In The News Around The World…………..
From correspondents in London
18may06
THE world’s first “theme park” dedicated to sex and relationships is set to open in London’s bustling West End later this year, its promoters said today.
Amora: The Academy of Sex and Relationships, featuring “high-tech and interactive exhibits together with new media displays”, expects up to 600,000 visitors within its first year in the Trocadero Centre at Piccadilly Circus.
“Titillation is not the goal,” the promoters – who include sexologist and self-help book author Sarah Brewer – said in a statement, refuting comparisons with museums of erotica in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris.
“Our vision is to build a Kinsey-type institute in Europe for Generation X and Y to bring modern thinking around sexuality. … It truly is the world’s first theme park dedicated to sex and relationships.”
Wild Thing’s comment…..
I think this seems weird. Say what??? What kind of rides would they have?
CNSNews.com Staff
(CNSNews.com) – While Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha has ascended to the national stage as one of the most vocal critics of President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq, he has also long downplayed the controversy and bitterness surrounding the two Purple Hearts he was awarded for military service in Vietnam.
Murtha is a retired marine and was the first Vietnam combat veteran elected to Congress. Since 1967, there have been at least three different accounts of the injuries that purportedly earned Murtha his Purple Hearts. Those accounts also appear to conflict with the limited military records that are available, and Murtha has thus far refused to release his own military records.
One of Murtha’s former Democratic congressional colleagues and a fellow decorated Vietnam veteran, Don Bailey of Pennsylvania, alleges that Murtha admitted during an emotional conversation on the floor of the U.S. House in the early 1980s that he did not deserve his Purple Hearts.
“Murtha is putting himself forward as some combat veteran with serious wounds and he’s using that and it’s dishonest and it’s wrong,” Bailey told Cybercast News Service on Jan. 9.
Murtha served in the Marines on active duty and in the reserves from 1952 until his retirement as a colonel in 1990. He volunteered for service in Vietnam and was a First Marine Regiment intelligence officer in 1966 and 1967.
World War II Navy veteran Harry M. Fox, previously indicated that Murtha in 1968 personally asked Fox’s boss, then-U.S. Rep. John Saylor (R-Pa.), for assistance in obtaining the Purple Hearts, but was turned down because Saylor’s office determined that Murtha lacked sufficient evidence of wounds. Murtha later challenged Saylor for his House seat in 1968 and lost. Fox said he personally viewed Murtha’s military records in 1968 as Saylor’s aide.
When Saylor died in 1973, Fox attempted to succeed his boss in Congress, but was narrowly defeated by Murtha in a 1974 special election.
“Pretending to be a big war hero and boasting about having medals is a slap in the face to our veterans who were seriously wounded or killed in action,” Fox was quoted as telling the Uniontown Herald-Standard in the newspaper’s Nov. 1, 1996 edition. “He campaigned as a war hero and I’ve never seen any documentation that he earned any of these honors,” Fox reportedly stated.
On Friday, Jan. 13, Murtha’s congressional communications director provided Cybercast News Service with a copy of a letter from the commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, citing Murtha’s request of Sept. 26, 1967, seeking Purple Hearts. Cybercast News Service did not authenticate the letter.
“The records of this Headquarters show that you are entitled to the Purple Heart and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Purple Heart for wounds received in action against insurgent Communist Guerrilla forces on 22 March and 7 May 1967 in the Republic of Vietnam,” according to the letter signed by an individual identified only as A. Gardoni. Gardoni’s title is not listed on the letter.
Cybercast News Service attempted to contact Fox for this article, but learned that the health of the 81-year-old was too poor to allow him to communicate. But in a 1996 newspaper article, Fox questioned whether Murtha deserved his Purple Hearts, alleging that there was insufficient evidence of injuries and that Murtha was never confined to a hospital.
“Of course Congressman Saylor wanted to help if he could, but there was nothing in the service record to indicate the wounds were of any severity and the documents specifically indicated that next of kin was not notified in either instance,” Fox told the Herald-Standard in 1996. “We were amazed that Mr. Murtha was asking for Purple Hearts for superficial lacerations,” he added.
Murtha’s accounts of his Vietnam War wounds may also conflict with the available U.S. Marine medical records obtained by the media.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on May 12, 2002, reported that “Marine Corps casualty records show that Murtha was injured in ‘hostile’ actions near Danang, Vietnam, on March 22, 1967, and May 7, 1967.
“In the first incident, his right cheek was lacerated, and in the second, he was lacerated above his left eye. Neither injury required evacuation,” the Post-Gazette reported.
But an Oct. 26, 1994, article in the Herald-Standard quoted Murtha as describing two different injuries.
“I was wounded in the arm with shrapnel from a bullet that hit the motor mount of a helicopter. In the other, my knee was banged up and my arm was banged up when a helicopter was shot down from a very few feet,” Murtha told the Herald-Standard.
A June 1, 1967 report in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat quoted a letter that the newspaper indicated was sent by Murtha to his wife that same year. The letter apparently detailed yet another version of how Murtha qualified for one of his Purple Hearts. According to the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, Murtha’s injuries involved his being “struck in the ankle” by a “shot that ricocheted off the helicopter.”
Murtha, a 16-term congressman from southwestern Pennsylvania and the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, drew national attention on Nov. 17, 2005, when he called for an immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.
The Vietnam veteran even took a swipe at President Bush and Vice President Cheney, neither of whom have actual combat experience.
“I like guys who’ve never been there, who criticize us who’ve been there,” Murtha said. “I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and sent people to war and then don’t like to hear suggestions that what may need to be done.”
Murtha discussed his own combat experience as a marine intelligence officer in his 2004 autobiography, “From Vietnam to 9/11: On the Front Lines of National Security.”
“I had been awake more than twenty-four hours by the time we landed. A few hours into the battle, an on-again-off-again event, I could no longer keep my eyes open. I curled up next to a bunker and fell into a deep sleep for about an hour. Even the noise of frequent gunfire didn’t wake me up. (One of my fellow officers told me the next morning that when he hadn’t seen me for an hour or so, he assumed I was dead,)” Murtha wrote of one of his Vietnam combat experiences on page 14 of the 2004 paperback edition of his book. Murtha’s two Purple Hearts are referenced on the back of the book.
In addition to his Purple Hearts, Murtha received the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry and the Bronze Star with combat “V” for service in the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam. Murtha also served in the Marines during the Korean War but did not serve in Korea, according to his book.
‘He’s a phony and a liar’
Bailey said during the time Murtha was being investigated for his role in the Abscam FBI sting in 1980, Murtha made a confession on the House floor.
… you admitted, back in our corner, that you didn’t earn your purple hearts (sic) (you indicated you had small scratch on your cheek that wasn’t even directly related to an APC [Armored Personnel Carrier] that ran over a small antipersonnel mine that was behind you). The other purple heart [sic] you even declined to explain,” wrote Bailey in an open letter dated May 5, 2002.
Bailey is also a decorated Vietnam combat veteran. He served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and was awarded a Silver Star and three Bronze Stars.
“At the time (of Murtha’s alleged admission), you were feeling particularly vulnerable because it wasn’t too long after you had called me crying and sobbing, thanking me for ‘saving your life’ before the ethics committee (on Abscam-related charges). There was no doubt in my mind that you were expressing to me that you did not believe you did anything sufficient to earn the purple heart [sic] and that you didn’t want to be active in my efforts to laud Vietnam veterans that served with us,” Bailey wrote in his May 2002 letter.
“You may deny that all you wish — but you and I know that that conversation took place,” he added.
In the Jan. 9 interview with Cybercast News Service Bailey affirmed the contents of his 2002 letter.
“The issue here is this idea or pretense that [Murtha] knows combat and he’s got two Purple Hearts. He’s a phony and a liar,” Bailey said.
Bailey also questioned why Murtha has thus far declined to release his full military records in order to clear up the controversy.
“The Marine Corps ought to be able to produce all the orders, the medical stuff, the citations and the orders granting [the Purple Hearts] and everything else. Where is that stuff?” he asked.
According to a May 16, 2002, edition of the Washington, Pa., Observer-Reporter, Murtha “produced military paperwork indicating he was entitled to the awards,” and a Murtha spokesperson was quoted as saying that “the media for years has investigated ‘and found nothing.'”
But Murtha’s paperwork did nothing to sway Bailey’s opinion.
“You may fool a few reporters into believing that merely because you got some perfunctory paperwork made out by a friend, that that means you earned the purple hearts [sic]. But even if you were awarded the medals later, there should be affidavits from witnesses. These things should be easy to get,” Bailey wrote in his letter while demanding an apology from Murtha for questioning his credibility.
Murtha could end the controversy at any time, Bailey added, simply by calling a press conference and producing the evidence of his wounds.
“Explain where you were and what you were doing when you got the purple hearts.[sic] Explain who was with you and treated your wounds, but most important, Jack, describe your wounds or the lack thereof, as you did for me, years ago,” Bailey wrote.
“Unless the Marine Corps gives out medals for unsubstantiated noncombat-related telltale scratches, procured for use in political campaign — then show me the money, Jack,” Bailey added.
Murtha: ‘I’m proud of my service in Vietnam’
During the 1994 congressional campaign against GOP opponent Dr. William Choby, Murtha’s two Purple Hearts became a political issue.
“Explain your Purple Hearts. He (Murtha) used them to get elected,” Choby charged in 1994.
In responding to the charges, Murtha claimed that he “didn’t ask for the Purple Hearts.
“I’m proud of my service in Vietnam. I don’t know if he (Choby) served in the service at all. I left my family and my business to serve in Vietnam. My family made great sacrifice for me to make that service in Vietnam, so I’m very proud of that,” he told the Uniontown Herald-Standard in the newspaper’s Oct. 26, 1994 edition.
“I am disappointed that a guy (Choby) would say something like that when I volunteered in the reserves and I felt it was important that I go. What’s the point in all this? It’s irritating,” Murtha added.
Choby also challenged the validity of Murtha’s Bronze Star with Combat ‘V’ during the 1996 congressional campaign.
“I find it very curious that Combat ‘V’ doesn’t even exist in any of the materials he had distributed,” Choby was quoted as saying in the Herald-Standard of Oct. 13, 1996. “His military record improves over the years,” he added.
The Murtha controversy is reminiscent of the flap surrounding the war record of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. But while critics like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacked Kerry in 2004 because of his anti-war activism of the 1970s, Murtha’s three chief accusers all made their allegations years and in some cases decades before Murtha emerged last November as a prominent anti-war activist.
Choby told Cybercast News Service on Jan. 5 that Murtha’s entire political career is based on his war record. “Without that credibility of those combat medals, he would have never been elected to office,” Choby said.
Wild Thing’s comment…..
I always thought the way a Purple Heart was awarded is that there is a write up at the unit of the individual and then signed by medical personnel…and then it is processed. I may be wrong, but isn’t it very strange that years after…one applies for a PH.
Tom Donegan, foreground, Bob Loy, rear left, and Joe Kurnos start out from Fairfax, Va., Monday morning on their “Ride for America’s Patriots” to San Antonio, Texas.
By Leo Shane III –
Stars and Stripes Pacific edition
Thursday, May 18, 2006
WASHINGTON — Tom Donegan wants to send the wounded soldiers at Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas a big, loud “thank you.”
So he and a handful of friends will come roaring into San Antonio later this week on a fleet of noisy motorcycles flying a banner praising the patriots recovering there.
“We just want to thank them for their service,” said Donegan, who owns a Virginia real estate firm. “They need to know that their sacrifice hasn’t been forgotten.”
The 3,200-mile, 10-day round-trip began Monday outside of Washington and will wind through Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana. The riders are hoping to raise more than $20,000 for the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, which funds grants and programs to help wounded veterans move on with their lives.
Donegan said he was inspired to help the injured soldiers after meeting with coalition spokesman J.R. Martinez, a former soldier who was wounded in an IED attack in Iraq in April 2005.
The group will visit Martinez — and the other patients at the medical center — from May 19 to May 22, delivering souvenirs from the ride and grateful handshakes.
Donegan said he expects other riders to join the convoy for at least part of the ride. One confirmed day tripper is Josh Forbess, a soldier wounded in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in 2003.
Forbess said shows of support like this are crucial during the recovery process. “It’s just you and your thoughts when the lights go out,” he said. “It’s good to see that, to know there is support.”
A webcam mounted on the front of Tom Donegan’s motorcycle will allow the public to follow the progress of the “Ride for America’s Patriots.” Connected to a laptop powered by the engine, the cam will send an image every 10 seconds. At the end of the ride, the images will be combined into a video. (Joe Gromelski / S&S)
The bikers have set up Web cams on the motorcycles and will be giving daily updates of the ride through their Web site.….Ride For America’s Patriots
Left to right, Bob Loy, Tom Donegan and Joe Kurnos, before leaving for San Antonio on the “Ride for America’s Patriots.”
Wild Thing’s comment……
I love hearing about stories and people like this. God bless them everyone of them! And God bless and protect our troops and keep them safe.
Thank you to all our Veterans and wounded in the military. My heart is full of respect and appreciation for all you have done.
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA): “Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” (“Marines Killed Iraqi Civilians ‘In Cold Blood: US Lawmaker,'” Agence France Presse, 5/18/06)
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL): “We are an irritant. And we help spur the insurgency, even as we are defending a fledgling Iraqi government against that insurgency.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 1/22/06)
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA): “There is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children …” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 12/4/05)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV): “It’s our presence that’s also a problem. We’re an occupying force” (Mort Kondracke, Op-Ed, “Democrats Look Weak Calling For Iraq ‘Exit,'” Roll Call, 2/3/05)
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) Said That U.S. Troops Were Part Of The Problem In Iraq. “‘The U.S. military presence has become part of the problem, not part of the solution,’ Kennedy said in remarks prepared for delivery at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.” (Lolita C. Baldor, “Kennedy Calls For Troop Withdrawal, Says Military Is Fueling Insurgents,” The Associated Press, 1/27/05)
Rep. John Murtha Promises Dems Will Cut And Run In Iraq If They Gain Control Of Congress:
Rep. John Murtha Claimed Dems Will Withdraw From Iraq If They Take Over. MSNBC’s CHRIS MATTHEWS: “[A]re the Democrats going to seize the leadership of the Congress, win the votes, take over Congress and end the war? Are they going to do it?” … REP. MURTHA: “We have to convince Democrats and Republicans that this war has to end.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 5/17/06)
Rep. Murtha: “Let me tell you something, Chris. This war is going to end.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 5/17/06)
Rep. Murtha: “[W]e’ve got to have a scheduled withdrawal, just like we have to have a schedule around here.” (MSNBC’s “Hardball,” 5/17/06)
Rep. Murtha: “My timetable is to immediately work and say to them, ‘Look, you’re going to have to take over yourself, this is your responsibility. And we’re redeploying our force.’ The sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned.” (Rep. Jack Murtha, Press Conference, 5/17/06)
Army Times article HERE for complete article
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., discusses the war in Iraq during a Capitol Hill news conference on Wednesday.
Rep. John Murtha, an influential Pennsylvania lawmaker and outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, said today Marines had “killed innocent civilians in cold blood” after allegedly responding to a roadside bomb ambush that killed a Marine during a patrol in Haditha, Iraq, Nov. 19. The incident is still under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Multi-National Forces Iraq.
“It’s much worse than was reported in Time magazine,” Murtha, a Democrat, former Marine colonel and Vietnam war veteran, told reporters on Capitol Hill. “There was no firefight. There was no [bomb] that killed those innocent people,” Murtha explained, adding there were “about twice as many” Iraqis killed than Time had reported.
The Marine Response:
“I do not know where Rep. Murtha is obtaining is information,” said Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Central Command in Tampa, Fla. “Thoroughness will drive the investigation.”
Translation of Col. Gibson’s statement: “I don’t know where Murtha cane up with this BS but it won’t cut it around here. We’ll do the investigation right.”
Wild Thing’s comment……
MURTHA is an UN-AMERICAN pig who uses his prior service as a shield to cover his lies and undermining of another generation of soldiers who are more man than he will ever be. Don’t forget – this old coot is a member of Code Pink too.
When Murtha dies, I hope Chesty Puller kicks Murtha’s ass at the gates of Heaven deep into the pits of hell.
Since Rep. John Murtha made his splash in November with his call for an American troop withdrawal from Iraq, there have been no stories about Robert C. “Kit” Murtha in the Post. Robert C. “Kit” Murtha is John Murtha’s brother — a Washington lobbyist whose firm reeled in more than $20 million for its defense contractor clients in the 2004 Defense appropriations bill. And the Pennsylvania congressman is the ranking Democrat on the Defense appropriations subcommittee, which he also chaired for six years before Democrats lost the House in 1994.
John Murtha’s comments about the war in Iraq , about our troops make for convenient cover in an increasingly critical ethical atmosphere. John Murtha, an ethically suspect member of Congress, with close, personal connections to lobbyists whose clients are benefited by his committee and using the war and his attacks on our troops in an attempt to distract attention from the real issue of his Abscam past and everything else he has done wrong.
BUT besides that he is a triator to this country and to our military! His rhetoric is a help to terrorists. What does one have to do before they are arrested for TREASON!!! Let the entire Democrat Party lanquish in HELL where they all belong, starting with this idiot John Murtha!!!
His email address :
murtha@mail.house.gov
* Mudville Gazette * Let Freedom Ring * BLue Star Chronicles
.
I am not sure what this is but IT belongs to Code Pink
Women for Peace took out full-page ads in 8 Iraqi newspapers today calling on Americans and Iraqi to come together to end the occupation of Iraq. The newspapers are As-sabah Al-Jadid, At-Taakhi, Al-Manar, Al-Haqaeq, Al-Iraq Al-Yaom, As-Syadah, Al-Adalah and Ash-Shahed.
It is sickening!!!!!
They are printed on line at: ( PDF files )
HERE
HERE
The ad calls on Americans and Iraqis to work together to stop the bloodshed and bring the US troops home. “We have seen in poll after poll that the majority of Americans and Iraqis want the US troops to return home. Even the majority of US troops (72%) think they should return by the end of this year. It is time for the politicians in both countries to listen to us, the people,” the ad says. The ad is linked to a website, in Arabic, where Iraqis can sign a petition and communicate directly with Americans, either by internet or through the mail. To view the website, go to www.esteklal.org.
“We are thrilled by the feedback we are getting,” says Medea Benjamin, cofounder of CODEPINK, a women’s peace group that sponsored the ads. “The newspapers are reporting that they are swamped with calls from readers saying that this ad gives them hope and makes them realize there are Americans who support their desires to be free from foreign occupation. We must find ways to work together to end the bloodshed.”
The ads are paid for by hundreds of CODEPINK supporters from around the country, including Annie Nelson, wife of renowned singer/songwriter Willie Nelson. “I have been heartbroken by all the death and destruction from this war in Iraq, and I am delighted to have a way to extend my hand in friendship to Iraqi mothers and their families,” says Mrs. Nelson.
The ads follow a weekend 24-hour peace vigil at the White House organized by CODEPINK to commemorate Mothers Day, May 14. The vigil included peace mom Cindy Sheehan, actress Susan Sarandon, comedian Dick Gregory, doctor/clown Patch Adams, and women from Iraq and Iran. It featured a concert, strategy workshops on grassroots organizing and national campaigns, an interfaith gathering, and writing and reading letters to Laura Bush urging her to pressure her husband to end the war.
Remember that Code Pink sent $600,000 to the insurgents in aid to Fallujah. And like that support for terrorists, these ads were paid for with money Cindy Sheehan helped to raise.
Remember, too, that Code Pink, Mother Sheehan’s operation and even Truthout are all tax-payer supported 501c3 “charities.”
We used to call this treason! And it still is!!
Our leaders,
our government, the people of the USA
need to pay attention to outright treason
against the nation at home. This is
never going to end unless people
start to be punished for
TREASON!
.
.
I like MY tank so much better!
“It is inconceivable that any Palestinian, Arab leader, or any objective member of the international community would accept this illegal action as a permanent solution to the continuing altercation in the Middle East,” Carter said in a commentary published Tuesday in USA Today.
He said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s plan, which would involve Israel ceding some ground but taking about one half of the Palestinian West Bank and encapsulating the urban areas within a concrete wall and fence barrier, was a recipe for disaster.
“This confiscation of land is to be carried out without resorting to peace talks with the Palestinians, and in direct contravention of the ‘road map for peace’, which President (George W.) Bush helped initiate and has strongly supported,” said Carter, the architect of the 1978 Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel.
He added that Olmert’s plan would be in clear violation of the Camp David treaty as well as the 1993 Oslo accords and UN Security Council resolutions.
Carter said a better course would be for Israel to launch peace talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, under the auspices of the international Quartet, made up of the United States, the European Union, United Nations and Russia.
“A mutual Israeli-Palestinian agreement would undoubtedly result in full recognition of Israel by all Arab nations, with normal diplomatic and economic relations, and permanent peace and justice for the Palestinians,” Carter, who now heads the non-profit Carter Center, said.
“It would also remove one of the major causes of international terrorism and greatly ease tensions that could precipitate a regional or even global conflict.”
Wild Thing’s comment……
Memo to Jimmy: STFU you pathetic snivelling weasel!! The documents and past negotiations you cite are “no longer operative” since the Palis have violated them at every turn and have now elected the most openly terrorist leadership yet. Israel can do anything it deems necessary to its security and the Palis and their terror masters can just stuff it. Jimmy, how DARE you cite the “road map” and Oslo as somehow binding on Israel when the Palis have violated both the spirit and the details of every such effort to achieve peace?
I have an idea for peace: let’s watch Israel define its own borders (preferably as expansively as possible), seal them as completely as possible, and declare that ‘negotiations’ are no longer possible due to the failure of the Pali terrorists to observe the most elemental norms of human civilization.
Ex-Military Intelligence chief Ze’evi warns of impending world jihad ‘tsunami’
Former Military Intelligence chief Aharon Ze’evi
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Former Military Intelligence chief Aharon Ze’evi warned Monday morning of an impending world jihad “tsunami” that he said may soon descend on the entire Middle East.
Ze’evi, speaking at a Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies conference in Tel Aviv University, said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinijad has been overheard promising the “end of history in two or three years.”
Ze’evi recommended that the Iranian threats be taken seriously, saying that Tehran will soon have nuclear warhead compatible surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 5,000 kilometers, putting Europe within striking distance.
Ze’evi also warned that Israel should not rule out the possibility of a conventional war against Islamic militants.
Ze’evi said he foresees this war breaking out on Israel’s northern frontier, against Syria and Hezbollah.
Emphasizing the radicalization of Islamic militancy, Ze’evi cited recent changes in the objectives of major militant organizations, which have recently begun targeting sites in Arab countries.
“We are seeing attacks carried out in Amman, Dahab and Sharm el-Sheikh,” said Ze’evi.
He cited the increased accessibility of Internet in the Arab world as facilitating the process, saying, “Today, anyone who is interested can learn how to blow up a bomb.”
Major General (Res.) Ze’evi stepped down as chief of Military Intelligence about four months ago, and was replaced by Major General Amos Yadlin.
Wild Thing’s comment……
The rabid wolf that`s in the woods right now has nuclear teeth. The wolf is out there and he is howling.
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