Thanos Photos

I was fiddling about with Windows Movie Maker tonight for the first time, and assembled this from a random selection of my photos. Some are from my recent vacation, and in one if you look at the reflections you can actually see me. Most are 8 to 10 Megapixel, but the video compression hoses them up a bit since I didn’t want to make this too high in bandwidth.

Turkey Still in Al Qaeda Denial

Last September I wrote to point out Turkey’s unwillingness to believe that Al Qaeda had actually declared Jihad against them. I’ve also speculated that some of the uptick in PKK activity in 2006 and 2007 could have been false flag ops from AQ, which they are infamous for.  The public in Turkey still seems in a state of denial according to this Asia Times article:

While the Turkish government would describe itself as a full participant in the “war on terror”, there is a tendency by the public to view this conflict primarily as a struggle against Kurdish militants, and only to a lesser extent against al-Qaeda.

Nonetheless, two recent events have linked Turkey and al-Qaeda. First, according to a story in an Israeli daily, Israeli intelligence recently warned of a possible terrorist strike by al-Qaeda operatives against Israeli institutions in Turkey. Second, in the central Anatolian city of Aksaray, Turkish authorities took 19 people into custody that were suspected of links with al-Qaeda; five members of this group were later arrested.

Previous Article:

zawahiri-dajjal.jpgkemal-ataturk.jpgThe Turkish Daily news goes to great pains to say that the latest Al Qaeda tape does not really reference Ankara, but a Syrian city instead.

While they might console some of their readers, they have quickly forgotten that Al Zawahiri declared Al Qaeda Jihad against Turkey in May. Let us hope it’s just Turkey’s reporters who are delusional, and not the followers of Kemal.

No Clear Front Runner: Guiliani is Looking Wiser

While pundits and election handicappers have questioned Guiliani’s election strategy of going for the big state primaries to win, with no clear front-runner after three primaries he is looking very wise at the moment.

In three separate primaries you have three separate winners : Huckabee, Romney, and McCain. The big day comes on the 20th, when Florida holds their primary – and Rudy’s on a five day bus tour there now, and has been steadily courting Florida’s Republican voters since the start of the campaign. Story at AP.

Boeing and Airbus Sell Planes Like Hotcakes

boeing_787_interior_shots_released.jpgIn a tight orders race Boeing edged out rival Airbus in 2007 for total orders, but both are doing great by surpassing their previous records for orders set in 2006 and 2005.

The overall demand for transport is up, and everyone wants the new efficient aircraft models they’ve produced to replace aging fleets that expend more fuel. From AFP:

European plane maker Airbus conceded defeat to its US rival Boeing on Wednesday in the fierce competition for new orders in 2007, but both companies had record years. Airbus released figures showing it received 1,341 firm orders in 2007, slightly less than Boeing, which won 1,413. Boeing also beat Airbus for new orders in 2006. The combined orders of the two companies, which share the market for large passenger jets, are the highest in the history of the industry, totalling 2,754.

The lesson learned from this is that modernization and efficiency counts – especially if you can create a product that truly does save its cost in a few years.