Read and remember

This came at me from one of the forum I frequent. It perfectly summarises the terrorist as I know him. This is what seems to be missed when "civilised" beings meet to discuss what we need to do to protect ourselves from such single-mindedness. Mere adaptions of our comfy, fuzzy, laws will not deter the believer.

Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimalfood or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what
workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home. He knows only The Cause.

Print it out and pin it up somewhere. Make sure you know it word perfect and understand what it is that the non-fundamentalist faces.

Game Play

Whilst I cannot at this time create, I can still do some nifty cut and paste. From which lazy action comes this scenario.

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So, what do you think of this then?

Nice dog

Bit of a break in service for a (hopefully) short time.

The Black Dog has got me again and the normal anti-depressants seem to be taking longer to kick in. Writing anything reasonable at times like these is not possible.

I'll get back when things improve. They usually do.

Top whack

The high speed crash that took out Richard Hammond was surely something just waiting to happen. The show had become a victim of its own success as higher powered car followed high powered car. Faster and faster exotic cars had to be gathered for testing and display. I have nothing against this but there is a rising risk and, all too often, a price to pay.

Some while back the Noel Edmonds show was taken off air following death of someone on the show. I suppose the TV authorities undertake proper Health &Safety assessments but just how far can these cover all eventualities at speeds approaching 300 miles per hour. There seems to be a pretty well based claim that Richard was driving as a replacement. I would have expected them to use The Stig.

Medical outlook is that he should be OK. OK for what is the question. He comes across as a nice guy and it would be a shame for him to be unable to lead a full life. Best of luck hamster!

Shoe on other foot time

Much of the stuff I read about Muslim views of current events passes over my head. I think I have had sufficient past experience of just how crazed they can get on very little justification to find much interest in what switches the modern fundamentalist onto KILL mode.

My guest blog today has a nice way of asking the question.

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Provocative text goes here!

Pot. Kettle. Black.

What amuses me about the Pope's remarks concerning Islam is that he conveniently ignores Christianity's own barbarous past. I don't want to offend any fundamentalist by mentioning C r u s a d e s but they were not just outings in the park. Embrace Christianity or The Sword was a powerful missionary principle.

Going - Going Go......

The blog in the guest spot shows just how under-strength we have become in defence capability. I think his point about control being vested in Civil Servants is most appropriate. One can hear them saying, above the discreet tinkle of fine china tea cups, "So. What does one need to know to be a soldier? Anyone can do it"

Could as easily ask, "So. What does one need to know to be a lawyer? Anyone can do it"

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Just see what this poxy Government has done

One damned thing after another!

As if we did not have enough on the stress front with leadership battles, along comes this report.

Britain faces a fate worthy of the Book of Revelation. According to botanists, the Tree of Heaven is set to make life hell on Earth for our gardeners.

Ailanthus altissima, which gets its heavenly nickname from its ability to grow rapidly to heights of 80 feet or more, has begun spreading alarmingly across the landscape and poses an imminent threat to plant health and biodiversity in Britain.

No Papa!

I really find it difficult to believe that the Pope was not well aware of what he would spark off with his remarks about Islam. My guest blog is somewhat on the lines Ian Paisley might write but does suggest another agenda?

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Is this the point of the Pope's speech?

Whose tragedy?

There is quite a bit in this blog that strikes a chord with me. Who is wrong? Makes interesting reading.

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Quite long, just suspend judgement until you get to the end. Maybe go back and read some bits again.

What are you reading today?

Seems like the Internet cuckoo is just about getting ready to toss the Main Stream Media (MSM) chicks out of the nest. The owner of the LA Times has demanded job cuts and is at loggerheads with his Editor on his demand. Lack of profits is the stated cause.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is threatened with closure if the Unions do not agree to cost-cutting initiatives. Long run of losses is at the root of this.
The NY Times reports a sale of a chain of radio stations in face of drop in listeners in switch to Internet-based interests.
Looking at from over the Big Pond I wonder just what it is that is leading the switch. Living as we do ‘interesting times’, it cannot be the paucity of news. There seems to be an enormous list of interesting events bubbling about in the stew of American media. Never mind the actual news – I’m sure one could fell an ox with a paper made up of learned commentators’ comments.
Perhaps it is this very overload that is doing the damage. Reading a paper is like getting Push e-mail; it is there whether one wants it or not. When I go to my home page I can see a précis of news and can choose whether I click further or not. I am an avid reader of blogs (the serious ones that is! Younggirl15 on video does not sweat my rocks) and gather an immense mass of current events from them.Here we have circulation wars but that is more about the share of the reading public and I am unaware of any decline in overall print runs.

Stronger police

Perhaps a few notices like this will deter criminals?

No more Mr Nice Guy!

Anniversary

It seems to me that the 9/11 events this year are more numerous and attracting much more media attention. One would have thought that after five years, the general public would have come to terms with what happened.

The conclusion I have drawn is that the state of things in Iraq and Afghanistan has led to the realisation that what was expected to be a swift and clean operation to deal with those behind the attack in New York is going to be a long haul. There can be no victory for a military solution and we are dealing with opponents who have nothing to gain from discussion and agreements. If anything, the terrorist threat is worse now than when we moved into Iraq. Sure, mainland USA has - so far as we the public know - had no more attacks but alsewhere US assets are fair game. Also, easy game.

This feeling that we are unable to deal with those who caused our losses increases the effect of the attack. It is not normal for an American citizen to feel powerless.

Blog bug

Seems that there has been a bit of a blog-up in the comments area.

I had moderation mode working to deter the spambots. However, for some reason my approval of those bona fide remarks did not result in them being posted as used to be the case. Why - who knows. I've already commented on the ability of p.c.s to be operating perfectly when shut down and then to re-open next morning with all sorts of problems and self-administering cock-ups.

So - moderation is off.

How profiling works

In a climate when young religious fanatic Arabs are giving their useless lives in the cause of world terrorism, it pays to make sure that every possible suspect has been cleared.

The little old white lady has obviously been here before as her faultless pose indicates.

Elephants never forget

Those who know my idea of funny will understand why this is here.

In 1986, Mkele Mbembe was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from college. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed so Mbembe approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee and inspected the elephant's foot, and
found a large thorn deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Mbembe worked the thorn out with his hunting knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather stern look on its face, stared at him. For several tense moments Mbembe stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the
elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away. Mbembe never forgot that
elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later he was walking through a zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Mbembe and his son Tapu were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Mbembe and lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man. Remembering the encounter in 1986, Mbembe couldn't help wondering if this was the same elephant. Mbembe summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. Suddenly the elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Mbembe's legs and swung him wildly back and forth along the railing, killing him instantly. Probably wasn't
the same elephant.

What might have been

Intelligence gathering is a slow and drawn-out procedure. It has certainly taken a little while to come up with an assessment of terrorist plans around the time of the fateful 9/11 a few years back. The public always expect quick results - brought up as they may have been on the American crime soaps where all has to be solved inside the hour. There is also the truism that the terrorist has a considerable advantage in the need for us never to make a mistake in our precautions whilst Bert the Bomber only needs one loophole to slink through.

Latest report on US investigations shows the scope of the plotting undertaken by the fundamentalists.

9/11 prisoners reveal British terror targets

By Sean O'Neill and Daniel McGrory

HEATHROW, Canary Wharf and British embassies overseas were on a hitlist of terrorist targets drawn up by the architect of the 9/11 atrocities, according to intelligence gathered in secret American prisons and made public yesterday.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, al-Qaeda’s operational planner, was plotting suicide attacks on the world’s busiest international airport, the iconic London skyscraper at 1, Canada Square and the British Embassy in Cambodia before he was captured and taken to a CIA interrogation centre.

One needs to read the whole article.

Care in the community

This is something that has come at me from four different sources so either it is already a classic or is destined to be one.

Whatever! I'll leave 'gentle reader' to decide.

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A female liberal wrote a lot of letters to the White House complaining

about the treatment of a captive insurgents (terrorists) being held in Guantanamo Bay.

She received back the following reply:


The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C. 20016



Dear Concerned Citizen,



Thank you for your recent letter roundly criticizing our treatment of the Taliban and Al Quaeda detainees currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Our administration takes these matters seriously and your opinion was heard loud and clear here in Washington. You'll be pleased to learn that, thanks to the concerns of citizens like yourself, we are creating a new division of the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called the "Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers" program, or LARK for short.

In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided to place one terrorist under your personal care. Your personal detainee has been selected and scheduled for transportation under heavily armed guard to your residence next Monday.

Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud (you can just call him Ahmed) is to be
cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your
letter of complaint. It will likely be necessary for you to hire some assistant caretakers.

We will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of
care for Ahmed are commensurate with those you so strongly recommended in your letter.

Although Ahmed is a sociopath and extremely violent, we hope your
sensitivity to what you described as his "attitudinal problem" will
help him overcome these character flaws. Perhaps you are correct in
describing these problems as mere cultural differences. We understand that you plan to offer counseling and home schooling.

Your adopted terrorist is extremely efficient in hand-to-hand combat
and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or
nail clippers. We advise that you do not ask him to demonstrate these skills at your next yoga group. He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless (in your opinion) this might offend him.

Ahmed will not wish to interact with you or your daughters (except
sexually), since he views females as a subhuman form of property.
This is a particularly sensitive subject for him and he has been known to show violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the new dress code that he will recommend as more appropriate attire. I'm sure you will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the burka -- over time.

Just remember that it is all part of "respecting his culture and his
religious beliefs" -- wasn't that how you put it?

Thanks again for your letter. We truly appreciate it when folks like
you keep us informed of the proper way to do our job.

You take good care of Ahmed - and remember...we'll be watching.

Good luck!

Cordially, your friend,

Don Rumsfeld

TalkTalk - again!

Although all I lost in the TalkTalk saga was temper and time, I'm glad I got out of it. Just Google TalkTalk problems and see what happened to others. Small selection in the Guest section.

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Looks as if I was lucky in getting a answer about my TalkTalk experience

Will he, won't he - who really cares?

I don't quite know how I truly feel about the pantomime antics of the Labour Party. I cannot bring myself to shout out every time Brown comes on stage. I don't think I have any political faith in anyone who gets elected and is chosen to become Prime Minister. The whole thing is outside my understanding. Manifesto politics seems doomed anyway. The period between deciding something that might interest us, working out a policy, publishing it, getting into power and dealing which emergency problems need immediate attention means that things have changed beyond all recognition and the Manifesto is ready for turning into lavatory paper.

However, it is interesting to watch a beast rend itself asunder.

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Just like this from the local version of the Labour Party