Vindicated!

Posted by: Rusty at 09:16 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Did I mention that Kitty Kelley is a skanky lying publicity whore yet this morning? No? My bad. Kitty Kelley is a skanky lying publicity whore.

Posted by: Rusty at 09:04 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Early to bed, early to rise--makes a blog healthy, wealthy, and wise. Yes, I'm turning this into a regular feature. Why? Cause I said so!! Just looking for a way to refer my readers to good posts. You think of a better way to do it just let me know. Also, if I'm on your blogroll and you are not on mine, please just drop me a line so I can fix that......So, what's for breakfast Doc?

--First, turn on the TV.
--Second, read talking points sent by VRWC. (i Espanol)
--Third, say grace.
--Protein? Eggs benedict and gefilte fish.
--Dairy? Yoplait.
--Fiber? Oatmeal, nuked, then topped with chocolate fudge.
--Bread? Rice-wafer, Quaker brand (a wholly owned subsidiary of General Mills, part of the VRWC).
--Drink? Alamo. I like a good beer buzz early in the morning.

Off to edumacate the masses.

Posted by: Rusty at 08:47 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Finally, these guys think of a name which actually describes them. They call themselves the 'Horror Brigade'. Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

UPDATE 9/14: Could this be a hoax? Or maybe this is just a case of all infidels look alike.

News.com.au:

Two Australians have reportedly been kidnapped in Iraq and threatened with execution.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:06 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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To see original post on this Turkish hostage, images, and links to video--please scroll down past this brief update section.

UPDATE 10/15: Another Turkish hostage was murdered today by the Army of Ansar al-Sunnah and shown in a gruesome beheading video. News, Images, and Links to Video at this more UPDATED POST.

UPDATE: 10/02: For the latest information, links to video, and images on hostages in Iraq please check the main page by CLICKING HERE.

Here is a list of all the victims of Islamic Beheadings since late July this year.

10/02 Iraqi Victim Barie Nafie Dawoud Ibrahim Beheading Video and Images Here
9/22 American Hostage Jack Hensley Beheading Video and Images Here
9/20 American Hostage Eugene Armstrong Beheaded on Video Here
9/13 Turkish Hostage Beheaded on Video Here
9/08 Three Muslim 'Informants' Beheaded by the Religion of Irony
8/31 12 Nepalese Hostages Killed, 1 Beheaded Here
8/26 Italian Hostage Enzo Baldoni Murdered Here
8/25 Alleged CIA Agent Beheaded in Video Here
8/13 Another Alleged CIA Agent Beheaded on Video Here
8/11 CIA Agent Executed: Another Beheading Video
8/09 Another Bulgarian Beheading Video
8/02 Turkish Hostage Murdered
7/28 Bulgarian Beheading Video
7/27 Kashmir Rebels Bomb Hospital, Behead Three
7/27 Paul Johnson Beheading Video and Images Here
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Begin original post:

KESQ:

Al-Qaida-linked militants have posted a videotape on a Web site purportedly showing a kidnapped Turkish driver's beheading.

The video has the victim identifying himself as one of the Turkish contractors kidnapped last month. He speaks in Turkish with Arabic subtitles, describing his job transporting goods to an American military base in Mosul.

After that, the picture fades to a black screen with a title reading "the execution," followed by warnings from masked, armed militants to foreign drivers and grisly footage of the beheading.

The video was digitally dated August 17th. It was posted on the Web site used by a a group headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

UPDATE: The victim's name is Durmus Kumdereli. He was killed last month. What is especially odd about this is that his companion, Mustafa Koksal, was released a month ago. Why would they let one go and kill the other one?

UDATE II: Video, courtesy Northeast Intelligence Network Backup video here (hat tip to Cindy and Sworn Enemy).

UPDATE III: I grabbed some images from that sites video. I will link a video if another site puts it up. Scroll down for images. Warning, very graphic. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 12:47 PM | Comments (23) | Add Comment
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I'm listenning to Prager now, hosted by the guys at Powerline, Mitch of Northern Alliance Radio Network, Lileks, and others.. Charles Johnson is being interviewed. Awesome. Listen live here.

12:18 Charles talks about the probability that documents are real. Slim to none. Talks about his superimposing experiment which can be found here. Virtually identical to modern Word document. A full list of Charles' posts can be found here. This flash movie also overlays a Word created document making the same point, but is uses a different font. (via Commisar who got it from Dudemasicus)

12:21 Coming up, interview with the guys from Kerryspot. It's Jim Geraghty.

12:26 How does the story compare to the Jason Blayre mess at the NY Times? This is worse. Obvious forgeries, duped or complicit.

12:35 Commercial break. I was in class this morning. I wish I had heard the earlier part of this broadcast.

12:39 Caller "Everybody is a Bush loving idiot who listens to Talk Radio...Dennis Prager is a self-hating Jew" Conpiracy theories..Bush/Haliburton, blah blah.

12:42 John Fund of WSJ up next.

12:44 Commercial. Stupid capitalism. Why liveblog this? Why not? Never done it before, plus I'm technically on my lunch break.

12:48 Nope, it's Scott Ott. He called in. Funny. He's plugging his e-mail post. Is Scott Ott that much of a whore to plug his blog on national radio? Yes. Dumb question. Kudos for your whorishness!!

12:50 Now it's John Fund. Talking about the potential for lawsuits in the upcoming election. Dem lawyers waiting to file lawsuits in keys states. Man, I am not looking forward to the day after the election. I usually stay up late. Why do I have the feeling that it will be weeks or months before all the lawsuits are settled? Thanks a lot Al Gore, you prick.

12:56 Q: What is the deal with the bumper music? Come on, Sheila-E???

1:11 Kerry carried around a hat that belonged to a CIA agent he dropped off in Cambodia? Never heard that one. Pretty freaking funny since he's never been to Cambodia.

1:52 Interesting, interesting, very interesting...but now I've lost interest.

Posted by: Rusty at 12:16 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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David Anderson of In Search of Utopia has asked that bloggers help in locating Tamika Huston.

Posted by: Rusty at 12:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The best way to start a work week, especially after the Blog Sabbath, is with a hearty breakfast. Remember, remove pajamas before eating. Here's what I'm having today:

-Toast. Damn! Why'd you have to burn it? No problem, just spread the denial jelly on real thick.
--Mushroom omelette (South Korean style), covered with Feta cheese.
--Pepsi. For breakfast? That's crazy talk, Al. (Al-"We think it would be in your best interest.....")
--Ginkgo Biloba tablets
--Kosher bacon.

And that's all the breakfast that's fit to blog. I'll be in class. Page me if the fit hits the shan.

Posted by: Rusty at 08:58 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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This is a repost from Aug. 30. I notice that the e-mail that the photo comes from is still making the rounds. I for one, will never forget. It was a day that changed my entire worldview. A day that woke me up from the pleasant slumber where I dreamed of the spread of love and liberalism to the farthest corner of the globe. Now I am awake. Where I was is not important. What is important is where I am now.

A moment of silence............

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Click for larger photo.

Dr. Leopold Stotch forwared this to me this. The e-mail that went along with it reads:

The proud warriors of Baker Company wanted to do something to pay tribute To our fallen comrades. So since we are part of the only Marine Infantry Battalion left in Iraq the one way that we could think of doing that is By taking a picture of Baker Company saying the way we feel. It would be awesome if you could find a way to share this with our fellow countrymen. I was wondering if there was any way to get this into your papers to let the world know that "WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN" and are proud to serve our country." Semper Fi
1stSgt Dave Jobe

The attached photo was forwarded from one of the last U.S. Marine companies in Iraq. They would like to have it passed to as many people as possible, to let the folks back home know that they remember why they're there and that they remember those who've been lost.

Posted by: Rusty at 03:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Seattle Times:

The man named in a disputed memo as exerting pressure to "sugarcoat" George W. Bush's military record left the Texas Air National Guard a year and a half before the memo supposedly was written, his service record shows.

An order obtained by The Dallas Morning News shows that Col. Walter "Buck" Staudt was honorably discharged March 1, 1972. CBS News reported this week that a memo in which Staudt was described as interfering with officers' negative evaluations of the future president's service was dated Aug. 18, 1973.

From what we've learned, Staudt remained very active after he retired," the staffer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "He was a very bullying type, and that could have continued."

In the disputed memo, Killian supposedly wrote "(another officer) gave me a message today from group regarding Bush's (evaluation) and Staudt is pushing to sugarcoat it."

It continues: "Austin is not happy either."

The CBS staffer said the memo appears to recognize that Staudt has retired, since it differentiates between his displeasure and that of Austin, where he served his final Guard stint.

But another Texas Air National Guard official who served in that period said the memo appears to wrongly associate Staudt with his group command in Houston, and — based on that mistake — the memo distinguishes his views from that of the Austin Guard.

Retired Col. Earl Lively, director of Air National Guard operations for the state headquarters during 1972 and 1973, said Staudt "wasn't on the scene" after retirement, and that CBS' remote-bullying thesis makes no sense.

"He couldn't bully them. He wasn't in the Guard," Lively said. "He couldn't affect their promotions. Once you're gone from the Guard, you don't have any authority."

Mucho gracias Dr. Leopold Stotch who e-mailed me about it.

Posted by: Rusty at 02:42 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Posted by: Rusty at 04:19 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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I just like the sound of it. Wake me up when the smoke clears. Screw you guys I'm going home.

Posted by: Rusty at 03:33 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Ansar al-Zawahiri has given the Italian government less than 24 hrs. to release Muslim women prisoners or the world they will kill Simona Pari and Simon Torretta. Savages.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:38 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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This is a good sign. Why? Because it confirms what Rumsfield and co. have been saying: the Iraqis are slowly becoming the frontline in the war on the insurgency. The terrorists feel the threat is now coming from the interim government as much as they do from the Coalition. Let's just hope these guys make it out alive. Reuters:

An Iraqi rebel group has seized four Iraqi policemen in Najaf and threatened to kill them unless police agree to stop hunting insurgents and pressuring rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Al Jazeera television said Friday.

Posted by: Rusty at 01:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Forget Dan Rather, Tom Harkin is the real slimeball here. Yesterday the old media at CNN led footage of Tom Harkin demanding an investigation into George W. Bush's alleged failure to obey a direct command to report for a physical and some media continued the story today:

"Character counts, especially in the president of the United States," Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said at DNC headquarters.

"If the president lies about this, he could lie about how we got into Iraq," he added....

"There's a difference here, there's a real difference here," Harkin said. "There's documents to back up John Kerry. The documents do not back up George W. Bush."

The Vietnam War was not the real issue, Harkin said. The real issue, he said, was that Bush has continued to lie about his service during recent interviews.

"The president has repeatedly insisted he did not receive any special treatment to get into the (Texas Air National) Guard. We now know this isn't true."

"This is not about whether George W. Bush met his commitment, served his country 30 years ago," he said. "This isn't about Vietnam. ...

"This is about George Bush sitting in the Oval Office telling Tim Russert, quote, 'I did my duty.'

"We now know this was not true. And the president also knows, and knew, this is not true."....

"Democrats did not make this an issue. The president did," Harkin said.

"He made it an issue by not being truthful about whether he did his duty for America, (and) he made it an issue by falsely claiming all of his records had been released." ....

"These are not allegations. These are not speculations. These are hard, cold facts," Harkin said. "And the president, and only the president, can clear it up."

Posted by: Rusty at 11:39 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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What's for breakfast in the blogosphere?

-Coffee-black, no-sugar coating this one JFK (via morning prayer)
-Huevos Rancheros, make sure the eggs are scrambled and throw some baked beans on for good measure.
-A side of cowbell.
OJ-gots to keep regular, dude.
-Check please.

Was that a bomb that just went off or did the food not agree with me? Warn me next time before I eat one of those babies.

Posted by: Rusty at 08:58 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Jane's NY Post column was cut for this one from John Podhoretz which describes yesterday's big blog event: the Fisking of CBS:

THE populist revolu tion against the so- called mainstream media continues. Yesterday, the citizen journalists who produce blogs on the Internet — and their engaged readers — engaged in the wholesale exposure of what appears to be a presidential-year dirty trick against George W. Bush.

What the bloggers and their audiences did was call into profound question the authenticity of four documents proudly trumpeted by CBS News in a much-heralded investigative report on Wednesday night's edition of "60 Minutes" about the president's National Guard service in the early 1970s.

The Minneapolis lawyers who run powerlineblog.com were on the case early. Two of the blog's readers directed their attention to a note left on an Internet bulletin board on the freerepublic.com Web site — the 47th posting on the topic there.

Post No. 47 pointed out that there was something off about these documents from the 1970s: The spacing between the letters and the words was proportional, and only a few IBM electric typewriters could achieve that effect back then.

From there it was off to the races. Once anyone who had had experience writing and typing in the 1970s began examining the documents, it was impossible not to see some weird anachronisms that suggested they had been crafted not on a 1970s typewriter, but using Microsoft Word.

Charles Johnson, who runs the wonderful littlegreenfootballs.com, simply typed one of the memos over using Microsoft Word's New Times Roman font and, lo and behold, the document came out exactly identical to the one on the CBS site, down to the letter spacing.

By 3 o'clock, the very careful and honest Jim Geraghty, who produces invaluable material every day on nationalreview.com's Kerry Spot, was saying flatly, "CBS had better have one heck of a defense for this."

Ok, so the Rupert Murdoch lackeys over at the Post dissed him, but not the Chicago Sun-Times.

Another blogger, Bill Ardolino at INDC Journal, who had read Powerline, said, "I decided to find a top typeface expert and ran his analysis on my Web site."

Still reeling from yesterday. Stayed up late to see how the old media covered it. Some good roundups out there of yesterday's happening. Pixy Misa is a good place to start. Possible light posting day.

Posted by: Rusty at 08:15 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Can I just remind you that Team America comes out next month? The pic below the fold is from the movie. It's the subtle nuances of the pic that really get me. more...

Posted by: Rusty at 09:51 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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No, not that Nazi--a real one. Guardian:

An 86-year-old Nazi death squad commander went on trial in Munich yesterday, accused of the slaughter of 164 Slovak villagers in what could turn out to be the last war crimes trial from the second world war.
Ladislav Niznansky is accused of heading the Slovak section of the Edelweiss unit, which hunted partisans and Jews in Czechoslovakia after Germany crushed an uprising against its puppet government.

Mr Niznansky is accused of taking part in the massacre of 146 people in two Slovakian villages in 1945 and later ordering the execution of 18 Jews, some of them children, who were discovered hiding nearby.

Posted by: Rusty at 09:32 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Can I just put a word in for my own defense? I put forth a general rule about hypothesis testing that the null hypothesis should be maintained unless there is a 95% probablity that the nullification is accurate. In other words, you maintain the status quo unless you are quite positive about the results of your hypothesis testing. In this case, the status quo was that the documents were authenitic. Therefore, it is up to those who wish to disprove this to make more than a compelling case, but to make an overwhelming case. The reason? Remember cold fusion? In that experiment there was some evidence that cold fusion was happening. However, it later turned out to be wrong. Evidence can always be found to maintain a theoritical proposition, what you need to turn a proposition into a theory is overwhelming evidence. And lots of it! Because in science we general assume the greater risk is in saying that we have proven a theory when we have not. Scientists are conservative by nature.

Kuhn, in his famous book, describe the process of scientific revolution as a process by which old paradigms are thrown out and new ones are brought in. I believe we have just witnessed a major paradigm shift. It is the deathknell of the old media, and the ringing in of something completely different. I always looked at my blog as a way of putting out ideas, but that I should have a lot of evidence before putting out anything radically new. The blogosphere was alive today with what seemed like conspiritorial statements, but were really a conversation. The conversation started with a question, leading to more questions, and then we pulled in experts who seemed to concur with many initial suspicions. I still maintain that many of the early bloggers on this jumped the gun in declaring a slam dunk victory, but it seems that most were simply interested in the conversation. Forget the swiftie thing, it took us weeks to get the mainstream press in on the story. This...this took a matter of hours. We are the press now.

You know what, I was there the day the blogosphere changed the news media. That one guy who put in the research--I know that guy. That guy e-mails me saucy videos. The other guy--man, I knew that guy back in the day bro. He links me, man. He's my homie, essay! That's what I feel like. I was there man. I was there.

Posted by: Rusty at 09:09 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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