Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Barbara Bates aka Phoebe in "All About Eve" aka Leza in "The Inspector General" aka Helen Calder in "Quicksand" aka Ernestine Gilbreth in "Cheaper by the Dozen" aka Jane Stanton in "All Ashore" aka Lisa Anthony in "The Caddy" (Died in 1969 at age 43)
#2
This lady needed help. Depression, job losses, attempted suicide then the old exhaust pipe route.
You would think somebody would have notice something wrong.
A total of 31 members of the US special forces have died in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan along with seven Afghans, a statement from Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said.
"The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai expressed condolences over a NATO helicopter crash and the deaths of 31 members of US special forces," today's statement statement said.
The crash late today represents the biggest death toll in a single incident for international forces in Afghanistan since the start of the war in 2001.
Seven Afghans were also killed in the crash, the statement said, taking the total death toll in the incident to 38.
The Afghan defence ministry said they were also special forces.
"This helicopter crashed in Wardak province last night, as a result of which including the crew members, 31 personnel of American special forces lost their lives," the presidential statement said.
"In this incident, seven Afghan forces were also killed.
"The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan expresses his sympathy and deep condolences to US President Barack Obama and the family of the victims."
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/06/2011 7:00 Comments ||
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#2
God protect all of our troops and their families. God take those souls that we lost in the helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan up with you, and comfort their family members in their grief. God, g8ve them, and our country, courage in this time, and also the wisdom so that we can know how our country may serve you best. Amen.
#3
Hate to ponder this, but was one of the afghan a boomer? Because I have a hard time believing the Helicopter was shot down.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/06/2011 7:38 Comments ||
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#4
..don't rule out mechanical/structural failure. Been pressing the equipment literally for years now. There only so much you can do to replace parts without having to practically rebuild a craft. Wonder how many hours were on that bird.
A senior administration official says the helicopter that crashed Saturday carrying 31 U.S. special operations forces and seven Afghan soldiers was apparently shot down by insurgents in Afghanistan.
It was the highest number of American casualties recorded in a single incident in the decade-long war. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the crash is still being investigated.
#6
There have been at least 17 coalition and Afghan aircraft crashes in Afghanistan this year. Most of the crashes are attributed to pilot errors, weather conditions or mechanical failures. However, the coalition has confirmed that at least one CH-47F Chinook helicopter was hit by a rocket propelled grenade on July 25, injuring two crew members.
#7
My condolences to the families that lost a loved one.
Now Mr, President, can you please make a decision to either a) bust some serious taliban ass (includes the ruling parties in those God-forsaken areas and the money we so freely send them)or b) bring all the troops home? quit dickin' around and for once in your miserable life, stop voting 'present' and do something.
#8
The CH-47F Chinook design is antiquated (late 1950s design, 1962 production), and a new heavy lift helicopter should have been adopted after Vietnam. It was likely designed because the Soviets had introduced two or more heavy lift helicopters.
The Mi-6, which was introduced about the same time, was clearly superior to the Chinook in most ways: bigger, faster, more protected from ground fire, better engines, gearing and equipment.
We could just take that design, integrate new materials and electronics, and have a heck of a lot better and safer heavy lift helicopter. But Boeing lobbies hard to keep the Chinook design, with continual expensive upgrades.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/06/2011 10:46 Comments ||
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#10
#7 My condolences to the families that lost a loved one.
Now Mr, President, can you please make a decision to either a) bust some serious taliban ass (includes the ruling parties in those God-forsaken areas and the money we so freely send them)or b) bring all the troops home? quit dickin' around and for once in your miserable life, stop voting 'present' and do something.
Posted by USN,Ret
USN Ret:
Getting WORSE not better. The so-called Counterinsurgency (COIN) [hearts and minds] strategy in Afghanistan is a very sad failure. Pentagon leaders are quietly conceding the fact after years of donor fatique. We've not been here ten years, we've been here ONE year, ten times. Pakistan, China, Iran, our old Russian friends and others see it as a 'bleeding the bull' strategy. Time to get the phuech out of Afghanistan, Iraq, and stay at home!
#11
Why were so many seals in a single helicopter anyway? Considering the limited number of these guys around it seems like a stupid idea to put them all together like that.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/06/2011 11:11 Comments ||
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#14
If the Taliban shot it down with an RPG, it is a major blow to this war and the war on terrorism. If they got video, it is going to be on every Islamic channel prime time during Ramadan. They can claim it was revenge for OBL, especially killing SEALs.
They better look into spy activity.
The bottom line is a fifty year old helo was shot down by a fifty year old weapon.
#15
Why would it be an RPG? Lots of IR SAMs in neighboring and interested countries. Pakistan is dropping their mask and Iran has lost their fear of Bush. Russians and Chinese have stuff fall off the backs of trucks all the time.
Pakistan, China, Iran, our old Russian friends and others see it as a 'bleeding the bull' strategy.
Exactly. $100 billion here, $100 billion there and pretty soon we're talking real money. What I see in the whole Ummah is lots of irreplaceable life giving infrastructure built by non-muslims that the natives can't replace by themselves and can barely maintain. That's should be the target in this "War on Terror".
#16
Howsit, Besoeker! Your on-scene observations are worth a thousand MSM clips. Sort of reminds me of a scene back in '75/'76, chopper hit some power lines with 3 or 4 Generals on board. About the same time, we realised that Hearts and Minds doesn't work when the bad guys wear 3 different kinds of civvies, and look like civilians. Our problem was lack of everything except will. Seems sanctions are being applied to the US war effort. As with us, it will take a long time for the real sh`t to come out, and then what to do with a boondoogle of 80 year old traitors? The parallels are frightening.
Easy, bro, look after yourself, fever.
Fox is saying that the SEALS were part of Team 6 (of OBL demise fame). Islamists will use this in a 'Wrath of Allen' analogy.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/06/2011 12:37 Comments ||
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#18
Damn, the news just gets worse...
The Associated Press has learned that more than 20 Navy SEALs from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden were among those lost in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.
The operators from SEAL Team Six were flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. That's according to one current and one former U.S. official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because families are still being notified of the loss of their loved ones.
One source says the team was thought to include 22 SEALs, three Air Force air controllers, seven Afghan Army troops, a dog and his handler, and a civilian interpreter, plus the helicopter crew.
#19
If it was SEALs, look for ISI involvement/payback. I suspect this was not randomly targeted. Just too damned convenient.
Do not trust Pakistan. Ever.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
08/06/2011 12:52 Comments ||
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#20
BBC is saying the shoot-down was on the way back to base.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/06/2011 13:26 Comments ||
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#21
With that group, ... who would have been the high value target? Maybe Number 2 who is now Number 1 and somehow, Paks got word, they were on the way...
Special thoughts to families and friends for such special men.
#22
IF, and it's a BIG If, we can prove Pakistani/ISI involvement, it's time to napalm ISI headquarters, followed by a multiship ARCLIGHT strike down through the heart of Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Let these little-minded ba$$$$$s understand what we CAN do when we get pi$$$d. Unfortunately, I doubt the "WUN" would allow anything like that. God bless the families of those who lost loved ones. I'm sure there's an honor parade in Heaven today for their souls.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/06/2011 14:08 Comments ||
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#23
As with us, it will take a long time for the real sh`t to come out, and then what to do with a boondoogle of 80 year old traitors?
Sanction them of course, wet work, quietly in the night. Look for these to start happening soon.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
08/06/2011 15:06 Comments ||
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#24
As with us, it will take a long time for the real sh`t to come out, and then what to do with a boondoogle of 80 year old traitors?
Sanction them of course, wet work, quietly in the night. Look for these to start happening soon.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
08/06/2011 15:06 Comments ||
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#25
Sorry for the double. Bloody iPads.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
08/06/2011 15:09 Comments ||
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#26
I'm steaming reading about this. Just steaming mad, no words can describe how I feel.
Posted by: Charles ||
08/06/2011 15:15 Comments ||
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#27
The loss is staggering. 19 from st6. I think the first reports on the 160th might be mistaken. I would check 10th mountain.
The 47 is still a strong and viable aircraft. The new 47s are stronger, faster, and a much more capable aircraft than any of the MI aircraft.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
08/06/2011 15:18 Comments ||
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#28
A post 9-11 poll in the pak-terror-entity revealed 90% support for taleban-al-qaeda. And the base-city of all jihadism in pak is: Peshawar. So naturally if you put 100,000 US troops against Central Asian mohammadans, you arrange to get your fuel in Peshawar. Yah, I get it.
Do you really want to pull out, status quo ante? How about this: no US ground troops other than well protected Re-Con units, and no more precision targeting. You spot the enemy, and you drop Napalm over a large area, with no regard for collaterals. And you mine the border regions. Why do that? Because the afghan-joke-entity has $1 Trillion in Lithium deposits. There is no scenario in which that can be grabbed, without a special deal with a local power, like India or China (which holds over $Trillion in US debt). The US does have true allies in that cess pool. Northern Alliance remnants would gladly take sides against their Pashtun enemy.
Screw hearts-and-minds: go Imperial. There is no way a country like the US could possibly spend vast amounts of lives and cash, without getting quid pro quo.
#31
I swear Lithium and Rare-Earths are all the fad these day.
Fuck 'em. Airlift everything out we can, destroy and mine the rest, fast retrogade out of Pak abandon and destroy all material that can't be carried on foot, scram. Then it's time. Time for a massive airstrike arclite precision not required, because it's not about tactics, it's not about slide shows, it's not about YouTube, it's about killing and scaring the living shit out of your opponents and their next of kin. Just one. Then leave them to fester. Finally mine the harbour of bloody Karachi, this supply route shit works both ways.
Posted by: S ||
08/06/2011 16:50 Comments ||
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#34
Re #8 Anymoose:
yes the basic design is from the late 50's early 60's, owever the F variant first flew in 2006. some are remanufactured 'D' models and some are new from the grond up with state of the art engines and avionics. but agree that you cannot hide something as big as a couple of mating school busses and has a radar signature just as big. but to say the bird is antiquated is a stretch.
altitude dicates the max ceiling for any aircraft and helos don't have the luxury of adding thrust and flying out of a high and hot environment which most of Afgahnistan is. so that puts them in a sweet spot for the bad guys, and i kind of like the idea of S@ 31; if we can't take it out, take it out.
i think these guys were set up.
sorry for any mis spelt words, i am still hot about this tragedy.
I presume everyone has already read the news. Zabiullah Mujahid has claimed responsibility on behalf of the Taliban, but Tolo TV is suggesting it might be Hezb Islami.
I am not qualified to have an opinion on the matter, but it's food for thought.
After the hit on Osama, it wasn't a secret the methodology employed. High value target would attract the SEAL team. They probably know where they operate from. It would be a manner of just the right bait to get them out. Wouldn't take much to work that process right back upon the intel, planners and commanders to entice the strike. However, the enemy wouldn't know if it was the SEAL team for sure till it got to the bait sight. You don't want to engage them there because they'll have all sorts of back up. It's the trip back and that route could only be of prescribed design. You'd have your shooters waiting on that line to bag them when they're least able to respond defensively.
That the team wasn't removed from theater after the success of the Osama raid says something about the command structure and the political pressure* to clean the place up nicely before withdraw deadlines. They had to know that the enemy would make any effort to specifically target these people, not just in country, but even outside the theater to include home.
#43
CNN + FOX NEWS = both are repor its not clear at this time iff any of the SPECOPS, SEALS fatalities were directly involved in the raid agz Osama, i.e. as Individuals as opposed to Units.
Also, various Perts believe the chopper was most prob struck after completion of a large extraction mission [night-time firefight?].
ME > IMO THE PRELIMIN SCOPE IS BROAD ENUFF SUCH THAT THE ABOVE ALLEGED "FIREFIGHT" MAY OR MAY NOT HAD BEEN A INTENTIONAL "DIVERSION" BY REVENGE-MINDED MILTERRS TO LURE US SPECOPS = SEAL TEAM SIX MEMBERS INTO AMBUSH.
"MILTERRS" also read, REVENGE-MINDED PAK GOVT-ARMY = PRO-OSAMA ELEMENTS THEREIN SAME???
[An Nahar] Gunmen opened fire killing five people on Friday as they looted food aid for thousands of starving people affected by famine in the Somali capital, officials and witnesses said.
"Five people was struck down in his prime after beturbanned goons opened fire to loot the food aid," said Abdikadir Mohamed, a driver.
"There was chaos and everybody was running for cover after the security escorting the food aid convoy exchanged fire with the armed gang. The food was looted," Mohamed added.
Residents at the Badbado camp had been queuing up for food supplied by the World Food Program when the gunnies started shooting.
All those who died were displaced people who had decamped drought or famine in the surrounding countryside.
"I saw the dead bodies of four people but the number could be higher as the situation is still tense," said another witness Mohamed Abdulahi.
Ali Isa, an official with a local group partnering with the WFP, said the U.N. agency had brought some 300 tons of food for the displaced at the camp set up by Somalia's Western-backed government.
It was not immediately clear who the attackers were, but the area is in a region controlled by pro-government forces.
WFP confirmed that shooting had broken out at a food distribution center for displaced people.
"Casualties have been reported, and we are working to clarify the details," said WFP spokeswoman Susannah Nicol.
"This incident highlights the challenges that humanitarian agencies face in trying to deliver assistance in this difficult environment."
The gunnies drove away some of the food trucks while other food was taken away on donkey carts.
The United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... on Wednesday declared three more Somali areas, including Mogadishu and Afgoye to the west of the capital, were facing famine.
Other areas include the Balaad and Adale districts of Middle Shabelle. Last month the U.N. declared famine in the Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions in the south of Somalia due to a harsh drought in the Horn of Africa.
Most of the famine-hit areas are controlled by Somalia's al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels, who have been fighting to topple the government and banned several foreign aid groups from regions under their control.
Parts of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda have also been hit by the region's worst drought in decades.
The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization called for urgent action Friday to save the lives of some 12 million people battling hunger.
In a statement, the FAO "warned that immediate action is needed to save the lives and livelihoods of millions of farmers and pastoralists across the drought-struck Horn of Africa."
Donors and governments have increased financial pledges towards the drought, with the Nordic countries ramping up their funding to $20 million (15 million euros).
China said Friday it was paying "close attention" to the Horn of Africa drought after top U.S. House Democrat Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi Congresswoman-for-Life from the San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of politicians. Formerly Speaker of the House, but it's not her fault they lost. Really. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace... urged it to do more.
Pelosi on Thursday urged China and Soddy Arabia to "step up their efforts" to relieve the effects of the extreme African drought.
Experts have warned that the famine ravaging parts of Somalia is likely to persist for the rest of the year and spread to the country's entire southern region in the coming weeks.
The U.N.'s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit termed drought-hit Somalia as "the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world today and Africa's worst food security crisis since Somalia's 1991-92 famine."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
ever heard the phrase, "Pounding money down a rathole.?
A Moslem rathole, full of the good people that brought you Blackhawk Down. They are not your friends. Too bad about the starving little kiddies, but they are THEIR children...and its them stealing the food too.
Allahu Akbar, there, Chuckie.
And you care because your Methodist mother brought you up right. Yeah. If YOUR kids were starving what would the Moslem world do for you? And you want to Leave it to Beaver and have them all sit down to a Suburban family dinner? Go for it, Priscilla and hand me the Reader's Digest.
Posted by: de Medici ||
08/06/2011 7:48 Comments ||
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Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/06/2011 12:43 Comments ||
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#5
Do one of these food-aid things, and have a dozen Navy F/A-18s loaded with napalm standing by. Wait until the attack, and napalm the attackers. Only have to do it once. After that, just have a drone flying around and al-sh$$ will run for Ethiopia.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/06/2011 15:10 Comments ||
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[Dawn] A US military investigation has concluded that a Navy drone that disappeared along the coast in central Libya in June was probably shot down by forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Qadaffy. ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years... Lt. Cmdr. Mark Walton, a front man for the US Navy's 6th Fleet, says the investigation found that the unmanned Fire Scout that disappeared June 21 was not brought down by mechanical failure or operator error.
He says that because Sherlocks were unable to examine the wreckage or the crash site, they can't be completely sure what happened.
He says they came to the "logical conclusion" that it was probably shot down, because of where it was and the fighting going on in that region.
The Fire Scout was unarmed and conducting a surveillance mission.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
This is the helicopter drone the gov forces were claiming was an Apache shot down.
#3
If you like Fire Scout you're gonna love the Littoral Combat Ship. Perfect opportunity to prove the LCS concept to nay-sayers. Libya is a perfect trial zone.
[Yemen Post] President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower... does not have the right to step down without informing the leadership of the General People's Congress, the ruling party, of such a decision, assistant secretary general of the party Sultan Al-Barakani said on Wednesday. "Youse just don't quit da organization, y'know..."
In an interview with Alsaeeda TV, he said that President-for-Life Saleh ... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence... , who being treated in Soddy Arabia after he survived an liquidation attempt inside his palace in June, will lose if he ignores his party and decides alone to leave office.
The ruling party is not a mere institutional organization, rather President Saleh has the first decision that strongly affects the status of the party, he made clear.
"What is happening in Yemen including month-long sit-ins and protests in downtown main cities is just imitation of the situations in Tunisia and Egypt," he said, hoping the current crisis will end in Ramadan because the status of Yemen is different from Tunisia's and Egypt's.
Furthermore, Al-Barakani attacked the Yemeni Mohammedan brotherhood or Islah Party saying it is not strong, but is skilled of conspiring, killing and misleading the public opinion. "What has been happening over the past six months exposed this party and made many people in the country change their minds to believe that Islah Party is losing.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] A demonstration was held on Thursday and Friday in Shabwa province in which thousands of people condemned the Saudi and U.S. support to the Yemeni regime and the military attacks in the cities of Sana'a, Taiz and Abyan.
They urged the youth-led antigovernment protesters to continue their sit-ins and other countries to stand by the Yemeni people.
Furthermore, they pointed to the trial of the Egyptian ousted President Mubarak which started on Wednesday, saying it marked the beginning of the downfall of all dictator and authoritarian regimes in the region.
Meantime, severe crises including acute fuel, cooking gas and water shortages as well as day-and-night power outages and price hikes are continuing across the republic during the month of fasting.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Two huge kabooms were heard and festivities started in Hasaba zone of the capital Sana'a between tribes and elite republican guards, numerous eyewitnesses said.
Residents in Hasabah said that hundreds of gunshots were heard starting at 5pm in the area and have been spreading to the neighborhoods of Mazda, Giraf, and Airport road of the capital.
Eyewitnesses said that at least 11 tanks were seen on main roads surrounding Hasaba zone of the capital, where festivities took place in May between elite republican guards and tribes from Hashed.
No casualties have been reported.
Government spokesperson Abdu Ganadi said that the Yemen government is not seeking war in Sanaa with the tribes and blamed the tribes for any escalation that could take place.
Abdul Qawi Qaisi, the head of office for Sadeq Ahmar, the leader of Hashed tribes, said that the tribes are still sticking to the ceasefire agreement that was signed in May after 10 days of festivities.
He said that the government will be held responsible for any deaths due to attacks.
Tens of residents of Hasaba started evacuating their homes.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Gunmen rubbed out three coppers in Russia's southern region of Ingushetia in the restive Caucasus where authorities are fighting an Islamic insurgency, Sherlocks said Friday.
Unidentified assailants rubbed out two coppers in their car late Thursday in the regional capital Nazran.
"Two other officers were hospitalized and one later died in surgery," Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Ingushetia is one of Russia's poorest regions and the smallest in the Russian Caucasus, where it borders Chechnya.
Russia is fighting a simmering Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus, where it fought two wars with Chechen separatists in the 1990s, and attacks targeting police and government officials are a near-daily occurrence.
Kavkaz-Uzel, a website monitoring the violence in Northern Caucasus, said Thursday that a total of 396 people had been killed in the first six months of 2011 in the insurgency conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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The US Army will shorten the length of tours of duty for personnel deployed in combat zones from a year to nine months, as it pursues its withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Friday.
"This policy will not affect personnel or units currently deployed or deploying prior to Jan. 1, 2012," the secretary of the army, John McHugh, said in a statement, adding the move would be fully in effect by April 2012.
The US Army is looking to allow soldiers to spend two years in the United States for each year they are deployed, but the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have resulted in consecutive deployments for many personnel.Those back-to-back war tours have prompted concerns about the health of the soldiers, with an increase seen in reported psychological problems and the number of suicides.
"The reduced deployment length will improve soldier and family quality of life while continuing to meet operational requirements and is an important step in sustaining the all-volunteer-force," McHugh said.
#1
My older son just got his Honorable Discharge after 5 yrs (straight out of High School). So many of you have offered kind thoughts and prayers - I just want to say thank you. Keith's out. Next stop - Tahoe vacation with family, and College when he moves back home this month
Thanks, everyone :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2011 0:05 Comments ||
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#2
Frank, I'd like to wish Keith a hearty Welcome Home and good luck with his studies.
The Marines always made more sense with their 7 month tours, especially since the Army gave each soldier a 2 week trip home after 6 months. In that case, might as well rotate the whole unit back stateside.
#11
yeah, Chris. It seems like yesterday we were at Ft. Sill for his graduation from Basic
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2011 9:54 Comments ||
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#12
Well done, Frank.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/06/2011 10:12 Comments ||
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#13
Any idea of a major yet? College strategy is a new art, but a wise one to study right now.
About the only guaranteed employment job right now is nursing, and it is an expensive major to teach, so colleges are trying to cut back on their nursing programs.
Job placements six months after graduation are the critical statistic for any major, and schools do not want to release that information.
To save money, taking lower division courses at a community college, after insuring that those course are transferable, is a winner. Thousands of dollars saved, as well as avoiding giant classes designed solely to wash out students. In many universities, freshman attrition approaches 50%.
If at all possible, living off campus, ideally at home, is a huge money (and sanity) saver, since on campus housing is typically nasty, noisy, brutish and small. And he would likely have to share a room with a @#%&*! civilian kid, and their problems. Nothing quite like a part time babysitting job to make life harder.
If he can, leave the car at home, because lots of universities make big money off exorbitant parking decals and parking garages. That can run $500/semester. So with under a 5 mile commute, a bicycle is the way to go, weather permitting.
College credit cards are, of course, a scam.
Last, but not least, I assume he is enrolled in USAA. It is by far the best and least expensive insurance, credit card and investment system around.
#16
he's unsure of career path, so it'll be living at home, saving money and getting his gen ed classes at the local Community college til he decides. Thanks again, and best wishes to Top Mac's son and everyone else serving!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/06/2011 11:21 Comments ||
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#17
Thank you, Frank. Thanks to your son and best wishes to him for a bright future.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/06/2011 12:49 Comments ||
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#18
I can imagine your delight! Thanks to him for serving, and to you, for raising him!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/06/2011 13:32 Comments ||
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#19
Five years? that long ago? Glad he's home and you have some time together again. Thanks for his service.
#21
Time does indeed fly. A hearty well done and thanks to Keith G. For putting himself between us and the bad guys, and much satisfaction from whatever his future career turns out to be. If I might suggest a few intro business/management courses -- the knowledge will be useful whatever he decides to do.
Top Mac, our thanks to your son for stepping forward three times. Would that there were more offspring like yours and Frank's!
[Dawn] Five hard boyz and a passer-by were killed when rival groups clashed in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency, while hard boyz blew up a power pylon in Swabi, sources and officials said on Thursday.
They said that armed supporters of the banned Lashkar-i-Islam and Anasarul Islam exchanged indiscriminate firing when they came face to face in a bazaar in Mehraban Kali area of Kukikhel on Thursday.
The sources said that five gunnies from both sides and a passer-by were killed on the spot as result of cross firing.
The Kukikhel tribe has so far resisted the existence of hard boyz on their soil and sources said that the hard boyz had come to the local bazaar to buy edibles.
Fighting between the two groups has been going on since April in Bazaar Zakhakhel, Nari Baba and Sanda Pal areas of Khyber Agency.
In Swabi, three bombs went kaboom! one after the other as the suspected hard boyz targeted the main 500 KV transmission line from Tarbela Dam to Sheikh Mohammadi grid station, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, late Wednesday night, police said.
The incident occurred just a week after the Swabi police found 12 bombs ready for use in Shahmansur area of the district.
Officials who visited the targeted point told this correspondent on condition of anonymity: "One bomb each was planted to all the four pillars of the power pylon, but luckily one bomb did not explode that saved the transmission line from a total collapse." The unwent kaboom! bomb was defused by the bomb disposal squad, they said.
Other sources said that security officials of Tarbela Dam, who visited the site, said that the bombs were planted at Khudrai Wand at Kalabat region in the jurisdiction of Topi cop shoppe. "The pylon was bent by the kabooms and the staff concerned has started the repair work early on Thursday morning," said an official.
Insiders said that the district authorities have also deputed police force to patrol the transmission line, but all the attacks on the transmission line so far had occurred at night, which was a challenge for the police.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wasan said on Friday that 25 people have been set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock linked to the ongoing murders in Bloody Karachi, DawnNews reported.
Wasan said that all 25 of the set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock have political affiliations however their affiliations will not be revealed as yet.
Moreover, Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani has said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... will re-join the government by Eid.
"We will offer the Eid prayers and then have breakfast together," said Durrani.
Speaking to the media at the Chief Minister House, Durrani said that the commissionerate system will not be rolled back.
Separately, Senior Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza said that a middle ground can be reached on the commissionerate system.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Police sources reported today that the well-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad was hit by a Katyousha rocket.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that no information was given on the human or material casualties resulting from this attack. No information was given on the exact location of where the rocket fell.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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Are they sure? Katyusha launchers can deliver numerous accurate rockets. They can do serious damage.
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Seven of the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq" members were arrested west of Mosul city, according to security sources.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that a police force was able to arrest the seven members according to intelligence information. One of the arrested members was responsible for the group's media relations while another was responsible for administrative affairs in the organization.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] An kaboom struck an oil pipeline in Iran's oil-rich southwestern province of Khuzestan early Friday, triggering a blaze that took firefighters hours to put out, news agencies reported.
Abdohossein Rezaeizadeh, front man for the provinces' branch of the Iranian national oil company, told the official IRNA news agency that the causes of the blast and the subsequent fire were under investigation.
There were no immediate reports whether anyone was injured in the incident.
The semi-official Mehr news agency said the kaboom happened at around 1:30 a.m near Susa, some 430 miles (700 kilometers) southwest of Tehran. The flames rose 130 feet (40 meters) up into the sky, the report said.
The pipeline feeds up to 4,000 barrels of oil a day to the nearby Ahvaz oil processing unit, some 62 miles (100 kilometers) south of the site of the kaboom.
Iran's oil and gas sector has been hit by an increasing number of kabooms recently but authorities rarely provide any explanation for them.
Most of the pipelines are decades old and encumbered with lack of maintenance and frequent technical failures. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... there have been occasional cases of sabotage, mostly reported in the northwest.
Last week, an kaboom struck a major pipeline carrying gas to Turkey. The blast, which temporarily cut the gas flow, took place in morning hours near a border crossing but no one was injured. Authorities blamed it on Kurdish rebels operating in the area.
In April, three kabooms hit gas pipelines near the holy city of Qom in central Iran, briefly cutting the flow of gas from Iran's gas refineries in the south to the country's northwest.
Similar kabooms rocked the pipeline in the same area in February. Officials at the time said the blasts were not caused by technical failures but did not say if they were acts of sabotage.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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about 80% of Iran's Oil is in Khuzestan Province, mostly or significantly Arab rather than Persian in population. The Province borders Iraq's Oilfields and is backed by the Zagros Mountains which has only about five major mountain roads ( easily vulnerable to air superiority ). Khuzestan is Iran's wallet.
Iran only has one big Oil REFINERY and that is where this pipelines goes.
The technological quality of Iran's Oil infrastructure like their aircraft maintenance repair capacity degrades about 10% every year. Essentially its 1980's technology and Iran manufactures little in the way of parts and equipment itself. It imports a major, or a significant portion of its Oil equipment and parts.
That pipeline is a major nerve in their economy. The whole Province is Iran's wallet.
Posted by: de Medici ||
08/06/2011 7:37 Comments ||
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It is likely a Sunni move.
Time to call it: Calipha-War is on, and it is Sunnis v Shiites.
[An Nahar] Two members of the Islamist Jund al-Sham group on Friday made an attempt on the life of the chief of Paleostinian Armed Struggle in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp Mahmoud Issa, aka al-Lino, Voice of Leb Radio (93.3) reported.
"While Paleostinian national Mahmoud Abdul Qader and another Jund al-Sham member were planting a bomb near al-Lino's house in the camp, they were spotted by the latter's bodyguards, who shot and maimed the two," the radio network added.
Armed factions in the camp immediately went on alert, Voice of Leb said, adding that Paleostinian intelligence agents and the Armed Struggle had opened a probe into the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Syrian security forces killed at least 14 demonstrators on Friday as they opened fire to disperse protests near Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... and in the central city of Homs, the Local Coordination Committees said, as thousands of Syrians erupted into the streets to rally against President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... on the first Friday of Ramadan in support of the protest hub of Hama.
"Seven people were killed in Irbin, another in Maadamiya (both towns near the capital) and two in Homs," Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone earlier on Friday, adding many others were maimed by gunfire.
Fellow activist Abdul Karim Rihawi, who heads the Syrian League for the Defense of Human Rights, said earlier five people were rubbed out in Irbin but cautioned the toll was likely to rise due to sustained gunfire.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control... state news agency SANA said two members of the security forces were killed and eight maimed in an ambush on a road in the Idlib region of northwest Syria, near the Turkish border.
Gunmen posted on an apartment block rooftop in Douma, near Damascus, shot and maimed two other members of the security forces, it said, while assailants also opened fire in Homs.
Security forces used cluster ammunition in Douma, according to the head of the Britannia-based Observatory.
Communications were completely cut off as the army stepped up an operation to crush dissent in Hama, north of Damascus, where security forces killed at least 30 civilians and maimed dozens more earlier in the week.
"Thousands of demonstrators marched in Deir Ezzor, Daraa and Qamishli in support of the city of Hama despite the extreme heat," Rihawi said, adding that they numbered 30,000 in Deir Ezzor alone.
Abdul Rahman said that "more than 12,000 people" also marched in Bench, in Idlib province, "to demand the fall of the regime and express their support for Hama and Deir Ezzor."
"Hundreds of people came out of the Al-Mans Uri mosque in Jableh, chanting 'God is with us,'" he told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The call for Friday's protests came from activists on Facebook group The Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force behind the demonstrations calling for greater freedoms since mid-March.
The Assad regime has sought to crush the democracy movement with brutal force, killing more than 1,600 civilians and arresting thousands of dissenters, rights activists say.
Its latest crackdown has centered on Hama, where at least 30 people were killed on Wednesday by tanks shelling the city center.
The city was isolated on Friday, and the military continued an operation to combat what Assad's regime calls "armed terrorist gangs" responsible for the deadly unrest.
State media reported that army units were removing "roadblocks set up by terrorist groups that have blocked roads and damaged public and private property, including cop shoppes, using various weapons."
The crackdown on Hama has prompted harsh words from Washington and Moscow, with Russia hinting at a possible change of heart after stonewalling firm U.N. action against Syria, its ally since Soviet times.
The White House said the deadly crackdown has put Syria and the Middle East on a "very dangerous path," as Washington extended a raft of recent sanctions to include a businessman close to Assad and his family.
President Barack B.O. Obama's administration appeared to be moving toward a first direct call for Assad to go, a step it has so far resisted, following the escalation of violence in Hama.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Timothy Pickering ... said the United States would urge the Europeans, Arabs and others to do more to press Syria to stop its deadly crackdown.
Clinton said Assad's regime was responsible for the deaths of more than 2,000 people, repeating that Washington believes the embattled president has "lost his legitimacy to govern."
The U.S. Treasury Department froze the U.S. assets of Mohammed Hamsho and his company, Hamsho International Group, and prohibited U.S. entities from engaging in any business dealings with them.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... activists and analysts have dismissed as a ploy a new law allowing the creation of political parties alongside the Baath party, as decreed by Assad on Thursday.
The decree came after the U.N. Security Council condemned the crackdown and said those responsible should be held accountable, in a non-binding statement rather than a resolution.
Western powers had hoped for stronger action but were rebuffed by veto-wielding members Russia and China, who feared doing so would pave the way for another military intervention like the one in Libya.
But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spoke forcefully about the situation on Thursday and called on Assad to "carry out urgent reforms" warning otherwise "a sad fate awaits him and in the end we will have to take some decisions."
And Kuwait on Friday urged a halt to the crackdown, expressing its "extreme pain" and calling for dialogue and a political solution to allow for "true reforms that meet the demands of the Syrian people".
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said developments in Syria "are unacceptable."
"Operations with heavy arms and tanks in densely populated residential areas like Hama are not legitimate at all," he was quoted by Anatolia news agency as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/06/2011 00:00 ||
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Rooters summarized: The explosion in Khuzestan province stopped oil flows of up to 4,000 barrels per day. It is not clear whether the cause is equipment failure or sabotage. Such incidents are common in Iran, where only two weeks ago Kurdish rebels were accused of sabotaging a gas pipeline to Turkey.
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 total of 31 members of the US special forces have died in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan along with seven Afghans, a statement from Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said.
[An Nahar] Gunmen opened fire killing five people on Friday as they looted food aid for thousands of starving people affected by famine in the Somali capital, officials and witnesses said.
Nancy 
A US military investigation has concluded that a Navy drone that disappeared along the coast in central Libya in June was probably shot down by forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar 
Gunmen 
[Dawn] Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wasan said on Friday that 25 people have been 
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Police sources reported today that the well-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad was hit by a Katyousha rocket.
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Seven of the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq" members were arrested west of Mosul city, according to security sources.
[An Nahar] Two members of the Islamist Jund al-Sham group on Friday made an attempt on the life of the chief of Paleostinian Armed Struggle in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp Mahmoud Issa, aka al-Lino, Voice of 
President-for-Life Bashir 
Hillary Clinton
