#4
Iraqis love soccer. They beat Saudi Arabia a while back to qualify for the Olympics. Now with a victory against Portugal, who just won the European Cup, they have to be ecstatic. Winning soccer games can go a long way toward developing Iraqi unity.
Posted by: Scott R ||
08/12/2004 16:04 Comments ||
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#5
But Portugal beat England... mmmm the link doesn't work, I'm suspicious.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/12/2004 17:12 Comments ||
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#6
Scott R, Greece just won the European cup by beating Portugal (the hosts) in the final. Portugal had played pretty darn well to get that far though, of course. At least they had done except for the Portugal-England quarter-final match, that is, when a deranged anglophobic Swiss ref handed them the game.
If he's still keeping a to-do list, John Sarver could add some new entries: go to prison, and pay restitution. Sarver, 48, pleaded guilty in April to robbing six banks, all in suburban Johnson County, in 2002 and 2003. The last took place just before Christmas, and Sarver was arrested Jan. 2. When police searched Sarver's house, they found a list including a reminder to "rob bank." Sarver was back in court Monday, drawing a prison sentence of 10 years and five months, plus two years under supervision after he gets out. U.S. District Judge Kathryn Vratil also ordered him to make restitution of $13,834.
Brazil has created the world's first DNA map of the coffee plant to cut production costs and create beans that cater to the rich tastes of U.S. and European consumers, the country's government said on Tuesday. After over two years of work, the world's biggest coffee grower is using the DNA map to create the world's biggest genetic data base on the plant. It contains information on the 200,000 DNA sequences, and 35,000 genes that create different aromas and caffeine levels in the beloved tropical bean. Brazil, known for mass-market "junk" coffee, hopes to use the data to raise production of gourmet, organic and new caffeine-free beans within two years. It also plans to cut coffee prices in Brazil, the world's second-largest coffee consumer. "We are going to create a super coffee that everyone can benefit from eventually," Brazilian Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues told reporters in Brasilia.
#3
AC - Lol! Reminds me of the saw: Life is hard. It's even harder when you're stupid.
An article posted here on RB within the last few days pointed out that the EU won't be able to feed itself in a few years without GM crops. Coffee is one thing, and damned important to me, heh, but what will they do then?
#4
DEPRAVITY!!! How can anyone fool around with mother nature to make better Decaffinated coffee? How about some with triple the usual amount of caffeine, so I can get my morning fix without so many trips to the can? Where are these people's heads?
#5
Thanks .com. The funniest thing for me is that I can't stand the stuff. I've tried every kind of coffee in every kind of way (and when you're freezing your buns off banging nails in January in New England and the coffee truck comes around, you REALLY want to like the stuff). My wife loves it and has all sorts of different ways to make it, but me? I prefer tea.
#6
Awright, AlanC, you just described a carpenter hitting the Roach Coach, I do believe, heh. If so, I swung a hammer for 3 yrs - cornice work. I got skinned on rainy days playing poker and sweated salt rings on the scaffolding during the Texas summers. I decided to be a programmer precisely (this is true) because I knew 'puters had to be air-conditioned. Can you tell how hot Texas is from that? Lol!
#8
Oh my G**. .com is a kindred soul! I got run out of my own business by Jimmah Cahtah's recession and took up programming cause it looked a) creative and b) MADE MONEY!!!!!! Been banging bits for 26 years for $ and nails for fun from framing to furniture.
Nothing quite beats "re-modeling" a burnt out brownstone in summer on Beacon Hill. Don't get the heat like TX but 88 degrees with 98% humidity will still do you a number!! Estwing rules!!!!!
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2004 10:59 ||
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Man, you'd think these guys are trying hard as they can to prove that the demonization of the protestants against the Catholic church was right on the money.
A huge ant colony measuring 100 mutherfucking kilometres (62 miles) across has been found under the southern Australian city of Melbourne, scientists said.
Image: Footage from Planet LB-426 in "Aliens."
Oz-accented narrator: Ant colony! Foster's. Australian for "beer"!
Posted by: Another Dan ||
08/12/2004 6:06:00 AM ||
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#1
I feel a Lance Hienrickson movie coming on...
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/12/2004 9:14 Comments ||
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#2
Pikers! There's a supercolony of these Argentine ants that spans 6000 kilometers (3,728 miles) through Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. See National Geographic article April 23,2002.
#9
From one of the all-time best episodes of The Simpsons.
KENT BROCKMAN: "Ladies and gentlemen, er, we've just lost the picture, but, uh, what we've seen speaks for itself. The Corvair spacecraft has been taken over â 'conquered', if you will â by a master race of giant space ants. It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to...toil in their underground sugar caves."
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/12/2004 12:18 Comments ||
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#10
Tibor - Lol! I had a flashback of the town mayor in Red Dawn while reading your post, heh.
#1
I'm due in Orlando on Monday, this better all blow over by then. I hate being delayed in airport bars because I can't expense my usually hefty tab, but I'll make due if I have to.
#2
JM - Here's the NOAA predicted path of the latter storm, Hurricane Charley... check the maps - they indicate it should be overland in N Fla on Sat - and well north by Sunday. Monday delays, if any, will probably be due to whaytever damage is done.
These are taken in the near-infrared, water-vapor (deep infrared), and visible portions of the spectrum, respectively, and together they can give you a good idea of what's going on over the western Atlantic, the continental US, and the Carribean.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
08/12/2004 8:29 Comments ||
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#4
..Here in central SC we're being told we could see as much as 14" of rain before next Monday, something I'm looking forward to like a pulled tooth. I'll keep everyone posted until the point where I have to gather all the animals two by two...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/12/2004 9:38 Comments ||
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#5
At least the internees at GITMO! will get a shower
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 9:54 Comments ||
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Posted by: Mike ||
08/12/2004 11:31 Comments ||
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#9
If you are ever at the beach with me and a hurricane is comming it might be a good idea to run. Of the 20 worst hurricanes to hit the US I've been in 8 of them starting with Camile and ending with Hugo.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/12/2004 11:59 Comments ||
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Mike
thank ye gods!
I was getting worried that I was the only one who was disapointed at how the naming turned out
#11
You beat me to it,Mike. Chuckle. If any one is interested here's the protocol on naming hurricanes: Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center and now maintained and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. The lists featured only women's names until 1979, when men's and women's names were alternated. Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2004 list will be used again in 2010. [...]The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it. Here's the list for 2004 through 2009 for Atlantic cyclones.
#15
...would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity.
"I believe I can fight a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on hurricanes that reaches out to other nations and brings them to our side and lives up to American values in history."
The Head of the Committee for Psychological Welfare, a branch of the charity for social services, has warned of mobile phone cameras being used for black magic and sorcery. He said that mobile cameras were powerful devices which could be used by sorcerers and magicians. He stated that on the Internet and on satellite TV channels, he had seen that wrongdoers are using modern technology for sorcery.
It was on the internet, so it must be true.
Actually, that's not true. I just put a spell on him so he thinks it's true...
He said that sorcerers take pictures of people and then send them to a victim along, with private information which convinces others that the information is true.
"They're stealing your soul!"
I have eleven of them in little boxes in my underwear drawer...
Posted by: Steve ||
08/12/2004 11:15:21 AM ||
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Obligatory: Sorcerers--why do they hate us?
It's good to see sorcerers and magicians keeping up with technology. The rabbit-out-of-the-hat trick was really getting old!
Posted by: Dar ||
08/12/2004 12:07 Comments ||
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So if you get too many evil souls stored in your mobile phone camera, does it become a toxic waste site, like in Ghostbusters, and become subject to EPA regs?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/12/2004 12:11 Comments ||
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#6
biged - apparently the muggles have a very large organization of some kind (bigger than Gringotts, Im told) called Warmer Brothers (they must like heat) that sells both muggle objects, and purportedly magical objects. Be warned that none of these objects are in fact magical. Attempting to charm these false magical objects could be create tremendous confusion and will be treated VERY seriously by the Ministry.
Posted by: Arthur Weasly, Min. of Magic ||
08/12/2004 14:08 Comments ||
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#7
if you capture a soul with your cellphone, then lose signal, does the soul stay in the "frequently dialled" memory? Or lost in the ether? Is soul-sending part of the text-messaging minutes allowance... so many inane questions..
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 14:11 Comments ||
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#8
.....Your phone's signal reception will never be higher than two bars.....your phone's signal reception will never be higher than two bars.....
#12
Get a grip Penrod, do you any idea how few folk care about the mercenary heart of mitchey M.? It's over! WWI ended it all! Life has changed and you'd better get used to it!
Drop that tar you cretin... I mean it. I've got a time machine.
Posted by: Jim ||
08/12/2004 19:09 Comments ||
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#13
Have the Nigerians heard about this? I can't wait for my cellphone to be going off every five minutes...
August 12, 2004: China has appointed two senior officers, who are considered experts in dealing with American naval forces, to the military high command. Lieutenant-General Xu Qiliang and Vice-Admiral Wu Shengli were both appointed Deputy Chiefs of Staff last month, but it was only recently announced. Xu and Wu are very much in favor of taking Taiwan by force, despite the possible participation of American armed forces in the islands defense.
August 11, 2004: The Taiwanese armed forces announced that a computerized wargame of a Chinese invasion had the Chinese conquering the island in six days. It is widely thought that this is a ploy by the armed forces to get the legislature to spend the large sums of money the military wants to upgrade their weapons and equipment. The legislature is reluctant to spend the money, believing that the U.S. navy will defend the island from the Chinese.
August 10, 2004: China is rapidly installing more ballistic missiles on the coast opposite Taiwan. By next year, it's expected that about 800 missiles will be in position. If used, perhaps 75 percent of the missiles would actually hit their target (the others would suffer failures in propulsion or guidance systems.) Each missile is the equivalent of a half ton bomb. But currently, the missiles have primitive guidance systems, meaning that the warheads will usually hit up to 500 meters from the target. The Chinese are believed to be equipping the missiles with GPS, although the Taiwanese can jam this. Guidance systems that are more difficult to jam are in the works, but are probably five or more years away.
August 1, 2004: China's defense minister again threatened Taiwan
#1
"The legislature is reluctant to spend the money, believing that the U.S. navy will defend the island from the Chinese."
Have they given any thought to what might happen if Kerry wins the election?
I have no way of knowing exactly what perceptions the Chicoms have of Kerry, but I would be very surprised if their initial assessment isn't some variation on "war-phobic, vacillating spineless pussy."
If Kerry wins, I expect the Chicoms will escalate tensions with Taiwan very, very quickly.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
08/12/2004 20:37 Comments ||
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#2
mercutio--Thanks for the post! Najaf and John F'in Kerry have been major distractions lately--we can't forget the danger to Taiwan.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/12/2004 20:39 Comments ||
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I think (more like hope) that our pledge to Taiwan remains whether or not we have a Lib or Cons, a Repub. or Demo., an evil conservative or stupid horseface.
However, the *appearance* of a weaker POTUS may embolden the Chicoms to step up and try to take Taiwan.
A Palestinian man abducted his five Swedish children and fled to the Gaza Strip, where he has held them illegally for more than two months, his former wife and the Swedish Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. A relative of the father said the children, ages 6 to 16, will not be allowed to return to Sweden, because the Gaza family does not want them to live a Western life style and destroyed their Swedish passports. Swedish and Palestinian officials are trying to resolve the family drama, which pits Islamic custom against Western law. However, growing unrest and lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza Strip raise questions about the ability of Palestinian authorities to take action. The children's mother, Elisabeth Krantz, said her ex-husband, Ismail Nowajah, a Gaza native, removed the children from their home in the southwestern Swedish town of Kungsbacka on June 4, under the pretext of taking them on a vacation to Cairo, Egypt. However, the next day Nowajah sent them by taxi to his sister's home in Gaza City, Krantz said. She said her ex-husband called her two days after leaving Sweden, and told her she would never see the children again. She said she's had limited contact with them and that they are being held against their will.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: TS(vice girl) ||
08/12/2004 7:45:24 AM ||
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She said Nowajah, who was unemployed for all but three years of 16 years in Sweden, has Swedish citizenship.
Looks like you picked a real winner, hon.
I feel bad for the kids, but you reap what you sow,lady.
#4
"ummm, yeah honey, I promise that I'm just taking all the kids to Cairo for a um, visit, yeah that's right. I promise that I'm not up to anything on my honor as a Muslim."
And she believed him???? Normally, I would have the greatest sympathy for someone in this terrible sort of situation, but if this woman loses her children she may have only herself to blame. How dumb could this chick possibly be?????
Actually, my sympathy is with the children in this case with two parents like these, they hardly stand a chance.
#6
And once again:
Marry a Westerner...check
Have lots of babies all paid for by the liberal nanny state...check
Take the children and flee back to the hell-hole from which you sprang... check.
I have one child - a daughter. Her life is hers to live except in one respect: she does not marry a muslim. Ever. Sound harsh? Tough.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/12/2004 11:40 Comments ||
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#7
Rex,
I have one younger sister and I've have told her the same. Don't ever marry a Muslim or let your children marry them either.
Actually its in the Bible. I never realized how wise the command was until I started hearing about all this kidnapping, honor killing stuff as well hearing about all the so-called "cupid" female converts to Islam. Nothing clouds the thinking quite like love. Having a loved one who is another religion leaves you blind to that religions dark side. "oh my husband is so wonderful, he couldn't do anything to hurt me or my kids" or "oh my husband is so good to me, maybe there is something to this Islam after all that made him so wonderful' etc. Inter-marraige, as the Jews before us and the Muslims after us also know, is a recipe for cultural and religious extinction. We need to get back to common sense, if you ask me.
#8
peggy - I don't know the passage to which you're referring, but if it clearly states that non-Muslims should not marry Muslims then it's because they've been doing precisely the same shit since before there was hair. That's some aged wisdom.
Actually, its not really that harsh if one starts when our daughters and sisters are young by simply telling them the truth about Islamic law and encouraging them to respect their own culture enough to search for a mate among men who will raise the children in her cultural/religious tradition instead of his. Teach her that her culture/religion is valuable enough to insist on the children being raised in it or at the least to have equal time and value in their upbringing. Tell her there isn't anything wrong with having enough self esteem to assert her own values and beliefs in the raising of her own children and that one tradition is not the same as all the others as long as it teaches that we should have morals.
It can be done very gently indeed.
.com,
Its in the NT somewhere, in the Epistles. Paul, I believe recommends that Christian families not permit their daughters to marry outside of the faith. It is stated specifically that the reason is that if she does her children will raised in the faith of the father. Intermarriage is basically an agreement to participate in your own ethnic/religious tradition's cleansing. I think this is why Muslim men target/are attracted to vulnerable out of place Western women. I honestly think they are encouraged to and in fact I believe that I have heard several Muslim men claim that they are encouraged to marry outside the faith. It also doesn't hurt that they become citizens when they marry American women.
#10
Peggy, I hear ya and agree regarding raising and educating our daughters. As for my daughter marrying outside our faith, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it (and will take it based on the individual in question)...except when when it comes to Islam. But knowing my daughter and my family as a whole, I prolly have little to worry about in this regard.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/12/2004 12:42 Comments ||
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#11
No they are NOT encouraged to. It is only: allowed. Islam states that the children should stay with their mother. Especially the girls. That is what Islam has to say about it. and unless the children are already muslims, I do not see what right the father has to force them into the religion against thier will.
I guess it's only fatherly love, but that still does not make it right. In Islam the mother comes first.
#12
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight Gentle. Please spare us the lectures on the wonders of the Religion Of Peaceâ¢. Noone's buyin'
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/12/2004 13:05 Comments ||
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#13
But he is different from the hundreds of Muslim men I have slept with. He let me take care of his every need and only took the whip to me when I needed it. Youâll see he not that same as the HUNDREDS of other Muslim Fathers that have kidnapped their children. Besides my children will have it much better growing up in a Arab society (especially the girls). I only with he would have asked me to accompany them to that garden spot called Gaza. If Ismail only calls I will come running!
Posted by: Elisabeth Krantz ||
08/12/2004 13:14 Comments ||
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#14
Baaa like a goat, baby! I SAID BAAA LIKE A GOAT!!!! *CRACK*
#15
Islam states that the children should stay with their mother.
Explain that to the Saudis, who refuse to let children leave Saudi Arabia to be with their mothers.
and unless the children are already muslims, I do not see what right the father has to force them into the religion against thier will.
Except that Islam considers them BORN Muslim, and if they leave Islam, their lives are forfeit.
In Islam the mother comes first.
Unless she's been raped committed adultery. In which case she's stoned to death.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/12/2004 13:35 Comments ||
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#16
Gentle, you left out the stipulations in Islam regarding child custody, the most important being that the mother only has custody until the children are of a certain age, the standard being six for boys and nine for girls. There are many more stipulations, regarding remarriage and competency based on religious affiliation, etc etc.
Islamic law states unambiguously that children born of a Muslim father are automtically Muslim and cannot be raised in any other religion. And Muslim women are forbidden to marry outside the religion under threat of honor killing.
In divorce the mother only gets the children until they are a certain age but if the husband demands them, they are given to him since he remains in complete control of them including their finances.
In the case that the Muslim father of some children dies, if the mother is of another religion she has no rights to them at all. Custody automotically goes to some Muslim relative. If they don't want her to see them, she can't.
If a father converts to Islam from some other relgion, his children regardless of which religion they were raised in or for how long are legally converted to islam whether they consent or not if they are minors. They can be forced for their own "good" to observe Islam.
Muslim women, who may be divorced at the drop of a hat and so lose her children, are under a unique oppression. Piss hubby off for any reason and he can just divorce in an instant take your kids and you can't say anything about it.
You confuse big talk for reality. Cold hard reality is that in Islam, women are atcompletely at the mercy of men. They are entirely dependent on the good will of the men of their lives. If the men change their minds about her, she has nothing. No recourse at all.
In contrast, Western society, without the impediment of religious law has been able to do the truly just thing. Since both parents regardless of sex or religion or any other circumstances are equally invested in the children or their marraige, then both have absolutely equal rights and all custody cases are decided on merit rather than some pre-determined calcified one-size fits all like it or not 6 centuries out of date dictums. No one automatically gets the children and no one has to fight 1400 years of rulings which automatically go against them.
I sense that you are practically a muslim if you are not already. Heaven help you to see sense again. I think you really need to learn the difference between talking a good game and actually prducing a good game. Its the telling difference between our culture and that of Islam.
When someone tries to tell you to pay no attention to that whatever is happening right in front of your nose and tries to convince you that some never realized ideal is "real", turn and run. He's trying to sell you a bill of goods. Results are what matters. A lack of a calcified religious code of laws combined with a passionate interest in justice and mercy has produced results, while the opposite, Islam, has produced horror which can't be aleviated because the law is sacred (dead) cow that can't be changed but clearly must be. Wherever it is seriously and devoutly applied it causes misery for everyone not a Muslim male.
#18
Holy smokes. It's Gentle!!! Long time no read. Where've you been hiding? Its good to see you've come up for air. We almost gave up hope. Have your wounds healed?
TOUR OF DUTY author and John Kerry historian Doug Brinkley is rushing a piece for the NEW YORKER: to set-the-record-straight on Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia tale, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
Kerry has turned to author Brinkley for a "modification" after it was exposed that Kerry was not in Cambodia during Christmas of 1968, as he once claimed from the Senate floor.
The Brinkley piece for the NEW YORKER will now say that Kerry was not in Cambodia during Christmas, but rather in January, publishing sources tell DRUDGE.
MORE
Since the early 1970s, Kerry has spoken and written of how he was illegally ordered to enter Cambodia. Kerry mentioned it in the floor of the Senate in 1986 when he charged that President Reagan's actions in Central America were leading the U.S. in another Vietnam. Here's what he said as excerpted from the new book, UNFIT FOR COMMAND:
"I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the president of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared--seared--in me."
John O'Neil's, author of UNFIT FOR COMMAND, comments on the "clarification:"
"John Kerry describes Christmas Eve in Cambodia as a critical turning point in his life. We now know that his story is completely false. My question is how many people do you know have invented a turning point, one that is seared in his memory? While it makes sense for John Kerry to come clean about the Cambodia story, it is one of several tales that the Kerry campaign will have to face and clarify."
"By claiming we were engaged in a war crime and crossing international borders, John Kerry damaged the credibility of all the commanding officers above him and insulted the sailors who served with him," said John O'Neill, member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth."
Developing...
to quote Spinal Tap: "Smell the glove fear"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 10:04:22 PM ||
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"Seared...seared.... in my mind!"
such as it is....
"could you call Nurse Fuzzy Wuzzy in, please?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 22:06 Comments ||
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"Oh, yeaaaaaah. It was January. My bad. With all the snow falling, I got the months mixed up. Wait, I mean, the napalm. Yeah, that's what I meant to say."
Kerry must be delusional. His statements in the Boston Herald and on the Congressional Record state that his Christmas in Cambodia memories are SEARED into his memory.
The biographer of John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, said yesterday there was no basis for one of the senator's favourite Vietnam War anecdotes - that he spent Christmas 1968 in Cambodia, a neutral nation which US leaders vowed was off limits for American forces. "On Christmas Eve he was near Cambodia; he was around 50 miles from the Cambodian border. There's no indictment of Kerry to be made, but he was mistaken about Christmas in Cambodia," said Douglas Brinkley, who has unique access to the candidate's wartime journals. But Mr Brinkley rejected accusations that the senator had never been to Cambodia, insisting he was telling the truth about running undisclosed "black" missions there at the height of the war.
(more at the link)
Posted by: Capt America ||
08/12/2004 9:24:37 PM ||
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"Laos! I meant Laos!"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2004 21:51 Comments ||
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so there's two liars and dissemblers...Brinkley's career takes the dive accordingly
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 21:59 Comments ||
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Maybe John is beginning to read his on web site,
http://www.johnkerry.com/about/john_kerry/service_timeline.html,where this entry appears on the service time line:
December 24, 1968 Kerry involved in combat during the Christmas Eve truce of 1968. The truce was three minutes old when mortar fire exploded around Lieutenant Kerry and his five-man crew. Reacting swiftly, John Kerry and his crew silenced the machine gun nest. So there are five men who served UNDER him on Christmas eve 1968 that can vouch that he was NOT in Cambodia.
Maybe that time and place is SEARED in their minds if not his.
From OutsidetheBeltway: NOT EFL - Fred - do what you have to do.....
I received the following urgent e-mail communique:
From: "Mary Beth Cahill, Kerry-Edwards 2004"
Subject: Don't yield an inch to George Bush
Date: 11 Aug 2004 10:34:01 PDT
Dear Friend, Actually, m'am, I don't believe we've ever met.
... except for that night in Des Moines. It was springtime. We were both young — too young...
I'm interrupting John Kerry's dispatches from the road to tell you about something that will make you angry, but which is important for you to hear. Will it make me angrier than Kerry's dispatches from the road? I'm not sure I could bear that.
I'll get the gin. That'll make it easier... Olive or onion?
We knew it was coming: the Bush campaign and several allied right-wing groups are using August to launch a vicious smear attack against John Kerry.
"August was supposed to be our month to launch vicious smear attacks against Bush. It's just not fair!"
They think we're vulnerable this month because while George Bush is still able to raise money for attack ads, Kerry had to stop fundraising at the Democratic convention last week. They're taking this opportunity to go for the jugular. I thought I'd read somewhere that you had raised more money than the Republicans? Oh, well--Thank goodness for the 527 groups then!
"We're saving our jugular attack for late October, so we'll need the money more then..."
We need you to join us in this fight today by supporting the Democratic Party. I must forewarn you: This is highly unlikely.
How's the skiing in Hell these days?
The worst of the current wave of attacks is coming from a Republican-funded group called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." In what sense is the group "Republican-funded"?
Somebody who wasn't George Soros hit the tip jar...
(I'll call them by a more accurate name: Swift Boat Veterans for Bush.) So, you're saying that "for Truth" and "for Bush" are interchangeable? That confirms my previous suspicion.
Y'know, now that I think about it... Good idea.
The group is led by a longtime Republican operative and financed by GOP contributors with strong ties to George Bush. By that token, then, MoveOn.org and "Fahrenheit 911" are Democratic fronts?
Yeah, but they're not against Kerry...
Its function in the overall Republican strategy is this: tear down John Kerry since Bush has no record or vision to run on. They've adopted John Kerry's strategy?
Their strategy might also be described as showing John Kerry to be a self-serving poltroon. Semantics, semantics...
The swift boat ad is full of lies. Thirteen men who never served with John Kerry lie about knowing him and viciously attack his record. It is a new low for the Republicans. I've expressed my skepticism about some of the claims of the SWVFT. But it's untrue that these men never served with Kerry. All of them were in his unit. As they're are all officers, it would be rather much to ask that they'd have served on the same boat as Kerry, seeing as how Kerry was the only officer on the boat. It was after all a tiny boat commanded by a Lieutenant, Junior Grade. That's the equivalent to the rank I had as an Army platoon leader. No other officer served "with me" either, by your standard.
It's a variation on the "the witnesses are all dead" argument. Except that they're not dead. Inconvenient, that...
Every time they have attacked us like this, it has only made us stronger. Then what's the problem? That would be a good thing from your perspective, no?
So don't worry. Be happy.
When they ran dishonest attack ads (like the unbelievable new one on the air right now), If it's unbelievable then, presumably, people won't believe it. So, again, what's the problem?
thousands of new supporters flocked to our campaign to give us the resources we need to fight back on the airwaves. But I thought Kerry wasn't allowed to raise any more money because of the evil Republican plot to follow the campaign rules?
Speaking of fighting back on the airwaves, what's Al Franken doing these days?
Now that the general election has begun, they're hoping things are different. They're going to be sorely disappointed because we are not alone. The Democratic National Committee is well prepared to take on this fight. Excellent. So you won't be needing any money, right?
And therefore I'm asking you: everything you did for our campaign, please do now for our Democratic Party. Give the party the resources it needs to fight against these right-wing attacks: You're confusing me, friend. I thought you were already well prepared. Plus, you're not allowed to take any money because the convention is over. So wouldn't you get in trouble if I sent you money?
You said you don't need it, because being hit back only makes you stronger. So I think I'll spend the money on beer...
The Democratic Party is responsible for putting organizers and volunteers into the field and turning out the millions of votes we need to win. We literally cannot win this election without the party. Well, yes, by definition.
Y'can't have breakfast without a cook. You can't drive a car without a driver. You can't elect Dems without a well-greased machine...
You and I know that if we so much as yield an inch to George Bush and the Republicans this month, we'll live to regret it. How do you know that? You might be hit by a bus or something. Let's hope not.
Yes, you'll never win an election by showing that you could do things better. You can't win on policy differences, so ad hominem's the way to go. But don't worry too much. The dead people are still solidly Dem. They just don't contribute much. But that's probably the next step. I mean, who looks at donor rolls to see if the guy's still alive?
In fact, we may live to regret it for four long years. Join with me in supporting the Democratic Party today.
Since I'm sober today, I'll have to pass...
Thank you,
Mary Beth Cahill I was actually going to send you $87 billion. But now I'm not.
#1
Mercutio? By what life-screwing decision did you land on Mary Beth's personal whine list? Just asking - I have enough spam, I don't need her BS
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 18:35 Comments ||
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#2
I missed the part where she refutes the claims by the swiftees? Maybe Johnny can realease his FULL military records and that would clear this little mess right up. BTW who do I not send the check to before I won't send the check.
#3
"Thirteen men who never served with John Kerry"
Tell you what, we'll meet you half way: we'll agree that the 13 men never served in Cambodia with John Kerry.
I love being diplomatic.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
08/12/2004 20:42 Comments ||
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#4
I predict that O'Neill won't be sucessfully prosecuted for slander. For example, I heard some Dem griping on the radio the other day because O'Neill confirmed that Kerry rescued that one special forces officer that tells everyone that Kerry saved his life. The Dem, trying to masquerade as a conservative, was saying that O'Neill was totally ineffective in his criticism of Kerry and the RIGHT needed to come up with a more convincing spokesman.
In my book O'Neill is the perfect choice as spokeman for the Swifties. It would be a mistake to contest whether Kerry "rescued" the officer - as the guy was certainly picked out of the water by Kerry's boat. O'Neill is a smart lawyer who understands words. If asked O'Neill would certainly clarify that a rescue does not imply saving someone's life, otherwise every towtruck guy and the locksmith would be sporting 900 humanitarian service medals.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/12/2004 23:02 Comments ||
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#5
Frank_ you misunderstand - I lifted this from a blog - outside the beltway - now, that guy is well-known as a non-Dem, so your question is even more valid if we apply it to the original poster.
God, I love this stuff... Ralph Nader has found an unexpected friend in Massachusetts. Hopkinton computer tycoon Richard Egan, the Bush campaign's finance chairman in John Kerry's home state, has personally contributed the maximum amount allowed by law -- $2,000 -- to Nader's presidential campaign. Egan's son John and daughter in law have each also "maxed out," bringing the family's total to $6,000. Bush backers are hoping Nader will siphon enough votes from Kerry to tip the election to President Bush. I very much doubt that Bush will actually win here in MA. What say you, tu3031?
The co-founder of data storage giant EMC Corp. and Bush's former ambassador to Ireland, Egan is legendary in Republican circles for his ability to collect hundreds of thousands in campaign dollars. He's a member of an elite group of Bush fund-raisers known as "Rangers" -- those who have helped raised more than $200,000 for the campaign. Egan's two sons are also Rangers. Egan, who is retired from EMC and stepped down last year as ambassador, has an unlisted phone number. A message left for John Egan was not immediately returned on Thursday. So how could you leave him a message? Or are you 'connected'?
While Nader has criticized both Kerry and Bush, it is Democrats who fear him most. Many blame him for luring away enough disgruntled Democrats in 2000 to cost Al Gore the presidency. The finest contribution to modern politics as I've ever seen. That almost makes Nader a hero in my eyes. Continued on Page 49
#1
What do I think, Raj?
A noble gesture, but I think the Egan's just flushed 6 grand down the toilet. Kerry will win, but I think it'll be closer then people think. We're not all Dimbo robot idiots who can't see through this phony bastard up here, despite what the rest of the country thinks. Jaaaawn's had what, 22 years, to make some enemies here? Believe me, he's made some. It'll be even closer if Nader's on the ballot.
#4
et tu3031? Luckily I live in a VRWC enclave in Jaaaaawn's home desert so I at least have 5 or 6 people to talk to. Can't see me being in the majority this year either 8^( But, at least I won't be voting Libertarian to avoid voting for Bush like I did in '92. (Made my statement since it wasn't going to matter anyway)
Gee Dub has my POSITIVE vote even if it ain't gonna matter. ( Geez would that be a shock, if GWB won Mass?????)
#6
I would expect that every Ranger and every family member of every Ranger has max'ed the donation to Nader. Egan's money will spend just as well in the battle ground states. The idea is probably: max what you can send to Bush and max to Nader to hoping a well funded Nader campaign will hurt Kerry.
I wonder if Buchanen and Perot received funds from dems.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/13/2004 0:17 Comments ||
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Via Drudge. Corrupt NJ politicians, yeah, I'm shocked, too...
NEW YORK -- NewsChannel 4 has learned that New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey is planning on stepping down from office after more than 2 years of service. Buh-bye...
McGreevey, a former prosecutor, came into office vowing to end corruption, but noooooo! in recent months a number of his political aides and fundraisers have been accused of corruption ranging from alleged payoffs to hiring a prostitute. Just one? I'm disappointed. He's got nothing on Don Sterling!
McGreevey has not been accused of any wrongdoing, and has denied any wrongdoing in the past. So why the resignation, if he 'has denied any wrongdoing'? Someone's gonna finger him, likely.
Should McGreevey indeed leave office, his successor under the state constitution would be Richard Codey, the current president of the state senate.
Posted by: Jerry Seinfeld ||
08/12/2004 16:35 Comments ||
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#6
Well. ... Schundler has just been on Hannity. Schundler (probable Republican candidate) thinks that the New Jersey Democrats stronarmed McGreevey's amour a fellow named Golan Cipel. So, Cipel files a sexual harassment lawsuit, and McGreevey resigns. Now, what's being alledged in the lawsuit?
I think if the "fortuitous" scheduling is to be challenged, we have to know what's in the suit before 9/3, the drop-dead date for a special election so New Jersey voters can go to the polls
on 11/2/04.... If it's bad enough, maybe McGreevey can be forced out immediately. (before 9/3)
#11
#6
I doubt it'll happen. The NJ machine's too strong...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2004 17:36 Comments ||
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#12
Big Ed, thanks for the link. That's definitely a cucumber worth risking a governorship for.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
08/12/2004 17:39 Comments ||
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#13
Tomorrow's headlines, "Gay Governor Gets It In The End"
Posted by: Capt America ||
08/12/2004 17:43 Comments ||
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#14
Harry Truman variation: "The d*ck stops here"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 17:44 Comments ||
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#15
Looks like McGreedy is going to keep the party spirit.
He announced that his resignation will occur on November 15th. This guarantees that the remainder of what was to be his term will go to a Dem and no special election will take place.
Posted by: Kelvin Zero ||
08/12/2004 17:52 Comments ||
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#16
I heard McGravey's speech on Sean Hannity. When he started talking about his childhood, I knew something was up. That speech was one bucket of sh*t! If I had not the experience in pumping out sewer manholes and sewer mains, I would have literally gagged on that speech.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/12/2004 17:58 Comments ||
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#17
"pumping out sewer manholes and sewer mains"
nice backdoor reference AP
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 18:00 Comments ||
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this gay man who's accusing him of rape is probably a Republican fright-wing plant who seduced the Governor merely to turn around and falsely claim rape in a lawsuit and expose and destroy the Governor's career and family relations.
That's typical right wing tactics, folks. Nothing else about this makes any sense. Unless the Governor knew he was about to be exposed by this guy either through the press or a frivolous lawsuit, there would be no reason for him to step down at this time.
He obviously has been threatened, and didn't want to put his wife and children through all the media harassment if he remained in office.
Darn! Caught us again!
Posted by: Mike ||
08/12/2004 18:02 Comments ||
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#19
Geez, those DU types sound a lot like Arabs in the ME; not beyond making up weird shit to explain away the failings of their comrades.
#24
McGreevey had been starting to slip in approval polls around here badly as of late. There was a story released last weekend that in the 2 years since he took office per capita state income and sales taxes paid increased by $417.00 per person per year, by far the highest in the nation in a state that is already close to if not at the top in levying taxes.
The Dem machine is very strong in these parts, but even they can only take so much. I find it plausible that the Dems wanted him gone,the stories of corruption and graft that come out of Trenton are hard to believe and the guy who will take over seems to be a (relatively)decent man. The timing is no coincidence either as you can guess by the lawsuit filed and the fact that Schundler is an excellent Republican alternative who would probably be able to delivery NJ to GW in the general election.
Most politicians are lying rat bastards, unfortunatly NJ breeds that type more than anywhere else it seems.
Oh well - at least in NJ we know this sort of nonsense won't happen again until the next time.
#25
The NJ GOP should raise a stink and argue that McGreevey should be gone immediately so that a special election is held (saying you'll resign 4 months in the future after an election is a blatent move). Then again given the strength of the Dems in NJ I doubt it would happen. And this is probably bad news for Bush in that an unpopular McGreevey could have helped Bush at least make NJ close if not win it.
EFL:Thomas Wright was one of John F. Kerry's fellow Swift boat officers in Vietnam. Since Wright outranked Kerry, he was Kerry's sometime boat group Officer-in-Charge, so Wright had occasion to observe Kerry's behavior and attitudes, and the circumstances surrounding his early departure from the war zone. The intervening years have not dimmed his memories. When the Swift boats of Coastal Division 11 sailed into harm's way from their Phu Quoc Island base of An Thoi, for missions along the rivers of Vietnam's southwesternmost Kien Giang and An Xuyen provinces, they communicated by radio. When they did, boat captains adopted distinctive, often humorous call signs for identification purposes. Eldon Thompson was "Mary Poppins," William Schachte was "Baccardi Charlie," James T. Grace was "Twiggy," and Tom Wright was "Dudley Do-Right." When John Kerry radioed another Swift boat, he used the call sign, "Boston Strangler."
Who knew our boy Johnny was such a bloodthirsty type?
Working with call sign "Boston Strangler" became problematical. "I had a lot of trouble getting him to follow orders," recalls Wright. "He had a different view of leadership and operations. Those of us with direct experience working with Kerry found him difficult and oriented towards his personal, rather than unit goals and objectives. I believed that overall responsibility rested squarely on the shoulders of the OIC or OTC in a free-fire zone. You had to be right (before opening fire). Kerry seemed to believe there were no rules in a free-fire zone and you were supposed to kill anyone. I didn't see it that way."
'Twas the night before Christmas and we were afloat
Somewhere in Cambodia in our little boat.
While the river was lighted by rockets' red glare
No one but the President knew we were there.
The crew was all nestled deep down in their bunks,
While the Spook and I watched the sampans and junks.
Our mission was secret, so secret in fact,
No one else would remember it when we got back.
When out on the water there arose such a clatter
I leaped down from the bridge to see what was the matter.
The incoming friendly was starting to flash
And I knew that the ARVN's were having a bash.
The snap of friendly fire on the warm tropic air
Convinced me for sure no one knew we were there,
On a clandestine mission so secret it's true
That I'm still convinced only Tricky Dick knew.
While I huddled for safety in the tub on the bow,
I thought of a title, "Apocalypse Now."
To give to the films I was I making each day
To show all the voters when I made my big play.
As I sat there sweating in my lucky flight jacket,
Spook said, "Merry Christmas!" and tossed me a packet.
And what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a new lucky cap, which I still have right here.
I keep it tucked here, in this leather brief case,
Just sharing with the press its secretive place
As I regale them again with my senate refrain,
That Christmas in Cambodia is seared into my brain.
Don't bother to quibble with history my friend,
By pointing out Johnson was President then.
Don't listen to Swiftees who try to explain,
For I tell you that night is seared into my brain.
Down Hibbard, down Lonsdale, and you too O'Neill,
So you don't remember? Well it's something I feel.
I don't need all you Swiftvets to support my campaign,
'Cause Christmas in Cambodia is seared into my brain,
Into my brain, into my brain, into my brain...
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
08/12/2004 8:55:00 AM ||
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Link ||
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#1
damn! I posted this as a comment on another post - didn't see it here first. Good poem!
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 9:19 Comments ||
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EFL
"... But a new assault on Mr. Kerry -- in an ad by a group calling itself Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and in a new book -- crosses the line
[if he is a liar, then calling him a liar isn't crossing a line]
in branding Mr. Kerry a coward and a liar...." I also noticed that the New Republic urges Kerry to sue the TruthSwiths without acknowledging Kerry's two decades of mistatements about Cambodia .
Posted by: mhw ||
08/12/2004 8:52:08 AM ||
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Link ||
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#1
I should have given the link to the New Republic piece. It is:
#2
Don't forget about the magic hat he received from the CIA guy he dropped off on a different trip into Cambodia. He carries this thing around in his brief case.
I wonder if we're supposed to believe in the tooth fairy too.
Maybe we could call it Fairies for Kerry...
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
08/12/2004 9:04 Comments ||
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#3
From Powerline:
Today's message from Russ Vaughn is such a message. Russ served in the 2d Battalion, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam in 1965-66. Russ's message is in the form of a poem entitled "The Night Before Christmas (Cambodian version)," and it's special:
'Twas the night before Christmas and we were afloat
Somewhere in Cambodia in our little boat.
While the river was lighted by rockets' red glare
No one but the President knew we were there.
The crew was all nestled deep down in their bunks,
While the Spook and I watched the sampans and junks.
Our mission was secret, so secret in fact,
No one else would remember it when we got back.
When out on the water there arose such a clatter
I leaped down from the bridge to see what was the matter.
The incoming friendly was starting to flash
And I knew that the ARVN's were having a bash.
The snap of friendly fire on the warm tropic air
Convinced me for sure no one knew we were there,
On a clandestine mission so secret it's true
That I'm still convinced only Tricky Dick knew.
While I huddled for safety in the tub on the bow,
I thought of a title, "Apocalypse Now."
To give to the films I was I making each day
To show all the voters when I made my big play.
As I sat there sweating in my lucky flight jacket,
Spook said, "Merry Christmas!" and tossed me a packet.
And what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a new lucky cap, which I still have right here.
I keep it tucked here, in this leather brief case,
Just sharing with the press its secretive place
As I regale them again with my senate refrain,
That Christmas in Cambodia is seared into my brain.
Don't bother to quibble with history my friend,
By pointing out Johnson was President then.
Don't listen to Swiftees who try to explain,
For I tell you that night is seared into my brain.
Down Hibbard, down Lonsdale, and you too O'Neill,
So you don't remember? Well it's something I feel.
I don't need all you Swiftvets to support my campaign,
'Cause Christmas in Cambodia is seared into my brain,
Into my brain, into my brain, into my brain...
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 9:07 Comments ||
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By Tony Blankley
I stayed up late last night and read from cover to cover the book "Unfit for Command — Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry." An impartial reader (if there is still such a beast in this election season) would have to conclude that either the book is a pack of lies or John Kerry is in fact a reckless, lying man who misrepresented the facts in order to receive medals he didn't deserve, and is indeed unfit to command even a tug boat, let alone the United States military as president.
The book appears to be meticulously researched and reported. It is replete with copious footnotes, a detailed index and two appendices. First-hand witnesses are named and quoted verbatim to support each specific, shocking charge. Each charge of false heroics is logically presented. The authors quote the official Navy citation and then present the purported eyewitness testimony that refutes the official finding. The witnesses who are summoned forth are officers and men who served simultaneously with Mr. Kerry in Coastal Division 11 and purport to be eyewitnesses to the events in question.
And yet, there is another group of men, the sailors who served directly under John Kerry on the same boat with him — his band of brothers. They have traveled around the country with Mr. Kerry and have vouched for his description of his heroic, able and selfless service to our country.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anonymous5089 ||
08/12/2004 7:36:15 AM ||
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Link ||
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#1
"Band of Brothers" comes from Henry V, by William Shakespeare, Act Iv, Scene III. "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he today that sheds his blood with me, Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition." What is probably more applicable are the line earlier in the speech; "That he which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart; his passport shall be made, And crowns for convoy put in his purse; We would not die in that man's company, That fears his fellowship to die with us."
Posted by: Don ||
08/12/2004 8:54 Comments ||
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#2
"the fellow junior officers who captained the tiny swift boats were the functional equivalent of squad leaders...Squad leaders...on the same mission together, are in excellent positions to assess the performance of their fellow squad leaders. They are covering each otherâs flanks."
-I've made this statement to some libs - since most of them have no idea about military structure or tactics - they've no idea how these other officers could be in a position to accuse Kerry though I always found it painfully obvious.
#3
Does anyone know when 'Unfit for Command' will be released? I heard last Tuesday and it wasn't in the bookstore, then I heard Yesterday and it wasn't there....
I have it on order from Amazon but they have a delivery date of September 27-30....
#3
The market slide started before President Bush took office. Less than a year later America was dealt the most crippling blow in history, to our prestige, our way of life, our security, and literally one of the largest centers of our economic might was pulverized. Yet, we're still here.
Anonymous, that we still have an economy that is vital testifies to the fact that, while nobody will probably ever put President Bush on the "Mensa's all time top ten" list, he's smart enough where it really counts - leadership and heart.
There's no smoke up my ass, and I'm not trying to blow any up yours. He's got plenty of faults and shortcomings. But I believe he loves this country, and would rather have a legacy of standing up to the most vile menace in history, even if it means screwing up several times, than whoring off our country to the highest bidders just to keep the money in everyone's pockets. Bill Clinton's eight years padded a lot of wallets, but at the terrible cost of "un-padding" our defence against the Islamist extremists. They attacked the world trade center in 1993, on his watch. With the proper response, noone ever should have gotten the chance to get near the WTC again. But Clinton wanted to inspire international confidence in the U.S. by showing the world that we can play by their rules and handed our balls over to them in a glass jar.
Bush is no moron, he's a man, and a a good one at that. And he doesn't need to spray his seed all over the political arena, both figuratively and literally, to prove it.
By the way, he was a fighter jet pilot. That generally requires an above average degree of intelligence
He says he served there, critics say not so. The answer's crucial.
It's leaking into the MSM slowly but surely. Mostly opinion piece at the link.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2004 12:00:21 AM ||
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#1
If he were actually there, his presence would still be classified. He is either a liar or a leaker.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/12/2004 0:29 Comments ||
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#2
Comments heard today and yesterday from people who would know (Like a Navel Admiral) said there is no way in the world that any swift boat could have been in or NEAR the Cambodian boarder in late 1968 ordered by President Nixon. All of this can be heard and read from a truly Great American Hugh Hewitt's Blog or at least 100 other blogs linked to Hugh's site.
The answer to the questions about this can be summed up with the character assassinations that of the 250 Swifty's that dispute John "the Fraud" Kerry's account of his service. The left knows no other way, except to call out the Lawyers when you have them pinned.
The left and it minions are now on the side of Al Queda, today it was reported that Al Queda has adopted the mantra of âany one but Bushâ. George W. Bush must be re-elected, he puts the fear of god into the corrupt and the evil and the democratic partyâ¦.now that is redundantâ¦.
#3
I've become convinced Kerry isn,t modeling his life after JFK, instead it's Martin Sheen movies.
First there is Apocalypse Now and going upriver into Cambodia.
Then the War at Home and Chicago 8.
Now he is imitating Senator Sleazebag in the Dead Zone.
For the 2005 viewing season, Kerry wants to do a West Wing reprise.
Aren't there anti-stalking laws to prevent this?
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2004 1:26 Comments ||
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#5
Re #12... from what I have gathered, the Swift boat would simply be the wrong tool for the job.
Several better boat options would have existed and been available for that kind of mission.
#6
So now, he's admitted he wasn't in Cambodia on Christmas, but now he was there another time with Navy SEALS. Of course, all the officers in SBVT who were his superiors knew nothing of this either and Kerry can provide no date.
"Oh, they figured out that lie, so...let's tell this one."
#9
is any scum ranther questioning the liar bastard in chief or is fuck you vice chickenshith prez . or all of you are just a bunch of seniors republican lick arses at any cost
#13
Yeah, there is no way Nixon could have ordered anyone to Cambodia in late 1968 since he wasn't even inagurated until Jan 1969. But lets don't let pesty facts get in the way of a good lie!
#14
A6056 - Ima think Mucky been at the Acid agin?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/12/2004 5:23 Comments ||
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#15
So long, troll.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/12/2004 8:58 Comments ||
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#16
noted by several who were there: it was physically impossible to get a swift boat upriver into Cambodia....perhaps Kerry carried the CIA guy on his back the extra 55 miles?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 9:12 Comments ||
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#17
Just what I have been thinking for the past few days, Atro. LBJ sent him in, not Nixon. Where in MSM have you seen this little fact? It's all about the Cowboy.
Posted by: michael ||
08/12/2004 9:55 Comments ||
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#18
Since I most assuredly wasn't there (being 13 years old at the time), a simple question: why couldn't a Swift Boat go up the Delta into Cambodia? I've seen this in a few places. The boats (by my landlubber's eye) seem to be fairly shallow draft, pretty manueverable, big honking engine. Why couldn't they go up the Mekong all the way to Phonm Penh? Just asking ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2004 11:58 Comments ||
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#19
Why couldn't they go up the Mekong all the way to Phonm Penh? Just asking ...
As I have read there were obstacles (concrete barriers and cables) placed by the VC preventing entry by all but the smallest sampans; and then only at high tide.
#20
IIUC they were placed by the So Viet Namese and US for the reasons Capsu notes. PBR's went upstream, not Swifts (see: Apocalypse Now) which were too large, too much draft
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 14:08 Comments ||
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#21
Man, you guys gotta stop H8in on this war hero. You do know he served in Vietnam with a bunch of drunk indians, er, i mean South Vietnamese!!?!
#22
Most folks who recall anything to do with Cambodia talked about air drops or overland hikes. Odd none of the other swifties remember this. Just JK.
If a marked US vessel had been found in Cambodia, it would have been double-plus-ungood for all involved. This was serious "the secretary will disavow all knowledge" territory. I heard yesterday on Hugh that that the Coast Guard had even set up a picket to ensure no one strayed up that way. Can anyone here on The 'Burg confirm that?
Several prominent Muslim-American scholars are expressing anger over the script of 20th Century Fox's Kingdom of Heaven, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson, and Jeremy Irons. It is scheduled for release in May. Dealing with the 12th Century Crusades, the film describes the roots of the modern Middle East conflict. Laila al-Qatami, a spokeswoman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told today's (Thursday) New York Times, that there are "a lot of words flying around, with prominent figures talking about Islam being incompatible with Christianity and American values. This kind of movie might reinforce that theme in the discourse." UCLA professor Khaled Abu el-Fadl told the newspaper: "It's really annoying at an intellectual level, and it really misrepresents history on many levels. ... In this climate how are people going to react to these images of Muslims attacking churches and tearing down the cross and mocking it?" But Christy Lohr of the Multifaith Ministry Education Consortium in New York, remarked that part of the appeal of the movie for Hollywood was its controversial nature. "I think it's going to cause a firestorm of criticism and free publicity in the Op-Ed pages," she said. "It is cynical, but I think they enjoy stirring up a hornets' nest."
#1
The roots of the conflict are in the period before the Crusades when the Muslims invaded and took over most of the Christian lands around the Mediterranean.
#4
Ridley did a little interview I saw - he's a moonbat. Honest. A Bush H8r.
So you can bet this will be as harmonious as the current Hollyweird Literati MegaGlowintheDark PCsters can make it - and still make money. I'm sure they'll babble a lot of silly shit... and then copy Mel Gibson as much as they figure they can get away with.
#5
"In this climate how are people going to react to these images of Muslims attacking churches and tearing down the cross and mocking it?"
They're STILL doing these things today. But let's not let the truth get in the way of the "Islam is the religion of Peace" proproganda, shall we.
virgiian: you hit the nail on the head, unfortunately most people don't like to go "that" far into history. It tends to blow holes in their stories. How dare you. hehe
#6
The Christian kingdoms that Islam attacked first did nothing to them except exist. Muslims blew in out of the desert because mohammed told them they were meant to conquer Constantinople and they slavishly kept on coming until they did.
I doubt that it is an accident that Byzantium was stinking filthy rich. For a man who began his career "righteously" raiding the caravans of the evil Meccans who had teased and persecuted him *sniff*, it should come as no surprise that he wanted to take all that Byantium had.
And when Byzantium called for help from the West, the west came to help (although their helping left a great deal to be desired) And yet, its the Crusaders who started it all. Yeah.
BTW, how is this for tolerance. mohammed ordered his minions to take the principle church of each town and make into a mosque so that the local Christians would be thoroughly humiliated. So the Muslims stole the Hagia Sophia, the most beautiful of all Christian churches and turned it into a mosque. All of its treasures were stolen, its magnificent frescoes were covered up and they hung these silly ugly monstrous Islamic shield thingies in there. Way to improve the place.
The Greek Orthodox Church has repeatedly asked for it back even in modern times. But the Muslims would would go balistic and murder everything in sight if something which they wrongfully took was ever returned to its rightful owners. So now its a museum to both Islam and Christianity as if the theiving Muslims ever had a right to it in the first place.
Posted by: One of them Popes ||
08/12/2004 19:13 Comments ||
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#8
Rather than go watch a movie, let's do a real life re-enactment, we'll ride our trusty M-1A2's into the Holy Lands and wipe the pagan infidel Muslims from the face of the Universe with bullets, FAE and the mighty mighty MOAB. Then, we'll give all their lands to the Jews, just to be really mean.
Turkmenistan's authoritarian president, whose recent decrees have included banning gold teeth, has told television presenters to stop wearing make-up because he had difficulty telling the men from the women.
He also has a problem with reality
"You put too much make-up on female TV presenters whose faces would be paler without it. Her own, natural color is better," President Saparmurat Niyazov said. "Sometimes you even put make-up on the lads. Then I really cannot tell the two apart," he said at a meeting with cultural and television representatives shown on state TV on Thursday. Since post-Soviet independence, Niyazov has cut the gas-rich Central Asian state's ties to the outside world, stamped out dissent, and built up a bizarre personality cult around himself with golden statues and idiosyncratic decrees. In the footage of Wednesday's meeting Niyazov also expressed a dislike for spitting in public and confiscated three months of wages from a minister whom he blamed for a short-lived hike in sales taxes last week. Other recent decrees by the president, who calls himself Turkmenbashi the Great (Father of all Turkmen), include the ban on gold teeth, making his book on morality part of the driving test, and opening a leisure center for horses.
When we say you can't make this stuff up, we aren't kidding
Turkmenbashi's on a roll lately. I think he might die soon.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/12/2004 1:03:13 PM ||
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It's like Li'l Kimmie....without nukes or Juche.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/12/2004 13:24 Comments ||
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"We the Turkmenbashi declare only melons may be members of the legislature. Therefore when We go and consult with them, and We have dissent. We can eat the offending politician. When Our session with the new Melonatti is done, We can go outside Ashgabat, and counsult with our new ministers at the Equine Leisure Center."
From iafrica.com
Jordanian police are questioning two brothers who allegedly killed their married sister in an "honour crime" over the weekend, the Jordan Times newspaper reported ... The men crushed her skull with the butt of a machine-gun in broad daylight on a street in a Amman suburb as bystanders watched helplessly, one official told the newspaper. The victim and her brothers were not identified. Initially the woman's brothers tried to shoot her to death inside the family home with the gun but she ran out to the street to ask for help, the source said. "Her brothers follower her, pinning her to the ground while one of them beat her repeatedly with the machine-gun until he made sure she was dead," the official said, adding that an autopsy showed she died of a crushed skull.
The victim was allegedly involved in an extramarital affair and was detained in a women's prison "for her own safety" but was released to her family last week after they signed a letter guaranteeing her safety, the source said. The brothers said they killed her to protect "the family's honour". ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/12/2004 8:20:08 AM ||
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#1
I remember when Oprah had the Queen of Jordan on right after 9-11. The Queen had a lovely smile and kept up the 'Moslems are like Christians with veils' spin. As the show was ending, Oprah asked about honor killings. 'Oh, that is ethnic, not Islamic and just about gone' said the Queen.
#3
"Initially the womanâs brothers named Sirrus and Achenar tried to shoot her to death inside the family home with the gun but she ran out to the street to ask for help, the source said."
You promised them she'd be safe! What a Lucifer-distorted definiton of honor!
"As the show was ending, Oprah asked about honor killings. 'Oh, that is ethnic, not Islamic and just about gone' said the Queen."
Then her lips fell off.
#4
So far this year, only seven have been killed, according to official statistics. How many murders have occurred without official acknowledgement? How many "fell down the stairs", "burned themselves to death while cooking", "committed suicide by taking poison", et al?
#5
Cultural huh? Culturally, the Christians of Jordan are Arabs just like the Moslems and yet its funny that they don't honor kill their female family members.
Culturally Sihks, Hindus and Muslims are quite similar and yet their ability to assimilate into other cultures and to live peacefully are also different.
I used to think highly of Queen Noor until I actually had the chance to really listen to her elegantly articulated smiley upper crust racist views.
I was watching her on Larry King once and she managed to very very slickly blame all of the middle east's problems on the Jews. She was talking about how the Middle East was progressing nicely towards democracy and high acheivement etc, then the Jooooos came and derailed everything getting the A-rabs so damn upset that they could no longer be responsible for their rage and seething and couldn't be blamed for shooting themselves in the foot and soiling their own nests and basically destroying themselves etc.
Ok, so the above is something of a paraphrase. The first part about the Arabs being just fine until the Jews derailed their development is hers and the rest of the sentence after that is what I filled into the blanks, yelling at the TV, once I got her oh so unsubtle gist.
Jordan is progressive my a**. I once swallowed that bunk coming from the major news outlets. Now a days I know that the royal family of Jordan is just like that freaky slimy reptilian spokesman for Saudi Arabia, whatshisface. They are a bunch of smiley seemingly civilized apologists for mid-evil barbarism. *shudder*. Vile.
It doesn't surprise me either that the same country where someone can be considered an unfit parent based solely on thier religion and sex is also one of the leading honor killing countries in the world.
Jordan- yet another modern progessive Middle Eastern success story....
#6
So the family signed a letter guaranteeing her safety, then allowed her to be beaten to death. What were the repercussions to them for violating their obligation? Were there any? The article didn't say.
#7
You foolish little people simply don't understand the nuances of their fascinating culture. Don't worry, though; when I'm elected president there will be no more honor killings.... or nuclear waste.... or breast cancer....
Posted by: John Kerry ||
08/12/2004 11:59 Comments ||
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#10
A nation should not be judged by the mistakes of a few. I'm trying to explain that muslims do NOT think honor killings are justified.
A muslim might ask if your being so liberal allowes Incest. WHY would special hotlines be set up for such crimes if they were not done every minute of every day? Though both crimes are wrong, take some time to think which is worse: A nation that bases it's crimes on lust, greed, and vengance, or a nation that bases it's crimes on honor, truth, and salvation. Both are totally screwed up, but with one we feel disguted and outraged, while a little understanding sprinkles our outrage with the other.
#18
Incest is a crime committed in the dark corners, very much out of sight. No one trumpets the fact. No one expects to be admired or understood for committing incest. Society at large will not accept excuses for a father who uses a daughter in such a way. Get caught for it in the Western world, and you are universally reviled. Even the person who commits the crime typically admits to be a *#&@ lowlife.
Honor killing is often done brazenly in public. There is no attempt at concealment or escape. What can that say except the assailants expect some degree of understanding from the general community, even if they don't escape prosecution. If I recall correctly, in the UK a Kurdish(?) man argued that honor killing was just part of his culture (thank goodness that defense failed).
Perhaps most Muslims don't approve of honor killings, just the same way most of them don't approve of terrorism or corruption or cronyism. Funny thing is, though, we here in the U.S. don't see a lot of deeds to back up the half-hearted rhetoric.
By the way, the tactic of responding to criticism by pointing out someone else's shortcomings might be useful for debate, but it sure sucks for self-improvement.
Hey, Dot, I didn't get a chance to thank you for the link to the Coyote Rocket game.
#19
Gentle- the disgusting apologist for a weak misogynist sub-culture, soon to be cleansed
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2004 14:01 Comments ||
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#20
dreadnought - Welcome :)
One point in your post I'd like to respond to: "just the same way most of them don't approve of terrorism or corruption or cronyism"
Actually, where cronyism is part and parcel with nepotism and despotism, they do. It is absolutely part of the Arab culture (at least in the Gulf States) - family/clan/tribe is the mantra. Where corruption, as we define it, overlaps, then it, too, is the norm. And "baksheesh" - bribery - is so common it's also the norm. They are not us. Comparisons, without keeping the very real differences in mind, are often far too kind to them. By our standards, they're truly corrupt, IMHO. Just $0.02 of observation.
#21
Dot, on the cronyism and corruption part, I should have made it clear that they don't approve when they're on the wrong side of the tribal tracks, and in their system, someone is always on the wrong side. The Shia disgust with Sadaam was two-fold. The first, obviously, was that no one enjoys being slaughtered. The second is that Sadaam's clan shut them out of all the wealth.
#23
Gentle-
Rape and incest in the US-punish/ostracize the criminal
Rape and incest in the Muslim Middle East-deny it happened; punish/ostracize the victim.
The West and Islam are WORLDS apart in how you deal with sick human behavior.
#24
Gentle, if you truly are an Emirati female, then you have my deep and sincere pity, for you are a slave. Worse, you're a slave defending your overseers.
As Jules and others have said, Western society has moved past blaming the victim for sexual assault. The handful of Neanderthal throwbacks who cling to such ugliness are not merely criminals; they are, by definition, freaks fit only to be paraded on the contemporary freakshows of afternoon television. (That may escape you if you're an Emirati, and I'd say you're lucky ... if I didn't know what your afternoon viewing options consisted of instead.)
Blaming the victim ... no, that's too overspecific ... blaming women for all sexcrimes remains mainstream, sanctioned, and indeed a criterion for ethical conduct in the Mideast.
Arguably more important, we are decades past the point where our leaders feel the need to lie to foreign audiences about the problem's existence.
Free yourself. Abandon Islam. It is a necrophiliac religion for angry, frustrated young men who wish only for death. The timid, browbeaten women of Islam can choose better (both in faith and in men). If you truly care about yourself, your children, and your people, then escape the Death Cult. Kill it before it kills you.
Posted by: Another Dan ||
08/12/2004 17:41 Comments ||
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#25
Honor killings:
Haiti, where Article 269 of the Penal Code states that "in the case of adultery as provided for in Article 284, the murder by a husband of his wife and/or her partner, immediately upon discovering them in flagrante delicto in the conjugal abode, is to be pardoned."
In two Latin American countries, similar laws were struck down over the past two decades: according to human rights lawyer Julie Mertus "in Brazil, until 1991 wife killings were considered to be noncriminal "honor killings"; in just one year, nearly eight hundred husbands killed their wives. Similarly, in Colombia, until 1980, a husband legally could kill his wife for committing adultery."
#26
Gentle - Haiti's also the home of voodoo. But I'd agree with you that regarding women's rights sharia societies are somewhere well behind the worst parts of South America. I'm sure you'll catch up sooner rather than later.
#27
Honor killings have been forbidden by Islamic law for over 14oo years. THAT does not mean they have stopped, just like the issuing of those laws in 1980 does not mean that the crimes stopped.
#2
The DU is fun! Not quite as easy to provoke a total meltdown as it was on certain Indymedia pages, but still a lot of fun. A little finagling and you can get a full-blown episode of Jew-hatred and railing against the two-party system.
Just grab a new nic; you don't want them coming back with you.
Sneer quotes mine. Turkmenbashi President Niyazov of Turkmenistan has ordered the construction of a palace made of ice in the heart of his desert country, one of the hottest on earth. It is the latest in a series of improbable colossal building projects instigated by the incredibly insecure all-powerful president that seem to defy the country's environment. "Let us build a palace of ice," said President Niyazov, "big and grand enough for my bodyguards 1,000 people." "Let us feed our families", said the Turkmenis, "and scratch out a meager existence in this blasted wasteland of a country."
President Niyazov made the announcement in a speech broadcast on Turkmen television, which in effect made it a presidential order. The idea is to build the palace in the Copa Deg Mountains outside Ashgabat, now baking in the summer heat, with a long cable-car running up from the city. "My Our children can learn to ski," Mr Niyazov enthused, "we can build cafes there, and restaurants." President Niyazov's extravagant buildings are a hallmark of his monomaniacal idiosyncratic regime. He is currently building one of the biggest mosques (!) in the world, and has a chain of convenience stores conventional palaces. But the latest have a special quality - of challenging Turkmenistan's desert environment. As well as the ice palace, there is to be a vast aquarium. The projects tend now to be sites of recreation for gullible reporters the people, like a Disney-style theme park instead of state palaces. That is in keeping with Mr Niyazov's image as a servant of his press people, who lays on every sort of amenity for them. Um, okay, if you say so...
Ice palaces were popular in the Soviet Union, to which Turkmenistan once belonged, but they were built in the freezing cities of the north, far away. The Turkmen mountains are relatively high, but it is hard to imagine the palace being built remaining frozen without some sort of technical help. Cable cars! Cafes! Skiing! Shopping!!! When's the next plane to Turkmenistan?
Air Ukraine has hourly flights, check Expedia.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
08/12/2004 12:42:48 AM ||
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I've become convinced Kerry isn,t modeling his life after JFK, instead it's Martin Sheen movies.
First there is Apocalypse Now and going upriver into Cambodia.
Then the War at Home and Chicago 8.
Now he is imitating Senator Sleazebag in the Dead Zone.
For the 2005 viewing season, Kerry wants to do a West Wing reprise.
Aren't there anti-stalking laws to prevent this?
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2004 1:26 Comments ||
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#3
Niyazov was the head of the Turkmen S.S.R. Communist Party when the Soviet Union fell, so the post fell into his lap. Just think, the USSR could still be together, and Niyazov could have risen to become the head of the USSR.
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2004 1:34 Comments ||
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#4
I doubt that Ed. Some wiseguy like Vlad would have offed him first.
"We the Turkmenbashi declare only melons may be members of the legislature. Therefore when We go and consult with them, and We have dissent. We can eat the offending politician. When Our session with the new Melonatti is done, We can go outside Ashgabat, and counsult with our new ministers at the Equine Leisure Center."
Georgian forces and South Ossetian separatists exchanged intense gun and mortar fire for the second consecutive night Wednesday, and officials said at least eight people were wounded. South Ossetian officials called the shooting there especially fierce. The fighting came as Georgia's defense minister was wrapping up three days of talks in Moscow intended to calm tensions over South Ossetia and another Georgian rebel region, Abkhazia. Irina Gagloyeva, a spokeswoman for the South Ossetian government, said Georgian forces had opened fire on two villages near its main city, Tskhinvali, around midnight. Five people were wounded and several houses were seriously damaged, she said.
But Gigi Ugulava, Georgia's deputy security minister, said South Ossetian separatists had fired on ethnic Georgian villages of the region. Colonel Alexander Sukhitashvili, a spokesman for Georgian police in South Ossetia, said two Georgian police officers and a villager had been wounded. Ugulava also accused Russian peacekeepers, deployed as a buffer force in South Ossetia, of joining in the attack. The chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, Colonel General Yuri Baluyevsky, angrily dismissed that allegation.
"Lies! All lies!"
President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia has vowed to reunite his country by reining in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and Georgian officials have accused Russia, which has close ties to both rebel provinces, of meddling. Adding to the tension, Saakashvili has warned Russian tourists not to travel to Abkhazia's lush Black Sea coastline without being cleared by Georgian migration and customs, and he has ordered the Georgian Coast Guard to fire on any boats that fail to stop for a check. In a gesture of defiance, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the Russian ultranationalist leader, traveled by boat to Abkhazia on Wednesday accompanied by several dozen lawmakers from his party.
Okay, I'm stumped. Who do we cheer for here?
I'm for the Georgians. There are enough bandit states in the area.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2004 12:11:14 AM ||
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#1
LOL...nice closing comment, Steve. And yet this is an amazing story...I was particularly impressed a couple of days ago when Mikhail Saakashvili, told Russian tourist to stay away.
That took some guts. It is also to be noted that Saakashvili was recently swept into power in a bloodless coup removing Shevardnadze.
(It may be a product of growing up under a constant Russian threat here in the US, but it still seems fun to pull the Russian tail now and again.)
I was also curious how Rantburger's would respnd to this developing story. People here seem to like a strong leader that takes no crap...and this certainly seems to be the case with Mikhail Saakashvili.
#2
Well since Abkhazia is now majority Muslim and in the '92-'93 civil war 250,000 Georgians (1/2 the population at the time) were driven out with Russian support. Similarly, South Ossetia and Adjaria have large Muslim populations, so you can guess where my sympathies lie
Since the recovery of Adjaria earlier this year, the Georgians seem to think they have hit upon the right combination of economic and military pressure. Though since the two regions share a border with Russia, isolation and intimidation will be more difficult. Maybe the Georgians will try to do what the Croats did to East Slavonia. Are there any Black Water trainers in Georgia?
Posted by: ed ||
08/12/2004 1:12 Comments ||
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#3
Traveller, I think Mikhail Saakashvili is now claiming his statement was mis-translated.
I am not a fan of Shevardnadze and his ilk, but I question whether Soros' velvet revolutions will serve the local populations in the end. Didn't he end up with some kind of rights to an important mine through his Bosnia involvement?
I would like to see the different ethnic groups have some Wilsonian self-determination because Stalin and Beria did some really bad things to many of them, but the area is so splintered that the Hamiltonian in me doubts that Ossetia and other mini-states are really viable. And what to do with the displaced Meshians (sp?)
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/12/2004 1:32 Comments ||
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#4
I suppose the question worldwide is, Just how small a sections can nations split into? I am far from sure that the Balkanization of the world would be a good thing...or even possible. Of course, I could be wrong on this.
However, since reading Paris 1919, published in England as The Peacemakers, I have developed a very jaundiced view of Wilson. Not so much as an evil man, but just terribly misguided and this idea of ethnic self determination is just wrong, emotionally, intellectually, and in a practical sense.
The world and nations need to be bound together by ideas of freedom, personal conscience, mutual respect. Minorities should be able to live just as freely as the majority in any nation in the world. These are the ideas that matter and should guide us.
The lack of personal freedom, to be Christian or Jewish or Buddhist, in the Islam world is what this conflict is all about, (I should note with a smile, that this is a liberal/progressive theology...lol)
#5
It seems to me nations have to be big enough to have enough resources to defend themselves against external and internal threats. At a minimum, the police/military should be able to suppress internal gangs/mafia/warlords/guerrillas. Otherwise there is no real freedom, and the thugs move in, e.g. Al Qaeda.
#6
Those who may be confused by the "Wilsonian" and "Hamiltonian" tags are referred to Walter Russell Mead's book "Divine Providence". VERY Illuminating. Don't confuse being "Wilsonian" (which refers to having a certain world view and general set of goals) with being a fan of President Wilson (who held that world view and set of goals, and may have erred in specific actions and plans to carry out the goals.) Wilsonians certainly are the main supporters of the UN, but are so caught up in the current mechanisms that they forgot that their original goal was to further human progress and end human suffering. The current neo-cons running the show in Iraq are Wilsonians who are realists about the UN, even though the majority of the troops are "beat the sh*t out of the enemy until they unconditionally surrender" Jacksonians.
Mead's divisions of America are insightful. However, I find it hard to see Kerry and the LLL as principled Jeffersonians.
#7
South Ossetia supposedly doesn't seek independence but rather unity with North Ossetia inside the Russian federation -- likewise with Transnistria, which has declared a desire to be part of Russia -- even though Transnistria doesn't even have common borders with it. Not sure about Abkhazia.
So, the question of how small nations can get doesn't seem to me very relevant at this situation -- the situation is rather about Russian imperialism endorsing "separatist" movements which will quickly unite with Russia if they succeed in their separation.
So in your question Steve -- cheer for Georgia rather than Russia, because the Ossetians are (like the Adjarians or the Transnistrians) nothing but the puppets of the bear.
#8
This whole thing is an absolute diplomatic blunder by all parties!!!! Snap out of it everyone!!!! Here's the deal: Russia is fighting Muslim terrorists in Chechenya. Before 911 we were constantly complaining of the "Russian brutality" in Chechenya. Well, as soon as 911 happened we should have apologized to the Russians and sent in troops to fight side-by-side with the Russians in Chechenya, since the "Muslim seperatists" are Al-Qaida. But Washington f***ed up big time by suddenly sending in military trainers to Georgia after 911 to train them to go into the border areas with Chechenya to seek out the rebels. The Russians took offense to this because they had long accused the Georgians of allowing their border with Chechenya to become a base camp for Basayev and the other Chechen terrorists. America needs to understand that there is a rivalry/animosity between the Georgians & the Russians. But we have somehow been seen to be siding with the Georgians. We need to be dealing with both of them to deal with the area as a region. The problem is regional. The terrorists have no borders. We should be against Abkhazia & South Ossetian seperatists, because they appear to be Muslim seperatists. We should be pressuring Russia to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Georgians against the seperatists & we should pressure the Georgians to work together with the Russians against the Chechen terrorists. Otherwise we're going to end up with a Caliphate in South Ossetia & Abkhazia and worse we're going to have a situation in which the Georgians and Russians refuse to work with each other, so the terrorists will win. The Muslims are going to come out on top and the Russians & Georgians will be left worse off & our goals for the War on Terrorism in the region will be unmet. I don't understand why the Russians don't see that the Georgian seperatists are doing the same thing the Chechens did. I don't understand why everyone has their heads up their asses on this one. We've got to stop these idiots from shooting at each other on that border...A frickin' war is going break out and then we'll be screwed regionally.
#9
ak and kb summarize this neatly. This isnt about the viability of small states, so much as its about Putin and Russian power. Georgia has the legal right to SO, and is more democratic than Russia. But if youre a big fan of Putin and alliance with Russia against global Islam, and are willing to swallow Russian tactics, cause you think against muslims the harsher the better, I would suspect youd go with Russia, and thus with the the Ossetians, even if THEY are muslims.
Russia successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a test firing yesterday, the Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement.
The RS-18 missile blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and hit a set target in the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East, about 6700 kilometres east of Moscow. The missile, also known as the SS-19, was launched to determine whether its service life could be extended. It has been in service for 27 years. The launch was the fifth this year by the Strategic Missile Forces and a total of 10 launches have been scheduled for 2004, the Interfax news agency reported.
Earlier this year, Russian military forces suffered two embarrassing failures of ballistic missile launches from submarines during highly publicised naval manoeuvres. Later in February, Russia said it had successfully tested a space vehicle that could lead to weapons capable of penetrating missile defences. Details remain sketchy, but military analysts believe the device is a manoeuvrable ballistic missile warhead.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2004 12:00:21 AM ||
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A missile represents GDP down the toilet if the missile defense to be evaded uses lasers or a track gun instead of missiles. I think our current system can be upgraded as necessary.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/12/2004 0:28 Comments ||
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#2
I don't think the Russians are our greatest threat. If our missile defence program is needed it will be for an Iranian or North Korean missile.
Posted by: Canaveral Dan ||
08/12/2004 6:04 Comments ||
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#3
Our Missle defense program is not aimed at an attack by the Russian Rerpublic. It would pretty much be useless the number of incoming would be to great. One of the reasons Regan offered to share the technology back during "star wars" I think. A "missle shield" is aimed at Iran and "rouge nations." The Russian and the US can still turn the earth into a dead planet with a nuclear exchange and neither side is intrested. Regan hated the very idea of nuclear war totally and sought to make it obsolete.
#5
Somone check me on this, But I think the SS-19 was one of the last icbm systems produced by the soviet union. It was a liquid fueld bird like our titan 2. Corrosion from the liquid fuel plus soviet quality workmanship can equal a real source of worry. Rusting in there holes, indeed.
Posted by: N Guard ||
08/12/2004 12:28 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
