Democrat Hypocrisy Laid Bare

That is how those who oppose the war "support" the troops -- they "slow-bleed" them dry. Or they declare that the lives laid down by those troops were "wasted," as Senator Barack Obama did last Sunday. Photo: Barack Obama in South Carolina - 2/16/07 Image Credit: Jack Jenkins

Democrat Hypocrisy Laid Bare

A question posed by the opinion columnist, Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe, yesterday is a great question indeed:

“WHAT DOES IT mean to support the troops but oppose the cause they fight for?”

Really … What Does It Mean?

At least the Senate got it almost right when they unanimously approved General Petraeus so that they were in support of the military commander for Iraq … then stopped the non-binding resolution from passing with a 60 vote majority.

But what does it mean, really?

Excerpts from The Boston Globe -

Irreconcilable positions: support troops, oppose war
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist February 18, 2007

No loyal Colts fan rooted for Indianapolis to lose the Super Bowl. No investor buys 100 shares of Google in the hope that Google's stock will tank. No one who applauds firefighters for their courage and education wants a four-alarm blaze to burn out of control.

Yet there is no end of Americans who insist they "support" US troops in Iraq but want the war those troops are fighting to end in defeat. The two positions are irreconcilable. You cannot logically or honorably curse the war as an immoral neocon disaster or a Halliburton oil grab or "a fraud . . . cooked up in Texas," yet bless the troops who are waging it.

But logic and honor haven't stopped members of Congress from trying to square that circle. The nonbinding resolution they debated last week was a flagrant attempt to have it both ways. One of its two clauses professed to "support and protect" the forces serving "bravely and honorably" in Iraq. The other declared that Congress "disapproves" the surge in troops now underway -- a surge that General David Petraeus , the new military commander in Iraq, considers essential.

It was a disgraceful and dishonest resolution, and it must have done wonders for the insurgents' morale.
----
That is how those who oppose the war "support" the troops -- they "slow-bleed" them dry. Or they declare that the lives laid down by those troops were "wasted," as Senator Barack Obama did last Sunday.
----
And like most political gaffes, it exposed the speaker's true feelings.

And why wouldn't Obama feel that way? If an American serviceman dies in the course of a war that toppled a monstrous dictatorship, opened the door to decent Arab governance, and has become the central front in the struggle against radical Islam, his death is not in vain. It is the sacrifice of an American hero, the last full measure of devotion given in the cause of freedom. But if he dies in the course of a senseless and illegitimate invasion -- which appears to be Obama's view of Iraq -- then his life was wasted. If that's what you believe, Senator, why not say so?
----
Smart people who work hard become successful, John Kerry "joked" last fall, but uneducated sluggards "get stuck in Iraq." Osama bin Laden is beloved by Muslims for "building schools, building roads . . . building day-care facilities," Washington Senator Patty Murray explained in 2002, while Americans only show up to "bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan." Obama's Illinois colleague Dick Durbin took to the Senate floor to equate US military interrogators in Guantanamo Bay with "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags," and similar mass-murderers, such as "Pol Pot or others."

It goes without saying that many Democrats and liberals take a back seat to no one in their admiration and appreciation of the US military. But there is no denying that a notable current of antimilitary hostility runs through the left as well.

Examples are endless: ROTC is banned on elite college campuses. San Francisco bars a historic battleship from its port. Signs at antiwar protests urge troops to "shoot their officers." An Ivy League professor prays for "a million Mogadishus." Michael Moore compares Iraqi insurgents who kill Americans to the Minutemen of Revolutionary New England.

America is a free country, but it is not the Michael Moores or the ROTC-banners or the senatorial loudmouths who keep it free. They merely enjoy the freedom that others are prepared to defend with their lives.

It is the men and women who volunteer to wear the uniform to whom we owe our liberty. Surely they deserve better than pious claims of "support" from those who are working for their defeat.
Read All>>

Survivor Fiji (2) - The Real World Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

Banner graphic from the official web protal of the Fiji Government. Image Credit: Ministry of Information, Communication and Media Relations, Fiji Government

Survivor Fiji (2) - The Real World Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

The neighbors of Fiji, in an attempt to inject some territorial and institutional sanity to the island region, previewed a report to be submitted to the Pacific Island Forum that examined Fiji’s coup of December of last year which came down hard in its recommendations as to the authenticity of the current situation.

In the report, that is expected to be at the center of regional discussions when the 16 nations member Pacific Island Forum next meets in March, the group labeled the coup “unconstitutional and unacceptable."

Meanwhile, the observance of human rights and free speech in Fiji, while the military is in charge of Fiji and its governmental activities, is not acceptable.

Details published by The Associated Press -

AP Exclusive: Pacific group says Fiji coup unacceptable, military leader should resign
The Associated Press - Published: February 19, 2007

SUVA, Fiji: An investigative team examining last year's coup in Fiji for South Pacific leaders says the country's military commander should resign immediately as prime minister, and calls for elections within two years to restore democracy.
----
A copy of the report, to be presented to the forum soon, was obtained Monday by The Associated Press.

The report said armed forces chief Commodore Frank Bainimarama, who appointed himself prime minister after seizing power, must "vacate the position" and allow a civilian to be take the post.

It said elections in Fiji should be held within "18 to 24 months if not sooner" — rejecting a timetable of up to five years given by some members of the military government as "excessive."

The group — Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister Sato Kilman, Samoan Environment Minister Faumuina Luiga, retired Papua New Guinea Chief Justice Arnold Amet and Australian armed forces chief Gen. Peter Cosgrove — spoke to dozens of officials on all sides of the Fiji dispute in their monthslong inquiry.

The group questioned the need for the state of emergency that was declared immediately after the bloodless takeover, and demanded Fiji's military forces "immediately cease human rights abuses."

The group said it heard of "numerous cases of citizens being denied their constitutional rights ... subjection to intimidation, harassment and physical abuse" by the military. It didn't provide details.

In the days after the coup, the military detained and questioned many senior bureaucrats and officials from the ousted government of elected Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. Most were released unharmed.

Bainimarama says he seized power to clean up alleged corruption during Qarase's administration, and stop planned laws to pardon plotters in a 2000 coup and hand lucrative land rights to indigenous Fijians, not the large ethnic Indian minority.

Bainimarama has promised to call elections to restore democracy, but hasn't set a timetable.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday she had been briefed on the report and that it "should be seen in Fiji as a way forward."
Read Here>>

And this related dispatch about human rights in Fiji from Radio New Zealand –

Fiji laywer says intimidation has ended freedom of speech
Radio New Zealand - Wellington,New Zealand - Posted at 2:55pm on 19 Feb 2007

A senior Fiji lawyer says the military's intimidation of people has ended any freedom of speech in the country.

He made the comment in the wake of a damning report compiled by a group of senior lawyers that challenges the legality of December's military takeover.

The report described the assumption of executive power by Commodore Frank Bainimarama as riddled with legal inaccuracies, misapplications of the law and a selective reading of the case.

The group -who do not wish to be named for fear of retaliation - prepared the report in response to one released by the Fiji Human Right Commission which appeared to justify the coup.

A lawyer, who wished to remain anonymous, says the climate in Fiji is repressive and people are fearful for the security of their families and jobs.

He says there are a number of cases of people being taken to the army barracks, roughed up and coming back silent.
Reference Here>>

Media Statement by PM Bainimarama - Laying Solid Foundation for Fiji's Return to Democracy - 15/2/07

A Fiji democracy activist, Laisa Digitaki, has told the Fijilive news website that continuing human rights violations could very well become the main cause of the interim regime's downfall if they are not careful.

At MAXINE, it's "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" until the next dispatch on the real world Survivor Fiji!

UPDATE - Someone "VOTES" himself off of the island! This from Fijilive -

Colonel resigns from Fiji army
Fijilive - Monday February 19, 2007

Fiji's first contingent commander to the UN mission in Iraq has officially resigned from the Fiji army.

Military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni confirms that former Fiji Land Force Commander Colonel Mel Saubulinayau has handed in his resignation, but did not specify the reason.

"I won't be able to comment on this," he said.

Col Saubulinayau was earlier sent on leave by the military after a failed attempt by the previous government to have him replace army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama ahead of the December 5, 2006 military coup.

Major Leweni said that military investigations against Col Saubulinayau will continue despite his resignation.
Reference Here>>

Tick, Tick, Tick – Soviet Poultry Plants Under Siege

A Russian veterinary surgeon inspects ostriches in a stable at a commercial farm in Toropovo in March 2006. Russian officials have announced measures to prevent the spread of bird flu, a day after the discovery of the deadly H5N1 strain at two farms near Moscow. Image Credit: AFP

Tick, Tick, Tick – Soviet Poultry Plants Under Siege

One might assume that if the ground is covered in snow and the temperatures are cold, viruses do not “take flight”.

In Russia, many forces may be at hand, including the hand of organized forces that would want to tip business their way … by eliminating the competition.

This virus outbreak cause may actually be in the form of an intentional HIT.

Excerpts from France 24 -

Russia moves to stop spread of deadly bird flu strain
by Victoria LOGUINOVA – France 24

Russian officials have announced measures to prevent the spread of bird flu, a day after the discovery of the deadly H5N1 strain at two farms near Moscow.

Confirmation of the strain, which is potentially fatal to humans who come into contact with infected birds, came on Saturday evening at Odintsovo and Domodedovo. Both are within a 50-kilometre (31-mile) radius of the capital.
----
"We are taking all necessary measures," said Nikolai Vlasov, director of veterinary inspection for agricultural agency Rosselkhoznadzor.

"The farms have been disinfected. The experts are treating vehicles that are leaving the areas where the virus was discovered," said Vlasov, adding that access in and around the region had been restricted.

Last month, the H5N1 virus was recorded in poultry plants in the Krasnodar region, 1,000 kilometres south of Moscow, but the current outbreak is the first near the capital, home to more than 10 million people.

The Russian find follows recent outbreaks in Britain and Turkey, while Hungary reported the first detected case of the strain in January, the first such outbreak in the European Union since mid-2006.
----
Russian authorities on Saturday said another farm at Podolsk, 40 kilometres south of the capital, was suspected of being contaminated after 44 dead birds were found, but tests had still to confirm this.

And on Sunday a fourth farm at Taldom, 110 kilometres north of Moscow, was under suspicion of housing a further outbreak, with authorities still conducting tests.

The birds belonging to the first three farms had been bought at Moscow's main poultry market on the southeast fringe of the city, which has since been closed.

A senior veterinary official in the region speculated that the birds may have been infected deliberately, a state news agency said Sunday.

"It is possible they had been contaminated at the market. We cannot rule out the possibility of bioterrorism," Ria Novosti cited Valeri Sitnikov as saying on an independent TV channel.

Vlasov, the director of veterinary inspection, dismissed the comments as paranoid, but an inquiry is underway at the poultry market and the relevant section of the market has been closed.

The H5N1 strain, which first emerged in Asia, has caused 270 reported human infections worldwide since 2003 and killed 164 as of last month.
Read All>>

… And, They Call This “The Land Of Enchantment”

Governor Richardson recently visited the Santa Fe River to announce his Year of Water agenda. This (ed. $100+ million package) includes funding for needed infrastructure projects, conservation and environmental restoration. Caption & Image Credit: New Mexico Office of the Governor

… And, They Call This “The Land Of Enchantment”

In a move that might have had political ramifications for the 2008 presidential campaign, the State of New Mexico has decided to use audio indoctrination to change the behavior of its citizens.

The original idea was to program the audio devices with the message “Vote, Gov. Bill Richardson, a candidate with real executive experience, for president - 2008”. But, that idea was flushed in favor of this:

Excerpts from the Associated Press via Yahoo! News -

N.M. orders 500 talking urinal cakes
Associated Press - Wed Feb 14, 9:48 PM ET

SANTA FE, N.M. - New Mexico is taking its fight against drunken driving to men's restrooms around the state. The state has ordered 500 talking urinal cakes that will deliver a recorded anti-DWI message to bar and restaurant patrons who make one last pit stop before getting behind the wheel.

"Hey there, big guy. Having a few drinks?" a female voice says a few seconds after an approaching male sets off a motion sensor in the device. "It's time to call a cab or ask a sober friend for a ride home."

A talking urinal cake is displayed in the men's room at Turtle Mountain Brewing Company in Rio Rancho, N.M., Monday, Feb. 12, 2007. New Mexico aims to keep bar-hopping drunks off the road by nagging them at a place they're likely to visit just before getting behind the wheel: the men's room urinal. The state Transportation Department recently bought about 500 talking urinal cakes to put in men's restrooms at various bars and restaurants. Image Credit: AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf

Transportation Department spokesman S.U. Mahesh said the urinal cakes are a way to reach one group that's a target of state safety campaigns. Men commit about three times as many drunken-driving infractions as women.
----
"The idea is based on the concept that there is no more captive audience than a guy standing at a urinal," Deutsch said. "You can't look right and you can't look left; you've got to look at the ad."
----
In New Mexico, the device uses the state DWI slogan "You drink, you drive, you lose."
----
The state spent $21 for each talking urinal cake for the pilot program but will ask bars and restaurants to pay for future orders if the idea catch on, Mahesh said.

The cakes have enough battery power to last about three months.
Read All>>

Imagine being the person tapped to replace all of the batteries!

POV Point, Counterpoint – Global Warming Opinion Intentions

A general view shows the lower house of Parliament Bundestag inside the Reichstags building during a commemoration ceremony to mark the Holocaust memorial day in Berlin January 29, 2007. Image Credit: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch (GERMANY)

POV Point, Counterpoint – Global Warming Opinion Intentions

When we, at MAXINE, see, listen, or read anything from longtime flame-throwing MSM liberal hack (Boston Globe, The McLaughlin Group (NPR), and go to “talking head” for biting MSM POV commentary for any political talk enterprise) we are stunned at the echo chamber logic expressed given almost any topic she jumps off into.

Usually, it is easy to just discount the views as coming from a very liberal, journalistic, and socialist camp.

That is, until her latest attempt to place people who want to deny that the Holocaust (where people of the Jewish faith were rounded up, taken to prison camps, placed in gas chambers, and executed) actually happened during WWII are used as the measuring stick for people who wish to debate against the proposition that Human activity is the primary cause of Earth’s temperature changes (Global Warming).

Dennis Prager makes it very clear as to how WRONG, damaging, and piously-political her latest column is on the subject of Global Warming in the Boston Globe through his latest column featured in Townhall.

Point, Counterpoint!

This from Dennis Prager, contributing writer for Townhall –

On Comparing Global Warming Denial to Holocaust Denial
By Dennis Prager - Tuesday, February 13, 2007

In her last column, Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman wrote: "Let's just say that global warming deniers are now on a par with Holocaust deniers . . . "

This is worthy of some analysis.

First, it reflects a major difference between the way in which the Left and Right tend to view each other. With a few exceptions, those on the Left tend to view their ideological adversaries as bad people, i.e., people with bad intentions, while those on the Right tend to view their adversaries as wrong, perhaps even dangerous, but not usually as bad.

Those who deny the Holocaust are among the evil of the world. Their concern is not history but hurting Jews, and their attempt to rob nearly six million people of their experience of unspeakable suffering gives new meaning to the word "cruel." To equate those who question or deny global warming with those who question or deny the Holocaust is to ascribe equally nefarious motives to them. It may be inconceivable to Al Gore, Ellen Goodman and their many millions of supporters that a person can disagree with them on global warming and not have evil motives: Such an individual must be paid by oil companies to lie, or lie -- as do Holocaust deniers -- for some other vile reason.

The belief that opponents of the Left are morally similar to Nazis was expressed recently by another prominent person of the Left, George Soros, the billionaire who bankrolls many leftist projects. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Soros called on America to "de-Nazify" just as Germany did after the Holocaust and World War II. For Soros, America in Iraq is like the Nazis in Poland.

A second lesson to be drawn from the Goodman statement is that it helps us to understand better one of the defining mottos of contemporary liberalism: "Question authority." In reality, this admonition applies to questioning the moral authority of Judeo-Christian religions or of any secular conservative authority, but not of any other authority. UN and other experts tell us that there is global warming; such authority is not to be questioned.

Third, the equation of global warming denial to Holocaust denial trivializes Holocaust denial. If questioning global warming is on "a par" with questioning the Holocaust, how bad can questioning the Holocaust really be? The same holds true with regard to Nazism and the George Soros statement. Claiming that America in the Iraq War is morally equivalent to Nazi Germany in World War II trivializes the unparalleled evil of the Nazis.

Fourth, the lack of response (thus far) of any liberal or left individual or organization -- except to defend Ellen Goodman -- or from the Anti-Defamation League, the organization whose primary purpose has been to defend Jews, is telling. Just imagine if, for example, an equally prominent Christian figure had written that denying America is a Christian country is on a par with denying the Holocaust. It would have been front-page news in the mainstream media, the individual would have been excoriated by just about every major liberal individual and group, and the ADL would have cited this as an example of burgeoning Christian anti-Semitism and Holocaust trivialization. But not a word at the ADL on Soros's comments about de-Nazifying America or Goodman's Holocaust-denial comment.

Fifth, and finally, the Ellen Goodman quote is only the beginning of what is already becoming one of the largest campaigns of vilification of decent people in history -- the global condemnation of a) anyone who questions global warming; or b) anyone who agrees that there is global warming but who argues that human behavior is not its primary cause; or c) anyone who agrees that there is global warming, and even agrees that human behavior is its primary cause, but does not believe that the consequences will be nearly as catastrophic as Al Gore does.

If you don't believe all three propositions, you will be lumped with Holocaust deniers, and it would not be surprising that soon, in Europe, global warming deniers will be treated as Holocaust deniers and prosecuted.

Just watch.

That is far more likely than the oceans rising by 20 feet.

Or even 10.

Or even three.
Reference Here>>

Hey Ellen! ... Al! Surf's Up!

Good on ya', Dennis.

Tick, Tick, Tick - H5N1 Virus Takes 65th Victim In Indonesia

Garut regency, West Java, Indonesia (highlighted in bright green). Image Credit: Wikipedia

Tick, Tick, Tick - H5N1 Virus Takes 65th Victim In Indonesia

A 20 year-old woman and a 9 year-old boy die from infection to the H5N1 virus bringing a total of 65 deaths to Indonesia -- the most for any country in the world.

We all will really need to begin to worry (and begin praying) when hospital workers in Indonesia begin dying from H5N1 virus ... this will be human-to-human and it will be time for humanity to "go to ground".

Excerpts from The Jakarta Post -

Bird flu deaths in Indonesia reach 65
By Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo/Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post - February 11, 2007

JAKARTA (JP): Provincial administrations are being urged to follow Jakarta in banning backyard poultry, as two more bird flu deaths were reported Sunday in Garut regency, West Java.

A 20-year-old woman died at Slamet Hospital in Garut at about 1 a.m., followed by a 9-year old boy at 4:30 p.m.

"Let's use this as a reminder for all of us to keep poultry away from people," the director general of communicable diseases at the Health Ministry, I Nyoman Kandun, told The Jakarta Post . "Other provincial administrations should follow the Jakarta administration in its effort to keep poultry away from people. Our message is still the same: keep poultry as far away as possible from people and homes," he said.

Kandun said the deep-rooted tradition of people living near their poultry made it difficult for the government to stop the spread of the virus from birds to humans.

"Our biggest concern is still that the virus could mutate into a form where human-to-human transmissions are easy," he said.

Officials have confirmed that the woman who died early Sunday had contact with dead chickens before becoming infected with the H5N1 virus.
----
West Java Health Agency head Yudi Prayudha said the woman showed the classic bird flu symptoms of difficulty breathing and a high fever.

The 9-year-old boy was referred to Slamet Hospital on Saturday evening. However, his family brought him home at about 3 a.m., before health officials convinced them to return the boy to the hospital later Sunday morning.
Read All>>

Cross Match Delivers Biometrics For “Snakes” In Iraq

The MV 100 offers in-the-field identity checks using a forensic quality fingerprint scanner, an integrated Personal Digital Assistant, a digital camera, a magnetic stripe card reader and wireless communications. The MV 100 uses the same optical technology found in Cross Match’s industry leading Verifier® fingerprint scanners capturing high quality fingerprint images regardless of skin pigment or the presence of stains from ink, dyes, grease, or dirt. Image Credit: Cross Match Technologies

Cross Match Delivers Biometrics For “Snakes” In Iraq

The military and police forces in Iraq have much in common with the police forces in major cities throughout the United States, especially those cities with organized gang activity.

For both efforts, quick field identification of suspected individuals who may be involved in illegal or deadly insurgent activity is a must in order to remove offending culprits.

At home, our police departments are provided full IT (information technology) tools, all of the way down to their patrol units, where the patrol officer can log-in and check available databases (many linked to nationwide networks) and have delivered to him all of the information he would need to make a proper assessment. Job done!

In Iraq, however, there does not exist the infrastructure to place all that equipment the average patrol car has but through technology, there is an answer.

The cornerstone to a database development system as well as a field tool that identifies people once the information has been captured is supplied by Cross Match Technologies. This portable tool combined with radio access to existing databases in Iraq may help the military and Iraqi security forces turn the tide in hunting down and stopping insurgent activity.

The Iraqi Army has a nickname for the “gang” of insurgents who seek to do harm to the citizens of Iraq – “Snakes”.

Excerpts from The Wall Street Journal’s Opinion Journal –

The Snake Eater
Give our troops the tools our cops have.
BY DANIEL HENNINGER, Deputy Editor – Editorial’s, The Wall Street Journal - Thursday, February 8, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST

Subject:

A case study of how the U.S. got bogged down in Iraq.

Problem:

If a cop in Anytown, USA, pulls over a suspect, he checks the person's ID remotely from the squad car. He's linked to databases filled with Who's Who in the world of crime, killing and mayhem. In Iraq, there is nothing like that. When our troops and the Iraqi army enter a town, village or street, what they know about the local bad guys is pretty much in their heads, at best.

Solution:

Give our troops what our cops have. The Pentagon knows this. For reasons you can imagine, it hasn't happened.

This is a story of can-do in a no-can-do world, a story of how a Marine officer in Iraq, a small network-design company in California, a nonprofit troop-support group, a blogger and other undeterrable folk designed a handheld insurgent-identification device, built it, shipped it and deployed it in Anbar province. They did this in 30 days, from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15. Compared to standard operating procedure for Iraq, this is a nanosecond.

Before fastening our seatbelts, let's check the status quo. As a high Defense Department official told the Journal's editorial page, "We're trying to fight a major war with peacetime procurement rules." The department knows this is awful. Indeed, a program exists, the Automated Biometric Identification System: retina scans, facial matching and the like. The reality: This war is in year four, and the troops don't have it. Beyond Baghdad, the U.S. role has become less about killing insurgents than arresting the worst and isolating them from the population. Obviously it would help to have an electronic database of who the bad guys are, their friends, where they live, tribal affiliation--in short the insurgency's networks.
----
Some, like Marine Maj. Owen West in Anbar, have created their own spreadsheets and PowerPoint programs, or use digital cameras to input the details of suspected insurgents. But no Iraq-wide software architecture exists.

Operating around the town of Khalidiya, north of Baghdad, Maj. West has been the leader of a team of nine U.S. soldiers advising an Iraqi brigade. This has been his second tour of duty in Iraq. When not fighting the Iraq war, he's an energy trader for Goldman Sachs in New York City.

It had become clear to him last fall that the Iraqi soldiers were becoming the area's cops. And that they needed modern police surveillance tools. To help the Iraqi army in Khalidiya do its job right, Maj. West needed that technology yesterday: He was scheduled to rotate back stateside in February--this month.

Since arriving in Iraq last year, Maj. West had worked with Spirit of America (SoA), the civilian troop-support group founded by Jim Hake. In early December, SoA's project director, Michele Redmond, asked Maj. West if there was any out-of-the-ordinary project they could help him with. And Maj. West said, Why yes, there is. He described to them the basic concept for a mobile, handheld fingerprinting device which Iraqi soldiers would use to assemble an insurgent database. Mr. Hake said his organization would contribute $30,000 to build a prototype and get it to Khalidiya. In New York, Goldman Sachs contributed $14,000 to the project.

Two problems. They needed to find someone who could assemble the device, and the unit had to be in Khalidiya by Jan. 15 to give Maj. West time to field-test it before he left in February.
----
To build the device, they approached a small California company, Computer Deductions Inc., Its basic platform would be a handheld fingerprint workstation called the MV 100, made by Cross Match Technologies, a maker of biometric identity applications. The data collected by the MV 100 would be stored via Bluetooth in a hardened laptop made by GETAC, a California manufacturer. From Knowledge Computing Corp. of Arizona they used the COPLINK program, which creates a linked "map" of events. The laptop would sit in the troops' Humvee and the data sent from there to a laptop at outpost headquarters.

Regardless of whether a weapon system is wired or wireless, the biggest challenge facing any Military market is obtaining proper connection between weapons systems. Since reliability is a major factor under the toughest environment, only a rugged notebook such as the A790 can meet the challenge. The A790 can be modified to be equipped with special interface cards in its expansion bay allowing it to receive and transmit data between systems. Image Credit: GETAC, Inc.

Meanwhile, SoA began to think about how they'd get the package to Maj. West by Jan. 15. They likely would have less than seven days transit time after CDI finished.
----
This meant finding someone who could get into Iraq quickly.

The someone was Bill Roggio. Mr. Roggio is a former army signalman and infantryman who now embeds with the troops and writes about it on his blog, the Fourth Rail, or for the SoA Web site. He was at home in New Jersey, about to celebrate his birthday with his family. He agreed to fly the MV 100 to Iraq as soon as it was ready, in conjunction with an embed trip. With SoA's Michele Redmond, he started working out the logistics for getting to Iraq ASAP.
----
And so, a month from inception, Bill Roggio handed the electronic identification kit to Maj. West.

Fingerprinting and photographing the bad guys. Database development and identification in the field. Image Credit: U.S. Marines, The Iraqi Army via Opinion Journal

On the night of Jan. 20, Maj. West, his Marine squad and the "jundi" (Iraq army soldiers) took the MV 100 and laptop on patrol. Their term of endearment for the insurgents is "snakes." So of course the MV 100 became the Snake Eater. The next day Maj. West emailed the U.S. team digital photos of Iraqi soldiers fingerprinting suspects with the Snake Eater. "It's one night old and the town is abuzz," he said. "I think we have a chance to tip this city over now." A rumor quickly spread that the Iraqi army was implanting GPS chips in insurgents' thumbs.

Over the past 10 days, Maj. West has had chance encounters with two Marine superiors--Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, who commands the 30,000 joint forces in Anbar, and Brig. Gen. Robert Neller, deputy commanding general of operations in Iraq. He showed them the mobile ID database device.

I asked Gen. Neller by email on Tuesday what the status of these technologies is now. He replied that they're receiving advanced biometric equipment, "like the device being employed by Maj. West." He said "in the near future" they will begin to network such devices to share databases more broadly: "Bottom line: The requirement for networking our biometric capability is a priority of this organization."

As he departs, Maj. West reflected on winning at street level: "We're fixated on the enemy, but the enemy is fixated on the people. They know which families are apostates, which houses are safe for the night, which boys are vulnerable to corruption or kidnapping. The enemy's population collection effort far outstrips ours.

The Snake Eater will change that, and fast." You have to believe he's got this right. It will only happen, though, if someone above his pay grade blows away the killing habits of peacetime procurement.
Read All>>

Glenn Reynolds has a book titled "An Army Of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower the Little Guy to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths" where it outlines the strength and power of independent effort, the new media, and how, in today's technological world, things get done.

This story and its success illustrates the power of an army of davids!

Survivor Fiji - The Real World Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

Fijian military commander Frank Bainimarama warned that his troops would not tolerate dissent against his regime. Image Credit: AP

Survivor Fiji - The Real World Outwit, Outplay, Outlast

Back in early December 2006, the military commander of Fiji decided that the legally elected Government of Fiji wasn’t handling affaires to his liking – so, he ordered the military to take over the Government and oust the Prime Minister.

Since this event, Fiji’s economy has plummeted, the country has been suspended from its participation in networking trade organizations, and the coup has been roundly rejected by the United Nations and Fiji’s neighbors.

The Commander, Frank Bainimarama, finds himself in a real life “Survivor Fiji” as he navigates his effort to run the country as he sees fit.

"He (Bainimarama) doesn't have the support of the government, of the president, of the police, of the churches, of the chiefs, of the people of Fiji," Mr Andrew Hughes, former Fijian police commissioner told ABC television (in a December 5th interview) . "And I can foresee a popular uprising.”

His prediction was that Fiji’s fourth coup in 20 years would collapse under a popular uprising and divisions within military ranks.

On the eve of the popular reality TV series “Survivor” (which has its premiere tonight on CBS, 8pm et/pt), this latest edition from Fiji may pale in comparison to the real life survivor saga - the coup in Fiji.

And now this from from Radio New Zealand -

Fiji coup leader told to heed other dictators' fate
Radio New Zealand - Posted at 2:16pm on 08 Feb 2007

A Fiji democracy activist who is in hiding says President Ratu Josefa Iloilo and the interim prime minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, should not believe that they are immune from prosecution.

A ceremonial guard is backed by an armed Fijian soldier at the entrance to Government House in Suva Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006. The military commander Frank Bainimarama and Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase have been locked in a power struggle that appears to be heading towards a military coup. Image Credit: AP Photo/Rick Rycroft

Laisa Digitaki has told the Fijilive news website that continuing human rights violations could very well become the main cause of the interim regime's downfall if they are not careful.

She made the statement in response to a letter by Human Rights Watch to President Iloilo and Commodore Bainimarama raising concerns about alleged human rights violations in Fiji.

Ms Digitaki says Human Rights Watch was behind the successful prosecution of the former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, for crimes against humanity committed on his own people.

She says the two Fiji leaders should remember that the precedent has been set.

Ms Digitaki says she is currently in hiding from the military which claims she has made statements inciting people against the interim administration.
Reference Here>>

Additional Fiji Coup Photos>>

Love's Embrace

A pair of human skeletons lie in an eternal embrace at an Neolithic archaeological dig site near Mantova, Italy, in this photo released February 6, 2007. Archaeologists in northern Italy believe the couple was buried 5,000-6,000 years ago, their arms still wrapped around each other in a hug that has lasted millennia. Image Credit: REUTERS/Enrico Pajello/Handout (ITALY)

Love's Embrace

Sometimes, it is just great to take a moment and reflect on what's good about emotions in a human life ... when it all seems to be working out ... to the end!

This from Reuters via Yahoo! News -

Eternal embrace?
Couple still hugging 5,000 years on
Reuters - Tue Feb 6, 1:28 PM ET

ROME - Call it the eternal embrace.

Archaeologists in Italy have discovered a couple buried 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, hugging each other.

"It's an extraordinary case," said Elena Menotti, who led the team on their dig near the northern city of Mantova.

"There has not been a double burial found in the Neolithic period, much less two people hugging -- and they really are hugging."

Menotti said she believed the two, almost certainly a man and a woman although that needs to be confirmed, died young because their teeth were mostly intact and not worn down.

"I must say that when we discovered it, we all became very excited. I've been doing this job for 25 years. I've done digs at Pompeii, all the famous sites," she told Reuters.

"But I've never been so moved because this is the discovery of something special."

A laboratory will now try to determine the couple's age at the time of death and how long they had been buried.
Reference Here>>

Let us just say it straight up --- This apparent love story about the potential of human emotion is better than the one that features an astronaut, disposable diapers, a 900 mile drive, pepper spray (which she used), a wig, a trench coat, a BB gun, a mallet, some rubber tubing, and plastic trash bags all of which surround what happens when human emotions go wildly out-of-control right now!!!

At MAXINE, we title the episode that featured a female astronaut (Lisa Nowak - pronounced 'no whack') driving across country to attack and possibly scare/kidnap/kill her rival over a mutual love interest --- "Nowak ... Just Spray".

The only thing eternal about this stunt is how an accomplished female astronaut of 43 years of age, with three kids, and a husband of 19 years, will be remembered.

The True Cost Of Improper Communication - Post 9/11

Cartoon Network Animation Center, Burbank, California. Image Credit: Burbank.com

The True Cost Of Improper Communication - Post 9/11

WE, at MAXINE, can see it all now, in the boardroom of Turner Broadcasting ... "Guerilla Marketing - it's a way to create tremendous BUZZ without having to pay a lot of money for billboards, or get all wrapped up in government approvals and/or permits."

"Look, we have been able to fly-under-the-radar on many projects and we are very successful!"

"Yes!, that's right, we will make up these LED cartoon light boxes from black plexi-glass, power them with batteries - and save the power of the batteries with light sensors placed next to the batteries, attach magnets on the back of them, and mount them (in the middle of the night) in high traffic areas so that as many people as possible can see them at night as they drive, or walk, from place to place."

"We will use the cartoon character that is known for 'Flipping-Off' people and things as part of its persona."

Electronic devices placed in Boston and nearby communities were an ad for Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The devices were feared to be bombs and parts of the city were shut down. Image Credit: Todd Vanderlin/Associated Press

Sure, we can get enough BUZZ (media attention) before the late March release date of the feature length cartoon film.

News item from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation –

$2 million US settlement in Boston TV ad bomb hoax
Last Updated: Monday, February 5, 2007 1:07 PM ET - CBC Arts

Turner Broadcasting Systems and ad firm Interference Inc. have agreed to pay $2 million US in the wake of an ad campaign that caused a widespread bomb scare across Boston last week.

The two companies agreed to pay several state and local agencies to resolve any potential civil or criminal claims against them, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said Monday.

"Money" - Image Credit: United Press International

Public areas in Boston were evacuated and bomb squads responded last Wednesday after three dozen blinking electronic signs were found in subway stations, on bridges and in other public places.

Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were studying the devices before authorities declared they were harmless.

Blossom (PowerPuff Girls) Avitar. Image Credit: The Cartoon Network

The devices, featuring a boxy cartoon character giving an obscene hand gesture, were part of a publicity campaign for Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

They were distributed in nine other big U.S. cities in recent weeks, without causing the same consternation.

Buttercup (PowerPuff Girls) Avitar. Image Credit: The Cartoon Network

As part of the settlement, $1 million US will be used to reimburse the agencies and $1 million US will be used to fund homeland security and other programs.

"Last week's events caused a major disruption in the greater Boston area on many levels — crippling public transportation, causing serious traffic problems, negatively affecting local businesses and perhaps most significantly, costing Boston and surrounding communities thousands of dollars," Coakley said.

Bubbles (PowerPuff Girls) Avitar. Image Credit: The Cartoon Network

Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting, the division of Time Warner Inc. that owns the Cartoon Network, and Interference Inc., the New York ad firm that conceived the campaign, have agreed to make a public apology.

Turner issued an early mea culpa Friday in full-page ads that appeared in Boston newspapers.

However, Coakley criticized the broadcaster for taking five hours to notify police that the devices were part of an ad campaign.

In an effort to ward off lawsuits, Interference issued a statement over the weekend saying it contacted Turner and authorities as soon as it heard of the chaos caused by the devices.
Read All>>

Now Turner Broadcasting is having to take money out of the mouths of, well ... PowerPuff Girls.

UPDATE:

Excerpts from CNNMoney -

Cartoon Network boss quits over bomb scare
Jim Samples is taking the fall for the marketing debacle at Turner Broadcasting.
By CNN's Katy Byron and CNNMoney.com's Rob Kelley - February 9 2007: 3:17 PM EST

In a letter to employees, Jim Samples, the general manager and executive vice president of the network, wrote: "I deeply regret the negative publicity and expense caused to our company as a result of this campaign. As general manager of Cartoon Network, I feel compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch."

Turner Broadcasting System and Interference Inc. agreed to pay $2 million to make amends for last Wednesday's bomb scare in Boston, the Massachusetts attorney general said Monday. TBS is the parent of the Cartoon Network, which initiated the marketing scheme. CNN, CNNMoney.com and TBS are all owned by Time Warner Inc. (Charts), the world's largest media company.

Samples had been with Atlanta-based Cartoon Network for 13 years.
Reference Here>>

Tick, Tick, Tick - The 'Bloody' H5n1 Virus Has Hit Britain

On farms, Turkeys are raised and kept where each bird is given approximately 3 square feet of space. Image Credit: Farm Sanctuary

Tick, Tick, Tick - The 'Bloody' H5n1 Virus Has Hit Britain

In a first time ever attack, the H5n1 virus has found its way to England.

This infection has health experts confused as to how the virus arrived on this island land mass. It is too early for the wild birds to be migrating this far north, however, the strain seems similar to the strains found in Hungary last month and France about one year ago.

Also yesterday, the World Health Organization has confirmed the first human infection and death to be attributed to the H5N1 virus in Nigeria. Nigeria has confirmed that several other people are now sick with the virus and officials are watching to see what else develops.

Excerpts from The Washington Times –

Britons strive to contain bird flu
Washington Times - February 4, 2007 - From combined dispatches

HOLTON, England -- Britain scrambled to contain its first outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu in domestic poultry yesterday after the virus was found at a farm run by Europe's biggest turkey producer.

About 2,500 turkeys have died since Thursday at the Bernard Matthews farm near Lowestoft in eastern England. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said all 159,000 turkeys on the farm would be culled.

"We're in new territory," National Farmers' Union Poultry Board Chairman Charles Bourns said. "We've every confidence in DEFRA, but until we know how this disease arrived, this is a very apprehensive time for all poultry farmers."

The virus strain was identified as the highly pathogenic Asian strain, similar to a virus found in Hungary in January, DEFRA said.

It was the first time the deadly H5N1 strain was found on a British farm.

The entrance to the Bernard Mathews food processing factory being disinfected yesterday against the transmission of avian flu at Holton in Suffolk. Image Credit: Gulf Times - Doha, Qatar
----
The strain tends to be transmitted to poultry by infected migrating wildfowl.

The disease has killed at least 164 persons worldwide since 2003, most of them in Asia, and more than 200 million birds have died from it, or been killed to prevent its spread.

But it has not yet fulfilled scientists' worst fears by mutating into a form that can be easily transmitted between humans and possibly cause a global pandemic.

Avian-flu specialist Colin Butter of the Institute of Animal Health said the British outbreak was surprising as it had happened outside the main bird-migration period.

"The next thing we need to know is if this is a primary or secondary case. If this is a secondary case, it is much more serious. If this is the first case, or 'reference case,' and we can stamp it out, the outbreak will be controlled," he said.

A protection zone was established with a radius of 2 miles and a surveillance zone of 6 miles around the infected farm. Bird-related gatherings, such as bird shows and pigeon racing, were suspended nationwide.
----
Britain's poultry industry is worth $6.7 billion, with 800 million birds produced each year.

In May [2006], 50,000 chickens at three farms in Norfolk, also in eastern England and home to some of Europe's biggest poultry farms, were culled after another strain, H7N3, was detected.

A wild swan found dead in Scotland in March [2006] had the H5N1 version of the virus. It was thought to have caught the disease elsewhere, died at sea and been washed ashore in Scotland.
----
Experts stressed the situation did not pose a public health threat, and that eating well-cooked poultry products posed no risk. However, close contact with sick birds, such as in slaughtering or plucking, could lead to transmission of the disease.
Read All>> (free subscription)

UPDATE (2-12-2007):

British officials believe they have found the source of this outbreak of H5N1 in turkeys and further find that they are powerless to do anything about it.

Excerpts from Telegraph Media Group Limited (UK) -

Britain is powerless to stop turkey imports
By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor and Charles Clover, Environment Editor, Telegraph - Last Updated: 2:31am GMT 12/02/2007

The Government was yesterday forced to defend its decision not to ban imports of turkey from Hungary as farmers' leaders demanded an urgent review of the movement of meat into Britain.

David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, said Britain was powerless to block imports under European law, despite concerns that the infection could have reached the UK from Eastern Europe.

His comments came as Bernard Matthews, the company at the centre of the scare, admitted that it had imported meat from a supplier just a few miles from a restricted area where the lethal disease was found in farmed geese last month.

The geese farm in Hungary that was hit by the H5N1 strain of bird flu and has been linked to the outbreak in Britain. Image Credit: Reuters

Last night it was claimed that six lorry-loads of turkey meat from inside the restriction zone in Britain had left for Europe in the last few days. Channel 4 News said the consignment had left with the full knowledge of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Meanwhile, the National Farmers Union heaped pressure on the Government, calling on it to review the laws on banning meat imports.

Government scientists are continuing to investigate the cause of the outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu at a Bernard Matthews plant in Holton, Suffolk, two weeks ago.

They are concerned that the outbreak was linked to turkey meat brought to Britain from Hungary — a country badly hit by bird flu.
----
Yesterday, there were reports that the Bernard Matthews company was still importing turkey meat from Hungary three days after the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk was confirmed.

Defra said the importation of 20 tons of meat was "perfectly legal" as it came from outside a restriction zone around the infected site in Hungary. "To ban imports would be illegal, unnecessary and vastly disproportionate," a spokesman said.

"It would invite retaliation from other member states, which would have a devastating impact on the UK's food and farming industry."

Last night Bernard Matthews defended sending turkey meat from the Holton plant to Hungary, after the restriction zone was imposed.

"Bernard Matthews can confirm that it imports meat from Hungary and exports it to Hungary as well," the company said in a statement. "All these imports and exports are regulated and Bernard Matthews adheres strictly to all the regulations."

Mr Miliband said import bans would breach European Union rules.

He added that it was now clear that there had been "a bio-security lapse" at the Suffolk factory farm that allowed contamination to get from a processing plant into the sheds housing live birds.

Mr Miliband told BBC1's Sunday AM that he would have imposed a ban on imports from Hungary if vets had told him that this was a "sensible" step to protect public health.
----
Bart Dalla Mura, the firm's commercial director, said Saga Foods, the company's Hungarian subsidiary, sent meat to Britain from third-party suppliers all over Hungary, including an abattoir and processing plant in -Kecskemet in the south owned by Galfood.

This plant is near to the area where there was an outbreak of H5N1 last month in domestic geese. Mr Dalla Mura said: "Bernard Matthews can confirm that it uses the certified and regulated site in Kecskemet owned by Galfood. "Our information is that Galfood in Kecskemet is a turkey abattoir and processing site, and it does not slaughter or process geese at that site."

Mr Dalla Mura said the Suffolk plant imported about 38 tons of meat a week from Hungary but this would have to have been documented and registered as from outside the regulated area. He added that there were still no reports of the disease being found in Hungarian turkeys.

Peter Ainsworth, the Conservative spokesman for rural affairs, said the Government should have got a voluntary ban from Bernard Matthews on imports "much earlier than happened". Farmers renewed their calls for a review of import rules. Kevin Pearce, of the National Farmers Union, said: "At the moment it would be illegal to ban them, but if there was shown to be a risk to animal or human health, we need to act."

There are signs of a consumer backlash against turkey. Sainsbury's said sales of poultry were down 10 per cent. Somerfield reported a small dip.
Read All>>