The Open Trackback Alliance XLIX
UPDATE: Denmark Exports SoaringAfter blogger Judith Klinghoffer and an army of Davids declared a "Buy Danish" campaign to combat the Muslim boycott. The Guardian says "fervent rightwing Americans" participated in the buying spree and implies that the cartoonists were responsible for the deaths of 139 people.(like it was the cartoonists who killed those people instead of the ones who shed their blood, how like the Progressive TransNazi viewpoint)
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 PurposeNow 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 ALLIANCEThis 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!46761 Total Signatures 12:03 AM CDT November 6, 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
Abduction from 123beta
Another Strike Against Children?s Innocence from Renaissance Blogger
You Are Not Alone from Freedom Folks
Iranian Holocaust Cartoon Contest a Flop from Planck's Constant
OTA - Take A Democrat to Vote Today from Planck's Constant
Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
Technorati Tag:Denmark***Free Speech***Jihad***Army of Davids
|
Taliban Psyops: Taking the Fight Abroad
An al Qaeda strategist issued a statement
over the weekend threatening that unless Canada withdraws its troops from
Afghanistan, it will face terrorist attacks similar to 9/11 or the Madrid and
London train bombings. Given al Qaeda's penchant for issuing threats, this
statement by itself does not indicate a particularly heightened level of risk
for Canadians, who have been in al Qaeda's crosshairs since the jihadist war
with the West began. But then, al Qaeda is not known for making one-off
threats.
In fact, the statement -- attributed to Hossam Abdul Raouf,
a member of al Qaeda's information and strategy committee -- marked the
second time in recent weeks that jihadists have singled out Canada for
special mention over the prominent role it is playing in Afghanistan. In
September, Ayman al-Zawahiri referred to the Canadian troops in Kandahar as
"second-rate Crusaders." Along with these remarks has come a separate warning
from the
Taliban threatening attacks on the soil of European countries that are part of the
NATO offensive in Afghanistan.
That is worth saying again, with
emphasis: The
Taliban -- a nationalist religious movement --
threatened to carry out attacks against civilians on foreign soil, blurring
the already fuzzy line between the Afghan group and its transnational
militant counterpart, al Qaeda.
The timing of all of these statements
centering on Afghanistan seems hardly accidental. In Canada, there is growing
sentiment that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government is
putting the country at risk by aiding what is perceived as, in truth,
Washington's war. Canadian forces were deployed to Afghanistan under a
Liberal government, but the Harper administration extended the length of the
mission and, critics say, changed the mandate from peacekeeping to
insurgent-fighting. With recent news that Canada is preparing to send Leopard
tanks and CF-18 fighter jets into the fray, the country's military
capabilities will be fully represented in Afghanistan -- and there is no
fallback position if it then fails to defeat the Taliban. Voters also are
dissatisfied over the absence of milestones by which to chart progress or
determine an end point for the mission, and they are worried about the
possibility of
terrorist strikes on their own soil.
The general tenor of discussion is not
unlike that in the United States, where the tally of Iraq war casualties is
now a daily drumbeat underlying news coverage of the congressional election
campaigns. There are some crucial differences, however: Because Afghanistan
was a sanctuary for al Qaeda for years, the military invasion has never
excited the kinds of political controversies that surround the
Iraq war effort.
While the attention of Americans and much of the world
remains riveted on Iraq, the campaign in Afghanistan continues to grind away.
But the outcome of this campaign -- at least as much as that in Iraq, if not
more so -- has direct implications for the "global war on terrorism." As
such, it bears careful consideration.
A Shift in the Military
BalanceThe recent spate of threats -- and particularly those from
the Taliban -- is rooted, at least to some degree, in an increasingly
confident military footing.
For most of Afghan President Hamid
Karzai's time in power, the military situation has been primarily a
stalemate. The young government in Kabul was not strong enough to control
most of the country's territory, but was shored up by U.S.-led forces. The
coalition forces were not able to eliminate the Taliban, which continued to
move about with relative freedom in several southern provinces, but neither
was the Taliban strong enough to quash either the coalition forces or the
government in Kabul. The Karzai administration remained secure, though its
power was circumscribed, and the Taliban waged a small- to medium-scale
insurgency in the southern and eastern parts of the country.
This
balance began to shift early last year. The Taliban, assisted by al Qaeda,
began to engage in suicide bombings, surging to the north and east of their
southern strongholds (where the guerrilla offensive continued). In fact,
Taliban fighters were able to strike as far north as Kabul. This year, the
frequency and intensity of these attacks climbed: So far, there have been
some 80 suicide attacks, claiming more than 200 lives, compared to fewer than
20 in 2005. And in recent months, Western troops -- not just rival political
targets in Afghanistan -- have been targeted with both suicide bombings and
improvised explosive devices.
Perhaps the most noteworthy trend in
all of this is that Taliban forces appear to be retaking some of the
territory they lost following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. They long have
shown an ability to move in and out of the five key provinces where their
strongholds are based -- Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Zabul and Paktika -- but
there now are signs that Taliban fighters could be, if not holding more
ground, at least shoring up their support in outlying areas.
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In
fact, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission in August went so
far as to claim the Taliban now have "psychological and de facto military
control of nearly half of Afghanistan," mapping out a line of control that
runs right through the country's middle. We do not believe the Taliban firmly
controls all of southern Afghanistan, but the line of control does conform
with the areas of Taliban activity we have observed in recent
months.
Sources of Strength
Several factors, both
foreign and domestic, paved the way for this surge of Taliban influence.
Let's consider these in turn:
- The U.S. military stance:
After forcing the Taliban from power, U.S. and coalition forces -- with too
few troops to adequately control a large and difficult terrain -- moved to
staging periodic anti-Taliban operations in southern and eastern Afghanistan.
These periodic disruptions, however, were followed by entrenchment, with the
Taliban resettling and digging in between offensives.
- The
military transition: Over the summer, U.S. forces began to surrender
responsibility for the southern and eastern provinces to other NATO states,
whose forces (even by their own admission) were ill-prepared to deal with the
fierce insurgency there. Meanwhile, there appears to have been an influx
of foreign jihadists, swelling the ranks of Taliban
supporters.
- The economic situation: Though the Karzai
administration has scored notable achievements -- crafting a new constitution
and providing a system of elections at all levels of government -- it has not
been able to improve the economy or the daily life of Afghan citizens. In a
country that never fully recovered from the massive devastation visited on it
by the Soviets, this would be an uphill battle for any government. One of the
key points of friction for the Karzai government, however, is that it has
cracked down on production of the main cash crop -- poppies -- leaving many
Afghans without alternative forms of income. The Taliban, of course, have
moved to capitalize on the discontent, reportedly offering money to new
recruits and offering social services, such as medical care, for supporters.
In some areas, the Taliban apparently have established parallel governments
that include district administrators, judges and other officials.
There are other divisions that the Taliban exploit: ethnic
ties and clan loyalties, for example, or the rift in cultural traditions. The
U.S.-aligned Karzai government is portrayed as chipping away at good,
old-fashioned religious and tribal mores. But the economic arena is where the
rubber truly meets the road: NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, British
Gen. David Richards, warned Oct. 8 that a majority of Afghans likely will
turn toward the Taliban if their lives do not tangibly improve during the
next six months.
Psychological Warfare
If Richards'
assessment is correct, it takes little imagination to envision what could
follow. Memories of the Soviet withdrawal and the painful civil war that
ensued spring quickly to mind. For coalition states in the West, the failure
of Operation Enduring Freedom (or "Operation Enduring Frustration," as one
U.S. senator recently dubbed it) would be a crushing political blow. Finally,
there is the distinct possibility that Afghanistan,
or at least significant portions of it, could again become a sanctuary for
transnational Islamist militants (and certainly, the top al Qaeda leaders now
believed to be sheltering in northwestern Pakistan wouldn't have far to
travel.)
This is not a foregone conclusion, of course, but the stage
does appear to be set for intensifying military conflict in Afghanistan as
the Taliban move to consolidate their gains. With the annual fighting season
drawing to a close, it is interesting that the jihadists have lately been
waging a psychological offensive, targeting not only the Canadian and other
NATO troops who patrol the roadways of Afghanistan, but also -- with a wave
of threats and warnings -- their home countries and communities. This could
be construed as an effort to maintain psychological momentum during the
winter, until frozen mountain passes thaw in the spring and military
offensives can begin again in earnest.
The recent statements of Mullah
Dadullah, a top Taliban military commander, are particularly intriguing in
this regard. In a Sept. 17 interview with ABC News, he claimed to have 500
suicide bombers under his command, willing to deploy at any time, and said
that 12,000 Taliban fighters were fighting under him in four southwestern
provinces. "We have no shortage of fighters," he said. "In fact, we have so
many of them that it is difficult to accommodate and arm and equip them. Some
of them have been waiting for a year or more for their turn to be sent to the
battlefield." Dadullah also was quoted as saying the Taliban is gathering
strength to launch bigger attacks in Afghan cities -- particularly Kabul --
next spring. And he expressed his opinion that the United States had cleverly
handed responsibility for Afghanistan's most dangerous provinces off to
British, Canadian and Dutch allies and withdrawn.
Now, in terrorism
analysis, we steer toward the view that those who have knowledge of specific
operations or targets don't talk, and that those who talk, don't know. It's a
rule of thumb that makes fairly specific operational statements like
Dadullah's quite interesting to consider. We are in no position to judge
whether his numerical estimates are on track -- though if they are, larger
military formations, which would create easier targets for NATO airstrikes,
likely would be avoided in favor of a higher tempo of small-unit guerrilla
engagements. His mention of Kabul, where foreign troops and the enemy
government are centered, divulges nothing that would not be otherwise be
reasonably assumed. The statement on the whole is designed to be a
psychological weapon, used to drive a wedge between NATO allies and stir up
dissent among the public in NATO states.
Together, the Taliban and al
Qaeda appear to be using the psychological weapon in a focused way,
attempting to break the back of political support for the war effort in
Canada and other U.S.-allied countries. The jihadists are very much aware of
the tone of Canadian politics and want to capitalize on the public's
misgivings about the war effort. For the Taliban and al Qaeda, fueling the
existing malaise in the war-weary West -- or forcing a general crisis of
confidence among the coalition partners -- could be an effective way of
weakening them all over the long term.
Whether the Taliban will
manage to follow up this psychological offensive and consolidate their
military successes when the fighting season resumes next spring is, at this
point, an open question. But their staying power, after five years of
warfare, is not.Send questions or comments on this article to analysis@stratfor.com.
Wednesday, 1 November 2006
Based on immigration issues -- WHO SHOULD GET YOUR VOTE NEXT TUESDAY?
From:
Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
1 p.m. EST
Based on immigration issues -- WHO SHOULD GET YOUR VOTE NEXT TUESDAY?
"When you listen to all these political ads, it sounds like everybody is going to get tough on immigration. But you need to let everybody know who has a record that shows they can be trusted to do it."
----------Gary, Chicago
"Whom does NumbersUSA support in the upcoming elections? This information would be extremely valuable to me as a voter."
----------G. Kidd
"God bless you for what you are trying to do. I am trying to prepare for the upcoming election and although you are not partisan, and I appreciate that, I think we need a voter guide. Is it possible that you could do it or send us to a place where we could find out the truth about a candidate's position? The media is very crooked and the issue we care about is being covered up and neglected on purpose."
----------William Schroeder
"Why don't you tell voters to vote for those people in Congress and the Senate WHO OPPOSED AMNESTY AND GIVE THEM LISTS? Otherwise the tiny progress we've made thus far can be flushed away."
----------M. Schiele
DEAR FRIEND,
Almost everything you need to know can be found by going to:
Immigration Grades and Candidates Pages at www.CongressGrades.org
Which candidates would refuse to reward illegal immigration? Who would punish outlaw businesses who hire illegal aliens? Who would fight to protect American workers from having their occupations collapsed by foreign labor importation? Who would oppose the federal government using high immigration to force massive population growth and congestion?
Your NumbersUSA staffers have provided you with the best immigration campaign guide you can find anywhere.
We have all kinds of information to help you know which candidates (1) have a record of responsible immigration decisions and/or (2) have pledged to take responsible immigration actions in the future.
I hope you won't go into the voting booth next Tuesday without at least checking on our special web pages to know exactly how the candidates for the U.S. House and Senate, and for your state's Governor, compare on immigration issues.
A scientific national poll released last week found that 53 percent of likely voters said immigration was either their most important issue or one of their top three issues -- while just 8 percent said it was not at all important.
If you are one of those 53 percent, our information about who is GOOD, WISHY-WASHY or a FRAUD in toughness on immigration is of essential importance before you decide how to vote.
NumbersUSA is known for being doggedly non-partisan. We employ on our staff committed Democrats, Independents and Republicans -- Conservatives, Moderates and Liberals.
Our registered membership also covers the entire political spectrum (and includes immigrants and children of immigrants from every continent).
We are united on only one issue -- and only one issue gets our action -- reducing annual illegal and legal immigration from more than 2 million a year back toward America's traditional average (before 1970) of only a quarter of a million a year.
1. SEND THIS EMAIL TO ALL
OF YOUR VOTING FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
Most Americans do not realize that there is such an easy way to know which candidates truly favor the American majority's wishes for cracking down on illegal immigration and halting increases in foreign labor importation.
Please send this email to everybody who may looking for an easy way to check on candidates related to immigration issues.
You know how the internet works. We will send this email to the 1.1 million American voters on our email list. If half of you on that list send to 10 people on your email list, we're up over 5 million. And those of you who are getting this email as a pass-along, can incredibly increase the exposure by sending it on to YOUR list.
Many people say it is too late to make a difference.
But what if we make sure that the 53% who really care about getting immigration under control see which candidates can do that? And we do it over the next few days?
Let's do our best to reach 70 million people just before they go into that voting booth.
How to Reply
Please do not click 'Reply' button to respond to this message. To make a general comment or request tech help, click here and fill out our Help Form.
2. LOOK AT IMMIGRATION GRADES
OF INCUMBENTS SEEKING RE-ELECTION
Your NumbersUSA staff has kept track of every single immigration action of all 535 Members of Congress since 1989 or when they arrived in Washington after that.
www.CongressGrades.org
Click on the state on the map of the Member of Congress whose record you wish to inspect.
If you are considering an incumbent, probably nothing is a better indicator of what he/she will do if re-elected than the Immigration Grades each of the Members of Congress has earned.
Unless the Challenger in a particular race is demonstrably better on immigration, it is very important to our issue that every Incumbent with a grade of A+ down to even a B-minus gets returned to Congress to continue to help us in our fight. They are proven entities.
But most incumbents with below a B-minus probably have forfeited any claim on returning, as far as our hopes for overall illegal and legal immigration reductions are concerned. In fact, a case could be made that it might be okay to elect somebody who seems even worse because of the political lessons it would show by defeating incumbents who try to get by with C or below efforts.
You can take a look at the whole list of Incumbents With Good Immigration-Reform Records for the current Congress.
Nearly half of the incumbents have grades of B-minus up through A+ during the current Congress. Many of them have much better grades this Congress than in previous Congresses because of constituency pressure.
3. CHECK TO SEE WHICH CANDIDATES ARE RUNNING
AS 'TRUE IMMIGRATION REFORM CANDIDATES'
Click to See List of True Immigration-Reform Candidates for Congress & Governor
We made multiple requests of every single congressional and gubernatorial candidate since spring to fill out our immigration survey.
Most campaign offices declined.
But the candidates (shown in bright green) who filled out the form and met our minimum standard for being declared a TRUE IMMIGRATION REFORM CANDIDATE do indeed deserve a close look from you.
These are people who proactively have sought to get our seal of approval and to publicly tie themselves to some very aggressive reform positions.
You can still make a big difference for a True Immigration Reform Candidate by volunteering to help him/her get out the vote next Tuesday.
You can find out how to call or email each candidate by simply clicking on his/her name in the list of True Immigration Reform Candidates.
4. U.S. HOUSE ENDORSEMENTS BY THE OLDEST IMMIGRATION REFORM POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Immigration Reform Political Action Committee (USIRP) announced last week that it is endorsing 304 candidates in contested races for the House of Representatives, after endorsing in a number of Senate races earlier.
The list of House endorsements includes 194 incumbents 95 challengers and 15 candidates for open seats in the November election.
NumbersUSA never endorses candidates. We only help voters know which candidates might do the best job in reaching NumbersUSA's immigration goals (our only issue is immigration reduction).
But you can see what this immigration PAC has done in endorsements at:
Click here, and then click on "06 Elections" in the navigation bar, and on the next page click on links for House and Senate endorsements.
USIRP communications director Phil Kent said the endorsements were based on three criteria: incumbents’ immigration report cards, ten-question candidate surveys USIRP mailed out to several hundred challengers, and public positions taken by the candidates on campaign websites and in statements to the media.
Kent said, "The cat is out of the bag as far as the immigration issue is concerned. Americans increasingly realize that uncontrolled immigration is a major cause of many of the ills that afflict their society from the rising cost of health care to the quality of education, traffic congestion, urban sprawl, pollution, and the threat of terrorism and crime."
"Regardless of which party controls Congress after the election, regaining control of our borders and restoring common sense to our immigration policies are going to intensify as political issues until our elected leaders find the courage to deal honestly with the problem," Kent added.
5. SMALLER, TOUGHER LIST OF ENDORSEMENTS FROM A NEW IMMIGRATION REFORM POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
Click for list of endorsements
The Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (of Raleigh, N.C.) decided to give only a few endorsements to incumbents who have not disappointed and challengers with an aggressive reform stance.
6. WE NEED TO SHOW THE ELITE MEDIA
THAT IMMIGRATION DOES MATTER
Most of you know that I spent most of my adult life in journalism -- primarily in newspapers. I'm a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
All of that makes me pretty embarrassed, if not downright ashamed, of the unprofessional coverage of immigration issues by most news media.
The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and other elite media are unabashedly passionate in their promotion of (a) citizenship for illegal aliens, (b) opening the gates to massive additional flows of foreign labor, and (c) using immigration to force even faster population growth and congestion in our local communities.
Whether liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, the overwhelming majority of opinion leaders agree on virtually open borders, in opposition to the overwhelming majority of American voters who do not.
Those elite media have been pounding a theme the last few days that Americans will not vote on the basis of wanting tougher enforcement of immigation laws and reduced flows of foreign workers. They say gleefully that the next Congress will be far more open to legalizing illegal aliens and drastically increasing the flow of new foreign workers. They say they are confident that voters will go into the polling booths next week and vote out enough True Immigration Reformers so the next Congress can pass the Senate's open-borders legislation.
You know that I know that many of you have one or two issues that are more important to you than immigration. That may cause you to vote for a candidate who is not the best immigration-reform candidate in a race. Still, I hope you will consider very carefully before you vote for somebody who might be the deciding vote in passing an amnesty and doubling foreign workers next year.
7. SEND SOME FREE FAXES TO YOUR ELECTED LEADERS
To send free faxes over the internet to your Members of Congress to make sure they know how you feel, click on the following link:
SEND FREE FAXES
Some of you have already sent all the faxes that were available, but more will go up soon.
If you have never sent a NumbersUSA fax, you will find it is very easy. And NumbersUSA has never broken its promise (in 9.5 years of operation) that it will not share, rent or sell any names, email addresses, etc. of anybody who uses its faxing system.
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE NEXT TUESDAY,
--ROY BECK
Technorati Tags:Mexico:UN Borderless World:Migration Without Borders
**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.
Linked to |
Tuesday, 31 October 2006
The True Dangers Of Secondhand Smoke
Topic: Global Warming
I have always felt that the dangers of secondhand smoke are grossly exagerated, but I have to admit, when I read
Confronting global warming hysteria: Sen. James Inhofe takes on CNN and the rest of the MSM from Sister Toldjah and got to
GORE: CIGARETTE SMOKING ‘SIGNIFICANT’ CONTRIBUTOR TO GLOBAL WARMING
Fri Sep 29 2006 09:04:05 ET
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore warned hundreds of U.N. diplomats and staff on Thursday evening about the perils of climate change, claiming: Cigarette smoking is a “significant contributor to global warming!”
Gore, who was introduced by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the world faces a “full-scale climate emergency that threatens the future of civilization on earth.”
Gore showed computer-generated projections of ocean water rushing in to submerge the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, parts of China, India and other nations, should ice shelves in Antarctica or Greenland melt and slip into the sea.
“The planet itself will do nicely, thank you very much what is at risk is human civilization,” Gore said. After a series of Q& A with the audience, which had little to do with global warming and more about his political future, Annan bid “adios” to Gore.
Then, Gore had his staff opened a stack of cardboard boxes to begin selling his new book, “An Inconvenient Truth, The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It,” $19.95, to the U.N. diplomats.
Developing…
I almost choked to death laughing and immediately went on line and ordered a copy of "Inconvenient Truth" from my Netflix account. I have been to serioius lately, I feel I need to kick back and watch some comedy.
Now it is true when I checked for the Gore/Smoking/Global Warming Meme on Snope's all I could find was:
No source available, because "We destroyed all copies of the speech, except for one master which cannot be released... The Gore speech was copyrighted and therefore we cannot release any copies of it."
After a Q&A with the audience, which had little to do with global warming and more about Gore's political future, Annan bid "adios" to his old comrade.
Then, Gore had his aides open a stack of cardboard boxes to begin selling his book, "An Inconvenient Truth."
So, in the end, Gore's lecture on global warming turned into no more than a lavish book party.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric had no comment on who footed the bill for the bash.
NewsMax requested from UNTV an audio copy of Gore's address.
At first, NewsMax was told a copy would be provided by the U.N. audio library.
Later, NewsMax was told that copies of the Gore speech would not be available.
"We destroyed all copies of the speech, except for one master which cannot be released," explained one audio librarian.
Dujarric added: "The Gore speech was copyrighted and therefore we cannot release any copies of it."
The formerly "open" address, has now been reclassifed in the UN files as "a closed meeting."
Later on this claim gave me some pause.
"Regardless of what Al Gore said or did not say at the United Nations, there is evidence that tobacco and cigarette smoking contribute to global warming.
Pogue
So I decided to follow the link and look into the claim.
Here it seem is the basis for it.
The smoke from cigarettes also contains greenhouse gases. Cigarette smoke contains carbon dioxide and methane. Smoking worldwide releases about 2.6 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide in the air every year. It also releases about 5.2 billion kilograms of methane every year. Tobacco growing, curing, and smoking all add to the greenhouse effect and global warming
So along with not smoking, it seems if you are reading this and wish to save the planet from Global Warming you should, not eat beans (methane) and stop breathing.
To my utter dismay this website is:
a project of the Center for Integrating Research and Learning at the National
High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University. Science, Tobacco &
You is a multidisciplinary, multimedia, science curriculum resource. Our goal is to promote scientific literacy by encouraging students to ask and answer questions. In this case, the medium is the issue of tobacco use and prevention.
Independent evaluations of the program are available. These evaluations provide evidence that students utilizing the Science, Tobacco & You curriculum resource demonstrate positive changes in attitudes, beliefs, and core academic knowledge. The activities in the Guidebook are being correlated to the educational standards for every state.
Science, Tobacco & You is also correlated to the
National Science Education Standards.
Our Tax dollars at work folks. And people wonder why our educational system is getting dumbed down? Well if junkscience dogma is what is being taught, why wonder? I checked some state standards and found that depending on the state this material was deemed suitable from Grades 4&5 up to Grade 8 in Washington State. I did not do a comprehensive look through, but I wonder what one would find if one graphed the Educatinal Standard Level for this materail against the States being Liberal or Conservative.
I don't know what disturbs me the most. That our children are being taught this bilge or that a man who proclaims it as truth, almost became President of the United States. Just think how different the world might be if he applied similiar reality based thinking to National Security?
Technorati Tags:
Al Gore :
Kofi Annan Cigarette Smoking:
Global Warming :
Inconvenient Truth:
Science, Tobacco & You Linked to |
Monday, 30 October 2006
The Open Trackback Alliance XLVIII
UPDATE: Denmark Exports SoaringAfter blogger Judith Klinghoffer and an army of Davids declared a "Buy Danish" campaign to combat the Muslim boycott. The Guardian says "fervent rightwing Americans" participated in the buying spree and implies that the cartoonists were responsible for the deaths of 139 people.(like it was the cartoonists who killed those people instead of the ones who shed their blood, how like the Progressive TransNazi viewpoint)
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 PurposeNow 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 ALLIANCEThis 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!46410 Total Signatures 12:03 AM CDT October 30, 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
Is Islam Evil? from third world county
Bounty...Islamic Style from 123beta
Pumpkin Faces from Planck's Constant
Hollywood?s Silly Scene from Comedian Jen??e: People are Idiots
Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
Technorati Tag:Denmark***Free Speech***Jihad***Army of Davids
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Thursday, 26 October 2006
Mexico's Cartel Wars: The Threat Beyond the U.S. Border
By Fred Burton
The U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security subcommittee recently issued a report on the increasing
security risks along the U.S.-Mexican border. The report, which focuses on the Mexican drug cartels and the threat they pose to citizens and law enforcement on the U.S. side of the border, cites the cartels' use of
military weapons and
mercenaries with advanced military training, as well as their affinity for
brutality and gratuitous violence.
Violence stemming from the drug cartels has existed for decades in many parts of Mexico. What is new is the fact that cartel violence is now spilling over onto the U.S. side of the border. However, although the House report -- by the Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations -- focuses on the current risks in the border area, the threat posed by the cartels already is making its way farther north. If left unchecked, the fighting can eventually be expected to erupt more widely in nonborder areas, affecting unprepared law enforcement agencies and even civilians.
Much of the violence is a result of the ongoing struggle between the three main drug cartels -- Gulf, Tijuana and Sinaloa -- for control of lucrative narcotics- and human-smuggling routes stretching from Mexico into the United States. Although the Mexican government has made efforts to stem the bloodshed, two main factors have impeded any major progress in this area. First is internal police corruption. Beyond the police commanders and officers who gladly accept money in exchange for providing the cartels with protection are those who face the choice between "plata o plomo," -- "silver or lead" -- meaning take a bribe or take a bullet. Second is the fact that federal and local security services are way outgunned -- both in terms of the types of weapons used and the training level of the people using them.
President-elect Felipe Calderon has vowed to end corruption in Mexico, but his administration will face the same issues as did its predecessors, and there is no indication it will have any more success at stemming the
escalating violence. Indeed, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City issued a statement Sept. 15 warning U.S. citizens of the rising level of "brutal violence in areas of Mexico," specifically the persistent violence along the U.S. border in Nuevo Laredo.
Escalating Violence
In one recent and particularly gruesome incident that illustrates the current level of violence in Mexico, a group of masked gunmen entered the Light and Shadow nightclub in Uruapan, Michoacan state, on Sept. 6, fired weapons into the air and then tossed five severed human heads onto the dance floor. Beheadings had already reached the U.S. border in June, when Mexican authorities recovered four beheaded bodies from a vacant lot in Tijuana, and then pulled the heads from the nearby Tijuana River. The victims were three local police officials and a civilian.
Mexican drug gangs, who used the beheadings tactic for the first time in April, are sending a clear message that they are willing to go to any lengths to get what they want -- and that anyone who gets in their way is doomed. This same message also has been delivered via a number of attacks using grenades and assault rifles in other parts of Mexico, including the U.S. border cities of Nuevo Laredo, Tijuana and Juarez.
Another example of the escalation in violence is the Sept. 22 firefight in an upscale neighborhood of Nuevo Laredo between enforcers for the Gulf cartel and the security forces of an assassination target (presumably from the Sinaloa cartel). The engagement, which raged on for some 40 minutes and involved anti-tank weapons, hand grenades and automatic weapons fire, reportedly resulted in the deaths of five Gulf cartel enforcers and five other people.
The Mexican government has tried various tactics throughout the years to stem the violence and corruption associated with cartels, including dispatching military troops to
Nuevo Laredo and other border cities. In June 2005, a string of events in Nuevo Laredo -- including the killing of two police chiefs in the city, the second of which occurred only a few hours after he was sworn into office -- prompted the Mexican government to dispatch army troops and federal agents to the town. The army and federal agents detained all 700 officers of the Nuevo Laredo police force and temporarily assumed their duties until some semblance of order could be restored. Following interviews and drug tests, only 150 of the police officers retained their jobs; the rest were terminated or arrested. More recently, in March, the Mexican government assigned an additional 600 members of the Federal Preventative Police to Nuevo Laredo as part of another program to fight increased violence related to the drug trade. Such solutions, however, have failed to stem the corruption and violence. As evidenced by the major firefight Sept. 22, Nuevo Laredo remains a hotbed of cartel activity.
The Ongoing Cartel Wars
Because of its geographical position beneath the United States, Mexico long has been used as a staging and transshipment point for narcotics, illegal aliens and other contraband destined for U.S. markets from Mexico, South America and elsewhere. Turf battles have flared up as various criminal organizations have moved to take control of smuggling routes, or "plazas," that lead into the United States. Over time, the balance of power between the various cartels has shifted as new cartels emerge or older organizations weaken, shrink or collapse -- creating temporary power vacuums that competitors rush to fill. Vacuums sometimes are created by law enforcement successes against a particular cartel; indeed, cartels will often attempt to use law enforcement against each other, either by bribing Mexican officials to take action against a rival or by leaking intelligence about a rival's operations to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
These kinds of tensions and frictions often can lead to inter-cartel warfare. The February 2002 death of Tijuana cartel leader and chief enforcer
Ramon Arellano Felix, who was killed in a shootout with police in Mazatlan, and the March 14, 2003, capture of Gulf cartel leader Osiel Cardenas Guillen in Matamoros sparked the current period of particularly brutal warfare among the three cartels, which aim to take territory from one another. This war is being waged not only for control of Mexico's incoming drug shipments, in cities such as Acapulco and Cancun, but also for control of the outgoing network, where border towns have been focal points for violence.
The New Enforcers
The likely reason for the most dramatic changes between the drug wars of the past and the current intra-cartel violence is the makeup of the enforcing teams and the weapons they use. Though the cartels historically did their own dirty work, they now have started subcontracting out the violence to enforcers who apparently know no boundaries when it comes to who, how or where they strike.
This escalation has an obvious root cause: Some cartel leaders (notably from the Tijuana cartel) use active or retired police against their enemies, which has forced the targeted cartels to find enforcers capable of countering this strength. As a result, the Gulf cartel hired Los Zetas, a group of elite anti-drug paratroopers and intelligence operatives who deserted their federal Special Air Mobile Force Group in 1991. The Sinaloa cartel, meanwhile, formed a similar armed force called Los Pelones, literally meaning "the baldies" but typically understood to mean "new soldiers" for the shaved heads normally sported by military recruits. Because of attrition, the cartels have recently begun to reach out to bring in fresh muscle to the fight. Los Zetas has expanded to include former police and even motivated civilians. The group also has formed relationships with former members of the Guatemalan special forces known as Kaibiles and with members of the brutal
Mara Salvatrucha street gang.
Though cartel enforcers have almost always had ready access to military weapons such as assault rifles, Los Zetas, Los Pelones and the Kaibiles are comprised of highly trained special forces soldiers who are able to use these weapons with deadly effectiveness. Assault rifles in the hands of untrained thugs are dangerous, but if those same rifles are placed in the hands of highly trained special forces soldiers who can operate as a fire team, they can be overwhelmingly powerful -- not only to enemies and other intended targets but also to law enforcement officers who attempt to interfere with their operations.
In addition to powerful handguns and assault rifles (which are frequently smuggled into Mexico from the United States), Los Zetas and Los Pelones are also known to possess and employ rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and improvised explosive devices, and have used them in attacks in several parts of Mexico. Such weapons are not confined to the Mexican side of the border, though. On Feb. 3, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that government agents operating in Laredo seized a large cache of weapons that included dynamite, grenades and materials for making improvised explosive devices. These weapons were associated with the drug cartels.
The various enforcer groups have targeted Mexican government officials protecting rival cartels, the leadership of the rival cartels and members of those cartels' enforcement arms. Some extremely brutal executions of members of Los Zetas and Los Pelones by their contemporaries have occurred, including not only beheading but also a tactic called "necklacing," in which a tire is placed around a victim's neck and set ablaze. (The tactic was made famous by the African National Congress in South Africa).
The drug cartels also conduct intimidation campaigns and reprisal attacks against noncriminal groups such as police, government security forces and journalists -- anyone who is seen as a threat to their business. Such attacks are quite significant, and gruesome executions are often the norm. That said, the crime gangs are not always precise in their targeting. At times, they have mowed down police on the streets with assault rifles or attacked police stations with grenades and other heavy weapons, causing considerable collateral damage.
The Future
In addition to their network of tactical operators, Los Zetas and Los Pelones also have provided the cartels with an advanced intelligence and surveillance capability. This network operates on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border and has been used to protect drug shipments from law enforcement interdiction and the forces of competing cartels. They also are accomplished at countersurveillance operations and at avoiding the countersurveillance activities of their rivals.
Law enforcement officers along the U.S. border have reported many encounters with armed smugglers who do not hesitate to shoot. In one encounter last summer, two deputy sheriffs in Hidalgo County, Texas, were attacked as they patrolled the north bank of the Rio Grande. They reported that their assailants fired 300 to 400 rounds from automatic weapons at them before withdrawing.
To date, the violence associated with this intra-cartel warfare has been much more severe in Mexico than on the U.S. side of the border. Although this trend will continue, violence can be expected to increase on the U.S. side as targeted criminals and others search for safe hiding places. Perhaps as a sign of problems to come, the Los Angeles Times reported Oct. 23 that cartel-related corruption has been "rising dramatically" on the U.S. side of the border. With corruption spreading north, it is only a matter of time before more violence follows -- particularly because the cartels are especially adept at parlaying their power to corrupt into opportunities to commit violence.
Traditionally, when violence has spiked, cartel figures have used U.S. cities such as Laredo and San Diego as rest and recreation spots, calculating that the umbrella of U.S. law enforcement would protect them from being targeted for assassination by their enemies. This is beginning to change, however, as the bolder Mexican cartel hit men carry out assassinations on the U.S. side of the border in places such as Laredo, Rio Bravo and even Dallas, where law enforcement contacts indicate Los Zetas members are believed to have assassinated at least three people.
This change will likely cause high-value cartel targets to move even deeper into the United States to avoid attack, though their enemies' brazen and sophisticated assassins will likely follow. Judging from their history in Mexico and along the border, these assassins will have no qualms about engaging law enforcement personnel who get in their way, or about causing collateral damage. Their intelligence network will be bolstered by their alliances with street gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha and Calle 18, which have affiliates in many large cities throughout the United States. These allies can either provide them with intelligence or, in some cases, be contracted to conduct assassinations.
Though the House report warns of the dangers to law enforcement and civilians on the border, the spread of this cartel violence beyond the border region could catch many law enforcement officers by surprise. Patrol officers conducting a traffic stop on a group of Los Zetas members who are preparing to conduct an assassination in, say, Los Angeles, Chicago or northern Virginia could quickly find themselves heavily outgunned and under fire. Additionally, because of their low regard for human life and disdain for innocent bystanders, any assassination attempts cartel members do manage to launch might be very messy and could result in collateral deaths of innocent people and responding law enforcement officers.
U.S. law enforcement officers along the border are aware of the problem of Mexican cartel violence and have made efforts to mitigate it, though they have found they cannot completely prevent it or root it out. This same reality will apply to the violence that will soon be seen farther inside the United States. The roots of this problem lie in Mexico, and the solution will also need to be found there.
Technorati Tags:
Mexico:
UN Borderless World:
Migration Without Borders
**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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Monday, 23 October 2006
The Open Trackback Alliance XLVII
UPDATE: Denmark Exports SoaringAfter blogger Judith Klinghoffer and an army of Davids declared a "Buy Danish" campaign to combat the Muslim boycott. The Guardian says "fervent rightwing Americans" participated in the buying spree and implies that the cartoonists were responsible for the deaths of 139 people.(like it was the cartoonists who killed those people instead of the ones who shed their blood, how like the Progressive TransNazi viewpoint)
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 PurposeNow 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 ALLIANCEThis 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!45245 Total Signatures 12:45 AM CDT October 02, 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
Solution to Islamic violence - more baseball and more sex from Right Truth
DDG1000 Zumwalt from 123beta
A Friend in Iraq from Planck's Constant
Y'al come back now, Y'heah? ;-)
Technorati Tag:Denmark***Free Speech***Jihad***Army of Davids
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Sunday, 22 October 2006
Brief Haitus
My Home Computer is acting up. Actually that is an understatement. It may be seriously fried.
That means I may for awhile be limited to posting during what breaktime I have at work. Or by using my work computer after my day is finished.
The following is not an understatement as to my reaction to this.
From Ramblings of an Ordinary
Anyone who can identify just pop a word in the comments.
Technorati Tags:
Computers Linked to |
Friday, 20 October 2006
My Avatars
Someone on an International Forum, that I post one frequently has found a very interesting facial feature recognition program. They have input some of our profile photos and come up with correlations between our facial features and those of celebrities.
I find my Avatars to be very flattering.
How Cool is that I look like Bob Dylan, Mark Harmon, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Brabham, Patrick Swayze, James Doohan! Scotty from Star Trek!! and George Clooney.
Technorati Tags:George Clooney :James Doohan Scotty:Patrick Swayze :Bob Dylan:Mark Harmon
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