Blog Smith

Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Extreme IT On the Frontlines: Literally



IT support in Afghanistan (clockwise from upper left): Specialist Wood tests a satellite communications trailer before deployment to a combat outpost in Afghanistan; PFC Cuellar configures a server in a remote forward operating base; two soldiers install a phone box; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Hooser tests one of the small satellite terminals used throughout Afghanistan.


Graphic source: Computerworld


Computerworld ran an article entitled, "Extreme IT: Battling dust, heat and bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq." The picture provides a sample of how the troops are coping with the extreme IT conditions on the ground. This is really inspirational about how IT professionals, as soldiers, are coping with conditions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ohio Man Guilty in Bomb Plot



Christopher Paul, 43, of Columbus, Ohio, is accused of plotting to bomb European tourist resorts and overseas U.S. military facilities and pled guilty to a single terrorism charge as part of a deal that could result in a 20-year prison sentence, according to federal court documents. Graphic source: AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff's Office


Paul joined al-Qaida in the early 1990s and taught fellow Muslims to bomb U.S. and European targets. Paul is a U.S. citizen born and raised in Ohio. He was indicted in April 2007 and had been set to go to trial early next year. In 1999 Paul traveled to German to train members of an alleged terrorist cell knowing the group planned to make bombs and car bombs to use against Americans vacationing at overseas tourist resorts. The German group also planned to use bombs against Americans in the United States and against overseas U.S. facilities. The Justice Department had also accused Paul and two other men of discussing terrorist attacks during an August 2002 meeting at a coffee shop in suburban Columbus. The other two pled guilty and were convicted: Nuradin Abdi in connection with an alleged plot to blow up an Ohio shopping mall, and Iyman Faris in connection with a plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge.


Paul converted to Islam in the late 1980s and joined al-Qaida after traveling to Afghanistan in the early 1990s. He fought in Afghanistan against the pro-Soviet Marxist government. He was a recruiter and taught martial arts at a local mosque.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Note on Wissner-Gross


Easy read but a helpful book especially when coupled with Wissner-Gross' other work, What High Schools Don't Tell You.

Note on Mapping History Battles and Campaigns by Malcolm Swanston

This is quite servicable as a discount book. The illustrations are well made and mostly instructive. The text is spare but adequate. There are minor battles, e.g., Ap Bac in Vietnam, and when coupled with major battles such as Waterloo the presentation appears flawed and out of proportion. The major appeal of a book such as this is its oversized maps and material which make it easier to see and enjoy in its own right. The text and contents should not be accepted in and of itself without supplement by more extensive works.

History of MS

Richard M. Swiderski reports in his Multiple Sclerosis Through History and Human Life that the disease was unknown in ancient or medieval times. He does though provide evidence that certain historical figures, saints and nobility, did appear to suffer from what we can recognize, in hindsight, as multiple sclerosis (MS). It is not until the groundbreaking period in 1868 when Jean-Martin Charcot, a professor of neurology at the University of Paris, who has been called "the father of neurology," really observed first hand the symptoms of MS; nonetheless, he had no sure process of diagnosis much less a cure. More recently the history of MS has been described in later works such as Multiple Sclerosis The History of a Disease by T. Jock Murray, MD. and A History of Multiple Sclerosis, by Colin L. Talley.


Note on Napoleon As Military Commander



This work does not claim to be definitive but is more simply a brief review of Napoleon as military commander. To that end, it is certainly serviceable. The illustrations and maps could have been more deftly placed and integrated better with the text but the work is clear enough. In addition, although it does not claim to be about Napleon the man, the quotations from private letters and notes about his relationship with his family and early private life is instructive.

Insurgents Had Enough: Tired of Fighting

An estimated 1,000 former insurgents turned themselves in during Balad, Iraq negotiations. The insurgents were simply tired of fighting and with a written pledge to the Iraqi constitution they promise not to pick up arms again. Most did not receive any punishment, only 76 faced trial dates.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Navy Lags Behind, Stuck in the Cold War Expense



The MQ-4 Predator controlled by the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron stands on the tarmac at Balad Air Base, 50 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. Graphic source: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File


The Navy is lagging behind the Air Force and has limited the future of drones in that service branch just for spying but not fighting. They Navy favors the "Top Gun" fighter pilots of the past. The Navy remains tied to its anachronistic view of modern warfare with plans for the F-35 fighter jet. The Air Force, by contast, has used armed drones for years and is more in line with the Pentagon trend to encourage drones as a way to reduce costs and consolidate personnel.


The Navy lags behind the Air Force, which first used an armed version of the Predator drone in combat in Afghanistan in 2001. The Air Force's latest version, the Reaper, can carry up to 14 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles or alternately, four Hellfires and two 500-pound bombs over Iraq, Afghanistan or other war zones.


The mobile air attack is required in complex air missions but these situations are less likely with the demise of the Soviet Union or even perhaps in the case of hard-charging Chinese threat.


Airstrikes will presumably be done by the next-generation F-35, which the Navy is expected to receive in 2015.


Experts have noted that a drone carrying the same weapons payload as the F-35 would have two and a half times the range of a manned aircraft without refueling, and could remain over the battlefield 5 to 10 times as long.


Those factors make it the weapon of choice, timing, and budget.

Mars Hacked Twice



Not once but twice the Phoenix Mars Mission site got hacked. First, a Ukrainian web site defacer posted a message at the site’s blog, and hours later,




the Turkish “sql loverz crew 2008″ redirected the official mission’s site, as well as the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory site to a third-part location serving the defaced page.


These crews employ publicly obtainable remote SQL injection scanners that each site could have downloaded and performed a self-audit.

Hey Bo Diddley! "bonk-de-bonk-bonk, de-bonk-bonk..."

Graphic source: Mark Summers


Bo Diddley (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), born Ellas Otha Bates], aka "The Originator," influenced American rock 'n' roll as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was perhaps best known for his distinctive rectangular guitar and as the creator of the "Bo Diddley beat."


He changed his "name in search of fame, to find the Midas touch (Copyright: "Ballad of Mott" Ian Hunter, Overend Watts, Mick Ralphs, Dale "Buffin" Griffin and Verden Allen) and adopted a stage name which is most likely a Southern African-American slang phrase meaning "nothing at all," as in "he ain't bo diddley." He possibly first used the nickname as a teenage Golden Gloves boxer. Finally, the nickname is also associated with the diddley bow, a two-stringed instrument that was used in the South by black musicians working in the fields.


In late 1954 he recorded "I'm A Man" and the A-side "Bo Diddley" at Chess Studios and as released in March 1955 "Bo Diddley" became a #1 R&B hit.


Diddley is best known for the distinctive "Bo Diddley beat," a rumba-like stylistic device similar to "hambone," a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes.


Some of his best-known songs, "Hey Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love?" often have no chord changes and the song centers on the rhythm. He influenced later guitarists with his early experiments with special effects and other innovations in tone and attack. Bo Diddley's trademark instrument is the rectangular-bodied Gretsch, nicknamed "The Twang Machine," a guitar that he developed himself around 1958.


His lyrics often freely adapted folk music themes. The song "Bo Diddley" was based on the lullaby "Hush Little Baby." Likewise, "Hey Bo Diddley" is based on the folk song "Old MacDonald." The boasting and booming of "Who Do You Love" is a wordplay on hoodoo.


On November 20, 1955, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show but only infuriated the host when instead of singing the arranged song, Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons," he instead substituted his own "Bo Diddley." He was banned from further appearances.


His other hits in the late 1950s and the 1960s, included "Pretty Thing" (1956), "Say Man" (1959) and "You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover" (1962). One of his lesser known hits is the controversial "Love Is Strange" for Mickey and Sylvia which was written under a pseudonym.


Diddley's distinctive beat influenced many later rock artists, notably Elvis Presley ("His Latest Flame"); Bruce Springsteen ("She's The One"); U2 ("Desire"); The Smiths ("How Soon Is Now?"); Roxette ("Harleys And Indians (Riders In The Sky)"). Dee Clark - A former member of the Hambone Kids ("Hey Little Girl"); Johnny Otis ("Willie and the Hand Jive"); George Michael ("Faith"); Normaal ("Kearl van stoahl"); The Strangeloves ("I Want Candy"); Guns N' Roses ("Mr. Brownstone"); David Bowie ("Panic in Detroit"); The Pretenders ("Cuban Slide"); The Police ("Deathwish"); Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders ("The Game of Love"); The Supremes ("When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes"); Jefferson Airplane ("She Has Funny Cars"); The White Stripes ("Screwdriver"); The Byrds ("Don't Doubt Yourself, Babe"); Tiny Letters ("Song For Jerome Green") and The Stooges ("1969"). The early Rolling Stones sound was strongly associated with their versions of "Not Fade Away" and "I Need You Baby (Mona)."


Diddley died today at 79.


Graphic source: Rolling Stone

Iraq Army Interdicting Iranian Operatives

Good news is that the Iraqi Army is interdicting Iranian operations in the South and the U.S. can begin to stand down. The bad news is that the U.S. has been clever enought to train and run and not attack Iran. However, once the re-armed Iraq is ready to deploy, another war with Iran is more likely. Will the U.S. be largely withdrawn by the next war or will the U.S. be drawn back into the conflict?

AQ Accuses Saudis of Funding Insurgents

Ali Ahmed Ali Hamad, Graphic source: The Philadelphia Inquirer


Ali Ahmed Ali Hamad, a former al-Qaeda commander, accused a government charity, the Saudi High Commission for Relief of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of funding his insurgent unit in Bosnia. Saudi Arabia has flatly denied these accusations for years. Hamad testified in a United Nations war-crimes trial. There is some question as to the veracity of Hamad as a convicted terrorist. He is serving a 10-year sentence in a Bosnian jail for his role in a 1997 Mostar bombing. He testified that the Saudi Commission had poured tens of millions of dollars into terrorist units led by al-Qaeda operatives who fought with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. The money was waylayed from humanitarian relief to buy weapons and military supplies. The charities also provided false identification, employment papers, diplomatic plates and vehicles that permitted Islamist fighters to enter the country and pass easily through military checkpoints. Several charity offices were led by former mujaheddin or al-Qaeda members. Like other al-Qaeda fighters, Hamad stated he traveled through the war zone in commission vehicles with diplomatic plates.

وش يفرض عقوبات على حزب العمال الكردستاني

Graphic source: AFP


وش يفرض عقوبات على حزب العمال الكردستاني

السبت 31 أيار 2008 05:38 GMT

فرض الرئيس الامريكي جورج بوش عقوبات على حزب العمال الكردستاني وجماعة ايطالية تروج للجرائم المنظمة، في محاولة لحرمانهما من الوصول الى النظام المالي الامريكي. وباستخدامه قانون مكافحة تهريب المخدرات، يكون بوش وبحسب المتحدثة باسم البيت الأبيض دانا بيرينو قد أخضع حزب العمال لاجراء من شأنه تقويض عملياته ووضع حد للمعاناة التي يسببها الاتجار في المخدرات للامريكيين وشعوب العالم، علاوة على منع مهربي المخدرات من دعم الارهابيين.


Bush imposes sanctions on PKK

Saturday, May 31, 2008 09:16 GMT

US President George W. Bush imposed sanctions on Kurdistan Workers Party and an Italian organized crime group in order to prevent the group access to the U.S. financial system. Using a U.S. anti-drug trafficking law, Bush has put the PKK and the Italian group subject to the sanctions, which prevent U.S. companies and individuals from engaging in trade and transactions with them. “This action underscores the president's determination to do everything possible to pursue drug traffickers, undermine their operations and end the suffering that trade in illicit drugs inflicts on Americans and other people around the world, as well as prevent drug traffickers from supporting terrorists,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.


Cf. http://www.alsumaria.tv/en/Iraq-News/1-18381-Bush-imposes-sanctions-on-PKK.html


The sanctions were levied against the Ndrangheta mafia from the Calabria region of Italy, which has overtaken Sicily's Cosa Nostra as the richest and most violent of the Italian mafia, and a Mexican drug-lord and his cartel. Three individuals from Afghanistan, Venezuela and Turkey were also sanctioned. The PKK is branded a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and EU; the group is largely held to use drug trafficking to finance terror. More than 30,000 people have been killed since the PKK began in 1984. In Mexico, nearly 1,400 people have died this year across the country, as drug cartels fight among themselves and government forces. Previously there were 68 individuals and entities subject to sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, which became law in December 1999.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Idealist.org Charges Nothing to Post a Job: Limited Time Offer

Idealist.org usually charges a nominal fee, $60, to post a job on the nonprofit job site. But starting today, and through the end of June, all job postings on
Idealist are free for any nonprofit organization. At http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-BQYIPILUU Idealist even created a video to advertise why they think this is the best place to post a nonprofit job.

Youngest Islamic Insurgents

The new generation of militants in the Islamic State of Iraq are the youngest possible followers. The failed insurgency is beginning the look more and more like the failed 4th Crusade, the children's crusade.


Graphic source: Gustave Doré (1832-1883), Public domain.


The Children's Crusade is the name given to a variety of fictional and factual events in 1212 that combine some or all of these elements: visions by a French and/or German boy, an intention to peacefully convert Muslims to Christianity, bands of children marching to Italy, and children being sold into slavery. Several conflicting accounts exist, and the facts of the situation continue to be a subject of discussion among scholars.
Cf. Wikipedia.

Golden Dome a Bright Spot in Samarra

Graphic Source: Times Online


The golden edifice of the al-Askari shrine, built about 1,000 years ago, contains the tombs of the 10th and 11th imams--Ali al-Hadi and his son Hasan al-Askari. Muhammad al-Mahdi, the last of the 12 Shia imams, is thought to have disappeared into a tunnel under the shrine in 878. Many Shias believe that he will return to bring justice to the world. It was the destruction of the al-Askari shrine, by the foreign invaders of al-Qaeda in the Sunni city of Samarra in February 2006, which was a pivotal step that almost pushed Iraq into a civil war. The sectarian slaughter that ensued was not by any means pleasant but the reconstruction of the Golden Dome is indicative that places in Iraq may be returning to normalcy, normal for Iraq that is.


Samarra may make a comeback as an important city for Shia tourists and pilgrims if the Dome is repaired.


Sunni tribesmen many of whom were part of the insurgency, revolted against al-Qaeda last year, and they have now become part of the security details, for Iraq.


The Sons of Iraq currently stand at a 1,600 members in Samarra. There is reportedly an 80% improvement in security services by merging the Sons of Iraq into the regular police force.


Essential services are being restored to the area in which the Dome is expected to take 18 months to complete the structural work but replacing the gold-painted copper plates that cover the outer dome and the minarets will take much longer.


It may be a long road presently but the path to getting to the reconstruction of the Dome seems like the more difficult way. They way to normalcy in Iraq is clearer and more focused than in times past. As late as last August, it did not seem possible that the Iraqi security forces could turn the situation around.

Monthly Death Toll Lowest Since 2004

The monthly death toll for American troops hit its lowest mark since 2004. As of Saturday, the death toll for American troops stood at 21, the lowest since February 2004, when 20 troops were killed. In the toll was a non-combat related death. The numbers appeared to support testimony from the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, who said that recent operations "contributed significantly to the reduction in violence." Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, spokesman for Multi-National Forces-Iraq, stated: "In the past week, security incidents decreased to levels we have not seen since March of 2004. These figures reflect a decrease in attacks of some 70 percent since the surge operations began in June of 2007."

Aussies Combat Out: Leave Assets Behind



Australian soldiers on duty during a joint street patrol with Iraqi security forces in Sammawa, south of Baghdad June 22, 2006. Graphic source: REUTERS/Mohammed Jalil/Pool


The 500 or Australian combat troops committed to Iraq left the country, fulfilling an election promise by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to bring the soldiers home this year. The Australian troops themselves were frustrated with their lack of combat action and limited involvement.


Before leaving however, the Australians handed over security responsibilities in Dhi Qar province to the Iraqis, which as their main role of the Australians, to train and support Iraqi forces.


As a sign of their continuing efforts, Australia is leaving behind two maritime surveillance aircraft and a warship to patrol the oil platforms; in addition, they are also leaving a small force of security and headquarters liaison troops.


Australian civilians training the police and advising the Iraqi government would also stay behind.


Despite the Australian government's support against the insurgents, around 80% of the Australian people are against continued deployment.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Abu Suleiman al-Jazairi Confirmed Dead

The death of Abu Suleiman al-Jazairi, an Algerian militant, has only recently been confirmed. Al-Jazairi died along with at least 15 others when the Pakistani house in which he was staying in Pakistan's Bajaur tribal district was hit by a missile fired from a Predator. The al-Qaeda trainer and explosives specialist was involved in a range of European terrorist networks.

AQ Women's Liberation



A TV image from 13 November 2005 wherein Iraqi Sajida al-Rishawi opens her jacket and shows an explosive belt as she confesses on Jordanian state-run television to her failed bid to set off an explosives belt inside one of the three Amman hotels targeted by al-Qaida.


Female Muslims have posted Internet messages expressing frustration with the al-Qaida No. 2 leader's refusal to give them a larger role in terror attacks. Graphic source: AP Photo/Jordanian TV, File

Citigroup Support for Financial Jihad

Banks first emerged in the Middle Ages when people grew tired of carrying around all their gold and began leaving their money with the goldsmith. The Medici family, one of the most prominent banking families in Europe during this time, became quite wealthy from its banking and moneylending practices. This 14th-century painting depicts people depositing and withdrawing money in an Italian bank. Graphic source: Encarta, Hulton Deutsch


The Western system of finance, which emerged during the Renaissance,




is supplemented today with a new world-wide model, Islamic finance. Banker, a U.K. based trade publication, estimates that Islamic financial assets increased to US$500 billion. Although relatively small in worldwide financial terms, the amount far exceeds the $50 billion invested in U.S. companies by the four most financially active Muslim countries: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Kuwait. Perhaps more importantly, Islamic finance is expected to grow at about a 20% rate at least annually for the next few years.


The real impetus for growth, however, is that Middle Eastern financiers reacted negatively to Congress' nixing of DP World, the Dubai-based operative, which sought to manage U.S. ports. As a result, Islamic commerce emgerged, adhering to sharia, Islamic law based on the Koran. The restrictive measures of Islamic finance would prevent Islamic financiers from participating in typical Western banking practices, such as loaning money at interest. However, a team of sharia scholars issues rulings in order for Islamic finance to prosper.


Islamic profit is being invested. Arcapita Bank, based both in Bahrain and Atlanta, Ga, makes sharia compliant investments, primarily in the U.S.


They are not alone. Citigroup Inc. was one of the first Western banks to engage in Islamic finance. Since 1996 they have been operating in Bahrain. Most of the banks engaged in Islamic finance are in Europe but Citigroup is one of the few American banks to engage consistently in the practice.

Friday, May 30, 2008

May: a Least Violent Month in Iraq



An Iraqi man waves to a U.S. soldier on patrol in the al-Sukkar neighborhood of Mosul. Militant attacks across the nation are down 70%. Graphic source: Ali Yussef, AFP/Getty Images


Despite the offensives in several Iraqi towns, this May has been one of the least violent months of the Iraq war. The Coalition has moved to a supportive role and the relative calm follows in the train of steady pressure from mostly Iraqi led forces. This is quite a turnaround and something that was hardly thought possible as late as the end of summer.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Life On Mars?

I remarked on the Mars landing recently and its fascinating to consider the IT process at work. Engineers are beaming up daily software code to run the 7.5-foot arm and analyze soil samples. The questions driving the expedition are enormous. The Lander is collecting samples to discover if water flowed across the surface. And, where there is water, as many have wondered, the big question is, is there Life On Mars?

Coalition Captures a "key Special Groups financier"

One of the progress points in Iraq has been the identifying and shutting down of the ratlines into the country. Iran established the Ramazan Corps, which is run by the Qods Force, to direct operations and move weapons, money, and fighters to what it views as critical battlefields in Iraq. It is these infernal operations that have been painstakenly dismantled.

World Lauds Iraq Efforts

Ban Ki-moon Graphic source: AFP


Who would have thought, even a year ago, that world leaders would laud the U.S. for its efforts in Iraq? But UN chief Ban Ki-moon hailed Iraq's progress in combatting violence and stabilising the country. A declaration adopted by 100 delegations at a Stockholm conference said the participants "recognised the important efforts made by the (Iraqi) government to improve security and public order and combat terrorism and sectarian violence across Iraq." Moreover, it acknowledged political and economic progress, and stated that "given the difficult context, these successes are all the more remarkable." Ban stated that Iraq was "stepping back from the abyss that we feared most," and added that Iraq could fulfill its "vision of becoming a free, secure, stable and prosperous nation."


One drawback is Iraqi debt, which excluding interest, is some 140 billion dollars, including 10 billion dollars owed to Saudi Arabia and a little less to Kuwait.


The Stockholm conference was the first follow-up meeting since the International Compact with Iraq, a five-year peace and economic development plan, was adopted in Egypt in May 2007.

Coalition Coalescing

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi indicated that Italian troop deployment in Afghanistan may change. Berlusconi's statement came shorty after Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said some of Italy's 2,500 soldiers in Afghanistan might be redeployed to the more dangerous and combative south to fight the Taliban if NATO requested it. Berlusconi told Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper he was rethinking the rules on Italy's troop deployment "in a spirit of solidarity with its allies." Canada has around 2,500 troops in the region already and 82 of its soldiers have been killed there since 2002. The country's parliament voted in April to extend its military mission in the volatile southern Afghanistan to 2011, provided its allies sent reinforcements. ISAF, which comprises some 47,000 troops from 40 nations, is trying to spread the rule of Afghanistan's weak central government and foster reconstruction.


Italy's position might be coupled with the recent comments from Australia's military that they too sought a more active combat role in the Iraqi situation.


In addition, although the Coalition has sought a greater role from its European allies, elite German commandos are not permitted to kill known Taliban commanders. The Norwegians have no such qualms. Recently, Norwegian forces based in Badghis province came under attack, and they responded by killing thirteen Taliban during battle.


If I were to believe the major news media this should not be happening but some of the Allies are seeking a more active, combat role in operations. I would think that it is entirely possible that intelligence is being disseminated and the word is out that the Taliban and AQ are on the run. After years of combat the Coalition is coalescing.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Hate Is More Popular Than Ever

Hate is in this year, even 2.0 style. A recent report documents the largest spike in digital hate Web sites and online posts in the last decade. With the benefit of Web 2.0 technologies, online hate activities have jumped 30% in the past year, according to a report by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization.


The spike in the number is primarily because of the increasing availability of the viral, repetitious [applications] and an increase outside the U.S. by extremist try to get their pitch across. The terrorist groups and those who support them are at the cutting edge of technology,
according to Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center.


Terrorist activities have spawned SMS2US, created by the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance, for "inspirational" Short Messaging Service messages that are overlaid onto videos of attacks against coalition forces. And, the Media Sword Campaign, an effort by al-Qaeda to use discussion forums to get support for jihad (holy war) and to recruit hackers for its cause.


These activities should alert people to the fact that the technology lowers the barrier of entry for terrorists yet is an effective tool for the crafty practioner. The terrorists exploit educational tools much quicker and faster than educators generally seem capable of.

Iraqi Army Pushes Deeper Into Sadr

Opposition, if you want to call it that, resulted in the deaths of ten Mahdi Army fighters when "operations against special groups in eastern Baghdad" were reported today. Iraqi troops seize 59 explosively formed projectiles in Sadr City since May 24 as Iraqis, on their own, pushed into Sadr City, with background support of U.S. troops. An early estimate is that the U.S. can withdraw in 2009. Now, that's an intriguing ideas worth exploring but in the volative Iraqi situation, I would make no predictions. I would wait until Christmas and announce it as a gift.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Al Qaeda Mixes a Nuclear Cocktail

"Nuclear Terrorism" as advocated by Al Qaeda has been posted on a web site which calls jihadists to use nuclear or chemical weapons to strike the west.


"Strike civilians in the west without mercy using weapons of mass destruction" the video states in the 39-minute tape.


The video continues: "Attack those who attack you. Fear Allah and know that Allah is with those who fear Him."


An off camera voice invites Muslim fighters to obtain these weapons of mass destruction and shows a document on the "rules for using weapons of mass destruction against the unbelievers" written by Saudi scholar Naser Bin Hamed al-Fahd.


al-Fahd states: "They kill our people and for this reason we should also strike them with weapons of mass destruction - doing so forms part of our response to their attacks."


He continues: "We cannot stop the operations against our civilians conducted by Jews and Christians in our countries if we don't do the same thing."


al-Fahd states: "The best weapons to use are bacteriological ones. This type of barbarous weapon is used by the international community."


Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water.

Under 16 Year Old Al Qaeda Cell Formed

Graphic source: AKI


The Iraq Al-Qaeda cancer released a video of a teenage terror cell under the Islamic State of Iraq, the umbrella name adopted by al-Qaeda groups, the video features the group's new teenage terror cell for those under 16 years of age.


The video of the cell is known as "Youths of Heaven" and is produced by al-Furqan, the media production arm of the Islamic State of Iraq.


Al-Arabiya ran the video first which shows a group of young aspiring suicide bombers brandishing Kalashnikovs and promising to blow themselves up against "the crusaders and apostates."


The new al-Qaeda terror cell is only open to those under the age of 16.

Law Enforcement Learns to Share



Key to Law Enforcement Database Standards:

Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM) — An XML-based standard that defines the vocabulary and format for data exchanges among law enforcement databases. All of the databases above now support GJXDM data exchanges.

National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) — The NGI, N-DEx and NGA are NIEM-compliant, which means that they meet the information exchange technical standards developed by the DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs and local law enforcement agencies. Based on the GJXDM, NIEM is an updated standard that serves a broader community beyond law enforcement. It promotes cross-domain data sharing, such as exchanges between law enforcement and emergency management. NIEM includes GJXDM as well as other data structures.


Cf. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=317970&source=NLT_PRN&nlid=2941


Graphic Source: FBI, DOD and US-VISIT

Aussies Tired of Waltzing

Graphic source: REUTERS/Mohammed Jalil/Pool An Australian solider guards an area during a joint street patrol with Iraqi security forces in Sammawa, south of Baghdad June 22, 2006.


You have to hand it to the Australian troops. There they are, in the midst of a regional conflict in which their nation's interests are at stake, and yet, they are restrained from engaging in real action in Iraq. As the U.S. is turning the tide in Iraq, and other nations, mostly Europeans, have failed to follow-up on obligations, the Australians want to be in the thick of it.


According to Major Jim Hammett, in an article entitled "We Were Soldiers Once," in the Australian Army Journal, the good soldier stated that some infantry soldiers were ashamed of wearing the Australian uniform.


Hammett notes that the troops are restricted in their ability to engage although they wanted more action.


In a subsequent article in the journal, Captain Greg Colton, second-in-command of Sydney's 3rd battalion, agreed but further stated said troops were kept from frontlines like "downtown Baghdad, Basra and Helmand province."


Australia has long supported U.S. policies but it placed only special forces on the ground, not infantry, as well as supplying support forces, ships, and aircraft.


Australia has almost 4,000 troops but it only has a nominal number, 500 troops, in frontline action.


Hammett asks a pointed question:


"Why, in an era of global operations and unity of purpose against common enemies, are Australian infantrymen conspicuously absent from the fighting, whilst our allies are engaging in sustained combat operations?"


He has a valid point. Australia has a direct stake in the regional future of Iraq and this ally has proved its committment to a global problem. Why are they being restrained and who is preventing them from taking a leading role?

Monday, May 26, 2008

Daily Update

حتجز [أوس] و [إيرقي] أمن قوّات 135 يشكّ مهدي جيش مقاتل في بغداد. [إيرقي] عسكريّة ناطق بلسان قد كان يقال موصل أخلى من [أل] - [قدا]. إئتلاف قتل قوّات ثلاثة [أل] - [قدا] عميلات ويحتجز 17 أثناء غارة.

US and Iraqi security forces detained 135 suspected Mahdi Army fighters in Baghdad. An Iraqi military spokesman said Mosul has been cleared of al Qaeda. Coalition forces killed three al Qaeda operatives and detained 17 during raids.

Whaddya' From Mars? Frankly, Yes

Graphic source: NASA


The Mars Phoenix lander touched down in the far north of the Red Planet, after a 680 million-km (423 million-mile) journey from Earth. The lander will examine the landing site for ice thought to be below the surface and evidence of the building blocks of life. A signal confirming the lander had reached the surface was received at 2353 GMT on 25 May (1953 EDT; 0053 BST on 26 May).

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Iraqi Troops Clear Mosul of AQ and Other Insurgents

Iraqi troops cleared Al-Qaeda from Mosul, the last urban bastion of jihad, the interior ministry announced. "Operation Mother of Two Springs has enabled us to dismantle and weaken the Al-Qaeda network in Nineveh province," spokesman Abdel Karim Khalaf stated. 1,480 people have been detained since the operation began. The range of those netted included other groups in addition to Al-Qaeda, members of Ansar al-Sunna, the Army of Mujahedeen, and the Brigades of the 1920 Revolution.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Al-Maliki Relating to China and Spain

Al-Maliki is seeking to develop deeper ties with China and Spain and if recent events were not going well he certainly would not be able to do so. The Prime Minister met with the Chinese Ambassador, Chen Xiao Dong, and the Spanish Ambassador, Ignacio Roberis, last Monday to mark the end of their work in the country. The all diplomatically agreed to strengthen their relations with Iraq in all areas and continue to support the political process and cooperate with the government to achieve security, stability and economic prosperity.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Bin Laden's Re-Branding as Iraq Base Fails

I've posed the question about the two latest messages believed to be from Osama Bin Laden which emphasise the importance of a struggle against Israel to the detriment of fighting in Iraq.


As recently as March, Iraq was key, Bin Laden stated: "Iraq is the perfect base to set up the jihad to liberate Palestine. Palestine will be restored to us, with God's permission, when we wake up from our slumber."


The word "slumber" (and his criticism of Arab rulers) is a clue as to Bin Laden's intention since this is term used against Arabs.


Also, this terminology shifts the emphasis away from Iraq, which has come to mean difficulties, to the "Palestinian question", which can attract support.


Nigel Inkster, Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, stated as much:

Through its now dead agent in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, it hoped to attack Israel after establishing a base in Iraq, but the hope of establishing that base has probably failed. Al Qaeda could now be preparing its followers for a strategic failure in Iraq. It therefore needs a rallying cry and Palestine is a no-brainer.


AQ is shifting terminology to reflect a loss in Iraq.


Inkster, formerly deputy head of Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6, adds that the loss of life proved to be high since there has been numerous complaints about too many Muslims killed in Iraq and elsewhere.


"Al-Qaeda's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is like the chief executive officer to Bin Laden's chairmanship, recently held an open day of questions on the internet," he said.


In business terms, this is a rebrand.


Moreover, in the same session, al-Zawahiri defended killing Muslim bystanders, who, he said, had died because of "unintentional error" or had been used as "shields" by al-Qaeda's enemies.


Marc Sageman, a former CIA officer and now writer on international security issues, has been trumpeting the idea of what he calls "leaderless jihad" (the title of his latest book), in which the larger debate of who is in control, a central AQ structure, or local autonomous cells.


Sageman stated: "they have been unable to project their capability outside Pakistan and Afghanistan."


None of this is intended to downplay the very real threat that AQ represents and the organization has proven to be resilient in past experience.


Groups are inspired by the leadership but not necessarily controlled by "al-Qaeda Central." It gives them strength, in that they proliferate in unknown cells, but it also leaves them vulnerable to being isolated. A study of power indicates that isolation is dangerous. It seems as if isolation would make defense stronger but it actually weakens a group.


Al Qaeda Denounces Religious Dialogue

Al Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi criticized Saudi Arabia for considering a dialogue with other faiths. King Abdullah advocated inter-faith dialogue which is a condemnation of extremism.


By God, if you don't resist heroically against this wanton tyrant ... the day will come when church bells will ring in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. And the case of Qatar is not far away from you, stated Libi.


This is in reference to Qatar's decision to allow the opening of the first church in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state; next door neighbour Saudi Arabia, which adhers to Wahabism, still bans other religions from building public houses of worship in the birthplace of Islam.


There is no moderation, no rapprochement, and no collaboration between us and infidel peoples. Where do light and darkness ever meet? stated Libi.


Let them (proponents of moderation) know that Islam is the religion of the sword, he added.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Iraq Is Not Vietnam

One of the most consistent false analogies that have been made about Iraq is a comparison to Vietnam. Yet, in numerical terms, the two conflicts really do not compare well.


For example, one of the vociferous criticisms of Coalition body counts is that they are useless propaganda and similar to the false impression of imminent American victory in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive ended all hopes that the U.S. had any hopes of an achievable peace, much less a victory.


In the Iraq situation a consistent argument has been advanced stating that killing only begets more killing. The recent "body counts" of Mahdi Army fighters is a case in point.


At the eminently practical Long War Journal the low ball figure of Mahdi killed has been that 600 Mahdi Army fighters were killed since fighting broke out on March 25. The U.S. military estimates the number killed at 700 but the key here is that the Mahdi themselves estimate the number at 1,000.


Now if the Coalition were guilty of inflating figures so as to provide a false hope of success, their number should be lower than the Mahdi themselves estimate. According to the Long War Journal's Bill Roggio, an interviewee stated: “What about the martyrs?” a Mahdi battalion leader recently told a reporter. “A thousand martyrs, what did they die for?”


The Iraqi government ground down the Mahdi. Sure to lose, the Sadrists capitulated and the experience with insurgent groups is the penchent for declaring victory even after a defeat. Then, they regroup, adding more assets and live to fight again. The situation in Sadr City though is a first example that the Iraqi security forces continued the fight, the Iraqi government functioned well enough to maintain pressure, and Coalition forces re-deployed to provide a well-entrenched but much needed supportive role. This is an incredible turn around and the first hope of a functioning Iraqi state.

Numbers Tally in Iraq Demonstrates Substantial Growth



Graphic source: Bill Roggio


Despite the incredible ferocity of military power that has been unleashed the violence in Iraq has not increased this year. The extension of Coalition settlement is impressive to say the least and the interim between the height of violence and now has allowed the Iraqi security forces to make substantial strides. No one will be willing to say the path is easy but it is entirely possible that the turning point has occurred and Iraq may yet transition into a functioning state.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Daily Advance on Sadr City

The US military killed a senior member of the Mahdi Army, according US and Mahdi Army sources. Arkan Hasnawi, a senior lieutenant of the Mahdi Army commander in Sadr City, was killed in a guided rocket strike in Sadr City on May 3. The news of Hasnawi's death comes as details emerge on the senior leadership of the Mahdi Army in Baghdad and the blurring of the lines between Sadr's militia and the Special Groups.

Hasnawi was among several senior Mahdi Army leaders killed or wounded in the GLMRS strike on a Mahdi Army command and control center that was placed next to the Sadr Hospital inside Sadr City.

Operations against the Mahdi Army outside Sadr City have not abated, either. Today, US forces killed 11 Mahdi Army fighters during a series of engagements in New Baghdad, which borders Sadr City to the east. The Mahdi Army fighters were killed as part of "an ongoing operation," Multinational Forces Iraq reported. US forces also captured a Special Groups commander in the Rashid district in Baghdad
.


Cf. The Long War Journal



ل [أوس] قتل جيش عضوة كبريات من مهدي جيش, يوافق [أوس] ومهدي جيش مصادر. قتلت [أركن] [هسنوي], ملازم أوّل كبريات من مهدي جيش قائد في [سدر] مدينة, كان في يرشد صاروخ إضراب في [سدر] مدينة في شهر ماي 3. يأتي الأخبار من [هسنوي] موت بما أنّ تفصيل يظهرون على القيادة كبريات من مهدي جيش في بغداد وال يغشي من الخطوط بين [سدر] ميليشيا والمجموعة خاصّة.

[هسنوي] كان بين عدّة كبريات مهدي جيش زعيمات يقتل أو يجرح في ال [غلمرس] إضراب على مهدي جيش أمر و [كنترول سنتر] أنّ كان وضعت [نإكست تو] [سدر] مستشفى في [سدر] مدينة.

لم يخفّض عمليات ضدّ مهدي جيش خارجيّ [سدر] مدينة يتلقّى, أيضا. اليوم, [أوس] قتل قوّات 11 مهدي جيش مقاتلات أثناء [سري] الإلتزامات في بغداد جديد, أيّ يجاور [سدر] مدينة إلى الشرق. مهدي جيش قتلت مقاتلات كان كجزء "عملية جار," شركة متعدّدة الجنسيّات قوّات العراق يفاد. [أوس] على قبض قوّات أيضا خاصّة مجموعة قائد في رشيد من في بغداد.

Obama & Hillary Too Busy for Oil Prices

Fellow Democrat Patrick Leahy from Vermont held hearings on high oil prices but I know two Senators who are not interested: Obama and Hillary. While America is burning they are fiddling with delegate numbers for the nomination. Leahy stated:

Today’s witnesses represent the major, vertically integrated oil companies that, collectively, made more than $36 billion in profits in just the first quarter of this year-- $36 billion in the first three months of the year.

Leahy attacked Bush and blamed him and the Iraq war for the increases but I'm not sure that the political grandstanding will help us solve the problem much.


Leahy added:

I want to hear directly from these oil companies about causes of the rising price of oil on which Congress can act. This Committee unanimously approved Senator Kohl’s NOPEC legislation, which would put an end to artificial limits on supply by ensuring that the U.S. Government has the authority to prosecute OPEC members for collusive behavior. Seventy members of the Senate have voted for this legislation, as have 345 Members of the House. Yet this President threatened to veto it.

Leahy then asked the oil executives how they would like antitrust laws applied to them. I think a better tactic might be to just inform them that he or someone else is moving on enforcement. He preferred the slap on the wrist approach.


Leah does not seem to grasp international reality. OPEC meets regularly to dish it out on consumers and he thinks this is wrong. It does not matter. If you have someone over a barrel, literally, you don't get anywhere by whining about it. The more direct question should be why Leahy and the Senate are not acting on the problem.


Leahy identities a key problem. He states:

Do they agree that we need to crack down on speculation and manipulation in the oil commodities market? Numerous experts have testified before this Committee and others that oil prices are moving higher as a result of speculators. Investors are betting up the price of oil, and consumers are paying the bill. Increasingly, this speculation takes place in over-the-counter trading, which avoids the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, thanks to the Enron loophole.

Why is he asking their opinion? Does he seriously think they will agree and voluntarily be nice boys?


Maybe he is actually acting, since the loophole kept the CFTC blind to speculation and manipulation in the oil futures market. Last week, Congress passed the Farm Bill that would close this loophole. The President threatened to veto the legislation.


Finally, he added:

last week we were able to pass legislation calling for the Government to stop artificially inflating demand by diverting fuel to the strategic petroleum reserve. The President opposed it. Filing the SPR may have made sense when oil was $25 a barrel. At $125 a barrel, it is simply hurting consumers.


Leahy makes a tepid, fawning appeal to the oil boys to play nice as if he expects them to do so. He makes his grandstanding rhetoric against Bush seem like he has some backbone. Its a pathetic waste of time but then again, that's the Senate.


Cf. Statement of Patrick Leahy
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Hearing on “Exploring the Skyrocketing Price of Oil”
May 21, 2008

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

YouTube declines Lieberman Request to Remove Terrorist Videos

Senator Lieberman wrote to Google asking that particularly objectionable material be removed from YouTube. They declined. I agree. They should not take them down. Who should be active though are citizen activists who disagree with the repulsion that is international terrorism to flag the objectionable videos and have them removed. The government should stay out. What if young people got active and began caring about the images of American troops in harms way? What if young people set a goal to be vigilant and flag a set number of objectionable videos per day? What if young people had private competitions determined to stop the hatred expressed by terrorists? Nahh, never mind.



May 19, 2008

Dr. Eric Schmidt
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Google, Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

Dear Dr. Schmidt:

YouTube is being used to share videos produced by al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist groups. The purpose of this letter is to request that Google implement its own policy against this offensive material, remove these videos from YouTube, and prevent them from reappearing.

Today, Islamist terrorist organizations rely extensively on the Internet to attract supporters and advance their cause. The framework for much of this Internet campaign is described in a bipartisan staff report released last week by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (“Committee”), which I am privileged to chair, titled Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat. The report explains, in part, how al-Qaeda created and manages a multi-tiered online media operation that produces content intended to enlist followers in countries all over the world, including the United States. Central to this media campaign is the branding of content with an icon or logo to guarantee authenticity that the content was produced by al-Qaeda or allied organizations like al-Qaeda in Iraq, Ansar al-Islam (a.k.a Ansar al-Sunnah) or al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb. All of these groups have been designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by the Department of State.

Searches on YouTube return dozens of videos branded with an icon or logo identifying the videos as the work of one of these Islamist terrorist organizations. A great majority of these videos document horrific attacks on American soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan. Others provide weapons training, speeches by al-Qaeda leadership, and general material intended to radicalize potential recruits.

In other words, Islamist terrorist organizations use YouTube to disseminate their propaganda, enlist followers, and provide weapons training – activities that are all essential to terrorist activity. According to testimony received by our Committee, the online content produced by al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist organizations can play a significant role in the process of radicalization, the end point of which is the planning and execution of a terrorist attack. YouTube also, unwittingly, permits Islamist terrorist groups to maintain an active, pervasive, and amplified voice, despite military setbacks or successful operations by the law enforcement and intelligence communities.

YouTube posts “community guidelines” for users to follow, but it does not appear that the company is enforcing these guidelines to the extent they would apply to this content. For example, the community guidelines state that “[g]raphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed. If your video shows someone getting hurt, attacked, or humiliated, don’t post it.” Many of the videos produced by one of the production arms of al-Qaeda show attacks on U.S. forces in which American soldiers are injured and, in some cases, killed. Nevertheless, those videos remain available for viewing on YouTube. At the same time, the guidelines do not prohibit the posting of content that can be readily identified as produced by al-Qaeda or another FTO.

I ask you, therefore, to immediately remove content produced by Islamist terrorist organizations from YouTube. This should be a straightforward task since so many of the Islamist terrorist organizations brand their material with logos or icons identifying their provenance. In addition, please explain what changes Google plans to make to the YouTube community guidelines to address violent extremist material and how Google plans to enforce those guidelines to prevent the content from reappearing.

Protecting our citizens from terrorist attacks is a top priority for our government. The private sector can help us do that. By taking action to curtail the use of YouTube to disseminate the goals and methods of those who wish to kill innocent civilians, Google will make a singularly important contribution to this important national effort.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this critical matter and I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,



Joseph I. Lieberman (ID-CT)
Chairman, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Iraqi Troops Regain Sadr City



Iraqi troop mans a checkpoint in Sadr City.


Graphic source: Reuters


I'm wondering if the Times is coming around to presenting the war in a more realistic light. They featured a headline story, "Iraqi Troops in Push to Regain Control of Sadr City," and actually, it was mostly accurate. The journalists are Michael R. Gordon and Stephen Farrell while they received assistance from "Anwar J. Ali, Mudhafer al-Husaini and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times contributed reporting." Since the story really is showing what on-site bloggers have been saying for some time, they may be coming around. And, I wonder what the exact arrangment of journalists and writers is? In other words, do the Westeners sit at the pool eating bon-bons while the local stringers actually go out and get the news? The story at least sounds like it has first-hand elements so somebody was out there. The important aspect of an article such as this is that it emphasizes that Iraqi troops pushed deep into Sadr City and they operated without the involvement of American ground forces, which is really a major turnaround from not all that long ago. Who would have thought that the Times would run a story with the sentence: "No American ground forces accompanied the Iraqi troops, not even military advisers." This was an Iraqi operation with the Americans in the supportive but physically rearward position. I hope its the first of many, many more to come.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Bin Laden Whines Again: Yawn

Bin Laden is emphasizing Palestine and its liberation. In order to be liberated, he accuses fellow Muslims of allowing Palestinians to die. The solution, as he sees it, is to attack fellow Muslims in order to liberate Palestine. The question is why he shifting to an emphasis on Palestine, and not the liberation of the Holy Land? Is it because he knows now that he can not win in Iraq now that AQ is on the run, and traditionally, Palestine was a rallying cry amongst Muslims worldwide? I think so.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

EEF Poster

Graphic source: Electronic Frontier Foundation


A few groups are stretching the boundaries of freedom and protecting the free expression of ideas. In a previous post, I noted the importance of the Electronic Frontier Foundation on behalf of Wikileaks case, an instance of a whistle-blower issue, on behalf of telephone consumers to prevent the NSA from spying on citizens, and in the case of commercial search engines which may be storing personal information about people.

Dutch Give Up Liberties to Extremists



This is a tamer example of a cartoon by the satirist.


Graphic source: Gregorius Nekschot


A Dutch cartoonist, who works under the pseudonym Gregorius Nekschot, was arrested on suspicion of violating hate speech laws, and insulting people because of their religion, according to Amsterdam public prosecutor spokeswoman Sanne van Meteren. Each is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison under Dutch hate speech laws-—or two years for multiple offenses. Both the cartoonist, and his Dutch publisher, Uitgeverij Xtra, have received death threats so apparently the cartoonist may be threatened but his right to free speech and artistic expression can be silenced. Not surprisingly, Nekschot is known primarily for cartoons mocking Muslims and leftists, but he is a satirist who targets "any strong ideology" including other religions. Nekschot has a web site but has also been featured on the Web site of Theo van Gogh, the filmmaker who was murdered by a Muslim radical in November 2004. The cartoonist's pseudonym, "Gregorius" refers to Pope Gregory IX, who instituted the Papal Inquisition, and "Nekschot" means literally "shot in the neck," a method used by "fascists and communists to get rid of their opponents." Let's hope the Dutch who opposed totalitarianism before will have the good sense to protect their liberties against Islamofascism.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Aynak Valley Attracts Chinese Mining Investment

Graphic source: Times Online


Afghanistan copper deposits worth $88 billion have attracted Chinese investors and if China moves in I would hope the U.N. or international pressure would force the Chinese to provide security in the region. In the Aynak valley, al-Qaeda trained and planned the 9/11 attacks that triggered the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.


With such an infamous past, a Chinese mining company begins its foray into the Afghanistan economy. The valley’s floor contains one of the world’s largest untapped copper deposits, estimated to be worth up to $88 billion which is more than double of Afghanistan’s entire gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007. A 30-year lease was sold to the China Metallurgical Group for $3 billion, making it the biggest foreign investment and private business venture in Afghanistan’s history.


This deal is so large, the price tag equalled 20 per cent of all foreign aid to the country since 2001, and the annual royalties of $400 million represent 45 per cent of its state budget. The obstacles are huge in this insecure area and the valley is without basic infrastructure. As in the case of Chinese investment in Africa, no one knows the effect of investment in Afghanistan, according to Integrity Watch Afghanistan, a non governmental organisationwhich, is ill-equipped to absorb huge sums of money or even to consider the social and environmental costs. Afghanistan's largest product is opium so it remains to be seen what effect huge and legitimate mining operations might have on the poverty stricken region.


“Afghanistan has abundant known mineral resources,” said Stephen Peters, of the US Geological Survey, which completed a two-year survey of the country last year. The positives are intriguing to consider though, and may act as a corrective to extremism. The mining will create jobs for 5,000 people, 90% Afghans. Up to 4,000 jobs will be created to build a railway to the Pakistani border, and several thousand security guards will be recruited from surrounding villages. The Chinese are contractually obligated to build mosques, schools, hospitals, markets, and small bazaars.


The site was discovered in 1974 by the Soviets, who built the now derelict buildings, mapped the area and took thousands of rock samples.


Their plans were thwarted by Mujahidin rebels who surrounded Aynak and cut it off from the outside. General Hatiqulluh Luddin, who led the rebels around Aynak and still commands 30,000 men in the area.


The Afghan civil war thwarted any development in the area.


When the Taleban took over in 1996 they showed no interest in Aynak and allowed al-Qaeda to turn it into its main training camp.


Only after the Taleban’s overthrow did Aynak arise again when a team from the British Geological Survey arrived to start recovering and organising the 78 reports and 1,300 maps on Aynak, which were mostly in Russian and based on obsolete Soviet methodology.

Germany As Target and Breeding Ground for Terrorism

In Germany, the threat of Islamic terrorism remains "consistently high" according to an annual report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Islamic militants consider Germany as an "operational area" and Islamists regard Germany as a "crusader" as an ally of the United States and Israel. American, Israeli, Russian, and British institutions are also targets. For example, militants were arrested on 4 September 2007, when three individuals allegedly planned attacks on American institutions in Germany and were caught with bomb-making material. In addition, by 2007 there were 30 nationwide active Islamist organisations. Among these groups, 1,390 were active followers of the Muslim Brotherhood, and about 900 were from the Lebanese Shia radical group Hezbollah.

Moving to Mosul

The Coalition is expected to begin operations against al-Qaida operatives in Mosul. The strategy is a typical one which will begin with U.S. military airstrikes. After about three or four weeks the infantry is expected to stage raids and search neighborhoods. In addition to al-Qaida members, the Ansar al-Sunna organization inhabits the area as well. At least three U.S. military brigades will accompany at least a full brigade from the Iraqi military against an estimated 5,000 militia members. Analysts have stated that there may be as many as 7,000 armed men affiliated with al-Qaida or other radical organizations. Operation Lion's Roar nets more than 1,000 suspects.


The Iraqi security forces launched the Operation as a first step in the operation.


This is Al Qaeda's last major ratline into Syria which spans westward from Mosul into Tal Afar and the crossing point at Sinjar.


As the ratline is dismantled, "just under 200" Tier 1 and Tier 2 al Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq operatives have been detained, stated Major General Mark Hertling, the commander of Multinational Division North.


Tier 1 operatives are operational leaders. Tier 2 operatives are foreign fighters or weapons facilitators, bomb makers, and cell leaders.


The Sahwa, or Awakening, forces in Ninewa are mobilized in the province. Fawaz al Jarba, the leader of the Mosul Sahwa Council, said more than 11,000 tribal fighters were prepared to assist security forces.

Friday, May 16, 2008

McCain First-Term Withdrawal

McCain commented on a possible first-term withdrawal scenario if elected. If he is reading about the new breed of evolving U.S. warfare, the timing may be sooner.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Daily Note

US troops have killed five Mahdi Army fighters in western Baghdad since May 14 as the Mahdi appear to be giving up and seeking an easier environment. US troops killed five Mahdi Army fighters in the western district of Kadamiyah after receiving sniper, small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire. 599 Mahdi Army fighters have been confirmed killed in and around Sadr City since March 25,

NATO Cyberwarfare Center Announced

NATO plans to set up a cyberdefense center in Estonia and when considered in conjunction with the recently set-up U.S. effort it demonstrates just how important this area is becoming. Estonia experiences one of the most significant cyberwarfare attacks to the country is an obvious choice to head up the effort. The Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence will operate out of Tallinn, Estonia, with a staff of 30. Half of the specialists come from its seven sponsoring countries: Germany, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Estonia.

New York Times Admits Wall

Graphic Source: Multinational Forces


Just in the past couple of days The York Times has appeared to hint that events in Iraq might be going better than they have stated previously. They even published the Multinational map which showed the actual dimensions of the Wall. Even if they are not celebrating with the military there is progress that the mass media may be coming around to admitting progress, as tentative as it may be, is occurring in Iraq. That's a big first step.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Daily Note

ز'ير] [أل-سّد] [في] [سولت] [أل-هق] على قبض عمليات 2 [أق] قادة كبريات على الطريق عامّة بين [مكهموور] منطقة و [أل-قرا] منطقة قرب [مكووك] قرية, 40 [كم] غرب [مكهموور]. اعترف المعتقل هم قتل وخطف مدنيّ.

10 مهدي جيش قتلت مقاتلات أثناء صدامات في [سدر] مدينة وثلاثة كثير مهدي مقاتلون كان في مكان آخر في بغداد.

قتل 593 مهدي يتلقّى يكون أكّدت في [سدر] مدينة منذ مارس - آذار 25.

إئتلاف دعا قوّات في هواء إضرابات ضدّ [تليبن], يقتل اثنا عشر مناضلات.

راجستان قد أطلق شرطة الرسم تخطيطيّ من 25 [ير ولد] رجل مع إرتفاع متوسّط الذي يكون شككت أن يكون خلف جايبور انفجارات في أيّ 80 الناس كان قتلت.

Za'eer al-Assad Fi Saulat al-Haq operations captured 2 AQ senior commanders on the high road between Makhmour district and al-Qayara district near Makook village, 40 km west of Makhmour. The detainees confessed they killed and kidnapped civilians.

10 Mahdi Army fighters during clashes in Sadr City and three more Mahdi fighters were killed elsewhere in Baghdad.




A video posted on 14 May 2008 shows an aerial bombing.


593 Mahdi have been confirmed killed in Sadr City since March 25.


Coalition forces called in air strikes against the Taliban, killing a dozen militants.

Rajasthan police have released the sketch of a 25-year-old man with medium height who is suspected to be behind the Jaipur blasts in which 80 people were killed.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

حركة الجهاد الإسلامي , Movement of Islamic Holy War Slaughters at Least 80



Graphic source: AFP/Graphic


حركة الجهاد الإسلامي , or, the Movement of Islamic Holy War slaughtered at least 80 people and wounded 200 with seven nearly simultaneous bomb blasts in Jaipur. The trademark blasts appear similar to AQ and since the Movement's founding in 1992 there have been close ties between the two groups.


AQ linked networks or publically declaring Osama Bin Laden their Emir, killed over 10,000 Indian civilians before 9/11. India has a small contingent of troops in Afghanistan and the bombings may be in retaliance for Indian presence there.


I've advocated the greater presence of India in the region especially since its economy is booming and perhaps this latest horrendous attack is an impetus for more direct involvement on the part of India. India could expand its role in Somalia, Darfur, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippians. By the same token, India would be entitled to a greater influence in how the international community is fighting the global Takfiri (excommunicated Muslim) threat. Why not?

Daily Post, Explosions in India

Graphic source: The Long War Journal, an AQ propaganda banner.


Iraqi security forces detained 142 "gunmen" since Operation Lion's Roar began in Mosul on May 10. US and Iraq forces captured seven al Qaeda operatives in Mosul. Iraqi security forces killed one "gunman" and captured 24 in Baghdad. Sheikh Majid Abdul-Razzaq Soliman, the chairman of the Iraq Chieftains & Notables Council of the Dulaimi tribe, said the US and Europe must help stop the "growing Iranian influence" in Iraq.

Details emerged about the two top AQ operatives who were killed yesterday. Abu Suleiman al Otaibi is a Saudi national who served as a senior leader in al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq prior to meeting his end in Afghanistan. He was the former leader of the legal system of al Qaeda in Iraq's political front, the Islamic State of Iraq.The other individual was Abu Dejana al Qahtani, also a Saudi national. He is the brother of Abu Nasir al Qahtani, one of four al Qaeda operatives who escaped from Bagram prison in 2005.

An AQ-affiliated group, Harkat ul Jihad al Islami Bangladesh, or HuJI-B, killed 60 and wounded 200 in multiple bombings in India.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Kirkuk Goes Badly for AQ

Violence in Iraq’s Kirkuk province has plummetted by 70%, and Coalition forces have “virtually destroyed” AQ.


Army Col. David Paschal, commander of 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, noted four developments:


-- Precision targeting against insurgent leadership;

-- The growing capabilities and capacities of the Iraqi police and army;

-- Establishment of a “Sons of Iraq” program, in which citizens aid in the security effort; and

-- Partnership with Kirkuk’s provincial reconstruction team, composed of State Department and military personnel working along with experts from other governmental and nongovernmental agencies to aid local development.


The Coalition has killed or captured 20 high-value targets. U.S. soldiers also captured 63 “persons of interest” in the area.


The Iraqi security forces have improved dramatically and the Sons of Iraq program has contributed 400 men from two months of police training.


Kirkuk is the northern oil center of Iraq and it has exceeded all the pre-war level of exports.


Kirkuk may turn over provincial control to the Iraqis in November or December.


Finally, the Iraqi government also is hosting a small-loans program, anywhere from about $2,500 to $10,000, for small businesses to operate.

Review of Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China, eds., Monroe E. Price & Daniel Dayan


I read this work as an Early Reviewer on LibraryThing.com. I do not believe this is a work for the casual reader and the writers are assuming prior knowledge of media studies in general, and a familiarity with contemporary Chinese affairs.

That being said, this is a worthwhile work for the initiated. The "New China" is revealed today as an Olympic status country in the limelight as a global media event. I can claim to be an expert in neither field (http://blogsmithconsulting.blogspot.com/)--China or media studies--but I would be able to address media studies and am generally knowledgeable in global affairs as an historian. I would therefore characterize a more or less typically educated reader.

My opinion of the book then is that it will be more useful for a rather select audience of readers interested in China, and in particular, for those whose expertise lies in media studies. Most of the selections read like conference papers dedicated to those two fields and there is a cross-pollination of readings and knowledge which may be tedious for those outside the two fields.

As in many conferences as in an edited work such as this there is a range of quality and usefulness in the presenters and topics. I found Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom to be the most helpful since he concentrated on the analysis of the 2008 Chinese Olympic event that relate to history. The casual reader could profit by dipping in the selections and discovering which topics are of interest. The basic import of the text though is for a more specialized audience, and they would profitably benefit from the entire text.

Lastly, a word should be noted on what the book is not. It is not a general book on the "New China," it is not about the Olympics per se, or sports as a category. The reader should realize that this is an academic work for specialists although at points there may be a nugget or two for the more general reader. As the news media has picked up on the conflicts and controversies regarding China as a site for the Olympics, and symbolic protests occurred, I found myself dipping more into the work to provide a context and background for the news coverage. You may too.

Catching Up in Afghanistan as Sadr City Winds Down

قتلت 13 [تليبن], نائب ال [مولّه] [نزير], كبريات [تليبن] زعيمة في [وزيريستن] جنوبيّة, كان في [بكتيكا]. 2 [أق] قتلت زعيمات يهرب [كلأيشن] في العراق, بما في ذلك زعيمة سابقة في الدولة إسلاميّة العراق, كان أيضا.
إئتلاف قتل قوّات [مولنا] [إيقبل] و12 [تليبن] في [بكيتكا]. كان 12 من ال 13 [تليبن] يقتل من باكستان. كان 9 من [تليبن] من [وزيريستن] جنوبيّة, 2 من [بونجب], و1 من حيدراباد.


Thirteen Taliban, including a deputy of Mullah Nazir, a senior Taliban leader in South Waziristan, were killed in a clash with NATO and Afghan forces in the eastern Afghanistan province of Paktika. In a separate clash, two al Qaeda leaders, including a former leader in al Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq, were killed during fighting in neighboring Paktia province.

US and Afghan forces killed Maulana Iqbal and 12 other Taliban fighters in a major clash in Pakitka province. Twelve of the 13 Taliban killed during the fighting were from Pakistan, The Hindu reported. Nine of the Taliban were from South Waziristan, two were from Punjab province, and one was from Hyderabad in Sindh province. The bodies of the Taliban fighters have been sent back to Pakistan for burial.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Ten-Point Summary of Miniter's Losing Bin Laden



A quick ten-point list of contents:


1) The never-before-told story of the Saudi government attempt to assasinate bin Laden; 2) Why Bill Clinton refused to meet with his first Director of Central Intelligence; 3) Drawn from secret Sudanese intelligence files, the never-before-told story of bin Laden's role in shooting down America's Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu, Somalia--and how Clinton manipulated the news media to keep the worst off America's TV screens; 4) How Clinton ignored intelligence and offers of cooperation against bin Laden from several Muslim countries; 5) The 1993 World Trade Center attack--why Clinton refused to believe it had been bombed; why the CIA was kept out of the investigation; and how one of the FBI's most trusted informants was actually a double agent working for bin Laden; 6) Why the CIA never funded bin Laden--despite the liberal myths; 7) The untold story of a respected congressman who repeatedly warned Clinton officials about bin Laden in 1993--and why he was ignored; 8) Revealed for the first time: how Clinton and a democratic senator stopped the CIA from hiring Arabic translators--while phone intercepts from bin Laden remained untranslated; 9) How the Predator spy plane--which spotted bin Laden three times--was grounded by bureaucratic infighting; and, 10) Plus much more, including appendices of secret documents and photos, as well as the established links between bin Laden and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Total Pageviews

Popular Posts

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed/Site Meter

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Map

Where From?

site statistics

Search This Blog

Reading since summer 2006 (some of the classics are re-reads): including magazine subscriptions

  • Abbot, Edwin A., Flatland;
  • Accelerate: Technology Driving Business Performance;
  • ACM Queue: Architecting Tomorrow's Computing;
  • Adkins, Lesley and Roy A. Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome;
  • Ali, Ayaan Hirsi, Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations;
  • Ali, Tariq, The Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads, and Modernity;
  • Allawi, Ali A., The Crisis of Islamic Civilization;
  • Alperovitz, Gar, The Decision To Use the Atomic Bomb;
  • American School & University: Shaping Facilities & Business Decisions;
  • Angelich, Jane, What's a Mother (in-Law) to Do?: 5 Essential Steps to Building a Loving Relationship with Your Son's New Wife;
  • Arad, Yitzchak, In the Shadow of the Red Banner: Soviet Jews in the War Against Nazi Germany;
  • Aristotle, Athenian Constitution. Eudemian Ethics. Virtues and Vices. (Loeb Classical Library No. 285);
  • Aristotle, Metaphysics: Books X-XIV, Oeconomica, Magna Moralia (The Loeb classical library);
  • Armstrong, Karen, A History of God;
  • Arrian: Anabasis of Alexander, Books I-IV (Loeb Classical Library No. 236);
  • Atkinson, Rick, The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (Liberation Trilogy);
  • Auletta, Ken, Googled: The End of the World As We Know It;
  • Austen, Jane, Pride and Prejudice;
  • Bacevich, Andrew, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism;
  • Baker, James A. III, and Lee H. Hamilton, The Iraq Study Group Report: The Way Forward - A New Approach;
  • Barber, Benjamin R., Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy;
  • Barnett, Thomas P.M., Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating;
  • Barnett, Thomas P.M., The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century;
  • Barron, Robert, Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith;
  • Baseline: Where Leadership Meets Technology;
  • Baur, Michael, Bauer, Stephen, eds., The Beatles and Philosophy;
  • Beard, Charles Austin, An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (Sony Reader);
  • Benjamin, Daniel & Steven Simon, The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America;
  • Bergen, Peter, The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader;
  • Berman, Paul, Terror and Liberalism;
  • Berman, Paul, The Flight of the Intellectuals: The Controversy Over Islamism and the Press;
  • Better Software: The Print Companion to StickyMinds.com;
  • Bleyer, Kevin, Me the People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America;
  • Boardman, Griffin, and Murray, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Roman World;
  • Bracken, Paul, The Second Nuclear Age: Strategy, Danger, and the New Power Politics;
  • Bradley, James, with Ron Powers, Flags of Our Fathers;
  • Bronte, Charlotte, Jane Eyre;
  • Bronte, Emily, Wuthering Heights;
  • Brown, Ashley, War in Peace Volume 10 1974-1984: The Marshall Cavendish Encyclopedia of Postwar Conflict;
  • Brown, Ashley, War in Peace Volume 8 The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopedia of Postwar Conflict;
  • Brown, Nathan J., When Victory Is Not an Option: Islamist Movements in Arab Politics;
  • Bryce, Robert, Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence";
  • Bush, George W., Decision Points;
  • Bzdek, Vincent, The Kennedy Legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a Family Dream Fulfilled;
  • Cahill, Thomas, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter;
  • Campus Facility Maintenance: Promoting a Healthy & Productive Learning Environment;
  • Campus Technology: Empowering the World of Higher Education;
  • Certification: Tools and Techniques for the IT Professional;
  • Channel Advisor: Business Insights for Solution Providers;
  • Chariton, Callirhoe (Loeb Classical Library);
  • Chief Learning Officer: Solutions for Enterprise Productivity;
  • Christ, Karl, The Romans: An Introduction to Their History and Civilization;
  • Cicero, De Senectute;
  • Cicero, The Republic, The Laws;
  • Cicero, The Verrine Orations I: Against Caecilius. Against Verres, Part I; Part II, Book 1 (Loeb Classical Library);
  • Cicero, The Verrine Orations I: Against Caecilius. Against Verres, Part I; Part II, Book 2 (Loeb Classical Library);
  • CIO Decisions: Aligning I.T. and Business in the MidMarket Enterprise;
  • CIO Insight: Best Practices for IT Business Leaders;
  • CIO: Business Technology Leadership;
  • Clay, Lucius Du Bignon, Decision in Germany;
  • Cohen, William S., Dragon Fire;
  • Colacello, Bob, Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House, 1911 to 1980;
  • Coll, Steve, The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century;
  • Collins, Francis S., The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief ;
  • Colorni, Angelo, Israel for Beginners: A Field Guide for Encountering the Israelis in Their Natural Habitat;
  • Compliance & Technology;
  • Computerworld: The Voice of IT Management;
  • Connolly, Peter & Hazel Dodge, The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens & Rome;
  • Conti, Greg, Googling Security: How Much Does Google Know About You?;
  • Converge: Strategy and Leadership for Technology in Education;
  • Cowan, Ross, Roman Legionary 58 BC - AD 69;
  • Cowell, F. R., Life in Ancient Rome;
  • Creel, Richard, Religion and Doubt: Toward a Faith of Your Own;
  • Cross, Robin, General Editor, The Encyclopedia of Warfare: The Changing Nature of Warfare from Prehistory to Modern-day Armed Conflicts;
  • CSO: The Resource for Security Executives:
  • Cummins, Joseph, History's Greatest Wars: The Epic Conflicts that Shaped the Modern World;
  • D'Amato, Raffaele, Imperial Roman Naval Forces 31 BC-AD 500;
  • Dallek, Robert, An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy 1917-1963;
  • Daly, Dennis, Sophocles' Ajax;
  • Dando-Collins, Stephen, Caesar's Legion: The Epic Saga of Julius Caesar's Elite Tenth Legion and the Armies of Rome;
  • Darwish, Nonie, Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror;
  • Davis Hanson, Victor, Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome;
  • Dawkins, Richard, The Blind Watchmaker;
  • Dawkins, Richard, The God Delusion;
  • Dawkins, Richard, The Selfish Gene;
  • de Blij, Harm, Why Geography Matters: Three Challenges Facing America, Climate Change, The Rise of China, and Global Terrorism;
  • Defense Systems: Information Technology and Net-Centric Warfare;
  • Defense Systems: Strategic Intelligence for Info Centric Operations;
  • Defense Tech Briefs: Engineering Solutions for Military and Aerospace;
  • Dennett, Daniel C., Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon;
  • Dennett, Daniel C., Consciousness Explained;
  • Dennett, Daniel C., Darwin's Dangerous Idea;
  • Devries, Kelly, et. al., Battles of the Ancient World 1285 BC - AD 451 : From Kadesh to Catalaunian Field;
  • Dickens, Charles, Great Expectations;
  • Digital Communities: Building Twenty-First Century Communities;
  • Doctorow, E.L., Homer & Langley;
  • Dodds, E. R., The Greeks and the Irrational;
  • Dostoevsky, Fyodor, The House of the Dead (Google Books, Sony e-Reader);
  • Dostoevsky, Fyodor, The Idiot;
  • Douglass, Elisha P., Rebels and Democrats: The Struggle for Equal Political Rights and Majority Role During the American Revolution;
  • Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, The Hound of the Baskervilles & The Valley of Fear;
  • Dr. Dobb's Journal: The World of Software Development;
  • Drug Discovery News: Discovery/Development/Diagnostics/Delivery;
  • DT: Defense Technology International;
  • Dunbar, Richard, Alcatraz;
  • Education Channel Partner: News, Trends, and Analysis for K-20 Sales Professionals;
  • Edwards, Aton, Preparedness Now!;
  • EGM: Electronic Gaming Monthly, the No. 1 Videogame Magazine;
  • Ehrman, Bart D., Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scriptures and the Faiths We Never Knew;
  • Ehrman, Bart D., Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why;
  • Electronic Engineering Times: The Industry Newsweekly for the Creators of Technology;
  • Ellis, Joseph J., American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson;
  • Ellis, Joseph J., His Excellency: George Washington;
  • Emergency Management: Strategy & Leadership in Critical Times;
  • Emerson, Steven, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us;
  • Erlewine, Robert, Monotheism and Tolerance: Recovering a Religion of Reason (Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion);
  • ESD: Embedded Systems Design;
  • Everitt, Anthony, Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor;
  • Everitt, Anthony, Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician;
  • eWeek: The Enterprise Newsweekly;
  • Federal Computer Week: Powering the Business of Government;
  • Ferguson, Niall, Civilization: The West and the Rest;
  • Ferguson, Niall, Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power;
  • Ferguson, Niall, The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000;
  • Ferguson, Niall, The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Decline of the West;
  • Feuerbach, Ludwig, The Essence of Christianity (Sony eReader);
  • Fields, Nic, The Roman Army of the Principate 27 BC-AD 117;
  • Fields, Nic, The Roman Army of the Punic Wars 264-146 BC;
  • Fields, Nic, The Roman Army: the Civil Wars 88-31 BC;
  • Finkel, Caroline, Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire;
  • Fisk, Robert, The Great War For Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East;
  • Forstchen, William R., One Second After;
  • Fox, Robin Lane, The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian;
  • Frazer, James George, The Golden Bough (Volume 3): A Study in Magic and Religion (Sony eReader);
  • Freeh, Louis J., My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror;
  • Freeman, Charles, The Greek Achievement: The Foundations of the Western World;
  • Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century Further Updated and Expanded/Release 3.0;
  • Friedman, Thomas L., The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization;
  • Frontinus: Stratagems. Aqueducts of Rome. (Loeb Classical Library No. 174);
  • Fuller Focus: Fuller Theological Seminary;
  • Fuller, Graham E., A World Without Islam;
  • Gaubatz, P. David and Paul Sperry, Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America;
  • Ghattas, Kim, The Secretary: A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power;
  • Gibson, William, Neuromancer;
  • Gilmour, Michael J., Gods and Guitars: Seeking the Sacred in Post-1960s Popular Music;
  • Global Services: Strategies for Sourcing People, Processes, and Technologies;
  • Glucklich, Ariel, Dying for Heaven: Holy Pleasure and Suicide Bombers-Why the Best Qualities of Religion Are Also It's Most Dangerous;
  • Goldberg, Jonah, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning;
  • Goldin, Shmuel, Unlocking the Torah Text Vayikra (Leviticus);
  • Goldsworthy, Adrian, Caesar: Life of a Colossus;
  • Goldsworthy, Adrian, How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower;
  • Goodman, Lenn E., Creation and Evolution;
  • Goodwin, Doris Kearns, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln;
  • Gopp, Amy, et.al., Split Ticket: Independent Faith in a Time of Partisan Politics (WTF: Where's the Faith?);
  • Gordon, Michael R., and Bernard E. Trainor, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq;
  • Government Health IT: The Magazine of Public/private Health Care Convergence;
  • Government Technology's Emergency Management: Strategy & Leadership in Critical Times;
  • Government Technology: Solutions for State and Local Government in the Information Age;
  • Grant , Michael, The Climax of Rome: The Final Achievements of the Ancient World, AD 161 - 337;
  • Grant, Michael, The Classical Greeks;
  • Grumberg, Orna, and Helmut Veith, 25 Years of Model Checking: History, Achievements, Perspectives;
  • Halberstam, David, War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals;
  • Hammer, Reuven, Entering Torah Prefaces to the Weekly Torah Portion;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, An Autumn of War: What America Learned from September 11 and the War on Terrorism;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Between War and Peace: Lessons from Afghanistan to Iraq;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, How The Obama Administration Threatens Our National Security (Encounter Broadsides);
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Makers of Ancient Strategy: From the Persian Wars to the Fall of Rome;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Ripples of Battle: How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, The End of Sparta: A Novel;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, The Soul of Battle: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny;
  • Hanson, Victor Davis, Wars of the Ancient Greeks;
  • Harnack, Adolf Von, History of Dogma, Volume 3 (Sony Reader);
  • Harris, Alex, Reputation At Risk: Reputation Report;
  • Harris, Sam, Letter to a Christian Nation;
  • Harris, Sam, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason;
  • Hayek, F. A., The Road to Serfdom;
  • Heilbroner, Robert L., and Lester Thurow, Economics Explained: Everything You Need to Know About How the Economy Works and Where It's Going;
  • Hempel, Sandra, The Strange Case of The Broad Street Pump: John Snow and the Mystery of Cholera;
  • Hinnells, John R., A Handbook of Ancient Religions;
  • Hitchens, Christopher, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything;
  • Hogg, Ian V., The Encyclopedia of Weaponry: The Development of Weaponry from Prehistory to 21st Century Warfare;
  • Hugo, Victor, The Hunchback of Notre Dame;
  • Humphrey, Caroline & Vitebsky, Piers, Sacred Architecture;
  • Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order;
  • Info World: Information Technology News, Computer Networking & Security;
  • Information Week: Business Innovation Powered by Technology:
  • Infostor: The Leading Source for Enterprise Storage Professionals;
  • Infrastructure Insite: Bringing IT Together;
  • Insurance Technology: Business Innovation Powered by Technology;
  • Integrated Solutions: For Enterprise Content Management;
  • Intel Premier IT: Sharing Best Practices with the Information Technology Community;
  • Irwin, Robert, Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents;
  • Jeffrey, Grant R., The Global-Warming Deception: How a Secret Elite Plans to Bankrupt America and Steal Your Freedom;
  • Jewkes, Yvonne, and Majid Yar, Handbook of Internet Crime;
  • Johnson, Chalmers, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire;
  • Journal, The: Transforming Education Through Technology;
  • Judd, Denis, The Lion and the Tiger: The Rise and Fall of the British Raj, 1600-1947;
  • Kagan, Donald, The Peloponnesian War;
  • Kansas, Dave, The Wall Street Journal Guide to the End of Wall Street as We Know It: What You Need to Know About the Greatest Financial Crisis of Our Time--and How to Survive It;
  • Karsh, Efraim, Islamic Imperialism: A History;
  • Kasser, Rodolphe, The Gospel of Judas;
  • Katz, Solomon, The Decline of Rome and the Rise of Medieval Europe: (The Development of Western Civilization);
  • Keegan, John, Intelligence in War: The Value--and Limitations--of What the Military Can Learn About the Enemy;
  • Kenis, Leo, et. al., The Transformation of the Christian Churches in Western Europe 1945-2000 (Kadoc Studies on Religion, Culture and Society 6);
  • Kepel, Gilles, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam;
  • Kiplinger's: Personal Finance;
  • Klein, Naomi, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism;
  • KM World: Content, Document, and Knowledge Management;
  • Koestler, Arthur, Darkness at Noon: A Novel;
  • Kostova, Elizabeth, The Historian;
  • Kuttner, Robert, The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity;
  • Lake, Kirsopp, The Text of the New Testament, Sony Reader;
  • Laur, Timothy M., Encyclopedia of Modern US Military Weapons ;
  • Leffler, Melvyn P., and Jeffrey W. Legro, To Lead the World: American Strategy After the Bush Doctrine;
  • Lendon, J. E., Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity;
  • Lenin, V. I., Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism;
  • Lennon, John J., There is Absolutely No Reason to Pay Too Much for College!;
  • Lewis, Bernard, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror;
  • Lewis, Bernard, What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East;
  • Lifton, Robert J., Greg Mitchell, Hiroshima in America;
  • Limberis, Vasiliki M., Architects of Piety: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Cult of the Martyrs;
  • Lipsett, B. Diane, Desiring Conversion: Hermas, Thecla, Aseneth;
  • Livingston, Jessica, Founders At Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days;
  • Livy, Rome and the Mediterranean: Books XXXI-XLV of the History of Rome from its Foundation (Penguin Classics);
  • Louis J., Freeh, My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror;
  • Mackay, Christopher S., Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History;
  • Majno, Guido, The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World;
  • Marcus, Greil,Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes;
  • Marshall-Cornwall, James, Napoleon as Military Commander;
  • Maughm, W. Somerset, Of Human Bondage;
  • McCluskey, Neal P., Feds in the Classroom: How Big Government Corrupts, Cripples, and Compromises American Education;
  • McCullough, David, 1776;
  • McCullough, David, John Adams;
  • McCullough, David, Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt;
  • McLynn, Frank, Marcus Aurelius: A Life;
  • McManus, John, Deadly Brotherhood, The: The American Combat Soldier in World War II ;
  • McMaster, H. R., Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam;
  • McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 1: Origins and Destinies (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
  • McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 2: Persons and Groups (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
  • McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 3: Religions and Controversies (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
  • Meacham, Jon, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House;
  • Mearsheimer, John J., and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy;
  • Meier, Christian, Caesar: A Biography;
  • Menzies, Gaven, 1421: The Year China Discovered America;
  • Metaxas, Eric, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy;
  • Michael, Katina and M.G. Michael, Innovative Automatic Identification and Location-Based Services: From Barcodes to Chip Implants;
  • Migliore, Daniel L., Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology;
  • Military & Aerospace Electronics: The Magazine of Transformation in Electronic and Optical Technology;
  • Millard, Candice, Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey: The River of Doubt;
  • Mommsen, Theodor, The History of the Roman Republic, Sony Reader;
  • Muller, F. Max, Chips From A German Workshop: Volume III: Essays On Language And Literature;
  • Murray, Janet, H., Hamlet On the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace;
  • Murray, Williamson, War in the Air 1914-45;
  • Müller, F. Max, Chips From A German Workshop;
  • Nader, Ralph, Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender;
  • Nagl, John A., Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam;
  • Napoleoni, Loretta, Terrorism and the Economy: How the War on Terror is Bankrupting the World;
  • Nature: The International Weekly Journal of Science;
  • Negus, Christopher, Fedora 6 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux;
  • Network Computing: For IT by IT:
  • Network World: The Leader in Network Knowledge;
  • Network-centric Security: Where Physical Security & IT Worlds Converge;
  • Newman, Paul B., Travel and Trade in the Middle Ages;
  • Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence;
  • Nixon, Ed, The Nixons: A Family Portrait;
  • O'Brien, Johnny, Day of the Assassins: A Jack Christie Novel;
  • O'Donnell, James J., Augustine: A New Biography;
  • OH & S: Occupational Health & Safety
  • Okakura, Kakuzo, The Book of Tea;
  • Optimize: Business Strategy & Execution for CIOs;
  • Ostler, Nicholas, Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin;
  • Parry, Jay A., The Real George Washington (American Classic Series);
  • Paton, W.R., The Greek Anthology, Volume V, Loeb Classical Library, No. 86;
  • Pausanius, Guide to Greece 1: Central Greece;
  • Perrett, Bryan, Cassell Military Classics: Iron Fist: Classic Armoured Warfare;
  • Perrottet, Tony, The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Olympic Games;
  • Peters, Ralph, New Glory: Expanding America's Global Supremacy;
  • Phillips, Kevin, American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush;
  • Pick, Bernhard; Paralipomena; Remains of Gospels and Sayings of Christ (Sony Reader);
  • Pimlott, John, The Elite: The Special Forces of the World Volume 1;
  • Pitre, Brant, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper;
  • Plutarch's Lives, X: Agis and Cleomenes. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. Philopoemen and Flamininus (Loeb Classical Library®);
  • Podhoretz, Norman, World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism;
  • Posner, Gerald, Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK;
  • Potter, Wendell, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans;
  • Pouesi, Daniel, Akua;
  • Premier IT Magazine: Sharing Best Practices with the Information Technology Community;
  • Price, Monroe E. & Daniel Dayan, eds., Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China;
  • Profit: The Executive's Guide to Oracle Applications;
  • Public CIO: Technology Leadership in the Public Sector;
  • Putnam, Robert D., Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community;
  • Quintus of Smyrna, The Fall of Troy;
  • Rawles, James Wesley, Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse;
  • Red Herring: The Business of Technology;
  • Redmond Channel Partner: Driving Success in the Microsoft Partner Community;
  • Redmond Magazine: The Independent Voice of the Microsoft IT Community;
  • Renan, Ernest, The life of Jesus (Sony eReader);
  • Richler, Mordecai (editor), Writers on World War II: An Anthology;
  • Roberts, Ian, The Energy Glut: Climate Change and the Politics of Fatness in an Overheating World;
  • Rocca, Samuel, The Army of Herod the Great;
  • Rodgers, Nigel, A Military History of Ancient Greece: An Authoritative Account of the Politics, Armies and Wars During the Golden Age of Ancient Greece, shown in over 200 color photographs, diagrams, maps and plans;
  • Rodoreda, Merce, Death in Spring: A Novel;
  • Romerstein, Herbert and Breindel, Eric,The Venona Secrets, Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors;
  • Ross, Dennis, Statecraft: And How to Restore America's Standing in the World;
  • Roth, Jonathan P., Roman Warfare (Cambridge Introduction to Roman Civilization);
  • SC Magazine: For IT Security Professionals;
  • Scahill, Jeremy, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated];
  • Schama, Simon, A History of Britain, At the Edge of the World 3500 B.C. - 1603 A.D.;
  • Scheuer, Michael, Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War On Terror;
  • Scheuer, Michael, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq;
  • Scheuer, Michael, Osama Bin Laden;
  • Scheuer, Michael, Through Our Enemies Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America;
  • Scholastic Instructor
  • Scholastic Parent & Child: The Joy of Family Living and Learning;
  • Schopenhauer, Arthur, The World As Will And Idea (Sony eReader);
  • Schug-Wille, Art of the Byzantine World;
  • Schulze, Hagen, Germany: A New History;
  • Schweizer, Peter, Architects of Ruin: How Big Government Liberals Wrecked the Global Economy---and How They Will Do It Again If No One Stops Them;
  • Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe;
  • Seagren, Eric, Secure Your Network for Free: Using Nmap, Wireshark, Snort, Nessus, and MRTG;
  • Security Technology & Design: The Security Executive's Resource for Systems Integration and Convergence;
  • Seibel, Peter, Coders at Work;
  • Sekunda N., & S. Northwood, Early Roman Armies;
  • Seneca: Naturales Quaestiones, Books II (Loeb Classical Library No. 450);
  • Sewall, Sarah, The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual;
  • Sheppard, Ruth, Alexander the Great at War: His Army - His Battles - His Enemies;
  • Shinder, Jason, ed., The Poem That Changed America: "Howl" Fifty Years Later;
  • Sidebottom, Harry, Ancient Warfare: A Very Short Introduction;
  • Sides, Hampton, Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West;
  • Simkins, Michael, The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan;
  • Sinchak, Steve, Hacking Windows Vista;
  • Smith, RJ, The One: The Life and Music of James Brown;
  • Software Development Times: The Industry Newspaper for Software Development Managers;
  • Software Test Performance;
  • Solomon, Norman, War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death;
  • Song, Lolan, Innovation Together: Microsoft Research Asia Academic Research Collaboration;
  • Sophocles, The Three Theban Plays, tr. Robert Fagles;
  • Sound & Vision: The Consumer Electronics Authority;
  • Southern, Pat, The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History;
  • Sri, Edward, A Biblical Walk Through the Mass: Understanding What We Say and Do In The Liturgy;
  • Sri, Edward, Men, Women and the Mystery of Love: Practical Insights from John Paul II's Love and Responsibility;
  • Stair, John Bettridge, Old Samoa; Or, Flotsam and Jetsam From the Pacific Ocean;
  • Starr, Chester G., The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.-A.D. 476: A Study in Survival;
  • Starr, John Bryan, Understanding China: A Guide to China's Economy, History, and Political Culture;
  • Stauffer, John, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln;
  • Steyn, Mark, America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It;
  • Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories;
  • Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War;
  • Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika;
  • Strategy + Business;
  • Streete, Gail, Redeemed Bodies: Women Martyrs in Early Christianity;
  • Sullivan, James, The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved the Soul of America;
  • Sumner, Graham, Roman Military Clothing (1) 100 BC-AD 200;
  • Sumner, Graham, Roman Military Clothing (2) AD 200-400;
  • Suskind, Ron, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11:
  • Swanston, Malcolm, Mapping History Battles and Campaigns;
  • Swiderski, Richard M., Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore, and Effects of Mercury;
  • Swiderski, Richard M., Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore, and Effects of Mercury;
  • Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels;
  • Syme, Ronald, The Roman Revolution;
  • Talley, Colin L., A History of Multiple Sclerosis;
  • Tawil, Camille, Brothers In Arms: The Story of al-Qa'ida and the Arab Jihadists;
  • Tech Briefs: Engineering Solutions for Design & Manufacturing;
  • Tech Net: The Microsoft Journal for IT Professionals;
  • Tech Partner: Gain a Competitive Edge Through Solutions Providers;
  • Technology & Learning: Ideas and Tools for Ed Tech Leaders;
  • Tenet, George, At the Center of the Storm: The CIA During America's Time of Crisis;
  • Thackeray, W. M., Vanity Fair;
  • Thompson, Derrick & William Martin, Have Guitars ... Will Travel: A Journey Through the Beat Music Scene in Northampton 1957-66;
  • Tolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina;
  • Trento, Joseph J., The Secret History of the CIA;
  • Twain, Mark, The Gilded Age: a Tale of Today;
  • Ungar, Craig, House of Bush House of Saud;
  • Unterberger, Richie, The Unreleased Beatles Music & Film;
  • VAR Business: Strategic Insight for Technology Integrators:
  • Virgil, The Aeneid
  • Virtualization Review: Powering the New IT Generation;
  • Visual Studio: Enterprise Solutions for .Net Development;
  • VON Magazine: Voice, Video & Vision;
  • Wall Street Technology: Business Innovation Powered by Technology;
  • Wallace, Robert, Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda;
  • Wang, Wallace, Steal This Computer Book 4.0: What They Won’t Tell You About the Internet;
  • Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization;
  • Warren, Robert Penn, All the King's Men;
  • Wasik, John F., Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream;
  • Weber, Karl, Editor, Lincoln: A President for the Ages;
  • Website Magazine: The Magazine for Website Success;
  • Weiner, Tim, Enemies: A History of the FBI;
  • Weiner, Tim, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA;
  • West, Bing, The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq;
  • Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence;
  • Wilcox, Peter, Rome's Enemies (1) Germanics and Dacians;
  • Wise, Terence, Armies of the Carthaginian Wars 265 - 146 BC;
  • Wissner-Gross, What Colleges Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You To Know) 272 Secrets For Getting Your Kid Into the Top Schools;
  • Wissner-Gross, What High Schools Don't Tell You;
  • Wolf, Naomi, Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries;
  • Wolf, Naomi, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot;
  • Woodward, Bob, Plan of Attack;
  • Woodward, Bob, The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House;
  • Wright, Lawrence, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11;
  • Wright-Porto, Heather, Beginning Google Blogger;
  • Xenophon, The Anabasis of Cyrus;
  • Yergin, Daniel, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, & Power;

Computing Reviews

Handy Tools, Links, etc.

This Website is a Belligerent Act

Share |

SmileyCentral.com

Radical Christian

My secure contact form

Choice Reviews Online

techLEARNING.com

CIO and Strategy & Business magazines

Mil-aero info

Defense Systems

Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science

CIO

Choice Reviews Online

SD Times: Software Development News

KMworld

SC Magazine for Security Professionals

Bloggers' Rights at EFF

The Scientist


Missile Defense
33 Minutes

Government Technology: Solutions for State and Local Government in the Information Age

Insurance & Technology

What's Running is a great tool so that you can see what is running on your desktop.

Process Lasso lets you view your processor and its responsiveness.

Online Armor lets you view your firewall status.

CCleaner - Freeware Windows Optimization

Avast is a terrific scrubber of all virus miscreants.

ClamWin is an effective deterrent for the little nasty things that can crop into your machine.

Ad-Aware is a sound anti-virus tool.

Blog Directory & Search engine

For all your electronic appliance needs research products on this terrific site.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Recent Comments

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of this blogger. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited, before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but not hostile, libelous, or otherwise objectionable statements. Original writing only, please. Thank you. Subscribe with Bloglines

Blog Smith Headline Animator

Library Thing: Chicks Dig Readers

Blog Archive

National Debt Clock

"Congress: I'm Watching"

A tax on toilet paper; I kid you not. According to the sponsor, "the Water Protection and Reinvestment Act will be financed broadly by small fees on such things as . . . products disposed of in waste water." Congress wants to tax what you do in the privacy of your bathroom.

The Religion of Peace

Portrait of Thinking Hero

Portrait of Thinking Hero
1844-1900

Check out:

Check out:
Chicks dig readers.
@ Blog Smith. Powered by Blogger.