MadTom linked

MadTom posting at This Fucking War has linked to my earlier post, "re: "GETTING SERIOUS IN IRAQ" ", with this comment:

"It's hard to argue with that. We have only been screaming it at the top of our lungs for the last 2 1/2 years. Maybe now that the people in the know are saying the same things, someone will listen."

Bandits in transit (XI)

Taken on March 28, 2004 at Camp Doha, Kuwait.

JO - Committee formed to review work permit procedures

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Committee formed to review work permit procedures

BALFORD HENRY, Observer writer

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

THE Government has established a special committee comprising representatives of the ministries of labour, national security, and justice to review procedures for granting work permits in areas where Jamaican workers are vulnerable.

The committee is to report to Cabinet within four weeks.In the meantime, the government has decided to temporarily stop issuing work permits to foreign exotic (go-go) dancers recruited by local nightclubs, although those engaged by hotels will continue to obtain permits, subject to closer monitoring.

This was revealed by Information Minister Donald Buchanan at Monday's post-cabinet briefing at Jamaica House.The decision was triggered by the recent clash in the House of Representatives between Labour Minister Derrick Kellier and Ruddy Spencer, Opposition spokesman on labour, over the issuing of work permits to a growing number of foreign workers.

During the exchange, the labour minister admitted that hundreds of work permits were issued over the years without the vacancies being advertised locally, a prerequisite to issuing the permits.

He was responding to questions tabled by Spencer on the issuing of the permits.

On Monday, Buchanan said Cabinet had looked at initiatives being implemented that were aimed at further strengthening the systems and procedures for granting work permits. He said that the investigative capacity of the work permit unit had been strengthened, with a retired senior police officer recruited to visit establishments where migrant workers are employed, among other things.

"A number of nightclubs, construction sites and small business establishments have already been visited, and the findings indicate that there have been some breaches by work permit holders," the minister explained.

He said that some holders had changed employment without changing the conditions of their employment. Others had left their place of employment, before the end of the approved period, without a forwarding address.

He said that further investigations were being conducted, and where there was non-compliance with established regulations, work permits would be revoked.

In addition, Kellier said steps were being taken to ensure that people holding expired work permits did not remain in the island illegally. To this end, he said the Immigration Department would be notified in due course.

"Although there is no conclusive evidence that persons granted work permits are victims of trafficking, the ministry is fully cognisant of the potential risk to categories of migrant workers such as the exotic dancers and, as a consequence, a number of measures are being implemented to address this risk," Kellier added.

He said that a special committee would review the procedures for the granting of the permits, especially to vulnerable categories of Jamaicans.

"The issuance of work permits for dancers to be engaged in nightclubs has therefore been suspended pending the outcome of this review.

"However, requests submitted by hotels for foreign dancers are still being granted, in view of the need to maintain the cultural diversity of the entertainment and hospitality sector," Buchanan said. "Notwithstanding, there will still be close monitoring of work permits granted for this sector, to ensure that there are no breaches of the law, especially the facilitation of human trafficking."

JG - 'Holy war' is not foreign to Islam

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

'Holy war' is not foreign to Islam

published: Tuesday October 17, 2006

The Editor, Sir:

I would like to respond to a letter titled 'Jihad and Islam' by Hamid Woodham in The Gleaner of September 26. Woodham is incorrect in claiming that the concept of holy war is foreign to Islam. In fact from the time of Islam's inception, Islam has maintained a 'holy war' against all non-Muslims which are labelled 'infidels'. This is taught in Muslim schools to children as a form of indoctrination at a very early age. The Catholic crusades were nothing more than a form of self-defence against Muslim invasions, which continue unabated around the world today in the form of terrorism.

Ongoing invasion

Today's ongoing invasion by Islam throughout the world in various nations is not political as Woodham claims, but is rather inspired by religious aspirations of world domination. In various Muslim nations today, i.e. nations where there is no state-church separation and hence no distinction between politics and religion, there is no religious freedom and often direct persecution of Christians and Jews.

Woodham's own harsh criticism of Pope Benedict XVI's recent address merely demonstrates and proves the veracity of the Pope's remarks about Islam. It is not surprising that Muslim leaders feel free to criticise the Pope but not the Muslim terrorists. If Islam is really a religion of peace, one would expect a constant outcry by Islamic leaders against terrorism. But they remain silent except (in the case of Iran) to threaten Israel with annihilation! Herein lies the crux of the problem.

I am, etc.,

PETER MORAL

peter_moral@yahoo.ca

Toronto, Ontario

Canada

Via Go-Jamaica

S&S - Americans warned about travel to Rome during weekend protests

Stars and Stripes

Americans warned about travel to Rome during weekend protests

European edition, Friday, December 1, 2006

U.S. officials cautioned Americans about travelling to Rome this weekend due to planned demonstrations by Italian laborers and political parties.

A demonstration led by the “Forza Nuova” political party will take place from Piazza della Repubblica to Piazza Madonna di Loreto, beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, according to information posted on the U.S. Embassy in Rome’s Web site.

Officials expect large crowds Saturday to demonstrate against the “finanziaria,” or finance authorities, in the afternoon hours at the following locations: Piazza della Repubblica to Piazza San Giovanni; Circo Massimo to Piazza San Giovanni; Largo Colli Albani to Piazza San Giovanni.

Protesters are estimated to number in the thousands, and traffic and transportation delays are expected.

The Embassy Web site is: http://www.italy.usembassy.gov/english, and information is listed under the tab: “U.S. Citizen Services.”

re: "I Support Our Troops When They Shoot Their Reporters"

Frank J. at IMAO can always be counted on for fresh (even startling) perspectives on problem-solving.

Money quote(s):

"(H)ow much longer until the press cuts the middle man and reporters actually pick up rifles and shoot our troops directly?

I say the troops should start shooting reporters now before that happens."

re: "Here’s an Idea: Waive the Program"

Dr. Demarche at American Future writes about upcoming changes to the Visa Waiver Program.

Money quote(s):

"(T)he President wants to expand the Visa Waiver Program under which certain visitors to the U.S. can forgo the pre-screening of the visa process, based solely on nationality."

&

"I thought he was kidding too."

State acronyms

A recent commenter asked about some State Department acronyms and abbreviations having to do with particular bureaus and offices.

I found all of what he needed here.

The key thing for most people are the regional bureaus which fall under the Under Secretary for Political Affairs: AF, EAP, EUR, NEA, SCA, and WHA. In addition to signifying the regional bureaus, theese acronyms are used more generally to refer to the regions themselves.

African Affairs (AF)
East Asian & Pacific Affairs (EAP)
European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR)
Near Eastern Affairs (NEA)
South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA)
Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA)

SCA is kind of a recent addition and comprises the former SA (South Asia) along with some Central Asian countries. Also, WHA is a relatively new acronym which replaced the former ARA.

---------------

In alphabetical order:

Administration (M/A)
Administrative Services (M/IRM/EX/AS)
African Affairs (P/AF)
Allowances (M/A/OPR/ALS)
Analysis & Certification Division (Computer Security) (M/DS/CIS/IST/ACD)Applications Integration Division (M/IRM/OPS/SIO/API)
Applications Programming Division (M/IRM/OPS/SIO/APD)
Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security (M/DS)
Beltsville Messaging Center (M/IRM/OPS/MSO/MSMC/BMC)
Broadcasting Services (R/PA/OBS)
Bureau of Resource Management (S/D/RM)
Business Center Division (M/IRM/BPC/CST/BC)
Business, Planning and Customer Service (M/IRM/BPC)
Career Development and Assignments (M/HR/CDA)
Casualty Assistance (M/HR/OCA)
Chief Information Officer: Information Resource Management (M/IRM)
Chief of Protocol (S/CPR)
Chief of Staff (S/COS)
Civil Service Personnel (M/HR/CSP)
Combined Bureau Processing Center (M/IRM/OPS/MSO/EML/CBPC)Commissary and Recreation (M/A/OPR/CR)
Consular Affairs (M/CA)
Counselor (C)
Customer Service (M/IRM/BPC/CST)
Data Administration (M/IRM/OPS/SIO/API/DA)
Defensive Equipment & Armored Vehicles Division (M/DS/CIS/PSP/DEAV)
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (G/DRL)
Dep Asst Sec for Diplomatic Security and Director, Diplomatic Security Service (M/DS/DSS)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Countermeasures and Information Security (M/DS/CIS)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Foreign Missions (M/DS/OFM)
Deputy Secretary (S/D)
Diplomatic Contingency Programs (M/DCP)
Diplomatic Telecommunications Program Office (M/DTS-PO)
Directives Management (M/A/ISS/DIR)
Director General of Foreign Service (M/HR/DG)
Director General: Bureau of Human Resources (M/HR)
Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance (F)
Domestic Branch (M/IRM/BPC/CST/LD/DB)
E-mail (M/IRM/OPS/MSO/EML)
East Asian & Pacific Affairs (P/EAP)
Economic and Business Affairs (E/EB)
Educational and Cultural Affairs (R/ECA)
Electronic Information and Publications (R/PA/EI)
Employee Relations (M/HR/ER)
Enterprise Architecture and Planning (M/IRM/BPC/EAP)
Enterprise Network Management (M/IRM/OPS/ENM)
Enterprise Operations (M/IRM/OPS/ENM/OPS)
European and Eurasian Affairs (P/EUR)
Executive Director (M/DS/EX)
Executive Director (M/A/EX)
Executive Director (M/IRM/EX)
Executive Director (M/HR/EX)
Executive Secretariat (S/S/ES)
External Affairs (M/IRM/BPC/CST/LD/EA)
Facilities Management Services (M/A/OPR/FMS)
Facility Security Engineering Division (M/DS/CIS/FSE)
Family Liaison (M/HR/FLO)
Field Service Branch (M/DS/CIS/FSE/FS)
Financial Management (M/IRM/EX/FM)
Foreign Press Centers (R/PA/FPC)
Foreign Service Institute (M/FSI)
Foriegn Post Telephones (M/IRM/OPS/ITI/LWS/FPT)
General Services Management (M/A/OPR/GSM)
Grievance (M/HR/G)
Human Resources Management (M/IRM/EX/HRM)
IMPACT (M/IRM/BPC/CST/BC/SAS)
IRM Operations (M/IRM/OPS)
Information Assurance (M/IRM/IA)
Information Programs and Services (M/A/ISS/IPS)
Information Sharing Services (M/A/ISS)
Information Technology Infrastructure (M/IRM/OPS/ITI)
Inspector General (IG)
Integration Programs (M/IRM/OPS/SIO/API/IP)
Intelligence and Research (INR)
Intergovernmental Affairs (R/PA/IGA)
International Cooperative Administrative Support Services (M/ICASS)
International Information Programs (R/IIP)
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (P/INL)
International Organizations (P/IO)
International Security and Nonproliferation (T/ISN)
LAN/WAN Services Division (M/IRM/OPS/ITI/LWS)
Labor Relations (M/IRM/EX/HRM/LR)
Language Services (M/A/OPR/LS)
Legislative Affairs (H)
Liaison (M/IRM/BPC/CST/LD)
Logistics Management (M/A/LM)
Main State Messaging Center (M/IRM/OPS/MSO/MSMC)
Mainframe Systems (M/IRM/OPS/SIO/MFS)
Management Analysis Staff (M/IRM/OPS/MSO/MAS)
Management Policy (M/M/P)
Management Rightsizing (M/M/R)
Medical Director (M/M/MED/EX)
Messaging Systems (M/IRM/OPS/MSO)
Messaging Systems Office (M/IRM/MSO)
Messaging Systems Products (M/IRM/OPS/MSO/MSP)
Multi-Media Publishing Services (M/A/ISS/MMS)
Near Eastern Affairs (P/NEA)
Network Design & Engineering (M/IRM/OPS/ENM/NED)
Network Lifecycle Management (M/IRM/OPS/ENM/NLM)
Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (T/ISN/NDF)
OES Bureau Issue Briefs (G/OES/OES-BI)
Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs (G/OES)
Office of Civil Rights (S/OCR)
Office of Domestic Operations (M/DS/CIS/DO)
Office of Foreign Missions (M/OFM)
Office of Global Support Services and Innovation (M/A/A/GSSI)
Office of Information Security Program (M/DS/CIS/IST/ISP)
Office of Information Security Technology (M/DS/CIS/IST)
Office of International Women's Issues (G/IWI)
Office of Physical Security Programs (M/DS/CIS/PSP)
Office of Strategic and Performance Planning (S/D/RM/SPP)
Office of War Crimes Issues (S/WCI)
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT)
Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction & Stabilization (S/S/CRS)
Office of the Historian (R/PA/HO)
Office of the Legal Adviser (L)
Office of the Ombudsman for Civil Service Employees (S/S/CSO)
Office of the Secretary (S)
Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (S/S/GAC)
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/G/TIP)
Overseas Branch (M/IRM/BPC/CST/LD/OB)
Overseas Buildings Operations (M/OBO)
Overseas Employment (M/HR/OE)
Overseas Installations Branch (M/IRM/OPS/ITI/LWS/ITL)
verseas Schools (M/A/OPR/OS)
Performance Evaluation (M/HR/PE)
Policy Coordination (M/HR/PC)
Policy Planning Staff (S/P)
Policy and Regulation (M/IRM/BPC/RG)
Political-Military Affairs (T/PM)
Population, Refugees and Migration (G/PRM)
Press Relations (R/PA/PRS)
Procurement Executive (M/A/OPE)
Program Analysis Staff (M/IRM/EX/PAS)
Program Management Analysis (M/IRM/OPS/PMA)
Project Management and Engineering Branch (M/DS/CIS/FSE/PME)
Projects Management (M/A/OPR/SP)
Public Affairs (R/PA)
Public Liaison (R/PA/PIL)
Radio Program Branch (M/IRM/OPS/ITI/LWS/RPB)
Real Property Management (M/A/OPR/RPM)
Recruitment, Examination, and Employment (M/HR/REE)
Regional Media Outreach (R/PA/RMO)
Resource Management Analysis (M/HR/RMA)
Retirement (M/HR/RET)
Secretary's Open Forum (S/OF)
Small and Disadvantaged Business (M/A/SDBU)
South and Central Asian Affairs (P/SCA)
Special Messaging Operations (M/IRM/OPS/MSO/SMO)
Special Security Office (M/DS/CIS/IST/SSO)
Strategic Communications and Planning (R/PA/SCP)
Support Services (M/IRM/BPC/CST/SPS)
System Services Staff (M/IRM/OPS/SIO/SYS)
Systems (M/IRM/EX/SYS)
Systems Development & Engineering Section (M/DS/CIS/FSE/TD/SDE)
Systems Integrity (M/IRM/OPS/ITI/SI)
Systems and Integration Office (M/IRM/OPS/SIO)
Technical Security & Safeguards (M/IRM/OPS/ITI/TSS)
Technology Development Branch (M/DS/CIS/FSE/TD)
Telecomm, Wireless & Data Services (M/IRM/OPS/ITI/TWD)
The Office of Operations (M/A/OPR)
U.S. Diplomacy Center (R/PA/DC)
U.S. Mexico Binational Commision (P/WHA/BNC)
U.S. Space Objects Registry (G/OES/OES/SAT)
Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security (T)
Under Secretary for Economic and Agriculture Affairs (E)
Under Secretary for Global Affairs (G)
Under Secretary for Management (M)
Under Secretary for Political Affairs (P)
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (R)
Verification, Compliance and Implementation (T/VCI)
Western Hemisphere Affairs (P/WHA)
eDiplomacy (M/IRM/BPC/eDip)(M/A)


--------------

By organizational structure:


Counselor (C)
Under Secretary for Economic and Agriculture Affairs (E)
Economic and Business Affairs (EB)
Under Secretary for Global Affairs (G)
Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs (OES)
OES Bureau Issue Briefs (OES-BI)
U.S. Space Objects Registry (OES/SAT)
Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM)
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP)
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL)
Office of International Women's Issues (IWI)
Legislative Affairs (H)
Inspector General (IG)
Intelligence and Research (INR)
Office of the Legal Adviser (L)
Under Secretary for Management (M)
Administration (A)
Procurement Executive (OPE)
Executive Director (EX)
Logistics Management (LM)
The Office of Operations (OPR)
Allowances (ALS)
Commissary and Recreation (CR)
Facilities Management Services (FMS)
General Services Management (GSM)
Language Services (LS)
Overseas Schools (OS)
Projects Management (SP)
Real Property Management (RPM)
Information Sharing Services (ISS)
Information Programs and Services (IPS)
Multi-Media Publishing Services (MMS)
Directives Management (DIR)
Small and Disadvantaged Business (SDBU)
Office of Global Support Services and Innovation (A/GSSI)
()
Consular Affairs (CA)
Diplomatic Contingency Programs (DCP)
Medical Director (M/MED/EX)
Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security (DS)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Countermeasures and Information Security (CIS)
Office of Domestic Operations (DO)
Office of Information Security Technology (IST)
Office of Information Security Program (ISP)
Analysis & Certification Division (Computer Security) (ACD)
Special Security Office (SSO)
Facility Security Engineering Division (FSE)
Field Service Branch (FS)
Technology Development Branch (TD)
Systems Development & Engineering Section (SDE)
Project Management and Engineering Branch (PME)
Office of Physical Security Programs (PSP)
Defensive Equipment & Armored Vehicles Division (DEAV)
Dep Asst Sec for Diplomatic Security and Director, Diplomatic Security Service (DSS)
Executive Director (EX)
Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Foreign Missions (OFM)
Diplomatic Telecommunications Program Office (DTS-PO)
Foreign Service Institute (FSI)
Director General: Bureau of Human Resources (HR)
Career Development and Assignments (CDA)
Civil Service Personnel (CSP)
Director General of Foreign Service (DG)
Executive Director (EX)
Family Liaison (FLO)
Grievance (G)
Casualty Assistance (OCA)
Overseas Employment (OE)
Policy Coordination (PC)
Performance Evaluation (PE)
Recruitment, Examination, and Employment (REE)
Retirement (RET)
Resource Management Analysis (RMA)
Employee Relations (ER)
Chief Information Officer: Information Resource Management (IRM)
Information Assurance (IA)
Executive Director (EX)
Financial Management (FM)
Program Analysis Staff (PAS)
Human Resources Management (HRM)
Labor Relations (LR)
Administrative Services (AS)
Systems (SYS)
Business, Planning and Customer Service (BPC)
Policy and Regulation (RG)
Enterprise Architecture and Planning (EAP)
Customer Service (CST)
Business Center Division (BC)
IMPACT (SAS)
Liaison (LD)
Overseas Branch (OB)
Domestic Branch (DB)
External Affairs (EA)
Support Services (SPS)
eDiplomacy (eDip)
IRM Operations (OPS)
Enterprise Network Management (ENM)
Network Design & Engineering (NED)
Enterprise Operations (OPS)
Network Lifecycle Management (NLM)
Information Technology Infrastructure (ITI)
LAN/WAN Services Division (LWS)
Foriegn Post Telephones (FPT)
Radio Program Branch (RPB)
Overseas Installations Branch (ITL)
Telecomm, Wireless & Data Services (TWD)
Systems Integrity (SI)
Technical Security & Safeguards (TSS)
Program Management Analysis (PMA)
Systems and Integration Office (SIO)
System Services Staff (SYS)
Applications Integration Division (API)
Data Administration (DA)
Integration Programs (IP)
Applications Programming Division (APD)
Mainframe Systems (MFS)
Messaging Systems (MSO)
Management Analysis Staff (MAS)
Messaging Systems Products (MSP)
E-mail (EML)
Combined Bureau Processing Center (CBPC)
Special Messaging Operations (SMO)
Main State Messaging Center (MSMC)
Beltsville Messaging Center (BMC)
Messaging Systems Office (MSO)
Management Policy (M/P)
Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO)
Office of Foreign Missions (OFM)
International Cooperative Administrative Support Services (ICASS)
Management Rightsizing (M/R)
Under Secretary for Political Affairs (P)
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL)
South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA)
African Affairs (AF)
East Asian & Pacific Affairs (EAP)
European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR)
International Organizations (IO)
Near Eastern Affairs (NEA)
Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA)
U.S. Mexico Binational Commision (BNC)
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (R)
Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)
International Information Programs (IIP)
Public Affairs (PA)
Press Relations (PRS)
Regional Media Outreach (RMO)
Foreign Press Centers (FPC)
Electronic Information and Publications (EI)
Broadcasting Services (OBS)
Public Liaison (PIL)
Strategic Communications and Planning (SCP)
Office of the Historian (HO)
Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA)
U.S. Diplomacy Center (DC)
Office of the Secretary (S)
Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
Chief of Staff (COS)
Chief of Protocol (CPR)
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (CT)
Deputy Secretary (D)
Bureau of Resource Management (RM)
Office of Strategic and Performance Planning (SPP)
Secretary's Open Forum (OF)
Executive Secretariat (S/ES)
Office of War Crimes Issues (WCI)
Office of the Ombudsman for Civil Service Employees (S/CSO)
Policy Planning Staff (P)
Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (S/GAC)
Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction & Stabilization (S/CRS)
Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security (T)
International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN)
Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF)
Political-Military Affairs (PM)
Verification, Compliance and Implementation (VCI)
Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance (F)

Bandit Siesta

Bandits wait out the hot of the day at TAA Hound, in the vicinity of Khalis, Iraq sometime during May-June 2003.

re: "GETTING SERIOUS IN IRAQ"

Noble Eagle excerpts and comments on recent remarks by Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive.

Money quote(s):

"We've been waging law-enforcement and diplomacy against these terrorist jackasses and their enablers when we should have been waging war.

I think our first target should be that snotty little pot-bellied pig Muqtada al-Sadr. Take him and his top henchmen out in rapid succession, and the Shiite militias will be in disarray. To keep them in disarray, we need to cut off their support from Iran, which means closing the border. That'll take more troops, but it'd be worth it. It's time to stop screwing around with these guys and start playing for keeps."

JO - Caribbean to commission brain drain study

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Caribbean to commission brain drain study

Monday, October 23, 2006

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) - The Caribbean Community will facilitate a study to examine the impact of an economic migration of the region's best educated workers to wealthier nations, an official with the 15-nation bloc said yesterday.

The study, to be completed by researchers at the University of the West Indies, will document an ongoing pattern of "brain drain" that has resulted in middle-class workers decamping to higher-paying jobs in the United States, Europe, and Canada, according to Barbadian Education Minister Anthony Wood.

Wood, who made the comments after a meeting of Caricom ministers, said the exodus of skilled professionals can prove particularly damaging in professions such as education but likely impedes regional development in a variety of ways.
A recent study by the International Monetary Fund estimated that the Caribbean was losing up to 40 per cent of its most skilled professionals - with many of those leaving high-skilled jobs in education, medicine, and law.

re: "Tranzis"

A polite nod to Zero Ponsdorf at Another Voice for further disseminating the Yellow Eyes Afterword.

JG - British barbarity: Morant Bay massacre

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

British barbarity: Morant Bay massacre

published: Tuesday October 17, 2006

Devon Dick

'Two thousand Negroes killed - eight miles of dead bodies' was the account in the New York Times concerning the actions of the British colonial establishment in the 1865 Jamaican insurrection. This is comparable to dead bodies lining the streets from Stony Hill to Cross Roads. This I read two weeks ago. But not many persons recognise the depth of the massacre.

Yesterday, we recalled the achievements of our revered National Heroes and remembered the events that led to their struggles. It is clear that not enough is known about the National Heroes and the events of the time.

Last week, Dr. Clinton Hutton, a political scientist who specialises in Afro-Caribbean religions at the University of the West Indies, loaned me a video cassette entitled 'Morant Bay Rebellion and Massacre' which features Hutton, Dr. Swithin Wilmot and Professor Stuart Hall as resource persons. This is a copy of a BBC documentary that was aired in England over a decade ago but never in Jamaica. This film rightly focussed on the massacre committed by the British authorities.

The British official inquiry claimed that 439 persons were killed. However, other reports have it much worse and the evidence points to untold brutality and barbarity. There are reports that 3,000 persons were killed. There are writings by British officers boasting about the abuses and killings. One report stated that once it was a 'black face' the person was executed.

Other reports

Another report said if the person of African descent did not run, then he was shot, and if he ran it was a sign that he was guilty so he was hunted down and murdered.

There was also a comment by a 'sensible Scotsman' of that era who said that it was a pattern of the English people to engage in barbarity. He said, "It was so in all the massacres of Ireland and Scotland - it was so in the Indian mutiny, and it is so in Jamaica."

And if we fast-forward to the present, it is a similar thing happening in Iraq with U.S. and British soldiers taking pictures of their brutality. One British soldier has already been convicted of crime against humanity. Things have not changed. By credible estimates 60,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq. But no country dare take a resolution to the UN Security Council about the massacres in Iraq.

Those who claim that we should forget history, those who claim that the study of historical records is a useless exercise are destined to repeat the mistakes of the past and not advance the human race and fail to grasp the trends and connection of the past with the present.

When Governor Eyre was tried for murder in England he was acquitted and the British Parliament voted a pension for Eyre. Britain has never accepted that it was a massacre and historians have done this nation a disservice by referring to it as 'Morant Bay Rebellion' and ignoring the 'massacre'.

The French Parliament adopted a bill which would make it a crime for anyone to claim that the Turks did not commit genocide among the Armenians. But what about the crime of France in Haiti and the crime of Britain at Morant Bay?

The deputy PM of Britain plans to apologize for slavery next year, the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade. However, atrocities continued after slavery such as at Morant Bay. When will Britain accept that it was a massacre at Morant Bay?

In addition, Jamaica needs to determine how many persons were killed in the Morant Bay massacre.

Rev. Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church and author of "Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building"

re: "EXCLUSIVE: Iranian Weapons Arm Iraqi Militia"

Hat tip to The Intelligence-Summit for re-posting this ABC News article.

Money quote(s):

"(C)oalition forces have recently seized Iranian-made weapons and munitions that bear manufacturing dates in 2006."

&

"(T)he most powerful militia in Iraq, Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi army, is receiving training support from the Iranian-backed terrorists of Hezbollah."

JO - Charity ball to benefit needy J'can students

Jamaica Observer

Charity ball to benefit needy J'can students

JIS News

Thursday, November 30, 2006

NEW YORK, USA - Proceeds from this year's annual charity ball of the Children of Jamaica Outreach Inc (COJO) will go toward its scholarship fund to benefit needy young persons in Jamaica as well as the United States.

The gala event will be held on Saturday, December 2, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, LaGuardia Airport, Queens in New York.

Minister of Housing, Transport, Water and Works Robert Pickersgill will be special guest at the function. He will represent Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.

Dr Basil K Bryan, Consul General in New York, will serve as patron of the event, which is expected to attract a strong contingent of government, elected officials and community leaders from the New York metro area.

COJO is a non-profit organisation in New York, whose mission is to help improve the health, education and general well-being of underprivileged children.

Yellow Eyes Afterward

Re-posted (with permission) from Baen's Bar:

YELLOW EYES AFTERWORD

Topic: Yellow Eyes Afterword. (1 of 11), Read 176 times
Conf: KratsKeller
From: Tom Kratman nrvlaw@aol.com
Date: Monday, November 27, 2006 06:30 PM

"Ok...the Winged Minions said they'd spread this far and wide on the blogosphere if I posted it a week after the eARC came out. This marks one week. Here it is. Fly, O' Winged Minions, fly.

Afterword:

Both John and Tom have served in the Republic of Panama, John for some weeks while attending the Jungle School at Fort Sherman, Tom for four and a half years with Fourth Battalion, Tenth Infantry (as a sergeant) and Third Battalion, Fifth Infantry (as a lieutenant). Tom says, “If the place where you were happiest in life is home, then my home is Fort William D. Davis, Panama Canal Zone, with the 4th of the 10th Infantry, from 1977 to 1978.”

It’s a magic place, Panama, and we highly encourage our readers, or anyone, to visit it. (Did we play some games with the terrain in support of the story? You betcha. But Panama is still a great, wonderful and very beautiful place.)

Can they fight, though? Is the portrayal of the defense in the book realistic? After all, the United States took them down in a bit over twenty-four hours back in 1989. How good could they be?

And that is an interesting question. In 1989, in Operation Just Cause, the United States launched a sudden and surprise attack on the then existing Panama Defense Forces and did crush those forces in about a day, picking off holdouts over the next 3-4 days. This would not appear to be a great recommendation.

That is, it doesn’t appear to be until you look at the particulars. We hit them in the night, where we have an overwhelming technological advantage. We hit them with little or no tactical warning. We hit them with greater, and in places overwhelming, numbers and overwhelming firepower, even though the use of that firepower was somewhat restrained. Further, we hit them with complete air supremacy and used that air supremacy to deliver, over and above the rather large forces we had in Panama already, three of the best trained, most lethal infantry battalions in the world, the three battalions of the 75th Infantry (Ranger) (Airborne). More forces followed on, later, as well.

The wonder is not that we took them down in a day, but that they were able to hang on that long. Indeed, if there’s any wonder in the story it’s that, even when abandoned by some (one remarkably loathsome and cowardly wretch, in particular…West Point…Class of 1980) of their US trained officers, the others held on and fought. The wonder is that at their Comandancia, parts of a couple of Panamanian infantry companies fought against hopeless odds, nearly to the last man. There were only five prisoners taken there; and all of those were wounded. The rest, true to their duty, died in place. Moreover, they drove us out of the compound more than once before they were finally subdued. There were more Texan prisoners taken at the Alamo.

The wonder is that, despite all those disadvantages, the PDF managed to inflict about three casualties on us for every four they took.

Did we mention that some young Panamanian kids with almost no time in uniform kicked the bejesus out of a US Navy SEAL team?

So, yes, they’re a tough and a brave people, well within the western military tradition, and – properly armed and trained – they can fight.

Of course, the western military tradition, outside of the US and UK, isn’t what it used to be. Oh, the formations are still there, some of them. The weapons are, if anything, better than ever. Even the men – and women, too, of course – still have much of what made the West great inside them.

Unfortunately, the West itself has largely fallen under the control of civilization Dr. Kevorkians. Some call them “Tranzis.” “Tranzi” is short for “Transnational Progressive” or “Transnational Progressivism”. For a more complete account of their program, look up John O’Sullivan’s Gulliver’s Travails or some of what Stephen den Beste has written on the subject. You might, dear Reader, also look at John Fonte’s The Ideological War within the West. Lastly, for purposes of this little essay, look up Lee Harris’ The Intellectual Origins of America Bashing. These should give you a good grounding in Tranzism: its motives, goals and operating techniques. All can be found on line.

For now, suffice to say that Tranzism is the successor ideology to failed and discredited Marxist-Leninism. Many of the most prominent Tranzis are, in fact, “former” members of various communist parties, especially European communist parties. These have taken the failure of the Soviet Union personally and hard, and, brother, are they bitter about it.

Nonetheless, our purpose here is not to write up “Tranzism 101”. It is to illustrate the Tranzi approach to the laws of war. That’s right, boys and girls. Pull up a chair. Grab a stool. Cop a squat. Light ‘em if you’ve got ‘em. (If not, bum ‘em off Ringo; Kratman’s fresh out.) It’s lecture time.

One of the difficult things about analyzing Tranzis and their works is that they are not a conspiracy. What they are is a consensus. Don’t be contemptuous; civilization is nothing more than a consensus. So is barbarism. Moreover, the Tranzis are a fairly cohesive consensus, especially on certain ultimate core issues. Nonetheless, if you are looking for absolute logical consistency on the part of Tranzis you will search in vain.

On the other hand, at the highest level, the ultimate Tranzi goal, there is complete agreement. They want an end to national sovereignty and they want global governance by an unelected, self-chosen “elite”. Much of what they say and do will make no sense, even in Tranzi terms, unless that is borne in mind.Below that ultimate level one cannot expect tactical logical consistency. Things are neither good nor bad, true nor false, except insofar as they support the ultimate Tranzi goal.

For example, if one were to ask a Tranzi, and especially a female and feminist Tranzi, about the propriety of men having any say over a woman’s right to an abortion the Tranzi would probably be scandalized. After all, men don’t even have babies. They know nothing about the subject from the inside, so to speak. Why should they have any say?

Nonetheless, that same Tranzi, if asked whether international lawyers and judges, and humanitarian activist non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, should have the final say in the laws of war, would certainly approve. This is true despite the fact that the next lawyer, judge or NGO that understands as much about war as a man understands about childbirth will likely be the first.

Why do we say they know nothing about the subject? By their works shall you know them.

The International Criminal Court is, after the UN and European Union, the next most significant Tranzi project (Kyoto being dead on arrival) and arguably the most significant with regard to the laws of war. A majority, if a bare one, of the world’s sovereign states have signed onto it while about half have ratified it. The ICC claims jurisdiction over all the crimes mentioned in its founding statute, irrespective of who committed them, where they were committed, or whether the “crimes” are actually criminal under the traditional and customary law of war. This is called, “Universal Jurisdiction.” Universal Jurisdiction, as a concept, has a number of flaws. Among these are that it has zero valid legal precedence behind it. Zero precedence? Tranzis will cite at least two precedents. One of these is the jurisdiction exercised from times immemorial by any sovereign power over pirates at sea, when any were caught. The other is Nuremberg. These are flawed. In the case of Nuremberg, the jurisdiction exercised was not “Universal” but national jurisdiction of the coalition of the victors over a Germany whose sovereignty had been temporarily extinguished by crushing defeat in war. The piracy precedent as applied to modern notions of universal jurisdiction doesn’t stand close scrutiny any better. The Tranzis claim that universal jurisdiction was exercised over piracy because piracy was, in its conduct and effect, so ghastly. This is wrong on both counts. In the first place, pirates were not necessarily subject to universal jurisdiction except insofar as they were caught where national jurisdiction did not run; typically at sea, in other words. Moreover, alongside piracy there existed privateering. In their conduct the two were often enough indistinguishable. In other words, however “’ghastly” privateering may have been – and the former residents of Portobello and Panama City could have told one it could be ghastly, indeed – it was still not subject to universal jurisdiction. No matter that piracy was no worse than privateering, it was so subject. The difference was that sovereign powers, nation-states in other words, exercised sovereign jurisdiction over privateers, were responsible for their actions, and punished them at need, while they did not and could not with pirates. It was the lack of sovereign jurisdiction, both as to their persons and as to the locus of their crimes, that left pirates open to universal jurisdiction and not any supposed “ghastliness” of those crimes.

Along with the lack of valid legal precedence, the ICC and universal jurisdiction suffer other flaws. Recall, dear reader, the lack of Tranzi logical consistency on the questions posed above about abortion and the laws of war. Anti-imperialism is yet another Tranzi tactical cause. But what is imperialism beyond one or several states or people using force or color of law to make rules for another or other state or people? And what is the ICC, using all the staggering moral and military power of…oh….Fiji… France… West Fuckistan…but the attempt at enforcing rules made by one group of states upon others? It’s Imperialism, in other words.

Of course, imperialism in the service of a higher cause – the raising of unelected, self-styled, global elites to power, for example – is praiseworthy, in Tranzi terms.

Nothing deterred, the Tranzis claim that Tranzi courts, to include notionally national Tranzi courts like those of Spain, have universal jurisdiction. Why?

Tranzis hate national sovereignty. It cramps their style. It interferes with their program. It’s aesthetically unappealing. Their goal is the destruction of national sovereignty. The right of a people to democratically make their own laws, to govern themselves, is anathema to Tranzi goals and dreams. When they say “Global Governance,” boys and girls, they mean it. They really intend that unelected bureaucrats and judges, and self-selected elites ought be able to tell you what to do, how to live, what to pay in taxes, what rights you are not entitled to.

Sovereignty stands in the way. The ultimate expression of sovereignty is a nation’s and people’s armed forces. No army; no ability to defend one’s own laws and way of life; no sovereignty.

But how to do away with sovereign control of national armed forces? It’s a toughie. They’ve got all these guns and shit, while the poor Tranzis have none.“Aha! We know,” say the Tranzis. “We can control a nation’s armed forces if we can punish the soldiers and especially the officers and a nation refuses to stand up and defend them. No nation which permits a foreign court to exercise jurisdiction over its military can any longer be said to own that military. Instead, that military will be owned by the courts able to punish the leaders. Onward, into the future, Comrade’s!”

Let them punish your soldiers and the soldiers can no longer be counted upon to defend the nation. Nor would you deserve being defended by your soldiers. Let them punish the soldiers and there is no principled distinction to prevent them punishing the president, the legislature, even the Supreme Court. For who would defend the president, legislature and courts once the same have let down their soldiers? Let them punish your soldiers and you deserve what you get…and to lose what you will lose.

It would be one thing if the ICC were something more than a misguided exercise in legalistic Tranzi mutual masturbation; if it could, in other words, be effective in limiting the horrors of war.It cannot be effective. Ever.

This is because of the very nature of war itself. There is nothing a court can do that, in terms of punishment that deters, even begins to approach the horror men inflict on each other in war, routinely, in the course of normal and legal operations. There is nothing any court can do that can even hope to catch the interest of tired men, hungry men, men fighting for victory and their lives. No sensible court would even try. There is some conduct which cannot be deterred. When life is at stake, the law recognizes no “no trespassing” signs. When the choice is between picking pockets at a mass hanging of pickpockets, and risking the noose, or facing slow starvation…well…at least the rope is fairly quick. Similarly, when the choice on the battlefield is life or death, what power has some uncertain court distant in both time and space to deter anything? The simple answer is; it has none. What trivial power has the law with its trivial possible punishments to deter conduct that might save soldiers’ lives, their comrades’ and their country’s in the here and now?

Yet we can see that, however imperfectly, the customary law of war has often worked – even without any such body as the ICC and without Spain’s recent disgusting, illegal, morally putrescent attempt at exercising sovereignty over American soldiers. It has worked imperfectly, to be sure. Yet it has worked often enough…indeed, within western war it has worked more often than not.

Where the laws of war have worked to mitigate the horror and protect innocent life they have, by and large, done so when the combatants were of the same culture, shared the same values, and had what we might like to think of as a basic decency. That’s rarely been quite enough. It needed a little something else, some other reason to follow the rules.

The other reason was the threat and fear of reprisals.

Tranzis hate reprisals, which are war crimes in themselves but war crimes which become legal in order to punish an enemy who violates the law of war, deter him from violating it, and remove the advantages which accrue from such violations. The Tranzis don’t hate reprisals merely because they’re ugly, cause suffering of innocents, etc., though they hate them for those reasons, too. No, Tranzis hate reprisals because reprisals work to enforce the laws of war and their own silly courts fail.

Reprisals work? You’re kidding us, right?

Wrong. Why wasn’t poisonous gas used in the Second World War? The threat of reprisal. What happened when, in 1944, the Germans threatened to execute some numbers of French resistance fighters and the French Resistance, which was holding many German prisoners, answered, “We will kill one for one”? The French prisoners held by the Germans were left unharmed. Why didn’t the Southern Confederacy during the American Civil War execute the white officers of black regiments as they had passed a law to do? Because the Union credibly threatened to hang a white southern officer for every man of theirs so mistreated. Why didn’t the United States or South Vietnam execute, generally, Viet Cong guerillas who had gravely violated the laws of war in the course of the insurgency there? Because the North Vietnamese had prisoners against whom they would have reprised had we or the South Vietnamese done so.

Reprisals work; courts and statutes do not. The law of war, because of the nature of war, must be self enforcing, through reprisals. Nothing else can work and any attempt to do away with reprisal is an indirect attack on and undermining of the law of war.

But then, the law of war and mitigating its horrors are not really what the Tranzis are about. Undermining national sovereignty? Replacing sovereign nations with themselves? That’s what they’re about.

The Tranzis aren’t about eliminating war’s horrors? Oh, John, Oh, Tom…say it isn’t so.(Interject dual sigh at the vast iniquity of mankind here.) It’s so.

Recall that we mentioned that Tranzism is the successor philosophy to Marxist-Leninism. It should come as no great surprise, then, that one of the key pieces of Tranzi legislation on the law of war should have been sponsored and forced into existence by…wait for it….wait for it….THE SOVIET UNION.

This key piece of Tranzi legislating on the law of war was Additional Protocol I to Geneva Convention IV. The Protocol itself was shoved through by the Soviets at a time when it looked like Peoples Revolutionary War (guerilla war…communist insurgency) would continue to be a powerful weapon to advance the cause of communism. The United States has never ratified it and, pray God, it never shall. The Russians, who forced it through, have never payed it the slsightest attention as witnessed by their conduct in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 and, more recently, in Chechnya.

The Protocol is interesting for three reasons: what it purports to do, what it actually does, and for the admittedly slick way in which it tries to do it.

The slickness is in the way the Protocol is structured. It begins with a pious preamble, typically enough. That isn’t the slick part. What is clever is that it repeats much of what was already in Geneva Convention IV (GC IV), which is concerned with the protection of civilians caught up in war (as is the Protocol), and then interweaves some very new things. The new things include major advantages, given gratis, to guerillas and especially communist guerillas, a broad ban on the use of what it calls “mercenaries,” one rather unreasonable restriction on the use of food as a weapon and a subtle way of saying “It’s okay to push the Zionist beasts into the sea.”

Then, when a nation refuses to ratify the Additional Protocol for any of the at least five really good reasons not to do so, it stands accused of anything from being in favor of mass rape to forced medical experiments a la Josef Mengele. Never mind that all that is prohibited by the original GC IV and that the Additional Protocol adds nothing of importance. “You refuse to ratify the Additional Protocol? You Nazi bastards!”

Are these guys slick or what?

As to what the Protocol is supposed to do, protect civilians, one has to wonder. It is part of the traditional law of war that, in case of a siege, a city may have its food cut off and civilians attempting to escape may be fired upon, even killed, to drive them back to eat up the food. This is cruel to be sure, an “extreme measure” as the U.S. Army’s manual on the subject admits. Cruel or not, this was upheld in the late 40s in the case of United States v. Ritter von Leeb and is still – up to a point – good law, outside of Tranzidom. Geneva Convention IV ameliorated this harsh rule, and reasonably so, by requiring that some evacuations for particular reasons (maternity, infancy, infirmity, for example) be allowed.

The Protocol, however, does not allow food to be cut off or civilians to be driven back into a besieged town to eat up whatever food is there. Naturally, one cannot permit food to enter without at the same time feeding the garrison, which will ensure for itself that it eats first. Therefore, the besieger has a choice, sit there forever – which is generally impractical – or take the place by assault. Now imagine what will happen to the civilians if the town is stormed, when every room receives its donation of grenade and bullet. And this is supposed to protect them? Starvation, at least, while unpleasant, offered a good chance for a besieged town to fall after a few lean days without the massacre intendant on an assault.

What then is the purpose of the Additional Protocol? It is to disadvantage the west, to reduce its military power, thus to reduce its sovereignty. Since being forced into existence by the Soviets the Protocol has had no other purpose.The law of war nowhere mentions the phrase “illegal combatants.” Tranzis will tell you that, therefore, there is no such thing. This is false.

There is a legal principal, a Latin expression, “Expresio unius exclusio alterius est,” the inclusion of one is the exclusion of the other. While the law of war does not mention “illegal combatants,” it goes to some length to explain what is required to be a legal combatant. If there is such a concept as legal combatancy, and rules which must be followed to attain that status, then failure to follow those rules places one in the implicit status of illegal combatant.

Those rules are four. To be a legal combatant under the original Geneva Convention, which is quite different from the Additional Protocol to which the United States is not a party, one must a) wear a fixed insignia recognizable at a distance, b) carry arms openly, c) be under the command of a person or chain of command responsible for your actions (much like a privateer was under a sovereign and a pirate, again, was not), and d) conduct operations in accordance with the customs and laws of war. Failure to meet any of these conditions makes one an illegal combatant.

Note, here, that individuals do not “conduct operations.” Organizations conduct operations. This implies that one is responsible for the actions of one’s organization as well as for one’s own. Can you hear the sound of Tranzi heads exploding over that last? They might seem to have a point. Civil law normally doesn’t permit people to held responsible for the actions of others, right? Wrong. Look up “conspiracy.” Once someone becomes part of a conspiracy they become responsible for everything their co-conspirators do. Moreover, within the law of war’s concept of reprisal perfect innocents may be effectively responsible for what their side does. After all, what happens when a side violates the law by using a hospital, say, for an ammunition dump? The perfectly innocent and otherwise protected wounded are blasted from this world to the next in reprisal.

Equally so, within an armed force, both by “d)”, above, and under the practical effect of the doctrine of reprisal a combatant is responsible for both his own actions and those of his organization.

It works the other way, too, by the way. Note that General Yamashita was hanged not for anything he ordered or could have prevented but for things subelements only notionally under his command did.

What does this mean for the current war? It means that every Saudi kid, inspired to go to Iraq to fight by watching some truck driver’s head sawed of on Al Jazeera, has – in civil law terms - voluntarily joined a conspiracy to fight illegally and is thus an illegal combatant and that – in law of war terms – he is an illegal combatant even if he personally follows the rules completely.

Those who would grant him legal combatant status, the Tranzis in other words, thus are trying to improve and enhance the effectiveness of those who would and do violate the law of war.

This is something you would expect from an enemy, right?

So what can we do? What would John and Tom like to see done?

Number One: Never forget that the Tranzi purpose is inimical to our own, that they are the enemy as much as Hitler was or al Qaeda is. They want us, as a distinct nation and people, to cease to exist. They want our constitution overthrown or made subordinate to their law, which amounts to the same thing. They want our military made subordinate to their judges, so that it can be undermined and made unable or unwilling to defend us. They want us to lose our wars.

Number Two: Remembering that the Tranzis are the enemy, give them no aid, no money, no support. Do not give them a foothold into the armed forces and if such foothold exists (say, in the form of an institute devoted to peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance) close it down. Audit the Tranzis' books; they’re as corrupt as imaginable and could not well stand auditing. They tend to lie, especially to raise money. Require that their charitable activities advertise truthfully and punish them when they do not. Jail a few of the bastards. On second thought jail a lot of the bastards. Remove their tax exempt status on the first whiff of impropriety. When the ultimate Tranzi organization, the UN, cheats the Iraqi people and hides the details of the thefts withhold the funds otherwise due to the UN and pay it to the Iraqis instead…with no chance of ever making good to the UN any such amounts withheld and given.

Number Three: Did you know that the United States has what amounts to a conditional declaration of war in place should anyone have the gall to grab one of our soldiers to turn over to the ICC or some other Tranzi court? It’s called the American Servicemembers Protection Act and it passed unanimously in the Senate. (Sometimes your country just makes you proud.) We should look for an opportunity to exercise that law…and sometime soon. Spain might be a good place to start.

Number Four: Even when we have them on the ropes do not let up. Finish them off. Make the Tranzi organizations extinct and the parasites who live off of them spend the remainder of their days poor and hungry. Do not weep for the Tranzis.

Number Five: Don’t, don’t, DON’T give up hope. The Tranzis are not going to win. Their center of gravity, Europe, is dying to demographics. Within the United States and with our own Tranzis much the same thing is happening regionally and sub-culturally. The prize Tranzi projects, the UN and EU, are staggering under a burden of incompetence, ineffectuality and corruption. Moreover, say what you will about Muslim extremists, they’re still damned good at demonstrating to the world outside of Europe what happens when you let the Tranzis take over.

By the way, Tom and John intend to fight the bastards all the way."

re: "Another Disaffected One Star Talking To The Kiddies" & "THE IRAQ STRATEGY WAS WRONG FROM DAY ONE"

Hat tip to Chap at Chapomatic for linking to this article.

re: "DOMINO THEORY" & "Iraq Options"

Noble Eagle excerpts from and discusses a recent Townhall.Com post by Cliff May.

Money quote(s):

"Make no mistake, once the terrorists have beaten us on one front (Iraq), they will redouble their efforts on other fronts, most notably Afghanistan. And then it's on to new territory. Maybe your back yard. The terrorists are in this for the long haul, folks. And we are too, whether we like it or not."

re: "One War, Not Yet Fully Engaged"

Confederate Yankee discusses the continuing problem of national leadership.

Walls of Babylon

Taken at Camp Babylon, Iraq in 2003.

US AIRWAYS

Hat tip to Random Nuclear Strikes for the link to Rodger's.

JO - Step into the light

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Step into the light

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Dear Editor,

It is with deep regret that we as Jamaicans cannot see clearly even when there is light in our midst. I am speaking with respect to the issue of the gift of four million light bulbs from the Cuban government to the Jamaican government, which is indeed timely and quite appropriate.

While the citizens of this nation continue to await high light bills at the end of each month and the nation in particular continues to feel the pinch of high energy bills, why not utilise the opportunity being given to us and stop being cynical. Each time something good is being done in this country there is always someone there waiting to put it in the darkness and every bad thing is highlighted. Do not overlook the good of this project. For instance, the purpose of this project to my knowledge is first of all to lower the energy bill of this country.

The recent trends in oil prices have spurred the development of several energy conservation initiatives worldwide and Jamaica cannot be left out as it is indeed a worrying problem. The recently drafted Green Paper for the Jamaica Energy Policy 2006-2020 emphasises the need to conserve on, and also improve, efficiency of energy use in the domestic economy. Isn't this a clear sign that we need to take a bold step towards change and betterment of our country?

Clearly to me, this move will have a direct impact on the Jamaican household, due to the reduction in electricity use. If the initial cost of this project will be borne by the Cuban government, then what is the problem? Is it that we are worried about the cost of the compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to the consumer after the project is completed?

If that is so, look at it this way, based on my research, while the CFLs are more expensive, they last 10 times longer than the incandescent bulbs, so the long-term costs are equivalent. The CFLs are also more environmentally friendly, are much cooler and are four times more efficient than the incandescent bulbs.

Are we still in the darkness, I hope not, because I have just turned the switch on and the future looks bright. This project has been done in other countries such as Mexico and South Africa and I heard no bickering of political points being scored, and camera in bulbs.

As to the question of why the Cuban social workers are here, this is the agreement between both governments and please bear in mind that all bulbs have to be accounted for. The Jamaican Government is not trying to have its citizens look dishonest, but when an agreement is brokered it should not be breached. It is my opinion that this is not for political mileage, and it would be good if the relations between both countries remain as it is or strengthens.

Please people come out of the darkness and step into the light.

L Garvey

Kingston