warpedskydiver

Assualting a building in full NBC gear as a "training" exercise is certainly not something that I want to do more than once a year. Blooming knackering it is. In the future, if you don't like training please tell us all where to send flowers after your demise.

This is a woman whose attitudes about sex were formed in a very, very warped way. HUH? I am innocent this time dammit! boy does this feel nice

Iraq Lawyer Blasts U.S. Reaction to Deaths Saturday, June 3, 2006 3:56 PM EDT The Associated Press By HAMZA HENDAWI Listen to Audio BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A lawyer who had several relatives among 24 Iraqis allegedly slain by U.S. Marines last fall and is representing kin of other victims complained in a videotape Saturday that American compensation paid to the families was inadequate. Khaled Salem Rsayef also said U.S. officers accused him and other relatives of lying when they recounted the shootings in their first meeting with the military after the Nov. 19 deaths in the western town of Haditha. He did not say when they met. In interviews taped Friday by an AP Television News cameraman, 9-year-old survivor Iman Walid Abdul-Hameed demanded that those responsible be executed. "Because they hurt us, we want the Americans to be executed," Iman said, wearing a violet-colored striped shirt, matching pants and headband while sitting on a couch at a relative's home. She was reluctant to speak at first, but was eventually persuaded by her relatives. The girl lost her parents, a brother, grandparents and two uncles in the incident. Another brother, Abdul-Rahman, who was 6 at the time, and a sister, Asia, who was 5 months old, survived. Iman and Abdul-Rahman were slightly injured. "We did not do anything to them," Iman said of the Marines who allegedly killed unarmed civilians after becoming enraged when a comrade died in a roadside bombing. The deaths in Haditha and two other incidents involving allegations of wrongful killings have put the U.S. military on the defensive, drawing charges from Iraqis that American troops show little regard for the lives of innocent people. U.S. authorities are investigating the killings in Haditha and another town, but on Saturday cleared U.S. troops of wrongdoing in the deaths of up to 13 Iraqis in a village north of Baghdad. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said U.S. troops responded appropriately to an attack by insurgents during a raid in Ishaqi on March 15. A roadside bomb hit a U.S. convoy in Ishaqi on Saturday, wounding two U.S. soldiers. The director of Haditha General Hospital told AP Television News the 24 victims in that city included eight women and five children. Walid Abdul-Khaleq al-Obeidi said the victims mostly had chest and head wounds and were delivered to the hospital by Marines about 14 hours after witnesses said the last gunshot was heard at the death scene. One body was charred, al-Obeidi added. That was believed to be Iman's father, Walid Abdul-Hameed, who witnesses said was burned to death after a grenade was thrown into his room. Rsayef, the lawyer, said that during the first meeting between families of the Haditha victims and U.S. military officers, the Americans told the families that the 24 deaths were caused by the roadside bomb and by "terrorists." "We had a heated argument," he said. He said the U.S. officers also said during the meeting that they had no objection to TV news teams visiting the Euphrates River town to report on the deaths. "In reality, they did not make good on their promises and sealed off the town for a month after the shootings," said Rsayef, who had a brother and sister-in-law, an uncle, an aunt and several cousins among the 24 killed. Despite blaming insurgents for the killings, the U.S. military gave the families $2,500 for each person killed in the incident about a month later, except for four brothers, all of fighting age, he said. "When I received the compensation money, I found out that it was $2,500 for each victim," Rsayef said. "I told them that it's a small sum that does not match the magnitude of the disaster." He noted that Libya's government paid millions of dollars in compensation to the families of the Lockerbie airline bombing victims. "Is American blood worth more than Iraqi blood?" he asked. In an off-camera conversation with the cameraman, Iman, the 9-year-old survivor, told of hiding under a bed for hours after the shootings. She said Marines finally found her and initially took her for dead when they pulled her out. The Marines later flew her and her brother Abdul-Rahman to a nearby hospital for treatment of their minor wounds. They were later moved to a Baghdad hospital. The AP Television News tape showed walls pockmarked with bullet holes inside a stone house belonging to those killed. A dusty TV set with an apparent bullet hole in one corner sat on the floor, and furniture was piled up to the side in the house. At the time of the incident, the Marine Corps said 15 civilians had been killed in Haditha from a roadside bombing and a Marine firefight with insurgents. It said eight insurgents also were killed. According to U.S. lawmakers recently briefed by Pentagon officials, the deaths followed the killing of a U.S. Marine by a roadside bomb aimed at a military convoy Nov. 19. Angry Marines stormed nearby homes, killing the occupants, and also killed as the passengers of a taxi, the lawmakers said. The New York Times said Saturday that commanders learned within two days that civilians in Haditha were killed by gunfire and not a bomb, quoting a senior Marine officer it did not identify. The officer said officials had no information suggesting the civilians had been killed deliberately and saw no reason to investigate further. In addition to the Haditha case, U.S. authorities are investigating seven Marines and a Navy medic for possible murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges in the April 26 shooting death of an Iraqi man in Hamandiya. On Thursday, Iraq said it was launching its own probe into the Haditha killings, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sharply criticizing the conduct of U.S. troops in Iraq. His comments were unusually harsh, suggesting to some that he might be using the incident to bolster his image as a national unity leader at a time of rising sectarian tensions. Al-Maliki is a Shiite, while the Haditha victims were Sunni Arabs, the minority that is the backbone of Iraq's insurgency. An adviser to al-Maliki, Adnan al-Kazimi, denied Saturday that the announcement was a public relations exercise, saying an Iraqi investigation into the killings was popular among all Iraqis. Al-Maliki will announce the makeup and mandate of the investigating committee in the next few days, al-Kazimi told The Associated Press. It will be made up of officials from the ministries of defense, interior and human rights and will report directly to al-Maliki, he said. The findings of U.S. investigations into the killings are to be made available to the Iraqi government, with only the parts pertaining to security of U.S. forces withheld, he said. The Haditha incident and others have underlined the immense pressure on U.S. troops in Iraq. They are often isolated from Iraqis by language and culture, are away from their families for months at a time, and are fighting a phantom enemy with little sympathy or help from civilians. Many Iraqis, on their part, see the Americans and other foreign troops as occupiers who are after the country's oil wealth and accuse them of having little regard for their lives. Caldwell, the general who is spokesman for the U.S.-led multinational forces in Iraq, said Saturday that allegations U.S. troops are using undue force are a blow to the credibility of the coalition. "The behavior of our forces is a key component in the overall success of our mission," he told Arab journalists. "The credibility of our coalition forces is too valuable a commodity to squander needlessly. Every incident and allegation, no matter how small, strikes a blow against that credibility." Anyone want to comment on this? I see huge holes in this story, on both sides.

Yes I agree I would like to be left alone. But you're missing the point that these Islamic extremists who were arrested last night are either all Canadian citizens or people who have been in this country for many years now. And you're painting them as the poor oppressed victims? I ain't painting anything. Don't put words in my mouth. And have they been tried and convicted yet? I am presuming you have already tried them and found them guilty. Why not just have em transfered to Gitmo That could be arranged I am sure

If these protestors are against the politics of the situation, then their picketing outside an Army Medical Center is pretty much retarded in my view. They need to work their way south towards Pennsylvania Avenue if they want their message to be seen by those the develop policy. You see that would make too much sense, so they would rather protest those who will not cause problems for them. I think if they had any balls at all, they would take their arguments straight to the people who make the policies that offend them. I wonder how may people who protest, have even bothered to contact their elected officials, and I don't mean just the President.

you mean we aren't supposed to spear it like we are playing ring toss?...or use it like a speed bag? Damn I will be right back, I have to make some phone calls and apologize

We used to transfer those guys out, maybe they needed a new line of work.

My reference was that of the fact that both organizations make you pay a fee in order to work, pay older workers appreciably more than newer ones on the whole, and seem to not live up to their promises of taking care of everyone like family. In short both act as if you're only as good as your last envelope. I think you would be suprised that there is a great deal I think is just great in this world, but the awful things need to be pointed out, fixed or stopped. p.s. keep repeating there is no organizied crime in the entertainment industry, while clicking your heels together three times.

Fake ID Sellers Dismiss Tamperproof Push Friday, June 2, 2006 9:59 PM EDT The Associated Press By PETER PRENGAMAN LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luis Hernandez just laughs as he sells fake driver's licenses and Social Security cards to illegal immigrants near a park known for shady deals. The joke — to him and others in his line of work — is the government's promise to put people like him out of business with a tamperproof national ID card. "One way or another, we'll always find a way," said Hernandez, 35, a sidewalk operator who is part of a complex counterfeiting network around MacArthur Park, where authentic-looking IDs are available for as little as $150. Some of those coming to MacArthur Park are teenagers who want a fake ID so they can go to bars and drink. Others are ex-convicts whose criminal records make working under their real names difficult. But most are illegal immigrants who need work documents. As Congress struggles to reform laws that affect the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, one central question is how to crack down on fake documents and punish the employers who accept them. President Bush has suggested foreign workers carry a single ID that includes a fingerprint. The House and Senate, meanwhile, have passed bills that would force employers to verify job seekers' Social Security numbers with a phone call and immigration status through an electronic database. Many employers, eager for cheap labor, have a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude toward their employees' immigration status and do not check their papers. In one indication of the size of the problem, federal authorities in April arrested nearly 1,200 illegal immigrants and a few managers working at IFCO Systems plants from Southern California to New York. More than half of the 5,800 employees at the pallet and crate manufacturing company in 2005 had invalid or mismatched Social Security numbers, authorities said. Immigration officials said the fake document business has become increasingly difficult to stop. In the past, authorities could often break up a network by raiding a central "document mill" where Social Security cards, passports and licenses might be drying on a large printing press, said Kevin Jeffery, deputy agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Los Angeles. Now documents are made with illegal software on laptop computers. That mobility makes them harder to bust. "With a computer and a printer, you are in business," Jeffery said. Authorities can also be stymied by complex delivery networks. Around MacArthur Park, sellers who openly offer fake IDs do not actually carry any of the documents. Instead, they negotiate prices as high as $300 for a package containing a driver's license, Social Security card and green card. Next, they send the buyer to a less crowded area a few blocks away, where a picture is taken and the customer pays up. The picture and cash change hands a few times before arriving at an apartment where a laptop, printer and laminating machine spit out the documents. Within an hour, a runner — perhaps a young man dressed as a student, or an elderly woman — delivers the documents near the site of the original deal. Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, said it is not easy work. The biggest threats are disgruntled customers, undercover agents who record deals with cameras the size of a button, and gang members demanding protection money. When Hernandez senses a customer might be a police officer, he calls out "7/11," and his underlings disappear. If a seller is arrested, others collect money to bail him out of jail. "We are not trying to do anything bad," said Sergio Guitierrez, 35, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who sells IDs. "Immigrants just need to work." "This is the government's fault," said Maria Zuniga, 55, an illegal immigrant from Honduras who sells and transports documents. "They won't even give us a number to work or a driver's license." Quote

Duck X-Ray Reveals 'Alien Head' Thursday, June 1, 2006 8:31 PM EDT The Associated Press CORDELIA, Calif. (AP) — The International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia plans to raise funds with an unusual duck X-ray. The bird came in with a broken wing, but when Marie Travers, assistant manager of the center, radiographed the duck, she was stunned to see a very clear image of what appeared to be the face, or head, of an extraterrestrial alien in the bird's stomach. "Marie looked at it and all she could say was 'unbelievable,'" said Karen Benzel, public affairs director for the rescue center, which has been rescuing sick and injured birds for more than three decades. Unfortunately, the duck died quickly and quietly of its injuries. Initial reports from the center claimed the cause of the alien face was never determined, but Benzel said she was still awaiting results of a necropsy. Either way, the center has come up with a way to turn its alien encounter into a fundraiser for the center. It will auction off the X-ray on eBay. The one-of-a-kind image, which measures 17-by-14 inches, will be sold along with a certificate of authenticity. All proceeds will go toward funding the center's rehabilitation programs. The auction begins Sunday. Quote Hell if you want a picture of an Alien, I will glady pose for them at a DZ nearby

I wonder what a taxidermist could do with him

And Warped, it does sound a bit like Cosa Nostra, doesn't it...except, Dad has had more success in the last 15 years than he has in the other 45 years he has been a member... Ciels- Michele If you cant get any documentation out of them you might want to read the RICO act.

Al-Zarqawi Urges Sunnis to Take on Shiites Friday, June 2, 2006 7:59 AM EDT The Associated Press By MAGGIE MICHAEL CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — The leader of al-Qaida in Iraq urged Sunnis to confront Shiites and ignore calls for reconciliation in a new audiotape posted Friday on the Web, saying Shiite militias are killing and raping the Sunni Arab minority. The tape was a four-hour sermon by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi against Shiites, denouncing their top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as an "atheist," and saying the community had collaborated with invaders throughout Iraq's history. "Oh Sunni people, wake up, pay attention and prepare to confront the poisons of the Shiite snakes who are afflicting you with all agonies since the invasion of Iraq until our day. Forget about those advocating the end of sectarianism and calling for national unity," al-Zarqawi said. The authenticity of the audiotape could not be independently confirmed. It was posted on a Web forum often used by his al-Qaida in Iraq for messages and the voice resembled that of al-Zarqawi's on other confirmed tapes from him. A written statement said Friday's video was made two months ago and that the group had intended to post it then, but "circumstances" prevented it from doing so. The statement, posted with the video, did not elaborate. It was the first message from al-Zarqawi since April 29, when he appeared in a video saying that any government formed in Iraq would be merely a "stooge" of the Americans. That video was the first time al-Qaida in Iraq had released images showing his face. Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, has claimed responsibility for some of the most high-profile suicide bombings in Iraq and also for other attacks in Jordan, including the bombing of three hotels in Amman in November that killed 63 people. In the video, al-Zarqawi denounced militias linked to Shiite political parties in the new government that many accuse of running death squads killing Sunnis in a wave of sectarian violence the past months. "The Badr Brigades and Mahdi Army are storming the houses of Sunnis under the pretext of searching for the mujahedeen, and even if they didn't find any, they kill men and arrest women, put them in prison and rape them and steal everything from the houses of the Sunnis," he said. U.S. and Iraqi officials have frequently accused al-Zarqawi of seeking to spark a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites, and many of his group's suicide bombings have targeted Shiite civilians and mosques. Al-Zarqawi follows a radical Salafi version of Islam that vilifies Shiism. Much of Friday's tape was aimed at rallying Sunnis — who make up the majority of Muslims in the Arab world but are a minority in Iraq — against Shiites across the Mideast and Iran, which many Sunni Iraqis deeply mistrust for its influence with the Shiite parties that now dominate Iraq's government. "There is no difference between Shiites of Iran and the Shiites in the rest of the Arab world either in Iraq, Lebanon. their beliefs are the same .. their hatred of Sunnis is the same," he said, adding, "The roots of Jews and the Shiites are the same." "Anyone calling for reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites is either a man who knows the truth but is betraying his religion and his nation ... or a man who is ignorant and should be taught," he said. He said Shiite leaders in Iran and Lebanon — including the Hezbollah guerrilla movement — only pretend to confront Israel and the United States. He mocked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for "screaming and calling for wiping Israel from the map," but doing nothing, referring to anti-Israeli comments earlier this year. Al-Zarqawi had lowered his profile earlier this year, announcing in January that his group was joining an umbrella organization of insurgent groups called the Mujahedeen Shura Council. But his April videotape appeared aimed at putting the al-Qaida leader back in the spotlight. It showed dramatic images of him firing a machine gun in the desert and consulting with mujahedeen leaders, apparently to emphasize his control. Among other attacks, U.S. officials believe al-Zarqawi personally beheaded American businessman Nicholas Berg, whose killing was shown on a videotape distributed by al-Qaida in Iraq in 2004.

geez I thought this was a GB thread! where is the video?

That isn't a fair comparison for a 92 yr old lady is way tougher than most people. How do you think she made it to 92?

Try, "Because I want to!" and then mention you don't seem to mind that they want to go home and waste away living life on the leaning edge. Also tell them that you aren't offended that they are concerned about your welfare.

It's more like the comptroller of your school saying that the "poly sci Prof would put a bullet in the presidents head if he could get away with it." You see the inference is that the statement was actually made, and that he was speaking on behalf of Fuckup Chuck

Where did you hear this? I searched Snopes using the phrase "Colin Powell My Lai" and nothing was returned. Try Moveon.org or some other crap like that.

Just like King Daley, and Gov. Blojobabitch tried to do and failed.

Just wondering if there's something I've missed, or if I should bring this up to his trust attorney (who I adore, who takes great care of my Dad, and who is very, very smart...). Your opinion? Ciels- Michele Sounds like La Cosa Nostra, if you don't make enough to earn your keep, they RETIRE YOU.

NY Politician Says Sen. Schumer Would Put Bullet in Bush's Head June 01, 2006 06:35 PM EST by Jim Kouri - NEW YORK, NY --During a commencement speech at Queens College in New York City, Democrat Alan Hevesi, New York State Controller, said that "Senator Chuck Schumer would put a bullet into President Bush's head if he could get away with it." The Democrat made the comment while praising Sen. Schumer, a liberal Democrat who's been highly critical of the President and his administration. A few hours later, Controller Hevesi held a press conference to apologize for his comments. Sen. Schumer replied that Hevesi's comments were inappropriate and uncalled for. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's OK though, he said he was sorry. I was imediately jumped all over by liberals who thought I was awful for making a similar statement. I would like to know why the same people have nothing to say in condemnation of the people who said it about our president. I said it in an open ended sentence and yet Hevesi said that "Shumer would put a bullet in President Bush's head if he could get away with it" I want know why the USSS has not picked them up for making an actual threat against the president. I reread the statement and it looks like forethought and malice comes into play here, maybe they did a study group on the feasibility eh?

An O3 can do just about anything they like off base...and do.

Any tips would be appreciated. Blues, Ian Use the "Koehler method of dog training." I think it's the best obediance book around

Stares, Glares for Afghan Female Drivers Thursday, June 1, 2006 3:06 PM EDT The Associated Press By JASON STRAZIUSO KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Everyone she passes — each taxi driver, every man and burqa-clad woman — is looking at Sofia. The stares and glares are no surprise: She's female, she's driving, and she's just 14 years old. Women drivers are so rare in Afghanistan that it's a head-turning, hand-pointing shock for most people who see one. The license bureau reports that of the more than 17,000 licenses issued in the Kabul area last year, only 85 went to women. Abdul Shokoor Ziaee opened Bakhtan Technical and Driving Course school after the 2001 fall of the Taliban, which had banned women from driving. He has seen a small increase recently in the number of women at his school, where colorful traffic signs cover the walls and a greasy, disassembled car engine sits on the front table. "More women should learn how to drive because men and women have equal rights. The other thing is that Afghanistan is developing, moving forward," he says. That open-mindedness begins at home. He has taught his wife to drive — "If I get sick she can take me to the hospital" — and his three daughters, the youngest of whom is Sofia. Her head wrapped in a bright orange scarf, she gets behind the wheel of the family Corolla, with her father in the passenger seat directing her down some of Kabul's less-traveled streets. The 14-year-old exudes a general giddiness. "I like driving so much. It's not hard," she says in the halting English she learned while at school in Pakistan. Although she has been driving for about a year, she won't be legal until she's 19, Afghanistan's driving age. Female drivers weren't always such a rarity. Women's rights were relatively advanced during the 1980s, when a Soviet-backed government ruled Afghanistan, and women could then drive in Kabul, though not in the provinces. In the 1990s, the Taliban took over. Today Afghan women drivers tend to be employees of foreign aid agencies and come from wealthier, educated families. Ziaee estimates that of the 3,000 students who have taken his 40-day, $60 course over the last three years, only 100 of them were female. Sofia already knows she prefers automatics to stick shifts, and that her presence behind the wheel will invite strangers' stares. She thinks she can read the minds of the men gazing down from a passing truck — "They have a problem with me driving. They're thinking, 'She's a girl, how can she drive?'" Although many more might like to drive, husbands, fathers and brothers have the final say, and invariably accompany learners to their first class to give their approval of the school, Ziaee said. Then there's the question of safety — many female drivers report being harassed. "Afghanistan is not yet at the place where we were 30 years ago. Even with lots of development we are seeing women denied an active place in society in every field," said Parwana Wafa, a 38-year-old who learned how to drive three months ago. Wafa said she would never drive outside the capital. Even in Kabul she has to contend with men who'll drive straight at her. "Why? They may enjoy disturbing the women. Maybe they don't like women drivers," she said in the offices of the printing company she owns. Sofia's father says "A lot of people are against female drivers," especially in conservative regions where women are expected to stay indoors. An incident in the western city of Herat a couple of weeks ago is a cautionary tale. Two motorcyclists who spotted a woman driver buzzed around her and cut her off, said Gulam Sarwar Haydari, deputy police chief of Herat province. "They yelled at her, 'Why are you driving? Aren't you ashamed?'" he said. Police jailed the two men for three hours. "They were stupid boys," Haydari said. Even after the Taliban fell, Herat's conservative former governor kept on enforcing the ban against female drivers for three years. Sofia has not yet suffered any harassment. She executes a snappy U-turn at her father's command, beams and declares herself "the luckiest girl in the world" for being allowed to drive at such a young age. She answers a question before it can be finished. "Your father is very ..." "Cool," she says. "He's a freedom man."

I smell bacon, and porkchops, and BBQ...