Mover Mike

Yesterday, TF Sterns in Houston, wrote about the strange police chase, "a police chase which lasted almost an hour, crossed several freeways and ended in the suspect being shot dead, apparently after reaching for one of several weapons in the vehicle." Turns out that the man shot might have been a federal agent, Roland Vincent Carnaby.

Sterns concludes,

There was a line near the end of the Houston Chronicle article which sums up my thoughts, “I can't fathom any reason why he would be running from the police because he is the police,” There has to be a lot more to this than came out in the initial investigation; news at eleven. (emphasis added)

Well, how's this for more of the story. The DC Madam is dead by hanging. She allegedly committed suicide rather than spend time in jail. The FSB (Russian Security Services) is saying

...Agent Carnaby was tasked by his superiors to meet with the recently convicted D.C. Madam Deborah Palfrey in her Florida home, and who had reported to the CIA that her life was ‘in danger’ over her threatening to release her secret files that would detail the high-level US Government Officials who utilized her prostitution services.

I don't have any idea if there is any truth to any of this. However, if you are a conspiracy nut or like tinfoil hats, this next part is sure to get you slathering:

"Apparently, the ABC-owned radio station did not like our report that Disney/ABC, under pressure from the White House, killed the DC Madam's list story. The two morning radio hosts also did not like our report that Vice President Dick Cheney is on the list from his time as a part-time resident of McLean, Virginia while he was President and CEO of Halliburton."

These FSB reports continue by stating that with the War Leaders in the US currently in their last weeks, or days, of expanding their current wars to engulf the entire Middle East, and with their time in office running short, they could ill afford yet another scandal, of which the secret files of the D.C. Madam would certainly ignite.

The DC Madam apparently serviced some of the most powerful in Washington D.C. Look what happened to Gov. Spitzer. Some will do almost anything to keep the lid on. That's why this story is so much fun.

From

Iran has taken command of its nuclear technology and could have an atomic bomb in a year, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted as saying Wednesday, citing Israeli intelligence. (emphasis added)

Iran, a year away from an Atomic Bomb, the candidates all agree, Iran must not be allowed that weapon. Both Clinton and Obama would consider and attack on Israel by Iran an attack on the U.S.. Both would massively retaliate. Many are speculating that something is up and the U.S. is readying its might for operation Stuff Iran!

Now I read the Putin of Russia is preparing for a "full scale invasion’ of the Georgian breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to begin upon the believed to be imminent attack upon Iran by the United States."

Meantime, the U.S. has dispatched another carrier group into the Persian Gulf:

During a visit to Mexico City, US defense secretary Robert Gates said April 29 that the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf should be seen as a reminder of US military power in the region. He flatly denied the US was preparing the ground for military strikes against Iran. But as DEBKAfile and DEBKA-Net-Weekly have reported in the last ten days, the carrier’s arrival and additional US military steps have underscored the hardening of US rhetoric against Iran.

Never believe anything until it is (flatly) denied!

Rhymes With Right has an funny take on weekend violence in Chicago: US OUT OF CHICAGO NOW!

As I was watching —the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I found myself yelling at the TV. Both say they respect the job our soldiers or military are doing in Iraq. But when asked about the advice of Petraeus that a precipitous pullout could upset all the hard fought gains, both insist on a timetable; Clinton 60 days and Obama 16 months. Neither, but especially Clinton, would not accept the advice of generals and admirals who urged them to keep troops in Iraq. Now aren't the generals and admirals part of the group they just praised?

Both would extend our deterrant umbrella to Israel meaning if Iran attacks (or wipes out) Israel with nukes, then we would drop the almighty hammer on Iran in retaliation. Both insist that Iran will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons. Now if I am a cowboy on my horse and a rattlesnake is about to attack, do I wait until he bites or shoot first? Wait, shoot first? Wait or shoot first?

Never believe anything until it's denied:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Pentagon news conference that he accepted the request ofAdm. William Fallon, commander of the U. S. Central Command, to resign and retire from the Navy, agreeing that the Iran issue had become a distraction. But Gates said repeatedly that he believed talk of Fallon opposing Bush on Iran was mistaken.

[...]

Fallon was the subject of an article published last week in Esquire magazine that portrayed him as at odds with a president eager to go to war with Iran. Titled "The Man Between War and Peace," it described Fallon as a lone voice against taking military action to stop the Iranian nuclear program.

It has been rumored for some time that once Fallon was out of the way, President Bush could widen the war to Iran. By my count, we have ten months or until January 20th, 2009 for the rumors to be wrong.

Adm. William Fallon Iran Mover Mike

We saw Charlie Wilson's war and I'm told that Tom Hanks had Charlie Wilson down. Too bad, the movie didn't have the truth about Afghanistan down as well. For one thing, did you notice that Pres. Reagan was no where to be found?

Dr. Jack Wheeler in last weeks To The Point News newsletter (By subscription only) wrote that it was not Joanne Herring (played by Ms. Roberts), but Wheeler himself, that told Wilson "defeating the Soviets in Afghanistan could win the Cold War." The movie makes clear that the State Department in Pakistan is not interested in winning in Afghanistan by defeating the Russians. Then the only one the CIA operative, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, mentions as a recipient for aid is Afghani Ahmad Shah Massoud. Wheeler writes

Yet the CIA in fact provided little or no aid to Massoud for most of the war. The film never mentions who did get most of the CIA aid instead of Massoud: an America-hating Khomeini-loving Islamofascist named Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and his "Hezbi" Mujahaddin.

Here's what Dr. Jack Wheeler writes:

How the Afghans got the Stingers that won the war is a fascinating story never fully told and can only be abbreviated here. The very condensed version is this:

All the massive weapons flow organized by Charlie and the CIA had, by mid-1986, done no good as it was mostly going to Gulbuddin. When I was in Afghanistan in August, the war was over. The Soviets had won, most of the Muj had retreated back to the refugee camps in Pakistan. Soviet Spetsnaz teams were hunting down and killing the Muj who were left.

Ronald Reagan had been well aware of the need for shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles, and in April 1985 signed a classified Executive Order giving CIA Director Bill Casey the authority to provide the Muj with Stingers. The EO was blocked by CIA Deputy Director John McMahon.

McMahon was determined that the Afghans not get Stingers, and used every bureaucratic trick in the book in a constant stream of excuses to prevent their delivery, despite the demands of Reagan, Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH), Charlie, and many others in Congress such as Don Ritter (R-PA).

By late 1985, the entire conservative movement was demanding military aid to anti-Soviet freedom fighters, so we decided to make an end run around McMahon. A visit by UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi was arranged to Washington, where he met President Reagan in the Oval Office on January 30, 1986.

Savimbi told Reagan about the coming Soviet-Cuban offensive scheduled at the end of the rainy season in April, that UNITA would be destroyed without Stingers against the Hinds. Reagan gave Savimbi his word that the Stingers would be provided.

The President then called Bill Casey and said he just didn't care what the excuses were anymore. Any reason given by McMahon was to be disregarded. He signed an EO to that effect on February 18. Two weeks later, McMahon resigned. I was in Angola at UNITA's Jamba headquarters in April when the Stingers arrived. The Soviet-Cuban offensive was stopped thanks to them.

Now, that's a far cry from the story in the movie. Charlie Wilson, a Democrat, who died retired in 1997,(Upon leaving Congress, Wilson retired to Lufkin, Texas, where he now lives (as of 2007)). In February 1999, Wilson married Barbara Alberstadt, a former ballerina he first met at a party in Washington in 1980. In September 2007, after two years on a waiting list for a transplant, Wilson was the recipient of a heart from a 35-year-old donor. loved this country and found a way to fight the Communists in Afghanistan. He didn't fight alone and he fought against the CIA elites who were wrong then as they have been, at least publicly, so many times since. It's a shame that the movie isn't deeper.

The final scene is one of Wilson seeking $1 million for schools in Afghanistan, after we spent $500 million on weapons. He was turned down because "no one gives a shit about schools" for Afghanis. That seems to be the Movie's lesson for Americans to the question, "Why do they hate us?" We didn't spend enough money building them back up so the Taliban (Hamas or Palastinians, your choice) marched in.

Wheeler writes that Charlie Wilson's heroism should be "a deep embarrassment to the party of Pelosi Galore and Lost Harry Reid, the party who apologizes for America's existence and has neither the spine nor will to defend her."

Charlie Wilson Charlie Wilson's War Mover Mike

Update:

Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, who the U.S. encouraged to come back to Pakistan from exile, was assassinated first by gunfire then apparently the gunman blew himself up killing at least 20 people.

Death begets death.

Nawaz Sharif, another former premier and leader of a rival opposition party, rushed to the hospital and addressed the crowd.

“Benazir Bhutto was also my sister, and I will be with you to take the revenge for her death,” he said. “Don’t feel alone. I am with you. We will take the revenge on the rulers."

Mrs. Bhutto was encouraged by the U.S. to reach some kind of political accommodation with President Pervez Musharraf. Now Musharraf will probably resort tighter controls and violence to keep opposition in line. Once again the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons is questioned.

Benazir Bhutto President Pervez Musharraf pakistan

Update:

The |Times on-line speculates on Who killed Benazir Bhutto?

Ken Timmerman, author of "Shadow Warriors" says the NIE report that says Iran stopped their nuclear weapons program in 2003 "was coordinated and written by former State Department political and intelligence analysts — not by more seasoned members of the U.S. intelligence community, Newsmax has learned."

The NIE is based on is based on "a single, unvetted source who provided information to a foreign intelligence service and has not been interviewed directly by the United States."

Newsmax sources in Tehran believe that Washington has fallen for “a deliberate disinformation campaign” cooked up by the Revolutionary Guards, who laundered fake information and fed it to the United States through Revolutionary Guards intelligence officers posing as senior diplomats in Europe.

After reading the NIE, I posted this comment

Here's what we're are left with, Iran stopped their nuclear weapons program in 2003, unless they restarted it. We're pretty darn sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, unless they got one from outside the country. If Iran wants to have its own nuclear weapons, they would have to produce HEU, which they are technologically capable of, and we know that they are installing centrifuges. We think late 2009 is the earliest they could have a nuclear weapon, but the Iranians are sneaky little devils and are capable of subterfuge. The big reason we think they stopped in 2003 is our program of strength and international pressure is working.

You can yell and scream all you want about the harm the NIE does to the foreign policy of George Bush, but really do you want to bet your eggs on the people who put this report together, after reading Timmerman?

Ken Timmerman NIE Iran

The NYT headline reads U.S. Says Iran Ended Atomic Arms Work.

A new NIE by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting a previous intelligence report.

My first thought was goody, we don't have to nuke them before the end of President's term ending in January, 2009. However, reading through the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), there are enough guesses, almost any one of which could go wrong, that I'm left wondering if we should use the NIE to cover the bottom of the bird cage. Here's the main point:

We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.

A few sentences later the report states:

We assess with moderate confidence Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007, but we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons

And then:

We continue to assess with moderate-to-high confidence that Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapon.

Part B says:

We continue to assess with low confidence that Iran probably has imported at least some weapons-usable fissile material, but still judge with moderate-to-high confidence it has not obtained enough for a nuclear weapon. We cannot rule out that Iran has acquired from abroad—or will acquire in the future—a nuclear weapon or enough fissile material for a weapon. Barring such acquisitions, if Iran wants to have nuclear weapons it would need to produce sufficient amounts of fissile material indigenously—which we judge with high confidence it has not yet done.

In Part C:

Iran resumed its declared centrifuge enrichment activities in January 2006, despite the continued halt in the nuclear weapons program. Iran made significant progress in 2007 installing centrifuges at Natanz, but we judge with moderate confidence it still faces significant technical problems operating them.

Continuing:

We judge with moderate confidence that the earliest possible date Iran would be technically capable of producing enough (highly enriched uranium) HEU for a weapon is late 2009, but that this is very unlikely

What? A firm judgement! Most polls have a fudge factor of + or - some percent. What's the fudge factor here?

Here's what we're are left with, Iran stopped their nuclear weapons program in 2003, unless they restarted it. We're pretty darn sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, unless they got one from outside the country. If Iran wants to have its own nuclear weapons, they would have to produce HEU, which they are technologically capable of, and we know that they are installing centrifuges. We think late 2009 is the earliest they could have a nuclear weapon, but the Iranians are sneaky little devils and are capable of subterfuge. The big reason we think they stopped in 2003 is our program of strength and international pressure is working. Which is a pat on the back to Bush.

How can any president make an informed decision on crap like this?

Iran NIE Nuclear+Weapons

Is this war?

The Government has openly accused China of carrying out state-sponsored espionage against vital parts of Britain’s economy, including the computer systems of big banks and financial services firms.

[...]

A big study gave warning this week that Government and military computer systems in Britain are coming under sustained attack from China and other countries. It followed a report presented to the US Congress last month describing Chinese espionage in the US as so extensive that it represented “the single greatest risk to the security of American technologies”.

Chinese espionage computer systems Mover Mike

First Amendment Center reports

(Rachel) Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed — and How to Stop It, published in 2003, filed a suit in U.S. district court against Saudi businessman Khalid Salim A. Bin Mahfouz, in response to a libel suit he filed against her in England.

"He single-handedly silenced the American media from writing about him and about other individual Saudis who are funding terrorism," Ehrenfeld said yesterday. "This is a deliberate thought ... and since my work is about exposing those who fund terrorism, I feel it is my duty to stop it."

Here's a video that explains what led up to the suit:

Hat Tip to UP Pompeii

Rachel Ehrenfeld Khalid Salim A. Bin Mahfouz Mover Mike

What do these congress men and women have in common?

Rep. Jane Harman [D-CA]
Rep. Christopher Carney [D-PA] Del. Donna Christensen [D-VI] - Virgin Islands
Rep. Yvette Clarke [D-NY]
Rep. Charles Dent [R-PA]
Rep. Norman Dicks [D-WA]
Rep. Al Green [D-TX]
Rep. James Langevin [D-RI]
Rep. Zoe Lofgren [D-CA]
Rep. Nita Lowey [D-NY]
Rep. Daniel Lungren [R-CA]
Rep. Ed Perlmutter [D-CO]
Rep. Ted Poe [R-TX]
Rep. Dave Reichert [R-WA]
Rep. Bennie Thompson [D-MS]
(emphasis used to differentiate party affiliations.)

They all introduced (Rep. Jane Harman) or sponsored HR 1955: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

The bill passed the House and now sits in the Senate. The bill if passed and signed by the President accuses the internet and finds it guilty.

The promotion of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence exists in the United States and poses a threat to homeland security. The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens.

The bill authorizes a commission to submit sentencing recommendations.

The bill authorizes a (Center) to determine the best method/s for carrying out the sentence.

Barbara Petersen writes the next two steps are:

The sentence is pronounced

and the final step is to carry out the sentence recommended by the Commission, and implement it using the method/s arrived at by the 'Center.'

Are we at risk for criticising our government, for accusing the government of lying to us? You can bet your sweet bippy, we are!

Hat tip to UrbanSurvival

HR 1955 Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act Mover Mike

Update:

You've heard that LTG (RET) RICARDO S. SANCHEZ gave a speech in which he ripped the administration's handling of the Iraq War. As far as I can tell, the MSM did not tell you what he said in his opening.

GOOD AFTERNOON LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

SOME OF YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE THIS BUT I AM GLAD TO BE HERE. WHEN SIG ASKED ME IF I WOULD CONSIDER ADDRESSING YOU THERE WAS NO DOUBT THAT I SHOULD COME INTO THE LION'S DEN. THIS WAS IMPORTANT BECAUSE I HAVE FIRMLY BELIEVED SINCE DESERT SHIELD THAT IT IS NECESSARY FOR THE STRENGTH OF OUR DEMOCRACY THAT THE MILITARY AND THE PRESS CORPS MAINTAIN A STRONG, MUTUALLY RESPECTFUL AND ENABLING RELATIONSHIP. THIS CONTINUES TO BE PROBLEMATIC FOR OUR COUNTRY, ESPECIALLY DURING TIMES OF WAR. ONE OF THE GREATEST MILITARY CORRESPONDENTS OF OUR TIME, JOE GALLOWAY, MADE ME A BELIEVER WHEN HE JOINED THE 24TH INFANTRY DIVISION DURING DESERT STORM.

TODAY, I WILL ATTEMPT TO DO TWO THINGS - FIRST I WILL GIVE YOU MY ASSESSMENT OF THE MILITARY AND PRESS RELATIONSHIP AND THEN I WILL PROVIDE YOU SOME THOUGHTS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF OUR WAR EFFORT. AS ALL OF YOU KNOW I HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF RELATIONSHIPS AND EXPERIENCES WITH OUR NATIONS MILITARY WRITERS AND EDITORS. THERE ARE SOME IN YOUR RANKS WHO I CONSIDER TO BE THE EPITOME OF JOURNALISTIC PROFESSIONALISM - JOE GALLOWAY, THOM SHANKER, SIG CHRISTENSEN, AND JOHN BURNS IMMEDIATELY COME TO MIND. THEY EXEMPLIFY WHAT AMERICA SHOULD DEMAND OF OUR JOURNALISTS - TOUGH REPORTING THAT RELIES UPON INTEGRITY, OBJECTIVITY AND FAIRNESS TO GIVE ACCURATE AND THOROUGH ACCOUNTS THAT STRENGTHEN OUR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND IN TURN OUR DEMOCRACY. ON THE OTHER HAND, UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE ISSUED ULTIMATUMS TO SOME OF YOU FOR UNSCRUPULOUS REPORTING THAT WAS SOLELY FOCUSED ON SUPPORTING YOUR AGENDA AND PRECONCIEVED NOTIONS OF WHAT OUR MILITARY HAD DONE. I ALSO REFUSED TO TALK TO THE EUROPEAN STARS AND STRIPES FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS OF MY COMMAND IN GERMANY FOR THEIR EXTREME BIAS AND SINGLE MINDED FOCUS ON ABU GHARAIB.

LET ME REVIEW SOME OF THE DESCRIPTIVE PHRASES THAT HAVE BEEN USED BY SOME OF YOU THAT HAVE MADE MY PERSONAL INTERFACES WITH THE PRESS CORPS DIFFICULT:

"DICTATORIAL AND SOMEWHAT DENSE",

"NOT A STRATEGIC THOUGHT",

LIAR,

"DOES NOT GET IT" AND

THE MOST INEXPERIENCED LTG.

IN SOME CASES I HAVE NEVER EVEN MET YOU, YET YOU FEEL QUALIFIED TO MAKE CHARACTER JUDGMENTS THAT ARE COMMUNICATED TO THE WORLD. MY EXPERIENCE IS NOT UNIQUE AND WE CAN FIND OTHER EXAMPLES SUCH AS THE TREATMENT OF SECRETARY BROWN DURING KATRINA. THIS IS THE WORST DISPLAY OF JOURNALISM IMAGINABLE BY THOSE OF US THAT ARE BOUND BY A STRICT VALUE SYSTEM OF SELFLESS SERVICE, HONOR AND INTEGRITY. ALMOST INVARIABLY, MY PERCEPTION IS THAT THE SENSATIONALISTIC VALUE OF THESE ASSESSMENTS IS WHAT PROVIDED THE EDGE THAT YOU SEEK FOR SELF AGRANDIZEMENT OR TO ADVANCE YOUR INDIVIDUAL QUEST FOR GETTING ON THE FRONT PAGE WITH YOUR STORIES! AS I UNDERSTAND IT, YOUR MEASURE OF WORTH IS HOW MANY FRONT PAGE STORIES YOU HAVE WRITTEN AND UNFORTUNATELY SOME OF YOU WILL COMPROMISE YOUR INTEGRITY AND DISPLAY QUESTIONABLE ETHICS AS YOU SEEK TO KEEP AMERICA INFORMED. THIS IS MUCH LIKE THE INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS WHOSE EFFECTIVENESS WAS MEASURED BY THE NUMBER OF INTELLIGENCE REPORTS HE PRODUCED. FOR SOME, IT SEEMS THAT AS LONG AS YOU GET A FRONT PAGE STORY THERE IS LITTLE OR NO REGARD FOR THE "COLLATERAL DAMAGE" YOU WILL CAUSE. PERSONAL REPUTATIONS HAVE NO VALUE AND YOU REPORT WITH TOTAL IMPUNITY AND ARE RARELY HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR UNETHICAL CONDUCT.

GIVEN THE NEAR INSTANTANEOUS ABILITY TO REPORT ACTIONS ON THE GROUND, THE RESPONSIBILITY TO ACCURATELY AND TRUTHFULLY REPORT TAKES ON AN UNPRECEDENTED IMPORTANCE. THE SPECULATIVE AND OFTEN UNINFORMED INITIAL REPORTING THAT CHARACTERIZES OUR MEDIA APPEARS TO BE RAPIDLY BECOMING THE STANDARD OF THE INDUSTRY. AN ARAB PROVERB STATES - "Four things come not back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past, the neglected opportunity." ONCE REPORTED, YOUR ASSESSMENTS BECOME CONVENTIONAL WISDOM AND NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO CHANGE. OTHER MAJOR CHALLENGES ARE YOUR WILLINGNESS TO BE MANIPULATED BY "HIGH LEVEL OFFICIALS" WHO LEAK STORIES AND BY LAWYERS WHO USE HYPERBOLE TO STRENGHTEN THEIR ARGUMENTS. YOUR UNWILLINGNESS TO ACCURATELY AND PROMINENTLY CORRECT YOUR MISTAKES AND YOUR AGENDA DRIVEN BIASES CONTRIBUTE TO THIS CORROSIVE ENVIRONMENT. ALL OF THESE CHALLENGES COMBINED CREATE A MEDIA ENVIRONMENT THAT DOES A TREMENDOUS DISSERVICE TO AMERICA. OVER THE COURSE OF THIS WAR TACTICALLY INSIGNIFICANT EVENTS HAVE BECOME STRATEGIC DEFEATS FOR AMERICA BECAUSE OF THE TREMENDOUS POWER AND IMPACT OF THE MEDIA AND BY EXTENSION YOU THE JOURNALIST. IN MANY CASES THE MEDIA HAS UNJUSTLY DESTROYED THE INDIVIDUAL REPUTATIONS AND CAREERS OF THOSE INVOLVED. WE REALIZE THAT BECAUSE OF THE NEAR REAL TIME REPORTING ENVIRONMENT THAT YOU FACE IT IS DIFFICULT TO REPORT ACCURATELY. IN MY BUSINESS ONE OF OUR FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS IS THAT "THE FIRST REPORT IS ALWAYS WRONG." UNFORTUNATELY, IN YOUR BUSINESS "THE FIRST REPORT" GIVES AMERICANS WHO RELY ON THE SNIPPETS OF CNN, IF YOU WILL, THEIR "TRUTHS" AND PERSPECTIVES ON AN ISSUE. AS A COROLLARY TO THIS DEADLINE DRIVEN NEED TO PUBLISH "INITIAL IMPRESSIONS OR OBSERVATIONS" VERSUS OBJECTIVE FACTS THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL CHALLENGE FOR US WHO ARE THE SUBJECT OF YOUR REPORTING. WHEN YOU ASSUME THAT YOU ARE CORRECT AND ON THE MORAL HIGH GROUND ON A STORY BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT RESPOND TO QUESTIONS YOU PROVIDED IS THE ULTIMATE ARROGANCE AND DISTORTION OF ETHICS. ONE OF YOUR HIGHLY REPECTED FELLOW JOURNALISTS ONCE TOLD ME THAT THERE ARE SOME AMONGST YOU WHO "FEED FROM A PIG'S TROUGH." IF THAT IS WHO I AM DEALING WITH THEN I WILL NEVER RESPOND OTHERWISE WE WILL BOTH GET DIRTY AND THE PIG WILL LOVE IT. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOUR STORY IS ACCURATE.

I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS WHAT OUR FOREFATHERS INTENDED. THE CODE OF ETHICS FOR THE SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS STATES:

...PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT IS THE FORERUNNER OF JUSTICE AND THE FOUNDATION OF DEMOCRACY. THE DUTY OF THE JOURNALIST IS TO FURTHER THOSE ENDS BY SEEKING TRUTH AND PROVIDING A FAIR AND COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF EVENTS AND ISSUES. CONSCIENTIOUS JOURNALISTS FROM ALL MEDIA AND SPECIALTIES STRIVE TO SERVE THE PUBLIC WITH THOROUGHNESS AND HONESTY. PROFESSIONAL INTEGRITY IS THE CORNERSTONE OF A JOURNALIST'S CREDIBILITY

THE BASIC ETHICS OF A JOURNALIST THAT CALLS FOR:

1. SEEKING TRUTH,

2. PROVIDING FAIR AND COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNT OF EVENTS AND ISSUES

3. THOROUGHNESS AND HONESTY

ALL ARE VICTIMS OF THE MASSIVE AGENDA DRIVEN COMPETITION FOR ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL SUPREMACY. THE DEATH KNELL OF YOUR ETHICS HAS BEEN ENABLED BY YOUR PARENT ORGANIZATIONS WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO ALIGN THEMSELVES WITH POLITICAL AGENDAS. WHAT IS CLEAR TO ME IS THAT YOU ARE PERPETUATING THE CORROSIVE PARTISAN POLITICS THAT IS DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY AND KILLING OUR SERVICEMEMBERS WHO ARE AT WAR.

MY ASSESSMENT IS THAT YOUR PROFESSION, TO SOME EXTENT, HAS STRAYED FROM THESE ETHICAL STANDARDS AND ALLOWED EXTERNAL AGENDAS TO MANIPULATE WHAT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC SEES ON TV, WHAT THEY READ IN OUR NEWSPAPERS AND WHAT THEY SEE ON THE WEB. FOR SOME OF YOU, JUST LIKE SOME OF OUR POLITICIANS, THE TRUTH IS OF LITTLE TO NO VALUE IF IT DOES NOT FIT YOUR OWN PRECONCIEVED NOTIONS, BIASES AND AGENDAS.

IT IS ASTOUNDING TO ME WHEN I HEAR THE VEHEMENT DISAGREEMENT WITH THE MILITARY'S FORAYS INTO INFORMATION OPERATIONS THAT SEEK TO DISSEMINATE THE TRUTH AND INFORM THE IRAQI PEOPLE IN ORDER TO COUNTER OUR ENEMY'S BLATANT PROPAGANDA. AS I ASSESS VARIOUS MEDIA ENTITIES, SOME ARE UNQUESTIONABLY ENGAGED IN POLITICAL PROPAGANDA THAT IS UNCONTROLLED. THERE IS NO QUESTION IN MY MIND THAT THE STRENGTH OUR DEMOCRACY AND OUR FREEDOMS REMAIN LINKED TO YOUR ABILITY TO EXERCISE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS - I ADAMANTLY SUPPORT THIS BASIC FOUNDATION OF OUR DEMOCRACY AND COMPLETELY SUPPORTED THE EMBEDDING OF MEDIA INTO OUR FORMATIONS UP UNTIL MY LAST DAY IN UNIFORM. THE ISSUE IS ONE OF MAINTAINING PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND STANDARDS FROM WITHIN YOUR INSTITUTION. MILITARY LEADERS MUST ACCEPT THAT THESE INJUSTICES WILL HAPPEN AND WHETHER THEY LIKE WHAT YOU PRINT OR NOT THEY MUST DEAL WITH YOU AND ENABLE YOU, IF YOU ARE AN ETHICAL JOURNALIST.

FINALLY, I WILL LEAVE THIS SUBJECT WITH A QUESTION THAT WE MUST ASK OURSELVES--WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING THE ETHICAL STANDARDS OF THE PROFESSION IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT OUR DEMOCRACY DOES NOT CONTINUE TO BE THREATENED BY THIS DANGEROUS SHIFT AWAY FROM YOUR SACRED DUTY OF PUBLIC ENLIGHTENMENT?

That's what you call a slap upside the head!

Lt Gen Sanchez Iraq Mover Mike

Posse comitatus! A bunch of skinheads descending on a certain area intent on mischief? For a long time when I was younger, I believed something like that.

The term posse comitatus, literally translated as the power of the county, first appeared in English law in 1411 with the passage of a riot act calling for the sheriffs and justice of the peace together with the poair de counte to arrest rioters (13 Hen. 4, c.7 (1411)). However the concept of a posse comitatus can be traced back to the Assize of Arms (1181) and the creation of the jurata ad arma, an armed body of men at the disposal of the King for the purposes of keeping the peace.

After the Lattimer Massacre of 1897, when 19 civilians were shot down by a posse, their use ended with the passage of a Federal statute known as the Posse Comitatus Act. The Act forbids the use of the military of the United States as a posse comitatus or for law enforcement purposes, with the exception of the National Guard.

The Insurrection Act of 1807 is the set of laws that govern the President of the United States of America's ability to deploy troops within the United States to put down lawlessness, insurrection and rebellion.

Coupled with the Posse Comitatus Act, the President had limited powers to use military force within the U.S..

On September 30, 2006, the Congress modified the Insurrection Act as part of the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill. Section 1076 of the new law changes Sec. 333 of the "Insurrection Act," and widens the President's ability to deploy troops within the United States to enforce the laws. Under this act, the President may also deploy troops as a police force during a natural disaster, epidemic, serious public health emergency, terrorist attack, or other condition, when the President determines that the authorities of the state are incapable of maintaining public order. The bill also modified Sec. 334 of the Insurrection Act, giving the President authority to order the dispersal of either insurgents or "those obstructing the enforcement of the laws." The new law changed the name of the chapter from "Insurrection" to "Enforcement of the Laws to Restore Public Order."

What the Posse Comitatus Act did was set a high bar in the use of the military in a policing role. Lower level officers were routinely punished for over stepping their bounds. Americans have distrusted an army that could be used against them. Now it appears that very little excuse is needed to deploy the military. Even Congress, whose job is oversight and upholding the Constitution must be notified as soon as practicable and renewed every 14 days. That doesn't seem good enough to me.

Posse Comitatus Mover Mike

SNL mocks Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iran Mover Mike

As reported at Free Republic, Dr. Jack Wheeler has commented on the Israeli air strike on Syria. That air strike has made the Iranis super sensitive to any information about a possible U.S. or Joint U.S./Israel strike on nuclear sites in Iran. What is curious is that Syria has been so quiet to the apparent act of war.

Syria has gone on a profligate buying spree, spending vast sums on Russian systems, "considered the cutting edge in aircraft interception technology."

Syria now "possesses the most crowded antiaircraft system in the world," with "more than 200 antiaircraft batteries of different types," some of which are so new that they have been installed in Syria "before being introduced into Russian operation service."

Notice how far away from Israel is Dayr az-Zawr, where the attack took place?

The systems (that cost so much Syrian money) didn't even light up, gave no indication whatever of any detection of enemy aircraft invading Syrian airspace, zip, zero, nada. The Israelis (with a little techie assistance from us) blinded the Russkie antiaircraft systems so completely the Syrians didn't even know they were blinded.

That's gotta keep some people awake at night over there!

Syria Israeli air strike Mover Mike

Update:

UPDATE:Texas Fred's has has a list going of blogs that have posted about 9/11 and "Never Forget" See what others want to remember.

Bev and I were in bed when our neighbor Carol Sutton called about 8:10 AM and said, "Go to your television right now!" We did and saw one of the NY World Trade Center buildings was billowing smoke from up near the top.

We learned that 10,000 people work in the two towers, the first thing any one looking at the skyline sees. Two pristine square towers, over 110 stories, that defined the wall street area.

Suddenly, from the right a plane appeared and crashed into the second tower spewing flames from the opposite side of the building. Two maimed beasts on fire seemingly in agony. We watched horrified as rescue vehicles screamed to the disaster. By this time we knew that the U.S. had been attacked. Then, while fire fighters tried to staunch the flames and lead WTC workers from all over the world to safety, one tower seemed to fold in on itself and pancake to its death. Who among us would not cry for the lives lost? Within a half hour, without precedent, the other tower collapsed like the first.

Bev and I thought about friends of ours who lived in NY and acquaintances who I'd worked with and prayed that they were safe.

The world changed that day. Suddenly we were vulnerable to evil that believes it okay to kill the innocent as part of their campaign. Bev and I will never forget 9/11.

Michelle Malkin has made this an issue in many ways. Check out her post on 9/11.

9/11 World Trade Center Mover Mike

Update:

Hamid Hayat

Back in Sept., 2005, I wrote about terrorists in Lodi, California, The SacBee just reported

A federal judge on Monday sentenced Hamid Hayat, a 24-year-old Lodi cherry packer, to 24 years in prison for his conviction on charges that he underwent terrorist training in Pakistan and then returned to Lodi prepared to wage holy war against fellow Americans

Hamid Hayat Lodi, CA Mover Mike

Update:

If it took us 10 years to find these WMDs in the UN, how did we expect to find them in a country the size of Iraq?

United Nations officials (Iraqi weapons inspectors) found vials of dangerous chemicals,(Phosgene) which had been removed from Iraq a decade ago, in a U.N. building in New York, but U.N. officials said on Thursday there was no danger.

Iraqi+WMDs Phosgene Mover Mike

The internet is buzzing with alarm over the report by Claire P. Metz that the 1st Battalion 265 Air Defense Artillery is mobilized for duty in Washington D.C.:

The 265th is part of Operation Noble Eagle.

They are ordered by the president to the nation's capital, where they will operate high-tech weapons systems against any potential air threat.

I emailed Ms Metz and asked, Clair, are these troops replacing other troops or is something totally new to D.C.?

She replied, Mike, they are replacing a team from ohio... claire metz

Mike: Thanks for your reply. Shouldn't that bit of information been mentioned in the story? Every kook in the country thinks Bush is about to declare martial law or is preparing for some terrorist attack.

It was reported... in the introduction to our piece... Thanks Mike

Clair that is not correct. Here is what everyone is quoting which is printed over your name. Where is your introduction?

Sometimes they shorten details for the internet... but it was there when we did the story Mike...

Clair I just watched the lead in and your report on the web and there is NOTHING in your report that says that they are replacing any outfit.

You judge for yourself:

Claire responds: wierd (sic) mike, because it was in there... i'll check into it... claire

I Googled "Troops Deploy To Nation's Capital" and there 1,170,000 entries. Besides just reporting the story, here are a few of the remarks:

Blacklisted news reports the story - BlackListed News is Your Total Resource for Real Uncensored Daily World News, Information, and Commentary

CRIMES AND CORRUPTION OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER NEWS - ALARM BELLS, ALARM BELLS, America!!!

Nowpublic - Could this deployment be in preparation for the upcoming protests in Washington on September 15th? Are these troops to be used against USA'ns who will be exercising their constitutional rights and responsibilities? I suppose we'll know soon enough.

How many of you remember the Chicago riots?

Clipmarks - Life as we know it may soon be over folks.

I love this one: From Yahoo Answers:

Wow thats very interesting and also kind of scary. This could actually be a sign of many things. Washington may have had a threat, Bush could be getting ready to declare a state of emergency, martial law, it could even mean Bush is staging a coup. Great question and link. Thanks

Edit: Rumor has it that they are deployed just in time for the big protest march on Washington in Sept. http://www.democraticunderground.com/dis...

Claire P. Metz 1st Battalion 265 Air Defense Artillery Troops Deploy To Nation's Capital Mover Mike

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