Angela Merkel is set to become Germany's first female Chancellor

Angela Merkel

 In September 2004 a two-stage International Design Competition was launched, providing professionals in the design disciplines as well as the general public an opportunity to present design ideas for the memorial expression. The competition received more than 1,000 entries of design concepts, including narrative and graphic descriptions for the Flight 93 National Memorial. The competition was funded through the generous support of the Heinz Endowments and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

What is the Heinz Endowment?

Is al-qaeda, in a desperate bid to fill numerous vacancies in the ranks, now hiring stand up comedians? This tape was meant to instill fear, yet I can't help but laugh at this pathetic attempt at playing the bogeyman.

al-queda member warns of attacks

In an apparent Sept. 11 communiqué broadcast on ABC News, an al Qaeda operative threatens new attacks against cities in the US and Australia.

"Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, God willing. At this time, don't count on us demonstrating restraint or compassion," the tape warns. "We are Muslims. We love peace, but peace on our terms, peace as laid down by Islam, not the so-called peace of occupiers and dictators."

Ah yes, the "peace" that comes from decapitating anyone who disagrees with your "peaceful" ideology.  Thanks, but no thanks. You can keep the peaceful decapitations amongst your own faithful.
I am shocked and awed that al-queda wants to attack LA?  The citizens LOVE al-queda in LA! Given the chance and if Armani would design it, they would all wear suicide vests in solidarity with al-queda.  This video sounds more like the venting of a rejected wanna-be actor in tinsletown than a serious al-queda operative.

In response to the threats against their city, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the city's police department released a statement this morning. They admitted to Los Angeles being a target of terrorism, but said there are no known, credible threats against the city and labeled the tape an instrument of al Qaeda propaganda.

"The statement broadcast this morning on Good Morning America should come as no surprise to anyone. The statement was meant to instill fear, and fear is the most important weapon the terrorists possess."

Hello! Do they really believe this comedy piece would instill fear instead of  laugh induced hiccups?

The taped diatribe lasts 11 minutes. Like past tapes, it appears to include the same graphics and production techniques recognized by U.S. officials as part of al Qaeda's standard propaganda production. In this tape, the speaker levels threats against the U.S. and Great Britain.

"Don't believe the lies of the liars at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and 10 Downing Street," Gadahn insists. "They have dispatched your sons and daughters to die lonely deaths in the burning deserts of Iraq and the unforgiving mountains of Afghanistan."

Only a few years ago, Adam Gadahn was a southern California teenager with interests in the environment and heavy metal music

His family says he converted to Islam at an Orange County mosque. There, officials say Gadahn came under the influence of militants who took him to Pakistan.

He has since emerged as an al Qaeda propaganda tool. His latest message warns Americans an attack is imminent unless the United States stops its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

American intelligence officials believe the man who appears on the tape to be Adam Gadahn of Orange County, Calif. Last year, Gadahn delivered a similar taped communiqué for al Qaeda. That tape was later deemed authentic.

On the new tape, delivered to ABC News, Gadahn's message contains a very pointed al Qaeda threat against Los Angeles and Melbourne.

"We love peace, but when the enemy violates that peace or prevents us from achieving it, then we love nothing better than the heat of battle, the echo of explosion, and the slitting of the throats of the infidels," the tape says.

Good for you, adam. (Notice he is far away from the fighting) Bring them on, the US military would be happy to facilitate the meeting between allah and the terrorist faithful.

As for the rest of the tape, the young man attempts to dispel any rumors or reports of bin Laden being deceased. He closes his tape by invoking the names of the September 11th hijackers.

"Everyone of us is Mohammed Atta," he says.

09/11/2001

Soldiers Angels: Project Valour IT - provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military centers.  NOTE: The code pinkos at Walter Reed are not collection donations from passerbys for this cause.

Freedom Angels: Sheman Nugent's Freedom's Angels is a non-profit charitable foundation dedicated to enhancing the lives of America's military members and their families through a variety of activities such as building recreational facilities at military hospitals, donating leisure services like health club memberships and massages, and bringing awareness to the positive things our soldiers do for others.

Hat tip goes to Bubbasbog for my discovery of Michael Yon Dispatches from Mosul, Iraq.

Saturday, August 20, 2005
Proximity Delays
Mosul, Iraq

During radio interviews, listeners sometimes call in with questions for me. People who follow the war closely and read my dispatches might ask about events covered by mainstream news but about which I've posted few details, if any. Thousands of emails pour in.

"Did you know about the letter to Zarqawi?" (Yes, I was in the Deuce Four daily briefing when it was first displayed and read, about a week before the media learned about it. The letter was captured minutes down the road from here.)

"Did you know about the Chemical Weapons Plant?" (Yes, and probably more than most readers care to know. Turned out to be nothing of consequence. The "Plant" was minutes down the road from here.)

"Did you know about the 'super secret spy plane' that crashed in Mosul?" (Yes, I was on a mission in Mosul at the time. It was flying over Mosul in support of operations.)

"There was a report that three terrorists were shot down in Mosul the other day. Did you know about that?" (Yes, I was in the TOC when the blood first started pumping through their skulls. Credit was given to the Iraqi police, but American forces actually conducted the ambush minutes down the road from here.)

Then comes the question: "Why didn't you write about that?"

The answer is simple. Often I am asked to withhold information due to the immediate sensitivty. And so, I never release the slightest hint. But then somebody in Baghdad--three steps removed from the action here in Mosul-- releases it to CNN and the rest of the world. What is seen on television and in the papers is practically always inaccurate, or is at least poorly framed. But I rarely waste a breath trying to correct the information. It's too late. Life is busy here.

The greatest paradox I have seen in this war results from "proximity delay." The proximity delay for me is caused by being embedded so closely with Duece Four soldiers that I often see things unfolding before they happen, and then I am in the thick of events as they occur. But then I am asked not to write about events.

Much of the censorship is self-imposed because I will not write anything that jeopardizes US, Iraqi or Coalition forces or civilians. This is not a game of who gets the scoop; I am not per se a journalist. On some missions I've been the first to spot the enemey. On others, I've been so close to the action, my face gets smacked by flying shell casings. I come away with information and details no other writer could possibly have.

I've refused to write about incidents countless times, even when soldiers have asked me to publish the details. My time traveling the world, following scent trails and navigating on snippets of information has taught me that a person with a seasoned imagination can coax a great deal of information from seemingly innocuous tidbits. This enemy is smart and also reads the news.

Just why the military considers some information "classified" while other information gets the "go ahead, write it" shrug, is not based on logic, science, or even one of those absurd but iron clad rules that codify so much of the military. Many explanations for the military's requests not to publish certain information, do not hold up well to scrutiny.

For example, our soldiers capture or kill top terror figures in Mosul routinely. Sometimes in stunning operations that display split-second timing. The "higher ups" often say, almost reflexively, that they don't want the enemy to know about these kills or captures.

Sounds reasonable. But whether soldiers sleek through dark allies with silenced weapons, slipping over walls with padded ladders, snatching sleeping terrorists from their beds before they can fully waken; or, whether they engage in a gunfight at a busy intersection and drag terrorists from behind the wheels of their cars--these are not anonymous men. Families notice when daddy's gone missing.

If we aren't keeping it secret from the enemy--and we can't keep it secret from them--who do we protect by keeping quiet? These are not illegal operations. These are examples of the effectiveness of our forces. In Mosul alone there are daily events where the Coalition gets things right, that I never write about.

The "proximity delay" seems to be bi-directional. The higher-ups also seem to have a disconnect with what the media eventually does with Coalition successes. I kept silent for days on the Zarqawi-letter dispatch, ready to post what was probably the single most important piece of insider information to drop into our hands in quite some time. I requested clearance several times per day, each time being asked to hold back. I complied.

But then, without even giving the leaders at Deuce Four a head's up, a typically entralling military press release went out to major, mainstream, media outlets. We all learned of it on CNN. The Zarqawi-letter story was almost unrecognizable. Because, in the hands of a network that hasn't had a body in the field in Mosul long enough to get their bearings, the best the media could do is paraphrase the military press release. So what should have been a front page banner headline story ended up buried on page 6.

Even CNN couldn't grasp the importance of the letter. They ended up giving more coverage to the impending E-Bay auction of Jennifer Aniston's old love letters than to the missive in which the top Al Queda leader in Mosul writes to the second most wanted man in the world, and describes in amazing detail the weaknesses and impending collapse of the terrorist network in Mosul and surrounds. Only then, did the military ask if wanted to write about the letter.

Every one, even a "higher up" deserves the benefit of the doubt, and should be entitled to one mistake. But how many times, and how many major stories have to be mangled into meaninglessness before someone connects the cables and lets the information flow in a direction other than down the mainstream media drain?

Meanwhile, by the time you read this, the US Army and the ISF will have launched offensive operations in Mosul and I will be in the middle of it. Maybe this time I will be able to write about matters while they still matter.

---------------
Post Script: The operation has begun. The Commander of Deuce Four, LTC Erik Kurilla, was shot three times in combat yesterday in front of my eyes. Despite being seriously wounded, LTC Kurilla immediately rejoined the intense and close-quarter fight that ended in hand-to-hand combat. LTC Kurilla continued to direct his men until a medic gave him morphine and the men took him away. I was right there. When I returned to base, I was actually "ordered" not to write about the fighting until given clearance, and was told that my phones could be confiscated. I will ignore such "orders" at my own discretion. I am preparing a dispatch now.

Philadelphia becomes the fourth U.S. community to join the Partners for Peace project with Iraq.  At last year's G8 Summit, First Lady Laura Bush announced the first three pairings:  Dallas with Kirkuk; Tucson with Sulaymaniyah; and the Denver Regional Council of Governments with Baghdad.

As a member of IVC, I am looking forward to helping Mosul achieve peace through a democractic process.  A worthy goal.

This is the effect Cindy is having on the Democratic Party, all the sane individuals are jumping the ship. President Bush is brilliant! Simply by not meeting with her, allows her ranting to grow increasing shrill and inane, further fracturing the underpinnings of the Democratic party. Don't forget: The ‘06 election cycle is getting closer every day!

While Democrats are busy making Cindy Sheehan their spokesman and avatar of their views, we see her as yet another example of how critics of Israel within the Democratic Party have taken control of the party's agenda.

If Cindy Sheehan’s ideas are what the Democrats have to offer, then more and more American Jews will continue to see that there is no place for them in the Democratic Party.

Move America Forward will be conducting the “You Don’t Speak for Me, Cindy” caravan beginning next week.  It will feature military family members who have loved ones serving in the war against terrorism in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The delegation will be led by Deborah Johns of Northern California Marine Moms.  She will lead the caravan to Crawford, Texas where she and Move America Forward Chairman, Melanie Morgan, will lead a “WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS & THEIR MISSION” rally in Crawford on Saturday, August 27th, 2005.

"I distrust anyone who claims to speak for the fallen, and I distrust even more the hysterical noncombatants who exploit the grief of those who have to bury them."

Observers will be favored by an absence of bright moonlight during these intervals.  At midnorthern latitudes, moonset occurs on the evening of Aug. 11 at around 11-p.m. local daylight time and around 11:20 p.m. the following night. Since dawn doesn’t break until around 4:30 a.m., that means there will be about 5 to 5½ hours of dark, moonless skies for the two best viewing nights for the Perseids.

August is the month of "The Tears of St. Lawrence."  Laurentius, a Christian deacon, is said to have been martyred by the Romans in 258 AD on an iron outdoor stove. It was in the midst of this torture that Laurentius cried out:  "I am already roasted on one side and, if thou wouldst have me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other."
The saint’s death was commemorated on his feast day, Aug. 10. King Phillip II of Spain built his monastery place the "Escorial," on the plan of the holy gridiron.  And the abundance of shooting stars seen annually between approximately Aug. 8 and 14 have come to be known as St. Lawrence’s "fiery tears."
 
My personal favorite story about these meteors is the one my parents told me when I was a little girl: As we sat in the backyard watching for passing meteors in August, I asked where meteors come from and Mom told me the meteor showers were an early birthday gift from the Angels, as my birthday is a week away.