Few people survive stepping on an improvised explosive device. Even fewer walk away the same day after directly absorbing the force of the blast, but Garst did just that.
Since Garst's improbable run-in with the IED, his tale has spread through the rest of the battalion, and as often happens in combat units, the story mutates, the tale becoming more and more extraordinary about what happened next: He held onto his rifle the whole time He actually landed on his feet He remained unmoved, absorbing the impact like he was muffling a fart in a crowded elevator.
What really happened even eludes Garst. All went black after the earth uppercut him. When he came to, he was standing on his feet holding his weapon, turning to see the remnants of the blast and wondering why his squad had a look on their faces as if theyd seen a ghost.
Posted by: chris ||
07/14/2010 17:07 Comments ||
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#9
"buy lottery tickets" Posted by chris
Nope, I'd suggest he never even consider doing that. He's already used up a lifetime's luck
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/14/2010 18:48 Comments ||
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#10
OT: anyone else seen the Geico ads with R. Lee Ermey as a psychiatrist? Lov it! "ya jackwagon!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/14/2010 19:44 Comments ||
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#11
I always thought Gunny R. Lee Ermey (USMC Ret) was an ageless, invincible warrior.
Sadly, hes barely recognizable in this GEICO commercial.
That said, hes STILL an f-n outstanding piece of work.
[Quqnoos] Officials in the Ministry of Finance said they will demand $15 billion from the international community at Kabul conference to implement five main projects ahead of the government
The money will be spent in mine extraction, communication development, rural rehabilitation, agricultural improvement and other fundamental projects, said the ministry.
"We must again have the support of the international community in these fields, and their economic pledges must be channeled through the Afghan government, which will be spent in different fields," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, Aziz Shams.
Meanwhile the Afghan Chambers of Commerce and Industries has emphasised that the proper spending of this money will greatly benefit Afghanistan.
"It is better that this money is channeled through the government of Afghanistan, whether this government has the capacity of spending it or not," said Deputy Chambers of Commerce and Industries, Khanjan Alokozay.
Kabul conference that is the continuation of the London conference will be held on July 20th.
Representatives from over 60 countries of the world will participate in this conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2010 00:00 ||
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] Kenya's Parliament has stood in solidarity with the victims of Sunday's bomb attacks in the neighbouring Uganda with calls to the government to focus on protecting Kenyans.
The lawmakers' calls to secure Kenya's borders comes after Sunday's attack in Kampala in which 74 football fans were killed, and 57 injured among them a Kenyan, Ms Alice Mueni.
Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang'ula and Internal Security minister George Saitoti took Parliament's cue and declared that Kenya won't be cowed by the threats from al Shabaab, the terror group that has links to al Qaeda, the global terrorist network.
"We want to send a clear warning to al Shabaab that we'll not sit back and wait for them to do a similar act like they did in Uganda. This government and the people of Kenya will not act in fear or fear to act with regard to fighting terrorism," said Mr Wetang'ula.
Prof Saitoti said Kenya was on high alert, but then he said that even with the heightened surveillance "sometimes terrorists do sneak in".
Mr Wetang'ula then pointed accusing fingers at the international community for failing to provide Sh80 billion needed to stabilise Somalia.
"Somalia hasn't gotten the attention it deserves from the international community," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
#1 Before Obama sneaks in? Posted by: g(r)omgoru
I'm sure O'Bumble is treated like royalty if/when he ever visits, Grom. After all, he's a "local boy who made good"...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/14/2010 18:53 Comments ||
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#3
Kenyans should be afraid. Especially those in Nairobi. Al-Shabaab can smack them easily due to the very large diaspora of Somalis and the porous border region.
Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha has said that Sudan will be a model nation for peace, security and development in the region
This came when Mr Taha addressed a mass rally in Al-Affadh area, Northern State, on the occasion of inauguration of Karima - Nawa road as well as the bridge of Al-Daba - Argi yesterday.
Mr Taha said that the newly-inaugurated development projects are considered a gift to the souls of the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the homeland's dignity, top of them was martyr Al-Zubair Mohamed Salih. Mr Taha urged in his address, the people of the Northern State to focus on the agricultural development and to increase productivity. He also called on the local investors to invest in agriculture and manufacturing
The Vice President called on the government of the Northern State to concentrate on people's welfare, education and helping for the poor
Meanwhile, the Wali (governor) of Northern State, Fathi Khalil, said that the inaugurated projects are important and that Merowe Dam is one of the features of modern Sudan, pledging more developmental projects in coming period.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The headline expressed a thought so stupid, I was sure it was from to Sgt. Smart Ass.
As Uganda struggles to come to terms with the Uganda bombings that claimed the lives of 76 people watching the World Cup final Sunday, the roughly 10,000 Somalis living in the country are growing increasingly concerned that they could face a backlash from the local population -- and from authorities -- after Somalia's Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the slaughter.
In the bustling Kisenyi district of downtown Kampala -- a little Somalia of supermarkets and restaurants selling Somali goods and food -- the atmosphere since the bombings has been tense, local inhabitants say.
"People are staying at home and not going out into the other parts of town," says Omar Nur Gutale, a former television station director who fled his homeland in 2008. "By 8 p.m. last night the streets here were empty. Normally they would be full of people."
Uganda is a melting pot of nationalities from around the region, due to the country's liberal immigration policies, so Kampala has traditionally been a magnet for refugees fleeing the instability that has wracked surrounding countries.
But since the bombings, tensions have been ratcheted up -- with a swirl of rumors of upcoming vigilante attacks against Somalis or arbitrary arrests adding to the sense of uncertainty in a community already living a precarious refugee existence.
For many Somalis living in Kampala -- a large number of whom fled Al Shabab's murderous Islamic fundamentalism -- Sunday's bloodshed bought back painful memories of the daily violence they thought they had left behind when they escaped their war-ravaged homeland.
"When I heard the news it felt like I was back in Mogadishu," says Gutale, who received death threats from the Islamic militant group in Somalia before deciding to leave. "We fled Al Shabab to come and live in peace in Kampala and now they have followed us here. We are victims as well."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Wonder why...
To wit,
TOPIX > AL-SHABAAB MILITANTS NOW THREATEN BURUNDI + AL-SHABAAB URGES ATTACKS ON DIPLOMATS.
SANAA - Yemen and Qatar have agreed to try to revive a Qatari-mediated peace agreement with northern Yemeni Shiite rebels, state media reported on Tuesday. The announcement followed a visit to Yemen by Qatars emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, whose country brokered a short-lived ceasefire between the government and rebels in 2007 and a peace accord in 2008.
In February, Yemen reached a new truce with the rebels to halt sporadic fighting that has displaced 350,000 people since 2004 in the impoverished country.
Good proposals are being carried out today and more will be implemented tomorrow, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said after meeting Sheikh Hamad.
(A return to war) is not relevant and is totally rejected, the state news agency Saba quoted Saleh as saying.
State media gave no details of the new mediation effort by Qatar and there was no immediate reaction from the rebels, who belong to the minority Zaidi sect of Shiite Islam, and complain of religious and socio-economic discrimination by the government. Sanaa denies the accusations.
Yemen is also struggling with a southern secessionist movement and faces a resurgent regional wing of al Qaeda, which claimed responsibility for a failed bomb attack on a U.S.-bound airliner in December.
Yemens Western and Saudi allies want Sanaa to resolve domestic conflicts and consolidate power so that it can focus on fighting al Qaeda, which is seen as exploiting instability in the Arabian Peninsula country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/14/2010 00:00 ||
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A new US assessment of Venezuela's oil reserves could give the country double the supplies of Saudi Arabia. Scientists working for the US Geological Survey say Venezuela's Orinoco belt region holds twice as much petroleum as previously thought. The geologists estimate the area could yield more than 500bn barrels of crude oil.
Music to Oogo's greedy ears ...
This assessment is far more optimistic than even the best case scenario put forward by President Hugo Chavez.
The USGS team gave a mean estimate of 513bn barrels of "technically recoverable" oil in the Orinoco belt. Chris Schenk of the USGS said the estimate was based on oil recovery rates of 40% to 45%.
Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), Venezuela's state oil company, has not commented on the news. However, Venezuelan oil geologist and former PDVSA board member Gustavo Coronel was sceptical.
"I doubt the recovery factor could go much higher than 25% and much of that oil would not be economic to produce", he told Associated Press news agency.
Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves of any Opec country outside the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has proven reserves of 260bn barrels.
#3
More important, "peak oil" takes it in the pants again. Those jewels must be achin' pretty good by now...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/14/2010 12:06 Comments ||
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#4
How much damage can Chavez's cow-handed clowns do to the fields through mis-management and neglect? Is it still technically recoverable if ignorant politically-appointed imbeciles step on their own dicks in the process of failing to learn on the job?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/14/2010 13:06 Comments ||
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#6
So how come the good ol' USofA is examining geological resources and commenting on them for countries not so very friendly to us? first the revealing of all the mineral wealth in Afghanistan and now Hoogo's oil reserves?
Why don't we bill them for the consulting effort?
#8
Most of the oil from Venezuela is crap and only a few refineries in the world are capable of refining it. This is a case of an overabundance of something very few people want. Oil shale would be more economical to process than this crude.
Two robots with surveillance, tracking, firing and voice recognition systems were integrated into a single unit, a defence ministry spokesman said. The 400 million won (£220,000) unit was installed last month at a guard post in the central section of the Demilitarised Zone which bisects the peninsula, Yonhap news agency said.
It quoted an unidentified military official as saying the ministry would deploy sentry robots along the world's last Cold War frontier if the test was successful.
The robot uses heat and motion detectors to sense possible threats, and alerts command centres, Yonhap said.
If the command centre operator cannot identify possible intruders through the robot's audio or video communications system, the operator can order it to fire its gun or 40mm automatic grenade launcher.
South Korea is also developing highly sophisticated combat robots armed with weapons and sensors that could complement human soldiers on battlefields.
It has a largely conscripted military of 655,000 against Pyongyang's 1.2 million-strong force, but a falling birth rate means Seoul will struggle in the future to maintain troop numbers.
About 80 U.S. soldiers are training their Polish counterparts on how to use the Patriot Missile system. This is happening at a Polish base just 37 miles from the Russian border in a town called Morag.
The American troops will be spending a month in Poland each quarter to do this for the next two years. Its the first long-term U.S. troop presence here in Poland.
The American Ambassador to Poland, Lee Feinstein, said, Its U.S. boots on the ground, a very tangible symbol of the U.S.-Polish alliance.
The Patriot launchers are not armed. Its a training exercise that could lead to the eventual deployment of the missile system in Poland.
One Polish officer told Fox News that this is the first time since the fall of the Soviet empire that foreign troops have been in Poland.
In exchange, the U.S. troops will get to learn about Polish defense systems, which are old Soviet models that have been modernized by Warsaw. The Americans in Morag say this will be a worthwhile experience for them as well.
The Russians initially bristled at this American troop presence, and the Patriot system, right on its border. The Russian Foreign Minister said last January that he couldnt comprehend the need to create the impression that Poland is bracing itself against Russia.
Those fears seem to have subsided, and the rhetoric cooled down. A Russian military attaché has recently observed the set-up in Morag. Russian-Polish relations have started to warm in the aftermath of the solemn memorial held last spring in Katyn, and in the wake of the tragic loss of the Polish President and many members of the government in a plane crash last April in Russia.
Meanwhile, plans to counter a longer-range threat than the Patriot can handle, for example, the potential threat of an attack from Iran, are developing.
Posted by: American Delight ||
07/14/2010 12:28 ||
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A Pakistan-born American who has admitted to trying to set off a car bomb in Times Square said in a videotape before the failed attack it was to avenge the U.S. war in Afghanistan, Al Arabiya television said on Wednesday.
"This attack on the United State will be a revenge for all the mujahedeen (holy warriors) ... and oppressed Muslims, including ... Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a man purported to be Faisal Shahzad said on the video aired by the television.
"Eight years have passed since the Afghanistan war and you shall see how the Muslim war has just begun and how Islam will spread across the world," the television quoted the man as saying.
The man, wearing traditional tribal clothes and sitting with an assault rifle, praised as martyrs dead Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and Iraq-based al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in 2006, in the video which resembled footage made by suicide bombers.
Shahzad, 30, who was charged with international terrorism, allegedly drove a Nissan sports utility vehicle crammed with a large but malfunctioning bomb into Manhattan's busiest neighborhood, as thousands flocked to theatres and other tourist attractions.
He was arrested just before his flight left Atlanta, Georgia airport and 53 hours after police found the homemade bomb smoldering in the SUV parked outside a theatre staging "The Lion King" musical.
The notorious Zarqawi, who orchestrated a bloody campaign of attacks and beheadings, was killed north of Baghdad in a U.S. air strike in 2006 after long eluding capture as Iraq's most-wanted fugitive.
Democratic senators in the US have called for an investigation into BPs interests in Libya, as they tried to connect the oil group with a deal to free a convicted terrorist.
#3
Sounds like someone hasn't done their research...
These are dem pols, tu. 'Research' is beneath them.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/14/2010 13:55 Comments ||
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#4
Oderant Dum Metuant, ya dumb bitchy troll
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/14/2010 19:48 Comments ||
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#5
"...isn't BP a British company?"
Yes. English, anyway.
"Didn't the British release al-Megrahi?"
The Scots, actually. (Yeah, yeah, I know it's supposed to be all the same, but it ain't. Never has, and never will be, no matter what their national gummint says.)
I'm ashamed of one of my ancestral countries. Oh, Scotland, what has happened to ye? We need another William Wallace. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/14/2010 20:51 Comments ||
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[Straits Times] THE Philippines' new government said on Tuesday it would protect witnesses to the massacre of 57 people last year, after one was shot dead last month, ... just not that one...
and ordered prosecutions of those attempting to buy their silence.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima met with prosecutors, police investigators and jail wardens to assess the case and the key suspects, members of the powerful Ampatuan clan, as well as plan the next steps, including ensuring the safety of witnesses.
The trial of the main suspect, Andal Ampatuan Jr, has been suspended since February. Since then, 57 murder charges have been brought against Ampatuan's father, uncle and three brothers, as well as 191 others, but their trial has not started.
There is an expectation the case will be pursued urgently by the two-week-old government of President Benigno Aquino III.
'The Ampatuan case will define the commitment of the Aquino administration to pursue cases without delay, and determine whether or not they can actually protect witnesses,' said Marvic Leonen, dean of the College of Law at the University of the Philippines.
The Ampatuans are being held in detention in Manila. The clan had ruled southern Maguindanao province on Mindanao island for a decade and were strong supporters of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose term ended on June 30.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
what a disaster
send in the marines and clean out the Ampatuan clan
About 1,200 women teachers have lost their jobs in Syria for wearing the full Islamic veil, a human rights group said on Tuesday.
"National Education Minister Ali Saad last month ordered the transfer of 1,200 teachers who wear the niqab (full veil) from the education ministry to the local administration ministry," said the president of the Syrian League for the Defence of Human Rights.
Abdel-Karim Rihawi told AFP the move did not affect the wearing of headscarves, which is common among women in Syria.
"No article of the labour code bans women from being entirely veiled at the workplace," said Rihawi. Wearing the niqab was a right "guaranteed by international treaties on human rights and by the Syrian constitution."
Rihawi, who said he himself is not a supporter of the niqab, said the ban was imposed after complaints from some parents.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2010 00:00 ||
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First they went after the cartoonists, but I wasn't a cartoonist, so I said nothing. Then they went after the Facebook page administrators, but I wasn't...
The creator of a now-defunct "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" page on Facebook fears she may be targeted for death now that the cartoonist who launched the online campaign has been placed on an execution list by a radical Yemeni-American cleric.
The 27-year-old Facebook page creator -- a Canadian woman who asked not to be identified due to fears of reprisal -- told FoxNews.com that she was visited at her home last week by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials who advised her to remove her page and not to talk to reporters.
"I'm scared," she said. "I'm scared that somebody might kill me."
The woman created her version of "Everybody Draw Muhammad" in late April, days after a Seattle cartoonist launched the online campaign to protest Comedy Central's censoring of an episode of "South Park," in which the Prophet Muhammad was depicted wearing a bear costume. The Canadian woman said she will no longer act as the administrator of such a page.
"I just want to be quiet now," she continued. "I wish I didn't do this."
As part of "Inspire," a 67-page English-language Al Qaeda magazine, Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki -- who has been linked to the botched Times Square bombing and cited as inspiration for the Fort Hood massacre and the plot of two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers -- targeted the Seattle cartoonist for "assassination," along with others who have participated in her campaign.
"The large number of participants makes it easier for us because there are more targets to choose from in addition to the difficulty of the government offering all of them special protection," wrote al-Awlaki, who is an American citizen. "But even then our campaign should not be limited to only those who are active participants."
He warned that "assassinations, bombings and acts of arson" are all legitimate forms of revenge against the creators of blasphemous depictions of Muhammad.
"Now, with the defamation of Muhammad reaching the shores of America, I wonder whether the patriotic American Muslim will still have the audacity to claim that he enjoys the right to be a Muslim in America?" Al-Awlaki wrote. "Does he understand that this right includes his duty to fight against those who blaspheme his Prophet?"
Al-Awlaki invited Muslims worldwide to "stand up in defense" of Muhammad and for their efforts to "manifest in all appropriate" means.
The Canadian woman told FoxNews.com that she created her page as a way for Facebook users to discuss Islam "openly and honestly" -- and that she has lost most of her anger following her initial outrage.
"I was upset at first, but I'm not too upset anymore," she said. "I kind of got tired of it."
She said she now realizes her online actions may have put her in jeopardy. Following the recommendation of Canadian authorities, she said she has altered her routines and will consider changing her phone number.
"I have no way of knowing what might happen to me," she said.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Pat Flood, citing department policy, would not confirm or deny that police officials visited the woman's home.
David Gomez, the FBI's assistant special agent in charge of counterterrorism in Seattle, said authorities consider the threat "very seriously" and confirmed that they contacted the Seattle cartoonist two weeks ago.
"We take the written threat very seriously and we advised her to take appropriate actions," Gomez said Monday. "We wanted her to lower her profile, basically."
Gomez said FBI officials felt "obligated to warn" the Seattle woman based on previous attempts by Al Qaeda to target individuals for caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
"Al Qaeda is a very real organization, they have made attempts on other journalists involved in this type of activity," Gomez said. "Based on that, we felt obligated to warn her."
#3
'Gee, I'm glad to see she's standing tough.
Sniveling little coward.'
Get_ Real. It is only smart to ask not to be identified. Easy for you to make such harsh jugdements, when your life is in no danger. Suppose putting her address on 123 people and getting martyred would make her so much braver....so a decent life can be cut short for the "principle" of playing in the gaping maw of Islam. OH PULLLLLLLLEEEEZZE. Go do a crossword or something for entertainment, instead of taking entertainment out of another person dying at Islam's hand.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Muslim students, parents, and activists are calling upon lawmakers in the state of New York to add two of their holidays to school calendars.
After failing to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg of adding the two major Muslim holidays, the Lesser and Greater Bairams, to the list of official holidays in public schools, hundreds of Muslims launched a campaign hoping the state Senate and Assembly would supersede the mayor's decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
If you want the public to celebrate your holidays go back to your country. Can you see Americans going to say Egypt and demanding the government celebrate the 4th of July officially.
#6
Maybe when they build that lovely big 13-storey Islamic Cultural Centre on the site of old World Trade Centre, then they can give educational lectures there on why it is important to put the Eid on the school holiday calendar.
Then maybe they could educate all you Islamophobic Rubes as to the error of your racist ways and we can all live in harmony
#7
Sort of reminds me of when the Jews started asking for Chanukkah abd Rosh Hashanah to be added to the calendars. In some places they even close the schools for them.
Bush was correct to say that that the war is on the terrorists and not their religion, because it is really on their ideology which is a derivative of their religion that is our true enemy. But effectively distinguishing between the ideology and the religion requires far more nuance than the average liberal can muster. So euphemistically call it a war on terror.
When it is over, there will still be practicing Muslims in America, just as there are still Germans. The question is whether the name Osama will have the same popularity as Adolph.
#10
One has to ask what Muslims are even doing in public schools. Not only are you exposed to dangerous Western memes and lifestyles, but you can get girl cooties, too.
On the other hand, you can make the argument that, given the damage unionized teachers do to our kids, the less time they spend in school the better. Hey, let's all take the month of Ramadan off. Who's up for 30 days of drunkenness , debauchery and Bible verses? Democracy! Whiskey! Sexy!
#11
Sort of reminds me of when the Jews started asking for Chanukkah abd Rosh Hashanah to be added to the calendars. In some places they even close the schools for them.
Hanukkah (alternate spelling), Nimble Spemble? That really is like asking for St. Patrick's Day off. It's a minor holiday. As for Rosh Hashanah, the public school I went to lost 25% of their students in the advanced classes on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So those teachers just did fun stuff with the rest of the kids for two days, and the Jewish ones never got gold stars for perfect attendance.
I think this is absurd. It's not about getting holidays off, it's about attendance numbers.
#12
Yes, Nimble Spemble, you are right, the War on "Terror" is a war on political islamists not moderate muslims.
And the War on Terror *is* a euphemism to hide under to prevent total religious war erupting.
And yes there will be Muslims in the US after the war is over just like there were Germans after World War II.
But the difference in WWII was that Germans and Japanese were rounded up and put in internment camps until the war was over because though many were innocent, there was no way to tell.
There certainly wasn't a pretence that anybody, even an Irish Nun, might be a Nazi in disguise.
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.
Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha has said that Sudan will be a model nation for peace, security and development in the region
Two robots with surveillance, tracking, firing and voice recognition systems were integrated into a single unit, a defence ministry spokesman said. The 400 million won (£220,000) unit was installed last month at a guard post in the central section of the Demilitarised Zone which bisects the peninsula, Yonhap news agency said.
