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Mover Mike

Mike is a retired stock broker, and now supports his wife's furniture business. He is her warehouseman, deluxer, and marketing guru. In addition, he writes poetry and finds abundance, health and joy in the world around him while pondering life's little mysteries

Monday, July 31, 2006

Two Koreas Exchange Gunfire
A case of disproportionate response:
The clash happened just before sunset when North Korean soldiers fired two bullets toward South Korean guard post in the eastern part of the Demilitarized Zone and South Korean soldiers immediately fired back six rounds, the top commanders said.
Repercussions of High Oil
The Oregonian carries a story, Soaring costs throw Oregon road projects a curve, by James Mayer outlining the rapidly increasing costs of highway construction and repair since 2004, up 13%. However, in some cases the increases are staggering:
The average price the state paid for liquid asphalt in Portland jumped 61 percent in the first seven months of this year, from $207 a ton to $333 a ton. The asphalt bill on some projects has doubled.
Bottom line higher oil prices have added $100 million or more to state highway projects on the books.
Officials say money to complete current work will have to be diverted from future projects, upsetting plans to repave aging freeways, repair or replace crumbling bridges and relieve traffic jams.
But, the government tells us there is no inflation!

James Mayer

Guard the Borders Blogburst
The North American Union, SPP, and NASCO: Erasing America’s Borders By Heidi at Euphoric Reality

Our government has undertaken some monumental legislation that fully impacts the American way of life, our freedom, and our sovereignty. The purpose of such legislation is to homogenize Canada, Mexico, and the United States into a North American Union - and we're all going to sleep through it.

Have you heard of a little-known program called the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America? This tri-lateral partnership was signed by President Bush last year without Congressional oversight or public approval. Opponents of the SPP have called it NAFTA on steroids - and we all know how disastrous NAFTA has been for everyone except Mexico. It also appears to be modeled on the ineffective and highly unpopular European Union (unpopular with the people, that is).

I went to the website, www.spp.gov, to begin my research. There are, indeed, no boundaries between Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. when it comes to the cooperation of financial, trade, and foreign affair departments. Though some of the PR language on the website sounds fairly benign, the commissions are picking up momentum. And you know what happens when bureaucrats start grasping at influence and power! Except that now we don't have to just worry about our own greedy bureaucrats - but Canada's and Mexico's too.

This is not some weird and obscure conspiracy website, it is our government's plan to literally give away or sell our national sovereignty. What is most galling is that we will share responsibility for security across North America. It is very conceivable that we could see our troops deployed to secure the southern border of Mexico. Yes, you read that right - not OUR unsecured warzone of a southern border - but Mexico's border with Belize and Guatemala. That is the conclusion of an investigative report done by Lou Dobbs on CNN:

Robert B. Murray notes:

President George W. Bush, President Vicente Fox of Mexico, and former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin agreed in March 2005 to create this union by executive regulations and agreements rather than by treaty to bypass Congress. Twenty working groups were formed and are well on their way to establishing a super-government for North America that will not be bound by our Constitution. The web site for this new bureaucracy—located at www.spp.gov—provides a look at their plans and accomplishments thus far. The plan is to have this arrangement implemented by 2010.

Behind its innocuous title, the “Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,” the United States will surrender its Constitution. According to Jerome R. Corsi, an author and political commentator, our nation-state prerogatives would be superseded by the authority of a North American court and parliamentary body and our dollar would become the “Amero.”

Possibly the strongest leg of the SPP is NASCO - North America's SuperCorridor Coalition - otherwise known as the NAFTA Superhighway. Airily dismissed by some public officials as internet rumors and hype and completely unaffordable, NASCO has quietly been amassing funding and already begun preliminary construction in Texas.

NASCO Superhighway.jpg
...already underway is the plan for a NAFTA Superhighway: 1,200 feet wide, stretching from Lazaro Cardenas on the west coast of Mexico, entering the United States at Laredo, Texas, and continuing straight north to Winnipeg, Canada, with another route to Kansas City thence north easterly to Detroit and Montreal.

Containerized goods from Asia will be offloaded onto Mexican trucks, with Mexican drivers, and distributed throughout the economic system. Go to www.nascocorridor.com to view the plan and progress. There will be no internal boundaries to restrict the flow of people, goods or services.

In fact, the first customs stop on the Superhighway will be in the heart of America - Kansas City! Along the way, primary U.S. labor unions will be by-passed in favor of Mexican labor, including the Longshoremen’s Union, the railroad United Transportation Union, and the Teamsters.

How will such a massive flow of goods and foreign traffic be monitored? According to author Jerome Corsi,

"Across the NAFTA Super-Highways will flow millions more Mexicans, now armed with North American border passes and biometric identification, as defined by the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America working groups organized within the Department of Commerce."

Similar toll systems snaking their way from the southern and northern borders cutting through major American cities will force American citizens to submit to having RFID enabled identification cards which contain an ever-increasing array of information about their personal lives.

Illegal aliens with cloned RFID transponders will enjoy streamlined access to the US while Americans labor under the financial burden of tolls that go directly to foreign corporations and restrictions that take the right of free travel out of their hands. This and more is occurring without Congressional oversight, but is naturally funded with our state and federal tax dollars.

But our public officials are saying this could never happen, if only because it's completely unaffordable! Not so, since foreign investment will cover any gaps that taxing the American people leaves. Additionally, the Bush administration has embarked on a policy of selling off key US infrastructure to the highest bidder - in most cases foreign owned corporations.
[K]ey players, including the investment bankers and the worldwide capital investment funds, have a plan to address these fiscal shortcomings with their own resources. On April 30, 1992, President George H.W. Bush signed Executive Order No. 12803 on infrastructure privatization, a move that cleared the way for private capital to invest in U.S. infrastructure projects, including highways.
For instance, the Indiana Toll Road, Virginia's Pocahontas Parkway, a Texas toll road from Austin to Sequin and The Chicago Skyway have all been sold or leased for 99 years to foreign companies who will all enjoy billions in profits from American citizens forced to pay the tolls. And now the New Jersey Turnpike and the Ohio Turnpike are also under the hammer with foreign interests at the forefront of the negotiations.

An earlier Corsi article cites government websites which carry full planning details of the Super Highway. Its construction has already begun in Texas with no congressional oversight whatsoever. The Trans-Texas Corridor is being overseen by The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the contract is owned by the Cintra corporation which in turn is owned by the King of Spain Juan Carlos. The project is being financed by the implementation of a toll that will be collected by means of GPS tracking devices installed in all vehicles and also envelops many connecting roads to the highway. (Toll road info summarized by Paul Watson)

Watson further adds this dire prediction, "To even be allowed to use major roads and highways, US citizens will be subject to a criminal background check and the government will have the ability to pinpoint their particular RFID signal and remotely block it from central computer mainframes - effectively abolishing freedom of mobility in America."

President Ronald Reagan once said, “A nation without borders is not a nation.” While we’ve been looking elsewhere, our own government has implemented a comprehensive plan to erase our borders with Canada and Mexico. The NAFTA Superhighway will allow vehicles, people and goods to travel from Mexico, into the American heartland, and up to Canada with little impediment, making America's borders obsolete. Coupled with Bush's blanket amnesty program, the new North American Union and the NAFTA Superhighway (NASCO) will fully expedite the wholesale dismantling of American sovereignty. It would seem that the while the rest of the world is already lining up to get their piece of the American pie, Americans will be the last to know. It is happening quietly and behind our backs, while our attention is fully engaged by the War on Terror, the upcoming elections, and our personal lives.

_________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our Blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

War in the Mid-East
Hat Tip Free Republic:

Israel has run out of time!
Purported Rice plan is a no-go!

The plan:

# a U.N.-mandated multinational force that can help stabilize in the region
# disarming Hezbollah and integrating the guerrilla force into the Lebanese army;
# Hezbollah's return of Israeli prisoners;
# a buffer zone in southern Lebanon to put Hezbollah rockets out of range of Israel;
# a commitment to resolve the status of a piece of land held by Israel and claimed by Lebanon;
# and the creation of an international reconstruction plan for Lebanon.
Why would Hezbollah agree to disarmament when they just claimed victory?
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared victory on Saturday after Israel announced it was withdrawing its forces from the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail, where Israeli troops found unexpected difficulty in dislodging the guerrilla group from its strongholds.
Why on earth would you integrate Hezbollah into the Lebanese army? Do you want to radicalize the Lebanese? Do you have any idea how wide a buffer zone needs to be? Already, the Hezbollah have a new missile that fires over 30 Miles.

In another development noted by Doctor Zin, Iran said there can be no cease-fire deal without Syria and Iran involved and for once I would agree.

The Rome conference (which is meeting today) is to be attended by the US, Canada, Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as the UN and the World Bank.
Meanwhile, Israel has run out of time! The Rice plan is a no-go, but the reins are pulling hard on Israel. All the media can do is carry the Hezbollah side regarding casualties and make out Israel as the bad guy. If you are israel you must crush the enemy early and break their will to fight. Now they are fighting a real fight and a PR fight. A cease-fire will only encourage Israel's enemies.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Let's Answer Some Gold and Gold Share Questions.
Yesterday, I received an email from Jane pointing out that Jeffrey Christian had given an interview on TheStreet.com and the emailer asked the question,
I am very confused that why the most of gold stocks keep declining while gold is keeping to go up. Is the situation normal? How long it can keep like this way? Does it suggests that the gold is peaked and need a deep pullback? I was on the wrong side of the market for the gold stock since last year.
Jane, Martin Goldberg writes at FMNN in UNHEALTHY MIX OF TECHNICAL FACTORS ABOUND about a number of factors signaling an unhealthy stock market and includes this section:
Review of the HUI

The daily action in gold and gold stocks has been wild and the down days severe. It pays to look at the long term view as illustrated in the chart of the gold bugs index ($HUI), below. In Elliott terms, the HUI is in Wave 2 of Wave III. Wave 2’s are corrective or counter to the long term trend which is up. The corrective patterns tend to be irregular and tricky, and this describes the daily action in the $HUI. Since Wave 1 lasted about 5 months, it would be expected that Wave 2 would likely last longer than its current age of about 1 1/2 months. It is possible that the approximate 50% retracement (to about 275) was the low price within the Wave 2 correction of Wave 1.

Once Wave 3 gets started, this will be Wave 3 of Wave III and this wave promises to be quite rewarding to gold stock bulls.

For long term investors, the evidence suggests that gold stocks are likely to be good places to preserve wealth or even prosper, because an unhealthy mix of technical factors abound.

I am not a big user of Elliot Wave Theory, I have trouble figuring out all the waves, and sub-waves, but the chart is instructive in a couple of ways. First, $HUI went sideways for two years in a wide range from Q4, 2003 to Q4, 2005 and then broke out of that range. That alone could make an investor frustrated with gold shares. Second, IMO, we are still testing the breakout. Third, the sideways movement often translates into the same length or longer of an up movement making the next major peak in late 2007 or early 2008. Fourth, Elliot Wave posits five waves in a bull market. That would mean after a correction, wave IV, would come wave V! Fifth, in Gold closed in December, 2003 at $416 and $HUI was about 240. Today Gold is $635 and $HUI is 330. $HUI is up 37% and Gold is up 53%. $HUI not only has underperformed Gold and one reason, costs, like energy, have increased more than Gold has increased, but you'd expect $HUI to outperform Gold because of the leverage. Sixth, $HUI outperforms Gold at times.

IMO, here's what to expect in the future:
1. Oil stays at this level or goes much higher.
2. Gold continues higher through 2007.
3. Gold traditionally sells at 15 times OIL, yielding a minimum price for Gold of $1,125, a 77% increase.
4. $HUI tracks Gold and only goes up 50% = 495.
5. $HUI outperforms Gold at some point.

What is $HUI? $HUI is:

The AMEX Gold BUGS Index(Basket of Unhedged Gold Stocks) represents a portfolio of 16 major gold mining companies.The Index is designed to give investors significant exposure to near term movements in gold prices - by including companies that do not hedge their gold production beyond 1 1/2 years.
The index consists of

Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd NYSE:AEM
Bema Gold Corp AMEX:BGO
Coeur D Alene Mines Corp NYSE:CDE
Eldorado Gold Corp Ltd AMEX:EGO
Freeport-Mcmoran Copper & Gold Inc NYSE:FCX
Glamis Gold Ltd NYSE:GLG
Gold Fields Ltd NYSE:GFI
Goldcorp Inc NYSE:GG
Golden Star Resources Ltd AMEX:GSS
Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd AMEX:HMY
Hecla Mining Co NYSE:HL
Iamgold Corp NYSE:IAG
Kinross Gold Corp NYSE:KGC
Meridian Gold Inc NYSE:MDG
Newmont Mining Corp NYSE:NEM
Randgold Resources Ltd NasdaqNM:GOLD

Jane, I hope that answers your question.

One final thought. Go to Yahoo Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5y&s=%5EHUI&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=) and compare the performance of $HUI to the S&P, DJIA, any Gold stock or any other stock. You will see that in the last 5 years $HUI is up 400% and the Dow is about flat; S&P is about flat; the Gold ETF, GLD, has traded almost 1:1 with $HUI. One reason I own GSS is that at times GSS was up 1000% while $HUI was up 300%. In the last two years GSS is actually down vs $HUI. I think I will get a double bounce with GSS if Gold and $HUI continue to climb. IMO, we will see GSS outperform both $HUI and Gold.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Any Gold Sellers Out There?
Here's a hoot!

I received this email today:

I was wondering if you could help me with something. I am looking for large orders of gold bars to buy at a discount. Very large orders. It’s for an asset management firm. I am looking for the following : 12.5kg bars (400oz), 999,5% or better. Target price LMER 2nd fixing. Discount 8%-10% gross. We will provide LOI, NCND &MFPA after which FCO is required. Do you know any sellers.
I replied: With Central Banks short 10,000 to 15,000 tons of gold, why in the world would anyone sell you size at a discount? No I can't help you.

Note to readers: If you are stupid, I can put you in touch with the buyer.

“Embassy Baghdad”
I received today my Early Warning Report by Richard Maybury (by subscription only) and this item caught my attention "What's the Iraq Embassy for?"
The US embassy in Moscow is a 13-floor office building plus ambassador's house on 12 acres.

The most important US embassy in the world, for a half-century the Moscow operation has been the center for diplomacy, espionage and sabotage against the second most powerful government ever seen ob earth, one with thousands of nuclear weapons. It was also the largest US embassy, until now.

Ten acres is typical for a permanent US emnbassy in a highly important country. The new Iraq embassy is 104 acres with 21 buildings, most of which appear to be at least seven stories high, ringed by a 15-foot thick wall. Not 15 feet high, 15 feet thick. 8,000 workers will staff it.


AP file Construction cranes loom above the site of the new U.S. Embassy being built in Baghdad. The embassy will sit on 104 acres, six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York and two-thirds the acreage of Washington’s National Mall.

The story broke on MSNBC news on April 14, 2006 and checking Technorati, several blogs covered it. With the announcement in the last few days that the numbers of troops in Iraq will increase, I thought enough attention had not been focused on the structure.

Maybury asks "is this really an embassy, or is it headquarters for a permanent US war throughout the Islamic world?

Hat tips to:
Community, Identity, Stability
dunneIV
Headlines News and Opinion
AND NOW THE APOCALYPSE!
My Buffalo River Home

Oregon Quake 7-28-06
MAP 2.3 2006/07/28 23:59:15 45.188 -122.806 27.7 1 km ( 0 mi) N of Hubbard, OR
Jeffrey Christian Surfaces...
Jeffrey Christian has re-surfaced on TheStreet.com in an interview. You can see it here.

He's much smaller than I had him pictured. He also admits that his consulting group CPM Group predicted in the fourth quarter of 2005 that gold would average $479 (I love it that these guys can be so precise!).

He's asked if he is still bearish. Christian says, "clearly, price overshot by a wide margin." No kidding! It only went to $736 on 5/11.

He did predict late in Q1, 2006 that he had a $600 price target for April. So if you had followed his advice of selling at $600 (though based on his 4th quarter prediction, I don't have a clue why anyone would be long Gold), but assuming you sold at $600, you would have watched it continue on another $140 or almost 25% before peaking.

So now you are out of Gold at $600. The lowest price since then has been $563 and I don't have any evidence that he got you back in. Now he is saying that gold ran up in anticipation of the war in the MId East and is down because "Syria and Iran have not been lured in." What nonsense! I am sure the CIA would like to know Christian's sources who anticipated that Hezbollah would abduct two soldiers and prompt Israel to counter attack.

"Lured" is another good choice of words. Syria and Iran are already in the mix as support for Hezbollah. It's a question of whether they will be punished for their actions. Isn't it nice to know that Syria and Iran won't be coming into this war. Thanks Christian and the CIA thanks you, too.

Christian is on record saying that yes Gold could pop, but over the long term, gold is over valued and should average $500. Now he is calling for a seasonal AND cyclical peak of somewhere between $700 and $1,000 (why no precision here, I wonder) by April of 2007, because he expects the economic and political environment to continue to deteriorate, helping Gold. Sounds to me like he's buying into all this garbage we read about Bush and his party taking a big dump at election time.

Why would anyone pay the slightest attention to anything this man says? If you want to hear the truth read Bill Murphy of Le Metropole Cafe, or James Turk or James Sinclair or Dan Norcini or Adrian Douglas or Mover Mike. TheStreet.com should be ashamed for trotting this guy out and then latching on to his highest price of $1,000.

The one reason why Christian will not make you any money: He has no clue that central banks are short 10,000 to 15,000 tons of Gold and they can't buy it back without sending the price to the moon. You know that PD shorted copper and cost themselves over $500 Million and they are still not clean. We know ABX is short Gold at basically $300 and has a mark to market loss on the books of at least $3 Billion. Who knows how much it cost to get the central banks Gold back.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Jeffrey Christian Surfaces...
  2. Bad News from PD!
Storm Large's Encore
Someone meaning to be derogatory, commented on one of the blogs about Rock Star: Supernova, "Can you imagine watching Storm Large for an hour and a half?" Portland fans would say, "Hell Yeah!" You decide! Here is the encore she gave Wednesday night:

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Storm Large...Tonight!
  2. Storm Large's Encore

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Gold and the USD
Something very bullish is happening in the charts of gold over the last seven weeks. I have posted about the "island" that was left at the bottom. A gap down on 6/13 and a gap back up on 6/30, leaving an island of 2 1/2 weeks. Gold traded up as high $669 on 7/14 before correcting. However it never filled the gap on 6/30, instead it has rallied and today left another gap from $621.90, trading as high as $640! (see chart).

Is Gold signaling weakness in the USD? James Turk sure thinks the USD is about to break down. The founder of Gold Money says

I therefore expect that it won't be too long before the Dollar Index begins falling away from here, and a close in the Dollar Index below 84.00 is likely to start a rout in the dollar.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Psalm 83?
Now this is a strange tale.

CNN reports an engineer in Dublin, Ireland was

digging up bogland last week to create commercial potting soil somewhere in Ireland's midlands when "just beyond the bucket of his bulldozer, he spotted something."
It was a book of Psalms and archeologists think it is from the time of 800 to 1000 AD. It is odd that it could have survived in the bog for that length of time and odd that it was unearthed and not destroyed. The real strange thing is that
the book was found open to a page describing, in Latin script, Psalm 83, in which God hears complaints of other nations' attempts to wipe out the name of Israel.
Jerry Jenkins along with Tim LaHaye and Joel Rosenberg spoke with CNN's Kyra Phillips about whether this is a signal of the "end times". Jenkins and LaHaye are co-authors of the left behind series of novels detailing the rapture. Joel Rosenberg is a geopolitical writer who has specialized in novels that interpret the prophesies as it relates to Israel and the Middle East. Rosenberg's latest novel is The Copper Scroll.

Sad Day for Phil on Rock Star: Supernova
Well, Storm wasn't dissed this week. She was called to do an encore of "Anything Anything" (Dramarama). She didn't do the dive into the pit the second time. She was even more intense and left everything on the stage. What a performance!

The bottom three this week turned out to be Patrice, Zayre and Phil. All three gave their best performances so far, and in the end Phil was released. Gilbey just didn't think Phil wanted to be a member of the band enough.

Which reminds me of a comment I saw on The Portland Mercury, PDX Blog devoted to Portland:

I'll continue to vote until she's (Storm Large) in the final 3, after that I'm voting her out. I'd be totally embarrassed for Portland if someone as talented as Storm was the lead singer for ass-hacks like Tommy Lee. Posted by: mercjunkie | July 6, 2006 11:09 AM
Can't say I don't disagree with mercjunkie.

What is the attraction to Storm? For me she's the fast girl I was afraid to date in high school. Oh, I wanted to, but I could see that going out with that beer swillin', cigarette smoking, loose woman, the opposite of good ol' mom could change me from the conservative, "wanta be a lawyer" and then make it in politics, white guy.

I wanted to learn about sex from her, but didn;'t want her to think it was my first time. So some of us marry the "good girl" the one we put on a pedestal, only to find that a real woman doesn't want to be put there. She wants you to know and appreciate all her aspects, the light and the dark, and love her all the more. Took me a long time to learn that. Here's to all the Storm's I missed in life.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Sad Day for Phil on Rock Star: Supernova
  2. Rock Star: Supernova 7-25-06
Bad News from PD!
When you buy stock in a natural resource company, you expect to reap capital gains if the price of oil, or silver or gold or copper go up. The reason is leverage. Your costs remain relatively fixed but your revenue soars. Or that's how it should be, only it's not with today's announcement from Phelps Dodge (PD), and If I were a shareholder, I would be livid.

According to the WSJ Online (by subscription only),

PD's second-quarter net income fell 31% despite high commodity (copper) prices, due to a huge charge tied to hedges the company put in place to protect against volatility of metals prices.
Seems PD sold options on copper at an average $.95 and copper double and doubled again. They had to buy them back! It cost them
$514.6 million...for mark-to-market adjustments on copper price collars and put options that covered about 25% of its production. Similar hedges cover about 20% of Phelps Dodge's 2007 production, and the company declined to say whether it would try to unwind those.
So PD investors be prepared for some more disappointing earnings.

Now PD is not alone. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) has done much the same thing in Gold with options averaging prices of $300 per ounce. Gold has doubled and is likely to double again and again and again. Meantime, ABX is only down $3 Billion. But, hey, it's only shareholders money and the government will probably bail ABX out. The lesson for shareholders: do not buy shares in companies that hedge their production.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Jeffrey Christian Surfaces...
  2. Bad News from PD!
David Ignatius, Wrong Again!
David Ignatius has it wrong when he says
Wars end when both sides decide they can gain more from a negotiated settlement than from continued fighting.
WWI didn't end with The Versailles Treaty in 1919. WWII was really a continuation of WWI. The fighting may have stopped with the partioning of Korea, but the war has continued. Did the first Gulf War in Iraq end or was it continued ten years later? Israel has had a number of violent outbreaks called wars, but the war has never ended.

Liberals like to think that a ceasefire ends a war, that a negotiated settlement ends a war. They don't understand that talking too early leads to more war. What it really does is give the losing side a chance to regroup, reload, learn from its maistakes and believe it can outlast the other side. That is not "ending" a war. Wars end when the loser sues for peace, is crushed and made to believe it can not win on the battlefield. That is the way WWII ended, and we have had over 50 years of peace with Japan and Germany. Not so with any diplomatic settlement in the Middle East and not so with the Cold War. Russia is back thinking more than ever that it can compete with the U.S.

No, David, what you and your kind want is appeasement which allows the enemy to gain confidence and nibble us to death. How many times do we have to learn the lesson?

Oregon Quakes 7-26-06
MAP 1.7 2006/07/26 18:45:07 45.918 -119.325 0.0 0 km ( 0 mi) ENE of Umatilla, OR
MAP 1.1 2006/07/26 05:51:57 42.231 -121.974 5.2 16 km ( 10 mi) W of Klamath Falls, OR

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Rock Star: Supernova 7-25-06
Hell, yeah! That was with a few exceptions, an awesome show. And what a way to end it with Storm large diving head first into the audience. She is one fine rock singer, full of energy and seething with s-e-x. As for the rest:
Zayra Alvarez – Call Me (Blondie) The outfit and the song: Space cadet
Dana Andrews – About a Girl (Nirvana) She got down and dirty, but so far it seems pasted on.
Dilana – Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper) This woman is fearless, just a great redition of the Lauper hit. And I love Cydi Lauper. Top Five.
Jill Gioia – Brown Sugar (The Rolling Stones) She uses her sex as a sledgehammer, not good.
Storm Large – Anything Anything (Dramarama) Top Five!
Josh Logan – No Rain (Blind Melon) He has a great voice, but he can't be what Supernova wants.
Magni – Heroes (David Bowie) Probably Top Five, but to me he's cold.
Patrice Pike – Remedy (The Black Crowes) Dark horse, could get better, but probably not.
Toby Rand – White Wedding (Billy Idol) He showed his dirty side. Top Five.
Phil Ritchie – One Headlight (The Wallflowers) Please, send him home. I'm tired of seeing him look at us through his hair and I'm tired of his flopsy moves.
Lukas Rossi – Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve) What can I say, but Top Five
Ryan Star – I Alone (Live) He does not look like he's having any fun.

My bottrom three: Zayra Alvarez, Josh Logan, and Phil Ritchie. Do we only get to eliminate one?

Update:

Update:

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Sad Day for Phil on Rock Star: Supernova
  2. Rock Star: Supernova 7-25-06
Storm Large in Portland Monthly
The new Portland Monthly just arrived and lo and behold, a short article about Storm Large.

Q: If you had kids would you encourage them to give rock camp a try?
A: The only way I could see doing that is if they had no interests and just wanted to sit around on their ass. But if you want it bad enough, if you feel that's who you are, if everyone around you says you suck-but when you do it, you feel more like yourself than when you're doing anything else-you do it.
There's more in the August, 2006 edition. Storm Large, Portland's own.

Update:

Update:

Oregon Quakes
MAP 1.1 2006/07/25 10:48:07 42.224 -121.993 8.3 18 km ( 11 mi) W of Klamath Falls, OR
Lawrence Block Interviewed
The SacBee has an interview with Lawrence Block.
The prolific author of more than 50 novels and a couple hundred short stories is one of the true giants of the genre. He holds all the awards — four Edgars, four Shamuses, two Maltese Falcons and a Nero Wolf among them — and is a grand master of the Mystery Writers of America, a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America and the editor of 10 crime-fiction anthologies.
As a blogger, I especially liked this piece of advice:
Q: You were a columnist for Writer's Digest magazine for 14 years, and you've written four books of advice for aspiring writers. Is there one commandment that stands out from the rest?

A: Write for yourself. I say that because, quite candidly, you're probably the only one who's ever going to read it.

How true, how true.

His new book is Hit Parade

the third in the John Keller series. Keller is a hit man whose sole passion in private life is stamp collecting. He gets his contracts from his handler, the wry Dot, a businesswoman who's the closest thing to a friend Keller has.
Even Block's mom can't understand why we care for Keller.

Update:

Bonzie Wells is out!
Bonzi Wells is out as a King!
Within the past few days, word spread that the talks between the Kings and Wells' representation were not going well and had perhaps ended. Wells, who was reportedly offered a five-year, $36 million offer by the Kings at the start of negotiations, clearly wants a bigger payday than the Kings could offer.
Storm is on Rock Star: Supernova Tonight!
Today's Oregonian has a column called Storm Watch by Lee Williams in which she says
Storm's sizzling cover of the Cars' classic ("Just What I Needed") left a judges earlier criticism in the dust,
...But it was just one, six-letter word Storm uttered last Tuesday that sent viewers (and at least one judge) to their computers.
Tommy Lee said he would like to "see more of Storm."
Storm responded: "Six letters for you, Tommy: G-O-O-G-L-E."

Williams says while Storm can't reveal what song she is singing, it is dedicated to her band, The Balls.

Each Tuesday and Wednesday night her fans gather at Dante's where she and her band played each week for four years.

"I'm so homesick," Storm says. But I'm working to make you gyuys proud."
Thanks to the Oregonian for keeping us informed and Storm, your fame is growing here in Portland and you know we wish you well, tonight.

Update:

Update:

What if...?
My advice, which I have shared on numerous web sites, was the only option when this latest war in the Middle East started and is still the only option:
CRUSH the opposition in the most brutal manner possible. This is war! Israel (and this goes for the U.S. in any conflict) has a choice. Either fight a protracted war and watch the blood of your nation slowly seep into the battlefield over a period of years or wipe out all thoughts in the enemy's mind that they can compete on the battlefield.
Now John Podhoretz in the New York Post asks what if Israel (and the U.S.) are TOO NICE TO WIN?
If Lebanon's 300-plus civilian casualties are already rocking the world, what if it would take 10,000 civilian casualties to finish off Hezbollah? Could Israel inflict that kind of damage on Lebanon - not because of world opinion, but because of its own modern sensibilities and its understanding of the value of every human life?
Podhoretz asks a crucial question, What if we have all the high tech weapons to "win except the ability to match or exceed our antagonists in ruthlessness?"

I want to say don't worry John, never underestimate the depth of human passion for violence and revenge, but here in this country we care more for the spotted owl than the survival of hard working families. I can't imagine the anri-semitism that would result from Israel lighting off a couple of tactical nukes across the border to solve their problem.

Update:

Monday, July 24, 2006

The Tesla Motors' Roadster
Yesterday, I filled the tank of my Saab 9-3 convertible with Premium for $41.29. I get about 25 gallons to a mile so I can go 325 miles. That figures out to 13 cents per mile. Now Tesla Motors is introducing a battery powered roadster that goes 0 to 60 in four (4) seconds. In addition it will go 250 miles without a charge for 1 to 2 cents per mile!

(Martin) Eberhard owes his radically different approach to Nikola Tesla, the iconic Serbian engineer who built the first AC induction motor in the 1880s. Eberhard's supercharged update of that motor is powered by a copper and steel rotor that is spun by a magnetic field. There are no moving parts besides the rotor.
The motor is 3-phase, 4-pole electric motor, with Max net power of 185kW, Max rpm of 13,500 and Efficiency that averages 90%, 80% at peak power compared to 10% of typical electric motors.

Look at this torque curve versus the typical high performance 4-cylinder engine:

I suspect the roadster will sell in 2007 for $100,000 or more, but the technology is coming that will get us off the fossil fuel using combustion engine. We still have the zero point energy engine coming.

Technorati aiming to widen blog search edge
From The Mercury news: Technorati aiming to widen blog search edge
By Elise Ackerman, Sarah Jane Tribble and John Boudreau
Mercury News
What does Technorati want to be when it grows up? Some clues: The blog search engine is unveiling new features today aimed at helping Internet users find more relevant content. New features include ``What's the Buzz'' and a section highlighting the hottest topics, tags, videos and news items.

Why not dream big? After all, Google's blog search is still in beta and Technorati has been going gangbusters. According to some measures, Technorati enjoyed roughly 40 times the traffic of Google Blog Search in June.

Also making its debut today: behind-the-scenes technology that builds on Web link analysis -- the foundation of Google's famous search algorithms.

Guard the Borders Blogburst
Rallying Against Illegal Immigration by Nathan Bradfield at Church and State

Groups such as the 21st Century Paul Revere Ride and "You Don't SPEAK For Me" are taking a stand against illegal immigration and trying to push the issue back to the forefront so Americans can hold their elected officials accountable at the polls.

Update:

Saturday, July 22, 2006

There is only one way to fight a war!
If what NY Post columnist Ralph Peters writes in CAN ISRAEL WIN? NOT THE WAY IT'S FIGHTING is true, then Israel hasn't learned anything from the U.S. engagement in Iraq.

Israel tried to spare civilians.
Not enough troops for incursion
Failed intelligence
Can't find the WMDs.
Syria and Iran are getting a free ride.

Peters quotes A U.S. government official:

"Israel's got the clock, but Hezbollah's got the time." The sands of the hourglass favor the terrorists - every day they hold out and drop more rockets on Israel, Hezbollah scores a propaganda win.

All Hezbollah has to do to achieve victory is not to lose completely. But for Israel to emerge the acknowledged winner, it has to shatter Hezbollah. Yet Israeli miscalculations have left Hezbollah alive and kicking.

My advice, which I have shared on numerous web sites, was the only option when this began and is still the only option:
CRUSH the opposition in the most brutal manner possible. This is war! Israel (and this goes for the U.S. in any conflict) has a choice. Either fight a protracted war and watch the blood of your nation slowly seep into the battlefield over a period of years or wipe out all thoughts in the enemy's mind that they can compete on the battlefield.

Israel has very little time to achieve its goal of wiping out Hezbollah before the nations of the world force a ceasefire on Israel. Then Hezbollah, Iran and Syria will have won a resounding victory.

Update:

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Israel has run out of time!
  2. David Ignatius, Wrong Again!
  3. There is only one way to fight a war!

Friday, July 21, 2006

Washington Quake
MAP 1.8 2006/07/21 15:45:41 45.624 -122.754 0.0 8 km ( 5 mi) SW of Hazel Dell South, WA The location has been changed to:
MAP 1.5 2006/07/21 15:45:42 45.646 -122.763 18.7 8 km ( 5 mi) SW of Lake Shore, WA

Update:

Did the House Just Declare War?
Did the House of Representatives just pass a resolution that declares war on Iran and Syria?

In a hurried vote, the House overwhelmingly (410 - 8, 4 Present) passed H.RES.921 a bill that seems to me to declare war:

(5) demands the Governments of Iran and Syria to direct Hamas and Hezbollah to immediately and unconditionally release Israeli soldiers which they hold captive;

(6) affirms that all governments that have provided continued support to Hamas or Hezbollah share responsibility for the hostage-taking and attacks against Israel and, as such, should be held accountable for their actions;

(7) condemns the Governments of Iran and Syria for their continued support for Hezbollah and Hamas in their armed attacks against Israelis and their other terrorist activities;

(8) supports Israel's right to take appropriate action to defend itself, including to conduct operations both in Israel and in the territory of nations which pose a threat to it, which is in accordance with international law, including Article 51 of the United Nations Charter;

(9) commends the President of the United States for fully supporting Israel as it responds to these armed attacks by terrorist organizations and their state sponsors;

(10) urges the President of the United States to bring the full force of political, diplomatic, and economic sanctions available to the Government of the United States against the Governments of Syria and Iran; (Emphasis added)

A similar bill was passed by voice vote in the Senate, S.RES.534, on July 18th. While the House resolutions against Afghanistan and Iraq were Authorizations To Use Force, the language in this resolution appears to do the same thing, namely gives power to President Bush go to war with Iran and Syria.

Update:

Oregon Earthquake
MAP 2.1 2006/07/21 09:25:39 44.584 -122.623 15.0 19 km ( 12 mi) ENE of Waterloo, OR

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Oregon Earthquakes
MAP 1.3 2006/07/20 10:35:09 42.250 -121.983 8.7 17 km ( 11 mi) W of Klamath Falls, OR
MAP 1.8 2006/07/20 10:33:44 42.231 -121.987 8.7 17 km ( 11 mi) W of Klamath Falls, OR
MAP 1.2 2006/07/20 01:09:57 45.313 -121.673 7.3 23 km ( 15 mi) SSW of Parkdale, OR

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Oregon Earthquakes
  2. Oregon Earthquake
  3. Two New Oregon Quakes

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

No Storm Large! How Come?
What's the deal with Rockstar: Supernova? As far as I could tell, all contestants with the exception of Storm Large got a little screen time showing a recap of last nights show and some of their singing. I tune in to see Storm Large and to see who gets kicked off. This is the second time Storm has not rated any air time in the results show. Are the producers keeping her under wraps for a specific reason? Are they afraid of her mouth? Does she have a potty mouth? What's the deal?

Update:

TV Squad has some good comments re Rockstar: Supernova. Still not much mention of Storm, though!

The Oregonian catches up with Storm and Storm's roommate, Jenny Galt, who was kicked off this week.

Update:

Update:

Update:

What Does John Batchelor Think?
Have you seen John Batchelor's take on the Israel-Iran crisis? Here's a snippet:
American observers watched DOD signals traffic on the (winter Iranian strategic war) games and reached several conclusions:

1. Iran expects America to launch air attacks against Iranian command and control, air defenses and nuclear weapons-making and ballistic missile sites by winter, perhaps as early as October 2006.

2. Iran has constructed deep and hard sites in which its command and control will ride out American attacks through the winter months, when American tactical strikes will struggle with the heavy cloud cover over Tehran.

3. Iran's national command leadership is prepared to approve offensive strikes against American and coalition assets in the Gulf, in the Iraq theater, in the Arabian Sea.

4. Iran believes the U.N. Security Council will work to broker a ceasefire; when it does, Iran will emerge triumphant and the remaining American strategic options will be minimal.

Regarding #1 and #2, If true why do we give the other side so much time to prepare. Wouldn't our stratgists know about cloud cover and speed up any attacks? Do we have the technology that sees through cloud cover?

#3 and #4. We should give Iran no opportunity to retaliate and there should be no ceasefire until Iran sues for peace. If we are going to attack Iran we should CRUSH them in the most brutal manner possible. This is war! Our only option is to wipe out all thoughts in the enemy's mind that they can compete with us on the battlefield.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Rockstar: Supernova July 18th
So, we've lost two people in two weeks, Matt and Chris, Time to lose another. Storm Large sang Just What I Needed by The Cars. She did a great job. She still had personality, but left a few of the facial moves backstage. She has to be at least in the top three.

Zayra Alvarez – Everybody Hurts (R.E.M.). Zayra sings well, but she's a little weird, more like Bjork than a rocker.

Dana Andrews – It’s My Life (Bon Jovi). Don't think she can be dirty enough.

Dilana – Zombie (The Cranberries)The guys thought it was the performance of the night.

Jenny Galt – Drive (Incubus). Lillith Fair!

Jill Gioia – All Right Now (Free). This was her best performance yet. She can sing!

Storm Large – Just What I Needed (The Cars). She is HOT!

Josh Logan – Come As You Are (Nirvana)Josh is in the wrong contest. He should be on The One.

Magni – Plush (Stone Temple Pilots). For me, cold like his country.

Patrice Pike – Helter Skelter (The Beatles). Good job.

Toby Rand – Runaway Train (Soul Asylum), Not his best. Navarro put his head down as if napping.

Phil Ritchie – White Rabbit (Jefferson Airplane). I can't stand to watch him sing. His words don't match his body movements.

Lukas Rossi – Let’s Spend the Night Together (The Rolling Stones). Navarrow called him arrogant, "but that's a good thing,"

Ryan Star – Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival). Too angry!

My bottom three: Zayra Alvarez, Jenny Galt, and Josh Logan. Don't care who goes.

Update:

Update:

Hunker Down is BS!
Richard Cohen wrote a column in the Washington Post that says Israel was a mistake. The idea of setting up a Jewish state in the middle of all those Arabs! Then critics warned that giving up Gaza would be a mistake.
Gaza would become a terrorist haven. They said that the moderate Palestinian Authority would not be able to control the militants and that Gaza would be used to fire rockets into Israel and to launch terrorist raids. This is precisely what has happened.
Giving up Southern Lebanon would be a mistake critics said and
would be seen by its enemies -- and claimed by Hezbollah -- as a defeat for the mighty Jewish state. Hezbollah took credit for this, as well it should. Its persistent attacks bled Israel. In the end, Israel got out and the United Nations promised it a secure border. The Lebanese army would see to that. (And the check is in the mail.)
To take them back would be another mistake putting itself back into
the role of subjugating a restless, angry population and having the world look on as it committed the inevitable sins of an occupying power.
Cohen suggests
The smart choice is to pull back to defensible -- but hardly impervious -- borders. That includes getting out of most of the West Bank -- and waiting (and hoping) that history will get distracted and move on to something else. This will take some time, and in the meantime terrorism and rocket attacks will continue.
This is not a time contrary to Richard Cohen to hunker down. Most nations in history were established in blood and force was required to keep them together. Why should it be any different with Israel? And that means no country should judge them on the morality of the issue. Israel needs to seize the property it needs to make it safe and should never give in to any more "Land for Peace" schemes. Those schemes don't work. Do not bring a lasting peace, makes them appear weak in Arab eyes, and only encourages those who would like to exterminate the state of Israel.

Storm Large is on Tonight!
The Oregonian has a nice piece about Storm Large just in time for tonight's show Rockstar: Supernova.
"It's nerve-racking," says Storm Large, on a call from the Hollywood Hills mansion where the cast and contenders of CBS TV's "Rockstar: Supernova" have been holed up since June 27. "But that's the reality of this reality show," she says, referring to the weekly voting-off process that follows the Tuesday night performance episodes of "Rockstar." "Every performance, every show, I'm just tryin' to do my Portland peeps proud," Storm says.
[...]
For tonight's song choice, Storm says she expects to get a bit of flak herself.

"I know (the judges) are going to ask, 'Why did you pick this song?' " Storm says, though she won't reveal what she'll perform.

Wowing the judges isn't always foremost on her mind. Storm says she came into "Rockstar" to "challenge and push myself, and win or lose, I want to leave here a better artist."

That, of course, is not enough for her many Portland-area fans, who are collectively wishing our star goes Supernova.

I will be there in my favorite seat hoping Storm Large does well. I enjoy exposure to some new music, the variety of artists and Brook Burke isn't a bad reason to tune in.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Storm Large is on Tonight!
  2. Storm Is Dissed!

Monday, July 17, 2006

Oregon Earthquake
MAP 1.6 2006/07/17 18:31:56 44.995 -122.521 15.1 13 km ( 8 mi) ESE of Scotts Mills, OR

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Oregon Earthquakes
  2. Oregon Earthquake
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Body Count is 20:1 says WaPo!
Washington Post implies equivalency between sides by looking at the number of dead.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, at least 525 people have been wounded in the Israeli bombardment, the vast majority of them civilians.

On the Israeli side, a total of 24 people have been killed or are presumed dead.

Diplomats do not not like to see civilian caualties:
Israel has said its actions are in self-defense, but the growing number of civilian casualties in Lebanon could soon prompt calls from other countries, including allies, for it to suspend the operations.
Meanwhile,
Missiles started falling on Northern Israel on Thursday, ...Most cafes and stores in the 270,000-person city of Haifa are closed, and the streets are fairly empty, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Hezbollah deliberately targets civilians.

What would the diplomats have Israel do, wait until the civilian deaths from Katuysha rockets exceed 525, before resuming bombing?

New Missiles Can Strike All of Israel
This is what the interactive WSJ map is not showing.

Acording to Defense Tech's Hezbollah's Deadly Arsenal

Israel believes the terrorist group "has missiles that can hit most of Israel, and which could even strike Be'er Sheva [deep in Israel's southern, Negev desert] under optimum conditions.
Iran supplied Hezbollah with solid-fuel, Zelzal-2 missiles with a 200-km range, but these are not very accurate, since they do not have a self-guidance system.

The Zelzal-2 missiles, intended to strike broad targets such as communities and cities, are equipped with explosive warheads weighing up to 600 kilograms...

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. New Missiles Can Strike All of Israel
  2. WSJ Bias?
WSJ Bias?
Here's a wonderful (insert tongue in cheek) little interactive map at the WSJ site. The 12:10 update has a link to a map that shows all the damage that Israel is inflicting on Gaza and Lebanon, but I don't see any mention of rockets launched at Israel or any pictures of the dead or dying. Isn't it a marvelous technology. Gives me the impression that Israel is not suffering and no reason for the attacks.

Update:

Russian Troops to Mid East?
Joel Rosenberg, author of The Last Jihad and The Ezekiel Option is saying in a Flash Traffic email that Russia is considering sending troops to the Mid East as part of a mission to protect Lebanon.
And now there is talk that Russia may send military forces into the region, perhaps as part of an international force to stop the Israeli push into Lebanon.

"I don't think the situation has gotten out of control, but I don't have the certainty that the return of the soldiers will stop the conflict," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg.

The introduction of Russian ground troops into the region would be a dangerous development. Russia is an increasingly close ally of Iran and Syria. Moscow recently sold Tehran $1 billion of new missiles and conventional weaponry. Moscow is selling new missiles to Damascus. The Kremlin has long had designs on taking over the Middle East, and U.S. foreign policy for the second half of the 20th century was aimed at keeping Russian forces out of the region, for good reason. What's more, Moscow is currently running interference for Iran at the U.N., preventing the international community from taking tougher steps to prevent Iran from going nuclear.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Russian Troops to Mid East?
  2. Good God!
Good God!
I have argued that Israel, in order to bring peace to their country and the region must crush the opposition and break their will to fight. Like a game of basketball, they need to get them down early, never give the other team any idea that they can win on the court or in this case, on the battlefield.

How's it going?

According to Breitbart.com

Israel would agree to a cease-fire in its six-day-old offensive against Hezbollah if the Lebanese guerrillas withdraw from the border area with Israel and release two captured Israeli soldiers, a senior official said Monday.
[...]
Israel had previously demanded the full dismantling of Hezbollah as a condition for ending hostilities. However, the senior official said Israel would agree to Hezbollah merely leaving the border area _ with the Lebanese army taking its place.
If I'm Hezbollah, I have just achieved equal status with Israel and I can win this thing. Given enough time, I can exhaust Israel. The West, tired of the whole thing, will urge Israel to make more concessions. The great thing for the U.S., Russia, China and France, those expended weapons will need to be replenished and new weapons purchased to counter the strides the weapon makers have made in technology.

"War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing, if conducted the way Israel retaliates. "Good God, Man!"

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Russian Troops to Mid East?
  2. Good God!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Interview with Secretary Rice
I may have been premature in my comment about Condoleezza Rice starting to pull on Israel's leash. In a Press Briefing released by the White House, in response to this
QUESTION: -- you want the violence to end?

SECRETARY RICE: I can tell you that -- of course, we want violence to end. But I can tell you right now if violence ends on the basis of somehow Hezbollah or Hamas continuing to hold in their hands the capabilities anytime they wish to start launching rockets again into Israel, if violence ends on the basis of no change in the underlying political support for Resolution 1559 or for the work that President Abbas is doing, if violence ends on the basis of Syria and Iran being able to turn on the key again anytime, we will have achieved very, very little, indeed, and we will be right back here, perhaps in a worse circumstance because the terrorists will assume that nobody is willing to take on what has been a very clear assault now on the progress that is being made by moderate forces in the Middle East.

Maybe there is hope, yet, that Israel will deliver a lesson that will garner respect and bring some peace to the region.

Not! The State Department will revert to form soon enough and back pedal to appeasement.

Iranians Responsible for Firing Silkworm?
About the story I posted regarding the Silkworm-like missile that hit the Saar-5 Class Corvette Ahi-Hanit,
Israeli officials charged that elite Iranian troops operating in Lebanon were involved in the Hezbollah offensive, and were responsible for firing an Iranian-made, radar-guided C802 missile (Silkworm-like missile) ...killing four sailors.
Iranians in Lebanon, Syria warned to stay out of the conflict or else, this war has the potential to get much bigger, and since we supply Israel, we would be right in it.

Update: I stand corrected. Hat tip to The Richmond Democrat

Update: Some sources are identifying the missile that struck the Israeli ship as a "C-802 Silkworm." This is an error. The Silkworm and the C-802 are two different weapon systems. This doesn't mean that it wasn't a C-802, it's just that it would have been one or the other. I still suspect it was a Silkworm because witnesses first described the missile as a drone or unmanned aircraft. The SIlkworm is larger, slower, and more aircraft-like.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Iranians Responsible for Firing Silkworm?
  2. Silkworm vs Saar-5 Class Corvette
Summer Reading
The Washington Post has asked
Peter Bergen, one of the few Western journalists ever to meet Osama bin Laden, and Warren Bass, a former 9/11 Commission staffer who is now Book World's nonfiction editor, to pick the best of the recent flood of books on terrorism.
I have neither heard of or read any of the books on the list. However, I note the absence of one book, while not recent, for me still remains the best book I've read about Saddam and his connections to terrorist groups and WMDs. The book is Secret History of the Iraq War by Yossef Bodansky. Published in June of 2004, Bodansky, ex-director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, covers a number of items that figure into today's debate, including:

* The most authoritative account of Saddam Hussein's support for Islamic terrorist organizations -- including extensive new reporting on his active cooperation with al-Qaeda in Iraq long after the fall of Baghdad

* Extensive new information on Iraq's major chemical and biological weapons programs -- including North Korea's role in building still-undetected secret storage facilities and Iraq's transfer of banned materials to Syria, Iran, and Libya

* The first account of Saddam's plan for Iraq, Syria, and Iran to join Yasser Arafat's Palestinian forces to attack Israel, throw the region into turmoil, and upend the American campaign

* The untold story of Russia's attempt to launch a coup against Saddam before the war -- and how the CIA thwarted it by ensuring that Iraq was forewarned

* Dramatic details about Saddam's final days on the run, including the untold story of a near miss with U.S. troops and the stunning revelation that Saddam was already in custody at the time of his capture -- and was probably betrayed by members of his own Tikriti clan

* The definitive account of the anti-U.S. resistance and uprising in Iraq, as the American invasion ignited an Islamic jihad and Iran-inspired intifada, threatening to plunge the region into irreversible chaos fueled by hatred and revenge

* Revelations about the direct involvement of Osama bin Laden in the terrorism campaigns in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the Middle East -- including the major role played by Iran and HizbAllah in al-Qaeda's operations

This book is the number one book on my recommended reading list.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Silkworm vs Saar-5 Class Corvette
Ahi-Hanit, oficials say was hit by a shore-to-ship missile of the silkworm family.
According to DEBKAfile
...military sources reveal that the warship was struck from Beirut by an Iran-made C-802 shore-to-sea missile of the Silkworm family.

Weighing 715 kilos, with a range of 120km, the missile is armed with a strong anti-jamming capability, which lends it a 98% success rate in escaping interception.

Two missiles were launced at Ahi-Hanit


(a Saar-5 class corvette has a crew of 61 seamen and a 10-man helicopter crew)

The trajectory of the first was adjusted to a landing amidships from above. It missed and exploded in the water. The second was rigged to skim the water like a cruise missile. It achieved a direct hit of the Ahi Hanit’s helicopter deck, starting a fire. The ship began to sink, as Nasrallah said, and would have been lost were it not for the speed and bravery of crewmen who jumped into the flames and doused them before the ship exploded and sank.
Think of the implications. The Saar-5, while production began in the 1980s, is
a stable, high-speed platform incorporating stealth technology to minimize radar cross section and infrared and acoustic signatures.
It was hit by a missile that claims 98% accuracy. It almost sank, but for heroic efforts by crewmen to put out the fire. The missile was fired from Beirut, while receiving foire from the Ahi-Hani offshore. The Persian Gulf by contrast is about 150 miles wide, meaning that almost all of our ships in the Gulf could be vulnerable to Iranian silworms.