Happy Holidays

The Bell Tower of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Christmas Bells

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1863

Found this on Christopher Bollyn's website this morning. It's about as close as I've come to having any of the old fashioned Christmas spirit this year. Not saying I didn't have a good time with the kids and grandkids, cause I did, but I think their joy of the holiday is what really counted.

Anyways, thanks to the old truth seeker, I feel better, and I'm ready for another New Year. Hope this New Year brings peace, harmony, and love to y'all in 2010...G:

911 Weirdness

Lightning Sam Hopkins



chopper 5

Obama Administration Diverts Small Business Funds to General Dynamics, According to the American Small Business League.

Small business loans? They go to the Military Industrial Complex!

The Free Library

Obama Administration Diverts $28.5 Million in Small Business Dollars to General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2006 it is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation.

Dec. 9, 2009

PETALUMA, Calif. -- The following is a statement by the American Small Business League:
Obama Administration Diverts Small Business Funds to General Dynamics, According to the American Small Business League.

The Obama Administration has awarded a $28.5 million small business contract to Fortune 500 firm General Dynamics. As America's fourth largest prime contractor, General Dynamics did more than $29.3 billion in sales during fiscal year (FY) 2008 and maintains more than 92,000 employees. http://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202GeneralDynamics_Created_20091027.pdf

According to the most recent data from the Federal Procurement Data System The Federal Data Procurement System (FPDS) is a single source for US government-wide procurement data. External Links
[https://www.fpds.gov Federal Data Procurement System] - Next Generation (FPDS-NG FPDS-NG Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation ), General Dynamics is just one of hundreds of corporate giants that are currently receiving federal small business contracts from the Obama Administration.

More of the same




In May of 2009, Congressman Hank Johnson (D-4-GA) introduced H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. If passed the bill would halt the flow of federal small business contracts to large businesses and redirect more than $100 billion a year in federal infrastructure spending to legitimate small businesses. Although the bill has bipartisan support with 19 co-sponsors, to date President Obama has refused to endorse the legislation.

More on Home Nature Report
Z
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.

Obama administration pushes for Patriot Act renewal

Feingold expresses frustration over Senate version

lakelandtimes.com 12/18/2009

Richard Moore Investigative Reporter 12/18/2009

With key sections of the U.S. Patriot Act set to expire Dec. 31, the Obama administration - essentially tiptoeing through the corridors of Congress and using the raucous health care debate as cover - has quietly maneuvered for renewal of the controversial provisions, which he opposed as a senator.

Perhaps the most contentious measure is the business records provision, also known as the library provision, which allows the government to seek a court order forcing private entities such as banks, hospitals, and libraries to hand over "any tangible thing" - from library circulation records to medical records - officials think is relevant in a terrorist investigation.

This week, with time running out and no time to debate the bill on its merits, Democratic supporters of reauthorization in the Senate tried but fail to win House support to embed the provisions in a separate $626 billion Pentagon funding bill. The House has passed a bill with stronger civil liberties protections, but that version is not expected to survive.

Congress will now likely approve temporary extensions and deal with reauthorization early next year, giving opponents renewed hope they can still defeat or modify aspects of the national security language.

In early October, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to send the measure to the Senate floor. The provisions would allow the government to continue to use roving wiretaps to monitor suspects, to obtain business records of national security targets, and to track and surveil so-called 'lone wolves' whose connection to a foreign government or terrorist group has not been established.

The legislation, co-sponsored by judiciary committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), would tweak the ability of the FBI to gain certain personal records of citizens, requiring the agency to show "specific facts" that requested records pertain to a terrorism investigation.

Core language remains

Still, the most controversial aspects remain intact. Earlier this year, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) had worked to place language in the bill strengthening civil liberties protections, but in the judiciary committee the Obama administration worked with Republicans to craft seven amendments, effectively watering down Feingold's work.

Feingold said the bill that emerged from the judiciary committee left him "scratching his head."

"The Patriot Act reauthorization bill passed by the Judiciary Committee falls far short of adequately protecting the rights of innocent Americans," Feingold said in a statement. "Among the most significant problems is the failure to include an improved standard for Section 215 orders (getting personal information through national security letter requests), even though a Republican controlled Judiciary Committee unanimously supported including the same standard in 2005."

Feingold said what was most upsetting to him was the willingness of too many members of the Democratic-controlled committee to defer to behind-the-scenes complaints from the FBI and the Justice Department.

"We should, of course, carefully consider their perspective, but it is our job to write the law and to exercise independent judgment," Feingold said. "After all, it is not the prosecutors' committee; it is the judiciary committee. And while I am left scratching my head trying to understand how a committee controlled by a wide Democratic margin could support the bill it approved, I will continue to work with my colleagues to try to make improvements to this bill."

The rest of the story

Working with Small Business to Drive Recovery

Tarp funds diverted to boost job projects

By Edward Luce and Krishna Guha in Washington

Published: December 9 2009 02:00 | Last updated: December 9 2009 02:00

Barack Obama yesterday announced that some of the $200bn in lower-than- expected spending under its bank bail-out programme would go towards projects aimed at ensuring jobs growth "matches economic growth".

In a speech to the Brookings Institution , the US president laid out a series of initiatives to spur this growth . These included measures aimed at stimulating lending to small businesses, which have been hit hard by the drying up of credit over the past 15 months.

Mr Obama emphasised support for small business, infrastructure and clean energy: "These are areas in which we can put Americans to work while putting our nation on a sturdier economic footing," he said.


NDIA Small Business Winter Social - January 29, 2010

Date: January 29, 2010

Time: 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Place: Coronado Island Marriott Resort
2000 2nd Street
Coronado, CA

The National Defense Industrial Association San Diego Chapter periodic event is our monthly NDIA Luncheon meeting which takes place from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm every second Wednesday at the Catamaran Hotel and Resort located at 3999 Mission Blvd. San Diego, CA 92109.

More than one hundred defense industry leaders regularly attend this prestigious event. Because the NDIA luncheons provide a unique forum for local government representatives, San Diego defense company leadership, vendors, local media, and higher learning centers to share ideas and interact, the NDIA SD Luncheons are ideal events for your business networking opportunities.



Exerpts from The Free Library



Obama Administration Diverts $28.5 Million in Small Business Dollars to General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) is a defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2006 it is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world^[1]. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation.
..... Click the link for more informatio

Dec. 9, 2009
PETALUMA, Calif. -- The following is a statement by the American Small Business League:
The Obama Administration has awarded a $28.5 million small business contract to Fortune 500 firm General Dynamics. As America's fourth largest prime contractor, General Dynamics did more than $29.3 billion in sales during fiscal year (FY) 2008 and maintains more than 92,000 employees. http://www.asbl.com/documents/20091202GeneralDynamics_Created_20091027.pdf

According to the most recent data from the Federal Procurement Data System The Federal Data Procurement System (FPDS) is a single source for US government-wide procurement General Dynamics is just one of hundreds of corporate giants that are
currently receiving federal small business contracts from the Obama Administration.

The American Small Business League (ASBL) has estimated that every year more than $100 billion in federal small business contracts are diverted away from legitimate small businesses and into the hands of some of the largest corporations in the world. The most recent data released by the Obama Administration indicates that firms counted as small businesses included: Xerox, Bechtel, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, British Aerospace (BAE), Ssangyong Corporation headquartered in Seoul, South Korea and Finmeccanica SpA, which is located in Italy with 73,000 employees.

In May of 2009, Congressman Hank Johnson (D-4-GA) introduced H.R. 2568, the Fairness and Transparency in Contracting Act. If passed the bill would halt the flow of federal small business contracts to large businesses and redirect more than $100 billion a year in federal infrastructure spending to legitimate small businesses. Although the bill has bipartisan support with 19 co-sponsors, to date President Obama has refused to endorse the legislation.

Article to follow........zzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZ~

Funding those that kill our troops by billybobjoe

Excellent reporting as usual by Joe on his Youtube Channel, The Sludge Report 2, previously The Sludge Report, which was preceded by Billybobjoe, that were both taken off of Youtube because of the subject matter in Joes articles. The elite don't like being exposed to the light of day and are known to break out in a Neo Conservative rash when unable to cover up facts.

His credibility is often questioned, especially by those that don't think for themselves or those with inflated ego's that will not allow for the idea that our over inflated system might not be serving the common folks.

Joe mentioned the source, Aram Roston of The Nation Magazine, and it doesn't take much Googling to verify what he is talking about. Joe, is a US veteran, he did his duty as a member of our armed forces, and since then, has been responsible for countless lives in the civilian airline industry as a pilot, with hundreds of passengers on board each single day, for last the 26 years.

The Nation

By Aram Roston November 11, 2009

On October 29, 2001, while the Taliban's rule over Afghanistan was under assault, the regime's ambassador in Islamabad gave a chaotic press conference in front of several dozen reporters sitting on the grass. On the Taliban diplomat's right sat his interpreter, Ahmad Rateb Popal, a man with an imposing presence. Like the ambassador, Popal wore a black turban, and he had a huge bushy beard. He had a black patch over his right eye socket, a prosthetic left arm and a deformed right hand, the result of injuries from an explosives mishap during an old operation against the Soviets in Kabul.

But Popal was more than just a former mujahedeen. In 1988, a year before the Soviets fled Afghanistan, Popal had been charged in the United States with conspiring to import more than a kilo of heroin. Court records show he was released from prison in 1997.

Flash forward to 2009, and Afghanistan is ruled by Popal's cousin President Hamid Karzai. Popal has cut his huge beard down to a neatly trimmed one and has become an immensely wealthy businessman, along with his brother Rashid Popal, who in a separate case pleaded guilty to a heroin charge in 1996 in Brooklyn. The Popal brothers control the huge Watan Group in Afghanistan, a consortium engaged in telecommunications, logistics and, most important, security. Watan Risk Management, the Popals' private military arm, is one of the few dozen private security companies in Afghanistan. One of Watan's enterprises, key to the war effort, is protecting convoys of Afghan trucks heading from Kabul to Kandahar, carrying American supplies.

Welcome to the wartime contracting bazaar in Afghanistan. It is a virtual carnival of improbable characters and shady connections, with former CIA officials and ex-military officers joining hands with former Taliban and mujahedeen to collect US government funds in the name of the war effort.

The rest of the story

Caribou Barbie is on Twitter, but has never TWEETED!

Give me a break, this guy, Joe Verran, the obvious guy in the video, is a shill for corporate government. Check it out on Twitter by searching for joeverran. His profile shows him pictured by Caribou Barbie herself. Not only that, but he follows Bill Kristol and Karl Rove and is a known ACORN basher...TGFT (thank gawd for twitter)...G:

Here's the Twitter link to people he follows. Caribou Barbie is followed by over 20,000 Twitterers. but has never twittered, even once and follows no one.

US & NATO Supply Terminal Destroyed In Peshawar, Pashtunkhwa By ISI !!



Supplies for troops in Aghanistan are under threat - 18 Dec




August 28, 2008.

Taken from U.S. Department of Defense: "From Left: U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, talk with Pakistani Army Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, chief of army staff, and Pakistani Army Major Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, director general of military operations, on the flight deck aboard USS Abraham Lincoln in the North Arabian Sea. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class William John Kipp Jr"

wiki

Pasha was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the famed Frontier Force Regiment in the 49th PMA Long Course in 1974. He has commanded an infantry division, a mechanized infantry brigade, an infantry battalion and has served as the Chief Instructor and Commandant of the Command and Staff College of the Pakistani Army. From 2001-2002, General Pasha served as a Contingent and Sector Commander of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone. Pasha was also selected as Military Adviser to Secretary General of United Nations however due to his commitments in Pakistan never joined the UN.[2] From April 2006 to September 2008 Pasha was the director general of military operations for the Pakistani army.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to be tried in New York

KSM to be tried in NY City and the trial will probably will be based on 911 and the destruction of the World Trade Center while, to many folks, there are many questions about the NIST investigation that are still unanswered. According to the Tribunal Hearing at Guantanimo, it is accepted as fact that Airliners hit WTC1, WTC2, and the Pentagon, although there is evidence to the contrary.

According to a Zogby poll conducted in 2006 70 million americans supported a New 9/11 Investigation, so, in my opinion, the facts submitted in the Tribunal Hearing are questionable untill the 911 issue is officially settled. What was submitted there as fact was the official story of the NIST.



Verbatim Transcript of Combatant Status Review Tribunal Hearing for ISN 10024

March 10, 2007 on board U.S. NavalBase Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.


Page 5

Representative in advance of this hearing for presentation to the Detainee. Inaddition, I am handing to the Tribunal the following unclassified exhibits, markedas Exhibit R-2. Copies of these Exhibits have previously been provided to thePersonal Representative. [Documents presented to Tribunal]PRESIDENT: Recorder, please read the unclassified summary of evidence for the record. Butbefore you proceed, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, let me remind you that you mustnot comment on this evidence at this time. You will be provided with anopportunity shortly to provide any comments that you would like. Recorder,please proceed.

RECORDER: The following facts support the determination that the Detainee is an enemycombatant:

Paragraph a. On the morning of 11 September 2001, four airliners traveling over the United Stateswere hijacked. The flights hijacked were: American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175,American Airlines Flight 77, and United Airlines Flight 93. At approximately 8:46 a.m., AmericanAirlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse ofthe tower at approximately 10:25 a.m. At approximately 9:05 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 crashedinto the South Tower of the World Trade Center, resulting in the collapse of the tower atapproximately 9:55 a.m. At approximately 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into thesouthwest side of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. At approximately 10:03 a.m., United AirlinesFlight 93 crashed in Stoney Creek Township, Pennsylvania. These crashes and subsequent damage tothe World Trade Center and the Pentagon resulted in the deaths of 2,972 persons in New York,Virginia, and Pennsylvania.




Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11th attacks, a man who called himself a "jackal" and who explained away the 3,000 victims of that day by saying "the language of war is victims." At least that is what he has told American interrogators, and what he said at a closed hearing in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, after being held in secret prisons for close to four years.

By MARGOT WILLIAMS Updated: Nov. 13, 2009

NY Times

On Dec. 8, 2008, Mr. Mohammed, along with four co-defendants, sent a note to a military judge at Guantánamo asking to confess and to plead guilty. On Nov. 13, 2009, a federal official said that Mr. Mohammed and four other men would be tried in New York City for the Sept. 11th attacks.

The decision about how to try Mr. Mohammed and other so-called "high value detainees'' at Guantánamo marks a milestone in the administration's efforts to close the facility, a policy that President Obama announced shortly after taking office but which has proven more difficult than his team anticipated.

No detainee is being moved right away. Under a law Congress enacted earlier this year, lawmakers must be given 45 days advance notice before the executive branch moves a Guantánamo detainee onto United States soil.

The decisions about how to prosecute Mr. Mohammed has been particularly difficult because their defense lawyers are expected to argue that they were illegally tortured by the Central Intelligence Agency during their confinement, tainting any evidence gathered from their interrogations. Documents have shown that the CIA used waterboarding - a controlled drowning technique - against Mr. Mohammed 183 times in March 2003.

Read More...

In the military tribunal Khalid Shaikh Mohammed admitted to almost every act of terrorism that he could think of...

page 17

"1 hereby admit and affirm without duress to the following:

1. I swore Bay'aat (i.e., allegiance) to Sheikh Usama Bin Laden to conduct Jihad of self andmoney, and also Hijrah (i.e., expatriation to any location in the world where Jihad is required).

2. I was a member of the Al Qaida Council.

3. I was the Media Operations Director for Al-Sahab, or 'The Clouds,' under Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Al-Sahab is the media outlet that provided Al-Qaida-sponsored information to AlJazeera. Four. "DETAINEE: [speaking inaudibly to Personal Representative]PRESIDENT: Please tell.PERSONALREPRESENTATIVE: In other channels or other media outlets.PRESIDENT: Thank you.PERSONALREPRESENTATIVE: [continuing] "

4.1 was the Operational Director for Sheikh Usama Bin Ladenfor the organizing, planning, follow-up, and execution of the 9/11 Operation under the MilitaryCommander, Sheikh Abu Hafs Al-Masri Subhi Abu Sittah.

5. I was the Military Operational Commander for all foreign operations around the world underthe direction of Sheikh Usama Bin Laden and Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

6. I was directly in charge, after the death of Sheikh Abu Hafs Al-Masri Subhi Abu Sittah, ofmanaging and following up on the Cell for the Production of Biological Weapons, such asanthrax and others, and following up on Dirty Bomb Operations on American soil.7. I was Emir (i.e., commander) of Beit AI Shuhada (i.e., the Martyrs' House) in the state ofKandahar, Afghanistan, which housed the 9/11 hijackers. There I was responsible for theirISN #10024Enclosure (3)Page S 7 of 26UNCLASSIFIED
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Page 18

UNCLASSIFIEDtraining and readiness for the execution of the 9/11 Operation.

Also, I hereby admit and affirmwithout duress that I was a responsible participant, principal planner, trainer, financier (via theMilitary Council Treasury), executor, and/or a personal participant in the following:

1. 1 was responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center Operation.

2. I was responsible for the 9/11 Operation, from A to Z.

3. I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, inthe city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures ofme on the Internet holding his head.

4. I was responsible for the Shoe Bomber Operation to down two American airplanes.

5. 1 was responsible for the Filka Island Operation in Kuwait that killed two Americansoldiers.

6. I was responsible for the bombing of a nightclub in Bali, Indonesia, which wasfrequented by British and Australian nationals.

7. I was responsible for planning, training, surveying, and financing the New (or Second)Wave attacks against the following skyscrapers after 9/11 :a. Library Tower, California.b. Sears Tower, Chicago,c. Plaza Bank, Washington state.d. The Empire State Building, New York City.

8. I was responsible for planning, financing, & follow-up of Operations to destroyAmerican military vessels and oil tankers in the Straights of Hormuz, the Straights ofGibralter, and the Port of Singapore.

9. I was responsible for planning, training, surveying, and financing for the Operation tobomb and destroy the Panama Canal.

10.1 was responsible for surveying and financing for the assassination of several formerAmerican Presidents, including President Carter.

11.1 was responsible for surveying, planning, and financing for the bombing of suspensionbridges in New York.

12.1 was responsible for planning to destroy the Sears Tower by burning a few fuel or oiltanker trucks beneath it or around it.



13.1 was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing for the operation to destroyHeathrow Airport, the Canary Wharf Building, and Big Ben on British soil.

14.1 was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing for the destruction of manynight clubs frequented by American and British citizens on Thailand soil.

15.1 was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of the New YorkStock Exchange and other financial targets after 9/11.

16.1 was responsible for planning, financing, and surveying for the destruction of buildingsin the Israeli city of Elat by using airplanes leaving from Saudi Arabia.

17.1 was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing for the destruction ofAmerican embassies in Indonesia, Australia, and Japan.ISN #10024Enclosure (3)Page 18 of 26UNCLASSIFIED
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Page 19

UNCLASSIFIED

18.1 was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of the Israeli embassyin India, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, and Australia.

19.1 was responsible for surveying and financing for the destruction of an Israeli "El-AFAirlines flight on Thailand soil departing from Bangkok Airport.

20.1 was responsible for sending several Mujahadeen into Israel to conduct surveillance tohit several strategic targets deep in Israel.

21.1 was responsible for the bombing of the hotel in Mombasa that is frequented by Jewishtravelers via El-Al airlines.

22.1 was responsible for launching a Russian-made SA-7 surface-to-air missile on El-Al orother Jewish airliner departing from Mombasa.

23.1 was responsible for planning and surveying to hit American targets in South Korea,such as American military bases and a few night clubs frequented by Americansoldiers.

24.1 was responsible for financial, excuse me, I was responsible for providing financialsupport to hit American, Jewish, and British targets in Turkey.

25.1 was responsible for surveillance needed to hit nuclear power plants that generateelectricity in several U.S. states.

26.1 was responsible for planning, surveying, and financing to hit NATO Headquarters inEurope.

27.1 was responsible for the planning and surveying needed to execute the BojinkaOperation, which was designed to down twelve American airplanes full of passengers.I personally monitored a round-trip, Manila-to-Seoul, Pan Am flight.

28.1 was responsible for the assassination attempt against President Clinton during his visitto the Philippines in 1994 or 1995.

29.1 was responsible for the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul the second whilehe was visiting the Philippines."DETAINEE: I was not responsible, but share.PERSONALREPRESENTATIVE: I shared responsibility. I will restate number twenty nine.29. "I shared responsibility for the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul the secondwhile he was visiting the Philippines.

30.1 was responsible for the training and financing for the assassination of Pakistan'sPresident Musharaf.

31.1 was responsible for the attempt to destroy an American oil company owned by theJewish former Secretary of State, Exerpt from Henry Kissinger, on the Island of Sumatra,Indonesia."ISN#10024Enclosure (3)Page 19 of 26UNCLASSIFIED

Rumsfeld, Defence Industries, 911, & Corporate Government in Retrospect

On September 10, 2001 Rummy said this in a speech at the Pentagon

"Today's announcements are only the first of many. We will launch others ourselves, and we will ask Congress for legislative help as well. We have, for example, asked Congress for permission to begin the process of closing excess bases and consolidating the B-1 bomber force."

One month later...

Rumsfeld Visits B-2 Bomber Base as Afghan Campaign Heats Up

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo., Oct. 19, 2001 – Amid news reports that U.S. ground troops are aiding anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld flew to this Missouri air base today to meet B-2 Spirit bomber pilots and support crews.

Speaking to reporters en route here, Rumsfeld praised the air base's service members and declared that the B-2's more than 40-hour missions to Afghanistan are "amazing."

The secretary declined to give specifics on reported U.S. ground operations in Afghanistan. He noted that providing operations information about U.S. air attacks or the involvement of U.S. troops could imperil lives, missions and damage national security.

~0~

Jeremy Scahill mentioned the speech that Donald Rumsfeld made at the Pentagon on the day before September 11, 2001 in his book Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. In this address Rummy outlined the streamlining of the DOD and changes in CIA policy, where radical changes would be implemented in the military, especially in the organization of the National Guard and the three branches of the armed sevices.

This speech can be found on the DOD web site and should be required reading for those who are interested in the history of what is now being called The Long War.

In this speech Rumsfeld said

"The adversary's closer to home. It's the Pentagon bureaucracy. Not the people, but the processes. Not the civilians, but the systems. Not the men and women in uniform, but the uniformity of thought and action that we too often impose on them."

"We know the adversary. We know the threat. And with the same firmness of purpose that any effort against a determined adversary demands, we must get at it and stay at it."

"Some might ask, how in the world could the Secretary of Defense attack the Pentagon in front of its people? To them I reply, I have no desire to attack the Pentagon; I want to liberate it. We need to save it from itself."

"Let there be no question: the 2.7 million people who wear our country's uniform -- active, Guard and Reserve -- and the close to 700,000 more who support them in civilian attire, comprise the finest military in the history of the world. They stand ready to face down any threat, anytime, anywhere. But we must do more."

"Our business processes and regulations seems to be engineered to prevent any mistake, and by so doing, they discourage any risk. But ours is a nation born of ideas and raised on improbability, and risk aversion is not America's ethic, and more important, it must not be ours."

"Those who fear danger do not volunteer to storm beaches and take hills, sail the seas, and conquer the skies. Now we must free you to take some of the same thoughtful, reasoned risks in the bureaucracy that the men and women in uniform do in battle."

"To that end, we're announcing today a series of steps the Department of Defense will take to shift our focus and our resources from bureaucracy to battlefield, from tail to tooth."

"Today's announcements are only the first of many. We will launch others ourselves, and we will ask Congress for legislative help as well. We have, for example, asked Congress for permission to begin the process of closing excess bases and consolidating the B-1 bomber force."

"But we have the ability—and, therefore, the responsibility—to reduce waste and improve operational efficiency on our own. Already we have made some progress. We've eliminated some 31 of the 72 acquisition-related advisory boards. We now budget based on realistic estimates. We're improving the acquisition process. We're investing $400 million in public-private partnerships for military housing. Many utility services to military installations will be privatized."

"Because the Department must respond quickly to changing threats, we're overhauling the 40-year-old Planning, Programming, and Budgeting System, or PPBS, the annual process of forecasting threats for the next several years, matching threats to programs and programs to budgets."

"In order to make decisions more quickly, we must slash duplication and encourage cooperation. Currently the Departments of the Army, the Air Force and the Navy operate separate but parallel staffs for their civilian and uniformed chiefs. These staffs largely work the same issues and perform the same functions. Secretaries White and Roach will soon announce plans for realigning the Departments to support information sharing, speed decision-making, integrate Reserve and Guard headquarters into Department headquarters. Secretary England is engaging a broad agenda of change in the Department of Navy as well."

"Maybe we need agencies for some of those functions. Indeed, I know we do. Perhaps a public-private partnership would make sense for others, and I don't doubt at least a few could be outsized -- outsourced altogether."

"Like the private sector's best-in-class companies, DOD should aim for excellence in functions that are either directly related to warfighting or must be performed by the Department. But in all other cases, we should seek suppliers who can provide these non-core activities efficiently and effectively. The Senior Executive Council will begin a review of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the Defense Logistics Agency and Defense Information Service Agency."

"To transform the Department, we must take advantage of the private sector's expertise. I've asked the members of the Senior Executive Council to streamline the acquisition process and spur innovation in our traditional supplier base."

And even mentioned Health Care

"Department headquarters are hardly the only scenes of redundant bureaucracy. Health care is another. Each service branch has its own surgeon general and medical operation. At the department level, four different agencies claim some degree of control over the delivery of military health care."

"We've begun to consolidate health care delivery under our TriCare management activity. Over the next two years we will reform the procurement of care from the private sector. I've asked the military departments and Personnel and Readiness organization to complete a revamping of the military health system by fiscal year 2003."

"Finally, this effort will succeed because it must. We really have no choice. It is not, in the end, about business practices, nor is the goal to improve figures on the bottom line. It's really about the security of the United States of America. And let there be no mistake, it is a matter of life and death. Our job is defending America, and if we cannot change the way we do business, then we cannot do our job well, and we must. So today we declare war on bureaucracy, not people, but processes, a campaign to shift Pentagon resources from the tail to the tooth. All hands will be required, and it will take the best of all of us."

Spam Alert for Swine Flu bloggers: Questionable comments by Dr. Eva

Dr. Eva's comment on my blog Geezerpower...

Blogger Doctor_Eva said...


Number of H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemy cases grows (already more than 30,000 deaths worldwide) and you or one of your family could have this fatal disease. If you want to protect yourself and your family, friends, colleagues -
only Tamiflu is effective now.
Please, send this to all who you know, stop Swine Flu H1N1 epidemy now. Tamiflu (Roche) is an antiviral medication for flu prevention and treatment in adults and children aged 1 year and older.
Tamiflu is recommended for the treatment and/or prevention of infection with swine influenza viruses.

November 8, 2009 6:16:00 AM PST




Note: this is a live link. I wouldn't advise on clicking on any of her links, but the link to her profile seems to be OK.


Dr. Eva's profile

Eva Kerningham

* Age: 31
* Gender: Female
* Astrological Sign: Capricorn
* Zodiac Year: Snake
* Industry: Biotech
* Occupation: M.D.

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Here's Dr. Eva on The Economy Collapse blog

Doctor_Eva said...

Number of H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemy cases grows (already more than 30,000 deaths worldwide) and you or one of your family could have this fatal disease. If you want to protect yourself and your family, friends, colleagues - bookmark the address - http://b23.ru/slfc - and send it to all who you know, may be so you save their lives. This is a list of social emergency medicines that can be used against Swine Flu H1N1.
November 4, 2009 11:02 AM

And here is Dr. Eva on Dry Bones blog

At 2:57 PM, Blogger ЯСупер said...

Number of H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemy cases grows (already more than 30,000 deaths worldwide) and you or one of your family could have this fatal disease. If you want to protect yourself and your family, friends, colleagues - bookmark the address - http://b23.ru/slfc - and send it to all who you know, may be so you save their lives. This is a list of social emergency medicines that can be used against Swine Flu H1N1.

Forced vaccination passes Massechusetts senate

More on Youtube swineflualert

NWO & WHO causing a pandamic with H1N1 Vaccine

Well folks, as sentient human beans, we have the duty to check out wazzup with the swine flu vaccines that they are now giving the kids in the public schools all over the planet.

Here's what I found by accident today, when checking out the KURL8 News in Billings MT.
On Oct. 10th around 300 children were vaccinated for the H1N1 virus. Families lined up at the West High School Gymnasium to get their children the first round of the nasal mist immunization. So looking at an article from 9 days later, on Oct. 19th, the news is that "hundreds of Billings elementary school students called in sick Monday with flu-like symptoms".

School officials said most of the absences are due to the H1N1 virus. Officials also said 10 Billings elementary schools had at least 10% of its students out sick. There are currently no plans to close schools, but officials say they would consider closing and disinfecting schools if the percentage of sick students rises to 40%.
And todays new wasn't much better...Officials say Billings health care providers are seeing a dramatic increase in patients with swine flu symptoms.

I don't know how it's going on in the rest of the world, but if this small town is any indicator at all we could be in real trouble. It doesn't take a doctor to figure out that the vaccine is causing a contagious variety of flu to spread throughout our communities and, from what I can find out,
in addition to the public program, all American military forces will be vaccinated beginning in October.



Is this really a pandamic?

Some interesting satistics...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 35 to 50 million Americans come down with the flu during each flu season.The CDC estimates that in the US more than 100,000 people are hospitalized and more more than 20,000 people die from the flu and its complications every year.

According to July WHO statistics, there have been 94,512 H1N1 cases worldwide, and 429 people have died from it. In the United States, 33,902 contracted H1N1, and 170 have died.

VACCINE INFORMATION STATEMENT

The Health Resources Service Administration
claims that "vacine information statements", VIS's must be provided with vaccinations, but these are not currently being provided. There is a federal law pertaining to this, and CDC agrees, and points the clinics and schools to their site, where you finally find this little message done by a typical gubmint debunker, which claims "Vaccine Information Statements (VIS): Myth Exposed!"


CDC Quote:

"MYTH:
A newly-licensed vaccine cannot be administered until a VIS is available for it.

FACT:
The law does not require that a vaccine be withheld if a VIS for it does not yet exist.

When a new vaccine is licensed, CDC creates a VIS for it as quickly as possible. But development of a VIS can be delayed for a number of reasons.

Until a VIS is available for a particular vaccine, a provider may use the manufacturer's package insert, written FAQs, or any other document – or produce their own information sheet – to inform patients about the benefits and risks of that vaccine.

Once a VIS is available it should be used; but providers should not delay use of a vaccine because of the absence of a VIS."

Israel drops 47 in press freedom index

Reporters Without Borders

Obama effect in US, while Europe continues to recede
Israel in free fall, Iran at gates of infernal trio

“Press freedom must be defended everywhere in the world with the same energy and the same insistence,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said today as his organisation issued its eighth annual world press freedom index.

“It is disturbing to see European democracies such as France, Italy and Slovakia fall steadily in the rankings year after year,” Julliard said. “Europe should be setting an example as regards civil liberties. How can you condemn human rights violations abroad if you do not behave irreproachably at home? The Obama effect, which has enabled the United States to recover 20 places in the index, is not enough to reassure us.”

Reporters Without Borders compiles the index every year on the basis of questionnaires that are completed by hundreds of journalists and media experts around the world. This year’s index reflects press freedom violations that took place between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009.

Scientists Use Precise Flashes of Light to Implant False Memories in Fly Brains

Science News

Friday, October 16, 2009 - 11:35 in Biology & Nature

Neuroscientists have already spent the better part of a decade manipulating animal minds by using light signals to trigger genetically encoded switches. But a new study has now directly reprogrammed flies to fear and avoid certain smells, and all without the usual Pavlovian shock treatments. The technique supposedly permits "writing directly to memory," and allowed one scientist to enthuse about being able to "seize control of the relevant brain circuits" for producing all sorts of mental states and behavior. Researchers have discovered 12 specific brain cells that they can stimulate to implant the false memories of events that never occurred -- except in the mind, of course. This represents just one of the latest steps in the relatively new field of optogenetics, where scientists encode genetic switches inside certain cells and trigger the switches using tailored flashes of light. The genetic switches are made from eye cells...

9/11 Aerial Photos

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

9/11 Aerial Photos

View more presentations from Joke Channel.

US nuclear dealings with UAE are under the radar

With just five days left in office, George Duhbya Bu$h signed a nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates which lies directly across the historical Straights of Hormuz from Iran. Seems that this would be a grave dis-service to our new administration, but, Once More, it is painfully evident that the Corporate Government is still running the show...


Obama green lights nuclear deal with UAE

May 20th, 2009 - 9:40 pm EST By Sindh Today

Washington, May 21 (DPA) US President Barack Obama has signed off on an agreement authorising the United States to help the United Arab Emirates (UAE) develop nuclear power, the White House announced Wednesday.

The deal was originally agreed in the final days of former president George W. Bush’s term, but was then left to the Obama administration to decide whether to implement the agreement.

"I have determined that the performance of the agreement will promote, and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defence and security," Obama said in a statement.



So fast forwarding to the here & now we see

Nuclear Power Industry News

Company Anticipates NASDAQ Listing On or About October 9th, 2009

- By Stephen Heiser -

Thorium Power, Inc. (Mclean, VA), a leading developer of non-proliferative nuclear fuel technology and provider of comprehensive advisory services for civil nuclear energy programs, today announced that the Company's name change to Lightbridge Corporation has been formalized and its ticker symbol will temporarily change from "THPW" to "LTBG" effective at the opening of the market today, September 29th. The Company anticipates a listing on the NASDAQ Capital Market on or about October 9th, when the ticker symbol will become "LTBR."

Seth Grae, CEO for Lightbridge stated, "The name change to Lightbridge is a milestone event for us. We believe that the word 'Lightbridge" better represents who we are, our global product and service offerings, and the evolution of our company."

Lightbridge is a leading provider of nuclear energy consulting services worldwide and is developing next generation nuclear fuel technology that will significantly reduce nuclear waste and the threat of proliferation. The combination of two core businesses puts Lightbridge in a unique position to capitalize on the global nuclear renaissance and growing trend of pursuing cleaner and safer forms of nuclear energy. The Company has an unrivaled depth of talent with a roster of leading experts and advisors that have served in industry and governmental positions for decades.




A brief history of... Thorium Power, Inc. (Mclean, VA)

Development and deployment of fuel for Russian VVER-1000 nuclear reactors

July 28, 2005
Interview by: Alise Coen

Seth Grae, President of the nuclear fuel and development firm, Thorium Power, Inc., has been working with a group of Russian nuclear engineers, physicists and experts on a project to develop and deploy fuel for the Russian VVER-1000 nuclear reactors. Thorium Power, Inc. was founded in 1992 and began working on a cooperative Initiatives for Proliferation Prevent (IPP) grant project with the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow and the Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1993. The IPP project is supported by a "triangular" relationship of institutes: the US national lab contributes technical assistance to the project, the US industry partners adds commercial expertise and cost-sharing, and the Russian institution offers unique technologies or research capacities.
The Project:

By developing and deploying fuel for the Russian VVER-1000 nuclear reactors, the scientists aim to eliminate stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium and ultimately produce electricity within Russia. VVER is a Russian acronym which stands for "Water modified, Water cooled" Energetic Reactor. The number '1000' indicates that the reactor emits 1,000 megawatts of electricity—enough to power over 1 million homes, according to Grae.

Most of the research and project implementation takes place at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow. Other activities occur at MSZ Electrostal, which is the largest nuclear fuel manufacturing plant in Russia; the Bochvar Institute, a research institute for inorganic materials; and the Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK), once known as Tomsk-7, located in the closed nuclear city of Seversk. This project has received three grants from the IPP grant program, totaling $1.5 million. The project has also received an additional $4 million from direct US government appropriations.

This project employs 527 former weapons scientists in Russia, of which 160 are full-time researchers. Many of the Russian scientists formerly built and designed nuclear weapons or weapons technologies for the Soviet Union. A significant proportion of the scientists also produced weapons-grade plutonium. Grae added that, prior to being engaged by the IPP project, many of the Russian scientists designed Russian nuclear reactors and, specifically, the cores for those reactors.





George Duhbya Bu$h six days after 911

Visiting the Washington Islamic Center to denounce a spate of anti-Muslim violence as "not the America I know," President Bush said that "Islam is peace." Muslims contribute much to the country, Bush said. "The Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads, and they need to be treated with respect."

Bush appeared at the Islamic Center on September 17 as offenses targeting
Muslims in the US appeared to be fueled by suspicions that Muslim fundamentalists orchestrated the terrorist strikes at the World Trade Center.

Balloon Boy confesses to media connections

Confessions Of A Patriot

I'm on my way to Washington DC to speak out on my opinions on world issues. My apologies for the old flying saucer balloon trick, but It did get me in the spotlight, and like it or not, I am currently more famous than Joe the Plumber, Newt Gingrinch, Sarah Palin, and all the other has beans that have been blathering Neoconservative lies about war, the banking industry, the insurance industry, the military-corpo-media-psy-op- complex, etc. etc.etc. etc.

So like it or not, I have political capitol and main stream media connections that have called me to action and you will be hearing from me on important issues like "Universal Health Care, Corporate Crimes, Accountability for crimes against humanity, Lobbyists, and the the return of Free Enterprise to all of the people all of the time.

Have a good day...( :

Gunmen, Bombers Hit 5 Sites in Pakistan; 38 Die

Washington Post

By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, October 15, 2009; 10:26 AM

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 15 -- Pakistan came under a deadly, staccato series of attacks Thursday that left at least 38 people dead and raised questions about the ability of the nation's security and intelligence agencies to thwart a rising Islamist insurgency.

The attacks began about 9 a.m. in Lahore, the bustling capital of the Punjabi heartland, with what appeared to be coordinated attacks on police installations. The attacks paralyzed the city, Pakistan's cultural hub, and riveted a nation that has been engulfed in deadly attacks over the past 11 days.

US drone attack kills 4 in Pakistan

PRESS TV

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:35:32 GMT

At least four people have been killed in a new US drone attack targeting a house in northwestern Pakistan, a security official says.

An unnamed security official was quoted by AFP on Wednesday as saying that the pre-dawn strike targeted the house of an Afghan refugee in Dandey Darpa Khel in the North Waziristan region near the Afghan border.

Six other people were wounded in the strike, officials said.

Harry Belafonte holds hopes for change in Cuba

Belafonte calls for better US-Cuba relations

Yahoo News

By PAUL HAVEN, Associated Press Writer – Fri Sep 18

HAVANA – American singer Harry Belafonte said on a visit to Cuba on Friday that he was disappointed President Barack Obama has not done more to improve relations with the communist-run island, but that he was hopeful progress would come soon.

"The policy toward Cuba — yes, I like a lot of people am disappointed," the 82-year-old singer known as the King of Calypso said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. "I think Obama opened up large expectations when he hit on the theme of change, without being specific as to what he meant by change."

Belafonte, whose activism dates back to the U.S. civil rights movement, said Obama has been weighed down by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the global economic crisis and health care reform.

"We're waiting to see what does change really mean," he said. "But I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt that the best is yet to come."

Obama has eased travel and financial restrictions on Americans with family members in Cuba, but on Monday reaffirmed the 47-year trade embargo on the island. Some hoped the president would not sign the one-year extension to make a dramatic statement that it was time for a new debate on relations with Cuba.

Belafonte and "Lethal Weapon" actor Danny Glover were in Havana to inaugurate a new center that promotes Caribbean cinema.

Belafonte's international views made headlines in 2006, when he called then-President George W. Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world" during a televised discussion with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington.

American Police Force Ends Bid for Hardin Jail

By NEWS KULR

Story Published: Oct 9, 2009 at 2:49 PM MDT

Story Updated: Oct 9, 2009 at 5:26 PM MDT

BILLINGS - A California company drops its proposal to take over the Hardin jail. The news comes just days before the Montana Attorney General's deadline for American Police Force to hand over critical information concerning the group's previous business ventures.

Attorney General Steve Bullock also demanded the group identify their current owners, which is something that was never revealed to the public.

American Police Force spokeswoman Becky Shay said Friday the deal with Hardin had "gone sour" after press revelations about the criminal past of company founder Michael Hilton. Hilton has a history of fraud and theft going back at least two decades. He signed a contract in September to take over the jail and run local law enforcement but it was never ratified.

KULR-8 News currently has reporters on the scene of a news conference related to the unraveling of the contract between American Police Force and Two Rivers Authority. Stay tuned to the KULR-8 First News at Five, the KULR-8 News at Six and Ten for the latest developments on this story

Medicare Astroturf Scammers & Robot Phone Calls

I got another one of those robot phone calls today, you know, the kind that you can't talk back to. It was from the The Coalition for Medicare Choices representing an insurance racket called Healthcare Advantage. Being on medicare myself, and just plain curious, I didn't hang upright away, so I was informed that Obama's healthcare plan is cutting funds to these programs and to press 1 to join the coalition. Instead of hanging up I waited to see what would happen, and it repeated the message, leaving me somewhat frustrated that I couldn't at least express my thoughts on the matter. Oh well, I'll get on the tubes and see wazzup.....zzzzzZZZZ*

Oh, so that's what got their underwear hiked up in Cheney country. Check this out...Heehehehehehehehehehehehehe*

Health plan stocks sink as Senate bill gets boost

MarketWatch
Oct. 8, 2009, 11:37 a.m. EDT By Laura Mandaro

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of private providers of health-care plans dropped sharply on Thursday. Late Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office said the Senate Finance Committee's health-care reform legislation will cost $829 billion over 10 years -- lower than President Barack Obama's desired cap of $900 billion -- and reduce the budget deficit.

WellPoint Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!wlp/quotes/nls/wlp (WLP 44.72, -2.94, -6.17%) shares were the biggest decliner on the S&P 500 /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,066, +8.71, +0.82%) , dropping more than 6%.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!unh/quotes/nls/unh (UNH 24.14, -0.92, -3.65%) shares sank 5.2%,

Aetna, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!aet/quotes/nls/aet (AET 25.75, -1.31, -4.84%) lost 4.5%

and Humana, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!hum/quotes/nls/hum (HUM 35.98, -1.92, -5.07%) slid 4.3%.

Well, by golly, there must have been a few folks listening to Olbermann last night, not to mention what Congressman Alan Grayson had to say the other day...( :

These corporate crooks have been stirring up the astroturf crowd for sometime now...

Elderly used as front in letter-writing campaign 'Grass-roots' effort looks more like Astroturf

By Ken Johnson
kjohnson@eagletribune.com

Across Massachusetts, senior citizens are writing letters to newspapers demanding that their representatives in Congress protect a form of health insurance called Medicare Advantage.

At least that's what newspaper editors are supposed to think.

Some of those seniors are unaware that they have sent any such letters to newspapers. Some of them hadn't even heard of Medicare Advantage.

"I did not write a letter to the editor. It's not from me," said Gloria Gosselin, 75, of Lawrence.

Gosselin's name was on one of three strikingly similar letters touting the Medicare Advantage program that were sent to The Eagle-Tribune.

Writers of letters to the editor are routinely contacted by newspapers to make sure letters are legitimate. In this case, they weren't.

All three of the purported authors of the letters said they had no idea their names were being used to advocate for the health insurance program.

The letters were, in fact, composed and sent by the Boston office of a national political consulting firm attempting to create the appearance of a "grass-roots" movement for Medicare Advantage.

Religious Right Wingnuts in the Military

Lawyer sues to end Dallas group's 'threat' prayers


Dallas News

11:42 PM CDT on Sunday, October 4, 2009

By DIANE JENNINGS / The Dallas Morning News
djennings@dallasnews.com

A former military lawyer who served in the Reagan White House and worked for Ross Perot is suing a Dallas-based religious organization in a case that could test the limits of free speech and prayer.

Mikey Weinstein, founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said he wants Gordon Klingenschmitt, a former U.S. Navy chaplain, to "stop asking Jesus to plunder my fields ... seize my assets, kill me and my family then wipe away our descendants for 10 generations."

The suit also asks the court to stop the defendants – Klingenschmitt and Jim Ammerman, the founder of the Dallas-based Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches – from "encouraging, soliciting, directing, abetting or attempting to induce others to engage in similar conduct."

Weinstein, 54, said his family has received death threats, had a swastika emblazoned on their home in New Mexico, animal carcasses left on their doorstep and feces thrown at the house.

Weinstein, who is Jewish, said the harassment started several years ago when he began protesting Christian proselytizing at his alma mater, the Air Force Academy. Weinstein started his foundation shortly after that to battle the influence of extremist evangelical Christians in the armed forces.

MORE

~ALSO~

Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt Guilty Of Disobeying an Order

Navy Chaplain Guilty Of Disobeying an Order

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 15, 2006

A Navy court decided yesterday to reprimand and dock the pay of an evangelical Protestant chaplain after finding him guilty of disobeying an order by appearing in uniform at a political protest in front of the White House in March.

~AND~

Gordon James Klingenschmitt is a former naval chaplain who, in Nov. 2008 says, unfortunately, the Secular Coalition for America will eventually get its way. "There is a day coming in the end times when the military will be forced to be atheistic because, in order for the eventual man who is the man of sin -- the Anti-Christ -- as it is describe in the Bible, for him to come to power and to stamp out Christianity around the globe, he's going to need a good strong atheist military," he contends. "That is the first step toward Armageddon, and I'm concerned about that. And I pray that President (elect) Obama is not foolish enough to lead us down that road."

~SO~

Here's a little more "religious right wingnut" history

Well, needless to mention, religion and politics don't mix. If the religious leaders want to have anything to say about the war, they should trade in their robe for a pair of jack boots and get out there on the front lines, like the old days in Europe where the pope rode out in front of the army...G:

Secretary Gates: I will sit on McChrystal’s report until its appropriate

Yeh right, sit on it, a document that was leaked over a week ago. What in the world is Gates talking about. Even John McPain says he knows what is in the memo. If this true, that Obama is out of the loop, this country is in way more trouble than I imagined, and sometimes I have some really negative concepts.

Gen. McChrystal gets a rare chance to speak with the commander-in-chief

Washington Examiner

By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
09/29/09 4:12 PM EDT

On "60 Minutes" Sunday, General Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan, revealed that he had spoken only once with President Obama in the last 70 days, even as the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating and the White House is considering an increase in American troops. Now, it looks like McChrystal will have another chance to speak, although not one-on-one, with the president tomorrow, when McChrystal will be part of the national security team meeting on Afghanistan. (The general will participate by videoconference from Afghanistan.)

At today's briefing, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs fended off criticism that Obama should speak more often to his top officer in such a critical conflict. "The president receives a memo every week from Gen. McChrystal, as he does from Gen. Odierno [the top U.S. officer in Iraq], an update on how things are going in Afghanistan or Iraq, respectively," Gibbs explained. "As well as each of those memos, the president meets…regularly with the chain of command."

Still, a few reporters were curious why Obama and McChrystal have not had more contact. "Is there a reason why the president hasn't actually spoken with Gen. McChrystal, except for the one time, since June?" Gibbs was asked. "President Bush obviously spoke with his commanders every week."

"I think the president has -- receives tremendous input from the commanders on the ground," said Gibbs, "receives input from regional commanders like Gen. Petreaus at Central; talks and meets weekly with, as I said the chair of the Joint Chiefs, or the vice chair, if Adm. Mullen is traveling; and meets weekly with the head of that chain of command, Secretary Gates, often."

"How does the president view Gen. McChrystal at this point?" a reporter asked. "Arguably, the general put him in a political box."

"No, the president is intent on getting the decision that has to be made right, focusing our effort and our resources on ensuring that we have the best strategy possible," Gibbs answered. "Understand…the president signed off on putting Gen. McChrystal where he is."

"Does he regret it?"

"No, not at all."

The revelation that the president has met only once with McChrystal brought the White House under a new wave of criticism this week. Critics asked how Obama has time to go to Denmark to pitch for the Olympics, or to play golf regularly, or to appear on the David Letterman show, and not have time to talk to his top general in Afghanistan. The White House points to the new round of meetings as evidence that Obama is deeply involved in the issue.