From Countercolumn: Zero casualties in Al Anbar last week - for the first time since 2003.
Guess these guys were wrong: Anbar province "politically lost", 9/11/2006. Heh.
Anbar background
Al Qaeda arrests around the world [from Long War Journal]:
Six in Spain
Seven in France
Best. News. Ever. - "The darkness has become pitch black" - Osama runnin' scared, lol.
Seen at Grunt Doc:
His survival relied on the Army’s top vascular neurosurgeon guiding Iraq-based U.S. military physicians via laptop, the Air Force’s third nonstop medical evacuation from Central Command to America, and the best physicians Bethesda National Naval Medical Center in Maryland could offer.Read the whole thing at Army Times. Wow.
We've been hearing scuttlebutt about some horses that may not be well maintained - possibly inadequate shelter, poor nutrition (visible ribs), etc. So here, links to the basics on what you're lookin' at and who to call to make a complaint.
The horse's body condition is scored on a scale developed by Dr. Don Henneke, called, unsurprisingly, the Henneke Scale. This is an MS Word doc that will download and open, so you can easily save it for future reference or printing. If that bugs ya, google the phrase "Henneke Scale" for a different format.
Here are some photos of horses, rated by the author of the page. Not for the faint of heart. In a nutshell, you shouldn't be seein' ribs, overgrown hooves, wounds attracting flies, or too much fat.
Who to call? We've heard that humane enforcement by Bogalusa Police Department and the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office is spotty and inconsistent.
We recommend phoning Humane Society of Louisiana, 1.888.6 HUMANE, or fill out their online form, which can be done anonymously. They were prompt and effective at getting care for the animals at Cassidy Park.
You can also contact the Louisiana Livestock Brand Commission Crimestoppers at 1.800.558.9741.
Some months ago, a soldier in Baghdad wrote a piece on the way war can degrade the morals and affect the judgment of combat soldiers. His story was published at face-value in The New Republic magazine. In it the soldier wrote terrible things about his unit, making the article sensational.
I was in Iraq when it first hit the stands and someone asked me about the plausibility of the events described in the article. I skimmed the story but it did not even pass a simple sniff-test. With a shooting war going on, there is no time for trivial pursuits, so my only comment was something like, “It sounds like a bunch of garbage.” Turned out it was.
The soldier’s name was Beauchamp. He’d tried to hide his identity, but poor Beauchamp had no idea that the blog world would get on his trail and tree him like a coon. Beauchamp crawled up to the top of that tree, looked down into the snarling spotlight, and suddenly knew he was caught.
Who was she? Via Wikipedia:
A former partisan during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career.
She has interviewed many internationally known leaders and celebrities such as the Dalai Lama, Henry Kissinger, the Shah of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, Willy Brandt, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Walter Cronkite, Omar Khadafi, Federico Fellini, Sammy Davis Jr, Nguyen Cao Ky, Yasir Arafat, Indira Gandhi, Alexandros Panagoulis, Archbishop Makarios III, Golda Meir, Nguyen Van Thieu, Haile Selassie and Sean Connery.
After retirement, she returned to the spotlight after writing a series of articles and books critical of Islam and Arabs that aroused substantial support, controversy and accusations of racism and Islamophobia.
She refused to candycoat her criticisms of Islam. She refused to submit to jihadi thugs. Her books, her life, her rage and her reason serve as fiery inspirations in an era of flinching dhimmitude.*
Buy her books if you haven’t yet to see why the jihadists wanted her put in jail for “insulting Islam:”
And put those babies in car seats.
Infant dies after accident ejected him from vehicle
I dunno what year 4Runner they were driving, but the 2008 model was made to hold SEVEN. They were carrying EIGHT.
The driver oughtta be charged.
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Having volunteered for Iraq, Mark Daily was killed in January by an I.E.D. Dismayed to learn that his pro-war articles helped persuade Daily to enlist, the author measures his words against a family's grief and a young man's sacrifice. Link.via Gulf Coast Pundit
There was a uniform crackdown at Bogalusa Middle the other day. Big deal in the city schools, wearing the uniform and wearing it properly. Bunch of kids were pulled out of class to be written up for such minutiae as wearing socks that didn't show over their shoes.
I'm all for discipline, but with poor academic performance, it doesn't make sense to further lower kids' instructional time over what they're wearing.
How 'bout a sign around their neck labeled "violator" instead, and send a note home?
From The Hill:
“The amount of money that has been wasted on these so-called ‘recovery’ efforts has been mind-boggling,” said Tancredo... Citing administration figures, the lawmaker said that $114 billion has been spent on the effort... The lawmaker criticized in particular the amount that has been wasted through fraud and abuse, estimated at $1 billion.
