I wasn't going to comment any further today until I saw this article in the New York Times. (cilck title to entry - thank you)

The importance of the military carrying out this investigation should be obvious so I won't beleaguer the point here.

However, I believe a word of caution is in order when the media is discussing Nidal Hasan. I don't believe talking about the tragedy or reporting facts voluntarily offered by the investigators is inappropriate, however, there is this 'thread' of 'mind speak' that accompanies some of this discussion that should be averted.

In the NYTimes article it is stated there was more evidence that leads to the belief Nidal Hasan was a very disturbed man. I believe the article is done well and speaks to many possibilities as to why Nidal Hasan decided to kill so many people that day.

Nidal Hasan acted alone. He wasn't on orders from any extremist Islamic group or affiliated with any foreign entity. He acted no different than Timothy McVeigh did. He acted in violence against a 'thought/ideology' he had and felt compeled to 'handle' for whatever deranged reason exists.

Men like McVeigh, and it is primarily men, don't accept their own reality. They seek to change it inappropriately by blaming a 'monster' they can't control. That monster is usually the government. The government or military lacks compassion or outreach in a way that would change the lives of those angry for whatever reason, valid or otherwise.

Nidal Hasan, no different than McVeigh or others like them was seeking control. Their own 'comfort zone' was displaced and they blamed others for their circumstances. Their personal circumstances. I find the 'idea' that Nidal Hasan was having business cards printed at the same time he was losing control rather interesting. Somewhere in his thinking there was an 'idea' there was a greater need for his 'ability' in a society that would reward his talents.

A business card is a form of 'offical document' of one kind or another. It is an expression of whom one is and how that person can provide services. I am assuming the address on Nidal Hasan's business cards stated his home address and not an address in Yemen. A business card says one is important and valuable.

If the media doesn't report on Nidal Hasan well, it will be exhibiting bias toward Muslims. Why would the media treat him differently than McVeigh and extrapolate his acts into a international network of terrorists? Why? Because it exists and it is a ready explanation when all other explanations seem unavailable.

Nidal Hasan was an American and from what I can gather his parents were immigrants. People that immigrate to the USA do so to seek a better life. Immigrants often have strong emotional ties and sometimes even relatives in their country of origin and it is not unusual for immigrants to send monies and gifts to their relatives when their 'good fortune' allows them to do that. If that is the activities of Nidal Hasan's family it does not predispose him to violence. All to often it is in the USA that ethnic misfortune finds resolve.

If Nidal Hasan was upset over things in the news and felt he had to act, then he wasn't living with reality, but, a sense of himself derived from a need for feeling control and an 'authority' in that control. He made up his own mind while telling himself he was correct. He never stopped to ask if his belief system was perverse or imperfect. He granted himself the right to kill through some magical thinking that will be discovered by the military investigation. That magical thinking was no different than the magical thinking of mass murderers that came before him. It is not crazy or certifable. It is however a perversion of 'self' in a way that elevates the 'idea' of self righteousness, almost god-like.

When reporting about Nidal Hasan it has to be done with the removal that there was some greater danger than just the man. He was conflicted. He isolated himself in that personal conflict and 'decided' with full authority of his mind and self will to murder. Do not grant him the opportunity to be 'something greater' than he is by starting to lump him together with unknown individuals that are 'learning' to act similarly in society. When a discussion like that opens then one is talking about White Supremists and Black Trench Coat Mafia as well.

And we know White Supremists murder and they murder in large numbers in a gathering called a lynching. This is not a concept the FBI, Military Intelligence or the CIA is disfamiliar.

If Nidal Hasan was 'anything' he was an American Male with a huge identity crisis mired in a 'culture of violence.' It isn't a 'military thing' it is however a 'violent thing' in trends throughout this American fabric. Reflect first on that and then discuss Nidal Hasan.

"Morning Papers" - Its Origins

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

There are some journalists that sincerely love this country and believe in the strength of a Middle Class. Albeit, they are few and far between.

Labor in the USA needs to pay attention to some of its staunch supporters.


Op-Ed Columnist
Free to Lose (click here)
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: November 12, 2009
Consider, for a moment, a tale of two countries. Both have suffered a severe recession and lost jobs as a result — but not on the same scale. In Country A, employment has fallen more than 5 percent, and the unemployment rate has more than doubled. In Country B, employment has fallen only half a percent, and unemployment is only slightly higher than it was before the crisis....

Bob Herbert has been an Op-Ed Columnist through some of the most difficult political times of our day. He has been steadfast and when the chips were down in 2004, he, Krugman and Michael Moore (From "Slacker Uprising, "There is no crying in politics.") refused to 'give up the ship,' no matter how bleak the future of the USA was appearing to many of us.

Why Bob Herbert isn't celebrated for his strong views, especially in Civil Rights is yet for me to understand.

Just in the last two day, these gentlemen have written stark Op-Eds that I believe President Obama and his advisors should be paying attention to as well as the 'economic numbers' in front of them. If the people that need their attention the most, including the attention of Vice President Biden, aren't getting that attention there is little benevolence being directed to the economy, so much as simply 'profits to Wall Street.'


Op-Ed Columnist
A Recovery for Some (click title to entry - thank you)
By BOB HERBERT
Published: November 13, 2009
President Obama’s strongest supporters during the presidential campaign were the young, the black and the poor — and they are among those who are being hammered unmercifully in this long and cruel economic downturn that the financial elites are telling us is over....

NASA discovers water on the Moon. Yeah, but, can you irrigate with it?

Being this was found at the poles, it makes complete sense there should be some trace of anything that can be frozen there.

BUT.

One has to stop to realize, the Moon was declared to have no atmosphere. So. Like. What gives?

Realizing as well there is 'organic mass' picked up by the instruments, it was a blastedly good idea, NASA had the foresight to put the returning astronauts of the Apollo project in 'DeCon,' huh? Right? Smart folks at NASA.

NASA The plume at about 20 seconds after impact

Moon strikes found significant water (click title to entry - thank you)
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor
Friday, November 13, 2009
(11-13) 13:28 PST MOUNTAIN VIEW -- The spacecraft that sent a used-up rocket crashing into a crater near the moon's south pole last month uncovered "significant" quantities of water and possibly organic chemicals that may have come from comets that slammed into the lunar surface over billions of years, mission scientists announced Friday....
...Colaprete estimated that the impact churned up water vapor and tiny fragments of crystalline ice equal to about 25 gallons of pure water and said the instruments aboard the spacecraft revealed the presence of many organic chemicals yet to be identified in the debris....
...As to the water itself, Colaprete said the Cabeus crater, where temperatures are as low as 365 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, is probably "a little wetter" than Chile's Atacama desert, the driest of any deserts on Earth....

Nidal Hasan is crippled by the soldiers that stopped his raging madness.

He is lucky to be alive and speaks to the 'civility and sanity' of the soldiers at Fort Hood. The sanctity of life is important to them and justice to its loss, no doubt, paramount.


Saddam statues are melted down
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — When Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq, a pair of monuments stood as symbols of his iron-fisted domination: towering bronze statues depicting a heroic Saddam as the mighty conqueror, on horseback, sword aloft. But U.S. troops blew the statues off their pedestals after the invasion of Iraq, giving the soldiers who pulled Saddam out of his hiding hole a keepsake to bring home.
The 50-foot-tall statues were melted down and recast by a skilled Iraqi artist who turned them into a new memorial that depicts a GI mourning his fallen comrades while a young girl tries to console him. The new statue, mounted on a black granite base, is the centerpiece of an Iraq war memorial being built outside the 4th Infantry Division's museum at Fort Hood in central Texas. 7/14/2004
http://1-22infantry.org/current/4idmonument.htm


Legally, 'we're in for a long haul' (click title to entry - thank you)
Case against soldier accused in mass shooting faces many hurdles
By LYNSI BURTON and STEWART M. POWELLWASHINGTON BUREAU
Nov. 9, 2009, 9:57AM
UPDATE (10:52 a.m. Monday): An Army hospital spokesman says the Fort Hood shooting suspect is conscious and able to talk.
WASHINGTON — As Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan lay under heavy guard at Fort Sam Houston on Sunday, military prosecutors and the accused Fort Hood gunman's family were preparing for what could be a long and complicated legal proceeding.
Military justice experts told the Houston Chronicle that Hasan, if he recovers, could face the death penalty in a military court-martial — unless civilian prosecutors conclude that he was part of a terrorist plot that would justify moving his case into federal criminal courts under U.S. anti-terrorism laws.
But veterans of the military justice system say that any case against Hasan could take many months and could be delayed by medical assessments of the Army officer's physical and mental health. And even if a death sentence is handed down, the military justice system's lengthy appeals process has effectively thwarted all executions since 1961....

Reality television has done a great deal of damage to children. Their parents become disoriented from reality to a world one can hardly call 'real.'

The issue here really isn't 'the parents' it is the audience and the willingness of a 'couple' to exploit their family for wealth.

It should be the concern of the viewership that the children aren't effected by the 'reality' of their exploited lives.

I think privacy for the children of this program and the other one...what was it "Kate and John" or something? I think privacy is what they children need and a return of some form of normalcy.

I believe this exploitation of children is wrong. If exploitation of children is wrong for 'Octomom' then it is wrong for everyone.


"Balloon Boy" hoax parents Richard and Mayumi Heene leave district court after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the incident at the Larimer County Justice Center in Fort Collins, Colorado on November 13, 2009. UPI/Gary C. Caskey...

Richard and Mayumi Heene Plead Guilty (click title to entry - thank you)
By GINA DINUNNOTV GUIDE
Friday, November 13, 2009
Last updated 11:02 a.m. PT
Richard Heene, the father of "Balloon Boy" Falcon Heene, pleaded guilty Friday to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant stemming from the families' Oct. 15 hoax, according to CNN.
Heene lawyer: Arresting Heene parents in front of kids "would be 'child abuse'"
His wife, Mayumi Heene, is charged with one misdemeanor count of false reporting to authorities.
According to the Larimer County sheriff's office, Heene turned himself in Thursday and was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
The penalty range for the felony is two to six years in prison with a fine ranging from $2,000 to $500,000. His wife's misdemeanor range is six months in jail with a fine of $50 to $750, according to a statement issued by the district attorney's office.

Al Qaeda members going on trial. Legitmate law applied to legimate prisoners.

He was born (click title to entry - thank you) in Kuwait to a family from the Pakistani region of Baluchistan, returning to Pakistan as a teenager and then studying at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University...

(That is in Greensboro, North Carolina by the way. It is a minority university with many distingished graduates. Unfortunately, the notoriety here isn't good. We bring people from other lands to learn and to return to their countries to better the quality of lives of their people. I guess the USA doesn't count on hatred and bigorty toward the very diversity we enjoy in the USA to be an issue for its generosity.)

...in the US where he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1986.
In the late 1980s he moved to Peshawar in Pakistan from where he fought with his three brothers alongside Osama bin Laden against the Russians in Afghanistan....

...In 2003 he was working on a plot to hijack aircraft and crash them into Heathrow airport, Big Ben and Canary Wharf when he was captured in March at a house in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Mohammed was subsequently waterboarded 183 times before he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
Behind closed doors at a combatant status review at Guantanamo Bay in 2007 Mohammed issued a statement in which he confessed to involvement in 31 separate plots, adding: “I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation from A to Z.”...

It will no doubt be a long and protracted trial. There will be issues with torture and whether or not any confession is actually valid.

I remember the 'affect' of Mr. Padilla (...not your usual website for information - click here) when he stood trial. By that point, what was the purpose? He didn't know what his life was about or what it had transpired to be.

But, the reason for the trial was not about his 'mental state' or his diminished capacity, it was about his crimes and the people that suffered because of his heinous acts.

If issues of 'competency' manifest there are folks like Richard Cheney the nation can thank for that being an issue at all. If the facts to his prosecution are compromised due to torture conducted illegally and with some sort of validity because some screwed by 'team of Bush lawyers' repeatedly stamped approval within their inner circle of 'good 'ole boy' understanding, the the nation can realize how completely the competency of their Constitution was compromised when it should have been upheld beyond a shadow of a doubt.

No judge in their right mind will ever allow this idiot to walk free, BUT, the 'competency' of the evidence and the person might determine the sentence he will receive.

General James Jones arrives in Pakistan. The Pakistani government has a history of being effective with USA backing.

Twin Suicide Bombings Hit Northwest Pakistan (click title to entry - thank you)
By Sean Maroney Islamabad13 November 2009
Pakistani security officials say two suicide car bombings killed at least 16 people and wounded scores of others in northwestern Pakistan on Friday. The attacks come as U.S. National Security Advisor Jim Jones is in the country for meetings with civilian and military leaders.
The first attack early Friday morning targeted the regional headquarters of Pakistan's spy agency, the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), which is overseeing the anti-militancy campaign in the country's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan....

The goal is to achieve stability in this region of the world. Pakistan is a nuclear country. Non-proliferation needs to be a mandate in countries burdened with extremist regimes within their borders. The nuclear capacity of Pakistan is a direct threat to its sovereignty and a reason the Taliban and/or al Qaeda won't stop their assaults.

ISIS Technical Assessment: Pakistan's Stock of Weapon-Grade Uranium (click here)
byDavid Albright, PresidentKevin O'Neill, Deputy Director
June 1, 1998
On May 28 and May 30, 1998 Pakistan conducted up to six nuclear tests. A Pakistani government statement said that the nuclear test devices contained "uranium-235," commonly referred to as "weapon-grade uranium" (WGU; uranium enriched to 90 percent or more of uranium-235). The statement said that this uranium was produced at the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), called the Kahuta facility, near Islamabad. While Pakistan's tests remove any doubt about its ability to produce nuclear weapons, significant uncertainties surround estimates of Pakistan's WGU stockpile....


From an edition of "Meet the Press" in September of this year.


...MR. GREGORY: Let, let me go through a few other hot-button issues (click here) in our remaining moments. In Pakistan an important al-Qaeda figure, a Mehsud, who was the head of Pakistan's al-Qaeda leadership, reportedly killed. Are you able to confirm that today?
GEN. JONES: I wish I could, to be honest with you totally. We think so. We, we put it in the 90 percent category, if you want. But Pakistan has confirmed it. We know there are some reports now from the Mehsud tribe that, that he wasn't. But the evidence is pretty conclusive.

MR. GREGORY: What, what does it mean to the United States' security?

GEN. JONES: Well, I think it's a--this is a big deal. And, and it's not only--by the way, it's not only happening in this part of the world, it's happening in other parts of the world as well with some--with a gradual coming together by the family of nations to reject terrorism as something that's acceptable. In terms of the region, it means that the Pakistani armed forces and the Pakistani government are doing quite well in terms of their fight against extremism. This was--Baitullah Mehsud was the public enemy number one in, in, in Pakistan, so it's their, their biggest target. And we've already seen evidence of dissension in the ranks about who's, who's going to follow him. This is--if this is--if this happened, and we think it did, this was a good thing.

MR. GREGORY: Is it still your belief that Osama bin Laden is in Pakistan?

GEN. JONES: That one's a little bit more elusive. We are still very much on the hunt. We think that he's still in that general region. But that's a, that's a tougher nut to crack....


ISIS warns of Pakistan's latest nuclear drive (click here)
Wed, 20 May 2009 00:42:48 GMT
A US arms control institute has warned that Pakistan's nuclear weapons programs could threaten the region.
"Pakistan is indeed progressing in a strategic plan to improve the destructiveness and deliverability of its nuclear arsenal," the Institute for Science and International Security said.
The institute released satellite photos on Tuesday that showed the expansion of a chemical plant complex near Dera Ghazi Khan.
The plant produces uranium hexafluoride and uranium metal, materials used to produce nuclear weapons, the ISIS report said....

Mr. Independent goes independent. Why? Because he couldn't get control over the electorate to raise his ratings. He lost the election, you know?

In the year 2009, are journalists seeking control over the message to their viewership or listening audience rather than reporting the news?

Another one bites the dust. (click here)

...The longest-running anchor on CNN's air, Dobbs was one of the nation's leading financial journalists before turning his program in a more opinionated direction. His persistent advocacy against illegal immigration angered many....

It would be interesting if all the news was reported, rather than just the chosen topic.

Sympathy for Gordon Brown in row over misspelled letter of condolence (click here)
Nov 11 2009 By Magnus Gardham
GORDON BROWN bared his soul yesterday in a bid to quash the most tawdry allegations yet thrown at him.
The Prime Minister said he "felt the pain" of grieving parents after losing his baby daughter Jennifer in 2002.
Brown has always been loath to talk about his private suffering.
But he made the comment at his monthly press briefing after a second day of astonishing personal attacks led by the Sun newspaper.
They were faithfully followed up by feckless BBC reporters who were lambasted on their own website for propagating the scandal....

An official letter to a grieving parent isn't a place for the inconsideration of misspelling. The loss of a soldier and a son should require more than a 'fast note' to the postmaster.

So, who else is inhibiting 'the change' the American electorate has demanded?

Greg Craig is in the chair to the left of President Obama. The guy chewing his fingernails. I guess there are more than one remnants of the GOP still hangin' around. They need to 'get with the program...or plan their retirement. That is, IF they still have enough from the bailout to retire.

Posted: 10:08 a.m. Nov. 13, 2009
Top White House lawyer Greg Craig quitting (click title to entry - thank you)
By JENNIFER LOVENASSOCIATED PRESS
TOKYO — The White House’s top lawyer plans to return to private practice and being replaced by a longtime adviser to Barack Obama.
...It was the highest-ranking resignation so far in Obama’s 10-month presidency, and became public just as the president was arriving in Asia for a weeklong tour. It also came just hours before Attorney General Eric Holder was set to announce that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantánamo Bay detainees will be sent to New York to face trial in a civilian federal court, while five other suspects will be prosecuted in military commissions. This was revealed to The Associated Press by an Obama administration official earlier Friday....

Ida keeps the title of "Killer Storm" even in remnants.

Rough weather blamed as surfer dies off Rockaway Beach (click title to entry for videos at Newsday site - thank you)
November 12, 2009
By CARL MACGOWAN
carl.macgowan@newsday.com
As the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida threaten to wreak havoc on Long Island's coastline Friday, the system is already being partially blamed in the death of a surfer in the waters off Rockaway Beach.
The unidentified 36-year-old man's leg strap attached to a surfboard became tangled and the rough surf pushed him toward a jetty, officials said. Emergency medical technicians attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
With winds forecast to gust up to 35 mph and rain expected to fall all day, Nassau and Suffolk officials closely watched the storm Thursday as it crawled up the East Coast after drenching the Carolinas.
Freeport and Nassau County emergency management officials said they were ready to evacuate residents from low-lying areas south of Atlantic Avenue if conditions worsen....

Getting the "Hasan Thing" right is vastly different than exploiting it for political gain.

...But he suggested one argument for premeditation when he told reporters that Hasan did not have any legitimate reason to be at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center last Thursday....

Nidal Hasan used his religion as a mask for an existence. He used it as an excuse for his life. He wasn't brave enough to confront life and accept his responsibility as a soldier in the USA Army. He was a coward in every measure of the word. It is the plague of a Lone Wolf and always will be. They have no validity to their 'empty' definition for breathing, except, to be a marter to their own pathetic values. He is no different than the gunman at the Holocaust Museum, except, he had access to a military instillation in a way that would be that of any officer.

Nidal Hasan was NOT a terrorist. Not even close. He was a man desperate to stay away from war and out of danger.

HE WAS A WOOSS. A CO and nothing more. Only cowards kill their peers while acting in violence. What he did that day was murder not terrorism.

What went through his mind that day at Fort Hood is still in question and I hope at first opportunity the USA Army finds out exactly what he was thinking when he pulled the trigger. It is 'that truth' that will faciliate expeditiously any change the Army needs to make to undo the infrastructure that nurtured him to that moment.

Nidal Hasan wouldn't have the guts to be a terrorist.

I am confident all the people at Fort Hood would agree, "Everyone, no matter their role that day were heroes."

When a military is functional, they move as one. That is what occurred at Fort Hood that day, they moved as one to secure their perimeter and defeat the gunman. They are tough as nails, INCLUDING, the ladies.

The GLOBAL Changing of the Guard

The 'dream' of finally rebuilding Lower Manhattan. Hard to do with chronic terrorist wars to pay for.

The best political outcomes to the elections of 2010 is to focus on the future and not the past.

The leadership of President Obama cannot be measured by only a domestic front still stuggling to repair the corrupted insults to it over the last eight years, but, an initiative that is more than well received globally by every leader of every country.

Placing Democratic leadership in the majority of the USA Legislature with a President dedicated to 'the truth' and bringing the USA back to global leadership with initiatives to peace and nuclear non-proliferation was NOT a mistake. No way was it a mistake.

We are witnessing enormous shifts in paradigms globally that will impact the USA domestically. A country, whether it be the USA, China or Russia, cannot mount the challenge of the future without 'relief' from the burdens of fighting terrorist networks and dedicating huge amounts of its nation's assets to war and military. Every country knows that and what occurred under Bush and Cheney was a 'return' to Cold War methodologies that set progress to the future of our children back at least five decades. There is no more going back and the immediate and welcomed response from the global community to President Obama's initiatives and challenges shows leadership that was ready to pounce on the opportunity.

Every leader in any country knows that economic opportunity lies in the expansion of opportunity to its people NOT the contraction to war economies. Who in their right minds would not want to be tourists to Russia to view the modern version of the country with such magnificent architecture to make any city envious?

That is the future that lies before us. A future of peace and cooperation with sovereign countries secured from the inside out. Not bad. Non-proliferation rules the day with the knowledge that Einstein's invention doomed the world and never secured it.

To build economies that 'consent' to cooperation and expansion means defeating those that would use those opportunities to defeat civilization. It is why Russia cooperates with the USA over Afghanistan and it is why NATO insists on being secure from terrorist networks or even their potential TO EXIST in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Changing paradigms isn't easy. But. It is necessary. And. The leadership has to be consistent.


They have decided to build this big thing, and named it Galaxy Building, in one of the areas of Moscow. Construction costs exceed $300 million, but there are plenty investors interested in participation.
It would be one of the weirdest buildings in modern Russia.

Medvedev tells Russia to get with the times (click title to entry - thank you)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has used his annual state of the nation address to call on the country to modernise more quickly.
In a comment reminiscent of US President Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Mr Medvedev stressed the need for change.
He told his country, which was hit hard by the global financial crisis, that it is time to stop living off past achievements and modernise.
Before an audience of government and church leaders, including his predecessor and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Mr Medvedev outlined where he believes Russia has fallen behind - and what it needs to do to get ahead.
He says Russia has been too reliant on raw materials exports and should develop a smarter economy.
Mr Medvedev says infrastructure and key areas that the country was once renowned for, such as scientific research, need to be improved.
He also referred to corruption, saying intolerance of this must become part of Russian culture.
Mr Medvedev says Russia needs to modernise based on democratic principles so it can become a society of free, intelligent and responsible people.

This article was reported by ABC, an Australian non-Murdock news agency.

Now. About the wars Bush and Cheney lost.

Clinton: U.S. concerned about Afghan corruption (click here)
Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:50am EST
By David Alexander
MANILA (Reuters) - The United States is concerned about corruption and poor governance in Afghanistan and has raised those issues with the administration of President Hamid Karzai, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday....

...an “or else.” (click here)

WHERE does anyone in the USA ever get the 'idea' that wars to defeat al Qaeda are supposed to last longer than it took defeat Hitler? The stupidity of diluting the Afghanistan War to fight an oil war in a disarmed country cannot be understated. I mean, STUPID. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I guess 'bailing out' Halliburton and satisfying Wall Street started long before October 2008.

Wilmington pair arrested in major heroin bust (click here)
Published: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 7:14 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 7:14 p.m.
Wilmington Two Wilmington men were arrested and 230 bags of heroin stamped “death wish” were seized Monday, concluding a five-month investigation by the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, according to a news release from the office.
The arrest by detectives from the sheriff’s office Vice and Narcotics Division occurred as a search warrant was executed at 5010 McClelland Drive, Apt. 202, the release from Deputy Charles Smith said.
The seized heroin, which was packaged for sale, has a street value of more than $8,000 Smith said....


Postmortem Afghanistan: The iron law of a world-class election farce (click here)
Innocent Afghanis will, as usual, pay the heaviest price by the hundreds
By Chibli Mallat Daily Star staffThursday, November 12, 2009
It is time for a postmortem analysis in Afghanistan. With all the misery that has befallen the wretched peoples of Afghanistan over 40 years of invasions and civil wars, the mess is far from over. By all accounts, the elections were heavily rigged by the president....


US envoy warns against troop surge in Afghanistan (click title to entry - thank you)
James Meikle, Ewen MacAskill in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 November 2009 07.56 GMT
Eikenberry claims extra US troops 'not a good idea' until Karzai government shows willingness to tackle corruption, says reports.
The US ambassador in Kabul has warned against plans to send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan, until President Hamid Karzai's government demonstrates that it is willing to tackle the corruption.
Karl Eikenberry sent two classified cables to Washington in the past week expressing his concern over proposals to deploy as many as 40,000 extra troops while the Karzai government remains dogged by accusations of incompetence and corruption, according to reports from Washington.
The existence of the memos was revealed as Barack Obama held a war council at the White House to discuss the final four options for deployment of extra US troops in an effort to stave off defeat at the hands of the Taliban.
Eikenberry is a former US commander in Afghanistan and his caution over a further troop build-up puts him at odd with senior generals in the Pentagon....

McCrystal's War Strategy is to 'pair' Coalition Forces with Afghanistan Forces

Part of the 'issue' at hand is that General McCrystal is seeing a deteriorating country with insufficient troops for his effort, while President Obama sees a prolonged encounter that will prove to be unwinnable, regardless, of General McCrystal's best effort. General McCrystal is needless to say 'frustrated.'

...Last week, General Stanley McChrystal (click here) shocked political leaders with a blunt speech in London on the war.
Gen McCrystal, who heads the 68,000 U.S. troops as well as the 10,000 Nato forces in Afghanistan, rejected proposals for a strategy more reliant on special forces operations against al-Qaeda.
'Waiting does not prolong a favorable outcome. This effort will not remain winnable indefinitely, and nor will public support,' he said in London....

General McCrystal's strategy is to bring Coalition Troops in 'partnership' with Afghan Troops to bring consistency in the power of the 'entire' of the country's military. As a result and in response to the increased violence during the elections, General McCrystal has removed troops from 'distant' and 'sparcely populated' areas to areas of larger populations to bring greater impact of the Coalition efforts.

The change in priorities within Afghanistan is NOT to fight a prolonged war but to 'empower' a strong affiliation with the people to the Coalition and Afghan forces to remove support from the 'infrastructure' of the Taliban. All this is complicated by the insurgency of the Taliban in Pakistan and that country's determination to remove their influence and violence from the Pakistani people.

The entire region is unstable and it is due to this chronic 'allowable' fluidity of violence by the Taliban and demanded by al Qaeda. If General McCrystal is successful, the Afghan forces will begin to 'push back' against the Taliban and find a 'core' of resistance between Pakistan and Afghanistan to end the war entirely while the two countries enforce 'rule of law' and end the corruption of the Taliban to bring more viable economies that benefit civilization rather than barbarism.

The tape above shows a Coalition base in a distant hamlet where I doubt sincerely the troops were welcome visitors, but, that is somewhat true of anywhere USA troops have fought before, including, South Korea. Military presence among the people where guns and munitons are at the 'ready' is not a 'reasonably friendly' environment.

The bunker was a place where troops were stationed to 'hold' a place in the 'stretched' fabric of coalition war front. The munitions probably should have been destroyed, but, that might have cost more coalition lives.

No doubt the 'donkey' is being dispatched to people that will become suicide bombers. It is that 'dynamic' that is simply a 'high priority methodology' to the Taliban and al Qaeda. They can't do it any other way and it is part of what needs to be defeated in order to stop the 'influence' and 'ability to exist' of al Qaeda compliments of the Taliban.

The Taliban are drug lords.

They are the Afghan Mafia.

Karzai has been a 'figure head.'

Primarily.

General McCrystal is literally 'starting over' in Afghanistan and he is a 'lone voice' to the effort while so many other advisors to the President are an opposition to the initiative, including the people of the USA. The USA has been exploited by the Republicans to result in illegal wars that saw General and Commander one after the other resign from service into retirement, with a General at the onset to Iraq that decried any initiative without sufficient forces. That General was proven time and again TO BE CORRECT.

To add insult to injury to the people of the USA, the fiscal exploitation of 2008 was just the frosting on the cake. NATO on the other hand is receiving General McCrystal's strategy well because they want and need to fight this war as Pakistan and Afghanistan are in their backyards and they have received 'wrath' from al Qaeda attacks in their cities.

To say General McCrystal's strategy is unpopular among Americans is to realize his own 'officers' mess' is a point of frustration for him. He seeks discipline to 'war' and 'effort' and not 'resignation' to the reality of 'corruption.' President Obama and Secretary Clinton have an ally in their concerns of corruption with McCrystal. If they can bring him 'justice' in his strategy we might actually get somewhere with this mess.

For as much as Americans 'want out' of Afghanistan and Iraq, reflection on their reality should center around the REAL corruption within their own political system that brought them Bush and Cheney and not around accepting defeat in a strategy NATO is investing more of their own troops to fight.

The sincerest of realities is that President Obama is receiving pressure from within his own party to 'end it' in Afghanistan as well as Iraq to stop 'bleeding' from their electorate to possible political losses in 2010 elections that will 'put the country right back where it came from.' What Stanley McCrystal has to realize is that his Commander and Chief is fighting a war in the USA as well as Afghanistan. The USA was exploited for eight long years and HIS profound reality with his President is to come to terms with the reality he wouldn't even be required to have a strategy if HIS military wasn't USED for FISCAL exploitation by The Republican Party within his own country.

While the Drug Wars in Mexico still rage, the USA shuts down "La Familia."

The "World According to Obama" isn't laced with faux images of 'a world in control' to faciliate a political party in the USA to corrupted by greed to insure profiteers and wealth merchants on Wall Street.

The "World According to Obama" is to solve the problems as they exist in transparency. The 'reality' President Obama INHERITED on Inauguration Day was a far different picture than any Republican wants to admit!

Government infrastructure 'costs.' The law enforcement authorities in the USA received a 'boost' from the Obama Stimulus that saved jobs in order to 'do their part' that they do so well. Don't talk to me about this man, don't even try.


A Mexican soldier stands guard as seized marijuana and cocaine are incinerated in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Mexico leaders call for UN help in Ciudad Juarez (click here)
(AFP) – 10 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Local leaders in Ciudad Juarez have asked for UN peacekeepers to help stem the alarming bloodshed in their city that is chasing business across the border to Texas, their representatives have said.
Despite the deployment of 8,500 troops since February, more than 2,000 people have been killed so far this year in drug-related crimes, making Ciudad Juarez one of the world's most violent urban areas, business leaders told a press briefing Wednesday.
The city's Association of Maquiladoras (assembly plants) said it had requested "the intervention of United Nations blue helmets (peacekeepers) to control" the crime wave, said association president Soledad Maynez.
She said the failure of federal and local authorities in staunching the bloodshed prompted local business leaders to approach the United Nations for help.
"We must allow military police from the United Nations and the United States to tackle crime here, since in addition to murders there's also a lot of kidnapping and blackmail," which have led to some 6,000 business closings in the city, said National Chamber of Commerce regional president Daniel Murguia.
He said the violence has prompted business leaders to live and invest across the US border in El Paso, Texas, where they enjoy greater safety....


Police say 'La Familia' drug gang crippled (click title to entry - thank you)
BY MANDY LOCKE - Staff Writer
GREENVILLE -- North Carolina law enforcement officials say they have curtailed a major Mexican drug cartel, arresting about 50 foreign nationals since 2007.
The announcement comes two weeks after federal agents disclosed an operation said to have crippled the "La Familia" network, one of the major drug cartels vying for dominance in the United States.
State officials say the arrests over the past two years have taken 200 kilograms of cocaine, 15 pounds of methamphetamine, 200 pounds of marijuana and 22 weapons off the streets. Officers also seized $1.7 million in cash from the dealers....


Mexican drug baron makes Forbes power list (click here)
Foreign 2009-11-12 18:09
WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (AFP) - The leader of a Mexican drug cartel made Forbes' magazines list of the world's most powerful people, well ahead of France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman, head of the feared Sinaloa cartel, was number 41 on the Forbes list, published Thursday on the business magazine's website.
The magazine said he was believed to have shipped between six and 19 billion dollars worth of cocaine to the United States over the last eight years, using elaborate tunnels to evade border controls.
"Diminutive nickname 'El Chapo,' or Shorty, belies fearsome behavior: as power behind struggle with government forces to control transport corridors to US, responsible for thousands of deaths," the magazine said.
Guzman was arrested in 1993 on homicide and drug charges, but escaped in 2001....

In Europe it is Armistice Day while in the USA it is Veteran's Day

President Obama stated he won't accept a military plan for Aghanistan without knowing when there will be a changing of the guard and the Afghan troops will take control of their country.

Michael Moore has reported there were over 2000 Veterans that died last year due to lack of health insurance.

State bill would increase support for veterans (click here)

By Kendall Hatch
GateHouse News Service
Posted Nov 11, 2009 @ 11:12 AM

..."This is a significant step toward thanking our veterans," said state Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, who said the bill was passed yesterday in House and the Senate and should be passed on to Gov. Deval Patrick today.
"It's been said that the strength of our future military depends on the support of current and former soldiers," she said. "It's important to honor those in the military and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice."...

Military and Gold Star Familes do not want further deployments to Afghanistan.

And yesterday at Fort Hood...

...Yesterday, during President Obama's visit to Ft. Hood troops, IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against War) chapter president and active duty soldier, Mike Kern, attempted to hand the President a letter regarding the dire need of mental health services for troops. Member so the Secret Service took the letter from Mike, and he is not sure whether President Obama ever got to read his message....

The VVAW (Vietnam Veterans Against War) had to events today:

When: November 11, 2009 from 7:00-8:00 PM
Where: 200 E. Wells St - City Hall Rotunda
What: Veterans Day Celebration in Milwaukee
Details: The traditional spirit of Veterans Day will be revived in Milwaukee by three veterans groups. Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War and Vietnam Veterans Against the War will bring back the historic focus on peace, which began with Armistice Day celebrations following World War 1.
Everyone interested in supporting veterans and peace is invited to attend.
Sponsored by VVAW, IVAW, VFP

Veterans Day: Chicago, Illinois
When: November 11, 2009 from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Where: 35 E. WabashVeterans Memorial, Wacker Dr. and Wabash
What: The Chicago chapters of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) and Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) will conduct a Vets Day ceremony.
Details: Honor our fallen, support vets, rally to stop more deaths.
Sponsored by: VVAW & IVAW

And they have an upcoming Christmas Event:

Chicago Homeless Vet Standdown: Chicago, Illinois
When: December 3 - 4, 2009
Where: General Jones Armory5200 S. Cottage Grove Drive
What: Standdown for Homeless Vets
Details: VVAW, IVAW and VFP members and families are encouraged to come and work together in the Kitchen. Work will start at 08:00 on the 3rd. Volunteers should show up at 07:00 on the 4th. There is parking. I don't know about what food will be served, yet. I'm assuming that it will be catered. On the 3rd, we will probably be spending a lot of time cleaning up the dining area. On the 4th, we will be serving or assisting people in the chow line with their duffel. Afterwords, we clean up, of course
Sponsored by VVAW, VA, VietNow, VFW, etc.
Contact Bill Branson auspex4@gmail.com for more info.

Their voices are as respected as any others among us on a day when reflection of Veterans and their service include all those that served.

Ida's signature 'question mark' shape. For a diminished storm on landfall USA, it packed a punch.

Update - Flooding possible from Ida’s remnants (click here)
Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 10:55 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 5:47 p.m.
Southeastern North Carolina is enduring a soggy close to the 2009 hurricane season as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida moved in then largely stalled over the area.
The lack of movement of the storm system prompted the National Weather Service on Tuesday afternoon to issue a flood watch, which means there’s the potential for flooding conditions, for all of Southeastern North Carolina starting early this morning and continuing through Thursday.
The watch is due to the prolonged nature of the rain event, which is expected to continue soaking the region into Friday....


November 10, 2009
Pensacola Beach Pier
Ida's winds were strong and the waves reached the top of the pier. Ida self generated water vapor in mist from the sea, which helped fuel its velocity. Warm water.

"Ida's" Rains & Winds Are Moving Slowly Over Georgia (click title to entry - thank you)
By Rickey Bevington & Edgar Treiguts
Updated: 3 hours ago
ATLANTA — "Ida" is no longer a hurricane, but the weather system could pour up to eight inches of rain in parts of Georgia Tuesday and Wednesday....


November 10, 2009
Pensacola Beach Pier, Florida (On the Panhandle)


Close up of Ida'a Eye


From NASA
Tropical Storm Ida (click here)
Posted November 11, 2009

Live Service regarding the Fallen at Fort Hood by The Boston Globe. Click here. Thank you.

Live video of the Fort Hood memorial service
Video coverage of the memorial service for the 13 victims of the shooting at Fort Hill Army Base in Killeen, Texas. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will attend the ceremony.

Deployment is part of service. The survivors to these soldiers should not be denied benefits because their lives ended on our and their home land. Training missions are no different either. The survivors of all these losses should receive support through compensation by the USA military. Their lives were just as valuable as any soldier already in Iraq or Afghanistan. It was not a combat death, but, their lives were ended in a capacity that would have placed them in combat. Compensation is a small price to pay for the loyalty of these wonderful Americans. It will not replace those lost to their families and friends, but, it will help to return function to the lives of those left behind.

Food Relief needed in El Salvador accoring to "The Miami Herald." (click this title - thank you)

There is a lot of devastation in El Salvador due to the heavy rains from Ida. People have been displaced and any farming in the region has been destroyed by mud slides and ground saturation. The people in these regions will need long term help, at least until next successful growing season.

UN: 10,000 Salvadoran flood victims need food (click title to entry - thank you)

Posted on Tuesday, 11.10.09

By MARCOS ALEMAN
Associated Press Writer
VERAPAZ, El Salvador -- At least 10,000 Salvadorans are in urgent need of food aid after devastating floods and mudslides that damaged crops, destroyed homes and killed 130 people, the U.N. World Food Program said Tuesday.
Days of heavy rains sent torrents of mud and boulders tumbling on mountainside towns across the Central American country over the weekend. Rescue workers used heavy machinery and shovels to dig through the rubble Tuesday, while survivors helped with any equipment they could get their hands on.
The WFP is helping feed 500 people in shelters in San Vicente, one of the worst-hit provinces, the U.N. agency said in a statement. But it said thousands more would need help in the coming days....

The Washington Post has NOTHING that is alarming about Hasan. I could have put together the same presentation. There is nothing there.

"Fruit of the Loom." The question is who is fruitier Hasan or The Washington Post?

It is a presentation by a man attempting to have a major policy change to indulge his own desire. I could have gone on Google or Yahoo and put together the exact same presentation. There is absolutely nothing NEW OR ALARMING about any of it.

The Washington Post should stop throwing good money after bad to inspire fear mongering. I mean sincerely.

The USA military knows what it is doing. This is all Right Wing populous propaganda.

Where is the al Qaeda connection?

Where is the big plot? Where are the conspirators? The more this unfolds the sillier and sillier it gets.

There is none.

That is what is dangerous about Lone Wolves and all the inspiration they get from propaganda like this. They feel important enough to act when in fact they are so screwed up a jar opener can't get them straigtened out and productive within their own lives and value systems.