2006 00:06 ||
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So how's the fishing, Fred? :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2006 0:20 Comments ||
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any worries about rabies?
Posted by: Jan ||
08/12/2006 0:38 Comments ||
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Jan,
You, of course, mean the poor kinkajou catching rabies (or something else) from that second-hand mattress of a skank.
#7
3AM call to her publicist cuz she's bleeding from a bite? Life as a publicist sounds like it sux, and working for a high-maintenance Ho like her must be even worse
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2006 8:02 Comments ||
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Penicillin, not rabies shots, Dreadnought. Better safe than sorry.
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2006 8:11 Comments ||
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Toldja I'll be around now and then. But my posts are going to be on the low end of the intellectual scale. Unless something explodes near me, I'm not following the news.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2006 9:16 Comments ||
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The 25-year-old star and her publicist left the hospital around 5:30 a.m.
So? Before goiung to the Doctor she whistled up her "Publicist" then went to the ER and made Damn sure it hit the news.
Bitch.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/12/2006 9:42 Comments ||
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Posted by: Rick ||
08/12/2006 14:06 Comments ||
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Reminds me of the tale of an NFL player (via Dan Jenkins?), who got word back from his doctor that he had a raging dose of the clap. Thinking quick, he asked the doctor to have a shot ready for his wife when he brought her in.
Then he asked his wife to help him do a home project and "accidently" shot a staple into her hand.
"Oh, gee, honey! I'm sorry! We had better get you to the doctor to get a penicillin shot for that!"
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Incumbent President Joseph Kabila had the lead with more than 1 million votes counted, but the numbers were far from definitive, with election workers in dugout canoes still looking for ballots in the troubled tally.
Some 20 million people - or 80 percent of Congo's 25 million registered voters - cast ballots in the July 30 presidential and legislative election. Kabila had 49 percent of the 1,669,073 ballots counted - just over 8 percent of the vote, according to the Electoral Commission. His main challenger, vice president and former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, had about 20 percent. The remaining votes were split among some of the 31 others on the presidential ballot.
A preliminary countrywide tally was expected to be announced on Aug. 20, and a final tally on Aug. 31. With the field so crowded, no candidate was expected to win a majority in the initial round. If that is the case, a second round will be held between the top two vote getters, probably in October.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2006 00:00 ||
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HAVANA (AP) - It was supposed to be the ultimate tribute, several days of parties and concerts to mark Fidel Castro's 80th birthday. But instead of listening to folk music and attending conferences on his legacy, Castro is expected to spend his birthday Sunday in bed, recovering from surgery for intestinal bleeding.
"¡Commandante! ¡We have Generalissimo Franco on line one for a wonderful birthday greeting!"
A few Cubans say it won't be long before Castro is giving five-hour speeches once again, but many believe he will never be quite the same.
He's going to be much more stable real soon now.
Details on Fidel Castro's whereabouts and medical condition are a mystery. On Friday, it was unknown whether any birthday celebrations would take place this weekend. A long list of leftist international artists and foolish intellectuals all of whom should know better had planned to travel to Havana to fete Castro on his big day, but after the announcement of his illness, the celebration was pushed back to December. Top officials in recent days have said he is recuperating and should be back to work in upcoming weeks, reassuring many Cubans. But some skeptics say they believe the situation may be more grave than officials admit. Many doubt the Cuban leader will make even a brief appearance to cut his cake Sunday - especially after hearing close friend Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's remark Thursday that Castro is in a "great battle for life."
Kiss of death right there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2006 00:00 ||
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"Great battle for life" with Castro is an oxymoron.
Die punk. Die.
but, of course, there's no pictures or video...go figure?
(Reuters) - Cuban President Fidel Castro is walking, talking and being briefed, according to a cryptic statement published Saturday in the Communist Party daily, Granma, a day before the "Maximum Leader's" 80th birthday.
"Someone who visited the comandante a few hours ago to brief him on certain matters ... said he witnessed how the head of the revolution, after receiving a little physical therapy, walked in the room and later, sitting in a chair, engaged in an animated conversation," Granma said.
Castro has not been seen publicly since he temporarily ceded power to his younger brother on July 31 because of complicated abdominal surgery. His last public appearance was on July 26.
His health is being treated as a state secret and there has been no information as to where he is being treated, who is visiting him or any detail on his health.
"Our friend saw the comandante up and about, like someone anticipating new victories," Granma said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2006 10:57 Comments ||
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Hell, the Beard can use the brain stem for most of his speech functions.
#5
Would it be too much to ask for the airforce to swoop down low and buzz the hospital for Fidel's birthday? And maybe deliver a Jdam or two with a pretty bow?
Martial arts black belt, Harvard graduate, jewellery designer, businesswoman. Her father may be a brutal dictator, but the official list of Gulnara Karimova's achievements is as long as your arm.
Now the glamorous daughter of the president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, has added a new talent to the list with the release of her first music video. Unutma Meni (Don't Forget Me) features the 33-year-old brunette under the stage name GooGoosha - apparently her father's name for her - cavorting in a cartoon wonderland where she travels to a secluded castle and a tropical island in a limousine that floats through the air.
It has animated cartoons that look like a cheesy, low-rent Myst.
Commentators say the video - showing repeatedly on Uzbekistan's domestic equivalent of MTV - is part of a campaign to promote Ms Karimova as a potential successor to her father, whose term of office finishes at the end of next year.
Despite the stumbling block of promoting a woman as leader in a traditional Muslim society, Ms Karimova is thought to be the only person who can protect the assets of her father's family and cronies.
Sorta says everything, doesn't it. Wonder if she knows Suha?
However, critics suggest the new song will do little to raise her appeal. "This is exactly comparable to the emperor Nero playing his harp and everyone having to cheer," said Craig Murray, the former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, who was sacked after exposing the Karimov regime's torture of political opponents. "It'll make her feel very good but she won't gain any popularity."
Ms Karimova first came to international attention after a high-profile divorce from her husband, Mansur Maqsudi. In 2003 a US court ruled that Mr Maqsudi should be given sole custody of the couple's two children, Islam and Iman, then 10 and six. However, she refused an order to return them from Uzbekistan. Ms Karimova kept $4.5m (£2.4m) worth of jewellery, plus business interests worth approximately $60m, as part of her divorce settlement. The assets included nightclubs in Tashkent, investment holdings and a recording studio.
Uzbek media, which are tightly state-controlled, have praised Ms Karimova for charity works, dubbing her the Princess of Uzbeks. "It is characteristic of Gulnara to do everything with excellence," said Tatyana Petrenko, a music critic.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2006 00:00 ||
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On Thursday, the US Commerce Department reported that the June trade deficit on goods and services was US$64.8 billion, down from $65 billion in May but up from $63.3 billion in April.
The petroleum deficit fell to $24.7 billion in June from $25.8 billion in May, but was up from $21 billion in April. Prices rose in June but import volumes fell. The oil-import bill is likely to rise in July and August, because of conditions in Middle East markets and the shutdown of significant production in Alaska. Also, imports from China continued to rise.
Tightening conditions in international oil markets and rising imports from China will soon push the United States' annual trade deficit to $800 billion, imposing a significant drag on economic growth.
The trade deficit must be financed by foreigners investing in the US economy or lending Americans money. Direct investment in US property and productive assets provides only a small portion of the needed funds, and the balance is obtained through the sale of Treasury bonds, corporate bonds, bank accounts and other paper assets. Americans borrow nearly $60 billion each month to consume more than they produce. The total debt will exceed $6 trillion by the end of 2006.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2006 00:00 ||
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Whilst I worry about the geopolitical implications of global free trade (dependance on economic inputs beyond your political control), in economic terms imports make any economy wealthier.
And if China wants to subsidize American consumers, where's the problem?
Big deal, the only thing I "Sell" is my time and labor, for which I get a paycheck, then I spend some of it, and keep a portion for the future.
So in the same vein, My employer runs a deficit, he spent money, and got labor, which is not accounted for as a trade item.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/12/2006 9:53 Comments ||
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Redneck Jim.... yeah he's running a deficit with you but hopefully he's not running an overall deficit. The goods/services you're producing he's selling and who he's selling to is running a deficit with him.
The issue in some peoples' view is that we're running an overall deficit when it's all added up. I'm personally not concerned with it.
#6
Well, the West warned the Chinese six ways from Sunday to let the Yuan float, and they have ignored the advice, even though their own financial gnomes agreed.
So, when the bubble bursts, and they are left holding the bag, they will no doubt blame us for their troubles, noting that we have heavily insulated our economy from crash-diving in tandem with theirs.
#7
The blog Cafe Hayek talks a lot of good stuff about 'deficits', here's a good post related to the twin deficits.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/12/2006 16:34 Comments ||
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US manufacturers are hit particularly hard. China's currency-market intervention creates a 25% subsidy on its exports
Nothing a 25% tariff couldn't cure. So many of you seem so unconcerned about this issue. To quote a prominent economist, "A nation cannot subsist by taking in one anothers' washing."
Somewhere, someone needs to actually be building something. China's refusal to properly float the Yuan is allowing it to hollow out the manufacturing cores of most other industrialized nations. At what point does it stop?
Our military ascendancy relies upon the ability to reliably manufacture and assemble a huge swath of products. Flat panel color displays for our fighter cockpits, flash memory and bulk DRAM storage chips are vital to the instrument intensive "net-war" model being adopted by our military. Much more simple tasks, such as garment manufacturing assume signifigantly grater importance if we are at war and need specific seasonal uniforms. Vehicle assembly (be it cars or tanks) and a host of other middle tier industries all tie in to our national security. Shall we permit any of these to wither and die solely because of our enchantment with low-priced and low-quality manufactured goods streaming forth from a country that has openly ruminated on declaring nuclear war upon us?
American politicians on both sides of the aisle have been bought off by groups whose interests lie with the continued importation of cheap Chinese goods. When will everyone wake up and recognize that the American people are being sold down the river by sleazy pols whose greatest concern is being re-elected and not in serving the public.
#11
Z: Our military ascendancy relies upon the ability to reliably manufacture and assemble a huge swath of products. Flat panel color displays for our fighter cockpits, flash memory and bulk DRAM storage chips are vital to the instrument intensive "net-war" model being adopted by our military. Much more simple tasks, such as garment manufacturing assume signifigantly grater importance if we are at war and need specific seasonal uniforms. Vehicle assembly (be it cars or tanks) and a host of other middle tier industries all tie in to our national security. Shall we permit any of these to wither and die solely because of our enchantment with low-priced and low-quality manufactured goods streaming forth from a country that has openly ruminated on declaring nuclear war upon us?
These are all American technologies. We design the machine tools, the manufacturing lines for these tools and the processes for these manufacturing lines. In many cases, the made-in-China products that we buy in stores are manufactured in American-owned plants. Sanmina and Solectron are just two of the American subcontractors that assemble the made-in-China gadgets that we see in the stores. The physical plant might be in China, but the technical knowhow is all American. Note that China isn't such a great place to do business except for the low wages. Even at the current exchange rate, Chinese wages and rents are spiralling out of control. Companies doing assembly work are starting to look at Southeast Asia* again because of increasing Chinese costs.
* For the geographically-challenged, China is part of Northeast Asia.
Moved to Saturday since it was posted late and of interest. AoS.
Thousands of South Koreans, including former defense ministers wearing their old military uniforms, rallied Friday in Seoul demanding the president halt moves to retake wartime command of the country's military from the United States. "Stop the plot to destroy the Korea-U.S. alliance!" some of the protesters chanted during a rally in front of the city's central train station. Over their heads flew balloons strung with placards bearing the images of the South Korean and the U.S. national flags side-by-side.
Police said about 5,000 people, many of them elderly veterans, turned out for the demonstration that underlined the worsening divide in South Korean society over the government's push for the return of wartime command.
South Korea transferred control of its forces to a U.S.-led U.N. command in 1950 that helped the country repel invading communists from North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War. While peacetime control of the military was given to the South in 1994, the U.S. takes control of the South's military if war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula. In case of war, South Korea is to transfer command of Korean forces to the US. US Forces Korea has the command, control and intelligence assets to command a major war. The Koreans will have to spend major Won to acquire those assets. While they are at it, they might want to spend a few more Won to stock enough ammunition for 30 days. Massive US stocks, that SKor relies on, will be withdrawn.
South Korea and the U.S. have been in talks on the issue since Seoul formally proposed taking over the command last year. The two sides are expected to draw a roadmap for the proposed transfer when their defense chiefs hold annual talks in October in Washington. President Roh wants wartime command by 2012. The US offered to do it in 2008.
The issue has recently become a hot topic in security-sensitive South Korea which faces the communist North across the world's most heavily fortified border as critics stepped up their campaign against the government's move.
Among those speaking publicly against the plan have been many of the country's former defense ministers, who claim the command transfer is premature and would unravel the country's alliance with Washington and undercut deterrence against North Korea. "I oppose taking over the operational command. It's premature," Lee Sang-hoon, who served as the country's defense minister in 1988-1990, said at Friday's rally. Yesterday 16 former defense ministers very publicly came out against Roh's plans.
President Roh rejected the criticism this week, saying the South's military is strong enough to take over the command anytime, and leaving it with the U.S. is a slight to national sovereignty. His blunt rebuff further fueled the debate. Officials say Washington also supports handing over the command to the South.
Since we might not be there in 2012.
About 29,500 U.S. troops are now stationed across South Korea as a deterrence against the North. The U.S. troops are scheduled to be reduced to 25,000 by 2008. Expect even more reductions after transfer of wartime control. A lot of personnel and assets will be redundant. And don't expect the 700,000 US reinforcements currently allocated for Korea in case of war.
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2006 00:00 ||
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And don't expect the 700,000 US reinforcements currently allocated for Korea in case of war.
Considering that there are only about 520,000 servicemembers in the Active Army with major commitments elsewhere, its a good bet that they are basically left to their own devices. However, I suspect that conventionally the NKPA is about as effective as the Iraqi was under Saddam. Lack of food has hit them as well, no funding for real training and modernizing, officers appointed for political reliability rather than merit, etc. The only question is if there is 'will' on the part of the South Koreans to resist. If they are unwilling, why should Americans do the dirty work? If they are willing, they won't need us anyway.
Now I understand how a guy like Arafat could have gotten a Nobel prize. Compared to Grass, he was a real humanitarian.
Gunter Grass, the Nobel prize-winning author, has admitted he served in the notorious Waffen SS during the Second World War. Grass told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that, aged 17, he was called to the Waffen SS 10th Armoured Division, the combat arm of Hitler's paramilitary forces. Grass, 78, said in the interview: "My silence over all these years is one of the reasons I wrote this book. It had to come out, finally." He has written a book of recollections, which details his war service. The book is due out in September.
The SS operated the death camps in which millions died. The Waffen SS grew into 38 combat divisions with almost one million men. Grass said he volunteered for military service to get out of the confinement he felt in his parent's house. "It happened as it did to many of my age ... we were in the labour service, and a year later, the call-up notice lay on the table," he said. "And only when I got to Dresden did I learn it was the Waffen SS."
Grass was wounded in 1945 and sent to an American prisoner of war camp. He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1999 and is best known for his first novel The Tin Drum. Published in 1959, it chronicles the life of the young boy Oskar Matzerath. He is regarded as the literary spokesman for Germans who grew up in the Nazi era.
The site reminds us that though they are reviled to this day because of their association with the notorious SS, the Waffen SS divisions were purely professional army units without connection to the secret police. Even those of us who have extensively read the history of World War II will be surprised to see just how many SS divisions were raised. A few like the Leibstandarte, Das Reich, Tottenkopf, Wiking, and Hitler Jugend are familiar names, but the rest of the 40 odd are unknown. Many of them were formed from men of countries Hitler overran or allied with. Even the Indian army contributed to the non-German forces: deserters to the Indian National Army who found their way to Fortress Europa formed the 950th Infantry Regiment in 1944, after the unit was released from the regular German Army.
#6
All volunteers from the little I remember too, it seems the case here ("Grass said he volunteered for military service to get out of the confinement he felt in his parent's house"), though his particular assignement to the waffen ss might have been due to their requirements at that given time and/or his own personal athletical qualities.
#8
The Tin Drum may or may not be a great book--I've never read it, so I can't say--but Gunter Grass is a barking moonbat anti-globalist and anti-American. In other words, he's not changed much from 1945, has he?
Posted by: Mike ||
08/12/2006 8:14 Comments ||
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"Inevitably, September 11 came up. [Nadine] Gordimer identified terrorism's root cause as poverty; Grass concurred, portraying 9/11 as a case of the victimized justifiably striking back at the powerful."
Posted by: Mike ||
08/12/2006 8:34 Comments ||
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The site reminds us that though they are reviled to this day because of their association with the notorious SS, the Waffen SS divisions were purely professional army units without connection to the secret police.
When you visit Dachau you'll have an opportunity to see many of the camp documents. There on pubilc display and clearly shown are the markings and headings of the 'Waffen SS'. Not the other Nazi organizations usually blamed, scapegoated, etc for the extermination and killing program. They are Waffen SS.
On December 17, 1944, near the hamlet of Baugnez on the height half-way between the town of Malmedy and Ligneuville in Belgium, the leading element of Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper, named after its leader SS-Standartenführer Joachim Peiper, encountered the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion (FAOB). Kampfgruppe (battlegroup) Peiper was the lead unit of the 1st Waffen-SS Panzer Division 'Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler'. The battlegroup consisted of over 100 tanks and 150 armored halftracks. The 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion was mounted in jeeps and trucks, and had no heavy weapons. They were accompanied by several ambulances. The U.S. unit was moving to a new assignment and was not aware that German troops were in the area, although a U.S. combat engineer officer had warned the unit not to take the route they did.
The jeeps and trucks of the 285th encountered several tanks of Kampfgruppe Peiper. The German tanks fired on the U.S. vehicles, which were quickly abandoned by their occupants. With no anti-tank weapons, the Americans surrendered. About 150 of the prisoners of war were disarmed and sent to stand in a field near the crossroads. Peiper and his leading vehicles then continued their advance, which was behind schedule.
A tank pulled up, and a truck shortly thereafter. Witnesses stated that a single SS soldier pulled out a pistol and shot a medical officer standing in the front row. He then shot the man standing next to the medical officer. Other soldiers joined in with machine guns. It is not known why this happened; there is no record of any order by an SS officer. Throughout the massacre, the vehicles and men of Kampfgruppe Peiper continued to proceed through the crossroads.
However, some survivors testified that they had heard the order given to kill all the prisoners: "Macht alle kaputt.".
The Waffen SS at Oradour -
2nd SS Panzer Division 'Das Reich' was ordered to make its way across country to the fighting in Normandy. Along the way it came under constant attack and sabotage from the French Resistance. Allegedly, SS soldiers were further angered by finding atrocities committed by some resistance; in particular, a German ambulance in which all the wounded had been killed and the driver and assistants tied to the cab before the vehicle was set on fire. No record of this alleged incident exists in German records.
Early on the morning of June 10 Sturmbannführer Otto Diekmann reported to Sturmbannführer Otto Weidinger that he had been approached by two French civilians who claimed that a high German official was being held by the French Resistance guerrilla, the maquis, in Oradour. That day he was to be executed and publicly burnt amidst celebrations. The two French civilians also stated that the whole population was working with the maquis and that high ranking leaders were there at the moment. At about the same time the SD in Limoges reported that their local informers had reported a maquis headquarters in Oradour. The high German official was belived to be Sturmbannfuhrer Helmut Kampfe, a personal friend of both Diekmann and Weidinger who had been captured by the maquis the day before. Kampfe was never found and is listed in SS records as "Missing in southern France in action against terrorists".
On June 10 the 1st battalion of the Waffen-SS (Der Führer) regiment, led by Sturmbannführer Otto Dickmann, encircled the town of Oradour-sur-Glane and ordered all the inhabitants to congregate in a public fairground near the village centre, ostensibly to examine people's papers. All the women and children were taken to the church, while the village was looted. Meanwhile, the men were taken to six barns where machine gun nests were already in place. According to the account of a survivor, the soldiers began shooting at them, aiming for their legs so that they would die more slowly. Once the victims were no longer able to move, the soldiers covered their bodies with kindling and set the barns on fire. Only five men escaped; 197 died there.
Having finished with the men, the soldiers then entered the church and put an incendiary device in place. After it was ignited, the surviving women and children tried to flee from the doors and windows but were met with machine gun fire. Only one woman survived; another 240 women and 205 children died in the mayhem. Another small group of about twenty villagers had fled Oradour as soon as the soldiers appeared. That night the remainder of the village was razed. A few days later the survivors were allowed to bury the dead.
#13
It sounds to me like he volunteered. The Waffen SS was all volunteer until mid '44 when Himmler got access to the German draft pool. However, Germans were not drafting 17 year olds at that stage of the war.
Regarding the Waffen SS and concentration camps guards: The 2 were separate branches of the SS, but there were constant transfers between them. Several Waffen SS divisions were created from concentration camp guards.
Also the Waffen SS made a habit of not taking prisoners or killing them after capture. This happened so often on the Russian front that it was almost routine.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/12/2006 12:37 Comments ||
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#14
Sorry you guys can't read. Go back to #10. Go to Dachau. Look at the records. They were Waffen SS not some other 'SS'.
#15
"The Tin Drum" was a great book(though a little naughty), and the impression I got from it was that it reflected the publics denial of what was going on around them. (Thus Oskar refused to grow up and remain a child evermore. He would belt out the occasional "scream" when warranted).
I don't know if Grass is a moonbat or anti-American, he may well be. But "The Tin Drum" is an exceptional piece of literature, and is well deserved of any accolades it has received.
/It is heavy reading though. NOT for those who like simple.
#17
An old review of the book I wrote about 4 years ago:
The Sight and Smell of Depravity
A Review by **************
02/08/2002
Darkness follows us all. We may mean well, but the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Some people think themselves good, but in the end, they have done damage, having left some kind of negative impact on their fellow man without realizing it.
Unfortunately, the twentieth century was filled with war, and war brings out the worst mankind has to offer. The Tin Drum describes perfectly how mankind lost the ability to cry during World War II. Nowhere else was this strange inability more obvious than in Germany and Poland. The Tin Drum is a novel of the events leading from WW1 to WW2 in those two nations, and what followed afterwards. It is the story of a loss of innocence for a whole culture and region.
The Tin Drum was written by Gunther Grass in 1959. Highly European in flavor, it is a well-regarded novel, and helped Mr. Grass win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999. It is translated wonderfully into English by Ralph Manheim and must go down as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.
Oskar Matzerath is a midget living in an institution. Apparently, he has done something horrible, but we do not know what until near the end. He turns away his visitors, and starts on his own autobiography. What follows is not for the faint-hearted.
Oskar starts by telling the story of his grandmother, Anna. This Kashubian beauty is sitting in a potato field cooking herself a little lunch from her crop. A short man (an arsonist running from the police) begs for cover under the large four skirts she wears. She gives him permission, and he climbs to hide underneath her womanhood. The police come by and they ask the old lady if she's seen a short man, but all she can do is moan and groan in response. The police, seemingly rather slow on the uptake, just figure the potatoes must be good. After they leave, Grandma rises, and our little arsonist buttons up his fly and leaves her...pregnant.
Her brother's wife has a baby about the same time she does. His name is Jan, and is pure Polish. Anna bears a daughter named Agnes, and she is not.
Jan and Anna grow up very close. Too close. Anna marries a man named Alfred Matzerath, who also happens to be a good friend of Jan's. Together the three love playing skat games, and Matzerath doesn't seem to mind that Jan is also playing with his wife, as long as he gets his share of sex too. Between the two men, Anna gets pregnant soon and gives birth.
Oskar Matzerath is born into the world under two bare light bulbs. He is aware of what is going on, and wants badly to go back in the womb. He watches a moth "drum" between the two light bulbs. Agnes says she will buy little Oskar a drum for his third birthday. Oskar pretends to do all the baby things he should do, and looks forward to that drum.
By his third birthday, Oskar's decided doesn't like what he sees of his world. He plans an "accident," to himself a fall down the stairs. What he has really done is stopped himself from growing, but he needs an excuse for the adults. He plans to remain forever three years old and three feet tall. (A lot of things are in threes in this novel.) At three he also discovers he has the amazing ability to cut glass with his voice.
Oskar then relates the ugly world he sees growing up in the free city of Danzig in the 1930's, through the second World War, and the post-war years. What does he see? Does he stay three foot tall for the rest of his days? Is Jan or Alfred his father? What role does the drum play in all this? If you want to find all this out, read The Tin Drum for yourself.
None of this book is easy to read or analyze without being disturbed by it. This book has more symbolism than most mythology, and if you aren't aware of this, it will leave you confused.
If you are easily disturbed by twisted scenarios, don't pick this up. Oskar is one sick and twisted individual, and so are most of the others. Blasphemy and violence abound, as do certain sexual practices generally considered kinky/obscene.
Lessons to be learned? That humankind is evil, and gets even worse in the face of war and unstable governments. You will see how low people will go when the economy collapses.
Do I recommend The Tin Drum? Yes and no. This is a book that requires a lot of patience, and a strong stomach. At times it will feel like one of the greatest books ever written. The use of symbolism, and way of phrasing and description make the novel appear most beautiful. Then at other points it will just smack of ugliness. Ultimately, I do recommend it; it is, after all, a Nobel Prize winner.
The Tin Drum has a lot of foreign names and terms, but it has a glossary in the back to help. This comes in very handy when politicians and charity organizations are discussed. This is for at least college level readers. Younger or worse readers will just become frustrated, and they probably won't finish it.
There is a lot of evil and ugly in this world. The Tin Drum holds nothing back in exposing it. This is not a book of hope; it is a book of suffering. Try it at your own risk. While great, it is not for everyone.
#18
The death camps were run by the SS-Totenkopfverbände (the Death's Heads). It was the Einsatzgruppen that went around killing civilians, jews, and gypsies in the east. At Dachau, the Waffen-SS were primarily recovering wounded, many who were summarily executed in the belief they were the guards: DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP - LIBERATION 06:00 Waffen SS-Obersturmführer (Lt.) Heinrich Skodzensky, the new, hastily designated Camp Commandant, holds morning roll call for the garrison now guarding Dachau. His roll call tallied 560 men, many of them in hospital. A mere lieutenant had never before commanded the massive concentration camp, but the real SS Commandant, Martin Gottfried Weiss, had "run off" the day before, along with more than a thousand of the Allgemeine and Death's Head SS guards stationed at the camp prior to the American approach. Skodzensky's orders were to surrender. (Dachau Archive)
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2006 14:50 Comments ||
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#19
Let's see, in the SS during World War II, on the Communist side in the Cold War, and on the Islamist side in the war on terror. Are there any other important issues he could get on the wrong side of? He seems to have racked up the halfwit trifecta.
#24
"Dog Years" discusses the prewar and war years from the viewpoint of Hitler's dog. The pages oconcerning the July 20 Plot, for example are a mesmerizing read... This is fiction (Hitler's dog moves the bomb-containing briefcase under the table at the last moment) bu the point is well made that Stauffenberg (sic?) should have stayed around and martyred himself instead of exiting the scene.)
Turkey is battling the largest-ever recorded outbreak of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), which has killed at least 20 people this year, with experts saying on Tuesday that more cases of the Ebola-like disease are inevitable in coming months. Most of the cases have occurred in six provinces in the Black Sea and Central Anatolia regions: Tokat, Sivas, Gumushane, Amasya, Yozgat and Corum.
"We will unfortunately keep seeing cases at least until September, when the virus starts to slow down because of the cold weather," said Dr Önder Ergönül, an associate professor at Marmara University who has been involved with the government's response to the outbreak.
Authorities at the World Health Organization (WHO) are awaiting further information from the Turkish government, including where the other cases have arisen. Turkish authorities say no cases have been reported in tourist areas along the Mediterranean coast.
By Aug. 4, the disease was responsible for 242 cases, including 20 deaths, making it the largest reported outbreak since it was first identified in 1944, authorities say. Last week a nurse treating patients with Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever died after being accidentally infected by a needle. To date four healthcare workers have been infected, though there have been no reports of the virus spreading in hospitals.
"There have been large outbreaks of this virus before, but we are concerned about the size of this particular outbreak in Turkey," said WHO's Regional Advisor for Communicable Diseases in the European Region Dr. Bernardus Ganter. "We are reassured that the outbreak appears limited to only one part of Turkey, in Anatolia," said Ergönül. More than 90 percent of cases have been reported in people who have had direct contact with animals, according to Ergönül.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
We will unfortunately keep seeing cases at least until September, when the virus starts to slow down because of the cold weather,"
ahhh the dreaded cold turkey
*rimshot*
I'm here all week, try the veal
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2006 8:09 Comments ||
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BP PLC announced it would keep one side of the Prudhoe Bay oil field open as it replaces corroded pipes, enabling it to funnel up to half its previous output and avert a larger crimp in the nation's oil supply. BP had previously said it would have to completely shut down the nation's largest oil field after discovering a leak nearly a week ago.
The company said Friday it decided to continue supplying oil out of the western side of the field after reviewing 1,400 ultrasound inspections on five miles of the 22-mile pipeline and discussing the matter with federal and state regulators.
BP said it will monitor the pipeline around the clock and use infrared cameras from the sky and the ground to detect small leaks. It will run a high-tech "smart pig" device through the line by November to search for weaknesses in pipe walls. "With greatly enhanced surveillance and response capability, I am confident we can continue to safely operate the line," BP America Chairman and President Bob Malone said in a statement.
The company said it is currently producing about 150,000 barrels of oil and natural gas per day from the western side of the field, but hoped to reach about 200,000 barrels a day.
The natural gas accounts for between 11,000 and 12,000 barrels of the total. Before the discovery of the leak, BP was pumping as much as 400,000 barrels a day out of the entire field, 8 percent of the nation's domestic output. BP also said it was looking at ways to restore some production from the eastern side of the field, subject to approval by federal regulators.
The cost to repair and replace leaking pipelines at Prudhoe Bay could be about $170 million, BP spokesman Neil Chapman said. That was an early, rough estimate for the current repairs and for cleaning up a major oil spill in March.
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2006 07:49 ||
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#1
I wonder if the Smart Pig is nicnamed Arnold and if not, why not?
This is from Mindanao in the Philippines, but it prolly is a program for young impressionable teens being shipped around the world.
Student journalists as peace builders? Some 158 staffers of student publications from public high schools around Southeastern Mindanao attended a peace writing workshop Thursday at a Department of Education function hall here. The workshop, included for the first time in this year's DepEd annual Regional Training for Campus Journalists, "is part of an effort to build a culture of peace in Mindanao," according to lead organizers from the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCO). Similar workshops would be organized in other regions in Mindanao, said Romeo Montenegro, MEDCo's chief for media affairs. The students came from the cities of Davao, Digos, Panabo, Tagum, and the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS), and from the provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental.
Youth leaders from Moro groups, the Lumads and the settlers shared their peace-building experiences to the participants. The Kids for Peace Foundation, which organized the youth camp, facilitated the sharing to illustrate how youth organizations worked on their own peace advocacy projects. MindaNews handled the peace writing workshop, which focused on explaining the need for campus journalists to write accurately and responsibly, by understanding the root causes of conflicts and the histories of Mindanao's peoples.
Well, most of them anyway.
Discussions included the effects of inaccurate reportage on Mindanao and the power and responsibility of the media to help start or end a war. Also, MindaNews explained the media's capacity and duty to help prevent conflicts from occurring as a stakeholder to peace in Mindanao. Organizers sought to introduce key concepts of peace journalism to student journalists in the workshop and encourage them to apply the principles of peace journalism in writing articles. Also, they aimed to develop a Mindanao peace and development agenda among the student reporters. The workshop promoted awareness of the pursuit for peace in Mindanao by providing basic background of the history of conflicts, and the current challenges in adhering to the 1996 peace agreement. It also sought to make students aware of efforts by the youth to build a culture of peace in Mindanao, according to information from MEDCO. Organizers also aimed at developing a high school peer network to champion peace journalism in Mindanao.
The peace writing workshop is part of the cross-sectoral effort to build a culture of peace in Mindanao in line with the aim to strengthen peace constituency and citizens' participation in the peace process, MEDCO said. After the workshop, students will also attend another day of journalism training sessions on editorial writing, news and feature writing, sports writing and editorial cartooning, copy writing and headline writing, photojournalism, lay-outing, and radio broadcasting.
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.
A bizarre video of 
Paris Hilton got no love this week from her pet kinkajou Baby Luv in fact, the racoon-like animal bit her. The heiress was not badly hurt but did visit a hospital emergency room to receive a tetanus shot, her publicist, Elliot Mintz, told The Associated Press on Friday. Hilton was frolicking with her exotic pet early Tuesday morning "the way some people play with their cats and dogs" when the animal became excited, Mintz said. 
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Incumbent President Joseph Kabila had the lead with more than 1 million votes counted, but the numbers were far from definitive, with election workers in dugout canoes still looking for ballots in the troubled tally.
HAVANA (AP) - It was supposed to be the ultimate tribute, several days of parties and concerts to mark Fidel Castro's 80th birthday. But instead of listening to folk music and attending conferences on his legacy, Castro is expected to spend his birthday Sunday in bed, recovering from surgery for intestinal bleeding.
By Peter Morici 
Turkey is battling the largest-ever recorded outbreak of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), which has killed at least 20 people this year, with experts saying on Tuesday that more cases of the Ebola-like disease are inevitable in coming months. Most of the cases have occurred in six provinces in the Black Sea and Central Anatolia regions: Tokat, Sivas, Gumushane, Amasya, Yozgat and Corum.
Student journalists as peace builders? Some 158 staffers of student publications from public high schools around Southeastern Mindanao attended a peace writing workshop Thursday at a Department of Education function hall here. The workshop, included for the first time in this year's DepEd annual Regional Training for Campus Journalists, "is part of an effort to build a culture of peace in Mindanao," according to lead organizers from the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCO). Similar workshops would be organized in other regions in Mindanao, said Romeo Montenegro, MEDCo's chief for media affairs. The students came from the cities of Davao, Digos, Panabo, Tagum, and the Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS), and from the provinces of Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Davao Oriental.
