If this is true, my Osama is dead theory is shot.
DUBAI (Reuters) - Arab satellite television Al Jazeera said on Friday it would broadcast a video tape from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden addressing the American people.
It said the tape, to be aired at 4 p.m. EDT, would discuss the reasons behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and their repercussions. It gave no further details.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Tom Harkin, Oracle of God
Well, if that's how God wants it.
VINTON - Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin says John Kerry has been gaining in the polls every day since Oct. 21, and George Bush has been going down every day.
"That's how God wants it to be," Harkin told a group of about 25 people at the Benton County Headquarters in Vinton on Thursday afternoon. Harkin was touring the state to stump for Kerry and Democratic legislative candidates. He appeared in Benton County on behalf of Mt. Auburn Mayor Dawn Pettengill, who is running against incumbent Republican Dell Hanson for the Iowa House District 39 seat.
VINTON - Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin says John Kerry has been gaining in the polls every day since Oct. 21, and George Bush has been going down every day.
"That's how God wants it to be," Harkin told a group of about 25 people at the Benton County Headquarters in Vinton on Thursday afternoon. Harkin was touring the state to stump for Kerry and Democratic legislative candidates. He appeared in Benton County on behalf of Mt. Auburn Mayor Dawn Pettengill, who is running against incumbent Republican Dell Hanson for the Iowa House District 39 seat.
More Nuance
What the heck is he saying?
NBCNEWS Brokaw interviewed John Kerry Thursday evening.
Brokaw: "If you had been President, Saddam Hussein would be in power."
Kerry: "Not necessarily."
Brokaw: "You said you wouldn't go to war against him."
Kerry: "That's not true. Because under the inspection process, Saddam Hussein was required to destroy those kinds of materials and weapons."
Brokaw: "But he wasn't destroying them."
Kerry: "That's what you have inspectors for. That's why I voted for the threat of force, because he only does things when you have a legitimate threat of force. It's irresponsible to suggest that if I were President, he wouldn't be gone. He might be gone, because if he hadn't complied, we might have had to go to war, but if we did, we would have gone with allies, so the American people weren't carrying the entire burden. And the entire world would understand why we did it."
NBCNEWS Brokaw interviewed John Kerry Thursday evening.
Brokaw: "If you had been President, Saddam Hussein would be in power."
Kerry: "Not necessarily."
Brokaw: "You said you wouldn't go to war against him."
Kerry: "That's not true. Because under the inspection process, Saddam Hussein was required to destroy those kinds of materials and weapons."
Brokaw: "But he wasn't destroying them."
Kerry: "That's what you have inspectors for. That's why I voted for the threat of force, because he only does things when you have a legitimate threat of force. It's irresponsible to suggest that if I were President, he wouldn't be gone. He might be gone, because if he hadn't complied, we might have had to go to war, but if we did, we would have gone with allies, so the American people weren't carrying the entire burden. And the entire world would understand why we did it."
"Bum Hunting"
5 High Schoolers Charged in Beatings
The Toms River North seniors went "bum hunting," beating three homeless people, according to police.
Associated Press
TOMS RIVER, N.J. - Police in Dover Township charged five high school seniors with severely beating three homeless people, and authorities said the youths went "bum hunting" because they were bored.
The four 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old, all students at Toms River High School North, went searching for victims in the woods off Route 37 where up to 20 people are believed to be living in tents and other structures, Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said.
The teens were charged Tuesday night. The most recent incident occurred last Friday when a 50-year-old man who lives in the woods was attacked.
The man told police a group beat him with pipes and baseball bats as he slept. He was taken to Community Medical Center with five broken ribs, a punctured lung and a fractured arm, police said. He told authorities the group also threw hockey pucks at him, Detective Raymond Maloney said.
"Apparently they were actually searching people out who are residentially challenged, or homeless... merely because of their stature in life," Mastronardy told the Star-Ledger of Newark for yesterday's newspapers.
Mastronardy said the assaults in the Ocean County community were "just something to do" for the teens. He said area youths call such activities "bum hunting."
The first thing I would do is take these five young men and beat them with pipes and baseball bats. Then I would take the Police Chief and beat him with pipes and baseball bats for using the term "residentially challenged."
The Toms River North seniors went "bum hunting," beating three homeless people, according to police.
Associated Press
TOMS RIVER, N.J. - Police in Dover Township charged five high school seniors with severely beating three homeless people, and authorities said the youths went "bum hunting" because they were bored.
The four 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old, all students at Toms River High School North, went searching for victims in the woods off Route 37 where up to 20 people are believed to be living in tents and other structures, Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said.
The teens were charged Tuesday night. The most recent incident occurred last Friday when a 50-year-old man who lives in the woods was attacked.
The man told police a group beat him with pipes and baseball bats as he slept. He was taken to Community Medical Center with five broken ribs, a punctured lung and a fractured arm, police said. He told authorities the group also threw hockey pucks at him, Detective Raymond Maloney said.
"Apparently they were actually searching people out who are residentially challenged, or homeless... merely because of their stature in life," Mastronardy told the Star-Ledger of Newark for yesterday's newspapers.
Mastronardy said the assaults in the Ocean County community were "just something to do" for the teens. He said area youths call such activities "bum hunting."
The first thing I would do is take these five young men and beat them with pipes and baseball bats. Then I would take the Police Chief and beat him with pipes and baseball bats for using the term "residentially challenged."
Huh?
Europe's largest newspaper, Germany's Bild, has endorsed....George Bush? Yep. Did I miss something.
Warum George W. Bush der bessere Präsident ist
Eine Wahl-Empfehlung von HUGO MÜLLER-VOGG
Hugo Müller-Vogg In sechs Tagen, am 2. November, hat Amerika die Wahl: George W. Bush oder John Kerry? Hier nennt BILD-Autor Hugo Müller-Vogg seine zehn Gründe, warum es für Deutschland, die Welt und Amerika besser wäre, wenn George W. Bush Präsident bleibt.
Warum George W. Bush der bessere Präsident ist
Eine Wahl-Empfehlung von HUGO MÜLLER-VOGG
Hugo Müller-Vogg In sechs Tagen, am 2. November, hat Amerika die Wahl: George W. Bush oder John Kerry? Hier nennt BILD-Autor Hugo Müller-Vogg seine zehn Gründe, warum es für Deutschland, die Welt und Amerika besser wäre, wenn George W. Bush Präsident bleibt.
The IRS is on the Case
Wait a minute. Stop the presses. You're telling me that the NAACP may have violated federal law by engaging political, partisan speech. No way.
WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service is investigating whether a speech by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond last summer that criticized the Bush administration violated a federal law that prohibits tax-exempt charitable organizations from engaging in most forms of political activity.
Bond said he felt the probe was politically motivated and meant to have a chilling effect on the NAACP, in particular its efforts to register black voters, who support Sen. John Kerry overwhelmingly.
Bond is wrong, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said.
WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service is investigating whether a speech by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond last summer that criticized the Bush administration violated a federal law that prohibits tax-exempt charitable organizations from engaging in most forms of political activity.
Bond said he felt the probe was politically motivated and meant to have a chilling effect on the NAACP, in particular its efforts to register black voters, who support Sen. John Kerry overwhelmingly.
Bond is wrong, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said.
We're Becoming More Civilized
Walter Shapiro of USA Today is one of the better political reporters around. He has a great article today describing how campaigns of the past were far, far more viscous and dirty than today.
Interesting Photos
The Pentagon has satellite photos of large convoys of trucks moving materials from in and around Baghdad to Syria just prior to the war. Now that's interesting.
You can read about it here. I don't know if the NY Times has an article or not.
You can read about it here. I don't know if the NY Times has an article or not.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
More Teresa
I'm beginning to think that Teresa's a Karl Rove plant. Here's her latest gibberish:
PITTSBURGH -- Teresa Heinz Kerry called attacks on her husband's foreign policy views "Neanderthal" while meeting with current and former Republicans who said they plan to vote for Sen. John Kerry.
"The perpetration of certain myths that diplomacy and alliances are a sign of weakness is Neanderthal," Heinz Kerry said at the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign headquarters in Pittsburgh. "I never heard of teaching a child to make enemies so they can get along in the playground."
Diplomacy and alliances aren't a sign of weakness. If they were, Bush would never practice them. But he most certainly does as exhibited with Iraq, Libya, the Syrian pullout of Lebanon, Pakistan, Australia, Great Britain, etc. The examples are endless.
However, continued diplomacy and alliance-building after numerous attempts have been tried - and failed - IS a sign of weakness. Case in point: France.
PITTSBURGH -- Teresa Heinz Kerry called attacks on her husband's foreign policy views "Neanderthal" while meeting with current and former Republicans who said they plan to vote for Sen. John Kerry.
"The perpetration of certain myths that diplomacy and alliances are a sign of weakness is Neanderthal," Heinz Kerry said at the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign headquarters in Pittsburgh. "I never heard of teaching a child to make enemies so they can get along in the playground."
Diplomacy and alliances aren't a sign of weakness. If they were, Bush would never practice them. But he most certainly does as exhibited with Iraq, Libya, the Syrian pullout of Lebanon, Pakistan, Australia, Great Britain, etc. The examples are endless.
However, continued diplomacy and alliance-building after numerous attempts have been tried - and failed - IS a sign of weakness. Case in point: France.
The Frenchies are Scared
French officials and politicians are worrying about the pending outcome of next week's U.S. presidential elections, which they fear President George W. Bush could win, prolonging the standoff with France over Iraq and the Middle East crisis.
French fear is almost universal as the latest official polls show that 85 percent of the French support Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry.
"French fear is almost universal"? Yes it is. Man, you could drop that line into any story from the past 50 years.
French fear is almost universal as the latest official polls show that 85 percent of the French support Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry.
"French fear is almost universal"? Yes it is. Man, you could drop that line into any story from the past 50 years.
Beer and Girls - A Dangerous Combination
I understand (sort of) why God gave us free will. But giving guys free will, along with girls and beer, just isn't fair. Ask these guys:
According to an AP report, two Buddhist monks in Cambodia have reportedly abandoned their vows after falling in love with a pair of girls who sold beer across from their temple. The Cambodia Daily reports that the monks, both 19 years old, gave up their monastic lives after the chief monk at their temple accused them of secretly courting the girls in violation of Buddhist guidelines.
According to an AP report, two Buddhist monks in Cambodia have reportedly abandoned their vows after falling in love with a pair of girls who sold beer across from their temple. The Cambodia Daily reports that the monks, both 19 years old, gave up their monastic lives after the chief monk at their temple accused them of secretly courting the girls in violation of Buddhist guidelines.
Arafat to Paris...Then Possibly to Hell
Now if you were a ruthless terrorist butcher, where would you go for medical treatment. That's right, Paris. I think Paris is also where his "wife" and bank accounts are as well.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Doctors decided to fly ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Paris for treatment, as associates described an Palestinian leader who was too weak to stand Thursday, appeared confused and spent most of the day sleeping.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Doctors decided to fly ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Paris for treatment, as associates described an Palestinian leader who was too weak to stand Thursday, appeared confused and spent most of the day sleeping.
How Things Have Changed
A rumor that a suspended student planned to bring a gun to school Tuesday prompted parents to keep from 350 to 400 students home from Holmes High School in Covington.
Except for the missing students, it turned out to be a routine school day with no major incidents, Covington School Superintendent Jack Moreland said. "I guess it must be a slow news day when the 5 o'clock story is, 'School dismissed without incident,'" he said.
What happened to the Holmes High School I used to know? Back in the day, students packing heat was a common occurrence and certainly didn't require staying home from school. Man, the kids have gone soft.
Except for the missing students, it turned out to be a routine school day with no major incidents, Covington School Superintendent Jack Moreland said. "I guess it must be a slow news day when the 5 o'clock story is, 'School dismissed without incident,'" he said.
What happened to the Holmes High School I used to know? Back in the day, students packing heat was a common occurrence and certainly didn't require staying home from school. Man, the kids have gone soft.
al Queda Tape Authentic!
CIA and FBI say it's the real deal.
Interesting tidbit, among other things:
Further claims on the video: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.
And...
Intelligence officials believe:
Videotape message likely produced in late summer '04 due to references to current events such as the 9/11 Commission. Individual is college educated, either American born or raised in the U.S.
The U.S. is actively seeking to identify the individual. Adam Gadhan - aka Adam Pearlman of Southern California - remains the chief candidate but another still unknown individual may be possible.
US intelligence officials say the danger is that if this individual is an American citizen, he will be immersed in the culture and customs and have the ability to travel in America freely and unnoticed.
Interesting tidbit, among other things:
Further claims on the video: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.
And...
Intelligence officials believe:
Videotape message likely produced in late summer '04 due to references to current events such as the 9/11 Commission. Individual is college educated, either American born or raised in the U.S.
The U.S. is actively seeking to identify the individual. Adam Gadhan - aka Adam Pearlman of Southern California - remains the chief candidate but another still unknown individual may be possible.
US intelligence officials say the danger is that if this individual is an American citizen, he will be immersed in the culture and customs and have the ability to travel in America freely and unnoticed.
Pops Update #5
Pops is in the intensive care unit over at University Hospital. He's got a bunch of issues right now. First, his liver isn't working (we knew that). Second, his kidneys have partially shut down so they've put him on dialysis. Third, he has a condition called ATN which is a lesion on the kidneys. Fourth, he has pneumonia. I thinks that's everything.
Here's what happens next:
1. They need about 7 to 21 days for the ATN to clear up. They're treating that now.
2. If the ATN clears up, they're hoping that the pneumonia will have cleared up by that time as well.
3. If both 1 and 2 happen, they'll shut off the dialysis to see if his kidneys will restart. There's a 60% chance that they'll start working again.
4. If 1, 2, and 3 occur, they'll catheterize (I think that's the term) one of the valves in his heart to see if it's working ok - or at least well enough to sustain a transplant. There's a small concern that one of the valves or chambers or something is not right.
5. If 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 all occur, he'll then get the ok from the transplant team and will be put on the transplant list. If this happens, he would probably have a liver within 2 weeks. This assumes that during that 2-week period nothing else happens.
The greatest obstacle is the kidneys. If those aren't straightened out, nothing else will go forward. At that point, they'll send him home with hospice care.
So that's where we are right now. Continue to pray for Pops. He's not in any pain right now, just uncomfortable. He knows the Lord's in control and is waiting as patiently as possible. Again, he knows he wins through life and even more so through death.
Here's what happens next:
1. They need about 7 to 21 days for the ATN to clear up. They're treating that now.
2. If the ATN clears up, they're hoping that the pneumonia will have cleared up by that time as well.
3. If both 1 and 2 happen, they'll shut off the dialysis to see if his kidneys will restart. There's a 60% chance that they'll start working again.
4. If 1, 2, and 3 occur, they'll catheterize (I think that's the term) one of the valves in his heart to see if it's working ok - or at least well enough to sustain a transplant. There's a small concern that one of the valves or chambers or something is not right.
5. If 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 all occur, he'll then get the ok from the transplant team and will be put on the transplant list. If this happens, he would probably have a liver within 2 weeks. This assumes that during that 2-week period nothing else happens.
The greatest obstacle is the kidneys. If those aren't straightened out, nothing else will go forward. At that point, they'll send him home with hospice care.
So that's where we are right now. Continue to pray for Pops. He's not in any pain right now, just uncomfortable. He knows the Lord's in control and is waiting as patiently as possible. Again, he knows he wins through life and even more so through death.
Is Arafat dead yet?
I don't wish ill on anyone, but I can honestly say I won't lose any sleep over Arafat's death. It will be fun reading all of the beautiful eulogies about this awful man. Chirac will be heartbroken.
Was Abe Lincoln Gay?
This will be the must-read of the year:
If the loving heart of the Great Emancipator found its natural amorous passions overwhelmingly directed toward those of his own sex, it would certainly be a stunning rebuke to the Republican Party’s scapegoating of same-sex love for electoral purposes. And a forthcoming book by the late Dr. C.A. Tripp — The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, to be published in the new year by Free Press — makes a powerful case that Lincoln was a lover of men.
Tripp, who worked closely in the 1940s and 1950s with the groundbreaking sexologist Alfred Kinsey, was a clinical psychologist, university professor and author of the 1975 best-seller The Homosexual Matrix, which helped transcend outdated Freudian clichés and establish that a same-sex affectional and sexual orientation is a normal and natural occurrence.
In his book on Lincoln, Tripp draws on his years with Kinsey, who, he wrote, "confronted the problem of classifying mixed sex patterns by devising his 0-to-6 scale, which allows the ranking of any homosexual component in a person’s life from none to entirely homosexual. By this measure Lincoln qualifies as a classical 5 — predominantly homosexual, but incidentally heterosexual."
The first paragraph had me, but they lost me with the second. Kinsey's been discredited as a fraud and a fool, so claiming you worked closely with him is the kiss of death.
If the loving heart of the Great Emancipator found its natural amorous passions overwhelmingly directed toward those of his own sex, it would certainly be a stunning rebuke to the Republican Party’s scapegoating of same-sex love for electoral purposes. And a forthcoming book by the late Dr. C.A. Tripp — The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln, to be published in the new year by Free Press — makes a powerful case that Lincoln was a lover of men.
Tripp, who worked closely in the 1940s and 1950s with the groundbreaking sexologist Alfred Kinsey, was a clinical psychologist, university professor and author of the 1975 best-seller The Homosexual Matrix, which helped transcend outdated Freudian clichés and establish that a same-sex affectional and sexual orientation is a normal and natural occurrence.
In his book on Lincoln, Tripp draws on his years with Kinsey, who, he wrote, "confronted the problem of classifying mixed sex patterns by devising his 0-to-6 scale, which allows the ranking of any homosexual component in a person’s life from none to entirely homosexual. By this measure Lincoln qualifies as a classical 5 — predominantly homosexual, but incidentally heterosexual."
The first paragraph had me, but they lost me with the second. Kinsey's been discredited as a fraud and a fool, so claiming you worked closely with him is the kiss of death.
The Administration's Greatest Failure
While the Al Qaqaa story sounds like a fraud, this one from the Boston Globe doesn't:
IN 2003 I went to tell Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz what I had seen in Baghdad in the days following Saddam Hussein's overthrow. For nearly an hour, I described the catastrophic aftermath of the invasion -- the unchecked looting of every public institution in Baghdad, the devastation of Iraq's cultural heritage, the anger of ordinary Iraqis who couldn't understand why the world's only superpower was letting this happen.
I also described two particularly disturbing incidents -- one I had witnessed and the other I had heard about. On April 16, 2003, a mob attacked and looted the Iraqi equivalent of the Centers for Disease Control, taking live HIV and black fever virus among other potentially lethal materials. US troops were stationed across the street but did not intervene because they didn't know the building was important.
When he found out, the young American lieutenant was devastated. He shook his head and said, "I hope I am not responsible for Armageddon." About the same time, looters entered the warehouses at Iraq's sprawling nuclear facilities at Tuwaitha on Baghdad's outskirts. They took barrels of yellowcake (raw uranium), apparently dumping the uranium and using the barrels to hold water. US troops were at Tuwaitha but did not interfere.
This was the single greatest failure of the Administration during the immediate aftermath of the war. We were much too "sensitive" regarding the Iraqi population after the invasion. We should have locked down Baghdad - and other areas - from the start. Would that have made a difference in the long run? I don't know.
IN 2003 I went to tell Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz what I had seen in Baghdad in the days following Saddam Hussein's overthrow. For nearly an hour, I described the catastrophic aftermath of the invasion -- the unchecked looting of every public institution in Baghdad, the devastation of Iraq's cultural heritage, the anger of ordinary Iraqis who couldn't understand why the world's only superpower was letting this happen.
I also described two particularly disturbing incidents -- one I had witnessed and the other I had heard about. On April 16, 2003, a mob attacked and looted the Iraqi equivalent of the Centers for Disease Control, taking live HIV and black fever virus among other potentially lethal materials. US troops were stationed across the street but did not intervene because they didn't know the building was important.
When he found out, the young American lieutenant was devastated. He shook his head and said, "I hope I am not responsible for Armageddon." About the same time, looters entered the warehouses at Iraq's sprawling nuclear facilities at Tuwaitha on Baghdad's outskirts. They took barrels of yellowcake (raw uranium), apparently dumping the uranium and using the barrels to hold water. US troops were at Tuwaitha but did not interfere.
This was the single greatest failure of the Administration during the immediate aftermath of the war. We were much too "sensitive" regarding the Iraqi population after the invasion. We should have locked down Baghdad - and other areas - from the start. Would that have made a difference in the long run? I don't know.
Sorry Republican Yankee Fans
Just read where Curt Schilling - the Yankee slayer and hero of Red Sox Nation - will be campaigning with W. in Pennsylvania over the weekend. If you're a Yankee fan, can you vote for Bush knowing Schilling is too? Very difficult decision.
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