Tuesday, March 31, 2015

SSG Jason Arnette: ALWAYS remembered - ALWAYS honoured


SSG Jason Arnette:


 
Birthday: 11/07/1982
Date of Death: 04/01/2007



...One of Jason's dreams was to be the BEST OF BEST. He pushed himself to do the Best that he could strive for. That is the example he set for all us all. He wanted to go down in the record books being famous. And I guess he got that wish. He will never be Forgotten.

He wrote a letter for my Birthday one year: let me read some of it to you now;

Dear Mom,
So your little man has now grown up. Ready to step in to the world stronger than ever. Just to let you know that you are my motivation with all things, all through life you have made me feel like I am the best at whatever it was I was doing or have done. I want to thank you for loving me the way you do. One thing I will always remember about myself is I always had my mother to keep me safe, I always had your love, and you pushed me along for all things and you would fight for me no matter what. Thank you Mom I will always love you. Love, Your little man Dayday...


From a speech Mom Mickey gave. Go here to read the rest of that post. If you put Jason's name in the search thing, you'll find other columns I have written about Jason.

As Mickey knows, this picture is one of my favourites of Jason's. Always makes me smile.


Related:  SSG Jason R Arnette: Heavenly Birthday

In one of my previous columns, I wrote:

I promise you, Jason: I WILL always remember and honour you, and your family, with gratitude, respect and love.


That will not change - ever.

 ALWAYS remembered. Always Honoured.


*Be sure to learn more about Jason here.*

Video: US ME Policy re Iran is 'wilful ignorance' - Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn (Ret.)

 March 29, 2015


 "It's a policy of willful ignorance" says Lt. General Michael Flynn to Chris Wallace in a Fox News Sunday Exclusive Interview as he describes the White House position on dealing with Iran's influential rise in the Middle East

RightSightings2

New York: Roll Up your sleeve - for Keith




Mark your calendars, and get out there.....

Annual Keith Fairben Blood Drive


Friday, April 3, 2015 at Our Lady of Victory Memorial Hall, 2 Bellmore St, Floral Park, 10am to 8pm


Last year, 317 pints of blood were donated, including platelets.


Please donate, and save a life in Keith's memory




Bangladesh: Blogging is a deadly *business*


A couple of months back, my friend Deb Leonard had this graphic and these words:

"I prefer to die standing than live on my knees"......

Once again, I was reminded of this when I saw THIS news report overnight.

From JihadWatch:

Bangladesh: Muslims hack another blogger to death for anti-Islam writings
   by Robert Spencer
The world yawns at this thuggery and bloodlust. Atheist writer Avijit Roy was murdered in Bnagladesh recently; the international media barely took notice. This second and similar murder will get even less notice. And it’s understandable — it isn’t as if “Islamophobia” were being committed. That would be news; but Muslims murder another writer who insulted Islam? That’s not news: the mainstream media wouldn’t want to insult Islam by covering such a thing.

Two madrasa students have hacked blogger Oyasiqur Rahman to death for his writing against Islam.

The killers are Zikrullah, 22, a student of Hathajari Madrasa in Chittagong and Ariful Islam, 22, student of Darul Ulum Madrasa, Mirpur 1 in Dhaka, said Biplop Kumar Sarker, deputy commissioner of Tejgaon Divison.

Another killer Abu Taher managed to flee from the scene. No detail was found regarding him, the police official added.

Zikrullah, son of Mainuddin, hailed from Raipura of Narsingdi and Ariful Islam, son of Tazul Islam, came from Barkawlia of Comilla.

“They killed Oyasiqur for his writings against Islam,” the detained killers confessed to the police during primary interrogation....[emphasis mine]

Syria: What about the children?



This is 4 year old Hudea who lives in the Atmeh refugee camp in Syria.  Her picture has gone viral on social media the last few days. The photo was taken by Turkish photographer Osman Sağırlı in 2014.


From the BBC:


The photographer who broke the internet's heart

31 March 2015
Thousands online have shared an image of a Syrian child with her hands raised in surrender - but what is the story behind it?


Those sharing it were moved by the fear in the child's eyes, as she seems to staring into the barrel of a gun. It wasn't a gun, of course, but a camera, and the moment was captured for all to see. But who took the picture and what is the story behind it? BBC Trending have tracked down the original photographer - Osman Sağırlı - and asked him how the image came to be.


It began to go viral Tuesday last week, when it was tweeted by Nadia Abu Shaban, a photojournalist based in Gaza. The image quickly spread across the social network. "I'm actually weeping", "unbelievably sad", and "humanity failed", the comments read. The original post has been retweeted more than 11,000 times. On Friday the image was shared on Reddit, prompting another outpouring of emotion. It's received more than 5,000 upvotes, and 1,600 comments.


Accusations that the photo was fake, or staged, soon followed on both networks. Many on Twitter asked who had taken the photo, and why it had been posted without credit. Abu Shaban confirmed she had not taken the photo herself, but could not explain who had. On Imgur, an image sharing website, one user traced the photograph back to a newspaper clipping, claiming it was real, but taken "around 2012", and that the child was actually a boy. The post also named a Turkish photojournalist, Osman Sağırlı, as the man who took the picture.


BBC Trending spoke to Sağırlı - now working in Tanzania - to confirm the origins of the picture. The child is in fact not a boy, but a four-year-old girl, Hudea. The image was taken at the Atmeh refugee camp in Syria, in December last year. She travelled to the camp - around 10 km from the Turkish border - with her mother and two siblings. It is some 150 km from their home in Hama.


"I was using a telephoto lens, and she thought it was a weapon," says Sağırlı. "İ realised she was terrified after I took it, and looked at the picture, because she bit her lips and raised her hands. Normally kids run away, hide their faces or smile when they see a camera." He says he finds pictures of children in the camps particularly revealing. "You know there are displaced people in the camps. It makes more sense to see what they have suffered not through adults, but through children. It is the children who reflect the feelings with their innocence." [emphasis mine]


The image was first published in the Türkiye newspaper in January, where Sağırlı has worked for 25 years, covering war and natural disasters outside the country. It was widely shared by Turkish speaking social media users at the time. But it took a few months before it went viral in the English-speaking world, finding an audience in the West over the last week.


As Canada's politicians vote on extending their anti-ISIS mission to include bombing over Syria, and Syria's murdering despot Bashir al Assad - who famously ignored Obama's imaginary  red line -  takes time out to do a 'rehabilitative'  interview with 60 Minutes, many MANY girls like Hudea go unknown by the politicians.  Over the last four years hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians (including many Hudeas) have been slaughtered by Assad, and the world has stood on the sidelines wagging their ineffectual stern fingers and making meaningless pronouncements.  

Now, NOW, while the fat cat diplomats and politicians gather to make sweeping public policies,   I can only think about all the little Hudea's whose daily lives continue to be  a hell of terror and survival, if they are 'lucky.'

We, the world community,  should hang our heads in shame.  We should.

Pray for Hudea.  Pray for ALL the Hudea's around the world...


[Related - Yes! It is: The missing girls of Nigeria  ]

Monday, March 30, 2015

Terrorism 101: Who is who in the cast of characters?



These days, it is hard to keep up on all the different terrorist groups murdering, terrorising, their way around the globe.

As we watch the politicians change with the wind which despots they will support; for example, Obama was against Assad before he became an ally, and stood with Israel before he shared their nuclear secrets AND sent in political operatives to help unseat Netanyahu in their last elections,  it might be difficult to keep track of which group is our designated enemy du jour.

However, fortunately we do have people who continue to pay close attention to who is doing what to who.

From This Ain't Hell:

That confusing fight in the Middle East 

Jonn Lilyea | March 28, 2015


So, get your program out so you can follow this thing; While we’re negotiating with Iran over their nuclear ambitions, we’re flying US aircraft in support of Iranian troops in Iraq. We’re also supporting the Saudis as they begin to whack Iranian-supported rebels in Yemen. The war in the Middle East is shaping into a war between Sunnis and Shi’ites. From Fox News;


Top Sunni clerics have voiced their support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen Friday, while top Iranian leaders including President Hasan Rouhani have already condemned the intervention.

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon condemned the “Saudi-American attack,” saying “it is the right of Yemen’s people, who are brave and resilient, to fight and resist, and they will succeed.

U.S. officials told the paper that Saudi officials have requested air tankers to refuel planes and for more American-made bombs to continue with the strikes. The U.S. is preparing to help the Saudis once the requests are approved in Washington.

Under the plan, the U.S. would step up its role in a new military coordination center to aid the Saudi Arabia-led campaign.

Meanwhile in Switzerland, the western nations are trying to hammer out a deal to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions while Iran seeks to have the sanctions against them lifted, according to AFP;...


GO read much more here.


War On Terror News adds more details of the major players wreaking murder and mayhem:


Jonn has many of the details right, but it gets better, as far as confusing storylines go.
The Mehdi Militia, aka Badr Brigade, aka Hezbollah of Iraq has already pulled back from Tikrit to protest US air strikes against their enemy, ISIS. The Mehdi Militia was the name used during the Iraq war and Moqtada al-Sadr is their leader. His little band of Shi'a Islamists was the principal terrorist organization responsible for US and British deaths from Baghdad to the port in the South.


ISIS, their enemy is trying to overthrow Bashir Assad in Syria, along with their former associates, Al-Qaeda. ISIS was formerly known as ISI, or the Islamic State of Iraq, which was the "political" umbrella of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and has been led by abu Bakr al-Baghdadi since we killed Al-Qaeda's original leader in Iraq, al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist.


In Yemen, the Huthi rebels are agents of Iranian Islamists, ran by the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard, which also run Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, and the Mehdi Militia in Iraq. Their principal enemy in Yemen is Al-Qaeda, as the government of Yemen has fallen, after the order by Obama to the elected head of state in Yemen to abdicate in 2010. His replacement was too weak to prevent an Al-Qaeda takeover and actually invited the Huthi Shi'a Islamists into the fold, just as Iraq has done with the "Badr Brigades."


In 2012, the Obama Administration was funneling arms and training to al-Nusra in Syria, via Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Al-Nusra is al-Qaeda's arm in Syria, which both Yemen and Saudi Arabia were ostensibly fighting in their own countries.

In 2010, the Administration supported a Muslim Brotherhood uprising across the Middle East and particularly in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood is the forefather of Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda, Hamas, ISIS, and basically every other Islamist terrorist organization in the world. In fact, when OBL took over "the Services Bureau," he set up a partnership with AQ's current leader, al-Zawahari, who was a long term member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and then led the Islamic Jihad.


Qaddaffi had turned against terrorism and given up his WMD in the wake of the Iraq War in 2003. When the current administration successfully got him assassinated, the AQ prisoners in his prisons were released back to the battlefield. Al-Qaeda returned the favor by killing 4 of our diplomats in Benghazi.


So, yes, we're currently using air strikes against Iranian terrorists in yemen while supporting them in Iraq, with air strikes. The air strikes in Yemen support Al-Qaeda efforts and the air strikes in Syria have helped al-Qaeda increase their territory there, while the air strikes in Iraq support Iranian terrorists to increase Iranian power there.


Meanwhile, the do nothing attitude leaves Libya in chaos as both ISIS and AQ build their base there, but in Egypt, the administration passively opposes the new secular government, allowing ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood to gain toe holds there.


During the Cold War, much of the Middle East was under Soviet Influence. Now, it is increasingly falling to Islamist influence. If it takes hold, that will be hard for it to shake off, just as Afghanistan remained under it, a decade after it was liberated, despite its long history before the Soviet Invasion of Secular and Western ideals.


Fact is, every single day cowardly  terrorists kidnap, maim and murder innocent citizens and families.  No matter what name our politicians decide to assign them ('JV'   or 'workplace violence,' or even 'lone wolf attacks') unless and until we call these vicious killers what they are, the world community will continue to fall prey to this latest brand of terrorism.


Politicians need to make serious commitments to ridding us all of this scourge, and quit with their meaningless, empty political, dangerous gestures..

This is not the time for any of our politicians to be ignorant or 'confused' as to who or what we are all facing.

This IS the time for politicians to educate  themselves,  (learn from history, maybe?) and then forcefully fight back against these terrorists.  This IS the time for nonpartisan, global,  agreement to define an effective strategy to eradicate - not degrade - any and all islamist murderers, no matter where they are found, or what label they choose to hide behind.   Nothing else is acceptable.

Period.


[Related: How ISIS is different from al-Qaeda  ]

Friday, March 27, 2015

Rest In Peace, Polly

Last night a long time member of the extended Brat Pack passed away after a valiant fight with cancer.

My heart, my love,  is with her daughters and her family.





Rest easy, Polly.

Israel: With friends like Obama


Despite US President Obama's flowery (empty) words of support of Israel, anybody paying attention over time has seen that Obama's actions tell a very different story.  Long time watchers also know that Obama has loose lips when it comes to sharing information publicly that he should not be sharing.

Since Obama became POTUS, he has often shared information on allies that he has no business sharing.  He has more than earned my title for him: Mouth In Chief.  His latest almost defies belief.


From Israel National News:
US Declassifies Document Revealing Israel's Nuclear Program
Obama revenge for Netanyahu's Congress talk? 1987 report on Israel's top secret nuclear program released in unprecedented move.
By Ari Yashar, Matt WandermanMarch 25, 2015
In a development that has largely been missed by mainstream media, the Pentagon early last month quietly declassified a Department of Defense top-secret document detailing Israel's nuclear program, a highly covert topic that Israel has never formally announced to avoid a regional nuclear arms race, and which the US until now has respected by remaining silent.

But by publishing the declassified document from 1987, the US reportedly breached the silent agreement to keep quiet on Israel's nuclear powers for the first time ever, detailing the nuclear program in great depth.

The timing of the revelation is highly suspect, given that it came as tensions spiraled out of control between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama ahead of Netanyahu's March 3 address in Congress, in which he warned against the dangers of Iran's nuclear program and how the deal being formed on that program leaves the Islamic regime with nuclear breakout capabilities.

Another highly suspicious aspect of the document is that while the Pentagon saw fit to declassify sections on Israel's sensitive nuclear program, it kept sections on Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries classified, with those sections blocked out in the document....



Israeli Soldiers Mother has a few comments on this outrageous - totally unacceptable - move.

Thursday, March 26, 2015So, hey, yeah...we have nuclear weapons


Years ago, my mother was speaking in front of a high school class of Austrians contemplating their final year in school and not so very interested in a little country in a far off place. Most years, the graduating class chose to go to nearby Italy and explore the Alps.


My mother found the class a bit inattentive, a bit distracted and perhaps even a bit condescending about the message she was sharing. Midstream, she decided to change course.


"Israel has nuclear weapons," she told the suddenly-interested class, "and we aren't afraid to use them if we have to." She looked around, aware that they were quieter than they had been, "Does that frighten you?" she asked.


Several nodded and she added, "good."


Israel has nuclear weapons. Unlike the United States, which has had nuclear weapons for more than 70 years and betrayed our trust by releasing documents that confirm this, we've never used nuclear weapons to kill anyone. Unlike Iran, which doesn't have nuclear weapons (yet), Israel has never threatened to blow a nation off the face of the map.



For the past 24 hours, after hearing that the United States, under the leadership of Barack Hussein Obama, deliberately stabbed Israel in the back by releasing documents that confirm what most of the world has known or suspected for decades, I was rendered mute with anger. Every post I thought of making usually included at least one four letter word and often many of them....


I always marvel at how Israeli Soldiers Mother avoids using any four letter words when she writes about Obama.  Go read the rest of her latest here.


For me, the most succinct response to Obama's latest betrayal of an ally comes in the comments on that post - from Israeli Soldiers Mother:

I agree that there are many "secret" things in Israel that are not secret - but the telling was for us, not for the US. We chose not to acknowledge them and have never used them as a threat. Thus, when other nations come and say we have to sign a treaty that would put us at a disadvantage or suggest that others have a right to nuclear weapons because we have them, the fallback has always been very simple...a smile and a "what nuclear weapons." In openly declaring we have them, Obama broke faith, once again, with Israel.


And THAT is the truth.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Video: 9/11 Survivor Tree blooms again - 'this tree is still here, as we are still here'


Visitors to the national September 11 Memorial pass the Survivor Tree, Tuesday, at the World Trade Center. One World Trade Center, now up to the 93rd floor, is scheduled for completion in 2013. The callery pear, salvaged from the rubble following the attacks of September 11, 2001, was nursed back to health and replanted at the National September 11 Memorial. (Associated Press)



The charred trunk of a callery pear tree was pulled from the smoldering rubble of the World Trade Center site after the 2001 attacks. The tree earned the name Survivor Tree and has grown to become a living reminder of resilience, survival and rebirth.
9/11 Memorial


Related:  The 9/11 Survivor Tree Returns Home

[H/T Claudia]


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Video: Bergdahl charged with desertion



From DoD:

Army Charges Bergdahl With Desertion


DoD News, Defense Media Activity



WASHINGTON, March 25, 2015 – U.S. Army Forces Command has thoroughly reviewed the Army investigation surrounding Sgt. Robert Bowdrie Bergdahl’s 2009 disappearance in Afghanistan and formally charged him today under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with “Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty” and “Misbehavior Before The Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place,” and has referred the case to an Article 32 preliminary hearing, command officials announced today in a news release.


The remainder of the release follows:



Sgt. Bergdahl is charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with one count of Article 85, “Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty,” and one count of Article 99, “Misbehavior Before The Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place.” Army Sgt. Bergdahl disappeared June 30, 2009, from Combat Outpost Mest-Lalak in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and was subsequently captured.



An Article 32 preliminary hearing is a legal procedure under the Uniform Code of Military Justice designed to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to merit a court-martial and is required before a case can be tried by a General Court-Martial.



Legal experts often compare this to a civilian grand jury inquiry. The Article 32 hearing will take place at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Specific scheduling details and procedures for news-media coverage of the hearing will be announced at a later date.


Following the Article 32 preliminary hearing and receipt of the Article 32 preliminary hearing officer’s recommendations, the report will be forwarded to a General Court-Martial convening authority who may refer charges to a General Court-martial, refer the charges to a Special Court-martial, dismiss the charges, or take any other action deemed appropriate.


Article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, “Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty,” carries a maximum potential punishment of a dishonorable discharge, reduction to the rank of E-1, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and maximum confinement of five years. Article 99 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, “Misbehavior Before The Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place,” carries a maximum potential penalty of dishonorable discharge, reduction to the rank of E-1, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and possible confinement for life.


Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the specific legal elements for Article 85, “Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty,” are: (1) “The accused quit his (or her) unit or place of duty,” (2) “The accused did so with the intent to avoid or shirk certain service,” (3) The duty to be performed was hazardous or important,” (4) “The accused knew he (or she) was required for the duty or service,” and (5) “The accused remained absent until a certain date.”


The specific legal elements for Article 99, “Misbehavior Before The Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place,” are: (1) “The accused has a duty to defend a unit or place,” (2) “The accused committed misconduct,” (3) “The accused thereby endangered the unit or place,” and (4) “The act occurred before the enemy.”


Forces Command officials associated with this legal case cannot discuss or disclose the findings of the 2014 investigation while legal actions are pending out of respect to the judicial process, the rights of the accused, and to ensure the proceeding’s fairness and impartiality. The Army’s 2014 investigation into the circumstances of the soldier’s 2009 disappearance and capture in Afghanistan is currently being treated as potential evidence in the pending Article 32 preliminary hearing.




President Barack Obama speaks during an appearance in the Rose Garden of the White House, accompanied by Bowe Bergdahl's parents Bob and Jani Bergdahl  Photo: Mandel Ngan/ Getty



Related:

Lawyer: Bergdahl to be charged with desertion


Video: Reexamining Bergdahl swap in light of desertion charge

Disgusting:  Liberal press rushes to portray deserter Bergdahl as a victim

Susan Rice: Bergdahl served with honor and distinction

US Medal of Honor Day


National Medal of Honor Day

Today we honor the 3,493 recipients of the Medal of Honor for their service above and beyond the call of duty. In 1990, Congress designated March 25 as "National Medal of Honor Day” because it was on this day in 1863 the first Medals of Honor were presented by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to six of the surviving members of the Andrew’s Raiders for their actions during the Civil War.   [GO read that history.]


The Medal of Honor 


 The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest medal for valor in combat that can be awarded to members of the armed forces.


 The medal was first authorized in 1861 for Sailors and Marines, and the following year for Soldiers as well.


Since then, more than 3,400 Medals of Honor have been awarded to members of all DoD services and the Coast Guard....



Israel and Democracy by Frederick Forsyth

From Daily Express:

Israel is proof that democracy works says FREDERICK FORSYTH
SELF-righteousness is often the comfort blanket of the young and alwys of the luvvies and this is now being evidenced by students who think they are striking a blow for humanity by banning Israeli speakers from their campus or musicians from our concert halls.

By FREDERICK FORSYTHI do not like bigotry and am no admirer of bone idleness.

You have to be seriously lazy not to do a bit of research before striking a silly pose – even if you are a well subsidised student.

How many of the banner wavers know that there are one and a half million Palestinian Arabs who are citizens of Israel?

If their plight is so appalling, why don’t they leave?

They could jump in the car and in an hour be over the border into Gaza to live under Hamas.

But they don’t. In the same time they could be in the West Bank, living under the PLO government.

But they stay put. Why?

Well, it seems they have a better life and are well aware of it. They have better homes and jobs, better hospitals for their aged and better schools for their kids.

They have better social security.

They are exempt from military service unless they volunteer, which many do.

If they get into trouble with the law on a civil matter they have a better chance of a fair trial and an unpurchased judge rather than a kangaroo court and a mediaeval punishment.

Also unsaid on campus is that the Palestinians under Yasser Arafat had many chances to improve their lot and prosper but always chose the path of armed pursuit of the pipe dream of the eradication of Israel.

In Gaza, Hamas still does....

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Omar Khadr applies for bail


From Global News:

March 24, 2015

Omar Khadr’s bail application before the court 


The Canadian Press

EDMONTON – A court in Edmonton is set to hear a bail application from former Guantanamo Bay inmate, Omar Khadr.

Khadr wants to be released from Bowden Institution in Innisfail, Alta., where he is more than half-way through his eight-year sentence.

He says he deserves freedom while he appeals his war crimes conviction in the U.S....

Sgt 1st Class Christopher Speer was unavailable for comment. 

Friday, March 20, 2015

Yemen: Pentagon loses $500 Million stash of weapons

What could possibly go wrong????

From JihadWatch:

Pentagon loses track of $500 million in weapons, equipment given to Yemen  BY 


There are “fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials.” Combine this with the weapons Obama gave to “moderate rebels” in Syria that are now being used by the Islamic State, and the U.S. has provided weapons to a significant segment of the global jihad.



“Pentagon loses track of $500 million in weapons, equipment given to Yemen,” by Craig Whitlock,Washington Post, March 17, 2015:



The Pentagon is unable to account for more than $500 million in U.S. military aid given to Yemen, amid fears that the weaponry, aircraft and equipment is at risk of being seized by Iranian-backed rebels or al-Qaeda, according to U.S. officials....




  Read the rest here, as the insanity continues.


[Related:  Yemen crisis: More than 100 die in attacks on Sanaa mosques ]

Thursday, March 19, 2015

9/11 Legacy continues: Autoimmunity Rising in 9/11 Workers

Not a week goes by without us losing a 9/11 First Responder.  This may not be front page news anymore, but the legacy of that awful day continues to claim lives.  Read on:
- Each month spent working at World Trace Center site tied to 13% increased risk developing autoimmune disease later.

The list of ailments afflicting the World Trade Center first responders has grown to include systemic autoimmune diseases, a new study reported.


[...]


"The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) buildings and the subsequent building collapses and fires exposed rescue/recovery workers to aerosolized WTC dust, an amalgam of pulverized cement, glass fibers, silica, asbestos, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polychlorinated furans and dioxins," they noted.

The result has been the development of various respiratory and other diseases including asthma, gastroesophageal reflux, and cancer in up to 70% of the exposed New York City fire department (FDNY) members, but the entire range of potential health effects is not yet known and may take decades to fully manifest.

The FDNY-WTC Health Program has been following almost 16,000 firefighters and emergency medical system responders who worked at the site during the 10 months of cleanup that followed the attack....
Never forget.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Israel: Bibi AND Israel win


Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the Western Wall after his reelection. Photo: GPO.


From Jerusalem Post:



Netanyahu at Western Wall: I'm honored by election win, will do everything to protect Israel



[...]


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to the Western Wall Wednesday in his first post-election night public appearance after sweeping to victory and said he was moved by the responsibility placed on his shoulders.


“Here, in this place, I am awed by the historical significance of a people renewing itself in its homeland after 4,000 years,” he said, after praying at the Wall and placing a note inside its crevices. “I am moved by the weight of responsibility that the people of Israel have placed on my shoulders, and appreciate the decision of Israeli citizens to chose me and my colleagues against all odds.”...



There is more here.


Related MUST READ from one of my favourite Israeli writers:  Israel's message to Obama

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Israel: MUST WATCH Video - One on one with PM Netanyahu

Today is election day in Israel.  I am always saying 'what happens over there,  affects us over here' and this election in Israel really does demonstrate this principle clearly.

Last week, PM Benjamin Netanyahu did a one on one interview with the Jerusalem Post, and it is well worth the watch.


From the Voice of Israel:






This is so important, for all of us....PAY ATTENTION!

Monday, March 16, 2015

ISIS using chemical weapons against Peshmerga

From Homeland Security NewsWire:


ISIS employed crude chemical weapons against Kurdish peshmerga


March 16, 2015


Kurdish sources in Iraq have said they have evidence that Islamic State (ISIS) used chlorine gas as a chemical weapon against Kurdish peshmerga fighters. The Kurdistan Region Security Council said the chlorine gas was spread by a suicide truck bomb attack on 23 January in northern Iraq. Iraqi officials and Kurds fighting in Syria have made several similar allegations since last fall about ISIS using chlorine chemical weapons against them. In the previous Islamist insurgency in Iraq – in Anbar province, in 2006-2007 – there was evidence of chemical use by the insurgents. The insurgents in 2006-2007 were members of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which later transformed itself into ISIS.


[...]



In a statement, the Kurdish council said the attack took place on a road between Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, and the Syrian border, where peshmerga forces were fighting to re-take a supply line used by ISIS militants. Kurdish sources said that Kurdish fighters found “around twenty gas canisters” which had been loaded onto the truck involved in the attack.


The Guardian reports that the Kurdish council provided a video showing a truck racing down a road, white smoke pouring out of it as it came under heavy fire from peshmerga fighters. It later showed a white, billowing cloud after the truck exploded and the remnants of it scattered across a road....



Western leaders will denounce this in 3...2...1......Oh wait!  Nothing to see here...

Video: UK Operational Honours Heroes

From British Forces News:


Saturday, March 7, 2015

Some Gave All: Sgt Andrew Joseph Doiron





Sergeant Andrew Joseph Doiron, member of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment based at Garrison Petawawa, Ontario.




From the DND:


Canadian Armed Forces member killed by friendly fire in Iraq

 OTTAWA—A Canadian Armed Forces soldier was killed yesterday, March 6th, 2015 in Iraq at approximately 3:50 p.m. local Ottawa time in a friendly fire incident when members of the Special Operations Forces were mistakenly engaged by Iraqi Kurdish forces following their return to an observation post behind the front lines.

Killed in action was Sergeant Andrew Joseph Doiron, from the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, based at Garrison Petawawa, Ontario.


Three other members were injured in the incident and are receiving medical care for their injuries.


    Our thoughts are with the families and friends of our fallen soldier and the injured members during this difficult time. We will not forget the sacrifice of this soldier as we continue on our mission to help advise and assist the Iraqi Security Forces in their fight against the so-called Islamic State (ISIL).

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Video: Israel PM Netanyahu speaks to US Congress while Iran rejects nuclear deal

"...History has placed us at a fateful crossroads. We must now choose between two paths. One path leads to a bad deal that will at best curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions for a while, but it will inexorably lead to a nuclear-armed Iran whose unbridled aggression will inevitably lead to war. The second path, however difficult, could lead to a much better deal, that would prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, a nuclearized Middle East and the horrific consequences of both to all of humanity...."




Watch and listen to this example of real statesmanship.

  Streamed live on Mar 3, 2015 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel used one of the most prominent platforms in the world on Tuesday to warn against what he called a “bad deal” being negotiated with Iran to freeze its nuclear program, culminating a drama that has roiled Israeli-American relations for weeks.


Excerpt from the transcript:


[...]   My friends, standing up to Iran is not easy. Standing up to dark and murderous regimes never is. With us today is Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel. Elie, your life and work inspires to give meaning to the words, "Never Again." And I wish I could promise you, Elie, that the lessons of history have been learned. I can only urge the leaders of the world not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Not to sacrifice the future for the present; not to ignore aggression in the hopes of gaining an illusory peace.


But I can guarantee you this, the days when the Jewish people remained passive in the face of genocidal enemies, those days are over. We are no longer scattered among the nations, powerless to defend ourselves. We restored our sovereignty in our ancient home. And the soldiers who defend our home have boundless courage. For the first time in 100 generations, we, the Jewish people, can defend ourselves.


This is why as Prime Minister of Israel, I can promise you one more thing: Even if Israel has to stand alone, Israel will stand. But I know that Israel does not stand alone. I know that America stands with Israel. I know that you stand with Israel. You stand with Israel because you know that the story of Israel is not only the story of the Jewish people but of the human spirit that refuses again and again to succumb to history's horrors.


Facing me right up there in the gallery, overlooking all of us in this chamber is the image of Moses. Moses led our people from slavery to the gates of the Promised Land. And before the people of Israel entered the Land of Israel, Moses gave us a message that has steeled our resolve for thousands of years. I leave you with his message today, "Be strong and resolute, neither fear nor dread them."


Be sure to go read the full transcript for TRUTHS of what is at stake here for Israel, and all of us.


Meanwhile out of Iran, according to Jerusalem Post:

Iran says it rejects Obama's demand for 10-year nuclear work halt
Iranian FM: Tehran will not accept "excessive" and "unacceptable" demands; says Iran will continue nuclear talks with P5+1.
Obama and Khamenei. (photo credit:REUTERS)



Ankara Iran on Tuesday rejected as "unacceptable" a demand by US President Barack Obama that Tehran freeze its sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.


"Obama's stance ... is expressed in unacceptable and threatening phrases ... Iran will not accept excessive and illogical demands ... Tehran will continue nuclear negotiations with the six powers," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by Fars.


In an interview with Reuters on Monday, Obama said Iran must commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear work for a landmark atomic deal to be reached between Tehran and six major powers....
There is more - here.


Unless you have been sleeping, you couldn't help but hear Nancy Pelosi leading the Democrats in a disgraceful display of partisanship.  I refuse to quote it here...  Much to my dismay, but no surprise, even an infamous Brit got in on the act of badmouthing the Prime Minister of Israel.





'Jihadi John' went to Syria while on UK watch list



There is just so much wrong with ALL of this terrorist's story, I wish it was unbelievable.

Read on:
“Jihadi John” is UK university graduate who flew to Syria while on watch list
FEBRUARY 26, 2015

Emwazi is both a university grad and a name on the UK’s terror watch list, thus providing a commentary on both the poverty-causes-terrorism dogma and the efficacy of Supine Britain’s counter-terror apparatus. “Jihadi John unmasked: Former Westminster University student was arrested FIVE years ago and put on a terror watch list – but he flew to Syria to join ISIS two years later,” by Mark Duell, Martin Robinson and Emma Glanfield, MailOnline, February 26, 2015:


The Islamic State executioner known as ‘Jihadi John’ was today revealed to be a university graduate from London who flew to Syria despite being on an MI5 terror watch list.



Mohammed Emwazi, 27, of Queen’s Park, west London, who studied computer programming at the University of Westminster, is said to have travelled to the Middle East in 2012 and later joined ISIS.



Jihadi John has featured in the execution videos of U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, aid worker David Haines, 22 Syrian soldiers and Japanese reporter Kenji Goto.... 


Read the rest here. 



Meanwhile, the politicians continue their EPIC FAIL as they would have us all believe that these murderous terrorists are just poor uneducated kids.  Whateverrrrrrrr!

Monday, March 2, 2015

Video: Welsh Guards Celebrate Centenary

From the MoD:

Welsh Guards celebrate 100 year history
26 February 2015


The Welsh Guards, the fifth regiment of Foot Guards, an icon of British military tradition in their red tunics and bearskins, celebrate their centenary today.


As war raged in Flanders during the First World War the Welsh Guards were brought into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of His Majesty King George V, in order to include Wales in the national component of the Foot Guards, which already included England, Scotland and Ireland. Many of those first Welsh Guardsman who formed the Regiment were Welshmen who transferred from The Grenadier Guards, eager to represent their nation at home and abroad.


Since their founding the Welsh Guards have fought in some of the most challenging conflicts of the modern age. From the First and Second World Wars to Egypt, Palestine, Aden, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, the Falkland Islands, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, they have served with distinction, their guardsmen awarded numerous honours including 2 VCs.


The 1st Battalion Welsh Guards marched out of Wellington Barracks to mount its first King's Guard for Buckingham Palace on 1 March 1915 – St David's Day. A year later the battalion were at the Somme where they combined the first anniversary of their founding and the Welsh national day with their very first presentation of ceremonial leeks - an event which has become a Welsh Guards' annual tradition. Their first Victoria Cross was awarded in July 1917 for the bravery of the remarkable Sergeant Robert Bye.



The 2nd Battalion, Welsh Guards was created in 1939 and as WW2 raged, a third Battalion was raised in 1941. The 1st Battalion fought valiantly as part of the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium and France, before being part of the legendary Evacuation of Dunkirk that saw 340,000 troops return to the UK against all odds. The 2nd Battalion fought in Boulogne in 1940 and both Battalions joined the Guards Armoured Division, with the 1st Battalion being infantry and the 2nd armoured. The two battalions worked closely, being the first troops to re-enter Brussels on 3 September 1944 after an advance of 100 miles in one day in what was described as 'an armoured lash unequalled for speed in this or any other war'....



Much more interesting history here.


;


 Welsh Guards Celebrate Centenary With Mega Marathon 

From British Forces News

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Brian Terry Statue erected to Honor him



From FOX News:

Statue honoring murdered Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry unveiled
March 1, 2015


A statue honoring murdered United States Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was unveiled Saturday at the now re-named Brian Terry Patrol Station in Bisbee, Arizona.


 "That iconic image of Brian carrying his BordTac team member on his shoulders represents everything good about Brian, his strength, his determination, his attention to detail, his love for the Border Patrol and his love for his fellow agents," Terry's cousin, Robert Heyer, said.


 Terry's family established the Brian Terry Foundation to honor his memory and create a legacy in his name. The foundation provides emotional and financial assistance for U.S. Border Patrol agents and their families.


 Terry was killed in a 2010 gun fight between border patrol agents and members of a gang attempting to steal marijuana from smugglers. Authorities later determined that the gang's weapons were part of the Justice Department's botched "gun-walking" program Operation Fast and Furious...

More details here.