Early Metallica

seek and destroy with anime

Global Examples

Night
The military objectives of the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program have created an aesthetic byproduct — a composite photo of the planet, taken during nighttime hours. More than 99% of these representations of actual light sources are indications of human activity on the planet. For example, this image includes more than a million man-made fires, most of them in the Third World, chiefly propagated for agricultural purposes. Population centers are easily identified; however, the amount of light represented here is not necessarily proportional to the population size. Imbalances arise due to unequal electrical consumption. Japanese consume 15 times as much electricity as Chinese per capita, and Americans consume 21/2 times more than Japanese do. This image also illustrates light pollution, a condition only astronomers have complained about so far.

A Satellites Blind Spots
The public service Landsat System has blind spots over territory and time. However, personal satellites can soon be purchased for about the price of a Mercedes, and space junk is increasingly hard to track.

Nuclear Explosions

More than 2000 nuclear bombs have been detonated worldwide since 1945. In 1963 the superpowers agreed to limit themselves to underground testing. By then the atomic radiation in Europe had increased to levels comparable to those caused by the Chernobyl accident

Forest Fires
In spring 1998 uncontrolled forest fires raged in the equatorial regions. Airplanes crashed in Indonesia, Smoke plumes reached across national borders into other countries and even continents. One day the loss of forest the size of Belgium in Brazil was reported. El Nino was generally blamed for the lack of rain.

“Bad Carma”
Traveling the roads of countries with a red cross is dangerous. The larger the cross, the higher the chance to continue any given trip in an ambulance and end up in a hospital or graveyard.

more globes than you can poke a stick at here:

worldprocessor.com/catalog/world/mainframe.html

Pacific Reach

Navy hosts international sub exercise
Dan Box November 27, 2007

THE Australian navy is playing host to a vast international military exercise meant to prevent a repeat of the Kursk tragedy, in which the crew of a Russian submarine died after the vessel was trapped on the seabed.

Submarines, ships and teams of specialist divers, as well as military observers from 15 nations, gathered yesterday in Perth for the first day of the two-week operation, which has been codenamed Pacific Reach.

New Sub Class
The guided missile submarine USS Ohio is gently pushed to the pier by a tugboat as it returns to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, Wash., Dec. 19, 2005, after completing sea trials. Ohio is the first ballistic missile submarine to complete conversion to the new class of guided missile submarines. The submarine will also have the additional capability to transport and support Navy special operations forces. Defense Dept. photo by Rick Chaffee

Such was the impact of the 2000 Kursk tragedy -- in which the Russian authorities refused offers of help from the US and Britain, condemning the vessel's 118 crew to their deaths -- that a number of unlikely military allies have put aside their differences.

Pakistan, which was suspended from the Commonwealth last week, has sent observers to work alongside elite British navy divers, trained to parachute from helicopters to help evacuate stricken submarines.

NATO has also sent a team to observe the participants -- including China, Russia, Indonesia and the US -- many of which are building up their submarine fleets within the region.

Exercise director Captain Peter Scott said: "It's quite a remarkable event. It's not an exercise that is predicated or based on any particular military alliance. And it's not always been the case that submariners and navies were willing to call on assistance fromothers."

Two Australian submarines, as well as one each from South Korea and Japan, will take part in a number of simulated emergencies, including one where a vessel will sever communications and sink to the seabed, replicating theKursk emergency, to await rescue.

The exercise also has a wider strategic aim of building military relationships between countries in Asia, a region that a number of analysts describe as being involved in an "arms race" for submarines.

In September, Indonesia announced it would buy 10 new submarines as well as other military technology from Russia, while China and Pakistan are also increasing their fleets.

The Submarine Institute of Australia estimates that by 2020 up to 10 nations will be operating about 100 submarines across the region, in contrast to the six Collins-class submarines maintained by the Australian navy at present.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Britain launches massive submarine that can hear a ship from across the Atlantic
This is London 08.06.07
She is four years late and a massive £900million over-budget. But when the Royal Navy's super-sub HMS Astute finally arrived, she made for an awesome sight. More complex than the space shuttle, and able to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing, the 7,400-ton monster is the largest and deadliest hunter-killer submarine ever built.
www.martinfrost.ws/.../hunter_killer.html

The Spirit of America

America Still Has Her Soul
Amazing National Anthem at Fenway Park - Crowd Helps Autistic Singer

It was Disability Awareness day and the folks at Fenway did a lot of great things for kids with challenges..here is one who sang and when he got nervous the Fenway Faithful helped him out



Watch it all the way through, you will hear the audience join in, it is very powerful.

H/T:
http://www.theodoresworld.net/

How to make PEACE!!!

Nonie Darwish Delivers Reason
If only all Arabs were as strong as Nonie Darwish, peace would break out tomorrow:


http://neoconexpress.blogspot.com/

Xmas Gift idea #1

Trendy pencil sharpener for his/her desk.

The Bad Egg

The Real Problem for the West is the UN.

"Islam should not be blamed for terrorism," UN conference
Hindustan Times

The international community should counter the spread of Islamophobia partly due to "misinformation and misperceptions", participants at a UN counter-terrorism conference said.

Speaking at the 3-day conference, experts said there is a need for the international community to counter the spread of Islamophobia, which they noted has been growing in recent years partly because of misinformation and misperceptions about the religion.

The emergence of "misguided groups" that have deviated from the straight path to fanaticism, violence and extremism, attributing their acts to Islam, in no way justifies associating this phenomenon with the Islamic faith, they said during the conference titled "Terrorism: Dimensions, Threats and Countermeasures" in Tunis.

"It profits from weak State capacity to maintain law and order," said co-chair and Tunisian Culture and Preservation of Heritage Minister Mohamed El Aziz Ben Achour, during the concluding session on November 17.

"These vulnerable areas are exploited by terrorists to mobilize recruits and justify violence.

None of the religions are a cause of political radicalism and extremism. Religious doctrine may be 'tools of mobilization,' rather than a direct cause," he said at the conference which was jointly organized by the UN's Department of Political Affairs and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Participants agreed that terrorism flourishes in environments where there is discontent, exclusion, humiliation, poverty, political oppression and human rights abuses, as well as in countries engaged in regional conflicts.

Pigs Arse!

Won't back down

I Won't Back Down

by Johnny Cash

Kill all humans for the planet

Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn on the "logical reduction of environmentalism:

HotAir with Save the planet: Have an abortion.

Steyn- on culture

Kill or be killed

I wanna

Who's side are you on?

It's time to stop giving power and protection to the criminals.

From: Voice of the Pacific

A small story to set you thinking….

A man called the police dept. and told them he had 5 men breaking into his tool shed out back.

The dispatcher told the guy they didn’t have anyone available to make it out to his property to stop the crime, and that the man should just remain in his home to be safe.

The cops would be there when they could get there. The man was outraged and said “You really need to get out here! They are in the shed RIGHT NOW, and you can catch them.”

The dispatcher again told him they didn’t have anyone available.

The man hung up, waited one minute, then called the police again. He said “I have 5 dead guys in my shed” the dispatcher said “WHAT”? The man nodded

“Yeah, I just went out and shot those burglars I called you about.”

Within seconds, several police cars drove up and the cops went into the shed … they found 5 guys stealing and promptly arrested them. One of the cops said, “I thought you said you shot all these guys.”

The home owner said “I thought YOU said you didn’t have anyone available for my call”

H/T:
http://didgeman.wordpress.com/

Ham Stakes

Pigs' heads dumped at site of proposed Islamic school
Article from:
November 28, 2007 02:35pm

TWO pigs' heads have been dumped at the controversial site of a proposed Islamic school in Sydney's southwest.

The pigs' heads, planted on wooden stakes on the Camden site, with the Australian flag draped between them, are believed to be in protest of the Muslim school proposal.

The proposed school, for up to Muslim 1200 students on 15ha and wedged between market gardens and pastures, has been highly controversial.

A public meeting held in Camden earlier this month attracted more than 2000 people opposed to the development.

The local council also received several thousand written objections during the planning approval process.

More:

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22836273-662,00.html

Cyber Shield

"Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind"

Cyber spy force to shield parliament
Cameron Stewart November 28, 2007

THE country's most secretive spy agency will be asked to step up its protection of Canberra's Parliament House against cyber attacks by foreign government hackers.

The Defence Signals Directorate will oversee security for a proposed new wireless internet system at Parliament House to ensure foreign powers cannot exploit it to steal political secrets.

The move comes only months after China was reported to have tried to hack into highly classified government computer networks in Australia as part of a broader international operation to secure military secrets from Western nations.

The Howard government did not confirm or deny the cyber attacks when they were first reported by The Australian in September, but government sources said at the time that thwarting such assaults was a continuing challenge.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Little Lambs

Like an invading army the global jihad war against the West, helped by the UN with Islamic gangs robbing, threatening, raping & burning , what hope do unarmed native civilians have to defend their families, it' just fun jihad to them! And what happens when it gets to being serious jihad? Seen the African Jihad photos of hacked and disfigured people? Too many people don't recognise that we are at WAR. When it's all over they will deal with the leftists & greens and gays and any non -Islamist as WE ARE ALL just -COWS TO BE SLAUGHTED!

Gang preying on hospital visitors in Parkville and Carlton
Paul Anderson
November 28, 2007 01:28pm

POLICE have released security camera footage of a man they want to talk to about a series of robberies in Melbourne's busiest hospital and university precinct.

A gang of north African men aged between 18 and 22 have committed seven robberies in Parkville and Carlton in the past two weeks. The victims have been bashed for their wallets, mobile phones, a watch and digital camera. Sergeant Michael Lamb, of the Melbourne Embona taskforce, told the Herald Sun that police had set up a special investigation.

"We've identified seven (incidents) involving men with dark complexions between the ages of 18 and 22, and we're concerned this will continue.

"People should be able to walk around and conduct their affairs without being attacked and having their belongings stolen.'' Sgt Lamb encouraged peripheral members of the group to help themselves out by contacting police before they are arrested. Victim Simon Quirk is living at Ronald McDonald House in Story St, Parkville, while his son, 3, battles cancer.

For the past six weeks, Mr Quirk and wife Abigail have spent their days by son Alexander's bedside at the Royal Children's Hospital, where he's had a bone marrow transplant.

Mr Quirk was bashed after walking from the hospital to the front of Ronald McDonald House where he answered his phone about 11pm.

"I was talking and the next thing I knew a group of young African males - about six to eight of them -- walked up to me and surrounded me," Mr Quirk said yesterday.

"They asked if they could use the phone.

"A lot of things were running through my head. I knew at the very best my phone and wallet were going to be gone and some sort of bodily harm was very likely.

"They were clearly menacing. They were right in my face and standing around me."
One of the gang punched Mr Quirk in the face before he handed over his phone and his wallet.

"They thought it was hilarious. One of them then fronted up to me and said, 'Do you want some?' I said, 'No, you've got everything. There's heaps of money in the wallet'."

Mr Quirk, a financial services company director, said the attack was the last thing his family needed.

"I haven't really had time to dwell on it because most of our energy and attention is spent on getting our son better."

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22833645-2862,00.html

---

Police getting no respect again!

Huge mob attacks police
Holly Ife
November 29, 2007 09:10am

AN attempted arrest descended into a mass brawl last night as police came under attack from up to 100 youths in Flemington.

One officer suffered a bruised chest and ribs as the aggressive crowd turned on police.

When police stopped to speak to a rock-throwing suspect on Racecourse Rd he became abusive and was arrested. It was during this arrest that another man - also believed to have been involved in the rock-throwing - attacked police officers.

After he was also arrested, scores of youths and adults - many believed to be of African descent - surrounded police and attempted to free the men. One police officer was injured and a total of 15 police units from the CBD and inner suburban areas attended to disperse the crowd.

Two further teenagers were arrested. Four males aged between 14 and 18 years of age were eventually taken to the Moonee Ponds Police Station before being released.

They are expected to be charged on summons at a later date.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22840908-661,00.html

This is just 5min drive away from the Maribyrnong riot not long ago.

HA HA

The Shock - coming soon to your city?

Fresh gang riots shock France
By Emma Charlton in Paris
November 27, 2007 03:00am
Article from: Reuters

Worst violence since 2005
Gangs use guns against police

A FRENCH judge ordered a manslaughter inquiry after the death of two teenagers in a crash with police sparked a night of rioting in a flashpoint Paris suburb.

The violence was some of the worst since nationwide riots in 2005, which erupted in similar circumstances.

The two youths, aged 15 and 16, died after their motorbike collided with a police car in the high-immigration suburb of Villiers-le-Bel yesterday evening. Six hours of clashes followed.

Gangs of youths used guns against police, according to one police union, as they torched about 30 cars and looted shops and buildings. Twenty-five police and one firefighter were injured, officials said. Calm was eventually restored just after midnight.

About 100 youths thronged the crash site on a high-rise housing estate, accusing police of fleeing the scene.
http://www.news.com.au/

64 police injured as Paris riots worsen
November 28, 2007

VILLIERS-LE-BEL, France: French police beefed up security yesterday after riots continued for a second night in flashpoint Paris suburbs despite the launch of a judicial probe into the deaths of two teens, which sparked the violence.

Police said yesterday 64 officers were injured in clashes with youths in and around the suburb of Villiers-le-Bel, adding that five were in critical condition.

"One policeman was wounded in the shoulder after being hit by a high-calibre bullet," a security official said.

The injuries followed rioting in Villiers-le-Bel and the nearby towns of Sarcelles and Garges-les-Gonesses, police said.

Riots intensified in the town and neighbouring areas, police said yesterday. Six hours of violent clashes erupted in Villiers-le-Bel on Sunday after the teenagers' motorbike crashed into a police car.

Yesterday, about 100 youths crouching behind bins in Villiers-le-Bel hurled objects at 160 riot police, who responded with rubber bullets and teargas.

Police said young rioters in other towns were armed with baseball bats, Molotov cocktails and bottles of acid.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Link: http://illustratedpig.blogspot.com

Weapon of Deception

Al Taqiyya: The Islamist Terrorist's Weapon of Deception

Frank Salvato/Basics Project

Western civilization’s delinquent knowledge of the Islamic faith leaves us naïve to many of its tenets. Many among us would be hard pressed to explain the differences between the Sunni and the Shi’ite, let alone the reasons why they have remained in conflict for almost the entire existence of the Islamic faith.

This delinquency in understanding Islamic culture and doctrine makes those they consider non-believers – or kafirs – vulnerable both individually and collectively. This is especially true when we examine the Islamic concept of taqiyya.

Taqiyya is defined literally as:

“Concealing or disguising one's beliefs, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions, and/or strategies at a time of eminent danger, whether now or later in time, to save oneself from physical and/or mental injury."

In essence, taqiyya can be generally defined as the legitimization of deception in times of danger. [read article]

America's Truth Forum

Call of the Terminators

Exoskeleton Turns Humans Into Terminators.
Nov. 21: An experimental robotic exoskeleton turns grunts into super-soldiers.

Innuendo Concern

Hillary and Huma

Drudge is highlighting the Hillary Clinton/Huma Abedin innuendo, which has made the Times of London.

Pamela had background on this awhile ago: the whispers are that Hillary Clinton is carrying on a lesbian relationship with her top aide, Huma Abedin. It's certainly a salacious rumor, but what concerns me about it is not the affair but the fact that Hillary's closest aide is a Muslim who grew up in Saudi Arabia, and whose father was an Islamic scholar there:

Links:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/018931.php#comments

www.nohillaryclinton.com/.../

Real Ugly Bride

War Is Deceit

"Official: Bride, groom stopped in Iraq actually terror suspects,"

by Mohammed Tawfeeq for CNN -thanks to Jihad Watch

Emerging Kosovo

Kosovo Emerging as Bastion of Radical Islam



Wahhabism, Financed By Saudi Arabia, Quickly Gains Ground in Bosnia

SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The Dayton Peace Accords called for the removal of foreign combatants from Bosnia after the Balkans war. But hundreds of mujahedeen fighters stayed, and today they are successfully spreading their fundamentalist Islamist views.

H/T: http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/

Cool New Way to Surf News

click to enlarge

This is a new way to surf the net.

The site is

www.VerveEarth.com.

Once on board, you can easily link your blog, update your location, and build a personalized internet world of content.

.

F-16 History Markings 90th

click to enlarge

An F-16C Fighting Falcon from the Texas Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Squadron flies with a special paint job in honor of the squadron?s 90th anniversary. All the colors and markings have specific meanings, reflecting the unit?s nine-decade history. (Photo courtesy of John Dibbs) More Military Pictures

Colorful F-16 represents 90 years of history
US Air Force Nov 26, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas: An F-16C Fighting Falcon from the Texas Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Squadron is flying with a special paint job in honor of the squadron's 90th anniversary.

All the colors and markings have specific meanings, reflecting the unit's nine-decade history.

The rudder is painted like a JN-4 Jenny, which the squadron flew in the 1920s. The schemes for the wings and flaps recall the paint schemes of the pre-World War II era.

The blue fuselage represents the Korean War, in which the squadron earned credit for two air victories. The gray underside represents the jet age.

The "N5 A" was the insignia the squadron's P-51 Mustangs sported during World War II, in which the squadron claimed 44 air victories.

Also representing World War II is the star on the fuselage, while the star on the wing represents the pre-World War II era.

"Ace in the Hole" and the star on the tail replicate the markings of the squadron's F-84s during the Korean War. The ventral fin, partially obscured, reads "Est. 1917."

Today the 111th FS is part of the 147th Fighter Wing, based at Ellington Field in Houston.

DefenceTalk.com - Daily Defence News Update [news@defencetalk.com]

Iraq's New Era

Newly graduated soldiers hold up Iraq flags as they march during their graduation ceremony at the Besmaya army camp in Baghdad November 18, 2007. Reuters photo.

The Real Surge
By DJ Elliott
November 23, 2007 10:44 AM

While the "surge" of five US brigades plus their accompanying support elements, about 30,000 US troops total, is the main focus of commentators when discussing the current situation in Iraq, the real surge in Iraq is happening behind the scenes. The rapidly expanding Iraqi Army is where the real surge in forces is occurring.

By the time the US plans to reduce its combat forces to pre-surge levels (July 2008), the real surge is planned to have increased the Iraqi Army to 13 divisions, 49 brigades, 154 battalions, and five or six ISOF battalions.

This includes finishing the retraining and equipping of the former SIBs transferred to the Iraqi Army. The manning of the Iraqi Army is currently planned to reach 120 percent of unit strength by July 2008.

From the time the US surge of only five combat brigades was announced to the time it ends, the real surge will have increased the Iraqi Army field forces by 30 percent in divisions, 40 percent in brigades, 50 percent in battalions, and 150 percent in ISOF.

In addition the existing Iraqi Army combat unit manning will have increased to 120 percent from the pre-surge level of approximately 65 percent.

The Iraqi Army will field the following units by July 2008:
4-3 Brigade - Southwest Ninawa

4-5 Brigade - Diyala

4-7 Light Armored Cavalry Brigade - Anbar (Rutbah)

3-14 Brigade - Basrah

4-14 Brigade - Basrah

12th Division Headquarters - Tikrit

1-12 Brigade - Western Kirkuk (retrained SIBs)

2-12 Brigade - Northern Salahadin (retrained SIBs)

3-12 Brigade - Southern Salahadin (retrained SIBs)

One or two more battalions of ISOF and ISOF Aviation Squadron

While the surge brigades will eventually depart, the Iraqi Army is not leaving Iraq.

A new era for Australia 2007

Thank You Mr Howard for doing us proud on the world stage, together with the U.S.A. for kicking Islamist butt- since holy war has been declared ( 9/11) on the West and Israel.

News, Links & Comments via LGF-

John Howard is a real stand up guy who was able to articulate why we fight. I read somewhere that Reagan was one of his role models, in terms of both substance and delivery. I'll never forget that press conference in London after the bus bombings, where Howard seemed like a cool-headed adult as Tony Blair looked like he was ready to pee his pants. Four terms was a great run however. We should all be grateful a man of his stature and moral clarity walked on the world stage.

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Unfortunately, it is the way of things that after a long period of right-wing rule, people feel secure enough to vote in leftists again. Then, with the leftists have screwed everything up, they elect right-wingers to fix it. And so it goes.

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Brown congratulates Rudd, talks Kyoto
BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown has personally congratulated Kevin Rudd on Labor's federal election victory and welcomed his plan to quickly ratify the Kyoto protocol. Read more

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President Bush congratulates Rudd
US President George W. Bush looks forward to working with the new Australian government after Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch Bush ally, suffered an overwhelming electoral defeat by the Labor Party, a White House spokeswoman said. Read more

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I looked at Kev's website and that of the Labor party. I'll be damned if I couldn't find any mention of Islamic terrorism or jihad. But Kev sure does have some smart, Euro-trash glasses, doesn't he? Looks like he just walked out of the Porsche boardroom.

How soon before Hillary uses his victory as a tacit endorsement of her campaign? Maybe she'll be sporting the same glasses soon enough.

The 2 greatest scourges and threats to civilization are indeed man made - Communism and Islam, and they both star front and center in those hemispheres - but since neither involve the internal combustion engine I would say big Kev's priorities are dangerously out of whack.
Didn't Peter Garrett just about admit to being a Marxist about a decade or so ago?

I can hear the ululations from around the globe.................

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Howard was in power for 11 years. Even with good overall governance, an electorate will switch parties in stable democracies on a regular basis. Too many controversies and scandals build up over that amount of time, legitimate or not, but that's just how it works. It's healthy.

In his first month in office, Rudd will personally save the universe by signing Kyoto and will bring home Australia's humongous number of troops in Iraq. Then however, he will have to produce tangible results and will be held accountable.

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Labor victory makes headlines worldwide
WORD of Labor's victory in the Federal Election has made headlines worldwide, with many international news agencies describing it as an "end to a conservative era". Read more

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It was just bad timing, says Downer
ALEXANDER Downer has put the Coalition's federal election defeat down bad timing for himself and his Liberal colleagues. Read more

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Howard lost as a result of the left wing media. The left wing Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) has been anti Howard for years. In fact John Howard has likely lost his own seat to an ex ABC presenter. During an interview last night with the main political ABC anchor, Kerry Ob Brien said "Howard has lost to the ABC" - a slip of the tongue that meant to be "ALP" for Aus Labour party.

Don't underestimate the power of the left wing MSM!

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Have fun with that Kyoto thing, people will be making about 15% less money, but at least al Gore will be racking in the carbon offset credits, and then he can make more propoganda, so all the libtards win.

But sorry regular Australians you are going to fare poorly

H/T: http://littlegreenfootballs.com/

Ultimate Sacrifice

Parents praise Digger
Sunday Herald Sun
Kellie Cameron
November 25, 2007 12:00am

THE parents of fallen Australian commando Luke Worsley have paid an emotional tribute to their son.

John and Marjorie Worsley released a statement yesterday saying their brave son had made the "ultimate sacrifice" for the country he loved.

"He loved the army, its discipline, training and spirit," they said.

"Our son chose his profession and, as fate would have it, he paid the ultimate sacrifice.

"We are extremely proud of our boy and we know we lost him doing a job he was trained for and loved doing."

Pte Worsley, 26, was killed in a raid on a Taliban bomb-making centre in Afghanistan. Three civilians and a number of Taliban also died.

His body will be flown home late this week to his family, which includes his parents, three sisters, a brother, two nieces and two nephews and his girlfriend.

Pte Worsley is the third Digger to die in action in Afghanistan in seven weeks and the fourth Australian soldier to die since the Afghan campaign began in late 2001.

http://www.news.com.au/

Conservative Labor Win

Rudd (r) succeeds Howard as PM




Howard Admits Election Defeat
Updated:11:24, Saturday November 24, 2007


Australian Prime Minister John Howard has suffered a humiliating election defeat as the opposition Labor Party swept into power.


Mr Howard, who was seeking a fifth term after 11 years of conservative rule, is reported to have telephoned Labor leader Kevin Rudd to admit defeat.


The outgoing prime minister also appeared to be on course to lose his own seat, which he has held since 1974, as the elections saw a 6.3% swing to Labor.


If he does lose his constituency, he will be the first prime minister since 1929 to do so.
Former diplomat Mr Rudd, 50, presented himself as a new generation leader compared with the 68-year-old Mr Howard.


Voters warmed to his promise to pull Australian troops out of Iraq and sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.


The pledges further isolate the United States, which had received strong backing from Mr Howard.


"On the numbers we've seen tonight, Labor is going to form a government," deputy Labor leader Julia Gillard told Australian television as results came in.


The Labor victory marks only the sixth change of government in Australia since the Second World War.


The election was fought mainly on domestic issues, with Labor exploiting widespread anger at workplace laws and rising interest rates.

Mr Howard was Australia's second-longest serving prime minister behind Liberal Party founder Sir Robert Menzies.

SKY

Ear Wax

Ho Ho it's off to the polls we go! Don't be stupid vote Liberal Party.

on values and culture-

Howard sees election 2007 as a contest between values. His disappointment, surely, must be that this alleged contest of values has not won prominence. This is because Rudd denied it as a tactic and as a policy. Rudd decided he would not be wedged by Howard on cultural issues.

This raises a wider issue about a Rudd government: its stance on values and culture. As Howard shows, the leader's character is fundamental to projection of values. Expect from Rudd a new national direction, a path that is distinctive, that is neither Howard's conservatism nor Labor's progressive left but falls between them.

If government changes, so does nation
Paul Kelly, Editor-at-large November 21, 2007

IN his final-week interview with this newspaper John Howard has belled the cat, warning against the new political era Australia confronts if Labor wins the election. Howard's scare tactic is reminiscent of Paul Keating's dictum that "you change your government, you change your country".

From the moment he entered politics, Kevin Rudd wanted to make a difference. His chance is imminent. Despite his clever me-tooism Rudd, an ambitious and single-minded leader, intends to make a difference to Australia if he prevails.

Rudd will change the nation and nobody should expect anything less of a new prime minister. The magnitude of Labor's potential supremacy may be unprecedented. This was the foundation for Howard's final-week wake-up call.

His sketch of the Rudd era, if it comes, is Labor control of the House of Representatives, a Labor-Greens majority in the Senate, coast-to-coast Labor governments in the states and federally, and a Labor-trade union alliance to rewrite our industrial relations laws from top to bottom.

This portrait is not just a Howard scare. It is a realistic result from the election if the polls are vindicated. Howard calls this system "the least checked and balanced political distribution in the history of the country".

This may become the crucial prophecy from campaign 2007, with Labor's supremacy comprehensive.

Read the Rest:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22793429-7583,00.html

Related link via LGF:
Australian Elections Loom

Advocates

Gun Control Advocates: Take away the guns, no more murders

Earth Day Advocates: Take away the factories and cars, no more Co2, no more climate change

Peace Advocates: Take away the bombs and the military and no more wars

Islam Advocates: Take away the churches and the synagogues and no more hate

Terrorist Advocates: All of the above

Westophobia

Combat 'Westophobia'
Barry Rubin in the Jerusalem Post articulates a widespread malady among the Western intelligentsia: The idea that poverty, relative backwardness, violence and instability must be caused by external circumstances is ingrained in much of the Western intelligentsia. It contributes to...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/018873.php>

Is the U.S. government infested with jihadist moles?
Looks as if it is. And it is, of course, because of the government's politically correct eagerness to hire Muslims, to show that the war on terror is not anti-Islam or anti-Muslim. And because no one in the government is...

Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/018878.php>

Picked the wrong guy

Worst child murder in Berlin's history.

Ali K. is suspected of having burned Kristina H. (Foto) alive in a suitcase.

Ali K. is a 17 years old Turkish citizen in Berlin-Neukölln. Ali K. is the prototype of the integrated immigrant, his mates from the Neuköllner Gangs consider him helpful and supportive; he never failed to support himself by dealing with narcotics.

Unfortunately he has come under suspicion by the police (who arrested him in the meantime) that he killed his 14-year old girlfriend Kristina K. by burning her alive in a suitcase because she threatened to inform the police about his activities. (source: Welt 20. November 2007, )

“Although you cannot and should not compare homicide and murder, but this here is one of the worst crimes I have ever seen committed on a child in the history of our city,” said the chief of the homicide commission in front of the media.

From Jihadwatch Deutschland

H/T: http://uppompeii1.uppompeii.com/

Careful who you hook up with girls, take this as a warning!

Islamo-Fashon

Islamo-Fashion on display!
This is really funny!


Hat Tips to Battle for Britain and Mr Smith !

via: http://nationalisminourtimesofneed.blogspot.com/

Unwelcome Kitty

The USS Kitty Hawk carrier is anchored at Malaysia's West Port in Port Klang, outside Kuala Lumpur, August 28, 2007. China has unexpectedly denied the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships entry to Hong Kong port for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

U.S. aircraft carrier denied access to Hong Kong
Wed Nov 21, 2007 10:22pm EST

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China has refused permission for a U.S. aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels to visit Hong Kong for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

The Kitty Hawk group and its crew of 8,000 U.S. airmen and sailors had been expected in Hong Kong on Wednesday, but will now spend the holiday on the South China Sea.

Hundred of relatives of crew members of the USS Kitty Hawk had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with their loved ones. Hong Kong has been a regular port of call for U.S. sailors on "R & R" (rest and recuperation) since the Vietnam War.

The Chinese move comes as a surprise just weeks after a visit to China by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, which he said he hoped would lead to a long-term dialogue.

"At present, it appears the USS Kitty Hawk strike group will not be making a port call in Hong Kong as previously planned as a result of a last minute denial by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs," State Department spokeswoman Nicole Thompson said.

The United States was pressing China for an explanation and to reconsider its decision, she added.

There are several possible sources of discontent that may have prompted the decision -
- including U.S. plans to sell Taiwan a $940 million upgrade to its missile system and a meeting last month between President George W Bush and the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leader who Beijing considers a traitor.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing declined to make an immediate comment.

Read the rest:
http://www.reuters.com/

Frozen

World Outrage

West Vs East

Treatment of Woman

The Clash of Civilizations

Global reaction: Saudis defiant on case despite outrage

Politicians have refused to stand up for a gang rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes in Saudi Arabia.

So it’s up to us.

All of Us

To

Save this rape victim in Saudi Arabia

FROM THIS!!!

Saudi defends 200 lashes for gang-rape victim
How could they not defend it? They're just applying Islamic law. "Saudi defends verdict against gang-rape victim," from Reuters (thanks to John): RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia defended on Tuesday a court's decision to sentence a woman who was gang-raped...
Full article: <http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/018877.php>

---

The US and Australian governments have effectively abandoned the woman, who was raped 14 times by seven men. US Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton has urged President George W. Bush to call on Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to drop the charges, while Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has asked diplomatic staff to “raise Australia’s concern” over the sentence with the Saudi Government.

Compounding the obscenity of the sentence is the fact that it has been increased from 90 lashes.

The victim, a 19-year-old who has become known as “Qatif girl” after the Shiite-populated area of Al-Qatif in the Eastern Province she comes from, has vowed to challenge the ruling, even though the judge has warned her sentence could be increased if she loses her appeal.

The politicians’ silence doesn’t stop us from speaking out for her.

Today we are collecting your comments and views in a petition that we will present to the Saudi embassy in Canberra.

Please post your comments below and we will pass them on to the embassy.

We also encourage Australians to protest directly to the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. You can telephone the embassy in Canberra at (02) 6282 6999 and ask to speak with the Australian and New Zealand ambassador Mr Hassan Talat Nazer.

You can also send faxes to (02) 6282 8911 or post letters to:

P.O. Box 9162 Deakin ACT 2600

Related:
http://blogs.news.com.au/news/ourview/index.php/news/comments/save_this_rape_victim/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/6919735.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7096814.stm

Saudi women challenge driving ban

Official Saudi website for fatwas

Emerging Threats

Nice work by someone online.

Global Cooperation Needed to Keep Terrorists from Gaining Advanced Weapons
Rand Corporation Nov 20, 2007

International cooperation is needed to keep a new generation of advanced conventional weapons now under development from falling into the hands of terrorists, according to a RAND Corporation report issued today.

Such efforts should focus on making security forces aware of the emerging threats posed by the weapons and developing safeguards that would render the most potent of the weapons inoperable to anyone other than intended operators, according to researchers.

Among the weapons of concern are advanced mortar systems guided by global positioning systems and sniper rifles that can strike a target from up to 2 kilometers away.

“A new generation of advanced conventional weapons could pose serious security risks if they become part of terrorist arsenals,” said James Bonomo, the study's lead author and a senior physical scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

“The good news is there is still time to rein in this threat before it fully develops.”

Researchers say nations that are developing the most-potent advanced weapons need to agree upon anti-terrorist strategies before production begins or they risk enabling terrorists to acquire and use the weapons in attacks, as has happened with shoulder-fired antiaircraft weapons.

Technologies that could discourage terrorists' use of the most-potent weapons include building in a “trusted component” such as a code that would be needed to operate the equipment. These weapons also could be built with expiration dates or geographic boundaries that would make them less appealing to terrorists, according to researchers.

Advanced conventional weapons are traditional tools of warfare that will become more lethal as they incorporate technological advances into future versions. Researchers identified five broad categories of weapons that would pose new and greater risks if they are acquired by terrorists.

The weapons are:

- Advanced mortar systems guided by global positioning satellites that could strike targets such as crowds or infrastructure from a long distance. These weapons pose the biggest threat among those studied because there is no effective counter technology for security forces.

- Sniper rifles with improved electronic instrumentation that would allow a relatively unskilled marksman a chance of striking a target up to 2 kilometers away – well beyond the area that security forces guarding an official would consider threatening today.

- Advanced infantry small arms that allow very accurate, short-range fire using grenades as well as some related advanced weaponry.

- Long-range antitank weapons that can destroy a vehicle from beyond 2 kilometers. New models of these weapons are more easily operated by someone with little training.

- Limpet mines (mines that are attached to a vessel) that particularly pose a threat to cruise ships and ferries. Conventional cargo and passenger inspections would not detect this threat.

Researchers say that all five types of weapons could enable attackers to surprise security forces.

The attacks could come from far beyond any controllable security perimeter, could allow a high probability of escape for the terrorists, or could require only a single, small attack to be effective.

The first step in making the weapons less useful to terrorists is to raise awareness of the threat among security agencies, according to the report. Private groups such as operators of cruise ships and ferries also need to understand the threat and alter their security plans to account for the issue.

Some of the threats posed by advanced conventional weapons can be addressed with increased security measures such as improved inspections in harbors. But the riskiest weapons will require international agreements to build in anti-terrorist technology, Bonomo said.

Ultimately, terrorists may be able to overcome technological controls placed on the most-potent advanced conventional weapons, but doing so will require significant effort and altered weapons are likely to be unreliable, Bonomo said.

Creating such obstacles should be enough to discourage terrorists from making use of the weapons, Bonomo said.

Read Full Report at RAND's website

http://www.defencetalk.com/