Month: August 2006

Gene Simmons Thinks The IDF Rocks

Gene Simmons has sent a video thank you to a soldier of the IDF thanking him for his service in the war against Hizb’Allah. Gene has long been a libertarian leaning conservative so this does not surprise me in the least, although it will surprise some. Gene’s mother was a holocaust survivor, and he was born in Haifa.

Gene Simmons has sent a video thank you to a soldier of the IDF thanking him for his service in the war against Hizb’Allah. Gene has long been a libertarian leaning conservative so this does not surprise me in the least, although it will surprise some. Gene’s mother was a holocaust survivor, and he was born in Haifa.

Missile Defense Updates

Missile defense is going to be an ongoing part of our lives in the future, like it or not. Israel’s recent encounter with Hizb’Allah demonstrates the need for a layered defense, and left over from the previous battles with the same opponent is an old program that is now seeing the light of day

Missile defense is going to be an ongoing part of our lives in the future, like it or not. Israel’s recent encounter with Hizb’Allah demonstrates the need for a layered defense, and left over from the previous battles with the same opponent is an old program that is now seeing the light of day, or … the light of a thousand suns concentrated in a beam, again.

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Television News Boycott

I’m on a television news boycott for awhile, maybe a couple weeks. Do you suppose they will stop leading with the child murderer, and the child murdered by then? I don’t want to be callous here, but it’s not news, it’s pure sensationalism. Yeah, I hope if he’s the killer he fries, but there’s too much else going on for journalists to waste so much bandwidth on one murder case so old.

I’m on a television news boycott for awhile, maybe a couple weeks. Do you suppose they will stop leading with the child murderer, and the child murdered by then? I don’t want to be callous here, but it’s not news, it’s pure sensationalism. Yeah, I hope if he’s the killer he fries, but there’s too much else going on for journalists to waste so much bandwidth on one murder case so old.

It should grate on you as well, it’s sheer journalistic sloth, no thought, no research and nothing really new will go on as they track this case and broadcast with bated breath on courthouse steps.

We have breakthroughs in missile defense, we have urgent problems such as energy production, Darfur, Hezbollah, Iran, Social Security, terrorism, the coming elections, what’s new in the schools this year (most now won’t let kids bring backpacks to class anymore, at least now we won’t have to read articles about kids with back problems from toting textbooks.)

Bin Laden Update

UPDATE: This from CNN, Bin Laden near Chitral, down the pass from Darkot and across alpine meadow? 

 According to a U.S. military intelligence official familiar with the hunt, bin Laden is likely hiding in an area called Chitral, in the far north of Pakistan, bounded by Afghanistan to the west and China to the north.

Contrary to popular belief, the official said, bin Laden most likely isn’t living in a cave but in a house, possibly with a family and no more than two bodyguards.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the hunt, said the thinking that bin Laden is in Chitral is based in part on trees that are peculiar to that region that can be seen in a 2003 video of bin Laden walking in a mountainous region.

In addition, the official said, the conclusion that bin Laden is in Chitral is based on the length of time it takes for bin Laden’s audiotapes to make their way to news outlets like Al-Jazeera when he comments on important events, such as the death of al Qaeda in Iraq leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It took three weeks for bin Laden’s reaction to appear on the world’s television screens.

Here’s two views from Google earth, one a plot from Darkot to Chitral, one a close up. Note the proximity to Darkot, site of the recent reports, the easy pass there, as well as the easy access to Peshawar, and the airstrip in Chitral.

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CNN’s Glowing Tribute to Mass Murder

Christiane “Jihad Can’t be Beat” Amanpour and Peter Bergen’s glowing fawning portrayal of a mass murderer is symptiomatic of what’s wrong with modern Journalism. When even the New York Times characterizes your special as an “Al Qaeda Recruitment Video” you should wake up and realize you’ve done something terribly wrong.

Christiane “Jihad Can’t be Beat” Amanpour and Peter Bergen’s glowing fawning portrayal of a mass murderer is symptiomatic of what’s wrong with modern Journalism. When even the New York Times characterizes your special as an “Al Qaeda Recruitment Video” you should wake up and realize you’ve done something terribly wrong.

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Pakistan and Afghanistan to Cooperate on Border Patrolling

Afgha.com is reporting on the new cooperative agreement to partner in patrolling the Pakistani/Afghani border areas, which will apply even more pressure to the Taliban, and Al Qaeda forces there. This along with the earlier summer move of opening the war chest and bringing many of the tribal warlords back aboard presages good to come. I like simultaneous patrols.

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Bin Laden Sightings, Upgraded to Potentially Real Again

Earlier I posted and retracted this report regarding Bin Laden, I am both updating and upgrading the report now that I remembered this earlier ADN Kronos Article that I joked about back in July, the timing is a week to a week and a half apart from the sighting reported by Hindustani Times near Darkot, Pakistan

UPDATE: This from CNN,  Bin Laden near Chitral, uptrail from Darkot and across alpine meadow? 

 According to a U.S. military intelligence official familiar with the hunt, bin Laden is likely hiding in an area called Chitral, in the far north of Pakistan, bounded by Afghanistan to the west and China to the north.

Contrary to popular belief, the official said, bin Laden most likely isn’t living in a cave but in a house, possibly with a family and no more than two bodyguards.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the hunt, said the thinking that bin Laden is in Chitral is based in part on trees that are peculiar to that region that can be seen in a 2003 video of bin Laden walking in a mountainous region.

In addition, the official said, the conclusion that bin Laden is in Chitral is based on the length of time it takes for bin Laden’s audiotapes to make their way to news outlets like Al-Jazeera when he comments on important events, such as the death of al Qaeda in Iraq leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It took three weeks for bin Laden’s reaction to appear on the world’s television screens.

Earlier I posted and retracted this report regarding Bin Laden, I am both updating and upgrading the report now that I remembered this earlier ADN Kronos Article that I joked about back in July, the timing is a week to a week and a half apart from the sighting reported by Hindustani Times near Darkot, Pakistan. Below you can see the July article, then my 8/20 writeup, which I retracted. Right now this appears to be more than just another false sighting.

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German Train Bomber Arrested in Lebanon

The man Germans police agencies are seeking in the failed train bombings in Germany was arrested in Lebanon today

TROP.jpgThe man Germans police agencies are seeking in the failed train bombings in Germany was arrested in Lebanon today: 

Karlsruhe, 24 August (AKI) – A man suspected by German authorities of plotting to blow up passenger trains three weeks ago was arrested in Lebanon on Thursday. The federal prosecutor in Karlsruhe said Jihad Hamad, 20, of Lebanese origin, handed himself in to police in the port city of Tripoli. On Wednesday the German authorities issued an international arrest warrant for the man accusing him of membership of a terrorist group, attempted murder and attempting to cause an explotion. Another alleged train attacker, Lebanese student Youssef Mohammad, 21 was arrested in Kiel, Germany, last week.
The two supects were filmed by security cameras on 31 July at Cologne railway station. Police later found two explosive devices on separate trains – they had failed to go off because of a construction flaw.

I am guessing these two weren’t in the “Political Wing” of Hizb’Allah that German Leftists think Israel should be negotiating with.

School Shooting

Is this another YMM incident? It’s unknown at this time, as Police have not yet released the name of the “shooter”. Right now they are billing it as a domestic dispute. They do have someone in custody after an elementary school in Essex, Vermont was attacked by a 20 year-old male shooter.

Is this another YMM incident? It’s not, this one is a domestic dispute and suicide attempt by Christopher Williams. It’s unknown at this time, as Police have not yet released the name of the “shooter”. Right now they are billing it as a domestic dispute. They do have someone in custody after an elementary school in Essex, Vermont was attacked by a 20 27 year-old male shooter. There are two deaths reported, and three other casualties at this time.

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Iran’s Real Answer

Iran is delaying again while they continue to enrich uranium. The details of their reply have not been released, but I would wager they contain equivocation, a bit of taquiya, some political statements, and some statements to the effect that they are still open for negotiation. The statement is not their real answer, their move against a Romanian Oil Rig is the answer. More on this at Counter Terrorism Blog.

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