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Pirates seize Indian vessel with 13 crew near Somalia
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 2: WoT Background
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 08:59 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The picture reminds of the time I played an interesting variation of the parlor game "musical chairs" when on a port call at Subic.
Posted by: Penguin || 10/23/2008 9:40 Comments || Top||

#2  I would describe the situation of those guys within the circle as a target rich environment.
Posted by: Scott R || 10/23/2008 9:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Penguin: would that game be known as 'smiles," perchance? that is one that Milton bradley won't distribute....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/23/2008 14:34 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
55 Taliban killed in southern Afghanistan: US military
International and Afghan forces killed 55 Taliban after coming under attack in southern Afghanistan, the United States military said on Wednesday. "ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) and coalition forces responded with small arms, rocket-propelled grenade, heavy weapons and supporting fires, killing 55 militants," the US forces in Afghanistan said. Police had said earlier that 35 Taliban were killed in the fighting in the southern province of Uruzgan that started on Tuesday when about 100 Taliban had tried to attack a district centre, AFP reported. "More than 100 Taliban launched an attack to capture the district of Dih Rahwud. Our police bravely resisted and killed 35 Taliban whose bodies are left in the area," provincial police chief Juma Gul Hemat told AFP. "Three of our policemen were also martyred and nine others were injured in the fighting," he said, adding international military warplanes were called in to help. Meanwhile, foreign troops killed nine Afghan soldiers in a mistaken airstrike in the southeast of the country overnight, the Afghan Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Foreign troops can't martyr Afghan soldiers? heh
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 10/23/2008 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  seems like the Afghans would stick too what they know best. Staying in the hills and using their guerilla tactics since their banzai charges don't seem too be working out too well. Let's just hope they don't figure that out though
Posted by: chris || 10/23/2008 7:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Fred,

I have to tell you that I much prefer that blog ad than the standard issue of the Rantburg Times.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 10/23/2008 8:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Here's what's up on the CJTF-101 site:
Tuesday, October 21 -
55 Taliban killed Deh Rawood District, Oruzgan province
15 killed - Taliban Commander Sharif Agha and 14 other militants in Deh Rawood District, Oruzgan province [not sure if included in 55]
Thursday, October 23 -
3 militants killed in Khas Oruzgan District, Oruzgan province
3 militants killed Bala Boluk District, Farah province
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 10/23/2008 11:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Jack dear, isn't it lovely that Mr. Pruitt has arranged for you to get both?
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/23/2008 11:17 Comments || Top||

#6  I can't seem to find this article in the news coverage of any main stream illuminati media outlet. Interesting. Oh wait, no news IS good news!
Posted by: Gruse Bucket9867 || 10/23/2008 15:59 Comments || Top||


Coalition Airstrike Kills 9 Afghan Soldiers, Officials Say
Nine Afghan soldiers were killed and four others injured by a U.S. airstrike on an Afghan army checkpoint Wednesday in an apparent friendly fire incident in eastern Afghanistan, according to Afghan and U.S. military officials.

The predawn airstrike occurred after a convoy of coalition troops came under fire as they returned to their base in Khost province, according to a statement released by the U.S. military. Coalition soldiers called for air support after exchanging fire with Afghan troops near an Afghan army checkpoint in the Sayed Kheil area in what military officials said could be "a case of mistaken identity on both sides."

U.S. military officials did not release the nationalities of the coalition soldiers involved in the incident. But the majority of coalition forces based in eastern Afghanistan are U.S. soldiers.

Arsallah Jamal, governor of Khost province, said coalition and Afghan troops had been engaged in operations in the area for about 10 days before the strike occurred. Jamal said the army checkpoint was relatively new but was well known and on a main road.

"They knew it was there. They made a mistake," Jamal said.

Lt. Muhammed Gul, a spokesman for the Afghan army division based in Paktia province, said Afghan National Army troops were in the midst of an operation focused on securing a stretch of highway between Khost and Paktia province to the west. Afghan soldiers had recently set up the checkpoint as part of the operation, Gul said. Gul said the Afghan Ministry of Defense and U.S. military officials are investigating the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Africa Horn
Pirates seize Indian vessel with 13 crew near Somalia
(SomaliNet) A maritime official said Tuesday that armed pirates in speedboats have hijacked an Indian dhow with 13 crew members off the northern coast of Somalia.

The cargo-laden vessel was en route to Somalia from Asia when it was seized over the weekend, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

The bureau only received a distress report from a third party on Monday and is still verifying the time and date of the attack, he said. No further details were immediately available.

The attack comes despite increased international cooperation to crack down on pirates in the African waters. "It shows that the momentum is still there, the attacks are still continuing in this key shipping route," Choong said, adding that the bureau has issued a warning for ships to maintain a strict watch to thwart the bandits.

The hijacking pushed the number of attacks this year in the African waters to 74. A total of 30 ships have been hijacked, and 10 remain in the hands of pirates along with nearly 200 crew members, Choong said.

Momentum has been growing for coordinated international action following the Sept. 25 hijacking of the Ukrainian ship MV Faina, which was carrying tanks and other heavy weaponry. NATO has sent warships to the area to help U.S. navy vessels already patrolling the region. India also announced it will send warships to the area, and several European countries have said they would launch an anti-piracy patrol. Some naval commanders are also suggesting shipping companies hire private security firms to counter possible hijackings.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombia Dismantles Drug Ring With Alleged Hezbollah Ties
Colombian authorities have announced the dismantling of an international drug and money-laundering ring that had alleged ties to Hezbollah guerrillas in the Middle East.

The attorney general's office says an international sting led to the arrest of nearly 100 suspects in Colombia and other countries.

Authorities say those arrested include three suspects from the Middle East who allegedly used profits from the drug trade to fund Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is a Lebanon-based Shi'ite militant group that the United States considers a terrorist organization.

Colombian officials say the drug ring used routes in Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, Europe and the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  would this be the reason too knock off Chavez?
Posted by: chris || 10/23/2008 7:32 Comments || Top||

#2  There's others besides Chavez. He's just the most visible one.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/23/2008 16:15 Comments || Top||

#3  And they all had Peruvian University PhD's! heh
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 10/23/2008 18:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Obama opposes Free Trade Agreement with Colombia because the the government cracks down on Labor LeadersDrug Dealing Terrorists.
Posted by: WilliamMarcyTweed || 10/23/2008 20:48 Comments || Top||


Europe
Germany nabs alleged helper of 'terror' group
German authorities on Wednesday arrested a man accused of helping the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) at the behest of his brother, who has been charged in connection with a foiled terrorist plot, prosecutors said.

Burhan Yilmaz, a 21-year-old Turkish citizen, was arrested in the Frankfurt area. He was brought before a federal judge, who ordered him held in custody pending possible charges, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

He is suspected of helping the IJU by making a €1,100 (US $1,450) transfer to the group via intermediaries in Turkey, and by handing over equipment - binoculars, a night-sight device and a camera - that were to be sent to a training camp in the Pak-Afghan border region.

He could face charges of supporting a terrorist organisation and violating German export laws.

Prosecutors did not specify when the alleged offences occurred, but said they were instigated by the suspect's older brother, Adem Yilmaz.

Adem and two other men were charged last month in connection with a foiled 2007 terrorist plot to attack US and German targets in central Germany. They were arrested in September 2007.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Home Front: WoT
Air Force creates new pilot programs for drones
Posted by: Penguin || 10/23/2008 09:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Chair Force becomes a reality.
Posted by: ed || 10/23/2008 10:22 Comments || Top||

#2  After evading the direction of the President and SecDef for two years.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 10/23/2008 11:20 Comments || Top||

#3  "new pilot programs for drones"

and which Congressional Committee are we talking about here?
Posted by: Craing Prince of the Leprechauns2852 || 10/23/2008 12:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Introducing the air force's newest ace Gothmo Geekerson.
"Hey. Whazzup..."
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/23/2008 12:31 Comments || Top||

#5  "Irag and Afghanistan......flown by remote control froma base in Nevada" > OWG GLOBAL STRIKE + SPACE STRIKE + PROMPT STRIKE, etc > HMMMMMM, since the USAF is also proceeding wid dev of Air SUPERIORITY/DOMINANCE + PERMANENT-ORBIT STRATEGIC STRIKE UNMANNED BOMBER UAVS, methinks this means that what are labeled AIRCRAFT PILOTS NOW, WILL ONE DAY BE "SPACE/STAR PILOTS" BY YEAR 2080-2100, VEE NASA-JPL ???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/23/2008 20:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Will 2oth century and early 21st Century FIXED WING PILOT TRAINING + CERTIFICATIONS, e.g. "TWEETY BIRD", becom FUTURE CADET = KAY-Y-Y-DET SPACE TRAINING???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/23/2008 20:41 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
9 dead in suspected US missile strike in Pakistan
Suspected U.S. missiles struck a religious school linked to the Taliban on Thursday, killing nine people in the lawless border region where al-Qaida and its Taliban allies are believed to plot attacks on American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

The strike came hours after Parliament warned against any incursions on Pakistani soil and condemned the wave of terrorism tearing at the country, while stressing the need for dialogue.

The suspected U.S. missiles hit the religious school on the outskirts of Miran Shah, the main town in the region of North Waziristan, four intelligence officials said. No students were believed to be at the school at the time.

Relying on informants and agents in the area, two officials said nine people were killed, including four pulled lifeless from the rubble hours after the strike, and two others were wounded.

The religious school belonged to a local cleric linked to the veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, considered a top foe of the United States, they said.
Posted by: ed || 10/23/2008 10:30 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  School's out.
Posted by: mojo || 10/23/2008 11:55 Comments || Top||

#2  19 of them little girls and their kittens?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/23/2008 19:54 Comments || Top||

#3  sometimes blessed Martyrdom comes to you
Posted by: Frank G || 10/23/2008 20:30 Comments || Top||

#4  This sort of thing has increasingly been happening.Is it likely that the new government has given us the nod on the QT to hammer these guys?
Posted by: Keystone || 10/23/2008 20:58 Comments || Top||


At least 11 dead as Pakistani rebels ambush police convoy in Swat Valley
Taliban militants ambushed a convoy of security forces in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley, sparking clashes that left at least five personnel and six rebels dead, officials said Wednesday. The convoy of paramilitary and police vehicles came under attack late on Tuesday in the town of Kabal, a stronghold of insurgents who are trying to impose a strict version of Islamic Sharia law in the restive region.

"The initial report ... confirms one policeman and four FC [Frontier Constabulary] men died and some FC soldiers are missing after the ambush," Swat police officer Inam Khan said.

The army later launched a counter-attack in the same area, killing five militants and a would-be suicide bomber whose vehicle was blown up when troops opened fire, a security official said.

The mountainous Swat Valley was until last year a popular tourist destination known as the "Switzerland of Pakistan" where many Pakistani city dwellers went for their annual holidays and it featured the country's only ski resort. But the region has been turned into a battleground since hard-line Muslim cleric Maulana Fazlullah, who has links to Pakistan's Taliban movement, launched his pro-Sharia campaign. The ski resort, along with a number of government-funded schools for girls, have been burned down.

Pakistani fighter-bombers struck a militant hideout in Swat on Sunday, killing two rebel commanders and 25 other men.

Separately, at least 10 militants were killed when warplanes bombarded their hideouts in the Bajaur tribal region on Wednesday. "Jets pounded militant hideouts for more than 40 minutes in several areas, killing 10 militants and wounding eight others," a security official said.
This article starring:
Maulana Fazlullah
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Pakistan: Soldiers killed in fresh clashes in Swat
(AKI) - At least 13 Pakistani soldiers and five pro-Taliban fighters were killed in a clash in the volatile northwestern Swat valley on Tuesday.
That's not a good ratio ...
Fighting broke out in the Kabal area, a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban fighters, after a roadside bomb targetted a paramilitary convoy. Police recovered the bodies of 13 soldiers late Tuesday but six soldiers were still missing.

Meanwhile in the Bajaur tribal region, bordering Afghanistan, the Pakistani daily Dawn reports that security forces on Tuesday captured Lowi Sam area, a stronghold of the Taliban, and killed 13 militants in fresh fighting. According to military sources, troops retook Lowi Sam after overcoming stiff resistance from the Taliban and started digging trenches and setting up bunkers to strengthen their position. They said the troops also made advances in the nearby areas of Nawagai and Charmang.

Officials said that 10 militants had been killed and six were injured after jet fighters and helicopter gunships attacked their hideouts in the region. Troops also destroyed militants' positions in Zower Bandar and Lowi Sam with artillery shelling, sources said.

Security forces had tried to capture Lowi Sam in August but retreated after militants put up tough resistance. According to Dawn, the fall of Lowi Sam is likely to weaken the hold of militants in the tribal region and boost the morale of troops and local people.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Two containers with NATO supplies snatched
Two containers carrying goods for the NATO forces were snatched by unidentified men on the Pak-Afghan Highway in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency, Geo News reported on Wednesday.

According to the channel, the men forced the crew out before taking away the containers. The political administration told the channel it was premature to link the incident to any group.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  add GPS bomb units to the containers that blow them up if the leave the route in Pakiwakiland.
Posted by: 3dc || 10/23/2008 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Or just follow them.
Posted by: mojo || 10/23/2008 1:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Get used to it. They'll just start putting them in warehouses in residential areas and breaking them up for continued transshipment. We're going to see more of this as Pakistan deteriorates even further. The position of the troops in Afghanistan will become precarious. We should declare victory and bring them home now, tell the Afghans if we have to come back they all die, tell the Pakis they've replaced the Norks on the terror sponsor list, and tell the Indians Pakistan is a free fire zone as far as we are concerned.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/23/2008 7:00 Comments || Top||

#4  we should have told India that in the first place. I'm sure we could devise a way too get our guys in afghanistan supplies other than pakistan
Posted by: chris || 10/23/2008 7:34 Comments || Top||

#5  and would probably cost less (aid wise) if we just airlifted it in
Posted by: chris || 10/23/2008 7:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Do you folks harbor a particular wish to see Bombay reduced to a glass-lined crater?
Posted by: Mitch H. || 10/23/2008 8:03 Comments || Top||

#7  eventually the rogue elements will get their jands on the nukes in pakiland anyway , what do you think will happen then? Or are you saying we should continue too let pakistan just do whatever the hell they want too like shoot at our troops who may enter their land, which they have know prblem letting the taliban cross over back and forth too attack NATO forces
Posted by: chris || 10/23/2008 8:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Shouldn't we have some guys with guns riding along on a caravan like that? Contractors or SOMETHING?
Are we even allowed to defend the stuff while in Wakiland?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 10/23/2008 9:23 Comments || Top||

#9  Supplying through Pakistan is untenable in the medium to long term. Afghanistan is a cesspool. Nice people, when they don't want to kill you or their islam infection is not active (redundant, I know), but they are several generations away from the modern world. I am not interested in spending blood or treasure to secure either Afghanistan or the Pak tribal belt. It will take years and years and cost the lives of thousands of our troops. I say we leave, but make it clear upon doing so that should harm come our way from here, death will come to visit them.
Posted by: remoteman || 10/23/2008 16:21 Comments || Top||

#10  Sir Charles Napier is the example we should be looking to. He accomplished quite a bit, though apparently not everything needed.
Posted by: Don Vito Omeling5062 || 10/23/2008 17:37 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Baghdad hit by three bomb attacks
(AKI) - Three separate bomb attacks killed at least one person and injured eight others in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Wednesday.

The first blast was believed to have been provoked by an improvised explosive device that exploded near Baghdad's Industry Ministry in the Bab al-Sharqi area. One civilian and three others were injured in the attack, reported Iraqi news agency Voices of Iraq.

Another blast took place near Sahet al-Andalus in central Baghdad, injuring three civilians. In a third blast, two more civilians were injured when an IED went off in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of al-Mansour.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency

#1  These are pretty small-scale. Is it possible that this reflects a degradation in the quality of the output of Baghdad's bombmaking industry?
Posted by: Mitch H. || 10/23/2008 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Didn't I read a couple weeks ago that iranian-trained insurgents were returning to iraq from iran to cause trouble? is this the fruits of their labor?
Posted by: Omeregum Johnson4532 || 10/23/2008 11:49 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel locks down Gaza after rocket strike
Israel closed its border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after it said militants from the Hamas-controlled territory fired a rocket into southern Israel.

The indefinite closure of the passages, through which badly needed foodstuffs and supplies are imported into the impoverished territory, will start on Wednesday morning, defense minister Ehud Barak's spokesman said. "After a rocket was fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip yesterday, Barak instructed the Gaza crossings to be closed starting Wednesday morning," a defense ministry official said. The official did not say how long the crossings would remain shut.

Gaza militants fired the rocket on Tuesday, the first in more than six weeks, causing no damage or injuries, Israeli police said.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire in June. It called for a cessation of cross-border violence and a gradual easing of Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, which was tightened after the Islamist group seized control of the territory in 2007. The truce has largely held, although Gaza militants occasionally fire rockets into Israel, which responds by temporarily closing its borders with the coastal territory.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Lock down? FT! Flood the tunnels, maybe Gaza will fall into the sea. heh
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 10/23/2008 0:38 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
LTTE attacks merchant ships
Sri Lanka's military on Wednesday said the LTTE's Sea Tiger cadre carried out a suicide attack, targeting merchant ships MV Ruhuna and MV Nimalawa.

Navy spokesperson D. K. P. Dassanayake claimed three LTTE suicide vessels were involved in the attack. "Navy sailors providing onboard security fired at the approaching boats and destroyed two of them," he said. One of the boats exploded in close proximity to MV Nimalawa, damaging the ship's hull.

The third craft has been captured and the cadre operating the boat killed. The Navy described the incident as a cowardly attack to deny essential supplies to the civilians living in war-affected areas. The pro-LTTE TamilNet said the Sea Tigers carried out a "Black Tiger attack on Sri Lankan ship MV Nimalawa, which carried military and other supplies, in the Sri Lankan naval harbour in Kankeasnthurai, Jaffna. The supply ship was sunk and another vessel, MV Ruhuna, sustained heavy damage, the Tigers said," it said.

Sri Lanka's Defence Ministry website said the attack on merchant vessels with essential cargo to Jaffna's civilians comes within a week after LTTE shelled a U.N. food convoy to the internally-displaced persons in Mullathivu and Kilinochchi.

"Have India's support"
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told Parliament on Tuesday the government has not faced any "external pressure" regarding its military operations to defeat terrorism and disarm the LTTE. He said India has made its position on defeating terrorism very clear, and if there is a country that has helped Sri Lanka to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, it is India.

Mr. Bogollagama referred to President Mahinda Rajapaksa's telephone call to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on October 18, during which he briefed Mr. Singh on Colombo's course of action to defeat terrorism, disarm the LTTE and restore peace.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Your opinion, please...
I've decided to add "Seedy Politicians" to the Burg to cover corruption, since 1.) I expect B.O. to win the election and 2.) I expect the Dems to line up at the trough like never before -- not that I intend to ignore the Publicans, whom I expect to be wetting their little beaks right next to the Sinners, nor the occasional Euro or even African or Antarctican.

My problem is that I don't know whether to make it a category or page. I'm torn both ways:
  • A category will allow the new version Tammany Ring to be covered from all angles, whether they have anything to do with WoT or not.

  • Giving them their own page will allow the Burg to continue in business even as they're shutting down the War on Terror (prior to asking why the previous administration wasn't on the ball when downtown D.C. disappears in a fireball and they have to move the capital to San Francisco), and until they get around to shutting down opposition press, of which Rantburg will naturally be a part.
I think I'm leaning toward Page 6, but I'm not quite sure. Your opinion should help with my indecisiveness.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 12:28 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Have you considerd a ThugBurg like addition ti complement the page?
Posted by: .5MT || 10/23/2008 13:02 Comments || Top||

#2  "Crookburg"? Not a bad idea, though I'm afraid it'll come out looking like the Congressional phone book...
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 13:09 Comments || Top||

#3  I like the "Seedy Politician" page idea, Fred, then you can have categories such as Idiot, Useful Idiot, and Murtha. If Russell wins the 12th District race, then you can delete Murtha and substitute the synonym -- Useless Idiot.
Posted by: GK || 10/23/2008 13:10 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm not a fan of page 6...it seems like pages 1 and 2 are enough, and page 3 was the expansion. Pages 4 and 5 seem irrelevant, and are just dumping grounds for "that interesting link I saw".

It seems as if Rantburg is becoming less and less about the War on Terrorism and more and more a link aggregator like digg.com or fark.com.
Posted by: gromky || 10/23/2008 13:22 Comments || Top||

#5  Sure you need the "Seedy" part?
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/23/2008 13:22 Comments || Top||

#6  My opinion, page 6.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 10/23/2008 13:27 Comments || Top||

#7  One minor glitch will be the way commerce will be distorted during the Opophis administration. Take for instance the way energy will be treated; you'll have companies that'll only be in business thanks to laws and taxes limiting traditional hydrocarbon energy industries.

(And no, that won't be good for energy independence. They always aim at the Arabs, or say they're aiming at the Arabs, and always land on the domestic industry. Kinda like Von Braun, reaching for the stars and always hitting London).
Posted by: Tranquilized Mechanical Yeti || 10/23/2008 13:27 Comments || Top||

#8  Seedville, where the weeds grow unmowed.
Posted by: mojo || 10/23/2008 13:29 Comments || Top||

#9  I like it as a category: "Crooks and Seedy Politicos". If it's WoT related, it goes onto page 2, otherwise it goes to page 6. Presto -- it's a category AND a page!
Posted by: Steve White || 10/23/2008 13:28 Comments || Top||

#10  I vote for a separate page. That way those that wish to concentrate on overt WoT stuff need not scroll past hundred-post impassioned political argument threads.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/23/2008 13:32 Comments || Top||

#11  I concur with TW, but I'm still praying for divine intervention and a Republican win, at any level.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2008 13:39 Comments || Top||

#12  They're going to basically use climate change and a bogus "energy independence" thing to force through an equivalent to 16th century Royal Patents on Energy.
Posted by: Tranquilized Mechanical Yeti || 10/23/2008 13:47 Comments || Top||

#13  So I'd also suggest some sort of category for the brave new world of patent holders. Sorry, kept losing my train of thought.
Posted by: Tranquilized Mechanical Yeti || 10/23/2008 13:48 Comments || Top||

#14  I'm still not sure on which page Kyoto compliance will fall...
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 14:03 Comments || Top||

#15  There will still be plenty of news on Terror.

Fight for a free press.
Posted by: ex-lib || 10/23/2008 14:04 Comments || Top||

#16  Sounds like a good idea. Are you sure your server can handle the storage space?
Posted by: SSET || 10/23/2008 14:05 Comments || Top||

#17  I like the Page 6 for just Politics (seems to be a lot of that discussed here). 'Seedy Politician' might redundant and repetitious.

I wonder if it might be worth it to have a seperate set of categories for each page.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/23/2008 14:05 Comments || Top||

#18  I might do away with categories altogether for Page 6. "Lurid Crime Tales" on the Seedy Politicians' page seems really redundant.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 14:11 Comments || Top||

#19  It's a little randian, but "Page 6: Looterz."
Posted by: Tranquilized Mechanical Yeti || 10/23/2008 14:17 Comments || Top||

#20  Finally, you don't REALLY think the enemy's gonna stop pressing just because President Zero gets in? They took hostages during Carter, bombed during Reagan, they invaded countries during Bush 1, Bombed the WTC unsuccessfully and blew up embassies during Clinton...
Posted by: Tranquilized Mechanical Yeti || 10/23/2008 14:21 Comments || Top||

#21  It could be more inclusive by calling it "Scoundrels & Fools", which would be complementary to "Lurid Crime Tales". Separately, there could be "Political & Legal".

"Local" might also be enlarged to "Local, Misc, & Obits", to take pressure off of "Non-WoT", which might become "Mil Non-Wot".
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/23/2008 14:25 Comments || Top||

#22  I thought "Todays Idiot" covered this....
Posted by: Muggsy Glink || 10/23/2008 14:27 Comments || Top||

#23  page 6 is a good idea. label doesn't really matter, but it will be difficult to keep input focused, i think. f'rinstance; would greenpeace / global warming/cooling be a political entry or still the basic page 5 duty nutcase entry?

at the end of the day. it's Fred's toybox and he can divvy up his toys however he see's fit; thank you for being a gracious host and asking us interlopers what we think.....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/23/2008 14:32 Comments || Top||

#24  And here's your first story...

We'll bet even the IRS hasn't heard this one yet. Gov. Paterson's chief of staff now says he owed nearly $300,000 in back taxes, $100,000 more than was previously known - and his lawyer blamed the problem on "non-filer syndrome."

Charles O'Byrne's attorney, Richard Kestenbaum, mentioned the virtually unheard-of ailment at a briefing for reporters intended to quell the firestorm surrounding O'Byrne's failure to file income-tax returns from 2001 to 2005.

O'Byrne, 49, a former Jesuit priest with close ties to the Kennedy family, has already blamed his neglect to file - first reported by The Post - on clinical depression.

Kestenbaum said yesterday O'Byrne also had "non-filer syndrome."

"Many times, that syndrome causes them not to be able to file their tax returns," he explained.

Rhondalee Dean-Royce, a spokeswoman for the American Psychiatric Association, said there is no such disorder or syndrome in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a standard reference.


Plenty of professionals don't file because they're too busy or too depressed or because of a family tragedy, said IRS spokesman Larry Wright. But he's never heard of non-filer syndrome.

Other tax experts found the concept ridiculous.

"Yes, it's quite common," one Manhattan accountant joked. "A hundred percent of my clients suffer from this syndrome, and it gets especially bad every year as April 15th approaches."
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/23/2008 14:38 Comments || Top||

#25  You are again slipping into the trap of alienating dems who need to be part of the WOT. Bad idea to make this a party issue, which you do even though you say you don't. Leave the pols to other sites.
Posted by: Grampaw Omomonter7538 || 10/23/2008 14:51 Comments || Top||

#26  "Crooks & Liars"
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 10/23/2008 15:14 Comments || Top||

#27  Page 6.

There's a shot for "non-filers syndrome". .45, I believe.
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 10/23/2008 15:31 Comments || Top||

#28  If I was designing the Burg from the ground up now, given today's lineup, I'd probably have pages 1 and 2 the way they are now, page 3 for commies, page 4 for other bloody-handed dictators, 5 for crooked pols, and 6 for Malefactors of Great Wealth. Pages 7, 8 & 9 would be editorials, local, and the funnies.
Posted by: Fred || 10/23/2008 15:32 Comments || Top||

#29  My opinion: seedy politicians.
At present time they are a far greater threat to our way of life than classically kinetic terror ops.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks || 10/23/2008 15:35 Comments || Top||

#30  you will have too develop another whole alter internet for enough space for all of them
Posted by: chris || 10/23/2008 15:53 Comments || Top||

#31  I would just open a new site called "the socialist corner" or anyother synonym (liberal not liberty, illuminati, the left-wing, progressive page, elitists only)
Posted by: Glurong Mussolini6100 || 10/23/2008 15:55 Comments || Top||

#32  I think there are a plethora of other sites that cover politics from a variety of perspectives. I don't think it is central to the mission of the Burg, or at least my interpretation of that mission. At least some of us need to stay focused on the stuff that could get our countrymen killed, and likely will under the coming weak-kneed administration. I vote punt or put a category on page 3.
Posted by: remoteman || 10/23/2008 16:14 Comments || Top||

#33  Page 6, if anyone cares what a lurker thinks.
Posted by: Total War || 10/23/2008 17:55 Comments || Top||

#34  "You are again slipping into the trap of alienating dems who need to be part of the WOT."

If a DemoncRat decides it's OK for islamonazis and others to attack this country just because somebody here says something they don't like, fuck 'em. That kind of loser asshole isn't interested in the security of our country anyway, Grampaw.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/23/2008 18:20 Comments || Top||

#35  "'Lurid Crime Tales' on the Seedy Politicians' page seems really redundant."

ROFL, Fred. Ain't it the truth.

I vote for "Seedy Politicians" (though I do think that's redundant).

I really vote for "Arrogant Assholes" but I understand you want to be mature and take the high road the 'Burg has a reputation to maintain. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/23/2008 18:24 Comments || Top||

#36  I grew up in Cincinnati, so Porkopolis is taken, but Porkburg would fit in the linklist nicely next to Thugburg.
Posted by: Don Vito Omeling5062 || 10/23/2008 19:37 Comments || Top||

#37  Actually, the "Good Morning" girl either should be on page 3 (British practice) or on page 6 (NY Post practice).
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 10/23/2008 20:11 Comments || Top||

#38  I'm mostly a 'lurker', but SEEDY is too nice a descript, I like 'SCUM' better. Why stop at just politicians? There's a lot more of those who play the political system, lobbyists, CEos, the MSM, etc..
Posted by: Tom- Pa || 10/23/2008 20:26 Comments || Top||

#39  Page 6, but with titties
Posted by: Frank G || 10/23/2008 20:28 Comments || Top||

#40  This all seems like rearranging desk chairs on the Titanic. Sorry, I am in a dark mood. Rantburg is for rants and it is WOT related, meaning enemies trying to destroy the US and western civilization from external and internal forces. This still should be our main focus.

If you want to talk about seedy and corrupt politicians, than that should be in a separate blog. Let's concentrate mainly on the politicians that are the enemy within. Maybe a separate category for them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 10/23/2008 21:57 Comments || Top||

#41  Let's concentrate mainly on the politicians that are the enemy within. Maybe a separate category for them.

That would be about 90% or of them I suspect.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/23/2008 22:05 Comments || Top||

#42  AP:
Liberal seedy corrupt politicians are gonna cost us lives and destroy civilization because they will gut the military, take kickbacks, open the borders, tax us to death to make sure we don't discriminate against illegal aliens and cover them 100% with welfare and medical benefits paid for by 5% of the population(new math or poor schools?), give all their radical buddies key jobs in the government to siphon more out the red budget, shell out our taxdollars/carboncredits to foreigners who hate us, write laws with loopholes to exclude themselves, and keep our nation so weak the terrorists can afford to focus on destroying Israel, as we will have been destoyed by enemies from within. When radicals like Farrakhan and Khaddaffi, and even Al Jazeera, endorse Obama, and with Congress led by Reid and Pelosi, well, if that doesn't terrorize you and seem pertinent to the idealogical war on on terror, maybe you need to broaden your horizons. It would be so much simpler if we could fight all fronts militarily, as they seem to be the only ones who really "get it" when it comes to the cost of freedom. Rantburg warriors have many weapons at their disposal, and sometimes the enemy target is a politician. Keep up the good work, Fred, as someone has to keep an eye on things.
Posted by: Thealing Borgia 122 || 10/23/2008 22:41 Comments || Top||

#43  give politix it's own page

politics... from the Greek: poli meaning more than one, and tick a blood-sucking parasite.
Posted by: Abu do you love || 10/23/2008 22:44 Comments || Top||

#44  If you want to be nice...
call it "Tammany Hall"
if you want to be edgy
call it "da Wardheeler"
O'man will know what you mean.
Posted by: 3dc || 10/23/2008 23:05 Comments || Top||



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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2008-10-23
  Pirates seize Indian vessel with 13 crew near Somalia
Wed 2008-10-22
  Report: Nasrallah poisoned; Iranian docs saved life
Tue 2008-10-21
  Saudi terrorist trials kick off in Riyadh
Mon 2008-10-20
  Sri Lanka claims smashing 'final' Tiger defences
Sun 2008-10-19
  Taliban stop bus- massacre 30
Sat 2008-10-18
  Kidnapped Chinese engineer escapes Pakistani Taliban
Fri 2008-10-17
  Missile Strike Targeting Baitullah Country Kills 6
Thu 2008-10-16
  18 Talibs titzup in attack on Lashkar Gah
Wed 2008-10-15
  Puntland Coasties free Panama ship from pirates
Tue 2008-10-14
  DPRK regrants IAEA inspectors access to its nuclear facilities
Mon 2008-10-13
  12 boomers among 27 zapped in Wazoo
Sun 2008-10-12
  Lankan president asks LTTE to surrender
Sat 2008-10-11
  North Korea taken off US terror list
Fri 2008-10-10
  15 dead in suicide blast at Pakistan tribal meeting
Thu 2008-10-09
  Boom Bitch Kills 10 in Diyala Province

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