Shark

Mon 22 March, 2004 20:35 DUBAI (Reuters) - An Islamist Web site has published a statement purporting to come from an al Qaeda-linked group vowing revenge on the United States and its allies over Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. "We tell Palestinians that Sheikh Yassin's blood was not spilt in vain and call on all legions of Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades to avenge him by attacking the tyrant of the age, America, and its allies," said the statement by Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades carried by the Al Ansar forum Web site on Monday. It was also published by another Islamist Web site called Islammemo, which said the letter was received by email and sent to several Arab media outlets. The group, which aligns itself to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, had claimed this month's train bombings in Spain. There was no means of verifying the statement. "We tell fighters in Palestine, especially Hamas and Jihad, that your real enemy is the tyrant of the age, America, because Sheikh Yassin was killed by American money, weapons and political and media support," the statement said. "Let us unite to strike this Jewish-crusader snake, this despotic enemy...the Jews can be found in every inch of the world and they are the ones who support the Jews of the Zionist entity in Palestine through money and in the media," it said. Washington has denied suggestions by Hamas that it gave Israel the green light for Yassin's assassination or that it had advance warning. The purported Qaeda statement urged Palestinians not to follow Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who it said was trying to "sell Palestine" in exchange for peace. The group is named after Mohammed Atef, also known as Abu Hafs, a close bin Laden aide from Egypt who was killed in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan in late 2001.

With the exception of Shiner Bock, anything imported.

...hence the formation of the "Daughters of the Downwind" ...and its co-founder in keeping up with tradition.

Cool! I looked at the schedule and your group is due next week. We're up and running in the new building now, but there's not much to do with the building itself. We do, however, need a large refridgerator to store refreshments. If you want to help, you may supply us with some imported beer. In any case, thank you for your support. Look me up when you arrive. Shark D-24499, AFF-I Skydive Elsinore

Congrats!!!! Are you guys getting matching TonySuits with all the patches on them??? Well, I guess the only one you really need is the Infinity patch.

Dude, Great job! Anyway, if Doug is doing tandems on Thursday, you might draw me or Rich the Reaper. Congrats! And you might as well plan on buying beer for us before you leave for HK.

Hey M! Miss ya!!! (and Happy Birthday, too.) See ya at the DZ. Shark

Ha! I just pictured that scene from the movie Joe Somebody.

Hey Michele, Good luck! I'm sure you'll do a great job for your clients. And when escrow closes you may buy me a beer.

Bob just passed Level 6 & 7 and is briefing 8... without me. I'm actually teaching the FJC, that's why I'm here posting/hiding from my students. News Flash: Bob's going to do Level 8 on Thursday with me. So Rich, you'll be at the DZ doing your tandem rating, and afterwards Bob is going to kick your ASS!

John Weisman: Letter to Kerry Written by Military.com March 12, 2004 Dear Senator Kerry: I'm puzzled and I'm troubled by your actions, both as a senator and as a candidate, and I think we, as voters, need some clarifications, explanations, and just plain talk from you now that you seem to have the support necessary to formally win the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. If you won't explain your actions clearly, you are not being honest with the voters. If you are not up-front, then you are displaying neither integrity nor character. And since President Bush's honesty, integrity, and character appear to be three of the main themes of your upcoming campaign, I think you should have to operate under the same rules of engagement as you want him to. I'll deal with integrity and character in a moment. For now, the issue on which you need to make yourself most perfectly clear is - no pun intended - transparency. For weeks now you have been pummeling the White House to be more transparent in its dealings with the 9/11 Commission; to hand over documents and memos and telephone logs and other materials that would clarify what the president knew, and when he knew it. You and your surrogates have similarly prodded other Executive departments, including OSD - the secretary of defense's office - to supply similar records. You and your surrogates, especially Sen. Kennedy, have also demanded transparency from America's intelligence community (IC) about its pre-war analysis of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. You and Sen. Kennedy want to know what the president and vice president and secretary of defense knew, and when they knew it. You want to know what the IC told them, and when. But when it comes to transparency on your part, you draw the line. The matter of your military medical records, for example. You were wounded three times and received three purple hearts. What about showing us voters the medical records? Your three purple hearts allowed you to take advantage of the Navy system, return to the USA, and accelerate your departure from active duty so that you could run for congress by accusing the very men you served with of committing atrocities. What do your medical records say about the gravity of your wounds? Don't you think you owe transparency to prospective voters? The answer, unfortunately, is that you do not. It's a pattern with you. Neither are you are transparent in discussing your wife's charities, which appear to support some of the very groups that are protesting the Iraq war, and complain shrilly about President Bush's use of 9/11 footage in his campaign ads. You say you are transparent on the issue of outsourcing American jobs overseas. But your wife's company, Heinz, has many of its factories overseas. Isn't that outsourcing, Senator? You say you are against special interest money. But you have taken huge amounts of special interest money for your campaigns in the past. Why not just come clean. But you don't come clean. And I have come to believe that the reason you don't is because you are lacking in two of the most vital traits individuals in public service should possess: character, and integrity. My late foster brother Anthony, who was a New York City Police Officer, used to say, "Little brother Johnny, a perp is a perp is a perp." What he meant was that bad guys usually lived a pattern. He was right. Most perps repeat: repeat their crimes; repeat their MO's; repeat their mistakes. It's the flaw, the Achilles heel, in their character that allows them to be found out and arrested. And in that way, senator, you resemble a perp. You deal with threats and critics by maligning them and engaging in character assassination. Not face to face, but stealthily. Using surrogates, and by going behind their backs. That's what you did to an American patriot named Felix Rodriguez. You accused my friend Felix, who was instrumental in capturing the notorious terrorist and Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara back in 1967, of taking millions of dollars in drug money to support the anti-Sandinista forces fighting communism in Nicaragua. Not to Felix's face, of course. Somehow, on June 30, 1987, a story leaked out of the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism and Narcotics, of which you were chairman, and made its way into Felix's hometown paper, the Miami Herald. Citing "congressional sources," the story accused Felix of soliciting a $10 million donation from the Colombian cocaine cartel. And just by coincidence, you happened at the time, to be one of Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis's prime foreign-policy advisors. And Gov. Dukakis was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, and you knew Felix had participated in two photo sessions with then-Vice President (and presumptive Republican candidate) George H.W. Bush. Accusing Felix of taking $10 mil in drug money was a great way of tarring the vice president while appearing to be above the fray. The only problem was that the story was false. It was a lie. And if Felix had been allowed to testify in open session before your committee, he would have told the world it was a lie. That way, his complete denials of your politically motivated charges would have found their way into print. But you didn't let that happen. Felix wanted transparency. He wanted to testify in open session. You didn't want transparency. You insisted on having Felix testify behind closed doors. Issues of national security, your people said. And when Felix asked you in that closed session to release his testimony, you refused. You kept the rumors going for eleven months. That particular episode, senator, demonstrated to me that you would always put the politics of personal gain - your personal gain - above issues of integrity. Let's fast forward. Today, some of your critics decry your antiwar activities; they accuse you of giving aid and comfort to the Viet Cong, the North Vietnamese military, and the communists led by Ho Chi Minh. Others, former POWs, say that your words helped the very criminals who tortured them. Still other critics cite your conflicted Senate record. And still others criticize your votes to weaken our military and defense communities. Your instinctive reaction is to smear these people. Recently, wearing a microphone you probably forgot was on, you called those critics "crooks" and "liars." Of course you did. It's your pattern, senator, to act like that. These days, your surrogates are busy leaking stories that President Bush lied about 9/11. They are busy spreading the word that he and his administration cooked the books about the Iraq war. There's no evidence presented, of course. Just the accusations. It's your pattern. Oh, there's a definite pattern here, senator. A disturbing pattern. And sooner or later that pattern is going to become transparent to voters. It's going to become transparent when people examine your voting record in black and white. It's going to become transparent when the tapes of your congressional testimony are played on the network news-when people actually hear you accusing the very same people alongside whom you fought of unspeakable acts of atrocity. It's going to become transparent when patriots like Felix Rodriguez start speaking publicly about how shabbily they were treated at your hands. And when that happens, the voters will come to understand the same simple truth about your character, or lack of it, that my foster brother Anthony knew so many years ago: "A perp is a perp is a perp."

Has it ever occurred to you that it may even benefit some nearby DZs?

He must have left the country for Hong Kong because he was a no-show at the DZ today. Still he boasts to kick your ass, but will feed you afterwards at Valley Pizza.

Flag burning again? That's a typical comment from trolls and assholes.... I was referring to that this issue has been discussed earlier and those "hard liners" were telling us that all the prisoners were hard core terrorists and did not deserve any rights. The facts as they now emerge are showing that this was maybe as much BS as the claims about WMD's. So time to re-visit the issue. The replies of people like you and some others are IMHO much more "a typical comment from trolls and assholes..." then putting some new information up for discussion. Stick to the issues if you have anything to contribute and don't call people names. Mickey, You neither incite discussion, nor debate, but rather troll to provoke those with differing opinions. Then again, you probably get off on that shit. Truth, justice and the American way.

Flag burning again? That's a typical comment from trolls and assholes....

Rich may beg to differ. He says you're chicken. Anyway, I'll be at the DZ around 10ish.

Happy Birthday, Darcy! ...and, uh Rosa???? Uh, that's not Skylord... that's Darcy with Tom Riddick, AFF-I.

It shouldn't matter. As long as one instructor is riding down with the student(s).

Double tap to the forehead.

Ha! I should have been a dentist. See me hit that nerve? I'm in Reno right now for the Women in Aviation convention, tough duty but someone has to do it. I should be out Sunday. Beat the shit out of me??? There's a good one! Maybe I'll make a special request for you! Bob Uh, whatabout moi?!

Ugly Pilot Training Fly Navy! Check six

Get a Neptune.

At least 1 instructor in the plane to ride down with the students, regardless of AFF jumps or coach.

Exactly!

Beer fines. Normally those associated with Safety Violations.