Thursday - September 04, 2008

11 year old Brit citizen and mom trapped in Russia.  From Russia with love?

what sort of creep uses a kid to get even with an ex wife?  Lower then whale poo. I know ppl do this sort of thing a lot and I think it’s despicable. He cares nothing for the child or what angst she must feel.  Mom may have made a mistake re. the passport. But that shouldn’t be used as a club to legally batter her and her daughter.  I’ve heard the expression, it takes all kinds. The question is, Why?

HAMPSHIRE CHRONICLE
by Laura Downton

AN 11-year-old schoolgirl from Kings Worthy is currently “trapped” in Russia after her father made a legal order to stop her from returning home.

Victoria Osborne, a former Kings Worthy Primary School pupil, who speaks little Russian, went on holiday with her mother, Tatiana, to visit her grandmother in Saratov during the summer break.

(Kings Worthy is a village about 2 miles from us.  So far it’s a local story. )

She was due to return to her Ilex Close home last Thursday, and start a new phase of her life at secondary school.

But when she arrived at the airport in Moscow, she was stopped from taking the flight by Russian authorities, according to her stepfather, Dr Patrick Osborne.

Without any warning her biological father, Yuri Gladkikh - who Dr Osborne said has played no part in her life for eight years - imposed a restriction that banned her from leaving the country for the next seven years.

Her devastated mother was told she was free to go, but had to leave her daughter behind. She refused, and remains in Russia too.

Now Dr Osborne is fighting to bring the pair home.

The situation has arisen because the law in Russia allows divorced parents to block the movements of their children out of the country at any time until they are 18.

Although Victoria, known by friends as Vicka’, and Tatiana, are British citizens, they entered Russia on their Russian passports, and are therefore subject to Russian law.

Tatiana, who is ironically undertaking research at Birmingham University to improve cultural understanding between Britain and Russia, said: “Had we known about the imposition of this restriction we would never have gone to Russia this summer.”

The mother and daughter have returned to Saratov to stay with Victoria’s grandmother while they try to resolve the situation. The only way they can return home is if Mr Gladkikh withdraws the restriction keeping her there, or if it is overturned by a court.

Dr Osborne says he is desperately trying to co-ordinate negotiations with the man to let Victoria go.

He said: “It won’t be easy, but we are determined to help Vicka through this and to get our family back together.

“She’s increasingly distressed and it’s going to get harder and harder the longer it goes on for her.

“It is unbelievable that any parent, however far-removed from daily upbringing, would deny his child the right to a good education, access to her home, and friends.”

The 52-year-old said he and Victoria have been like any “normal father and daughter” since he married Tatiana five years ago.

Tatiana, 34, separated from Victoria’s father about eight years ago.

Dr Osborne added: “Initially it was just the overall worry that you don’t know what’s going on - it’s a feeling of not being able to help your family.

“Now I know they’re physically safe and healthy, so it’s the long-term things that worry me.

“It’s very difficult being away from Tatiana. At a time like this the person that could best comfort you is your wife, but she’s not here. My friends and family have been brilliant with their support though.

“The law exists probably for good reason so parents can see their children, but it can be abused, and I think that’s what we have now.”

Vicka, who has been wholly educated in Britain, was due to start at The Westgate School today (Thursday) after excelling in her SATS exams earlier this year.

Dr Osborne is hoping the school will send work via e-mail so that she can still be educated over the Internet.

Dr Osborne said Vicka told him on the phone: “All I want to do is be back with my friends and go to school.

“I cannot speak Russian well enough to go to school here, and they do different stuff from us.”

Vicka’s former headteacher at Kings Worthy Primary School, Stash Kozlowski, said it would be an “absolute shame” if the schoolgirl could not return to her education in the UK.

He added: “She’s a lovely girl, hardworking, mature and she had lots of friends. She settled in well, I’m shocked.”

Dr Osborne has not yet taken the matter to the Russian Embassy in the UK, but he is in contact with the British Embassy in Russia, who he said are powerless as Vicka is in Russia under a Russian passport and therefore under Russian law.

http://tinyurl.com/6y7pf8

“The most impressive statue depends on its ankles to support it.” Blake6 has the last word.

I had intended my first post of the day would be the story of an 11 year old local girl who is trapped in Russia at the moment. An interesting story I will get to.  But having seen Drew’s post on what’s happened back home in the states, my story can wait awhile.  I’m worked up in fact damn angry as I know some of you are.

Saying I’m appalled by what I have seen in Drew’s recent post with regard to the attack on the buses would be an understatement.  Shocked I guess but I shouldn’t be shocked at all, should I?  That’s how our enemies conduct themselves.  It’s never been any different that I’m aware of.  This however might be the first time lives have been put in danger.  Unless I missed something elsewhere.

I’ve always found it interesting that the left will never have an honest debate or even a civilized conversation on our differences of how America ought to be.  No. Instead they shout you down, insult you and never shut up long enough for an opposing thought to share the air.  Then it occurred to me, the left doesn’t want dialog on how America ought to be.  The left wants America dead.

I had read about these attacks in the newspapers of course, but seeing the videos and the comments of American street terrorists in action really brought things home to me.  How has it come to this pass?  How’d we let it get this far without hitting back and hitting hard.  I believe many of you know me well enough by now to understand exactly what I mean when I say hit back.  Why have we allowed traitors to thrive in our midst and melt the glue that has held us together, with all our warts, through thick and thin for so long?

I have long been aware and I dare say you have as well, of the treason of the left.  I think however speaking only for myself, I somehow, somewhere lost the thread to the extent of that treason.

Islam alone is not the enemy. No. It’s us. It’s the enemy within.  It’s the dupes of the left and the subject I’m always always banging on about. Our fifth filth column.  You don’t have to be told who they are.  You know damn well who.  Dupes might possibly be re-educated as there’s hope for some.  But the leadership of the left has, no must be dealt with.  Quietly, ever so silently, but dealt with and eliminated.  It can’t happen overnight but it is doable. 

There are organization both in America and abroad whose aim is the death of our country. Nothing less.
They can hide behind pretty words and the constitution and legalese but, they want America gone as we have known her. 

In the comments section of Drew’s excellent posting on the subject, cmblake6 put it all into fewer and better words.  Where I’m angry and frustrated and tend to get a bit wordy, Blake6 covers it with absolute cold logic.
So he has the final word on my posting.

“Where we have tried to keep ourselves above the sort of depravity/insanity the other side indulges in, they have been gnawing away at our ankles. And the most impressive statue depends on its ankles to support it. We try to show the light on the hill, they put on a blindfold. We’ve got to tear that blindfold off, even if it means going in to their sphere to get to it.”

http://cmblake6.wordpress.com/

   Wednesday - September 03, 2008

yeah, what they said

“This is the blade by which politics turns to bloodshed.”



I am utterly disgusted with the MSM. And the violent lunatics on the left, both the ones that blog and the ones that violently protest while also attempting to murder children.

So is Mischa.

So is Ace. And with mighty good reason.

Bitch slap the next journalist you meet, just on general principles. There aren’t enough horse whips in the world to dole out the floggings deserved.

Also worth a quick read is First Things First, from whom I snagged the header, who dares to look into the madness that is The Daily Kos, and comes away with the core mindset there from the comments:

Are you telling me you would not destroy the love a family holds for one another, even if it meant letting someone who would destroy the constitution become president?

None of use would use these tactics in a perfect world. It is not a perfect world. It is a fallen world. We have to judge costs and benefits, not moral absolutes. I know this is the way to fanaticism and destruction—believe me I do. But, when we face opponents such as the ones we face . . . what else is there for us to do?

What choice do we have? When faced with monsters, we have to be monstrous ourselves.

These people are batshit insane. Lock them up, throw away the key, then drown them.

Fred Alert

Fred Thompson PACs it in

Is this the big news his emails have been teasing me about for almost a week now? I’m not sure how to react.

Dear Friend,

The challenges America faces may appear overwhelming.  But you and I both know that if we adhere to the founding principles of individual liberty, federalism, and truly limited government, there is no obstacle the American people cannot overcome.  But the forces driving our country away from those First Principles are strong.  They demand an ever-increasing growth in government, higher and higher taxes, and a judiciary that makes law and social policy instead of sticking to the wisdom of the Constitution.

It’s clear that we need men and women in Washington and in the statehouses across America who believe, as we do, in the fundamental principles of limited government restricted by enumerated powers.  That is why I an announcing the formation of Fred PAC, a political action committee dedicated to helping elect candidates who stand for the principles you and I hold dear – principles that are the only sure salvation for America.

Please visit our website at http://www.FredPAC.com. Learn how you can help. Your support and assistance has meant a great deal to me and my family as we defended America ’s First Principles.  I know that in the days ahead we will continue in the fight for a strong, free, secure America … together.

Thank you for all you do.

Welcome to Fred PAC.  And to my many old friends, welcome back.

I formed Fred PAC to help identify and support candidates on every level who support a platform of conservative, principles-based leadership and policies.  I’m working for Fred PAC with one overriding mission; to secure the future of our country and preserve the freedoms you and I and millions of our fellow citizens hold so dear.

We conservatives need to elect men and women at every level of government who will develop and promote the kind of innovative, free market and principles-based policies that led our great nation to the pinnacle of western civilization.  We conservatives need to shake-off the few recent past defeats and remember that when we go directly to the American people with solid facts and honest solutions founded on the principles of the Constitution, we win.

We know that the founding First Principles are the solution to most of our problems and challenges.  I truly believe that given the choice, if you care about judges who will make decision based on the Constitution, not their political leanings, if you care about shrinking a bureaucracy that will take more of your money while doing less for you, if you care about the security of homeland and the defense of freedom at home and abroad, then the choice is clear.  We need to act.

The American people are waiting for us – you, me and all of us to value liberty and individual freedom – to step up.  I welcome the challenge and I hope you will join me in this historic and crucial effort.

So I guess that’s the big Fred News. Now let’s see if he will actually be true to those First Principles he keeps mentioning, and not just send money to every Tom, Dick, and Sarah who has an (R) beside their name. And if there should ever actually be such a thing as a Conservative Democrat, let’s really see what FredPac will do then.

THE SPANISH NANNY …. AND THIS IS FUNNY.  I HOPE YOU THINK SO TOO.

I found this site in a computer magazine tonight.  I think stereotypes exist because there is almost always a bit of truth buried somewhere in them.
But I also think they can be unfair and a bit overdone. I guess that’s human nature.
Whatever, this is funny.
Enjoy.

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

I knew it would happen. So did you.

You simply can not trust the dirty gooks in North Korea to keep their promises. Ever. Period. Can’t anyone in DC accept the truth that this country is an ENEMY? Which means they will lie to us and cheat every chance they get? Duh!  Now let’s do the right thing: “accidentally” have all the ships sending them food and heating oil make a left turn at Albuquerque and send the cargo to Los Angeles. Tit for tat. Let them starve and freeze.

North Korea starting to rebuild nuclear reactors

South Korea says it has confirmed that North Korea started work to restore its nuclear facilities.  The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that South Korea, the United States and other members of the six-party group of countries are working closely together to determine how to respond to the North Korean move.  Earlier Wednesday, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News agency reported that North Korea started putting its Yongbyon nuclear facility back together Tuesday, days after it halted disablement work.

North Korea claims the U.S. has not held up its end of a nuclear disarmament deal because it has not removed the North from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

WASHINGTON — North Korea, after halting the disassembly of a key nuclear center, is now putting the facility back together in violation of the United States’ conditions for improved diplomatic relations between the countries, U.S. officials told FOX News on Tuesday.

The motive isn’t clear but sources say North Koreans likely are reassembling nuclear facilities at Yongbyon partly to protest the United States’ delay in taking the country off its list of terror-sponsoring nations.  “They’ve been threatening this move for some time,” one U.S. official told FOX News, adding that until now the threats were seen as merely a way for North Korean officials “to express their anger.”

Japan’s public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News agency also reported Wednesday North Korea has begun putting its Yongbyon facility back together, days after it halted disablement work. Even now, piecing the facility back together is seen as a “symbolic gesture” because so much already has been taken apart, though the United States is taking the developments seriously.

Another U.S. official told FOX News that North Korea’s intent might be “to put further pressure on us.” The cooling tower is gone but the reactor could be back in operation in two to three months, the official said.

As if Conservatives had any doubts

Bolton Supports Palin

Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton says Sen. Barack Obama’s criticism of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s lack of foreign policy experience could backfire, insisting the presumptive vice-presidential nominee’s executive experience would serve her well in the White House.

“I don’t understand why the Obama campaign would want to make that an issue, which to me just calls attention to his own lack of experience in foreign policy,” Bolton told WND at the Republican National Convention.
...
“No ticket ever has every quality in both candidates that it wants,” Bolton said. “And the main thing is who’s going to be president on January the 20th, because I don’t think we can afford having somebody who’s not ready from day one.”

Bolton also argued that if the Republican ticket wins, Palin will have an opportunity in the administration to increase her knowledge and involvement in foreign affairs.

“I think you put your strength at the number one position and groom your successor in the number two position,” Bolton said. “You don’t do it the other way around.”

the mustache of truth

Palin cartoons

ARE PEOPLE JUST BORN STUPID LIKE MY MIL, OR DO THEY LEARN IT OVER YEARS? IS IT A GIFT?

Just how darn stupid can people get? Well as it happens, very stupid. Very stupid indeed.
For one example and there are many here, this woman is calling about a grey squirrel in the belief that the greys are rare.  Good Grief Charlie Brown. I’m not a Brit and even I know it’s the RED that’s near extinction. Driven there by the more aggresive greys.  But that isn’t the issue.  These folks are calling 999, the Brit equiv. of our 911 with the silliest damn things and of course they tie up the line when they do.  So really, this isn’t funny and isn’t being posted under humor.  Some people ... $£"£"%&&^$

At the link below, you will find a lot more of the same and worse.

http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/units_and_departments/communications/999_calls/

JERRY REED HAS PASSED AWAY. A GREAT MUSICIAN AND ACTOR AND GOOD GUY. RIP

Yesterday I received some news that someone in the music industry had died.  He was one heck of a super picker, as musicians are referred to in Nashville no matter what instrument they play.  He was also a heck of a good actor. He was Jerry Reed.  Long before I ever met the man, I was playing his records when I was a DJ.  I also MC’d one of his shows a time or two and got to know him that way.

Once we moved to the Nashville area I’d visit his office on Music Row on the odd occasion.  He was two months older then I am. He was born in March of ’37, I was born in May of same yr.

What a loss it is. Truly.  Jerry was a picker’s picker.  And he was a very funny man as well and did lots of novelty songs. He stared with Burt Reynolds in the Smokey movies and sang the theme.  He was also in The Survivors with Robin Williams and Walter Matthau. I thought he stole the movie.

A memory I will always carry was a private concert with only the two of us. OK, it wasn’t actually a concert and it wasn’t planned. 
Between shows he went to his dressing room just off the stage area where he’d finished a show in open air. Hot KY. summer and no cover on the stage.
Everyone who ever played there complained about that, and Loretta Lynn once almost fainted.  So anyway, Jerry Reed went to the dressing room and I followed about 15 minutes later thinking I may as well get an interview for our station while I was there.  I’d MC’d his show and saw no problem.
But I never got to ask.  When I knocked and walked in he was practising and doing runs and I simply stood there like a deer caught in headlights.
Honest.  I was memorized. I was awed by this guy and never asked for an interview and didn’t even think about it.  There was more then an hour between shows, in fact I think now it was a couple of hours. But anyway, there were just the two of us and he played and played and I wouldn’t have been able to think of questions anyway.  I’ve always been in awe of talent which made me the very worst person to try and do an interview anyway. So I stood there and listened to a great guitar master and entertainer.

Sad .... RIP Jerry.  Til now I hardly appreciated how damn lucky I was to be there.

Washington shooting rampage leaves six dead .  Here we go again. Cops should have wasted this guy.

Oh great. The bastard gives up and cops let him live. WHY?  He’s worthless and useless. He could be used for medical experiments to further science and medical knowledge.  Or used for surgical students to practise on instead of poor dumb animals who’ve hurt no one.

It happens on this side of the world as well.  Oh, poor sick boy held with warning about high risk but, we’ll let him out to see how he does.
How the SOB does is kill six ppl.  Why is time and effort and taxpayer money being spent on sub-human life forms like this?  So now six people who never saw him before are dead before their time, while this scum will get a lawyer at taxpayer cost of course.  RCOB.

Washington shooting rampage leaves six dead
Six people were killed and two injured when a man in north-west Washington state went on a shooting rampage, leading authorities on a high-speed car chase before turning himself in.

By Catherine Elsworth
Last Updated: 8:03AM BST 03 Sep 2008

Lead shooting suspect Isaac Zamora is escorted by police after turning himself in.
A female police officer answering an emergency call was among the dead.

The victims were killed at different locations in Skagit County, north of Seattle, authorities said.

The female officer was killed after answering a call to a home near the small town of Alger where a disturbance had been reported.

After she failed to call in, back-up was sent and discovered her dead at the scene. Another person was also found dead in the house.

In a nearby house under construction, authorities then found two builders, also shot dead. Another victim was found a few doors away.

A driver was also killed on a major road as the gunmen fled police. A motorcyclist was wounded and another police officer injured when a bullet grazed his arm.

After the shooting in the Alger area, the gunman fled along a highway, reaching speeds of over 90 miles per hour as police gave chase. The road was closed causing massive traffic jams as investigators scoured the area.

The suspect turned himself in about two and a half hours after the first shooting was reported. Authorities said he was known as “someone with a mental illness.”

The Seattle Times quoted Department of Corrections officials who identified the man as Isaac Zamora, 28, a non-violent offender with convictions for theft and drug possession who was on a “high risk” list because of his mental health problems.

A DOC spokesman told the paper Zamora was released from jail a few weeks ago.

http://tinyurl.com/6grzyq

BRITISH ENGINEER SWIMS JUNGLE RIVER IN A DARING ESCAPE.

Film @ 7. Reads like a movie. Nothin’ for me to add here.

British engineer swims jungle river in escape from Gambia
A British engineer who was being held in Gambia accused of illegally mining uranium has broken out of the country in a daring escape.
By Nick Allen
Last Updated: 1:38AM BST 03 Sep 2008

Charlie Northfield, 48, fled the capital Banjul and then evaded a series of police check points as he made an audacious dash through the West African jungle for the Senegalese border.

He shaved off his hair and beard to evade authorities and hid in a series of vehicles on the 125-mile journey to the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Mr Northfield said: The most frightening part was reaching a river that I had been told would be shallow enough to walk through Photo: ALAMY

At one point, his 4X4 suffered a puncture on a hazardous road through the bush and he had to swim across a flood-swollen, crocodile infested river with his clothes in a bucket.

A British-based private security firm, which had helped sneak Mr Northfield out of Banjul while he was effectively under house arrest, managed to smuggle him across the border despite his passport having been confiscated.

They then supplied him with temporary travel papers and flew him to Morocco and on to London.

The father-of-three, originally from Plymouth in Devon, was detained on February 18 after authorities in the West African country accused him and his employers, Carnegie Minerals, of commercially mining titanium, iron ore and uranium using their licence for excavating mineral sands.

Mr Northfield was charged with “economic crimes” and spent 10 days in Gambia’s notorious Mile 2 prison before being released, without his passport, on bail of £250,000. He had been under effective house arrest for six months.

His case has since been backed by the legal charity Fair Trials International, which called for his return to the UK and said the charges against him “flew in the face of common sense and all available evidence”.

Mr Northfield arrived back at Heathrow 72 hours after first being bundled into a car outside his house in Banjul.

He said: “It was unbelievably scary. I’m a normal bloke so the situation was completely out of the ordinary for me, like something in a film.

“I was driven in a few different taxis and we passed through several police check points. The driver sorted things out but I was worried someone would recognise me as my face had been plastered on the front pages of their papers. Luckily I had a good shave and cut my hair so I looked a lot different.

“The most frightening part was reaching a river that I had been told would be shallow enough to walk through.

“It was swollen and quite fast-flowing so I had to strip off, put all of my belongings in a bucket and swim across pushing it in front of me.

“The river was about 50 yards across and I was swept another 100 yards downstream. By the time I reached the other side I was completely worn out.”

The escape was set up by Profile Security Services, a British-based private security consultancy run by ex-army officer, Captain Martin McGowan-Scanlon.

He has known Mr Northfield for 20 years and worked in countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea.

He said: “Charlie is a very relieved man. It has been a long journey. The regime in Gambia had used him as a pawn in its disagreement with his employers. He was not escaping justice, he was escaping injustice.”

Carnegie Minerals had been operating in Gambia since 1999, digging mineral sands which are sent to China for use in construction. Mr Northfield went to manage the project last October.

The charges against him and the company related to “understatement” of the value and content of mineral exports between 2006 and December 2007. Officials accused them of illegally mining uranium, titanium and iron ore.

Carnegie strongly refuted the charges, saying that titanium and iron oxide were components of mineral sands, while uranium was only found in trace elements and could not be economically extracted.

A spokesman for Carnegie refused to comment but denied the firm had helped or arranged for Mr Northfield to be smuggled out of Gambia.

Mr Northfield, originally from Plymouth, normally lives in Thailand with his wife Neung and children. Back in Plymouth he celebrated with a glass of wine.

He said: “I had been to court 13 times but they were no closer to starting the trial and I had a strong sense they never would be.

“We had tried negotiating with every available authority but to no avail and I was feeling desperate.”

http://tinyurl.com/5fjqzb

WHOO-HOO!  GIVEM HELL!  MORE BATTLING BRITS AS 200 TALIBAN PAY PRICE FOR BEING EARTH’S SCUM.

British soldiers kill 200 Taliban in Afghan dam operation

A major secret British operation to boost the economy in Afghanistan’s Helmand province has been completed after a force of 5,000 troops fought for a week to drive a huge dam turbine through Taliban lines.
By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:11AM BST 03 Sep 2008

Escorted by attack helicopters, armoured vehicles and men of the Parachute Regiment, the trucks trundled into Kajaki Photo: PA / REUTERS

British commanders estimate that more than 200 Taliban were killed as they tried to prevent the convoy of 100 vehicles from getting the machinery to Kajaki hydroelectric dam where it will provide a significant increase in energy for up to two million Afghans.

The operation has been described as the biggest of its kind since the Second World War.

For the last five days the force has fought through the heart of Taliban territory to push through the 220 tonne turbine and other equipment that included a 90 tonne crane to lift it into place.

With a third turbine fixed at Kajaki it will mean that the extra electricity could double the irrigation output allowing farmers to plant two crops of wheat a year. With a dramatic rise in world wheat prices this could crucially mean that it becomes more profitable than producing opium which would deprive the Taliban of a major source of revenue.

Escorted by attack helicopters, armoured vehicles and men of the Parachute Regiment, the trucks trundled into Kajaki.

For the first 50 miles of its journey from the southern city of Kandahar the convoy was protected by American and Canadian troops. But for the second 50 mile leg through Taliban strongholds more than 3,000 British troops were needed to fight off the insurgents.

Lt Col Dave Wilson, of 23 Engineer Regiment, said the operation was the most significant “route clearance” operation since the Second World War with the sappers freeing the route of mines and improvised bombs.

“It was a huge achievement,” said Lt Col Wilson. “It was carried out through some of the most heavily mined areas of Afghanistan.”

While medics had prepared for casualties, commanders said there was only one wounded among the British, American, Canadian and Australian troops who took part in the operation - a British soldier was crushed when a trailer collapsed on him.

“As a template for the rest of this country, it’s shown that when we want to, at a time and a place of our choosing, we can overmatch the Taliban, no question,” said Lt Col James Learmont of 7 Para Royal Horse Artillery.

In order to win over villagers in some areas, British forces held meetings with locals to negotiate the convoy’s passage, and paid $25,000 in compensation to one community for disruption.

The Taliban had agreed to maintain a ceasefire in some areas but violated the deal, British commanders said.

The Chinese-made turbine will be installed as part of a project funded by the American development agency USAID to increase the output of the Kajaki power plant.

Chinese engineers already on the ground will install the equipment, which will boost the capacity of the plant, built in 1975, to three turbines with an output of 51 MegaWatts. Around 1.8 million Afghans are expected to benefit from the project.

“The opposition said it would never happen but it did,” said Lt Col Rufus MacNeil. “If you want a mark in the sand for Afghan reconstruction, then this is it.”

The scale and complexity of the operation has given those serving under the 75,000-strong, NATO-led force in Afghanistan an opportunity to boast about cooperation at a time when critics say the coalition lacks strength and coherence.

The turbine, split into seven sections each weighing between 22 and 30 tonnes, was flown on Russian transport aircraft into Kandahar, once a Taliban stronghold in the south and now the headquarters for Canadian operations.

It was then put on giant trucks and began its voyage last Wednesday, travelling at barely 3 km an hour.

http://tinyurl.com/5wwaql

Sarah Palin’s daughter’s ‘redneck’ boyfriend adds to McCain campaign woes .

Don’t shoot the messenger. 

This is the story reported here from Brit covering things in USA election.

I don’t normally boot at 7am but wanted to get this posted early.  Other stuff online as well on other topics has me convinced I shouldn’t be allowed to read the paper or boot a puter when I haven’t any Valium or Xanax handy.  I just know the left here is gonna make a big deal out of it.
Anyway, these kids (and they are that no matter the maturity) are really too young to become parents. Don’t ya think?  Had Miss Palin and friend never heard of, “The Pill.?” Golly. Loretta Lynn told all who would listen to it, all about it. And all in a song!  Oh well.  I wish em good luck. They’re gonna need it.  Even with money, altho it’s a great cushion, will only go so far.  Luck counts as much.

Levi Johnston, a self-described “------’ redneck” who does not “want kids”, is set to join Sarah Palin’s family at Republican convention.
By Toby Harnden in St Paul
Last Updated: 4:51AM BST 03 Sep 2008

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston. Christian conservatives accuse Democrats of using Miss Palin’s pregnancy to discredit her mother Photo: AP
The bad-boy image of Levi Johnston, 18, the boyfriend of Bristol Palin, 17, added to the pressure surrounding Senator John McCain after his decision to choose Mrs Palin as a running mate in the Republican bid for the White House.

The details follow the disclosure that, as late as 1996, Mrs Palin, 44, the Governor of Alaska, had been a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, which wants a vote on whether the state can secede from the United States.

There were also reports that Mrs Palin, who has portrayed herself as a fighter against corruption and a doughty opponent of wasteful government spending, secured $27 million (£15million) in federal funds for the small town of Wasilla, where she was mayor until two years ago.

Democrats seized on the claims about Mrs Palin as evidence that Mr McCain had poor judgment because he had failed to vet her properly.

However, senior McCain aides said that a vetting team had been in Alaska before the Arizona senator made his choice. “You can’t confuse secrecy with lack of vetting,” said one adviser.

A dozen McCain aides have been sent to Alaska to help Mrs Palin’s family and to rebut the claims against her.

Some Republicans linked to the attacks believed that Mr McCain had sacrificed thoroughness in the vetting process so that secrecy could be maintained.

The surprise choice of Mrs Palin could make or break Mr McCain’s battle for the White House. Republican activists are delighted that a strongly anti-abortion mother of five who is an avid hunter has been chosen.

But Democrats scent blood and believe they can paint Mrs Palin as “Dan Quayle in a dress” – the description applied to her by Karen Thurman, a former member of the House of Representatives.

Mr Quayle was chosen as George W Bush’s running mate in 1988 after a cursory vetting process failed to find serious weaknesses in his character and record.

(ok, help me out here ppl. I knew his record wasn’t much but I’d never heard about some weakness in character. ?? But then, I wasn’t paying much attn.)

Christian conservatives have covered Mrs Palin with praise for supporting her daughter, who is five months pregnant and is due to marry Mr Johnston. There has been criticism of Democrats and the media, which is being accused of exploiting a private issue.

“They have been using this 17-year-old girl as a battering ram against her mother and against social conservatives,” said Gary Bauer, a leading evangelical and former Republican presidential hopeful.

“It’s disgraceful. All families wrestle with these issues and try to teach their kids the best they can. But children make mistakes. The whole pro-life movement is built around helping women in crisis pregnancies. We don’t judge these women. If we did, they wouldn’t come to us.”

Associated Press reported that Mr Johnston plans to join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the GOP convention.

Levi Johnston’s mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska on Tuesday morning. Sherry Johnston also said there has been no pressure put on her son to marry Bristol Palin.

“Absolutely not,” Sherry Johnston told reporters outside the family’s Wasilla home. Johnston said the two teens already had plans to marry before they knew she was pregnant.

On his MySpace page, Mr Johnston, an avid ice hockey player, proudly declares: “I’m a ------’ redneck” who would kick ass if anyone gave him trouble. I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing,” he said on the social networking the site.

Poignantly, in the one part of the site where it asks about children, he wrote, “I don’t want kids.”

The web page was removed yesterday and appeared not to have been accessed for a year.

Bill Sturdevant, coach of the Wasilla Warriors ice hockey team, told the New York Daily News: “He was a good kid to be around, with lots of friends. He was well-liked.”

Last year Johnston had to pay a $370 bail after state troopers caught him catching salmon out of season in Moose Lake, a popular Alaskan fishing location.

(Isn’t that a hanging offense in Alaska? Quick, get a rope.  Jeesh.  Is the enemy stretching things in their never ending search for evil doers on our side?)

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

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