Theodore's World

U.S. destroyer pursuing hijacked ship in Somali waters, military says
Washington
A U.S. destroyer has entered Somali territorial waters in pursuit of a Japanese-owned ship loaded with benzene that was hijacked by pirates over the weekend, military officials said Monday.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke entered Somali waters with the permission of the troubled transitional government in Mogadishu, U.S. officials said. In recent years, warships have stayed outside the 12-mile limit when chasing pirates.
The ongoing operation was confirmed to CNN by two military officials familiar with the details.
Gunmen aboard two skiffs hijacked the Panamanian-flagged Golden Mori off the Socotra archipelago, near the Horn of Africa, said Andrew Mwangura, a spokesman for Kenya’s Seafarers’ Assistance Programme.
The Golden Mori radioed for help Sunday night. The Burke’s sister ship, the USS Porter, opened fire and sank the pirate skiffs tied to its stern before the Burke took over shadowing the hijacked vessel.
When the shots were fired, it was not known the ship was filled with highly flammable benzene. U.S. military officials indicate there is a great deal of concern about the cargo because it is so sensitive.
Benzene, which U.S. authorities have declared a known human carcinogen, is used as a solvent and to make plastics and synthetic fabrics.
U.S. and NATO warships have been patrolling off the Horn of Africa for several years in an effort to crack down on piracy off Somalia, where a U.N.-backed transitional government is struggling to restore order after 15 years of near-anarchy.
In June, the destroyer USS Carter Hall fired warning shots in an attempt to stop a hijacked Danish cargo ship off Somalia, but the American vessel had to turn away when the pirated ship entered Somali waters.
In May, a U.S. Navy advisory warned merchant ships to stay at least 200 miles off the Somali coast. But the U.S. Maritime Administration said pirates sometimes issue false distress calls to lure ships closer to shore.
The pirates are often armed with automatic rifles and shoulder-fired rockets, according to a recent warning from the agency.

“To date, vessels that increase speed and take evasive maneuvers avoid boarding, while those that slow down are boarded, taken to the Somali coastline and released after successful ransom payment, often after protracted negotiations of as much as 11 weeks,” it advised.

The agency issued a new warning to sailors in the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen, after Sunday’s hijacking was reported.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Time for the Hippies to make new signs I guess.
I’m sure of one thing, our Navy will kick your a## if you fight them on the water, under the water or over the water.
Also I saw this………….
Pirate attacks increase worldwide
CNN
Pirate attacks worldwide jumped 14 percent in the first nine months of 2007, with the biggest increases off the poorly policed waters of Somalia and Nigeria

Iranian general warns of Gulf suicide bombings
(AFP)
TEHERAN
A top general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Monday warned that the Basij militia were ready ‘if necessary’ to carry out suicide operations in the Gulf, amid rising tensions with the United States, the Fars news agency reported.

‘If necessary we will take advantage of the element of martyrdom-seeking,’ said Brigadier General Ali Fahdavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards’ naval forces.

‘This spirit is prevailing now throughout the Revolutionary Guards,’ he added. The Basij militia is part of the Guards’ military apparatus.

‘They have taken an example from Shahid (martyr) Fahmideh,’ Fahdavi said,

referring to 13-year-old Iranian Hossein Fahmideh who became a national hero after blowing himself up under an Iraqi tank in the 1980-1988 war.

‘The scene of the Persian Gulf and strategic Strait of Hormuz is such that even a small operation can have a big impact,’ he added.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Isn’t this latest threat, warning whatever like warning that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow? Yup, thought so.
The more terrorists who blow themselves up, the less we have to deal with,praying here they do it alone or among other suicide bombers.
“top general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warns “
Oh yeah, go back to the sand box and play while I load my Uzi.

Senate Democratic Leaders Call On President To End Delay, Nominate New Secretary Of Veterans Affairs
Washington, DC—As Veterans’ Day approaches, Senate Democratic leaders today issued the following letter to President Bush, urging him to quickly nominate a new Secretary of Veterans Affairs. With the military and VA stretched thin by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in light of mismanagement of veterans’ health care at facilities like Walter Reed, our veterans deserve able, permanent leadership.
Below is the text of the letter:
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20515
October 29,2007
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to express our serious concerns about the extended delay in nominating a qualified individual to serve as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Secretary Nicholson tendered his resignation in mid-July and left his post at the end of September. As a result, the federal agency to which millions of veterans look for medical care, benefits and other services is now without a leader confirmed by the Senate.
It is important to note that when Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation on August 27, 2007, the White House named Judge Michael Mukasey as the nominee less than three weeks later. Our veterans, and the men and women who work at the Department of Veterans Affairs, are equally deserving of stable, permanent leadership and we are writing to urge you to immediately nominate a new Secretary of Veterans Affairs with a proven record of being an honest and independent advocate for veterans.
The absence of permanent, decisive leadership at the VA comes at a time when the agency needs strong, stable direction the most. From the enormous task of streamlining and improving the military and veterans disability systems, to implementing a joint electronic medical record, to caring for the large number of returning veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), the VA needs strong leadership to make the monumental changes to the VA system that our veterans deserve.
As you know, the VA system was stretched beyond capacity even before the current military action in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, serious questions have been raised about the manner in which the VA screens, hires and monitors physicians and other health care professionals who work at VA facilities. Long-term resolution of such issues cry out for strong leadership. It seems unconscionable that you would allow an agency that is so critical to the men and women who have put their lives on the line for this nation to go without a permanent leader.
While we feel you have an obligation to act quickly to name someone to this important post, you also have an opportunity to nominate someone with the judgment, experience and stature to move beyond the problems and scandals that have plagued the VA and restore confidence in this essential agency.
Much has been said over the last six years about honoring the service and the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. But what matters to those who are fighting these wars is not the talk, but the actions we take. The lack of a qualified VA nominee more than three months after the resignation of the previous Secretary signals to our troops fighting today, to the veterans of wars past, and to the entire nation, that the Department of Veterans Affairs is not a priority for your administration.
We implore you to quickly nominate a Secretary who is a strong and independent advocate for veterans, so that we are truly able “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”
Sincerely,
Senator Harry Reid
Majority Leader
Senator Richard Durbi
Assistant Majority Leader
Senator Charles Schumer
Vice Chairman
Democratic Conference
Senator Patty Murray
Secretary
Democratic Conference

Wild Thing’s comment……..
TRANSLATION of Reids letter:
“Please, oh please, send us another nominee so that we can have hearings and sanctimoniously attack you through him!”
This is just another democrat ploy to to make us think they support our Troops and Veterans. How about drive them all NUTZ and name Gen Stormin Normin Schwartzkopf. LOL The RatZ would absolutely go insane.

The recitation of the 13 folds of the U.S. flag can no longer be made at national cemeteries. Veterans and honor detail volunteers, such as Bobby Castillo, 85, left, and Rees Lloyd, 59, are furious.

After complaint in Riverside, flag-folding recitation banned at veterans cemeteries nationwide
Press Enterprise.com
Through thousands of military burials, Memorial Honor Detail volunteers at Riverside National Cemetery have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of every fold to survivors of those being laid to rest.
The first fold, a narrator tells relatives, represents life, the second a belief in eternal life.
The 11th fold celebrates Jewish war veterans and “glorifies the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
A single complaint lodged against the words for the 11th fold recently prompted the National Cemetery Administration to ban the entire recital at all 125 national cemeteries.
A spokesman in Washington said the complaint originated from someone who witnessed the ceremony at Riverside National but would provide no other details and declined to release the directive banning the flag-folding recital, saying it was “an internal working document not meant for public distribution.”
Veterans are furious. Story continues below Joe Vargo / The Press-Enterprise The recitation of the 13 folds of the U.S. flag can no longer be made at national cemeteries. Veterans and honor detail volunteers, such as Bobby Castillo, 85, left, and Rees Lloyd, 59, are furious.

“That the actions of one disgruntled, whining, narcissistic and intolerant individual is preventing veterans from getting the honors they deserve is truly an outrage,” said Rees Lloyd, 59, a Vietnam-era veteran and Memorial Honor Detail volunteer. “This is another attempt by secularist fanatics to cleanse any reference to God.”

World War II Navy sailor Bobby Castillo, 85, another member of Memorial Honor Detail 12, called the federal decision “a slap in the face to every veteran.”

“When we got back from the war, we didn’t ask for a whole lot,” said Castillo, who was wounded in 1944 as he supported the Allied landings in France. “We just want to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don’t understand.”

The pair, part of a team that has performed military honors at more than 1,400 services, said they were preparing to read the flag-folding remarks when workers in a staff car came up to them and stopped them.

Charlie Waters, parliamentarian for the American Legion of California, said he’s advising memorial honor details to ignore the edict, even if it means being kicked out of cemeteries.

“This is nuts,” Waters, a Korean War veteran, said in a telephone interview from Fresno. “There are 26 million veterans in this country and they’re not going to take us all to prison.”

Washington’s Explanation

Mike Nacincik, the spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration, said the new policy, which was outlined in a Sept. 27 memo, is aimed at creating uniform services throughout the military graveyard system.

He said the 13-fold recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code and is not government approved. After the complaint made its way through government channels, Steve Muro, director of field operations, wrote the new policy.

Nacincik said that while the flag-folding narrative includes references to God that the government does not endorse, the main reason for the new rules is uniformity.

“We are looking at consistency,” Nacincik said. “We think that’s important.”

As for comments that the edict is an attack on religious beliefs, Nacincik said, “People are going to have their own views on that.”

He said the flag-folding narrative can be read but only if families make arrangements on their own and do not use cemetery workers, which include volunteers. The U.S. government owns Riverside National, the most active national cemetery in the country with more than 8,000 burials of veterans and immediate family members each year.
A Jewish Perspective
Rabbi Yitzhak Miller, of Riverside’s Temple Beth El, said he understands the government’s decision to ban the recitation but believes it is a quick solution to a complex issue.

“It is a perfect example of government choosing to ignore religion in order to avoid offending some religions,” Miller said. “To me, ignoring religion in general is just as problematic as endorsing any one religion.”

Miller said the 11th fold, and the 12th fold, which refers to the Christian Trinity — “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost — amounts to an endorsement of Judaism and Christianity. He said he would like to see a reference to “God as we understand God” mentioned in the ritual but without endorsing any specific tradition.

“To acknowledge those two without acknowledging others denigrates the patriotic men and women of other faiths who serve our country,” he said.

Family Wishes

Lloyd and Castillo said they always speak to families before providing military honors to their loved ones. Honors include a rifle salute, the playing of taps and the folding of the flag. Some families don’t want any honors; others decline specific parts of the ceremony. Those wishes are paramount and are always respected.

Lloyd said the 16 members of the Memorial Honor Detail he serves on have distributed hundreds of copies of the script they recite while folding the flag. They’ve received dozens of letters thanking them, and several mention in particular the flag-folding recitation. But now presenting families that memento isn’t allowed under the directive.

Lloyd, a member of the state American Legion, said he knows Riverside National Cemetery workers are just obeying orders. The real battle is with Washington.

“We’re going to fight this tooth and nail, hammer and boot,” he said

Wild Thing’s comment……..
This is appalling. It’s such a beautiful ceremony, too.
I bet the jerk that bitched was not a member of the immediate family. God bless them in this fight against the enemy within. The ultimate sacrifice of a soldier for his country deserves the highest honor and humility by us all. That it is not enough to compensate for what that individual has done for God and country.
And I WANT A NAME, A FACE, I want to know who the person was that complained. When something is changed like this, I DEMAND we have information on this jerk. Why protect this asswipe! GRRRRRRRRRRRRR Since WHEN is the voice of ONE more important than the voices of the Many?

Flag folds
These meanings, not part of the U.S. Flag Code, have been ascribed to the 13 folds of American flags at veterans burial services:
1. Symbol of life.
2. Symbol of our belief in the eternal life.
3. In honor and remembrance of the veteran departing our ranks who gave a portion of life for the defense of our country to attain a peace throughout the world.
4. Represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance.
5. A tribute to our country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, “Our country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong.”
6. Represents where our hearts lie. It is with our heart that we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
7. A tribute to our armed forces.
8. A tribute to the one who entered in to the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day, and to honor mother, for whom it flies on Mother’s Day.
9. A tribute to womanhood.
10. A tribute to father.
11. In the eyes of a Hebrew citizen, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
12. In the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost.
13. When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, “In God We Trust.”
…..Thank you Jack for sending this to me. Conservative Insurgent is Jack’s wonderful blog.

U.S. Army Col. Darel Maxfield (center left), Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq, receives the check from Iraqi Army Col. Abbass (center right) at the Besmaya Range Complex Thursday for the San Diego, Calif., fire victims.

By U.S. Army Sgt 1st Class Charlene Sipperly, Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Members of the Iraqi Army in Besmaya collected a donation for the San Diego, Calif., fire victims Thursday night at the Besmaya Range Complex in a moving ceremony to support Besmaya’s San Diego residents.
Iraqi Army Col. Abbass, the commander of the complex, presented a gift of $1,000 to U.S. Army Col. Darel Maxfield, Besmaya Range Complex officer in charge, Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq, to send to the fire victims in California.
The money was collected from Iraqi officers and enlisted soldiers in Besmaya. In a speech given during the presentation, Col. Abbass stated that he and the Iraqi soldiers were connected with the American people in many ways, and they will not forget the help that the American government has given the Iraqi people. Abbass was honored to participate by sending a simple fund of $1,000 to the American people in San Diego, to lower the suffering felt by the tragedy.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Our soldiers are not only fighting the enemy, but when we see things like this happening it shows how much impact our awesome troops are on the people in Iraq as well.

Congratulations to the Red Sox and their fans.

What the heck????

Attending the protest were truthers, socialists,communists, Ron Paul people, Hotel Workers, code pink, Islamists, A.N.S.W.E.R., National Lawyers Club, Kucinich people and others.
You know the low life’s that occupy our country unfortunately. I wish for a world where these kind of people did not exist.

* Solomonia Blog

Clinton statue to be larger than life
Arkansas Online
CONWAY
Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one who thinks Bill Clinton has a “bigger-than-life” presence. So does Conway artist Finton Shaw: He’s creating a 91⁄2 to 10-foot sculpture of the former president.
According to Shaw, “Everybody that sees it says, ‘You’re doing the Man?’
“I say, ‘Well, who’s the Man?’
“They say, ‘Well, Bill Clinton.’”
Shaw started on the sculpture, made from nonshrink grout, about two weeks ago and already has completed the head. It’s unmistakably Clinton.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
LOL oh my gosh, we just can rid ourselves of these Clinton’s. I have never understood what women saw in him for one thing. And why people think he was such a great President is something I will never agree to. Not even if hell freezes over, NO WAY.
“made from nonshrink grout”
LMAO well Bill Clinton might like that it suits him. grout? hahhaha I’m telling you a person just just can’t make this stuff up.

Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei Inspect Military Foot-Drills Showing Sword Ripping through a US Flag Decorated with a Swastika and a Star of David
Please CLICK below to see this
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1587.htm
Well we know they hate us, but this seems like a lot of hoopla to say how they feel.

Carter, Rice discuss Mideast peace role
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Washington
Former President Jimmy Carter met Wednesday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss ways Carter and other senior statesmen might help support administration efforts to broker peace among Palestinians and Israelis.
The talks took place hours after Rice warned the House Foreign Affairs Committee that chances for an Arab-Israeli peace accord were in danger of slipping away, as she works to bring Palestinians and Israelis together in Annapolis, Md., late next month for what would be the first substantive face-to-face peace talks in seven years.
Carter met separately on Capitol Hill with the committee’s chairman, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), to discuss whether informal diplomacy might be able to help advance the peace process after the envisioned Annapolis talks conclude.
Carter has ruled out a role for himself, or for the other statesmen, before the peace conference, said former Carter aide Stuart Eizenstat, who attended Wednesday’s meeting.

With efforts to bring together Palestinians and Israelis at a delicate juncture, Carter “doesn’t want to throw another set of actors” into the mix, said Eizenstat, who served as Carter’s chief domestic policy adviser. Instead, he said, Carter wants “to see what happens — if anything — in the conference.”

Carter declined to discuss Wednesday’s meeting, which included a House Foreign Affairs Committee member, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), who chairs the subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.

“I don’t have time to talk,” Carter said, waving off a reporter immediately after the half-hour meeting in Lantos’ office. “I have a plane to catch.”

Carter is part of the so-called Elders Group, assembled last July by former South African President Nelson Mandela. The group, including former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, recently visited Darfur, Sudan, and, working closely with U.N. personnel and others on the ground, prepared a report on human rights conditions in the troubled region.
One possibility Carter is exploring is whether the group, chaired by South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, might weigh in similarly on the Palestinian-Israeli question, said former Carter aide Robert Pastor, interim co-director of the elders group.

“We’re not talking about mediation or negotiations. We’re talking about just exploring whether a report would be useful,” said Pastor. “We’re at a very early stage of prebriefings and consultations.”

In testimony before Lantos’ committee earlier Wednesday, Rice warned that Iranian support for the militant group Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by the State Department, has influenced Palestinian politics to the point where chances for a historic compromise with Israel could be fading.
There was no immediate response from the White House or the State Department about the question of whether Carter might be called upon to help break the potentially dangerous impasse in the U.S.-Mideast relations, much as he used informal diplomacy to broker compromises with North Korea and Haiti a decade ago.

“I have no way of knowing whether anything like that is ongoing,” said Carter’s former national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinksi. “I doubt that the administration would be very receptive and so I’m a little skeptical about the speculation, but who … knows?”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
As Rush Limbaugh said….”I think this is a brilliant idea: ask Carter what he would do – then do the exact opposite.”
Discussing our security with one of the biggest internal enemies of America. Washington is TOTALLY OUT OF CONTROL. There is no question why this country and the world is so screwed up?
Asking the one person who played a big role in making the Palestinian terrorist movement- and the entire ME terrorist movement- what it is today for “advice” has got to be the most idiotic thing she has done to date. May as well give nukes to the terrorists. There is no end to the meddling of this Anti-Semite birdbrain Jimmy Peanut brain Carter.
This shows that she has no grasp of the situation whatsoever; she’s just following the same old “Palestinian” lie that a foundation of peace can never be built on.
“Carter is part of the so-called Elders Group, South African President Nelson Mandela. former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan chaired by South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, former Carter aide Robert Pastor, interim co-director of the elders group.”
It’s a collection of the most primitive minds on the planet. They must have been selected because they xrays show that their brains hadn’t quite evolved to the current human size. No doubt monkey woman Jane Goodall selected this “group of elders”.
ONce again we can see why the UN is so corrupt and screwed up, and what a wonderful job they are doing with Africa.”group of elders”, what a joke. A washed up terrorist, a washed up murdering dictator, a con- artist, and a peanut farmer, all uneducated idiots.