A Briton who appeared in court in London yesterday on extradition charges allegedly was in possession of US navy battle plans and had contacts with an apparent Islamist spy within the service. American authorities claim that Babar Ahmad, 30, ran a terrorist fundraising and recruiting agency on the internet, much of it on behalf of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Ahmad, who appeared at Bow Street magistrate's court, was told his extradition was being sought by the Americans on two counts of using websites to solicit donations in the US to fund terrorism in Chechnya and Afghanistan. On the same dates - between 1998 and Feb 19 2001 and from then until the end of 2003 - he was also accused of agreeing to solicit donations in America to fund terrorism.
Authorities in Connecticut yesterday unsealed a 31-page indictment against Ahmad. Federal prosecutors said the investigation had spread to include his possible ties to an Islamist traitor serving aboard a US vessel. The "highly sensitive" investigation" was triggered by the alleged discovery by Scotland Yard officers in a raid on Ahmad's home last December. They allegedly found a computer disk containing classified descriptions of planned movements of a battle group in the Straits of Hormuz, off Iran, and offering guidance on how best to attack individual ships. Kevin O'Connor, a federal prosecutor, claimed the detailed plans for the battle group appeared to have been sent in early April 2001, detailing where the ships would be on April 29, 2001. The plans allegedly amounted to a blueprint on how to attack US warships. The disk included the battle group's planned movements on that day, a drawing of the group's formation, and the names of individual ships and where they would be in that formation.
Posted by: George Taft ||
08/07/2004 12:12:47 AM ||
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Our navy is the thing that allows our force projection. Hitting our navy is paramount for the enemy. This is an honor kill for them.
#2
So the buyer's named Babar Ahmad, huh? Who'da thunk it, eh?
Anyone taking bets on the religion of our waaay too PC Navy's spy?
Time for the JCS / Pentagon folks, not to mention Justice & State, to let go of their illusions. This is war, gentlepersons - something in which you're supposed to be experts. Act like it. Go ahead, say the word. It won't hurt you - or anyone else, actually. The word is profiling. After we get over than one, there will be several more before it's all over. View this as a journey - of survival.
#3
If this is true, the dummy that passed this information is hung himself out to dry. Information on the track of an individual ship could be obtained in a variety of ways. Accurate information concerning the tracks of a formation of US warships through the straits of Hormuz would have had to have been passed by a person on the carrier of the battle group or the a person on the staff of the flag officer who would have been scheduled to be in command of the formation.
That's a pretty small group. I profile a disgruntled former E-6 (has since left the service.) Probably converted to Islam in the 90's after GWI.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/07/2004 2:17 Comments ||
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#4
A journey, it has been. How long has it been, three years? But the fucktoids will lose, modern thought will win. Even with the PC baggage. I firmly beleive that.
But the cost is in question. So many are still in denile. Oh well. Just hang tough, keep informed, argue the points, be patient, talk calmly, educate, learn more, recognise talking points, refrain from talking points, be patient, be helpful, have facts, bring our sisters, quivering, into the gates before dark.
#5
Lol, Lucky - I want some of what you're taking!
On the other hand, I disagree with your post. We will have to change things to survive this - much luck and unsung hard work is all that has kept us from taking hits these last 3 years. And the volume of the work would be a lot easier to handle if profiling were accepted. Just my $0.02.
#7
Thou shalt not drink wine with footlongs?! The wine keeps the blood stable. But, hey, the reaper comes.
Getting dangerously close to my turf Lucky.
Posted by: R Duke MD ||
08/07/2004 8:35 Comments ||
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More at: Ex-San Diego sailor allegedly linked to terror suspect
The e-mail messages extolled the bombing of the destroyer Cole in October 2000 and the actions of Muslim fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya, according to the affidavit documents.
A return message from Ahmad's computer account "praised the enlistee's comments and encouraged the enlistee to 'keep up with the dawah (an Arabic term for missionary work) and the psychological warefare (sic),' " the documents stated.
Posted by: ed ||
08/07/2004 11:54 Comments ||
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#9
How many others are lurking in the armed forces?
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/07/2004 17:24 Comments ||
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#6 How did I get such a bad rep?
Just Lucky I guess.
The Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir [Arabic for Islamic Liberation Party] in Lebanon
In the name of Allah the most merciful,
"Allah has promised those among you who believes, and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion, that which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah.)
(Sura 24:55)
State Officers, dressed up as civilians, have broke into Mr. Osman Bakhash's Office in the Makassed Hospital where he works, and arrested him and taken him into an unkown location. This came after the broadcast of Hizb ut-Tahir's activities in Lebanon on LBC TV [ Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation] on Wednesday Night. The broadcast included an interview with Engineer Osman Bakhash, form the Media Office, in which he answered questions that were posed to him. His arrest comes after the arrest of Ali Aslan And Waseem Shaarani during the past 10 days, on the accusation of membership with "Hizb ut-Tahrir". These arrests are an indication that we are living in a Police State, that closes people's mouths, and replies to arguments and reason with Fire and Steel.
This campaign of arrests and continuous chasing of Hizb ut-Tahrir members has no valid argument in the laws for which the Lebanese state claims to apply and look upon.
It is of our interest to reveal that what the State Officers are doing under the instructions of the concerned authorities, will not stop the struggle, path, and call of Hizb ut-Tahrir; neither will it change its method, which is calling to Islam through argument and reason, even though this call was to be faced by the policy of imprisonement, which is an indication of the bankrupcy of the people in charge of this state, and their fail to resort to the usual means of persuasion.
The Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Lebanon
On 29/7/2004
This is a repost from yesterday, but it was posted late, and I really think it deals with a major front of the WOT. My apologies in advance if it is deemed off topic.
July 16th: Mass Arrests of Girls in Tehran by the Militia, Girls Not Allowed to Contact their Families
News source in Iranian.
Incoming news from Rooydad from all over Tehran, are reporting widespread clashes between young girls and women and the regime's militia. In recent days, patrol groups belonging to the militia have been stationed in Tehran's main squares, such as Vanak which is a gathering place for young boys and girls, where they are arresting girls wearing short pants. Rooydad News, reporting on Thursday July 15th wrote that the arrested girls are kept for 24 hours after their files are completed without any contact with their families. Before this, some web sties were reporting from Mashhad that girls wearing short pants were being flogged. There are also widespread reports of the militia visiting clothing stores and ordering them to remove Manteaus and pants, 'Chador' alternatives, from their displays. At certain malls, girls who are poorly veiled are not allowed in. It is obvious that the hardliner clampdown as a result of the 7th Parliament and the Ansar e Hezbollah takeover is fully in progress. Last week, Yalsarat Al Hussein, the official news of Hezbollah reported on orders issued by Hezbollah to Commander Bagher Ghalibaf, including stopping wedding cars, closing shops selling the manteau 'chador' alternative, confiscation of drivers licenses of poorly veiled women, and not issuing passports for any woman with a poor veiling history. So far the closure of shops selling manteaus, 'chador' alternatives, phase has started. EFL. The reports added to this site show continued brutality right up through last week.
Also, for the video inclined: At least PBS is doing a video expose of the forces in play that led to the murder of the Canadian journalist, Zahra Kazemi. You can watch the video clips at this link.
Posted by: cingold ||
08/07/2004 2:25:01 AM ||
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I think that most regular readers look back to the previous day, so an article posted late will be seen and read. There might be fewer comments, though.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/07/2004 8:11 Comments ||
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Far beyond reading last night's postings, there apparently are many Rantburgers who read the postings from one and two years ago too! I'm not that addicted. I can set some limits for myself.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/07/2004 8:16 Comments ||
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Let yourself go Mike.
You're missing the collected wisdom of NMM.
It's fun watching a troll slowly devolve. I await the hilarious post when NMM loses it completely and threatenss PD with the Justice Department! LOL Good stuff!
The Israel Defense Forces has foiled a number of planned and attempted attacks on Israeli targets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Army Radio reported Saturday.
In the West Bank, close to the city of Tul Karm, troops arrested four militants, three from Hamas and a fourth from the Fatah-linked Tanzim, the report said. Military sources told the radio that during a raid at the home of one of the detainees, troops found 19 pipe bombs, IDF uniforms and a range of weaponry. The sources also said that the arrests had likely prevented infiltrations and attacks at Israeli communities.
Overnight Friday, an IDF unit thwarted an attack close to the Rafiah Yam settlement in the southern Gaza Strip late Friday, the radio reported. Two of the would-be attackers were killed by nearby troops, bringing to five the number of Palestinians killed by IDF troops over the weekend. The two were killed after IDF soldiers at a post adjacent to the settlement opened fire on a group of Palestinians spotted while preparing to fire an anti-tank missile, the report said. Immediately after opening fire, troops heard a loud blast apparently caused by the missile and launcher exploding. Other militants wounded in the incident were evacuated by Palestinian ambulances.
On Friday night, IDF soldiers shot at four armed Palestinians who crossed the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip, close to the Sufa crossing, killing one. Another man was detained for questioning, while two others escaped.
Early Friday, a Palestinian man was killed while attempting to carry out a terror attack in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip. Soldiers fired at two Palestinian men crawling toward the fence around Gush Katif, killing one. The second suspect escaped. In searches conducted Friday morning, troops found an explosive device weighing 40 kilograms next to the dead suspect. His body was later handed over to the Palestinian Authority, Army Radio said.
Also Friday, a Hamas member suspected in carrying out a number of shooting attacks was killed by troops near the West Bank settlement of Ariel. Another suspected militant was detained.
Naval fleet troops also detained Tanzim activist Samah Barghuti on Friday morning in Ramallah on suspicion of murdering Moshe Yohai in late June. Yohai, 63, from Ashdod, was shot once in the chest while driving his truck through a section of the West Bank off-limits to Israelis by IDF order. He had been there for business purposes. His body was found in the village of Beit Rima, north of Ramallah.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/07/2004 5:45:04 PM ||
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jeez! What timing! Here I was getting down about a no-good-news Saturday, and the Paleos volunteer up to make me happy! Who'da guessed it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/07/2004 17:49 Comments ||
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A militant group claiming links to al Qaeda said on Saturday its cells in Italy were ready to strike if the country did not withdraw troops from Iraq before an Aug. 15 deadline it set a week ago. "The truce we had offered you ... to withdraw your troops has almost ended. Our cells in Rome and in all other Italian cities are prepared and ready to carry out their mission after the end of the truce on the 15th of this month," said a statement signed by Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades -- al Qaeda Organization.
"You won't feel safe in your homes. Each place will be a target after the end of the truce and the targets have been defined," it said.
Perhaps you'll cheese off the Italians enough that they'll start hunting down turbans and killing them in the streets. Someday you'll reach that tipping point. Our grandchildren will think us very bad people, no doubt...
Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades sent a statement last weekend to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper giving Italy 15 days to withdraw its forces from Iraq or face attacks. Another group saying it had ties to al Qaeda and calling itself Abu Bakr al-Seddiq Brigades threatened to attack Denmark and El Salvador if they did not pull out of Iraq. An Internet statement by the hitherto unheard of group threatened Denmark "attacks by mujahideen and rigged cars" if it did not withdraw and said El Salvador would hear "the language of blood."
Ummm... I'm not sure you could show El Salvador anything new...
Denmark has about 500 troops in Iraq. El Salvador will send 380 new troops this month to replace its current contingent. The group's statement, posted on an Islamist Web site on Saturday, also claimed ties with Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades. Abu Hafs said in its new statement that anyone violating Muslims would feel "the bitterness of (their) suffering" and that its words would "ring deep inside Italy and will be heard by the rest of Europe." Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a close U.S. ally, backed last year's invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Italy has about 2,700 troops in Iraq. The group urged its "cells in Italy" to attack any target once the deadline ended.
Continued ... PART TWO in link ----->
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/07/2004 5:25:49 PM ||
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So... what do the mythical 'Moderate Muslims' have to say? Where is their outrage?
.... crickets churping ...
Then they should not be at all suprised when they are automatically assumed to be terrorists....
Prominent Pakistani politician Imran Khan has said many in his country are deeply sceptical about the government's role in fighting terrorism. So are a lot of people, but that doesn't mean it should be ended.
Before he was a politician wasn't he a crickiteer? What do the singers of Urdu popular songs have to say about it? We've got the local equivalent of Yogi Berra; what do they do for Dixie Chicks?
They did not see the current approach as "beneficial" for Pakistan, the former Pakistan cricket captain said. I guess not, when your country is one of the main clearing houses for terrorist activity.
He told the BBC there was a widespread perception that the recent arrests of al-Qaeda suspects might reflect the president's dependence on US support. Or, perhaps, even traces of testosterone.
It could also reflect the large numbers of cut-throats in the country. Most places, there aren't enough of them in one place to become an actual political constituency...
Pakistani officials say they exposed key information about al-Qaeda's plans. The heightened security alert in the US and a series of arrests in the UK this week resulted from a detention in Pakistan in July, intelligence and government sources said.
'Too dependent'
Imran Khan told Radio 4's Today programme that he accepted genuine al-Qaeda activists had to be caught. "Just because the government calls someone al-Qaeda, doesn't mean they are... because the government is desperate for American support," he said. And just because people claim they aren't involved with al Qaeda means we should let them go?
The leader of the Movement for Justice party said there was general concern about the failure of the authorities to bring those detained before a court of law. "They do not believe that the way this war on terrorism is being fought is beneficial for Pakistan in any way," he added. Try not participating in this effort and see what happens. If you need a clue, start with Afghanistan.
He also warned that President Pervez Musharraf administration's was too dependent on US support. "Our government is no different to the Iraqi Governing Council," he said. Not yet, but it can be arranged.
"Patience, my pretty!" It's just further down the list. There's still time for you to see the light...
"The whole system depends on one man... If anything happens to him, there is chaos ahead." Is that Musharraf's fault or the terrorists'?
Imran Khan gave up cricket in 1992 and changed his lifestyle, devoting more time to Islam. He became a member of Pakistan's parliament in 2002 and has been a vociferous critic of President Musharraf. "[A] vociferous critic of Pakistan's parliment" who is "devoting more time to Islam." Just the ticket for improving Pakistan's fight against being overrun by Islamists.
#1
No doubts, however, about Jews being sons of monkeys and pigs - sez borgboy in the subjunctive...
______________no wonder I like bananas and bar-b-que ribs...
#3
"Look, squarenuts, you have a choice. You can either police yourselves, or have us police you. If you don't reign in the idiotarians among you, you will leave us no choice but to start killing everyone with at turban and a beard, to make sure we don't miss any of the bad guys."
/Channeling Robert Heinlein in a bad mood.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2004 22:30 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 7 - American marines drove deeper into the heart of the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Saturday as they fought Moktada al-Sadr's rebel militiamen, and there was little sign that American commanders, who said they were taking orders from the new Iraqi government, intended to heed appeals for a cease-fire from clerics and others claiming to represent Mr. Sadr.
In three days of fighting, including mostly sporadic battles on Saturday, the marines and supporting units from the new American-trained Iraqi security forces have pushed well into the old city, an area the Americans had avoided in their months of on-and-off fighting with the Mahdi Army, Mr. Sadr's black-uniformed militia. The main battleground has been an ancient cemetery alongside the Imam Ali mosque, a golden-domed shrine that is one of the holiest places for the world's Shiite Muslims. The leader of Iraqi forces in the fight, Gen. Ghalib Hadi al-Jazaery, said Saturday that his troops had surrounded Mr. Sadr's house in Najaf in an attempt to capture him, but that the cleric was gone.
Much hangs on the Najaf fighting, and on lower-intensity skirmishes in the past 72 hours in other urban areas across central and southern Iraq, where Mr. Sadr's firebrand populism attracts support among young, mostly impoverished Shiites. The central question appears to be whether the decision to confront the militiamen, and to do it in an area of the highest religious sensitivities, will win the support of Iraq's Shiite majority or provoke a potentially crippling backlash against the interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, which took formal power from the Americans when the country resumed its sovereignty on June 28.
On Saturday, Mr. Allawi gave a news conference in Baghdad in which he appeared intent on reinforcing his appeal to Iraqis as the strongman many have said they wanted during the 15 months of lawlessness and insurgency that followed the American invasion last year. He turned aside appeals for a cease-fire, saying prisoners taken during the fighting included "more than 1,000 criminals," at least 400 of whom had been released from prisons under an amnesty declared by Saddam Hussein six months before he was toppled from power.
"What has occurred in Najaf is pitiful," the 59-year-old prime minister said. Referring to the militiamen, he continued: "These attacks have aimed at destabilizing the government. These people are trying to deprive our people of their freedom and progress. Our country has gone through too many wars, and too much hardship, and I'm confident our people will choose the path towards peace and prosperity."
Specifically, Mr. Allawi described the fighting as an attempt to undermine the new government's efforts to improve security, to strengthen the flagging economy and to prepare for parliamentary elections scheduled by the end of January. He suggested at the news conference that the militiamen fighting in Najaf, whom the Americans say have mostly worn the black outfits of Mr. Sadr's militia, might not be Sadr loyalists at all, but "people using his name."
In Tehran, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned the new wave of violence in Iraq, especially in the Shiite holy city, The Associated Press reported. "The United States has reached a dead-end in Iraq and is acting like a wolf caught in a trap," he said, "trying to terrify some by either brawling or showing its claws. But the Iraqis' will and determination will not let the U.S. gulp down a big morsel such as Iraq," he was quoted as saying.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2004 12:35:10 PM ||
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#3
By and large, I find most of the comments here puerile and down right ignorant. Try being in the center of a war zone (either side) and see how you feel about assinine comments then.
Posted by: been there ||
08/07/2004 15:54 Comments ||
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#5
Those are your findings, are they, Anonymous? Why don't you find a way to express your opinions that does not rest entirely on your own unrecognized authority?
#7
How ironic that a pompous troll would misspell asinine (one "s" look it up).
I have been in several war zones, not counting Daytona during spring break. Transparent status-seeking simpletons "Those who work for peace" would be horrified at the level of flippancy and humor that sometimes attend the most horrific occurrences. This is a common and well-documented response to stressful situations of all kinds, something with which trustafarian conformist brats peace protestors are unfamiliar unless they were caught in the last drug bust or dad's check was late.
Some of our posters, btw, are in the war zone right now.
#16
Pent-up anger isn't good for the digestion - better to let it out with a good rip now and then than to develop an ulcer or other gastrointestinal problems. Besides, it limits the amount of three-alarm chili and jalapenos you can eat...
Favorite targets: Clintonistas, Trolls, Fools, Trolls, Idiots, Trolls, DNC morons, Trolls, Michael Moore wannabees, and did I mention??? Trolls.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/07/2004 22:57 Comments ||
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Apparently the Iraqi government suspects Al-Jazeera is inciting violence. I would not have figured it. I thought they were unbiased reporters just doing their Jihad jobs.
Posted by: Ol_Dirty_American ||
08/07/2004 11:38:42 AM ||
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"It's regrettable and we believe it's not justifiable," Al Jazeera spokesman Jihad Ballout said. "This latest decision runs contrary to all the promises made by Iraqi authorities concerning freedom of expression and freedom of the press."
EMPHASIS ADDED
Fer f%&k's sake, the spokesman's first name is "Jihad." Doesn't this tell you anything? Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness just happen to take a front seat to spewing terrorist propaganda. I'm very glad Iraq realizes this, it is a ray of hope for their new government.
The site seems more stable now — I got up this morning and it hadn't gone down overnight, or if it did it restarted. It restarted a couple times yesterday. I still haven't isolated what the real problem is, but I got a lot of symptoms treated.
I haven't ruled out an attack from outside, even though I'm running out of ports to block. My event log is full of messages that read "Access denied attempting to launch a DCOM Server." The DCOM server's GUID equates to Microsoft Word, and Google shows a recent spate of these problems, which seem to have started seriously around the beginning of July, just when our old server started having trouble.
As an experiment, I'm in the process of rebuilding the main page in PHP. When ASP hung last night the page kept working. I'm hoping to have it done tonight, having tugged out most of my few remaining hairs in the process of switching programming languages. It's at http://rantburg.com/index.php, and I haven't tested it under load. If it holds up, I'll go ahead and start rewriting page after page in PHP, and probably eventually convert to Apache and maybe even Linux.
If it fails under load, I dunno what I'll do. Maybe buy a dog and shoot the dog...
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2004 9:10:28 AM ||
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#1
Fred has put a great deal of time and effort into solving the issues and tracking down problems and problem-makers of late. A fair amount of it has been at the expense of his sleep, not just lost free time. All RBers owe him a debt of gratitude for his dogged efforts. So hit the tip jar!
To minimize the impact upon Fred, should future problems arise, a convenient reference has been created. Save it. RB Issues Reference. Everything you need to know is clearly and concisely explained.
#2
Bless your heart, Fred!
No rest for the wicked, so we, the righteous, have to be busy, too.
RB gets The Message out and the evildoers don't like that!
All power to Fred and the Army of Steve!
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
08/07/2004 11:15 Comments ||
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#9
Shipman - I can beat that. In days of old, I wired boards with patch cords for external sorts. Our equipment was so obsolete when we got rid of it the Smithsonian didn't want it. Seriously.
Have you seen this error in the "Post a news link" page? I have tried to post a link several times in the last few days and have gotten this error: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80040e14'
[MySQL][ODBC 3.51 Driver][mysqld-4.0.20a-nt]You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'Front: WoT','2004-8-7','0','http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/
/lPoster.asp, line 132
Is the lPoster.asp script truncating the link reference and thereby notice losing the closing apostrophe?
Posted by: ed ||
08/07/2004 12:33 Comments ||
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#12
Hey, .com - Sure .asp has plenty of problems, but what's wrong with Perl??? I like Perl!
#14
Many thanks for all the hard work, Fred. It's gotta be hard to pop the hood and inspect your own work. I can't proof-read my own writing; I keep missing what I actually wrote because I know what it's supposed to say. I can only imagine what it's like to try and proof-read code that you've been polishing for months and months.
To everyone else: Fred oughta be paid for the overtime. Long-suffering Ethel certainly ought to be paid for Fred's overtime. Hit the tip jar.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/07/2004 13:09 Comments ||
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#15
You guys missed my intent - I'm not anti-Perl in the least: I don't use it because I don't work in the Unix world and never had a computer class in college... but I have been a programmer for over 30 years. I just liked the PHP pic's attitude. Personally, I love ASP and can make it do 95% of what I've ever needed to do. And I have no problems with IIS. I don't wear anybody's t-shirt, I use the best product for the problem for the price within the restrictions of the client. No big deal and not Anti-Anybody or Anti-Anything. Who cares? The "Anyone But _____" crowd puzzles me - cuz Who The Fuck Cares? Better question: Why? I've met many of these people and they're just people. Right place right time for some, dumb luck for others, brilliance and hard work for a few. No big deal. Use whatever floats your boat and pays the bills, but save the vitriol and missionary shit cuz you ain't gonna change anyone's mind.
#16
All of these troubles that Fred has doggedly (heh) worked through has inspired me to get back into some real world programming, just so I do not feel like a moron any more. My experience is dated, like 34 years dated:
Fortran IV, algol, assembly language on a CDC 6400 computer, and basic. And punch cards and big assed tape reels, and late nights at the computer center. Those WEREN't the days......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2004 13:21 Comments ||
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#17
AP I did FSUs CDC 7200 & 7400.
I will admit the line printers were better then.
#20
Thanks for the pic .com - its brilliant. There are 3 or 4 people who contend for that prize on a daily basis here.
I thought I was an old fart until I saw some of the posts here, anyone care to share with a broken down old Cobol/Natural programmer what the html is to insert that pic into a post? I'm not familiar with any technology more recent than 1985. BTW I'm the dinosaur they come crawling to when some JCL needs to be written. I'd grow a pony tail to look the part if it wouldn't come in gray.
Instead of posting in-line images, I've switched to just posting links in my comments (just highlight the text you want to make "hot" and click the "link" button, fill in the URL (you can just save the one above in your favs, for example) or paste into the box and click OK to have it work in your comment. This does NOT hit Fred's bandwidth - it goes from the image's server to the end user - where in-line images DO hurt RB bandwidth = $$$. I only use them for special effect when posting a story, nowadays. If I post the example HTML here, then the asshats will have it - to hurt RB with, so...
#23
No Ship not the original but thanks for the compliment, If you would have told the kind of money there was in adding 2 bytes to date fields when I started I would have told you that you where spending far to much time in the disco boogeying to the BeeGee's.
#25
You guys missed my intent - I'm not anti-Perl in the least: I don't use it because I don't work in the Unix world and never had a computer class in college...
Guess what? Neither have I. I am still a machinist parttime and running the computers for my family's business parttime. Not a single hour of college or any other class in Perl. I learned Unix/Linux/Perl by simple by guess and by golly.
but I have been a programmer for over 30 years. I just liked the PHP pic's attitude. Personally, I love ASP and can make it do 95% of what I've ever needed to do. And I have no problems with IIS.
I have programmed as a hobby for close to 20 years, starting w/BASIC on an Atari (remember the little basic cartridge). In fact I never considered going into computer as a field until I had experience with Linux/Unix. I learned Perl from the ground up, sitting in a Linux enviroment command line and by reading books on the subject. That's all.
I have never used ASP but I can tell you Perl does have a Win32 implementation as well. And I can tell you that I use Perl now for servers at work and at home for practially everything I do that maintains the server, not just for CGI stuffies, but for everything that will automate a routine task on a Linux/Unix server.
Disclaimer: I am still learning, too, and recently got into learning FreeBSD.
I had a family whom I wanted to look after my family' computer servers while I went to Fla. to attend my daughter's graduation, so as a safety guard against any potential errors I wrote a tiny four-line perl script that backed up critical invoicing files on an hourly basis just in case. In one of our test runs to see if he could recover from a severe user error, he wound up deleteing ALL of that day's invoiving. But there on the Linux servers were the invoicing files waiting to be recovered and there was the perl script chugging along in the background on the Linux serevre as well, minding its own business doing what I told it to do.
I seriously doubt that could have been done with any MS server since MS doesn't have a shell scripting language.
And I have no problems with IIS. I don't wear anybody's t-shirt, I use the best product for the problem for the price within the restrictions of the client. No big deal and not Anti-Anybody or Anti-Anything. Who cares? The "Anyone But _____" crowd puzzles me - cuz Who The Fuck Cares? Better question: Why? I've met many of these people and they're just people. Right place right time for some, dumb luck for others, brilliance and hard work for a few. No big deal. Use whatever floats your boat and pays the bills, but save the vitriol and missionary shit cuz you ain't gonna change anyone's mind.
Well I freely admit that by using Linux/Unix I am standing on the shoulders of the giants at Bell Labs and at Berkely. MS is standing on those same shoulders as well since some of BSD's code is in Windows and likely other products as well. The difference between me and MS is about $50 billion in cash and an abject refusal to admit they stand on the same shoulders as I.
And I wasn't posting vitriol about anything. Where appropriate, I do recommend Perl/Unix/APache since in truth it really is the best tool for the job.
But since other who agree with you have seen fit to call those folks who do advoate for Unix asshats, I will make a little deal with you:
The day I can go a week without an attempt to invade my home servers by a MS propogated worm, the day I can go a week without a MS propogated virus in an email, is the day I will stop advocating for Unix.
#26
JM - this should make you smile - Not too long ago I was brought as a hired gun 'cause the house staff couldn't figure out the problem. I looked over the JCL and quickly pointed out the DISP=(OLD,DELETE,DELETE) parm was the reason they were repeatedly trashing their PROCLIB. They had gone through all the backups except one. That'll be $1000 and expenses - thanks boys. . .
#27
Bad - Chill, bro - I didn't indicate you, in particular, and if I had a beef with you I wouldn't be shy either. Look at all that typing... obviously you're rather sensitive - and you needn't be. I have a simple belief: that which deserves to survive in the marketplace does so. BTW, the only bashing here on RB I have ever seen has been from the ABM crowd. I have no issues with Unix or any other platform - I thought I made that clear enough. As I said, whatever floats your boat. C'mon, save the missionary stuff - this isn't your site.
#34
Doc - sounds like you were working Dept of Defense if you have gear that bad. ...grin...
As for Perl - its just so handy than atnyone doing any sort of sysadmin or web coding should know it (and yes, it works quite wel on Win platforms - check out ActiveState Perl for that).
I've almost completely replaced all usage of sed and awk with perl in my unix work - ony if its a quickie like grabbing a param or doing some simple translation on the faly do I use those 2 crusty but trusty tools in shell scripting.
As for Perl "apps" - if its less than 10 lines, I tend to use a shell script, less than 500 I use perl, more than that I use python, and more than 1500 lines, it needs C or to be broken into smaller pipeline apps.
#35
Anybody remember APL, and Fortan I on punchcards? The latter got me so frustrated that I gave up on the idea of a B.A., and ended up with an MRS and corporate wifehood in Europe *grin*. I do not volunteer to help, Fred -- by the time I got done you'd probably have to blow up the server to clean up the mess!
#36
I decided to be related to programmers instead: little sister heading for a PhD, baby brother professing. They smile gently when they talk to me ;-)
#37
Perl is fine for over 1500 *if* you modularize. We have a base of custom-writen modules of about 5000 lines of perl upon which we code just about all of our toolset (each tool then takes a lot less effort due to reuse). Part of the reason for this is that the platform is Tandem Guardian and there aint no python, shell-script, just a non-standard C, and a couple of propritary languages - oh and COBOL and FORTRAN....
Trailing Wife, I remember Fortran (IV H), never did use APL (studied it for about a week). Used to code in PL/1 on a 360/50 on card punch up at western washington U. At one time they had an old IBM 7090. I'm sue others can remember some old iron.
Now of course if you are interested there is a IBM 370 emulator for the PC (Windows and Linux) available with a bonified MVS OS (I think it MVS 3.8J - quite old). And does not include any licensed code.
#38
Crazy Fool, that's a sweet offer, but I think the world is safer if I remain the ultimate end user.
After I gave up on computer languages, I took up human languages, which worked out much better -- the debugging is built in to the process ;-D It is a little frustrating now that we seem to be settled back in the States, as I haven't anyone to practice my 1st year Flemish on (Mama is thrilled to talk to me in German, but she speaks "real" Dutch, and refuses to have anything to do with the hillbilly version)....and we moved back just before I was to add French to the list, darn it!
Militants loyal to top al-Qaeda suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi have released a video which apparently shows a US citizen being beheaded in Iraq. The man in the video - which appeared on an Islamist website - says he is from San Francisco, but it is unclear if and when he was taken hostage. Zarqawi's militants have previously released footage of three male hostages being decapitated. They were an American, a South Korean and a third said to be a Bulgarian.
"I am from San Francisco, California," says the young man in the video, who was dressed in a plain beige T-shirt as he sat on a chair in a dark room with his hands behind his back. "We need to leave this country alone. We need to stop this occupation." He adds: "I have been offered for exchange for prisoners here in Iraq" - apparently referring to previous demands by kidnappers to release hostages in return for freeing Iraqi prisoners. "We need to leave this country right now. If we don't, everyone is gonna be killed in this way. After that, he is shown on the floor with a knife at his neck before the apparent execution takes place. The 55-second video, entitled "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Slaughters an American", also reportedly shows graphic images of Iraqi adults and children allegedly dismembered and disfigured by US military action. It is not clear when the recording was made. Unlike previous videos of hostage killings, it does not show any militants.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/07/2004 6:38:03 AM ||
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We can not leave Iraq no matter how many people are beheaded. Iraqi resistance forces can be defeated with more troops and more resolve. It is obvious that the interim Iraqi government is helpless in controlling the situation there.
Posted by: Bill ||
08/07/2004 8:00 Comments ||
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#7
.com----a posthumous Darwin Award. I like it. We can present it to his ____________, being from San Francisco and all......
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/07/2004 13:44 Comments ||
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#8
Oh man, I went to high school with this guy. He was resonably smart (as in book smart), but not many people took him seriously. So in order to get attentition, he became very gifted at doing things to make people talk about him. This is just one more step along that line.
We bombed the Israelis repeatedly and they still wouldn't open the border! Saturday, August 7, 2004 Greg Myre NYT
JERUSALEM Israel opened a border crossing Friday between the Gaza Strip and Egypt that had been closed for nearly three weeks, allowing most of more than 2,000 stranded Palestinians to return home. Israel closed the Rafah crossing on July 18, saying it believed Palestinians were planning to attack the site. Since then, Palestinians who were in Egypt had been unable to return to Gaza. The better-off Palestinians were able to turn back and wait out the delay at hotels in Cairo or elsewhere in Egypt. But many of the travelers are poor and spent the entire time at a cramped, sweltering terminal building on the Egyptian side of the border.
Many had to sleep outside, and the terminal had only limited toilet and washing facilities. A large number of the Palestinians had gone to Egypt for medical treatment, and some were still ailing as they tried to return home. Khalil Abu Foul, a doctor with the Palestinian Red Crescent, was given special permission to cross from Gaza to the Egyptian side and he treated the stranded Palestinians for the past two weeks. One woman gave birth, two had miscarriages and many suffered from illnesses related to diarrhea and high blood pressure, said Foul, who was among those returning to Gaza on Friday.
"For the first three days I was treated like a stray dog. After that the Egyptians provided us with food, medicine and blankets," said Waffiah al-Sharif, 57, who was returning to her home in Gaza after visiting relatives in New Zealand. Abu Muhammad al-Salahiat, 40, said that his father and aunt, both elderly and ailing, had gone to Egypt for treatment, and both died in Cairo during the past two weeks. Friday, he was still waiting for the bodies to be returned. "They are both dead. Why won't they let the bodies cross?" he said. Egypt had called on Israel to reopen the border for humanitarian reasons, and the United States raised the issue. Israel offered to allow a limited number of Palestinians to pass through a separate crossing along the Israeli-Egyptian border. But Palestinian officials rejected the proposal, saying it was a violation of the existing agreement on the border crossing. In addition, the Israeli proposal would have permitted just 200 Palestinians to return home each day.
Palestinian authorities also expressed concerns that Israel might be planning to close the Rafah crossing permanently. Palestinian officials said that about 1,500 travelers had returned to Gaza as of Friday evening and the rest were expected soon. On the Gaza side of the border, Palestinians who had been unable to go to Egypt simply remained at home, and there was no backlog of stranded travelers at the crossing point. In a separate development, Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, said that some Palestinian policemen in the West Bank would be allowed to carry their weapons in public for the first time in more than two years. The Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, recently raised the issue, saying the Palestinian Authority could not combat the growing chaos on the streets without an armed police force.
Mofaz told Israel radio that he was also concerned about "a situation of anarchy that could spread and create chaos on the Palestinian side." The defense minister said that the Palestinian police would be allowed to carry only pistols and clubs, and that officers would have to be approved individually by Israel. The policy will be implemented gradually and is reversible, Mofaz said. Which all goes to show the questionable intelligence of constantly antagonizing those who are the gatekeepers of your borders and employers of your people.
Posted by: Zenster ||
08/07/2004 12:10:34 AM ||
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Fighting terrorism is a great inconvenience to so many people - especially those who are killed.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/07/2004 2:23 Comments ||
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US-led forces in Iraq have clashed with Shia militiamen in several cities, in a second day of fighting that has shattered a truce agreed in June. A US military spokesman said 300 supporters of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr had been killed in Najaf - a claim denied by Mr Sadr's Mehdi militia. There has also been fighting in a Shia area of the capital Baghdad, and in a number of southern cities. Mr Sadr's aides have called on Muslims to take up arms against "occupiers".
The latest violence in Najaf, home to Shia Islam's holiest shrine, is being described as the worst there since June's truce agreement. The June deal ended a two-month uprising by Mr Sadr's Mehdi militia against the coalition across central and southern Iraq. Lieutenant Colonel Gary Johnston of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Baghdad put the number of pro-Sadr militiamen killed in Najaf during Thursday and Friday at 300. But a spokesman for the militia denied this, saying just 36 fighters had been killed across Iraq over the past two days. The two sides blame each other for starting the latest outbreak of fighting.
The US military reports that at least two American troops have been killed in Najaf during the fighting, and a US helicopter has been shot down, injuring two. "The marines are here and I think you know how they operate," said Lt Col Johnston. "If you kill a marine, the marines are going to fight back." Friday saw US helicopter gunships fire rockets at Najaf's vast Valley of Peace cemetery, where militiamen are based. Mr Sadr's aides called on the interim government to "intervene to stop the American attacks". But the governor of Najaf province, Adnan al-Zorfi, on Friday urged the Mehdi militia to leave the area within 24 hours or face a continuing offensive. "There is no compromise or room for another truce," he said.
Mr Sadr's aides have accused US troops of damaging a minaret of Najaf's holiest shrine, the mausoleum of Imam Ali. They are calling on local Muslims to "take up arms to defend your holy places against the occupiers". The cleric, meanwhile, in a message read out by an aide in the city of Kufa, near Najaf, declared the US his "enemy". "The Iraqi president said 'America is our friend', but I say 'America is our enemy'," Sheikh Jaber al-Khafaji quoted Mr Sadr as saying.
In the Shia suburb of Sadr City in Baghdad, at least 19 people were killed and more than 110 wounded during clashes between Mehdi militiamen and US troops on Thursday and Friday. Another two Iraqis were reported killed in clashes between US forces and insurgents in the city of Samarra. Further south, British troops on Friday clashed with Mehdi militiamen for a second consecutive day in Basra. Reuters news agency said residents took shelter as street battles raged in the city centre. At least two militiamen died in a gunfight with UK soldiers on Thursday. Multinational troops also came under fire in the southern cities of Amara and Nasiriya on Friday. The health ministry said six Iraqis had been killed and 13 others wounded in Nasiriya since Thursday. Italian soldiers exchanged fire with assailants who attacked their positions and a police station overnight, an Italian military spokesman said. "It has been an extremely tense night and we are maintaining maximum alert," Captain Ettore Sarli, chief spokesman for Italian forces in Nasiriya, told Reuters news agency early on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/07/2004 12:06:04 AM ||
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I'd like to know more about those minarets. If they were harmed, shame, no?
But of bigger concern is how big is this uprising. Does it signal Iranian involvelment. Is there a large shiite backing? Is it all going to shit? I'd be surprized if it didn't!
#11
Didn't Sadr's militia lose something like 4000 dead in May? Marine B. Gen Kelly said it best, "We shoot them down like the morons they are."
Posted by: ed ||
08/07/2004 12:03 Comments ||
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#12
Helen, on the contrary, what you are seeing now is because the US finally understands the lesson of Beirut. The only way to deal with terrorists is to implacably, inexorably kill them all and NEVER retreat. When we pulled out of Beirut, we encouraged these animals and Beirut began a long sad decline.
#13
Hellen, are you willing to spell out what you think the Beirut lesson is?
This gloating about past "victories" is a common practice for terror apologists, who ignore that the whining, pleading, and begging by their own side on behalf of "innocents" and "peaceful resolution" was a major reason that we abandoned these conflicts.
The invited inference of the gloating, that we were defeated by superior will or superior force, is simply a lie. It is an important lie, though, for its constant repetition by vile propagandists like Fisk, Pilger and Raven is one of the reasons that these thousands of naive jihadis actually believed that they would have a chance in a direct confrontation with American forces.
During the initial invasion of Iraq last year, for instance, American troops expressed amazement at the suicidal jihadi practice of driving cars straight at American tanks. The Arab and western collaborator (hard left) media, it turns out, had been full of heroic fantasies about such tactics destroying the invading tanks in wholesale lots.
I am not without pity---- and, therefore, I believe that the blood of the slaughtered jihadis is at least partly on the hands of lying leftists who incited and encouraged them.
That includes you.
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