Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Already Foresees His Own Demise

Al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist-in-chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi knows that he cannot survive more than months beyond October's popular referendum on a draft constitution. That will represent defeat of the very ideas Zarqawi represents, it will turn more, ambivalent Iraqis against the cause of Islamic radicalism, and he will lose his vital hiding bases (hint: his wherabouts are not unknown today).

Zarqawi will exhaust every resource at his disposal in attempts to prevent, delay or invalidate this vote. Although terrorists have the advantage of surprise and Zarqawi's will be particularly horrific (why have his beheadings stopped?), he now faces 'employment' problems: Turnover (the capture/killing of many of his top lieutenants) is causing an expertise deficit; payroll discrepancies among rank and file soldiers of fortune is eating away at insurgent strength; recruitment of suicide bombers has become more difficult and he is now forced to use Muslim women; finally, his popular support will be irrevocably eroded by ratification of an Iraqi constitution.

He has planned his own death at the hands of an ally, knowing the U.S. will not martyr him and he will endure a noose if constitutionally appointed Iraqi authorities capture and try him. The cowardly death he plans will not martyr him, either. He will share not a single day of eternity with anyone truly deserving of paradise. Zarqawi is not only doomed, he is now a short-timer (about 161 days) . Allah speed, villain.

UPDATE: CAIR Sensitivity Workshop or Studio PR ? Jodie Foster Flightplan Attacked

UPDATE: No, definitely not a Disney PR stunt; nor a muslim flight attendant (at first) - but a female flight attendant with an Islamist boyfriend is looking likely now.

C A U T I O N: If you plan to see Jodie Foster's just released thriller, Flightplan, you should probably skip the rest of this post due to news media reporting of details ruining much of the movie's suspense for viewer's.

The Walt Disney Co. film was No. 1 at North American box offices last weekend. Jodie Foster stars as a mother whose daughter goes missing aboard a plane. The movie earned $24.6 million, making it Foster's second-best opening. Now, residual earnings have likely been impaired.

The AFA called for the boycott along with two sister unions -- the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and the Transport Workers Union. The unions together represent 80,000 of the 90,000 flight attendants who work for U.S. carriers.

Although union officials will not say, and may concoct a different series of complaints for self-protection, it is a sure bet that an initial complaint was stirred by a CAIR sensitized, muslim flight attendant. CAIR spokesmen will, no doubt, claim their usual innocence and Disney will regret any intent to disparage. Will Disney sue the 3 labor unions or CAIR?

Dumb Awesome Frightening Technology = Daft

On September 21, 2005, the measured Arctic sea ice extent was the lowest ever observed during satellite records. - NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) report released yesterday.


Analysis:
-Ever observed means during only the last 32 years of making satellite records, and only 32/20,000 = 16/100ths of 1 percent of the history of the ice sheet. Statistically, this is useless information for predictive puposes.

-During the present ice age, which began about 3 million years ago, glaciers have advanced and retreated more than 20 times, often blanketing North America with ice. Our climate today is actually a warm interval between the latest periods of glaciation. The most recent period of glaciation, which many people think of as the "Ice Age", was at its maximum cold about 20,000 years ago.

- Ominously for mankind, glacial periods last an average of 100,000 years and the shorter, warmer interglacials only about 10,000 – so we are nearing the end of our current warm period. The start of Earth's next ice age could be up to 1,000 years or more away (or 600 years sooner) – a very short period in climatology, but comfortably long even for your great-great-grandchildren. No one can yet predict what effect the greenhouse effect may have on arresting the return of glacial conditions. Thank goodness for regular global warming, right?

Surreal Sport: Can You Believe Tennis at Burj Al Arab?

Updated with height:
The helipad of Burj Al Arab, the world’s most luxurious hotel, is at the level of its 28th floor (almost 300 feet above ground). Do not play tennis here, if you fear heights.

Andre Agassi and the world No. 1, Roger Federer, couldn’t resist the temptation to have a friendly knock about on the world’s highest tennis court, the helipad! Hat tip to bookofjoe.

Story and (6) photos here. To see larger photos only go to larger photos here. You, too, may be knocked out by the spectacular one at top.

Al-Qaeda 'Voice of Caliphate' Producer: Replacement Sought

Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is having a bit of an employment problem. His top lieutenants are being captured or killed before they follow up their terror projects. Ambitious underlings are eager to take over, but high turnover raises serious issues for al-Zarqawi. Retention and jealousy are now a problem because newcomers do not receive the generous salaries and benefits of older colleagues.

There are also fewer qualified candidates. While al-Qaeda terror training camps around the globe provide uniformly excellent skills, every intelligence agency has infiltrated its infidels among al-Qaeda's ranks by now. Selection is more time-consuming just as al-Zarqawi has less time and the trust issue is most dire.

U.S. and Iraqi authorities said Tuesday their forces claimed a "painful blow" in killing al-Qaeda in Iraq's No. 2 official during a weekend Baghdad raid. Abdullah Abu Azzam led al-Qaeda's operations in Baghdad, planning a brutal wave of suicide bombings in the capital since April, killing hundreds of people — including police, army recruits and day labourers, officials said. According to an Associated Press tally, 698 people have been killed and 1,579 have been wounded since April 1 in suicide attacks in Baghdad.

Mr. Abu Azzam "personally planned and ordered suicide car bomb attacks" in Baghdad and was responsible for financing for the group and its "international communications," Mr. Kubba said. He undoubtedly financed al-Qaeda's Voice of the Caliphate.

Mr. Abu Azzam's death was followed by two other successes against al-Qaeda in Iraq's leadership, officials said — the group's leader in the northern city of Mosul surrendered to the Iraqi military, and its leader in the town of Karabila in the sensitive region near the Syrian border was killed.

Curious News You May Have Missed

<>

Homo Sapiens or Neanderthals? In any event, the date of compassionate human society has just been pushed back into the last major ice age:

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of two newborns dating back 27,000 years while excavating a hillside in northern Austria. The children were not simply disposed of after their deaths, careful burial suggests "they were members of society."

The find made last week near the Danube River city of Krems is important because the newborns were buried beneath mammoth bones with a string of 31 beads - suggesting ritual internment. In recent years, archaeological finds have borne out a compassionate nature of neanderthals that previously had been thought unique to "humans" (homo sapien sapiens).

<>

YOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Prefecture (IHT/Asahi: September 27,2005) -- A 22-year-old Maritime Self-Defense Force leading seaman on the attack submarine Uzushio sold marijuana to civilians over the Internet, police sources said over the weekend. He is one of six MSDF members of 2 submarine crews arrested on suspicion of possessing and trafficking illegal drugs, such as marijuana or Ecstasy, the sources said. Police speculate that Sakaguchi made several tens of thousands of yen through his drug deals, according to the sources.

<>

The only way this story could be more bizarre is for the next chapter to claim a navy dolphin demolished the levees in New Orleans: Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina (Guardian Unlimited, Sunday) Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico. Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns.

Today, Sept. 27th: MSNBC: the Pentagon issued a statement saying all of its dolphins have been accounted for and its dolphins aren't trained to attack, just to look for "objects" with their diver companions. Plus, the Navy has no dolphin units in Louisiana, only in San Diego. MOBY SOLANGI, PRESIDENT, MARINE LIFE OCEANARIUM confirmed: "...no, the Navy has absolutely no involvement in the rescue of these animals, other than providing us with temporary pools. "

Voice of the Caliphate UPDATE

UPDATE- Internet story Sept. 22nd:




The Search For International Terrorist Entities ran its story a full, week earlier. Their report is linked here. Who has been asleep for a week?

Mainstream media's report Sept. 27th:
Purported al Qaeda Newscast Debuts on Internet Masked Anchorman Lauds Gaza Pullout, Iraq Attacks, Hurricane Katrina

The Wasington Post.com reports Voice of the Caliphate's video news broadcast went out over the internet for the first time yesterday. Purporting to be an al Qaeda production, it featured an 'anchorman' in a black ski mask and ammunition belt. First reported by the Italian Adnkonos news agency from Dubai, the 16-minute production was available on Italian newspaper Web sites.

Let's hope Saturday Night Live will soon parody this news format, which seems precisely the type of unfiltered news that mainstream journalists and career politicians scorn.

Sign of the Times

Points to Ponder:












What makes Washington, D.C. today's best protest venue? Attendance figures are difficult to dispute without aerial photos (no-fly zone). Organizers claimed 300k (permit was for 100K); some observers estimated as few as 10K.


What does the former elected official's body language say to Cindy Sheehan? -No.


Why advertise free therapy? Remember, those who voted for Al Gore still need therapy (probably none of Sheehan's supporters came from Tennessee). For the benefit of foreign readers, Al Gore did not carry his own home state in the 2000 presidential election.

Global Warming ( and Crop Circle ) Believers: The Company You Keep

Three days ago M.E.'s post Royal Scientist Calls Honest U.S. Experts 'Loonies' quoted 5 top, U.S. scientists who dispute the Global Warming claim of the opportunist left.

Perhaps former VP and internet inventor Al Gore carries a lot of weight with you when it comes to the theory of global warming. You owe it to yourself to read Global Warming: The Fraud You Can Understand.

As educated professionals living in your own community will tell you (not those linked to federal grant-money, however), the global warming racket is another scheme for certain educators and scientists to reap huge $$$$ at taxpayer expense. What about Kyoto, you say, how can the EU and UN be wrong? Well, Clinton and Bush seem to agree that the rest of the world look at U.S. productivity and simply want to gain theirs at the expense of American workers.

Do you feel (rather than think) space aliens are creating crop circles? If so, please review Crop Circles Demystified. Still not convinced? Here are two of the paranormal company you are keeping who also believe in space aliens, the crop circle thing, and the global warming theories:

Linda Moulton Howe of The Earthfiles and

Whitley Streiber of Unknown Country.

Not a problem for you, either? Well here is another scientific luminary that also shares your critical thinking ability:

Barbara Streisand, the songstress and brilliant Hollywood scientist.

Good luck to you in the rest of your life’s pursuits! Good Science is not forged in popularity contests but by grueling adherence to an inflexible, but sound method.

Commandos in Our Streets?

William Arkin writes on National and Homeland Security in today's Washington Post.com EARLY WARNING.

Granite Shadow is yet another new Top Secret and compartmented operation related to the military’s extra-legal powers.... It allows for emergency military operations in the United States without civilian supervision or control.

U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), the military's new homeland security command, is preparing its draft version of CONPLAN 0400 for military operations in the United States...

Arkin refers readers (including all 15,000 hardcore, Islamo terrorists) to his code name busting website. What has happened to our 4th estate? Is is still the guardian intended by our country's founders?

Hat tip to OSApian for faithfully alerting us to such partisan, subversive baloney!

DOD Relents, Allows Able Danger Testimony

FOX News reported the Senate scheduled a hearing on the secret Pentagon intelligence unit called Able Danger." Next week's hearing was made possible when the Pentagon, bowing to political pressure, reversed its decision to bar witness testimony for reasons of national security.

Able Danger analysts say they identified Sept. 11 hijackers, including Mohamed Atta, more than a year before the hijacked airliner attacks and had told the Sept. 11 commission about their findings.

Curt Weldon, R-Pa., was the first politician to publicize Abel Danger and its claims that the Sept. 11 Commission's failed even to consider the intelligence presented before 9-11. Former Senator Max Cleland, a member of the 9-11 commission, called the panel what amounted to a cover-up from the start. Cleland even resigned in protest, giving more of a stench to the commission's true purpose.

Navy Accused of Aiding "Terrorist Make a Wish" Program

Neither the CIA nor a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon would comment on this story. John Hutson, the Navy JAG's top lawyer from 1997 to 2000, who retired as a Rear Admiral, said he was not familiar with NELO.

The Navy Engineering Logistics Office (NELO) for the "occasional airlift of USN (Navy) cargo worldwide," may allow benevolent use of aircraft to transport radical-leaning terrorists to countries where their native tongues are spoken fluently.

According to an AP report here, NELO contracts 33 planes, including two Gulfstream luxury jets, a small Cessna, three huge Lockheed Hercules cargo planes, a Gulfstream 1159a, a Lear Jet 35A, a DC-3, two Boeing 737s, and a 53-passenger DeHavilland DH-8 to make the suspects fashionably comfortable. Emphasis added.

Former officials claim that between 9-11 and March 2005, 100 to 150 suspected terrorists have had their travel assisted on such flights. CBS's "60 Minutes" quoted a former Swedish diplomat who said suspects were stripped (deloused), shackled and drugged (seatbelted and given airsickness medication) by masked men (flight surgeons) before being flown to Egypt, where they were subjected to "electric torture," (modern ethnic music). Parenthetical remarks by M.E.

Although some of the suspected terrorists complained of inconvenient reservations and poor beverage service, most were so pleased by the accomodations that they gave valuable Al-Qaeda name, address and contact info to their personal translators.

Another good job, Navy! (If the Navy ever admitted this benevolent program exists, people would say they are terrorists just to get free flights). Sometimes there is a very good reason for denial.

UPDATE: Carre Film in Sydney: The Schkval Torpedo Motive for Kursk

UPDATE: FACTS About the VA-111 Shkval torpedo

The VA-111 Shkval torpedo and its descendants are supercavitating torpedoes, developed by the Russian Navy, which are capable of speeds of several hundred knots.
and,
From GlobalSecurity.org (note that Russian B is prounced V in english): BA-111 Shkval underwater rocket


Cross-posted from UltraQuiet No More:

From The Sydney Morning Herald (September 24, 2005) comes newsAs It Happened: Kursk - A Submarine in Troubled Waters About the French film (shown January 2005 in France) directed by Jean-Michel Carre (conjecture):

"The Kursk was participating in a military exercise involving a torpedo, the Schkval, capable, we're told, of travelling underwater at 500kmh. The intention was to impress the Chinese; instead it annoyed the Americans so much that, according to French filmmaker Jean-Michel Carre, the events that followed could have pushed the world into nuclear war.

Carre's film suggests the Kursk was sunk not by a faulty Russian torpedo but a perfectly good US one. He goes further by implying a deal between presidents Putin and Clinton hushed the true story while America reimbursed Moscow through the back door. "

Showing SBS, Saturday 7.30pm

"Submarines, always silent, always strange" - Vigilis

India: US Ally Making Tremendous Strides and Success on Domestic, Anti-Terrorist Fronts

Dashing the illogical trisectionist proposal of the 'abandon Iraq quick' crowd, Victor David Hansen makes some excellent points about tribal (Kurdish, Shiite, and Sunni) rivals:

If the three sects cannot get along with each other inside Iraq, why would they outside when interested neighbors would draw them into their respective orbits to renew and expand the conflict on international terms?

A Sunni/Zarqawi state would be hyper-Wahhabist in the manner of the Shiite south becoming ultra-theocratic, as any internal moderating force on the majority populations would be lost.

India has far fewer problems from its own multimillion-person Muslim minority than from neighboring Islamic and nuclear Pakistan..... India is a success because it has more or less embraced pluralism and allowed Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians to live tolerably with one another — in a way that a nearly uniformly Islamic Pakistan never cared to achieve with non-Muslims either inside or outside its borders.

Fortunately, the eighth in an annual series of war games by navies of India and the US begins Sunday off India's west coast in a training exercise to counter terrorism, piracy, and anti-submarine warfare. (Salute to Eagle1: "History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid" - General Dwight D. Eisenhower)

"In terms of the assets being committed by the two sides, this is the most advanced naval exercise between India and the US," Rear Admiral D.K. Joshi, the Indian Navy's assistant chief for information warfare and operations, told reporters Friday.

India and the US will both employ aircraft carriers to boost inter-operability of their naval pilots. Several of the warships and aircraft fielded by the US - including the nuclear powered submarine USS Santa Fe and the P3C Orion long-range patrol planes. The Indian Navy is interested in acquiring similar technology.

Royal Scientist Calls Honest U.S. Experts 'Loonies'

Unnatural Global Warming: Rants from Warm Globs
(More Science Shooting from The Hip for $$$$ off the Backs of Your U.S. Grandchildren)

Super-powerful hurricanes now hitting the United States are the "smoking gun" of global warming, says one of Britain's leading scientists, Sir John Lawton, who has not carried out any political activity in the last five years. "Rita, now threatening Texas, is very probably (notice how he hedges; he really cannot say for sure) caused by climate change", said Sir John Lawton, chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.

"If this makes the climate loonies in the States realize we've got a problem, something good will come out of this situation," said Sir John Lawton.

Wonder who our climate loonies are besides the head of our national weather service?
Notice none hedges except the last scientist, who is talking about possible U.N. bias:

Richard Lindzen, MIT meteorology professor and member of the National Academy of Sciences: "We are quite confident that [the] global mean temperature is about 0.5 degrees Celsius higher than it was a century ago ... [but] we are not in a position to confidently attribute past climate change to carbon dioxide or to forecast what the climate will be in the future." [top scientist, M.I.T. Professor Lindzen, Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (Ph.D., '64, S.M., '61, A.B., '60, Harvard University), consultant to the Global Modeling and Simulation Group at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory? Dr. Lindzen stated “Science, in the public arena, is commonly used as a source of authority with which to bludgeon political opponents and propagandize uninformed citizens."]

Sallie Baliunas, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics: "[T]he recent warming trend in the surface temperature record cannot be caused by the increase of human-made greenhouse gases in the air".

Frederick Seitz, retired, former solid-state physicist, former president of the National Academy of Sciences: "So we see that the scientific facts indicate that all the temperature changes observed in the last 100 years were largely natural changes and were not caused by carbon dioxide produced in human activities."

Robert C. Balling, Jr., director of the Office of Climatology and an associate professor of geography at Arizona State University: "At this moment in time we know only that: (1) Global surface temperatures have risen in recent decades. (2) Mid-tropospheric temperatures have warmed little over the same period. (3) This difference is not consistent with predictions from numerical climate models."

Willie Soon, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics: "... there's increasingly strong evidence that previous research conclusions, including those of the United Nations and the United States government concerning 20th century warming, may have been biased by underestimation of natural climate variations. ... In other words, natural factors could be more important than previously assumed".

Fodder for Thought or Fearless Fodder for IED Detection: Inmates are right, a mind is a terrible thing to waste!

"You call this prison? This ain't nothing. I'm ready for this," the teen said, according to one officer. During that confrontation, two other gang thugs attending the program started beating the inmate, bleeding heavily from the mouth and nose. Four attackers, suspected members of the Crips street gang, were finally subdued and taken away in handcuffs

They call the program at New Jersey's East Jersey State Woodbridge Prison 'Scared Straight.' Yesterday, the group lesson that attempts to shock young offenders into staying out of prison backfired when three "guests" listening to the hardened inmates attacked two of them, badly beating one, authorities said.

The hard-edged program involves "in your face" encounters between the inmates and young visitors who are ordered around by the inmates and told how people are traded behind bars as sexual property, the officer said. One, a "resident" at the New Jersey Training School for Boys in Monroe, had been ordered by a judge to attend the program. He did not appreciate what inmates were telling him.

Molten Eagle: Still in trouble at 18? Let them volunteer Straight to Iraq, if they drop out of Scared Straight!

Hugo Chavez's Prediction & Molten Eagle's Question

Hugo Chavez's Prediction: I bet a dollar to Mr. Bush to see who will last longer: Him there in the White House or this Venezuelan, Hugo Chavez, here in the Mira Flores Palace. Let's see who lasts longer, Mr. Bush.

Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (51), former paratroop officer and leader of an unsuccessful coup d'état in 1992, became El Presidente de Venezuela in 1998. Chavez is a very popular socialist who sports a new constitution, social programs, and foreign policy 'reforms' largely distancing Venezuela from the United States while closely embracing China.

Chavez comment (Aug 27th): ...there is plenty of evidence that the U.S. supported plots (for his assassination).

In March, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld criticized Venezuela's efforts to purchase 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Russia. Small arms are hard to track and could easily fall into guerrilla hands, even if Chavez does not intend for them to be transferred to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC). The first batch of 28,000 rifles, costing just $386.22 each, will arrive next month.

Venezuela is also buying Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters, and 15 Russian attack helicopters for delivery this year. Meanwhile, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) Venezuelan plans to buy three, new submarines from now through 2010 to modernize its armed forces, Navy Commander Armando Laguna said.

More commentary: Chavez responded with scathing personal attacks against (Condoleeza) Rice, calling her "pathetic" and "illiterate." He's even made sexual jokes. -Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

and,
"Internationally, he wants to replace Castro as leader of the left." - Miguel Diaz, Latin America Analyst

Molten Eagle's question: (According to Venezuelan, male mortality figures, Chavez can expect to live for 20 more years. The presidential term of office is six years and a president may be re-elected to a single consecutive term (corrected 9-26). Chances are very good Chavez's prediction of outlasting G.W. Bush will prevail in about 3 years) When a less stable leader eventually takes the reigns of this modernized military and its $2 billion+ annual budget will he have a Chinese or Korean surname?

Curious News Items: 5 Stories You May Have Missed

Permanent Able Danger silence (Super Cover UP)?
From the AP Today: Pentagon Nixes Hearing Testimony :
The Department of Defense has prohibited military intelligence officers from testifying about the secret military unit that had identified 9/11 hijackers a year prior to Sept. 11 terrorists attacks, according to the officer's attorney.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Arlen Spector, must be feeling collegial, again. Another attempted concession to Democrat Lawyers? Frist, Bush don't buy dumb idea.

Wow! Hat Tip to Lone Ranger, who asks:
"Another first for the Republicans. Where were the Democrats?"
This Day in Republican History 09/21/05
September 21, 1872 Nominated by African-American U.S. Rep. Robert B. Elliott (R-SC), South Carolina’s James Conyers becomes first African-American midshipman at U.S. Naval Academy

The KGB considered releasing radioactive material in Tokyo Bay in the late 1960s, to be blamed on American submarines and damaging U.S.-Japanese relations, according to a new book co-authored by a former KGB archivist. Salute to The Sub Report for finding this one.

Saddam lawyer, Abdel Haq ("Ad Hoc") Alani, tells the Associated Press that defense lawyers "must be served notice stating a trial date, and that hasn't happened." Saddam and seven members of his toppled regime are due to stand trial Oct. 19th. They are charged with ordering the massacre of 143 people in Dujail, in 1982. If convicted, Saddam could face the noose. .

Now Hear This: From Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman

Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman served as a member of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, the "independent, bipartisan commission" that was "chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

This lends impressive weight to what Vigilis has been saying about the damaging effects of too many lawyers now in the military's chain of command...
Hat tip to WillyShake at Unconsidered Trifles for his in-person reporting of a recent address by John Lehman:

"Lehman leaves partisan politics at the door (for example, 'I would love to bash Hillary, but the matter goes beyond that...') and goes after what he perceives as the real problem that threatens our national security: Bloated, hyper-litigious, bureaucracy that is drunk on political correctness..."

and more...."To illustrate this point, he noted that he recently met the CENTCOM lawyer who prevented the firing of a Hellfire missile at Mullah Omar when we had the chance to take him out. The lawyer was still quite adamant, said Lehman with disgust, that the attack would have violated Executive Order 11905, signed in 1976 by President Ford making it illegal for the US government to engage in assassinations of foreign heads of state. "

Most Searing Moment of Katrina Kabal's Bush Condemnation was ERRONEOUS!

Remember this sad, partisan face? Of course you do, no one can forget it. For the mainstream media it was a Katrina moment of incredibly searing anguish heaped at the feet of Mr. Bush. Logical folk, even conservatives who witnessed the TV-spot started doubting the compassion of our president and the very competence of FEMA's relief effort.

This was Aarom Broussard, Jefferson Parish president, and his emotional tale of a mother's desperate calls from a New Orleans nursing home came to prominence Sunday, Sept. 4, when he was interviewed by Tim Russert on NBC's Meet the Press. (MSNBC is a Microsoft-NBC joint venture.)

Just a few problems, however. The mother was not his, and the key facts were false. The deaths was caused by deliberate, criminal negligence of nursing home owners (Democrats?), not FEMA. MSNBC corrects the original broadcast here.
One more reason not to trust their brand of politics! - Vigilis, the independent

Predicted March 28th: Michael Schiavo to Co-Write Book

UPDATE: (√) Dutton Publishing will publish the book. Dutton is somewhat a prominent publisher of biographies: AlvinAiley, Babe Ruth, Robert F. Kennedy , etc.

UPDATE: (√) The AP recently confirmed ME's prediction. The story published today, is here.
Note the the co-author, Michael Hirsh, is a journalist. Two elements of the prediction are yet unknown (million dollar advance and prominent publisher), but time will tell.

Original prediction from Molten Eagle (posted Monday, March 28, 2005):

Terri's Gift and Husband's Book Deal Requires Her Death

Terri Schiavo's gift to humanity will either be a miracle for the world, or a tragic wake up call for American citizens. Her husband's lawyer (= paid liar) noted how peaceful she looked during involuntary starvation. Hopefully, this man will witness eqiuvalent peacefulness of his fellows' starvation in Hell.

Tonight CBS let us follow the money trail. Of her husband's original, $1.5 million malpractice settlement less than $50,000 remains. What a coincidence, just enough for final expenses. Terri's death allows the final chapter of a 15-year, legal battle to be written.

Look for a million dollar publisher's advance (probably not directly to the husband --too obvious) to a lawyer, or a journalist who then kickback. Look for a prominent publisher of biographies.

Curious News Items: UPDATE 4 Stories You May Have Missed

Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angela Merkel is widely expected to become Germany's first woman chancellor, as her party maintains a clear lead in the run-up to the 18 September election.


UPDATE: Louisiana Corruption: Senior officials in Louisiana's emergency planning agency Indicted Before Katrina Hit details here.

'Sugar Tit', South Carolina to be annexed by the city of Greer.
Sugar Tit is a little community at the crossroads of state highways 101 and 296, about 10 miles northwest of Woodruff. Natives explain that before the store-bought variety were homemade wads of cloth dipped in sugar water that pacified infants. The improvised devices were known as a "sugar tit." Pending annexation will forever replace an original bit of Americana with a the placename of a city hellbent on Greedy annexation for confiscatory taxation.


What is the of oldest, most durable material on Earth? Answer, +/- 40,000,000 years, these tiny, Zircon crystals, found at Jack Hills, Australia are around 4.3 billion years old. The tiny, natural crystals are not to be confused with Cubic Zirconia (or CZ) a mineral that is extremely rare in nature but is widely synthesized for use as a diamond simulant. These zircons are not only the oldest minerals on earth, they also show another interesting feature. Their oxygen isotope ratio (O18) has been interpreted to indicate that more than 4.4 billion years ago there was already water on the surface of the Earth. This is a spectacular interpretation that has been published in top scientific journals but is currently the subject of debate. From A Cool Early Earth, in Scientific American October 2005.

Iran to Share Nuclear Technology with Islamic Nations

The AP reports Iran's hard-line president President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today Iran is willing to provide other Islamic nations with nuclear technology.

Ahmadinejad repeated his promise not to pursue nuclear weapons, IRNA reported. Then he added: "Iran is ready to transfer nuclear know-how to the Islamic countries due to their need."

A senior nonaligned diplomat in Vienna said high-level contacts were under way between Tehran and EU countries on what concessions Iran was prepared to make in exchange for a delaying Iran's accounting to the U.N. Security Council.

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice last week appealed openly to China, Russia, India and other nations to support the United States in threatening Iran with sanctions for refusing to halt its nuclear program. Russia quickly opposed imposing Security Council sanctions on Iran, and the White House acknowledged Wednesday that President Bush was unable to get such a commitment from Chinese President Hu Jintao.

What Iran apparently does not appreciate is how dangerous nuclear waste disposal becomes and how deadly power generation can be (Chernobyl, Three-Mile Island.). Iran intends to use nuclear technology for medical needs, and is unconcerned. Good luck, Iran, accidents happen.

Too Evil To Look Down Upon Lowly Pigs

Today's TIMES UK reports: “The enemy here did just the most horrible things you can imagine, in one case murdering a child, placing a booby trap within the child’s body and waiting for the parent to come recover the body of their child and exploding it to kill the parents,” said Colonel H. R. McMaster, senior American commander at Tal Afar, Iraq.

"May these prayers lead to the killing of the infidels." - al-Zarqawi


"God does not play dice with the universe." - Einstein


"May al-Zarqawi perish in an IED (Booby Trap) accident to see paradise only as one of the loveliest virgins there," - Allah Willing

Submarines to Swarm Intelligently

First, there was the 1966 science fiction classic Fantastic Voyage featuring a team of people in a miniturized submarine injected into a person's bloodstream to repair brain trauma.

Forty years later, an actual research program at New Mexico State University's RioRoboLab, is working to develop tiny robotic submarines that imitate swarm behavior and intelligence. Swarm intelligence and behavior are exhibited naturally by ant colonies, bees, flocks of birds, herds of wild animals on an African safari and a multitude of biological systems including schools of fish, according to graduate student Matthew King. Groton submariners may remember the schools of untold thousands of tiny fish completely encircling the hull of your pierside vessels. In an instant the direction of all the fish would change inexplicably from CCW to CW or vice versa.
Anyone who can identify the fish, please let us know, that includes our friend PigBoatSailor from the Discomfort of Thought.

"Small, radio-controlled submarines will be placed inside of a large fish tank to mimic a school of fish. The submarines should be able to move in a coordinated fashion inside the fish tank without running into each other or the walls of the tank," King said.

RioRoboLab director Ram Prasad said swarm behavior is fundamental to all biological systems, and swarm intelligence is the ability to adapt and survive self-evolution through time. In other words, it is basically a robotic fish - "a RoboFish to give it a robotic flavor," Prasad said. Prasad said the RoboFish will have sonar and light sources as possible means of navigation and collision avoidance.

Excellent Decimation of al-Qaida

From PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's army destroyed a major al-Qaida hide-out and arrested 21, including foreigners and a government official accused of helping them in a remote northwestern tribal region near Afghanistan. A lawmaker from a religious party was also among those arrested. This was just one more blow to the Amalgamated Low - Quotient And Expendable, Deranged Assasins union.

The ongoing operation of thousands of troops seized a cache of weapons, including bombs, detonators and rockets; communications equipment used to exchange messages with militants in Afghanistan in both Arabic and Pashtu, the language spoken by most Taliban. Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 troops in its tribal regions to stop remnants of al-Qaida and the Taliban from sneaking into Pakistan or back into Afghanistan.

"It is the biggest-ever operation, which is still going on in North Waziristan," Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, the top army commander responsible for anti-terrorism operations in northwestern Pakistan, told a news conference. "As a result of this operation, a center of al-Qaida and terrorists has been destroyed and the back of al-Qaida and terrorists has been broken in the tribal areas because terrorist activities were carried out from here." Hussain said foreigners and "some important men are included among the captured people." Full report.

Hidden Motorcycle on Submarine?

Remember the USS Lagarto, SS-371? Lagarto's sunken wreckage had been found four months ago by a team of deepsea divers -200 feet below sea level, 93 miles from the southeast coast of Thailand. Now, a suprising disclosure from the hometown newspaper of one of Lagarto's officers on Eternal Patrol since May 24, 1945.

Divers were permitted to photograph the ship from the outside in mid–July, mostly to confirm that the submarine is, in fact, the USS Lagarto. Two family members visited the wreckage with the divers, armed with letters, pictures and other mementos Lagarto families have sent them to be read or placed at the site as a goodbye to their loved ones.

Cmdr. Frank Latta, a native of Burlington and a 1928 Burlington High grad, was one of those considered missing in action and presumed dead since May 24, 1945.

"Mike knows his father had a motorcycle the crew snuck onto the submarine," Carol Latta said, a hint of laughter in her voice. Latta explained that her father–in–law had a passion for motorcycles. Although it was against Navy policy to bring motorcycles on board, Frank Latta would disassemble the bike, put it in a crate and sneak it on the ship.

Once the ship had landed, he would put it back together again and ride it up and down the streets wherever they were. "It's probably still on board (the submarine)," Latta said.

Molten Eagle believes the Army (or Navy) deployed a few motorcycles on subs during WWII for use in special situations. If anyone can share specifics, we will be looking forward to them. Also, how long would assembly and disassembly of a motorcycle take, assuming it was not a complicated, foreign make?

Finally, where would it most likely be stored?

Iran, Are You Listening? And Members of the Amalgamated Low - Quotient And Expendable, Deranged Assasins union?

Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan
Strategy Includes Preemptive Use Against Banned Weapons from Washington Post
Article by Walter Pincus

The preemptive strategy was first announced by the Bush White House in December 2002. A White House spokesman said at the time that the United States would "respond with overwhelming force" to the use of weapons of mass destruction against the United States, its forces or allies, and said "all options" would be available to the president. The new document "revises the discussion of nuclear weapons use across the range of military operations."

The Joint Staff draft doctrine says that there are "about thirty nations with WMD programs" along with "nonstate actors [terrorists] either independently or as sponsored by an adversarial state." The document states "responsible security planning requires preparation for threats that are possible, though perhaps unlikely today." The revised doctrine for use of nuclear weapons envisions commanders requesting presidential approval to use them.

The first example of nuclear weapon use listed in the draft is against an enemy that is using "or intending to use WMD" against U.S. or allied, multinational military forces or civilian populations.

Another scenario for a possible nuclear preemptive strike is in case of an "imminent attack from adversary biological weapons that only effects from nuclear weapons can safely destroy."

The draft document also envisions the use of atomic weapons for "attacks on adversary installations including WMD, deep, hardened bunkers containing chemical or biological weapons."

Hans M. Kristensen, a consultant to the Natural Resources Defense Council, who discovered the document Titled "Doctrine for Joint Nuclear Operations" on a Pentagon Web site. Kristensen said. "It provides justification for contentious concepts not proven and implies the need for RNEP." RNEP is short for Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator.

The draft is expected to be signed within a few weeks by Air Force Lt. Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, director of the Joint Staff. It will deter a potential adversary from using such weapons by assuring to the adversary's leadership the United States has both the ability and will to pre-empt or retaliate promptly with responses that are credible and effective. Hooray!

Oregonians Not to Worry -Yet: Vulcanism at Work

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - A large, slow-growing volcanic bulge in Eastern Oregon is attracting the attention of seismologists who say that the rising ground could be the beginnings of a volcano or simply magma shifting underground. The article Scientists find growing land bulge in Oregon is written by Teresa Carson.

The bulge is estimated to due to a subterreanean lake 1 mile across and 65 feet deep 4.5 miles below the surface, that is filling with fluid (thought to be magma). The site is located in a sparsely populated area 25 miles to the west of Bend, Oregon.

Even if you on the center of this area, you would not be able to see, feel or smell anything, seismologists said. It could be eons before more is noticed, or it could develope fumaroles (visible vents from which volcanic gas escapes) overnight.

The Great Library of Atlantis

The Holocene, a relatively brief) so far) epoch in which we live, extends back some 10- 11,000 years. Retreating glaciers permitted the gradual spread and nurturing of ciilization. Note the global intrusions of frozen glaciers some 18 -20,000 year ago. Life in much of the globe would have been climatically prohibitive.

Over the last few million years, ice ages refer to periods with ice sheets over much of North American and European continents. The term interglacial refers to the relatively brief, warm periods, like the Holocene, between longer ice ages. The period before the present Holocene is known as the Pleistocene. During the Pleistocene extensive glaciation has ocurred in 40,000 and 100,000 year cycles as shown in the chart belo.

Mythical Atlantis is dated by Plato to around 12,000 years ago. Atlantis ended then, in the early Holocene. Atlantis was legendary for its advanced science, even by today's accomplishments. If such scientific and technological knowledge was ever handed down, where did it go? Atlantis certainly must have had a library to store its knowledge and educate future genertions. Was that lost?

Science is always fascinating, like this (water moved by light) , but guess which section might be even more interesting. Did you guess World history? Correct.

Update - Independent Political Wanderings

Go here for a more complete Lone Ranger intro.

I am a committed Independent politically. Politicians have a way of changing my mind about supporting any political party, so never will. Always open-minded and very skeptical, I read
interesting opinions and well-crafted blogs of all stripes.

Here is one of the better ones. I will not describe its leanings, because it is best for you to judge that for yourself, independently. Go here for The History of Republican Evil by Lone Ranger.

Future of SSNs: Unauthorized Prediction of the Esoteric

The following is my prediction only and it is based on a cursory analysis of publicly available information:

SSNs (also known as fast attack) are only necessary for certain, limited types of submarine operations. The 'N' in SSN denotes nuclear propulsion; SS denotes a submarine of the USN.

A mothership (submerged replenishment and crew) concept reduces the total number of SSNs needed even further (my guess, perhaps into single digits). Submerged motherships are my conjecture. Have found nothing about them yet.

AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) non-nuclear subs may fulfill remaining submarine roles handily and with three major advantages:
+ Shorter production lead times;
+ Lower, more contollable aquisition costs; and
+ Reduced manning, and operating costs.

Things are going to get very interesting with respect to basing any new SSNs, which are probably going to be scarce and secretive than ever, in my opinion.

What is your opinion?

Wall Street Journal Blows Blanco and Nagin Out of the Water

From WSJ Opinion Journal article by BOB WILLIAMS (former state legislator who represented the district impacted by Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980). Excerpted below:

Unlike governors of New York, Oklahoma and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco failed to take charge of crisis management and to ensure Louisiana's emergency operation facility was in constant contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA.

Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim surprise at the extent of damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. Had the plans been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.

Local, state and federal officials held simulated a hurricane drill 13 months ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise simulated the evacuation of more than a million residents. Problems identified in the simulation apparently were not solved. The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters carried out under the supervision of the state governor and the state's emergency operations center.

The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a state emergency without the request of a governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to request the specific type of assistance she needed. Governor Blanco failed to send a timely request for specific aid.

BBC's Analysis of New Orleans Crisis Management Failures

Early in the morning of August 29, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Buras, Louisiana as a Category 4 storm wielding 145-mph gales. The hurricane's eyewall skirted the eastern edge of New Orleans. Now, almost everyone sees the missed opportunity to evacuate all of New Orleans residents beforehand as a tragedy.

Total evacuation is a drastic measure because it usually leads to looting and accidental highway deaths in itself. Katrina was a large, Category 5 storm that had been slowly tracking right for the Gulf coast, however. Had total evacuation been ordered before Katrina struck, response to hungry, stranded, injured and feeble people throughout the city, including the Superdome would have been unnecessary.

Mr Bush has been blamed for failing to provide inspirational leadership, even though the president has no legal power to order an evacuation. Another criticism at Bush is why Michael Brown was appointed director of FEMA. Like Gov. Blanco, Mr. Brown may be over his head when it comes to crisis management.

When Hurricane Camille, a rare Category Five storm, hit Mississippi in 1969, barely missing New Orleans, the levees around the city were strengthened - but only enough to protect against a Category Three hurricane.

The BBC NEWS on Monday, 5 September 2005, analyzed the crises from a British perspective. You may wish to read for yourself. A few of their key points are:

+ Louisiana gambled that a Category Five hurricane would not strike New Orleans.

+ New Orleans had an inadequate evacuation plan.

+ Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco admits that President Bush had called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation on Aug 28th.

+ On Aug 27th, National Hurricane Director Max Mayfield had called Mayor Nagin telling him an evacuation was needed.

+ The Department of Homeland Security declared an incident of national significance Wednesday, Aug. 31st. The declaration allows the federal government a greater role in taking decisions. The declaration, never before made, would be unconstitutional without predication.

+ It took Governor Blanco until Thursday (Sept. 1st) to sign an order releasing school buses to move the evacuees. Two levees had completely failed by then.

+ After flooding in 1995, the existing levee system was improved. About 1/2 Billion dollars was spent over the next 10 years.

New Orleans Calamity: Oversights You Need to Know

Americans seem to agree day-two handling of New Orlean's Katrina response was pitiable compared with steps (see #7-9 in Best Practices). Natural disaster management criteria were available. Plans must be reviewed, approved, and refined at least annually, however. Formalized plans do not seem to have been submitted to the state of Louisiana or FEMA for professional review and approval. Was that even a requirement? The answers appear to be a big NO.

No citizen should expect or tolerate a repeat of such unpreparedness by highly-paid emergency management bureaucrats in FEMA or the each of our 50 states and major cities

Here are some thoughts that may have been overlooked by most. We may be many years from details like these even being considered in natural disaster preparations. However, the time to develope comprehensive plans with actual meat is critically overdue. Each of these points eventually needs consideration in future disaster management efforts and may require local answers even sooner:

Point One (Hat Tip to OSAPian): Jailed detainees were either evacuated or released into the general population. This included 1,393 registered sex offenders living within the pre-flood city limits. Most of them have been evacuated to God only knows where by now. We can assume keeping track of Big Easy perverts was not part of the bungled evacuation plans. It would be unfair to lambaste local and state officials for this: we can also safely assume identifying and keeping tabs on evacuated sex offenders is not a component of disaster protocols in American urban areas.

Point Two (Hat Tip to Scott Henson): Probably a graver public safety concern is that ALL of the evidence for pending state criminal cases, including robbery, rape, capital murder, judicial corruption, you name it, was flooded and lost. All those cases must be dropped, in all likelihood, and the defendants set free. (Vigilis emphasis)

Point Three (VIGILIS): When were detainees released? If prisoners and jailees were evacuated by the parish to safer locales while so many indigent fared (and failed) for themselves, what would that say about Mayor Ray Nagin’s leadership of his city?

Point Four (VIGILIS): If prisoners were merely let go into the remaining New Orleans population released without regard to their backgrounds and the dangers posed to the community, what does that say about opportunities for better planning in the future?

Point Five (VIGILIS): Finally, if detainees were not released until the water breached their cells, what would that say about Mayor Ray Nagin’s leadership of his city?

The Submarine Service - A Relatively Small World

Once, there were about 4,000 officers and 37,000 enlisted submariners, a small fraction of the entire, active Navy at the time.

The first time I saw my best bud in over two years, although we had both been homeported in the same New London squadron, was over in Naples. SSNs as you know, are gone a lot. It really makes the world seem smaller when that happens.

This is not us in the photo. These guys do look familiar, but don't know them. Does anyone even recognize the boat? The nationality? ....Going knee deep.

Rebuilding New Orleans Makes N.O. Sense: Highest and Best Use?

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) surprised some people Thursday when he suggested that it isn’t sensible to rebuild flood-ravaged New Orleans. "It doesn't make sense to me," Hastert told Chicago's Daily Herald as told in The Times-Picayune published Thursday. "And it's a question that certainly we should ask."

Hastert questioned the wisdom of rebuilding a city below sea level that will continue to be in the path of powerful hurricanes. Americans' hearts go the people in Katrina's path, but if the people insist on living in harm's way, they ought to accept responsibility for what happens to them and their property.

Later, Gov. Kathleen Blanco, D-La., demanded an apology of Speaker Hastert.

“That’s like saying we should shut down Los Angeles because it’s built in an earthquake zone,” former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., said. “Or like saying that after the Great Chicago fire of 1871, the U.S. government should have just abandoned the city.”

Really? Not only has recurrence of Chicago's Great Fire been prevented there, but National Fire codes have prevented similar tragedies across the country. Earthquakes can happen anywhere, almost anytime. Sen. Breaux is wrong. The emergency bailout is afterall, supported by Hastert.

Hastert raised questions about a long-term rebuilding effort. "But I think federal insurance and everything that goes along with it... we ought to take a second look at that." Hastert is bravely saying what needs to be said.

Rather than occupied homes, condos and other dwellings, what would be the highest and best use of the N.O. bowl?

What use makes more sense? A theme park, hunting preserve, solar energy farm, agricultural use (too polluted), a Venetian-like city, lake for recreation and mariculture, health spa, prison encampment for illegal imigrants, some combination of the above, or other?

Would you buy property or build in New Orleans?

Help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Give generously, for example, to:

Feed The Children

The Salvation Army

Submarines At Fault or Will Gas Prices Rise?

Post card art above is based on an original 1903 print appearing in Le Petit Journal, a leading illustrated news magazine published in France from 1891 until WWII. The card depicts submarine officers (the old geezers in dark suits) shooting porpoises in the Mediterranean Sea, as sailors gaff the wounded alongside. Porpoises have been a European delicacy since at least medieval times.

The catch would have been deliciously prepared by a sousmarin sous chef. Today the species is protected, as are submarine secrets.

Although used routinely by many marine mammals, sonars were not yet used by navies.

Fast forward 102 years. After some 70 dolphins beached in the Florida Keys last April, a U.S. Navy submarine that had operated mid- and high-frequency sonars in the vicinity came under civilian suspicion.

To help solve the riddle of beachings, research is being conducted by Auditory Physiologist / Bio-Acoustician Jonathan Lovell. He has created a system enabling underwater hearing tests to be carried out on any animal thought to be affected by noise pollution. We can now provide evidence that even shrimp are potentially vulnerable to sonar, says Lovell.

Loud noises from low frequency active (LFA) sonar used by the military to detect submarines, or from airgun arrays used during geological surveys of the seafloor by the petroleum industry may be responsible for the stranded species. If the latter, expect gas prices to rise!