Red Alert: The Plot to Attack British Airliners
Editor’s note: Due to a technical error, some Stratfor readers received the wrong alert. Here is the correct one.

Scotland Yard successfully penetrated the plotters of a mass terrorist attack against airliners bound from the United Kingdom to the United States on Aug. 10 British time, resulting in the capture of nine people who planned to use liquid explosives contained in carry-on luggage to down the planes. Current reports indicate at least 21 people have been arrested in total, and perhaps the cell contains as many as 50 people.

There are four takeaway lessons from this incident:

First, while there obviously remains a threat from those not only sympathetic to al Qaeda, but actually participating in planning with those in the al Qaeda apex leadership, their ability to launch successful attacks outside of the Middle East is severely degraded.

Second, if the cell truly does have 50 people and 21 have already been detained, then al Qaeda might have lost its ability to operate below the radar of Western -- or at least U.K. -- intelligence agencies. Al Qaeda's defining characteristic has always been its ability to maintain operational security. If that has been compromised, then al Qaeda's importance as a force has diminished greatly.

Third, though further attacks could occur, it appears al Qaeda has lost the ability to alter the political decision-making of its targets. The Sept. 11 attack changed the world. The Madrid train attacks changed a government. This failed airliner attack only succeeded in closing an airport temporarily.

Fourth, the vanguard of militant Islamism appears to have passed from Sunni/Wahhabi al Qaeda to Shiite Iran and Hezbollah. It is Iran that is shaping Western policies on the Middle East, and Hezbollah who is directly engaged with Israel. Al Qaeda, in contrast, appears unable to do significantly more than issue snazzy videos.

This shift will obviously refocus Western -- and particularly U.S. -- foreign policy from the old threat to the new threat.
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British police thwart aircraft bomb plot
By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press Writer 21 minutes ago
LONDON - British authorities said Thursday they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in hand luggage, averting what police described as "mass murder on an unimaginable scale."


Officials raised security to its highest level in Britain — suggesting a terrorist attack might be imminent — and banned hand-carried luggage on all trans-Atlantic flights. Huge crowds formed at security barriers at London's Heathrow airport as officials searching for explosives barred nearly every form of liquid outside of baby formula.

The extreme measures at one of the major international aviation hubs sent ripple effects throughout the world. Heathrow airport was closed to most flights from Europe.

continued read the rest Here

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Letter to the Orange County Register
This came in my email. It says, " Pass
it along if you feel so inclined."

This should work.

"My wife, Rosemary, wrote a wonderful letter to the editor of the
Orange County Register which, of course, was not printed. So, I
decided to "print" it myself by sending it out on the Internet. Pass
it along if you feel so inclined.
Dave LaBonte (signed)

Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the
Orange County Register:





Dear Editor:
So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this
land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we
should tear down the Statute of Liberty because the people now in
question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through
Ellis Island and other ports of entry.

Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like
Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind
of immigrant any longer.

Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come
to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long
line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on
their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to
uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times.
They made learning English a primary rule in their new American
households and some even changed their names to blend in with their
new home.

They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a
new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate
into one culture. Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare,
no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills and craftsmanship
they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their
children came of age when World War II broke out.

My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from
Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans
ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from. They
were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were
defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated
France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the
German-American or the Irish-American. The people of France saw only Americans.

And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those
immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's
flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace
to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants
truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into
one red, white and blue bowl.

And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same
rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different
set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being
faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American
is all about. I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early
1900's deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising
future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those
legally searching for a better life.

I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by
those waving foreign country flags.

And for that suggestion about taking down the Statute of Liberty, it happens
to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't
start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.

(signed)
Rosemary LaBonte"

I also got this map, I think it fits with the letter.

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.

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Lieberman and McKinney Losing So Far.
I found two websites with the Georgia and Connecticut Primary results what I am doing is leaving both windows up and refreshing them from time to time.

When I started the results were

McKinney trailing 25.5% to 74.5% with
8% of precincts reporting
Georgia

Lieberman Trailing 43.80% to 56.20% with
55 of 748 Precincts Reporting - 7.35%

Connecticut
484 of 748 Precincts Reporting - 64.71%
Name Party Votes Pct
Lamont, Ned Dem 89,814 51.60
Lieberman, Joe (i) Dem 84,231 48.40
Joe is starting to pull up 8:50 PM EST

Dekalb showing up in the Georgia vote now

60.8% 39.2% Cynthia still down

I don't expect that to hold 3/4 of the precincts are in DeKalb and with 26 of 135 reportng McKinney is slightly ahead there.

but I don;t think ENOUGH ahead if the same trend holds for her to win,.
****************************************************
I am going to call it over for both Joe and Cynthia.
It will be close but it looks to me like both of them lose.

From what I heard Joe can still win the general election as an Independent, wouldn't it be nice if Cynthia tried to do the same? ;-)

Technorati Tags:Joe Lieberman***:Cynthia McKinney

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The Politics of a Carnivorous Vegan
I occasionally run across someone who informs me solemnly that they are Fiscally Conservative, but Socially Liberal.

I must confess I find that statement a little confusing and my internal mental reaction is.

"Isn't that like saying you are a Carnivorous Vegan?"

What does it mean to be Fiscally Conservative, yet Socially Liberal?

They favor massive Federal Social Programs, but don't want them funded?

Or maybe it means that They want Federal Social Programs that they approve of funded and reduced spending on everything else?

I have noticed that those who make those claims do seem to feel we spend too much on Defense.

I had one with great dungeon proclaim that the spending in Iraq was going to RUIN the Economy of the US!

Doesn't matter that Social Spending is about 3X Defense spending, it was the 20% of the Federal Budget that is spent on Defense that would RUIN the Economy of the US!

I suppose part of my confusion stems from the fact that the definition of a Social Liberal is confused.

Definitions of Social liberal on the Web:

this term has two conflicting meanings. The more widely-used definition refers to a person who is liberal on social issues such as civil rights, civil liberties, and immigration. Another definition, which is more academic, refers to a liberal who is an economic leftist, and divides liberals into social liberals (who are simply called "liberals" in the first definition) and libertarians.
www.ospolitics.org/knowledge/archives/2004/04/10/political_.php

Social liberalism is either a synonym for new liberalism or a label used by progressive liberal parties in order to differentiate themselves from market liberal parties, especially when there are two or more liberal parties in a country.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Liberal

. Fiscal conservatism.

A belief in personal responsibility for finances. Scaling back taxation to allow greater control over individual incomes. Conservative thinking promotes cutbacks in public spending enabling tax breaks to be given to those that are earning, and believes in helping those out of work back into self sufficiency.

I can see how the first definition of Social Liberal could exist simultaneously with Fiscal Conservatism. But somehow I am not certain that all those who claim that stance are really all that much in favor of

A belief in personal responsibility for finances. Scaling back taxation to allow greater control over individual incomes. Conservative thinking promotes cutbacks in public spending enabling tax breaks to be given to those that are earning, and believes in helping those out of work back into self sufficiency.

Be nice if I were wrong.

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The Open Trackback Alliance XXXVI
For your listening pleasure while you browse

"Der er et yndigt land" (There Is A Lovely Land)

Words by: Adam Gottlob Oehlenschlager
Music by: Hans Ernst Kr?yer
Adopted: 1844

"Derer et yndigt land" was first performed for a large gathering of Danes in 1844, and became popular quickly with the Danish people. It was adopted later that year by the Danish government as a national anthem, but not the sole national anthem. This anthem is on equal status with "Kong Christian",which is both the national and royal anthem.

When the Danish anthem is usually performed or sung, the first verse is played in its entirety, then it is followed by the last four lines of the last verse. (This is true whether the lyrics are sung or not



Recentlty I have been posting music to Illustrate the Diversity of America, this week I have a different motive to express Solidarity with DENMARK

I maintain my Support of Denmark, and will later today, post links to and my thoughts about a Danish Editorial "We are being pissed upon by Per Nyholm "

I think I shall title my Post, "There is no "But" in "Freedom of Speech".




When I first started upon my journey through the blogverse I created a Statement of Purpose
Now upon reading it, one can realize that I did not hold to every detail of that original statement, but from it's basic premise, I have never swayed, in my belief that the Blogs are in fact the Committees of Correspondence of the Second American Revolution.

And that it is a Revolution of Information, no longer can we afford and allow elite gateways to control what we can see, hear and discuss.

For I believe that those bloggers who find their way, here and in particular from the Blogs associated with Sam.

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.

Some of us are more Serious, some of us are more lighthearted and some post the common ordinary things that make one smile and recall that Life without the simple things to treasure is meaningless.

And it is important that all have a platform from which to speak.

As I understand this process you can link to this post and trackback to this post on ANY subject or post you think important. It is open. I will repeat this every Monday.

The Committees of Correspondence welcomes your intelligent comments. And also welcomes you to join the

OPEN TRACKBACK ALLIANCE

This week I also have shortened my usual introduction for a more inportant message.

In it's struggle for Freedom of Speech.

Sign the Petition NOW!

JEG opstille hos Danmark!

44700 Total Signatures 8:52 AM CST August 8, 2006 We can do better pass the word~!

From Agora a call to Support the Manifesto online by signing another Petition, why not sign both?


MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism
Created by Mark Jefferson on March 1st, 2006 at 5:42 pm AST

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.
We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all. "

Blogs that Trackback to this Post:

On Monday
It's not Photoshopping - it's al-Taqiyya from planck's constant

Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
Technorati Tag:Denmark

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Age of Tolerance A Novel of Alternate History From Al To Allah

America’s new Age of Tolerance begins on September 11th, 2001 when President Al Gore courageously leads the nation in the aftermath of the devastating attacks and into a future that we avoided…


…or have we?

In fact, far more than alternate history, this is a story of a nation tamed by political correctness, where sensitivity overshadows common sense, where values are mocked and hard work is taxed in order to provide for those who choose not to produce. In short, a nation not much different than our own, with a future that will certainly be ours if present trends continue.



What if Al Gore had been the 9/11 President? What would he have done differently? How would it affect the future?

What would America look like if the Left gets everything it wants? Can liberals really live in a world of their own design?

Age of Tolerance is an original and realistic post 9-11 novel that explores the consequences of open borders, radical populism, isolationism, and even reparations with subtle humor and suspense. It is as much an entertaining narrative of cost and triumph as it is a cautionary tale for a generation that has more to lose than it may realize.

Based on actual events and quotes, a thought-provoking picture develops of what America might look like if some have their way. In Age of Tolerance, the reader will find characters that can't be found in any other novel: radical environmental activists, the anti-war crowd, affirmative action junkies, race merchants, classroom indoctrinators and demagogic populist politicians.

Is true multiculturalism possible, or does the “give and take” of political correctness only work in one direction? Could a superpower be defeated by its own tolerance, or would a great nation eventually recognize and return to the patriotic and cultural traditions that made it so, before it is too late?





BUY THE BOOK

I just did,
don't WAIT for the Movie!

Technorati Tags:Al Gore***9/11***Islam***Jihad

Linked to
Open Trackbacks Here from The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns
Majoring on the Minors/Open Trackbacks from third world county
Weekend Open Trackbacks: Ceeeeeeo? Ceeeeeeo? Edition from Point Five
Pride: Open Trackbacks from 7 Deadly Sins
Weekend Open Trackback - Aug 4-6, 2006 from Church and State
How to Get Seen: the Highlights from Case Notes from the Artsy Asylum
Optimism OpenTrackbacks all Weekend from Woman Honor Thyself
Weekend (Open) Must-Read List from The Right Nation

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Stratfor Daily Podcasts A Must Listen
Listen to Recent Podcasts Now - FREE Download!

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GV Teleconference: Iran Outlook



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Hezbollah and Iran: Security Risks Beyond the Middle East - Complimentary Download!
Stratfor analysts continue to be on full alert, closely monitoring the conflict in the Middle East, and providing expanded 24/7 coverage on the current crisis and latest ground offensive.

Intelligence received by Stratfor in the past 24 hours indicates that Israel believes military operations against Hezbollah will soon be reaching a climax in Lebanon, and activity by both sides in the conflict since then has been intensifying. It has been our assessment that as Hezbollah fighters come under greater duress, there is a strong possibility that the organization will revert to employing terrorist tactics against Westerners that it used in the past - such as kidnappings, bombings or other acts of violence.

We have also taken note of a warden message issued yesterday, August 1st, that imposes a curfew on U.S. Embassy staff in Damascus - a precaution for their safety as emotions run high in Syria. We view this as further affirmation that, with military operations entering a crucial phase, the danger of terrorist activity is now ticking upward. We have no direct intelligence on this but we are clearly entering a period of heightened threat.

For the safety of our readers, we invite you to read a recent special report produced by our security team. This report outlines where Stratfor believes terrorist attacks might be possible, the kinds of targets Hezbollah might choose, its rationale for doing so and the rapidity with which the organization might move.

Hezbollah and Iran: Security Risks Beyond the Middle East
is available to you for download in PDF format, with our compliments, at

http://www.stratfor.com/reports/hezbollah-and-iran.php
You are welcome to share this information and the tips included in the report with family and friends.

If you have any questions regarding your service or would like to send us any comments, please contact us via e-mail at service@stratfor.com or call 1.877.9STRAT4, Monday-Friday 9 AM to 5PM CDT.



Best Regards,

Your Customer Service Team at
Strategic Forecasting, Inc.



*To download a free copy of the Adobe Reader, please visit http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html


Technorati Tags:Israel***Lebanon***Iran***Hezbollah

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If Today's Media Reported the Battle of Midway

From Strategypage.
If Today's Media Reported the Battle of Midway

Midway Island Demolished. Yorktown, destroyer sunk.
Many US planes lost
June 7, 1942

The United States Navy suffered another blow in its attempt to stem the Japanese juggernaut ravaging the Pacific Ocean. Midway Island, perhaps the most vital U.S. outpost, was pummeled by Japanese Naval aviators. The defending U.S. forces, consisting primarily of antique Buffalo fighters, were competely wiped out while the Japanese attackers suffered few, if any, losses.
In a nearby naval confrontation, the Japanese successfully attacked the Yorktown which was later sunk by a Japanese submarine. A destroyer lashed to the Yorktown was also sunk.

American forces claim to have sunk four Japanese carriers and the cruiser Mogami but those claims were vehemently denied by the Emporer's spokeman.

The American carriers lost an entire squadron of torpedo planes when they failed to link up with fighter escorts. The dive bombers had fighter escort even though they weren't engaged by enemy fighters. The War Dept. refused to answer when asked why the fighters were assigned to the wrong attack groups. The Hornet lost a large number of planes when they couldn't locate the enemy task force. Despite this cavalcade of errors, Admirals Fletcher and Spruance have not been removed.

Code Broken
The failure at Midway is even more disheartening because the U.S. Navy knew the Japanese were coming. Secret documents provided to the NY Times showed that "Magic" intercepts showed the Japanese planned to attack Midway, which they called "AF".

Obsolete Equipment
Some critics blamed the failure at Midway on the use of obsolete aircraft. The inappropriately named Devastator torpedo planes proved no match for the Japanese fighters. Even the Avengers, its schedule replacements, were riddled with bullets and rendered unflyable. Secretary of War Stimson dodged the question saying simply: "You go to war with the Navy you have, not the Navy you want or would like to have". Critics immediately called for his resignation.

Anyone reading the above who was not familiar with the History of the War in the Pacific, might come to the mistaken conclusion that we lost the Battle of Midway.

Far from it, we won and it was the turning point of the War.

Anyone reading the Media Reports today, of our activities in Afghanistan and Iraq, might come to a similiar conclusion.

Think about it.

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