May 2009 - Iran says it has successfully test launched a mid-range surface-to-surface missile, state media have reported.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Sajjil-2 missile with a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles), used "advanced technology" and had landed on target.
The US confirmed the launch had taken place, and reiterated that President Barack Obama was "concerned" about Iran's missile development.
Sept 25, 2009 Pressure mounted on Iran yesterday to halt its nuclear program as world leaders at the United Nations warned of the threat posed by Tehran to a global consensus on disarmament.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said a newly revealed nuclear enrichment plant is "perfectly legal", after criticism from world leaders including US President Barack Obama and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy.
The next day, Iran tested two short-range missiles during a military exercise, Iranian state television reports.
lyrics addressing the Iranian (Islamic Republic of Iran) clampdown on imports of Western music to a bouncy dance rhythm in 1982
Now the king told the boogie men You have to let that raga drop The oil down the desert way Has been shakin' to the top The sheik he drove his Cadillac He went a' cruisin' down the ville The muezzin was a' standing On the radiator grille
CHORUS Sharif don't like it Rockin the casbah Rock the casbah Sharif don't like it Rockin the Casbah Rock the Casbah
By order of the prophet We ban that boogie sound Degenerate the faithful With that crazy Casbah sound But the Bedouin they brought out The electric kettle drum The local guitar picker Got his guitar picking thumb As soon as the sherif Had cleared the square They began to wail
CHORUS
Now over at the temple Oh! They really pack 'em in The in crowd say it's cool To dig this chanting thing But as the wind changed direction The temple band took five The crowd caught a wiff Of that crazy Casbah jive
CHORUS
The king called up his jet fighters He said you better earn your pay Drop your bombs between the minarets Down the Casbah way
As soon as Sharif was Chauffeured outta there The jet pilots tuned to The cockpit radio blare
As soon as Sharif was Outta their hair The jet pilots wailed
Chorus
Sharif don't like it Rock the casbah (He thinks it's not kosher) Rock the casbah Sharif don't like it Rock the Casbah (Fundamentally he can't take it.) Rock the Casbah Sharif don't like it Rock the Casbah (You know he really hates it.) Rock the Casbah
Within the last few days, i have unfortunately found some bad things on 2 of the 4 computers in my home network...all of which are protected by up to date antivirus and multiple firewalls.
How could this happen? Because we are people and innocently clicked on something. I think Honey clicked on an ad for free instant scan of your computer and introduced a Trojan, which unloaded a user logon hijacker, while I must have allowed a popup that introduced a Trojan that unloaded a script that took over my browser. In both cases I found and eliminated the problems with a new software that I am still a little skeptical about, but so far it seems to work.
The Trojans were Vundo (variant 4) and FakeAlert....
It just so happens I discovered this while during the day attending some classes for Information Security professionals, and found that many of the people in class had experienced similar malwares on their home computers and work networks....
The truth is, eternal vigilence is not just a catchy phrase, its the requirement to protect your information and privacy. A momentary lapse on my part reinforced that concept...
What others are saying, in an editorial from the Atlanta Journal Constitution...
It’s very hard to maintain a Sept. 12 view of the world,” says David Nahmias, a thought that well explains why some CIA agents may soon face criminal prosecution.
Nahmias, recently appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court after a career of prosecuting, among others, terrorists after Sept. 11, spoke those words a few days before the Obama administration reopened a criminal probe of CIA interrogators. But his observation about the difference between the raw wounds of The Day After and our more comfortable perspective eight years hence is right on target.
Let’s be honest. Liberals can get away with tsk-tsking about a handful of unauthorized CIA interrogation techniques — some of which would fit right into a Monty Python spoof: “Talk, or I’ll speak ill of your mother! And after that, turn on an electric drill in this very room!” — precisely because the CIA’s interrogations helped to prevent another terror attack on U.S. soil.
Had just one of the foiled terror plots gone off, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Some commentators have jumped on the conclusion by CIA Inspector General John Helgerson, in a 2004 report released publicly Monday concurrent to the reopening of the probe, that gauging the efficacy of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (EITs) is a “subjective process and not without some concern.”
Read on, however, and you find that Abu Zubaydah, one of Osama bin Laden’s highest-level henchmen, “appeared to be more cooperative” after going through simulated drowning known as waterboarding. His cooperation included helping to identify Jose Padilla and other terrorists.
You find that another terrorist who provided valuable information, Abd Al-Rahim Al-Nashiri, did so only after “receiving additional EITs.”
And you find that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and the man who personally beheaded the kidnapped Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl, was “an accomplished resistor” who “provided only a few intelligence reports prior to the use of the waterboard, and analysis of that information revealed that much of it was outdated, inaccurate, or incomplete.” After being subjected to EITs, he became “probably the most prolific” source of good intelligence gathered through interrogations. The point here is two-fold. First, those who argue against these interrogation techniques on grounds of both morality and their supposed lack of effectiveness cannot have it both ways.
If you want to object to actions such as waterboarding for moral reasons, fine. But don’t pretend that eschewing these techniques wouldn’t have put thousands of innocent American lives at grave risk from terrorists. The inspector general’s report recounts a litany of plots blocked thanks to knowledge gleaned from interrogations, some of which certainly came to light through the use of rougher questioning techniques.
The second point is that the CIA officers who employed these techniques did so at a time when another attack was thought to be imminent. They were, by all accounts, operating on ever-shifting ground in terms of legal authorizations and security imperatives. We cannot treat them as criminals now just because things turned out OK.
In so many ways it is good that we no longer have the Sept. 12 mind-set: That was a mind-set of fear. But the agents working then did not have the luxury of eight years’ worth of security and perspective. Again, we have that luxury only because those agents’ work gave it to us.
Perhaps the saddest commentary in all of this came, those several years ago, from unnamed officers cited in the report. Realizing that the Sept. 12 view would fade away, they feared that the American public that demanded security of them at the time would turn on them in the future. “Ten years from now we’re going to be sorry we’re doing this … [but] it has to be done,” was the way one of them summed up such worries. Shame on us for proving that officer right.
There are many reasons I think Nancy Pelosi has passed the required retirement age, but certainly this humorous view of her also underscores what a ninny she really is...
On September 11, 2001 the World Trade Center Towers 1 and 2 were destroyed.
Once the grieving process for the deceased had moved on, the hundreds of funerals and memorial ceremonies held, some began planning for a tribute to the departed and almost more importantly, a symbolic rebuilding to rebuke the idea that terrorism would prevail over a free people.
The Freedom Tower idea evolved. A final design for the tower was formally unveiled on June 28, 2006. On December 19, 2006, the first steel columns were installed in the building's foundation. Its projected completion date is currently 2018 – 12 years after the first columns. When completed the entire structure will be 1776 feet tall, although the top floor will be 1,368 feet (417 m)
Half a world away in Dubai, the Burj Dubai project begins in 2003. Construction began on 21 September 2004, and the tower is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy by the end of 2009. The Chicago-based architecture and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) is in charge of the project.
The building is now the world’s tallest human made structure at 2,684 feet (818 m).
It is due to be completed on time in a little over 5 years, with construction that was managed by Turner Construction of NYC.
OK, so here are my thoughts
What the heck? How is it American companies can go overseas and go in 5 years from a dirt lot to a center piece of a new city in the desert, but American companies can’t get a tower at ground zero for almost 12 years???
Well, first…it’s not the money. Dubai spent $4 billion on this building, and the budget for what used to be called the Freedom Tower is already at $3 billion…
by Paul Cashmere - September 2 2009 photo by Ros O'Gorman
Undercover has learned that Charlie Watts has quit The Rolling Stones.
A source within the Stones inner-circle says, “Charlie Watts has quit the band. He will never record or tour with the band again”.
The news does not come as a surprise. It was common knowledge that Keith Richards had to talk Charlie into contributing to the A Bigger Bang tour but this time it seems there is no calling Charlie back to active duty.
“The Stones are looking to Keith's Expensive Winos drummer Charlie Drayton to fill the void in all future Stones' callings,” our source says.
With Mick Jagger planning more Stones activity next year, the departure of Charlie will be a huge blow to the band. Charlie was the backbone of the band.
The 68-year old drummer simply doesn't want to do it anymore.
Charlie joined the Rolling Stones in January, 1963. He didn’t expect it would last. In fact, he kept his day job for several months until the band started to feel like a career.
Charlie’s decision to quit the band comes a three years short of the Stones 50th anniversary.
My daughter absolutely loves some of the music I played when she was little, totally aware that when mom was younger (way younger), the music listening experience was augmented by the company of friends and not much else(that came late...Hey, it was the 60's, OK?)..last week she went to see Hall & Oates...good grief, they are still playing?? well what the heck, the Stones are still at it, going on 50 years (they started in 1962...goodness, Charlie Watts is 68???)...
Anyway, listening to XM radio, i heard this song, which I always thought was beautiful (still do)..
Pretty ballerina
I had a date with a pretty ballerina
Her hair so brilliant that it hurt my eyes
I asked her for this dance
And then she obliged me
Was I surprised, yeah
Was I surprised, No not at all
I called her yesterday,
It should have been tomorrow
I could not keep
The joy that was inside
I begged for her to tell me
If she really loved me
Somewhere a mountain is moving
Afraid its moving without me
I had a date with a pretty ballerina
Her hair so brilliant that it hurt my eyes
I asked her for this dance
And then she obliged me
Was I surprised, yeah
Was I surprised, no not at all
And when I wake on a dreary Sunday morning
I open up my eyes to find there’s rain
And something strange within said,
Go ahead and find her
Just close your eyes, yeah
Just close your eyes and she'll be there
She'll be there...
******
Here i found the Tobacco Road..
golly i remember dancing to this in the gym during homecoming one year..Aww pleasant memories...
Honey rises every week day at 5:30, and starts getting ready for work. Wander to the living room, switch on a lamp and the TV, then wander into the kitchen and start the coffee. That morning there was no difference..same routine.
Meanwhile across the country at 8:34: A third transmission from Flight 11: "nobody move please. We are going back to the airport. Don't try to make any stupid moves."
Coffee brewing, the insipid gurgle and burp of a well used coffee maker... slowly the caffeine laden fluid fills a mug, and honey pushes the pot back into the machine, so it can gurgle out more coffee in a urgent spurt..Honey settles in to enjoy the first mug of the day, and catch a little news, usually CNN. Its now about 5:45 Pacific time, 8:45 AM Eastern
8:44: Flight attendant Amy Sweeney, aboard Flight 11, reports by telephone to Michael Woodward at the American Airlines Flight Services Office in Boston, "Something is wrong. We are in a rapid descent... we are all over the place." A minute later, Woodward asks her to describe what she sees out the window. She responds, "I see the water. I see the buildings. I see buildings..." After a short pause, she reports, "We are flying low. We are flying very, very low. We are flying way too low." Seconds later she says, "Oh my God, we are way too low.” The call ends with a burst of very loud, sustained static.
At 8:46:40: Flight 11 crashes at roughly 490 mph ... into the north face of the North Tower (1 WTC) of the World Trade Center, between floors 93 and 99.
A commercial on debt consolidation is interrupted by Breaking News, and anchor people struggle to explain what has happened (see video)
Honey comes into the bedroom and flips on the light, tells me to get up, planes are crashing into buildings...I lazily roll over and think "what did i just hear?"
I slip on my slippers and wander out to the couch, blearily looking at a horrific picture of the WTC on fire, building I seen once several years ago reflecting the setting sun as i landed in a flight to Newark airport...
8:58: Flight 175 takes a heading toward New York City. At 9:03: Flight 175 crashes at about 590 mph (950 km/h) into the south face of the South Tower (2 WTC) of the World Trade Center, banked between floors 78 and 85.
My cousin, a financial analyst in NYC for training, is slowing descending the stairs of 2 WTC, helping a woman make the climb from floor 70. According to him, they are at floor 50 when the building rocked, not unlike the building he used to work in San Francisco during a earthquake, only accompanied by a loud explosion...
Honey and I and a billion other people see the plane fly into the building on TV
We both called work and neither place knew yet what to do, so honey decides to stay home.. my work demanded i come in right away. The roads going into town are pretty empty for a work day...I worked at the time developing a program for a law enforcement agency, and so i went there..I was met at the door by one of the investigators, clad in his "raid" jacket, armed with a sub machine gun...I fumbled for my ID and he smiles, "Canice, I know who you are" reminding me we had been in a meeting last week. Suddenly a F16 streaked overheard, and I remarked it was a very awful day, and he nodded, opening the door for me. It is nearly 7 AM, 10 AM in the east.
The deputy chief of the agency walks up to me as we stare at a TV they have in the conference room, pats me on the shoulder as I and a few others are crying and tells me that if I want he can have an office take me home, but i insist i am OK and leave...and then proceed to cry for a few minutes alone in my car...I drive by the local airport on my way home, and realize how weird it is to NOT see planes taking off and landing..At home, honey has declares if the president calls up anyone that's able, he would go, where ever, to kill the sons of bitches that did this...a few days late I find out my cousin had been in NY, and was now on his way home.
I am taking a break from maintaining my Mulitply page...other social applications are taking so much time that Multiply has become a distant 3rd
I will be back, but I am thinking i will no longer focus so much on politics, economics and such, since the other apps I am using seem to also be in that vein... I actually would delete this site except I have so many blogs here and i want to maintain those...and likely enough another application will come along that will interest me more than this, and i will move my blogs there..I know this is a boring blog, but I am writing it mostly for me now.
Amid his revelation of unreported income, the Washington Post is calling for New York Congressman Charlie Rangel to step down as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. In an editorial in today's edition, the paper calls Rangel's amended disclosure form a “treasure trove of outrage." Newly-filed disclosures show that Rangel failed to report at least half a million dollars in assets in 2007, perhaps a total of over $1,000,000 during the periods 2002-2006. The paper says, "much more is expected and demanded of those entrusted with chairmanships and the power that comes with them, especially when it involves the nation's purse strings
Rangel heads the powerful House Ways and Means Committee which writes the nation’s tax laws and has major influence over the national budget
The Republican party does in fact have some ideas that probably would help get Obama's health Care package thru as a bi-partisan bill..question is, will the Democratic Party step up?
I was just sitting here in my Lazboy, and listening to music...something i do when really want to relax and think about stuff...and I started looking for one song and then another, and eventually ended up with Carmelita as sung by Linda Ronstadt. I too note it was written by Warren Zevon, whom i had listen to many years ago, and it dawned on me this was the month he passed away. For those that don't know, here is what WikiPedia says:
"Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rocksinger-songwriter and musician noted for including his strange, sardonic opinions of life in his musical lyrics, composing songs that were sometimes humorous and often had political or historical themes.
Although his was a cult success, Zevon's work has often been complimented by well-known musicians. His best-known compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money", "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and "Johnny Strikes Up The Band", all of which are featured on his 1978 release, Excitable Boy. Other well known Zevon songs include "Accidentally Like a Martyr", "Mutineer" and "Mohammed's Radio".
), the music listening experience was augmented by the company of friends and not much else(that came late...Hey, it was the 60's, OK?)..last week she went to see Hall & Oates...good grief, they are still playing?? well what the heck, the Stones are still at it, going on 50 years (they started in 1962...goodness, Charlie Watts is 68???)...
