The provocatons have begun. There was just a blast at the Khomenei shrine in Tehran. Wouldn't at all surprise me if it was a black ops by the IRGC to be blamed on the protesters...
albatross #59 Satellite jamming is possible, and the Chinese do it all the time to jam broadcasts by the Falun Gong.
Home for a quick bite and a nap before going back. From open source media, the pattern I am seeing uncomfortable looks like China before Tiamenin Square. Kick the foreign media out, then massacure the protestors.
On the other hand, two senior clerks have issued fatwas against the vote, high-ranking army officers have said that they will not fire on their own people (that doesn't account for the IRGC or the Basij) and Rafsanjani has called a meeting of the Council of Experts, which are the only ones who have the power to remove Khamenei.
I started to read those memos and found that I couldn't. Brought back too many bad memories.
What I find sickening is the fact is that so many of the people involved talk about what good Christians they are, and how much they go to church and how much work they've done for the church and yada yada yada...
What they have brought about goes against everything I was ever taught as a Christian and as an American.
As a believing Christian, I believe that all of those involved, the ones who committed the torture, the ones who authorized it, and the ones who supported, will spend eternity in hell. I believe that when the Judgment Day comes that the Lord will condemn them all suffer for their evil acts. I don't care what the lawyers tell them how they can weaselword in justification in this life, or what the fundamentalist evangelist hatemongers may come up with justification. I am absolutely convinced that if these people do not publicly confess to their crimes, admit that they were wrong, and are willing to suffer the full consequences and beg forgiveness, they will suffer in the afterlife.
Many of you may not agree with me, but this is what I believe...
It's traditional that when the ruling party loses a 'three-line whip," then the PM has to submit his resignation and call new elections. Legend has it that Ted Heath tried to brazen it out after losing such a vote, and was called to the palace and told by the Queen that he *would* resign...
I sure don't know any centrists who support Gitmo and torture...
I'm 54 years old. I spent much of my youth in a racist Arkansas. I am sitting here with tears streaming down my face. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would see a black man elected president. I am so grateful that God has permitted me to see this day.
(waving to Patrick and Teresa)
I just got in from a *very* long stint as a Democratic pollwatcher in MD. Before and after work were brutal. I am exhausted and hungry. But it's a good exhaustion.
I'm working as a Democratic pollwatcher here in MD. It was brutal this morning. Kind of slow now, which is why I can post. It'll start getting brutal again around four or so with the after work rush...
I'm doing my bit tomorrow. I'm working as a Democratic pollwatcher. (It's a long story.)
With John McCain's age, there's a decent chance that he won't live out his first term, much less a second. If he wins, and then passes away, the thought of Sarah Palin dealing with Putin and Iran and North Korea terrifies me...
The fact that's she's a union member will offend a large subset of Republicans, I think.
I'm expecting a large number of Huckabee's supporters to walk, as they don't want any women in public office (they didn't just hate Hillary). I spent part of the growing up years in Arkansas, so I'm familiar with the type...
People here are forgetting that the old Soviet Union had quite a habit of staging border incidents to justify their acquisitive habits. Russian special forces (spetznaz) are well trained in that particular line of work. They've based out of Abkhazia and South Ossetia for years, staging incidents, raiding across the borders, killing civilians and hoping to provoke a response. Everytime the Georgians would try to clear out the Kodori Gorge, a disputed area between Abkhazia and Georgia, and a well-known staging area for bad guys. the Russians would prevent it.
This is all about Putin punishing Georgia for the crime of being pro-Western and wanting to join NATO. The Russians aided an abetted the seccession of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as means of pressuring the Georgians back into being a puppet and they've been keeping up the pressure ever since.
Try reading up on the human rights violations committed by Russian peacekeepers in Chechnya to find out just how non-professional they are. And those are supposed to be troops on contracts, rather than conscripts.
Russia (and the Soviet Union before it) never signed the Geneva Conventions, and in the past have had no hesitation about bombing schools, hospitals, etc, and they have never really cared about civilians getting in the way, including their own.
Had quite a celebration with other people from my agency and others earlier this week. They finally caught Radovan Karadzic. For those who may not remember, he was the president of the Bosnian Serbs and one of the prime movers of some of the worst war crimes since WWII. Now all we need to do is catch Ratko Mladic...
Now maybe we can start getting out national honor back...
I'm afraid that this will cause a sea of blood when the fanatics start focusing on this. Teresa, remember the article I sent you about a month ago? Might be a good time to post that too...
And Daffy keeps wondering why I left the Republican party...
On Thursday the radio program down here in DC talked about Huckabee's statement. The hosts are pretty conservative. The callers are pretty conservative. All three hosts said it was a dealbreaker, and every single person who called in, including quite a few evangelical Christians, said it was a dealbreaker...
Benazir Bhutto was on the kill lists of Usama Bin Laden and the other fundamentalists in Pakistan because she was an uppity woman who didn't know their place. You have to remember that the thing that is most likely to cause an Salafi to go into a fit is the thought of an independent, educated woman.
CNN when into detail just how poor Bhutto's security was, the risks she took every day, and how the Pakistani government refused her requests for the equipment and personnel she needed.
Look at the video clip that's on CNN. The shooter was well trained. He knew what he was doing.
Going to find out who trained him and who sent him is not going to be easy.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2008 | 15 |
| 2007 | 15 |
| 2006 | 12 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 2004 | 1 |
| 2003 | 7 |
| 2002 | 1 |
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