Hackers steal AT&T customer data

Hackers have obtained the credit card details of almost 19,000 online shoppers from telecoms giant AT&T.
All your information are belong to us.

Short of not shopping online, a few helpful tips might be to only shop at online retailers that use Paypal, bill-me-later or some other non-credit card payment method. If you must use a credit card, use a low rent, low limit card that you use just for online purchases. This will make it easier to survey the monthly statement as to what has been bought online and spot 'odd' purchases. And never authorize the retailer to keep the numbers on file. Be careful out there.

Stopping clocks and other improbables

Like traffic. Or war. The folks at HotAir have given us our new ambassador of peace in the MidEast. (no puns!)

Praise the Lord! But not at gunpoint.

Deep thought for today

Some people are like slinkys.
They don't really have a purpose,
but they still bring a smile to your face
when you push them down the stairs.




that would be so bad ugly if I wasn't so downfine pretty!

Can somebody get a handle on this clown??!

Mexico Leftist to Create Parallel Gov't.

MEXICO CITY -- Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, convinced he won't be awarded the presidency, has vowed to create a parallel leftist government and is urging Mexicans not to recognize the apparent victory of the ruling party's Felipe Calderon.

What part of 'you lose!' don't these people understand?
Makes me almost wanna praise Al Gore. Almost.

Katrina plus one

The most painful lesson to be learned from that immense hurricane is one any boy scout can quote - 'be prepared'. The second most painful lesson to be learned from any disaster is one that any student of life can quote - 'murphy's law'. This law is multiplied exponentially when the government is placed into the equation.

The folks at HotAir use Mayor Nagin's memorial motor pool to illustrate the point and hopefully remind people 'never again!' George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Mayor Nagin was re-elected to a second term back in May, 2006.

And yet, none of this addresses the common sense issue of 'should New Orleans even be rebuilt?' Would you build a home there in this 21st century knowing the sunken, flooded history that strings back for centuries?

Posting will be lite this week.

But check back often. Who knows what will appear. I the mean time, listen to the High Priest of the Painful Truth.

Hello? Congress??

MM has an irksome post illustrating La Raza's latest strike over the weekend against the U.S.of A.
Hoisting the Mexican flag at a US post office.

Hello? Congress??
I'm on a Mexican radio

Its all George Bush's fault!

Gas Prices Down 15 Cents Over 2 Weeks.

U.S. retail gas prices dropped 15 cents a gallon in the past two weeks, the sharpest decline in nearly a year, according to a survey released Sunday.

Krykee! George. I'm investing in big oil to make money. Stop letting market forces do what they do best and go start another war or something.
just kidding

Hello? McFly!

Aug. 27, 2006, 1:23PM
Hezbollah head didn't foresee such a war.

This sounds like a regurgitation of last month's pablum that proves this guy messed his shorts over this whole disaster with Israel.

BEIRUT, Lebanon Jul 25, 2006
Hezbollah: Israeli Onslaught a Surprise

The only good news from this latest story is this statement:
Nasrallah also said he did not believe a second bout of fighting would break out with Israel. "The current Israeli situation, and the available givens tell us that we are not heading to another round," he said.

One can only hope....

This just in....

My pet Jawa is relaying reports that Israeli Missiles Hit Reuter's Car.
Undoctored photos circulating the internet prove the veracity of the incident.



More on this speed reuters assault at HotAir

Waiting for the electrician (or someone like him)

Twisted, but true: war often spurs the most fantastic and beneficial technological advances. Witness the airplane, plastics, trauma surgery, color photography, radar and the ubiquitous roll of duct tape.

From the Winds of Change comes word that the next step in renewable energy just might be a battlefield adaptation.
Commanders in Iraq Urgently Request Renewable Power Options.

On July 25, 2006 Al-Anbar commander and U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer submitted an MNF-W priority 1 request pointing to the hazards inherent in American supply lines, and noted that the up to many of the supply convoys on Iraq's roads (up to 70%, by some studies) are carrying fuel. Much of that fuel isn't even for vehicles - it's for diesel generators used to generate power at US bases et. al. In response, the document requests alternative energy solutions to power US forward operating bases... and the US military looks like it will act on the request.

The request reportedly calls for 183 renewable energy systems of various power capacities. More than anything else, however, Zilmer's letter is about changing assumptions.

Dang. Now we're gonna hear the moonbats chirping about blood for solar panels.

Treacherous 'neutrality'

The latest hezbollah-Israeli conflict highlights just how worthless the U.N. really is when it comes to 'peacekeeping'. The U.N. has long history of 'de-nationizing' Israel on the world stage even though Israel has been a member state in this dubious organization for nearly 60 years. The relationship is further polluted with the participation in this 'peacekeeping' mission by some U.N. member states that do not even recognize Israel's right to exist.

...The EU and U.N. agree the peacekeeping mission must have a strong Muslim component to give it credibility. But Israel objects to nations that do not recognize the Jewish state, saying such troops would make it impossible for Jerusalem to share intelligence with the U.N. force.

Israel's objection would include Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, which have volunteered troops. Turkey, meanwhile, which does have diplomatic relations with Israel and would be acceptable to all parties, has not decided whether to join the force.

Add to this frustration the stated intent by the U.N. of not disarming hezbollah, and the farce turns into simply war postponed.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed Friday it was not the peacekeepers' task to strip the guerrillas of their weapons, saying that was an issue for Lebanon's government and "cannot be done by force." "The troops are not going there to disarm Hezbollah. Let's be clear about that," he said.

The final deadly insult from this treacherous neutrality is reported by The Weekly Standard describing how the U.N. actively aided hezbollah in its latest attack against Israel by providing real time battlefield information.

This war was fought on cable television and the Internet, and a lot of official information was available in real time. But the specific military intelligence UNIFIL posted could not be had from any non-U.N. source. The Israeli press--always eager to push the envelope--did not publish the details of troop movements and logistics. Neither the European press nor the rest of the world media, though hardly bastions of concern for the safety of Israeli troops, provided the IDF intelligence details that UNIFIL did. A search of Israeli government websites failed to turn up the details published to the world each day by the U.N.
Sure enough, a review of every single UNIFIL web posting during the war shows that, while UNIFIL was daily revealing the towns where Israeli soldiers were located, the positions from which they were firing, and when and how they had entered Lebanese territory, it never described Hezbollah movements or locations with any specificity whatsoever.

This is the U.N.'s definition of neutrality. For Israel it is 'pyrrhic' neutrality.

When is a mosque not a mosque?

The first clue is when machine gun fire and rocket propelled grenades come streaming out from inside the walls.
Idiots.

U t.v. - for you, the veiwer.

Why does this remind me of a bad Fire Sign Theatre bit? (if you have to ask, don't ask.)

Just when you thought reality t.v. couldn't get any worse - it flips you off with a snarky 'your tax dollars at work'.

Oh. Wait. That was last night??

Get a bigger hammer.

It is sad but true that identity theft is only a mouse click away, but you don't have to gift wrap it for the criminals!
UK bank details sold in Nigeria.

Bank account details belonging to thousands of Britons are being sold in West Africa for less than £20 each, the BBC's Real Story programme has found. It discovered that fraudsters in Nigeria were able to find internet banking data stored on recycled PCs sent from the UK to Africa.

Anti-fraud expert Owen Roberts said simply deleting files was not enough. "It is surprising how easy it is to obtain documents people leave on their computers," said Mr Roberts, who is head of identity fraud at CPP Group.

With technology moving at breakneck speed, and the recycle mantra ringing in our ears, out with the old is leaving us more and more vunerable to 'data trawling' off of old hard drives.
The best solution is to remove the old drive and smash it to bits!
Cathartic & practical.

"All your fakes belong to us"

Take cover! This just in from the folks at HotAir (via youtube). Click the link or watch it here. Biting commentary and wicked funny!

More on that (rusty) red cross ambulance with the fake 'missile' hole.

"All your fakes belong to us."

The poor shall always be with you.

Nude fountain bather defies police.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A homeless woman refuses to stop bathing naked in Munich's public fountains despite being repeatedly fined for breaking public nudity laws.

Just as long as she doesn't pee in it....

German train bomb suspect arrested in Lebanon

Go figure.

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Lebanese man suspected of planting a bomb on a German train last month as part of a failed terrorism plot has been arrested after turning himself in to authorities in Lebanon, the German federal prosecutor said. The suspect, identified as a 20-year old named Jihad Hamad, is one of two men authorities believe tried to set off bombs on separate trains in the cities of Dortmund and Koblenz.

The other suspect, a 21-year old Lebanese man named Youssef Mohamad E.H., was arrested in the northern German city of Kiel on Saturday as he was apparently attempting to flee the country.


The bombs, hidden in suitcases and made with propane tanks and crude detonating devices, failed to go off but authorities have said they could have killed many if they had detonated.

He's pretty popular ........for a dead guy.

Poll: Most think bin Laden planning another U.S. attack

From the 'you're a frikken idiot' department

Man Comes to Court Drunk on DUI Charge

Maestro, a little schadenfreude please

Burglars should be choosers

There are times when I've gotta go out and have fun at someone else's expense....over at Wizbang's place.

The hate mongers

British Law Against Glorifying Terrorism Has Not Silenced Calls to Kill for Islam.

LONDON, Aug. 20 — From his home on the northwest edge of this city, Muhamad al-Massari runs a Web site that celebrates the violent death of British and American soldiers. It is visited by tens of thousands of people every day, he said.

"If you kill our civilians, we kill your civilians," Mr. Massari declared during an interview.

Mr. Massari’s Web site, and his public remarks, appear to violate of the Antiterrorism Act of 2006, which makes it a crime to glorify or encourage political violence. Inciting violence has long been illegal here but the new rules, drawn up after the London subway and bus bombings in July 2005, are intended to be much tougher.

Yet despite the antiglorification law, and an array of other measures approved since last summer’s bombings, Islamist leaders like Mr. Massari persist, some of them declaring it the duty of British Muslims to kill in the name of Islam.

It would be easy to dismiss guys like al-Massari as incendiary bigots or seditious zealots spewing their cranial diarrhea from the same cess pool that spawns neo-nazi skinheads. Yet unlike the small pockets of adolph wanna-bees that scurry to the dark edges in Western society, the ranks of men like al-Massari are far from small. They are often prominent, well educated men in societies across the globe. These men are nurtured by misguided 'religious' dogma propagated by radical 'holy' teachers in mosques or madrassas. There is an estimated one billion Muslims in the world today and, to be charitable, if only one percent of those professing that religion held the same perverse, violent views as al-Massari, those people would still number 10 million.

But do these hate mongers reflect the true teachings of their religion's founder and his beliefs? This week, Cal Thomas examines 'The Real Teachings of the Koran'.

...Asked whether the Koran commands the killing of or violence against all nonbelievers, Ali Khan, national director of the Chicago-based American Muslim Council, replied: "No. (That's) far from the truth. There's nothing in the Koran, no verse that I'm aware of, that advocates the killing of nonbelievers."

The terrorists and those who preach from mosques throughout the Middle East must be reading a different version, then, because virtually all of their sermons that I've read claim their God wants them to kill all "infidels."

"This kind of tactic of taking verses out of context can be used against any religious faith," says Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for Washington, D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, an Islamic civil rights and advocacy group. "It can and has been used against the Bible and has been used against the Quran."

Yes, but virtually all Christians and Jews denounce the infinitesimal few who claim to be Jewish or Christian and use their "holy books" to justify violence against others as a direct command from God.

That says it all.

Rewarding terrorism

Don Surber nails it in this post about how 'Bush blows it'.

President Bush this morning promised to reward terrorism in Lebanon. As readers recall, Hezbollah, a vital part of teh Lebanese government, attacked Israel and kidnapped a soldier. Israel retaliated

The Lebanese government refused to denounce Hezbollah and did not take sanctions against this terrorism organization.

In fact, Lebanon harbored terrorism.

Rather than tell Lebanon to go to hell, Bush said this:

Here's something you don't see everyday.

Iraq Security Adviser Says Violence Levels Falling

The level of violence in Baghdad has fallen sharply since July thanks to troop reinforcements and the new government's efforts to reconcile warring Shiites and Sunnis, Iraq's national security adviser said on Aug. 22.

Mowaffaq al-Rubaie insisted that the sectarian and insurgent bloodshed that has seized Iraq was not a civil war, a description U.S. President George W. Bush's administration has strenuously avoided in the face of mounting casualties.

He challenged the notion that violence was out of control in the Iraqi capital, saying it had peaked last month. "The surge was only until mid-July," he said. "The number of attacks is down from mid-July by 45 percent and extra-judicial murders ... are down 35 percent since mid-July. We're there, we're definitely on the mend."

Washington has poured thousands of troop reinforcements into Baghdad in recent weeks, after surging violence frustrated plans to start withdrawing some forces before the end of the year.

Click me

Think of it as a large gang fight.

More on the down turn in violence here. (from reuters no less!)
U.S. military upbeat on Baghdad clampdown

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Violence in Baghdad has declined in the past two weeks and all but ended in some formerly deadly neighbourhoods, the U.S. military said in a cautiously upbeat report on Tuesday on a major security clampdown in the city.
Twenty-two raids in the past week against such groups in the capital had led to 37 arrests, Major General William Caldwell told a news conference. He presented statistics showing a 16 percent drop in the daily average of attacks in Baghdad since August 7, at 21 compared to 25 in the preceding two months.
"There are positive things occurring and people are seeing it," Caldwell said. "This is not something that's going to happen overnight. But all the signs are very positive."

I'm sure the msm will be all over this one.

Common sense prevails

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Deficit.
Big economy - small deficit.

I didn't know that - Did you know that??

Them military guys over at the Mudville Gazette gave me the heads up on Turkey Forcing Down Iranian Cargo Jets.

ANKARA, Turkey -- The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday that it had forced two Syria-bound Iranian planes to land and be searched for rockets and other military equipment during the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The newspaper Hurriyet reported Wednesday that Iranian planes were forced to land at Diyarbakir airport on July 27 and on Aug. 8 - but that no military equipment was found. Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Murat Ozcelik said those were not the only planes that were forced to land. "We inspect Iranian planes upon any suspicion that they may be carrying any weapons," Ozcelik said. He declined to give further details.

I'm sure the msm will be all over this one.

You want Italian or Chinese?

Body-Part Harvesting Company Must Close.

What? I can't hear you! pt. 9

More good news from Iraq via Aaaargh!
IRAQI CITIZENS HELP IA, MND-B SOLDIERS RESCUE 4 KIDNAP VICTIMS, NAB 3 KIDNAPPERS, DISCOVER WEAPONS CACHE.

BAGHDAD – Iraqi army soldiers conducted a raid and rescued a kidnap victim after receiving a tip from a concerned Iraqi citizen that led them to a location in Baghdad's Adhamiyah neighborhood Friday night. The Iraqi citizen lead soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, to a house where the victims and a weapons cache were located. Inside the building they seized two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 20 RPG rounds, nine RPG propellant charges, an AK-47, two sniper rifles and 12 hand grenades.

Two suspected terrorists were detained in connection with the kidnapping.

Marines give insurgents no time for rest

U.S. Marines patrol Gharmah, Iraq to disrupt insurgent activity and interdict insurgents and weapons.

GHARMAH, Iraq, Aug. 16, 2006 — Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, are demonstrating to insurgents there is no safe passage through their area of operations.
Read all about it

Heads up to MadTom.

He had integrity - not photoshop

Retired Chronicle photographer Joe Rosenthal, who won the Pulitzer Prize and international acclaim for his soul-stirring picture of the World War II flag-raising on Iwo Jima, died Sunday in Novato.
Good bye, Joe.

Krykee...what a difference a generation makes....

Sanctuary!

There is no such provision on the books in the United States, but Wizbang examines the 'church/state' issue as it relates to the tax-exempt status of churches in general, and the issue of an illegal alien, Elvira Arellano, taking 'refuge' in a Chicago Methodist church in particular.

...Because that tax-exempt status comes at a price. In order to remain free of taxation, a church (or any other charitable organization) needs to avoid getting too involved in politics. They cannot endorse candidates, they cannot lobby lawmakers on issues, and they cannot attach themselves to any political party.

In this case, the church in question is choosing to not just meddle in a political question (the issue of illegal immigration), but to take a firm stand and defy existing federal laws. They are not questioning the law, simply saying that they will not comply with it.

Interesting stuff.

From the 'mothra meets godzilla' dept.

Bringing back the woolly mammoth - maybe

WASHINGTON - Descendants of extinct mammals like the giant woolly mammoth might one day walk the Earth again. It isn't exactly Jurassic Park, but Japanese researchers are looking at the possibility of using sperm from frozen animals to inseminate living relatives.

So far they've succeeded with mice - some frozen as long as 15 years - and lead researcher Dr. Atsuo Ogura says he would like to try experiments in larger animals.

Ok. But the petting zoo is a bad idea.

Officials see positive trend in Baghdad

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi people will need to play a role in building off the momentum of recent positive trends in Baghdad, said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, Multi-National Force - Iraq spokesman, during a weekly operational update briefing.

Caldwell said operations in and around Baghdad are designed to reduce murders, kidnappings, assassinations, terrorism and sectarian violence in the capital. He said operations are pinpointed at the Doura, Shula and Amiriyah neighborhoods - areas at high risk of sectarian violence.

Iraqi Soldiers and Police are carrying out most operational missions, while Coalition forces provide security cordons and quick-reaction forces.

Since operations began Aug. 8, more than 7,000 homes and businesses and 19 mosques have been cleared. Iraqi forces have detained 47 people and discovered eight weapons caches.

Operations look beyond short-term security concerns, Caldwell said. The mantra is "clear, hold, rebuild." Iraqi and Coalition forces clear neighborhoods and hold them so terrorists cannot come back, at the same time as they invest in rebuilding essential services and stimulating economic growth.

Building economic opportunities cements progress being made, according to Caldwell.

"The economic piece, so vital to what we are all attempting to achieve here in the Baghdad area, is starting to take place," the general said. "We see new stores in Doura opening each day. Residents tell us that within Doura itself just recently, two banks have opened that have not been opened for over two years, and Iraqi security forces are down there helping provide the security necessary so that they can function in a safe environment."

Caldwell said the core conflict in the country has changed from an insurgency to a sectarian struggle. Sunni and Shiite extremists are "seeking to control key areas of Baghdad, create or protect sectarian enclaves, divert economic resources, and impose their political and religious agendas."

Shiite death squads and Sunni terrorists in Baghdad are locked in a self-perpetuating cycle of sectarian strife, Caldwell said. Both groups are trying to portray themselves as defenders of their respective sectarian groups.

At the same time, al-Qaida in Iraq has launched a propaganda campaign that seeks to portray the terror group as a legitimate political organization and an alternative to the official, democratically elected government of Iraq, Caldwell said. "Their primary goal in discrediting the government of Iraq is the expulsion of the U.S. from Iraq."

The group does not protect citizens, however, but kills them. Al-Qaida in Iraq continues to bring in foreign fighters to randomly kill innocent Iraqis. The group has encouraged sectarian violence and sees it as a road to civil war, Caldwell said. "Al-Qaida in Iraq encourages Sunni and Shiia in fighting and believes a widespread sectarian divide will force the United States into neutrality and, ultimately, departure."

Iraqi and Coalition forces will continue to degrade the al-Qaida in Iraq network by removing key and mid-level leaders and aggressively targeting foreign fighter networks, Caldwell said.

"As al-Qaida in Iraq attempts to recover from this degradation, they continue to be a primary instigator of sectarian violence in Iraq," the general cautioned, but added, "A significant portion of detained terrorists are providing clear, actionable intelligence for Iraqi and Coalition forces to continue the methodical, deliberate efforts to eliminate terrorism here in Iraq. Iraqi and Coalition forces will continue to work closely with each other and with the Iraqi citizens to establish peace and security throughout Iraq."

V/R
U.S. Central Command
Public Affairs
1lt. Anthony Deiss
Spc. Patrick Ziegler
Spc. Chris Erickson

Astro-campy

That's the only way to describe anything 'star trek'. It was fun while it lasted and SluBlog points us to more fun with this campy genre.

PHAT boy for da ladies

Man trapped waist-deep in chocolate.

Yo! Dog?

Maine monster mystery.

Maybe. Maybe not.

The Skipper over at the Barking Moonbat asks an interesting question about this arrested suspect in JonBenet Ramsey's murder: Is this the guy or just a publicity hungry perv??

What happens August 22nd??

I'm not sure, but it is disturbing how aggressive Iran is in destroying television satellite dishes and arresting bloggers (!).

Iran protecting its investment - in hezbollah

It has now become well recognized, well focused and even expected - the shadow nation. An aggressive and deadly matastasizing force hidden behind the skirt of a formal, established government. It is struggling in Iraq and has virtually succeeded in Lebanon. This is the new face of the world order - gangster politics. Parasites demanding that nations submit or die.
Iran seeks to perpetuate hezbollah's myth a legitimacy.


And here's another cancer demanding legitimacy - or else.

Why is the peace movement so hateful?

I could answer that one too, but I'll let these pictures speak a thousand words.
Jew-hating hypocrites on parade!

Heads up to slublog.

Why is the peace movement so violent?

I could answer that, but I'll let that prolific Brit over at the USS Neverdock speak for me.

Yes, Virginia. There is a spine.

It looks as though some of the folks in hollywood are taking Rev. Martin Niemoller's famous (altered) quote to heart - "...Then they came for me - and by that time no one was left to speak up".

Australia's Herald Sun reports: "Kidman condemns Hamas, Hezbollah." The Herald Sun reports: The actress, joined by 84 other high-profile Hollywood stars, directors, studio bosses and media moguls, has taken out a powerfully-worded full page advertisement in today's Los Angeles Times newspaper.

It specifically targets "terrorist organisations" such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine.

(Other) actors listed included: Michael Douglas, Dennis Hopper, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Danny De Vito, Don Johnson, James Woods, Kelly Preston, Patricia Heaton and William Hurt. Directors Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Dick Donner and Sam Raimi also signed their names. Other Hollywood powerplayers supporting the ad included Sumner Redstone, the chairman and majority owner of Paramount Pictures, and billionaire mogul, Haim Saban.

A big heads up to Powerline.

Frost advisory in hell maybe??

What? I can't hear you! pt 8

3 Day Sweep Secures Baghdad Neighborhood.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The nightlife is zero and most shops are shut, but U.S. and Iraqi forces said Wednesday that a three-day security sweep has cleaned up -- at least for now -- a mostly Sunni neighborhood in west Baghdad, notorious for kidnappings, murders and bombings.

"Since we began the operation, not one person from (this neighborhood) has died, not one act of violence has occurred. We have demonstrated that it can be done," Col. Robert Scurlock Jr., commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, told reporters.

"The purpose is to eliminate terrorists and deaths squads," he said.

Caldwell: Securing Baghdad no short-term operation

"Abating the extremists in the capital will neither be easy nor rapid," Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said of progress in Operation Together Forward, a joint Coalition-Iraqi operation to quell sectarian and insurgent violence in the capital. "Challenges will ensue, but efforts will march forward block by block."

Read all about it

A fish tale for their great-grandchildren

Mexican fishermen adrift for 11 months in Pacific Ocean are Rescued.

Having encountered engine problems soon after they left their home port it seems the men were steadily pushed westwards across the ocean and spent 11 months lost in its vastness. They apparently survived on a diet of rainwater, raw fish and seabirds.

The fisherman left San Blas, a fishing town on Mexico's Pacific coast 650km from Mexico City, on October 9 last year. When they were found they were close to the Marshall Islands, around 8,850km to the west.
Read all about it

Lebanon Skirts Issue of Hezbollah's Arms

Of course they do!
Lebanon's former Syrian overlords are to the north. Hezbollah is in the south. The Lebanese government (such as it is) is locked in a strangle hold with these bloody thugs from the party of the damned. It's like grabbing a badger by the scruff of the neck; you don't like it, but you dare not let it go!


Hizbollah says disarmament not an option
And did anyone seriously expect anything else??
I have to give reuters credit, though. (yikes!) They actually spelled it out the way it really is with no left hand spin.

At least 157 Israelis died in the conflict, which was ignited by Hizbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.

I think the weatherman from hell just issued another frost advisory.

Mob rule

Mexican police break up demonstration by Lopez Obrador supporters.

MEXICO CITY -- For the first time since Mexico's contentious July 2 presidential election, federal police on Monday used tear gas and truncheons to break up a demonstration by supporters of leftist presidential challenger Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Federal police said they resorted to force to remove protesters from the front of the Chamber of Deputies after a long and fruitless dialogue asking them not to block the entrance.

Lopez Obrador has called for a stream of protests to pressure Mexico's Federal Electoral Tribunal, which is considering his challenge to the election. On Sunday, Lopez Obrador said protests would continue if he and supporters believe (Presidente elect) Calderon's victory is illegitimate.

click me

This guy, obrador, don't give a rat's flying dingus about legitimate or illegitimate. He wants POWER. If he could mount an armed rebellion, he would do it.

Is this a great country or what! pt 3

Fred Garvin - Breast Inspector

~Very funny & safe for work.

Hey!

Anybody seen any stories about the devastation in Israel wraught by hezbollah and those three thousand plus rockets??

Just wondering.

This lowly blog

A big thank you goes out to the folks over at The Barking Moonbat for putting this lowly blog on their Christmas list.

Say that again?

It may seem surprising that defiance, even jubilation, was the overwhelming reaction of a people who have been subjected to such a devastating monthlong military campaign. But for Hezbollah, and many Shia Muslims, sacrifice and martyrdom are central themes of their belief system and history.

"When we get the order from the leader of Hezbollah, we will fight again."

Maybe its the movie that's crap.

Snakes' poop worse than bite.

Any fool can have a blog

And most blogs do. Apparently, the president of Iran, herr whos-its has one and it is making quite a stir around the www.

Do the words virus, worm or trojan cross your mind?

Just wondering.

Worry about the West - not Israel.

There is a depressing pattern here. The sources for Western erroneous reports and faked pictures always seem to exaggerate the damage to Lebanon — but never to Israel.

In addition, the history and nature of Hezbollah do not matter to many in the West.

Knowingly or not, news outlets continue to spread Hezbollah's propaganda. One wonders if Westerners remember or know that, until Sept. 11, Hezbollah had killed more Americans than had any other terrorist organization.

Most ignore as well that Hezbollah precipitated the present crisis by kidnapping and killing Israeli soldiers, and launching missiles against Israel 's cities.

It's a sad, sad situation

Yup. That clears things up.

The Mudville Gazette gives us a heads up on The Ironic Headline of the Day Award.

Honey, let's blow up the baby

Hunt on for Baby Bombers

Hate-filled mums willing to sacrifice themselves and their BABIES are being hunted in the war on terror.

Security sources confirmed last night that alleged 'baby bombers' were among those arrested over the plot to massacre thousands by downing transatlantic flights. Those being quizzed included a husband and wife with a six-month-old infant.
And it emerged as the reason why women at airports were ordered to drink from their babies' bottles before being allowed to board flights during last week's massive alert.

...it defies logic and uses death & destruction to justify its daily existence...

WOOT!

Er...I mean...this is wrong. Very bad.

U.K. tire-slasher targets cell phone users.

I'm the luckiest girl in the whoooole world!

Whale vomit.

Where have you been, my brown-eyed son?

Where have you been, my darlin' young one?

Wizbang tells us that All Missing Egyptians Are in Custody.

So, what excuse are these guys going to come up with to explain why they not only didn't show up to MSU but were instead found all over the east and midwest portions of the country? Obviously, the MSU provost's explanation that the students prefered the the excitement of New York City over Bozeman, Montana was way off.
Read all about it

~Apologies to Bob.

Want a house? Illegal immigrant? No problem!

The Wells Fargo Bank is the first major California lender to offer home loans to illegal immigrants.

"We're not required to ask the immigration status of any of our customers. That is the responsibility of the federal government," Wells Fargo bank representative Jerry Ruiz said. Applicants do need a tax identification number issued by the Internal Revenue Service for people who do not have Social Security numbers. putz!

Critics say even though the program is legal, it sends the wrong message. "Any time you have a bank institution lending money to help people buy homes when they're not even allowed to be in the country, it is something that runs contrary to the law. It aids and abets people who are breaking the law," said Ira Melman of the Federation of Immigration Reform.

How the heck can you do business with a bank without a social security number?! I would've been warned about the door hitting my furry butt on the way out of the bank. But, I guess the rules are different for those folks that break into this country.

Another issue used to be an absolute deal breaker when undocumented people applied for home loans: Until recently, people had to have a Social Security number to qualify for a mortgage.

Now, a handful of banks, including some major institutions (citibank & wells fargo, et al.), have begun offering home-mortgage loans to people who don't have Social Security accounts. Instead, borrowers can use individual taxpayer identification numbers, or ITINs, which are used to file income tax returns. These lending programs also allow borrowers to use unconventional ways to demonstrate their creditworthiness.

The Internal Revenue Service issues taxpayer IDs to both resident and nonresident aliens so they can pay taxes. A significant number of the 8.6 million holders of individual taxpayer IDs are illegal immigrants, according to the Government Accounting Office.

Opponents of illegal immigration deplore mortgages for undocumented people. Some say the banks making taxpayer ID loans are guilty of aiding and abetting criminals. Ya think?

U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, a Republican from Roseville (Placer County), has introduced a bill that would ban issuing residential mortgages to illegal immigrants.
"The government should not be in the business of creating incentives to encourage illegal behavior. Nor should companies be permitted to reward those individuals in clear violation of our laws," Doolittle said in a statement when he introduced the bill in October.

The bill, which also would require expedited deportation of people caught entering the United States illegally, is pending in the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims.

All you've done is wound a wild pig

A very dangerous situation.

Hezbollah claims 'divine' victory after ceasefire.

Hezbollah boasted today it had scored a "divine victory"' in its conflict with Israel while the Jewish state claimed the upper hand saying the militant group now cannot "do what it likes in Lebanon"'.

Hours after both sides ended hostilities in a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement that took effect at 3pm (AEST), Hezbollah activists handed out leaflets claiming victory in the Shi'ite militant group's fight against Israel.
vomit here

Support spreads for Hezbollah leader.

I have to disagree with the title...

..but that prolific Brit, over at the USS Neverdock, has linked to an article which asks a seering question of Britian's (and by extrapolation, the world's) Muslim community - "WHEN will the Muslims of Britain stand up to be counted?".

When will they declare, loud and clear, with no qualifications or quibbles about Britain's foreign policy, that Islamic terrorism is WRONG?

Most of all, when will the Muslim community in this country accept an absolute, undeniable, total truth: that Islamic terrorism is THEIR problem? THEY own it. And it is THEIR duty to face it and eradicate it.

To stop the denial, endless fudging and constant wailing that somehow it is everyone else's problem and, if Islamic terrorism exists at all, they are somehow the main victims.

Because until that happens the problem will never be resolved. And there will be more 7/7s and, sometime in the future, another airplane plot will succeed with horrific loss of innocent life.

All good questions. All good statements. None are going to happen.

A politician in a swim suit

Esmay points us to an example of the despicable tactics those leftists will use to make converts.

Oh. The horror.

I see how ya are....

Netherlands 'does most for poor'.

The Netherlands is the rich nation which does the most to improve lives in developing countries, a Center for Global Development (CGD) report says.

...despite the US giving the largest amount of aid that donation was the smallest in relation to the size of its economy...

America was also criticised for its handling of aid in Iraq...

Of course they were

Wait, wait. It gets better!

"The lives of a billion people could be improved in the next decade if rich countries reform their trade, migration and investment policies," David Roodman, CGD researcher and chief architect of the CDI.

Uh-huh. Sounds like code for 'just-open-the-bank-doors-and spread-your-wealth-around'.

"Politically, these changes are difficult. However, if rich countries are truly committed to development, they could easily bear the short-term costs of the reforms and the spread of prosperity would serve the interests of all countries."

Obtuse is the only word that comes to mind. It seems the Center for Global Development has no part in this equation for the horrible side of human nature: the despots, warlords, fascists and mob mentality that sometimes plagues us as a species. I mean, did these people learn nothing from the Annan-oil-for-food scandel??

But, it's reported by the BBC, so what did you expect?

Have a great Sunday. - LB 1901

Welcome home guys.

101st Airborne unit returns to home fort.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) -- Nearly 450 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division returned home from Iraq yesterday and more flights into Fort Campbell are expected soon, base officials said.

The arrivals bring the total number who have returned since the first homeward-bound flights early last month to about 1,000. Most of the nearly 20,000 soldiers in the division should be back from Iraq by the end of November, Fort Campbell spokeswoman Cathy Gramling said.

Thank you!

None-of-the-Above; he's our man. If he can't do it...

Apparently, he can't do it.

Court Nixes Man's Middle Name for Ballot

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A man running for governor and the U.S. Senate does not have the right to use his middle name, "None of the Above," on the November ballot, a court ruled Friday.

David 'None of the Above' Gatchell, who changed his middle name from Leroy, said he planned to appeal.

I'd vote for him just because he's a wiseguy.
WOOT!

Screw McCain-Feingold

This is a great idea from the Other Side of Kim.

Here's my promise: If a conservative organization wants to run a political ad criticizing any (politician up for re-election during that 60-day window, I'll let them run one on this website, for free, right up until Election Day.
And if Congress or for that matter law enforcement think that I'm going to refrain from criticizing an elected or wannabe-elected official, ever, they're sadly mistaken.

Just so we know precisely why I feel so strongly about this, here's the reminder:

Amendment I.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

That is why I don't need any 'interim final rule' to say what I want to say: I already have a permanent, non-negotiable rule-and that rule applies to Congress, not to me. Note that the First Amendment doesn't have an asterisk which says *unless there's an election looming.

Is this a great country or what !

Flying Lawnmower

Too bad; so sad.

World: U.S. President's 'Islamic Fascists' Remark Sparks Controversy

PRAGUE, August 11, 2006 (RFE/RL) –U.S. President George W. Bush used the phrase "Islamic fascists" to characterize the alleged U.K. bomb plotters in a speech on August 10.

"The recent arrests that our fellow citizens are now learning about are a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom," Bush said.

Muslim Reaction

Bush's use of the phrase has not gone unnoticed in the Muslim world -- where any joining of the words has long been controversial.

The Islamabad-based newspaper "Ausaf" writes today that the words are an "insult to the religion" of Islam.

More

Insult to Islam? Sounds more like an appropriate assement of this barbaric seventh century cult philosophy that despises compromise, defies logic, eschews forgiveness and uses death & destruction to justify its daily existence in an effort metastasize the whole world with its fascist ideology.

Any better?

You're in the army now.

Army will meet '06 recruiting goal.

WASHINGTON -- The Army says it will meet its 2006 recruiting goal, pulling itself up from a severe shortfall last year. The largest military service, and the one bearing the brunt of the burden in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, enlisted 10,890 people last month. That brings the total to 62,505 for the year and puts the Army on course to meet its goal of 80,000 for the budget year that ends next month, Army recruiting division chief Jeff Spara said Thursday.

Law enforcement calls it 'profiling'....

...the bedwetting PC crowd calls it bigotry or racism, but anyone with common sense calls it common sense and Boortz has much to say (as usual) on the subject.

The Brits have identified 19 of the Islamic terrorists who had been plotting to blow up as many as ten airliners over the Atlantic ocean. Let's see now: What do we have here! Why ... and I hope you're sitting down here, because this is certainly very shocking --- every one of the 19 people who have been arrested thus far were men. They were all younger men, anywhere from 17 to 35 years old. Oh ... and every one of them had a Muslim name.
More

I'm twisted. Ergo you're twisted?

Dem punk voters pointed us to a good example of the cranial diarrhea that sloshes around inside the mind of those deanie baby democrats: How to hack a diebold voting machine.

Apparently, these 'o-so-much-smarter-than-you-fool' peeps believe, er...feel that since they are predisposed to such shenanigans, then everyone else (read: republicans) are of the same mindset.

Warning! This vid clip contains excessive smarmy condescending attitude.

Final note: I'm sure this is a bogus 'get-a-rise' vid clip, but it is telling about these fool's attitude towards other citizens.

Bill Cosby's message to America

Cosby's Media Lament
By Clarence Page

WASHINGTON- Here's a scoop for you, America: Bill Cosby has a hard time getting his message out. "The media love to choose what they want to use," he said. "I can't go door-to-door to tell everyone what I really mean."

...Too little attention has been given to the problems about which he was speaking: The crime, violence, school dropouts, out-of-wedlock births and other self-inflicted plagues among black youths left behind by civil rights reforms.

"Our children are trying to tell us something (with their self-destructive behavior) and we're not listening," he said.
More

And what about those missing Egyptian exchange students in the U.S.?

Maybe they're just a bunch o college boys indulging in a hair-brained road trip through the U.S. of A., but its either bad judgement or bad timing that landed them in this mess.

6 of 11 missing Egyptians now in custody.

Five of 11 still missing after failing to appear at Montana school

i kin cypher good, eh?

What bothers me is these boys are being handed over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Do these guys still spell enforcement 'catch-and-release'?

Just wondering.

What? I can't hear you! pt. 7

That prolific Brit over at the USS Neverdock gives us a heads up on more progress in iraq.

Baghdad Water Treatment Plant Gets Upgrade.

Al Wathba pulls in water from the Tigris, purifies it, and then delivers it to a 1,000-millimeter water main (about 40 inches in diameter) that serves the northeast quadrant of Baghdad.
"The city now has a 21st century facility that will be a dependable source of water for decades to come," Sadiq concluded. Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Funds paid for the improvement.

...at least until the islamo-fascist try to blow it up.

Quick! Call Al Gore.

I think you know what this is all about when these few dozen sour-grape socialists stage their protest in front of foreign banks.

Mexican Leftists Continue Protests

MEXICO CITY -- Leftist activists blockaded bank headquarters and called for a march on the offices of federal prosecutors as officials recounted some of the ballots from Mexico's disputed presidential election.

Continuing a wave of protests against alleged electoral fraud, dozens of supporters of presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blocked entrances to the main offices of three foreign-owned banks in Mexico City, chanting "Vote by vote!" and "Long live democracy!"
More...

How about a little look into the Mexican Socialist Party and their man, Senor Obrador: Stealing the Mexican Election

....But here's where the Mexican story begins ominously to diverge from the American.

Bush v. Gore went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Dec. 8, 2000, that court delivered a ruling that finished Gore's hopes. Gore privately reviled the decision. But nonetheless, within a very few minutes he stepped before the television cameras to deliver a gracious speech accepting the result. The United States lives by law, and no politician can hope to survive outside the law.

In Mexico, however, the rule of law is newer and weaker. Undaunted by his legal defeats, Lopez Obrador has launched a struggle for power in the streets of Mexico.

As mayor, Obrador showed himself to be a classic Mexican caudillo, or local boss. He engaged in showy displays of solidarity with Mexico's poor--while doing nothing about the governmental incompetence and corruption that keeps Mexico in poverty.

Under Obrador, Mexico City has become one of the most dangerous and lawless metropolises on earth. Underpaid cops and corrupt officials look the other way as gangs rob, steal, and kidnap; as business is frightened away by shakedown rackets; and as municipal funds are wasted and stolen. Obrador himself defied courts and laws when they got in the way of his vision of social justice or limited his own power.

And now Obrador is bringing his caudillo methods to national politics. For weeks, he has been calling out his supporters in waves of increasingly menacing protest.

Read all about it

Still don't get it? These rabid socialists have a single minded fascist objective: their unbridled power. The rule of law be damned.

Gunmen Attack Newspaper in Mexico

Drug violence, political unrest in Mexico repulse tourists.

How the web went world wide

A short History.

In a few short years the web has become so familiar that it is hard to think of life without it.

Along with that familiarity with browsers and bookmarks goes a little knowledge about the web's history.

The key date is 6 August 1991 - the day on which links to the fledgling computer code for the www were put on the alt.hypertext discussion group so others could download it and play with it.

On that day the web went world wide.

(Before then)...computers were islands of information. A login only gave access to that machine's resources. Switching computers meant logging in again and probably using a different set of commands to find and retrieve data.

Want more?

From the 'you're a frikken idiot' department

Woman sentenced for smuggling cocaine into prison inside a bible.

What? I can't hear you! pt. 6

Dang. I must've been snoozing. I know. I know!
But, fortunately, the Skipper wasn't. He has this to say about that.....

Here is your daily dose of The Other News From Iraq. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to count how many MSM outlets cover this story. Good luck on that.

Seriously, how did the Iraqis manage to get 275,000 troops trained and equipped to the point where they are taking over more and more of US troops’ tasks? When did this miracle happen? The Iraqis now have five divisions in the field handling security and fighting insurgents, and five more are in the works to be deployed soon.

The US plan to stand down US troops when the Iraqi army stands up is at the halfway point now ... and the lamestream media ignores it. Whazzup with that? Don’t our media outlets want us to hear good news from Iraq? ... ... ... that was a rhetorical question, by the way. Carry on ....

Read all about it.

Open letter to the mainstream media

by Ben Shapiro

Be careful, Shapiro. That last name of yours sounds suspiciously jewish. - LB 1901

How many?

Hezbollah Has Fired 3,333 Rockets So Far.

JERUSALEM -- Hezbollah guerrillas fired more 100 rockets at Israeli towns on Wednesday _ raising the total since the start of the conflict to 3,333 _ including several medium-range missiles that landed near the West Bank town of Jenin and south of the Israeli city of Afula, police said.

By mid-afternoon, the guerrillas had fired 132 rockets, but no casualties were immediately reported, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Read all about it.

Stanley Crouch speaks the truth

MTV, still clueless after all these years.

Last week, MTV celebrated its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter of a century after having conceived of the first actually new thing in popular television entertainment since "American Bandstand" and "Soul Train."

...Of course, that is not the whole story of MTV, which also came to project the most dehumanizing images of black people since the dawn of minstrelsy in the 19th century. Pimps, whores, potheads, dope dealers, gangbangers, the crudest materialism and anarchic gang violence were broadcast around the world as "real" black culture.
Turn off your TV

Diminished capacity

We are all aware of the visual lies oozing from the lair of hezbollah and their enablers. At the end of this blog post, I found a damning commentary for the cesspool of propoganda which modern media seems eager to drown itself.

Whatever else, the event in Qana was a human tragedy. But the photographs do not show it honestly. Rather, they have been staged for effect, exploiting the victims in an unwholesome manner. In so doing, they are no longer news photographs - they are propaganda. And, whoever said the camera cannot lie forgot that photographers can and do. Those lies have spread throughout the world by now and will be in this morning's newspapers, accepted as real by the millions who view them.

The profession of photo-journalism thereby is sadly diminished by them, and the trust in those who took them and in those who carried them is misplaced. Truly, we are dealing with loathesome creatures.

Heads up to this guy.

The panda just grows & grows & grows .......

Chinese exporting electric cars to U.S.

SANTA ROSA, Calif., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Shandong Jindalu Vehicle Co. Ltd. has become the first Chinese carmaker to export to the United States.
Click

Scheduled outage at 4:00PM PDT.

More comp geek stuff. Sorry.

Twins!

Hubble, hubble. Wanna check out a nice pair of planets?

Is this a great country or what?

The arrogance that makes America great.

Football coach Nick Saban is too busy to have dinner with the President of the United States.

Don Surber has more...

...on what drew Reuters' suspicions...

L8tr d00d. UR fired.

High-tech low blow? Fired by text message.

I blame government schools

Does the msm know we are at war?

Nice thinkin', Einstein.

Sexual Lyrics Prompt Teens to Have Sex.

CHICAGO -- Teens whose iPods are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found.

Whether it's hip-hop, rap, pop or rock, much of popular music aimed at teens contains sexual overtones. Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed, researchers found.

Songs depicting men as "sex-driven studs," women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts are more likely to trigger early sexual
Click me

Who'd have thunk it?

Closer to home

Awright, all you Missouri ruffians! GET OUT AND VOTE!
Vote early & vote often and vote this way:

For State Senator, re-elect Matt Bartle (sorry, Bob.)

For congressional representative, elect Jacob Turk.

For Jackson County Executive, elect Bob Gough. (adobe acrobat required)

Vote YES on Constitutional Amendment 1 (Reauthorize for ten years the one-tenth percent sales/use tax for (1) soil and water conservation; (2) state parks and historic sites; and
B) resubmit this issue to a vote every ten years or at an earlier special election?)

Vote NO on Jackson County question 1 (911 tax increase on phone service).
They have plenty of money already! Besides, what about all them cell phones?

Deaf Iraqi Girl to Get Treatment in U.S.

MIAMI -- Three-year-old Amina can't hear the bombs and bullets that rake through Baghdad. The Iraqi girl has been deaf since birth.

Her family is too poor to pay for advanced surgeries that could restore her hearing, so until recently a soundless life seemed certain.

With the help of the U.S. Army in Iraq and the International Kids Fund, a Miami-based aid group, Amina was flown to the United States on July 30 for a procedure at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center.

The IKF, which has brought more than 125 children from around the world to Miami for treatments, launched an effort Friday to raise $40,000 to pay for a cochlear implant to be surgically placed in Amina's ear. The device turns sound into electrical impulses that activate the hearing nerve, allowing the deaf to hear.

The journey from Baghdad to the United States began with an e-mail.

A friend of Amina's father in Iraq contacted a friend in the U.S. Eventually, an e-mail reached Col. Warner Anderson, an Army special forces doctor.

Anderson had been in Iraq in 2003 with the 352nd Civil Affairs Command and had made a lot of contacts. While back in the U.S., he started making telephone calls and his wife, Ruth Macias de Anderson, a registered nurse, sent an e-mail to a doctor whom she once worked with in New Mexico.

Dr. Thomas Balkany is now at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine and is chairman of the otolaryngology department that specializes in cochlear implants. He agreed to do the surgery.

Click me

How many?

It is astounding to contemplate the number of missiles hezbollah has stockpiled in southern Lebanon; the size, precision and quantity of which has not been seen before in any previous assault upon Israel. And all with the tacit approval of the Lebanese government. Only in saddam hussien's wildest gulf war dreams could something of this magnitude have happened.

How many? On August 2nd, USA Today reported that hezbollah had fired over 2,000 medium & short range missiles into Israel.

NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Hezbollah rockets struck Israel in record numbers and deeper than ever Wednesday, pushing the three-week total over the 2,000 mark and killing a Boston-born man fleeing on his bicycle toward shelter.

The barrage, which followed a two-day lull, came despite the Israeli army chief's claim that the offensive in south Lebanon had eroded Hezbollah's firepower. Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz also threatened to resume air raids against the Lebanese capital.

The army said more than 230 rockets had hit Israel by Wednesday night. The highest previous daily total was 166 on July 26.

How many? Today, August 6th, The Washington Times reports that hezbollah has fired an estimated 3,000 medium & short range rockets into Israel.

Hezbollah fired at least 170 rockets into northern Israel, killing three Israeli women in a single attack in a direct hit on the house they were in, police said.
Hezbollah has fired an estimated 3,000 rockets into northern Israel since fighting broke out July 12, the Israeli army said. Israel's military also said it had carried out at least 160 air strikes against Lebanon in the previous 36 hours.
More than three weeks of Israeli bombardments have been unable to stop the rocket attacks.
The Israeli military has stepped up its ground campaign, pushing its troops across all along the border in an attempt to force Hezbollah back.

Late yesterday, the Israeli air force dropped leaflets in the southern port of Sidon, between Tyre and Beirut, saying rockets had been fired from nearby and warning civilians to evacuate Lebanon's third-largest city and flee north ahead of retaliatory bombing.

The Weekly Standard gives a short history and inventory of hezbollah's lethal stockpile which is solely intended to threaten Israel.

Since the fighting began, Hezbollah has inflicted more damage on Israel than Saddam Hussein's Iraq was able to inflict on Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Hezbollah has deployed a range of extremely sophisticated weapons against Israel. The most notable has been the Iranian C-802 Noor (Tondar) variant of the Chinese Silkworm missile that was used against an Israeli gunship off the Lebanese coast. Four Israeli sailors were killed, and the gunship was put out of commission.

The Associated Press reports that "Iran is believed to have supplied Hezbollah with up to 120 Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 rockets, with ranges of 22 miles and 45 miles respectively," noting that it was a Fajr-3 that is
thought to have been responsible for an attack on Haifa that killed 8 civilians. More recently, Israeli military officials have sought to destroy sites in Lebanon believed to house long-range Zelzal missiles of Iranian manufacture that they suspect are capable of hitting Tel Aviv. And while early reports that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was responsible for the attack on the Israeli warship were inaccurate, Hezbollah is still assumed to possess several UAVs.

Nor is Iran Hezbollah's only source of weaponry. The New York Times quoted anonymous officials as saying that "some of the rockets in Hezbollah's arsenal--including a 220-millimeter rocket used in a deadly attack on a railway site in Haifa on Sunday--were built in Syria. . . . Officials have since confirmed that the warhead on the Syrian rocket was filled with ball bearings--a method of destruction used frequently in suicide bombings but not in warhead technology." An intelligence official was quoted in the article as saying, "We've never seen anything like this."

Given the apparent intelligence failure surrounding both Hezbollah's acquisition of this advanced weaponry and the willingness of Iran and Syria to supply it, the question whether the capabilities displayed to date by Hezbollah represent the full extent and scope of its arsenal may be worth raising.

Battle for Tyre Reported to be Under-Way

'Getting Nothing but Static from the msm' reported this on Friday, but read on down for the many updates and comments. Welcome aboard!
Click me.

Once more, with feeling.

As I stated below, the biggest casualty will be the progress the coalition has made in Iraq & Afghanistan if this conflict in Lebanon gets old & ugly. It ain't lookin' pretty.....


Baghdad throng largest for pro-Hezbollah rallies.

BAGHDAD -- Tens of thousands of Shi'ites crowded into a Baghdad slum yesterday to show support for Hezbollah as Arab anger toward Israel mounted on the Muslim holy day.
Such protests have even reached Saudi Arabia, where public discontent is rare.
In the most violent demonstration, about 100 people threw stones and a firebomb at the British Embassy in Tehran, damaging the building but harming nobody as they accused Britain and the United States of being accomplices in Israel's fight against Hezbollah, a Shi'ite group in Lebanon that is backed by Iran.
Even Sunni Muslim demonstrators took to the streets of Damascus, Syria; Amman, Jordan and Cairo.
But their numbers were dwarfed by the huge Shi'ite turnout in Baghdad, organized by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Crowds of al-Sadr supporters from across Iraq's Shi'ite heartland converged on the capital's Sadr City district, chanting "Death to Israel, Death to America" in the biggest pro-Hezbollah rally since the conflict began July 12.

Read all about it

The new media

Blogger Media at the Forefront of the Middle East War Coverage
Pajamas Media's Politics Central Leverages Global Editors for Continuous Stories and Exclusive Podcast Interviews.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Pajamas Media (PJM) is providing special extended coverage of the Middle East War in conjunction with its new initiative called Politics Central. Within the PJM Network of 90 bloggers are several in theater commenting on the war between Hamas, Hezbolla and Israel from a first hand perspective. Pajamas has also been providing a real time and continuous chronology of news events via its global editors and contributors. Within PJM's new Politics Central initiative, PJM is distributing exclusive podcast interviews that are longer and more in depth than typical cable news organizations are able to provide.

With full-time editors in Sydney, Barcelona and Los Angeles working with contributing bloggers worldwide in such places as Tel Aviv, Haifa, Baghdad and Washington, Pajamas Media has been offering round-the-clock battlefield reporting in tandem with
Read all about it

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Homosexual-activist cop threatens Christians

Officer orders pro-marriage petitions removed from Promise Keepers event.

A homosexual-activist police officer assigned to security at a Promise Keepers men's conference in Florida is being investigated for threatening members of a Christian organization petitioning for a state constitutional marriage amendment.

"I have never in my life seen such unprofessional and bizarre behavior from a law enforcement officer," said John Stemberger, the president and general counsel of the Florida Family Policy Council.

"This kind of ridiculous harassment and intimidation was meant to thwart the effort to protect marriage in Florida. It should remind all of us that we are engaged in a culture war."

Immaturity, hypocrisy & firearms: the dangerous face of the true culture nazis. - Hoodie John Crow

Ok. But what about my warranty?

Crewless, car-laden ship drifts towards Alaska

A disabled, crewless Japanese-owned ship loaded with nearly 5000 vehicles has crossed into US waters, drifting today towards Alaska's Aleutian chain.

The Cougar Ace was still listing sideways as it floated in choppy seas about 240 km south of Atka Island, the US Coast Guard said.

The 196-metre car carrier had zigzagged 193 km since it tilted sharply on Sunday night, its crew rescued 24 hours later, said Petty Officer Richard Reichenbach.

The coast guard cutter Rush was tracking the ship as it moved north-east at 3.2 kph, pushed by 26-kph winds.

Vancouver a possible port for listing freighter

A Blast from the past.

It's not really 2,000 years old, but this beer is made with water melted from Greenland's ancient arctic ice.

A GREENLAND brewery is offering something no other beermaker in the world can - ale brewed with water at least 2,000 years old, melted from the giant Arctic island's vast and pure ice cap.

The first 17,200 gallons of a dark and a pale ale have come out of Greenland Brewhouse, the first-ever Inuit microbrewery, in Narsaq, a hamlet in southern Greenland.

By golly, global warming is good for something!

A little break in the heat wave

Somewhere on this planet it is deathly cold all year long.

Rare Cloud Formation Seen in Antarctica

HOBART, Australia -- Some of the coldest temperatures on Earth brought a rare cloud formation to the skies over Antarctica, scientists said Tuesday.

Meteorological officer Renae Baker captured spectacular images of the nacreous clouds, also known as polar stratospheric clouds, last week at Australia's Mawson station in Antarctica.

The clouds only occur at high polar latitudes in winter, requiring temperatures less than minus 176 degrees Fahrenheit. A weather balloon measured temperatures at minus 189 degrees Fahrenheit on the day the photos were taken.(!)

Resembling airborne mother-of-pearl shells, the clouds are produced when fading light at sunset passes through water-ice crystals blown along a strong jet of stratospheric air more than six miles above the ground.


"Amazingly, the winds at this height were blowing at nearly 230 kilometers (143 miles) per hour," Baker said on the Australian government's Antarctic Division's Web site.

Australian Antarctic Division atmospheric scientist Andrew Klekociuk said the clouds are seldom seen, but are occasionally produced by air passing over polar mountains.

"You have to be in the right part of the world in winter, and have the sun just below your horizon to see them," he said.

Ok, Al. Tell me again about global warming?

This ought to be fun

Microsoft invites hackers to test Vista.

LAS VEGAS -- After suffering embarrassing security exploits over the past several years, Microsoft Corp. is trying a new tactic: inviting some of the world's best-known computer experts to try to poke holes in Vista, the next generation of its Windows operating system.

Microsoft made a test version of Vista available to about 3,000 security professionals Thursday as it detailed the steps it has taken to fortify the product against attacks that can
Read all about it

Better yet, Gates should just buy Apple's op-sys because that's what Gates is trying to reverse engineer anyways. It would be a lot cheaper, Bill. - LB 1901

Hey. It could happen.

Hezbollah Offered U.N. Security Council Seat

by Scott Ott

(2006-08-03) - United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown, who recently suggested that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization, today proposed that the Lebanon-based group be granted an honorary seat on the U.N. Security Council as a precursor to full U.N. membership.

"We need to think outside the box, and get fresh perspectives" said Mr. Malloch Brown. "Who is a terrorist anyway? And what is a nation? These are artificial labels made by men to pigeon-hole and stereotype others. I think the Security Council could learn a lot from Hezbollah-style diplomacy."

Mr. Malloch Brown said that since Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization, it should be "invited join the U.N. with all the other peace-loving nations that have gathered in New York to thwart the designs of Zionists and crusaders."

ScrappleFace may not be too far off the mark given the Jew hating, leftist-utopian, appeasement weasels that fester in the U.N. building.

The Vocabulary of Untruth

Words take on new meanings as Israel struggles to survive.
by Victor Davis Hanson


(This new vocabulary of deceit is also applied to the U.S. of A. by the leftist utopian appeasement weasels. - LB 1901)

Presence of U.S. troops adds calm

Really, really.

BAGHDAD -- Iraqis living in Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods have been able to leave their homes safely for the first time in months, as American foot patrols moved in as part of a beefed-up security plan.
An additional 3,700 U.S. troops deployed in the capital in the past two days to join the roughly 56,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops already in the city.
The deployment is part of a six-week security operation intended to stop sectarian killings.
"Everybody knows that if Americans are there, then it is safe," said one young man who had just brought his pregnant wife home from the hospital.
The militias in his southern Baghdad neighborhood left the moment the Americans arrived on Monday, he said.
"There were no clashes with the militias because of the heavy power the Americans have," he said, asking that his name not be used. "They just come in and stay in place and people start going out and feeling free."
In the Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliya in western Baghdad where insurgents had threatened residents with death if they defied them, shops that had been shuttered for months started to open and the men began to venture outside.
One former military officer, Hassam Abdul Emir, said his family and others had been surviving on Read all about it

Thousands of Shi'ites march in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thousands of Shi'ite civilians charged with guarding neighborhoods in
Iraq marched through Baghdad in a show of force on Wednesday to demand an end to the sectarian violence that is ravaging the country.
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Young men in uniforms and headbands, members of what are known as the popular committees, chanted as a speaker urged them to crush
Saddam Hussein loyalists leading a Sunni insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government.

"Stamp on terrorism," he said.

The crowd included members of the Read all about it

Cowards & their lies.

Click on toon

Awright. Let's get one thing straight.

No one gives a rat's flying ding-gus about Mel Gibson. He's just another celeb who's-its whose only claim to fame is a claim to fame.
Got it? He's not a policy wonk, a politician, or a state department mouth piece. He has no control over anything and that apparently includes his mouth.
Enuff already.
~Carry on.

Why am I not surprised?

MadTom gives us a heads up on those lying hezbollah cowards and the possibility of staged carnage at Qana in Lebanon.

Was The "Qana Massacre" Staged By Hezbollah?

On the morning of July 30, according to the IDF, the air force came in three waves. In the first, between midnight and one in the morning, there was a strike at or near the building that eventually collapsed. There was a second strike at other targets far from the collapse building several hours later, and a third strike at around 7:30 in the morning. There too the nearest hit was some 460 meters away, according to the IDF. But first reports of a building collapse came only around 8 am.

Thus there was an unexplained 7 to 8 hour gap between the time of the helicopter strike and the building collapse. Brigadier General Amir Eshel, Head of the Air Force Headquarters, in a press briefing, told journalists that "the attack on the structure in the Qana village took place between midnight and one in the morning. The gap between the timing of the collapse of the building and the time of the strike on it is unclear."

Gen. Eshel appeared genuinely mystified by the gap in time. He "I’m saying this very carefully, because at this time I don't have a clue as to what the explanation could be for this gap," he added.

While Hezbollah and its apologists have been claiming that civilians could not freely flee the scene due to Israeli destruction of bridges and roads, the journalists and rescue teams from nearby Tyre had no problem getting there.

Lebanese rescue teams did not start evacuating the building until the morning and only after the camera crews came. The absence of a real rescue effort was explained by saying that equipment was lacking. There were no scenes of live or injured people being extracted.

There was little blood, CNN's Wedeman noted: all the victims, he concluded, appeared to have died while as they were sleeping — sleeping, apparently, through thunderous Israeli air attacks. Rescue workers equipped with cameras were removing the bodies from the same opening in the collapsed structure. Journalists were not allowed near the collapsed building.

Rescue workers filmed as they went carried the victims on the stretchers, occasionally continued

* Warning this story ends with some disturbing pictures of dead children.


Israel Warns Hezbollah By Phone Before Bombing