July 19, 2005
Retired Gen. William Westmoreland Dies
Retired Gen. William Westmoreland, who commanded American troops in Vietnam — the nation's longest conflict and the only war America lost — died Monday night. He was 91.Westmoreland died of natural causes at Bishop Gadsden retirement home, where he had lived with his wife for several years, said his son, James Ripley Westmoreland.
More about Westmoreland here
A CNN interview with him here
Wikipedia entry
More stories here
April 29, 2005
L-3 Subsidiary Under Criminal Investigation Over Military Rescue Radios
Boeing subcontractor L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (L-3, not to be confused with wholesale telecom provider Level 3 Communications) is under federal criminal investigation after Interstate Electronics Corp., one of its subsidiaries, supplied defective parts used in CSEL emergency radios to locate downed military pilots.
Interstate Electronics Corp. purchased many of the parts from lower-level suppliers, but it is responsible for supervising the manufacturing process, testing the parts and verifying they meet quality standards.
Pentagon criminal investigators and contract-management officials now suspect that Interstate Electronics may have supplied thousands of other, potentially substandard parts over the years to a wide range of Army and Air Force weapons systems. The Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office is leading this investigation, and its expansion means that L-3 could be subject to greater penalties if found guilty of wrongdoing. The US government (primarily the military) accounts for more than 75% of the company's business.
New industry blog Defense Industry Daily explains:
April 05, 2005
U.S. Re-Entry to Get Tougher for Americans
Americans will need passports to re-enter the United States from Canada , Mexico, Panama and Bermuda by 2008, part of a tightening of U.S. border controls in an era of terrorist threat, three administration officials said Tuesday.Similarly, Canadians will also have to present a passport to enter the United States, the officials said.
The announcement, expected later Tuesday at the State Department, will specify that a passport or another valid travel document will have to be shown by U.S. citizens, the officials said.
These include a document called Sentri that is used for Mexico travel or a Nexus for Canada travel.
January 27, 2005
"Some External Damage" [Updated]
From CNN of 11th January :
The U.S. Navy submarine accident that killed one sailor and injured 24 others occurred when the vessel — traveling at high speed — hit an undersea mountain head-on, Pentagon officials said Monday.Saturday's accident near Guam caused part of the sonar dome, which is part of the submarine's nose, to flood, officials said.
The commander of the USS San Francisco, Kevin Mooney, has not been relieved of duty while the investigation of the accident continues.
Mooney could be relieved of duty if officials determine there is enough evidence that the accident could have been averted.
The investigation will look at the sub's speed, its location and whether the undersea formation was on navigational charts, officials said.
The submarine was traveling in excess of 33 knots — about 35 mph —when its nose hit the undersea formation head-on, officials said.
The nuclear submarine docked Monday at a U.S. naval base in Guam, a spokesman with the U.S. Pacific Fleet said.
The San Francisco was escorted to port by U.S. Navy and Coast Guard vessels, according to Lt. j.g. Adam Clampitt. The submarine suffered “some external damage,” he said.
From a German USS San Francisco website :
At 12 noon, January 8, Guam Time, the USS SAN FRANCISCO hits an unchartered undersea mountain while travelling at high speed about 500 ft below surface.
Just released picture (via Navy News) below :
The boat's pressure-hull begins just about where the missing bit ends. That the crew managed to recover and surface the boat after a head-on prang at 500 ft and 33 knots is miraculous.
UPDATE : More details and first-person accounts over at AEBrain. Also, please see Op-Ed article for how to help the family of the crewman who died.
Although all but ignored by Mainstream Media, the saga of the San Francisco's ordeal is one of the great naval dramas of our time.
January 18, 2005
Man Threatens to Blow Up Van Near White House
Police on Tuesday surrounded a van one block from the White House after the driver threatened to blow it up, but the FBI linked the incident to a domestic dispute, not terrorism.The incident sparked a major emergency in central Washington as stringent security precautions were being put into effect two days before the inauguration of President Bush.
“It's domestic, not terrorism,” said a spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington field office.
“The man apparently is claiming he has 15 gallons of gasoline in his van and he'll blow it up if he doesn't get his child back. Law enforcement is trying to address it,” the spokeswoman added.
Reuters witnesses saw a man in a large red van near the U.S. Treasury building, which is adjacent to the White House. He put his hands up after being ordered to do so by police but apparently did not get out.
Bush was not at the White House at the time. He was attending an event aimed at honoring U.S. troops that was part of the inauguration festivities.
Cross-posted: Backcountry Conservative
"Outposts Of Tyranny"
The Associated Press reports that Secretary of State Designate Condoleezza Rice named Cuba, Myanmar, Belarus, Zimbabwe “outposts of tyranny:”
“To be sure, in our world there remain outposts of tyranny and America stands with oppressed people on every continent … in Cuba, and Burma (Myanmar), and North Korea, and Iran, and Belarus, and Zimbabwe,” Rice told a Senate committee considering her nomination to succeed Colin Powell as secretary of state.
From California Yankee.
January 16, 2005
Family of 4 slaughtered in Jersey [updated]
The NY Post reports a murder in Jersey City and in a followup article mentions a threat made to the father of the family on a chat website after the father made some comments about Muslims. The nature of the comments made by the father are not known.
/Grain of salt?/
The threat comes from another user of the chat site who claims to have witnessed the exchange.
A family of Christians who fled persecution in Egypt ran into a bloody nightmare in Jersey City — where the husband, wife and their two daughters were found knifed to death in their home yesterday, authorities said.
Quoted from this story: http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/38587.htm
The married father of two had recently been threatened by Muslim members of the Web site, said a fellow Copt and store clerk who uses the chat room.“You'd better stop this bull—— or we are going to track you down like a chicken and kill you,” was the threat, said the clerk, who was online at the time and saw the exchange.
But Armanious refused to back down, according to two sources who use the Web site.
Quoted from this followup: http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/38704.htm
Updated
Local radio station 1010 WINS in New York reports:
Grief, Rage At Funeral For Murdered Family
December 19, 2004
TIME: Bush "Man of the Year"; Powerline "Blog of the Year"
TIME Magazine has named G. W. Bush “Man of the Year”
For sharpening the debate until the choices bled, for reframing reality to match his design, for gambling his fortunes—and ours—on his faith in the power of leadership.
Of note: For the first time TIME also selected a “Blog of the Year,” naming the extremely deserving Powerline.
“Before this year, blogs were a curiosity, a cult phenomenon, a faintly embarrassing hobby on the order of ham radio and stamp collecting. But in 2004, blogs unexpectedly vaulted into the pantheon of major media, alongside TV, radio and, yes, magazines, and it was Power Line, more than any other blog, that got them there,” writes TIME’s Lev Grossman.
Well, not quite before this year … we'd point Lev to this site going mainstream back in the dark days of March, 2003 as just one example of pre-2004 blog media legitimacy. Regardless, great work John and Scott … you've done us proud!
December 13, 2004
Jury Recommends Execution for Peterson
The Associated Press reports that the jury decided that Scott Peterson should be executed for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, whose Christmas Eve disappearance two years ago was the opening act in a legal drama that captivated the nation.
From California Yankee.
December 11, 2004
Pentagon Ousts Official Under FBI Investigation
The Los Angeles Times reports that John A. “Jack” Shaw, the Pentagon's deputy undersecretary for international technology security, was ordered to leave after he refused to sign a letter of resignation:
“He was asked to discontinue his service,” a senior Pentagon official said.
Shaw was under investigation by the FBI on allegations that he tried to steer Iraqi reconstruction contracts toward friends:
Shaw allegedly tried to steer two contracts, one involving telecommunications and a second involving dredging at an Iraqi port, to companies linked to longtime friends or clients of longtime friends.
Shaw made news late in the presidential campaign, when he said that missing 380 tons of explosives had removed by Russian commandos before the March 2003 invasion.
From California Yankee.
December 07, 2004
House Approves Intelligence Reform
Reuters reports that the House of Representatives voted 336-75 approving legislation reforming intelligence.
The Senate is expected to pass the bill on Wednesday.
November 29, 2004
Landlord Tenant Dispute Or Facing Down Islamic Radicalism?
Pastor Lee Wasson claims his Kissimmee Christian Academy was cast out of its old home in favor of the Islamic Universal Heritage Foundation because religious discrimination on the part of the Academy's Islamic landlord, Super Stop Petroleum. The landlord and the Foundation deny Wasson's accusation, saying the reason for the school's eviction is that it owes rent and other money.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Wasson and a growing number of Kissimmee church leaders are standing up to what they perceive as radical Islam. According to the Sentinel, they take what experts say is a black-and-white stand on murky subject:
Even authorities have trouble separating real threats from alarmist claims, said Art Teitelbaum, Southern-area director for the Anti-Defamation League.
“In a microcosmic way, this is a story on how America is responding to the perceived and actual threat of Islamic radicalism,” Teitelbaum said.
They're having a tough time. Americans know the burning crosses of white supremacy and the swastikas of anti-Semitism. But what does Islamic radicalism look like? Few really know, he said.
From California Yankee.
November 28, 2004
President Bush Targeted For Assassination
Reuters reports that President Bush was targeted for assassination by Colombian rebels when he visited Cartagena last week:
“According to informants and various sources, we had information indicating that various members of the FARC had been instructed by their leaders to make an attempt against President Bush,” Defense Secretary Jorge Alberto Uribe told reporters.
From California Yankee.
November 13, 2004
Cheney Taken To Hospital
Fox News is reporting broadcasting that Vice President Cheney has been taken to a hospital complaining of shortness of breath.
UPDATE: Reuters reports:
Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a history of heart attacks, was headed to the hospital on Saturday after he experienced shortness of breath, which could be related to a cold, the White House said.
UPDATE II: The Associated Press now reports that tests found no abnormalities and Cheney left the hospital after three hours:
“I feel fine,” the 63-year-old vice president said as he walked out with his wife, Lynne. Cheney smiled and waved. “Sorry we ruined your Saturday,” Mrs. Cheney said. “We're great.”
A pacemaker implanted in Cheney's chest three years ago indicated no irregularities during the past 90 days, said Mary Matalin, a spokeswoman for the vice president. The device gives doctors a three-month readout. She said an electrocardiogram, which measures the heart's electrical activity, showed no change.
She said Cheney probably had a viral upper respiratory infection but there was no cardiac or pulmonary problem behind his shortness of breath.
From California Yankee.