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U.S. Marines take back pirate-held ship off Somalia

joep — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:44:47 GMT

U.S. Marines take back pirate-held ship off Somalia

AP � In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, helicopters from the USS Dubuque provide aerial watch as U.S. �

By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer Brian Murphy, Associated Press Writer � 29 mins ago
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates � U.S. Marine commandos stormed a pirate-held cargo ship off the Somalia coast Thursday, reclaiming control and taking nine prisoners without firing a shot in the first such boarding raid by the international anti-piracy flotilla, U.S. Navy officials said.
The mission � using small craft to reach the deck of German-owned vessel as the crew huddled in a safe room below � ranks among the most dramatic high seas confrontations with pirates by the task force created to protect shipping lanes off lawless Somalia.
The crew managed to kill the engines before taking refuge in an panic room-style chamber, leaving the ship adrift and the pirates so frustrated they started damaging equipment after hijacking the vessel Wednesday, Navy officials and the ship's operator say.
Lt. John Fage, a spokesman at the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, described the pre-dawn raid as an "air and sea" assault that included Cobra attack helicopters for surveillance and coordination.
It was the first boarding raid since the multinational task force was formed in January 2009 to patrol off the Horn of Africa, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost in Bahrain.
Fage said there were no injuries reported among the Marines or 11-member crew of the Magellan Star. The pirates were armed with AK-47 assault rifles, but "there were no shots fired" on either side, Fage said.
A Turkish frigate on anti-piracy patrols, TCG Gokceada, first responded to a distress call from the ship, which flies the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. Fage said the crew � which include Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and Filipino seamen � was able to maintain contact with maritime officials from their safe room using a satellite phone.
The crew also shut down the engines as the pirates approached, leaving the ship to drift at sea, said Juergen Salamon, the ship's operator based in Dortmund, Germany.
"The pirates had entered a ship that they couldn't steer and there was no crew," he said.
The pirates then hit an emergency button that connected them directly with the ship operators in Germany.
"They asked us where the crew is," he chuckled. "We told them, 'They're on leave.'"
There was no demands for ransom, he said.
The ship was traveling from Bilbao, Spain, to Singapore with a cargo of anchor chains, Salamon said. It is now en route to Dubai for repairs.
"The pirates were angry and vandalized the ship badly," he said.
Salamon said the ship operators were not in direct contact with the U.S. Navy, but were communicating with other maritime security watchdogs in the Horn of Africa.
Then just before dawn Thursday, the U.S. team from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's Maritime Raid Force launched the assault from aboard the USS Dubuque, an amphibious transport ship.
The Dubuque was in the area en route to a joint training exercise with Jordan and received orders from the White House to assist the anti-piracy task force, Brig. Gen. David Berger, the head of Marine Corps operations at the Pentagon.
After a one-hour operation, nine suspected pirates were taken into custody.
"It's a great thing that everything ended without any bloodshed," Salamon said.
In a separate case, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said a cargo ship held for four months by Somali pirates has been freed. He did not say whether ransom was paid for the release of the Bulgarian-flagged chemical tanker Panega, which was hijacked off the Yemeni port of Aden.
Borisov said the 15 Bulgarian crew members were safe.
U.S. warships are part of a 25-nation mission protecting merchant vessels from pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia and into the Gulf of Aden. The task force often opens fire on suspected pirates, but had not previously launched a boarding raid.
In April 2009, a team of Navy Seal sharpshooters positioned on the fantail of a U.S. warship killed a trio of Somali pirates to free an American sea captain who had been taken hostage and was being held at gunpoint onboard a lifeboat.
Last month, Denmark said a helicopter from one of its warships fired warning shots and foiled a pirate attack off Somalia.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last month options under consideration to prosecute suspected pirates include creating a special international court.
More than 140 piracy-related incidents have been reported off Somalia's coast since January and more than 30 ships have been hijacked, according to U.N. and anti-piracy task force reports.

video viewing

bigboner007 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:54:39 GMT

Is there any reason why that I cannot view 90% of the videos. Never had this problem until a few months ago.

the emperor has no clothes

calster — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 05:41:08 GMT

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ge..._end_in_tears/

are you crying yet?

:mad::mad::mad:

Castro

KingOfPain — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:48:58 GMT

CASTRO: Cuban model doesn't work!

Fidel to Ahmadinejad: 'Stop Slandering the Jews'...

Condom machines installed in San Francisco jail...

KingOfPain — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:44:04 GMT

Condom machines installed in San Francisco jail...

Condom machines are the latest step in a program to promote safe sex at the San Francisco Jail's San Bruno lockup.

The Chronicle's Matier and Ross reported this week that authorities at the jail installed 16 condom machines throughout the facility -- one in each jail pod -- even though sex is technically illegal in the cell block.

Health workers have been handing out condoms to inmates at the jail since 1989 as part of a safe-sex program aimed at getting them ready for their release back into society.

Distributing condoms to inmates is "worth it," said Kate Monico Klein, who's directing the program under the City's Public Health Department, because it could save lives.

Attached Images

condoms1.jpg (283.7 KB)

America's liberal elites concede that Obama's Presidency is crumbling

KingOfPain — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 04:30:47 GMT

Even America's liberal elites concede that Obama's Presidency is crumbling

By Nile Gardiner
September 8th, 2010
427 Comments

The US Capitol building in Washington DC (Photo: EPA)

Democrats in Congress are no longer asking themselves whether this is going to be a bad election year for them and their party. They are asking whether it is going to be a disaster. The GOP pushed deep into Democratic-held territory over the summer, to the point where the party is well within range of picking up the 39 seats it would need to take control of the House. Overall, as many as 80 House seats could be at risk, and fewer than a dozen of these are held by Republicans.

Political handicappers now say it is conceivable that the Republicans could also win the 10 seats they need to take back the Senate. Not since 1930 has the House changed hands without the Senate following suit.

Is this a piece from National Review, The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal or Fox News.com, all major conservative news outlets in the United States? No. It�s a direct quote from yesterday�s Washington Post, usually viewed by conservatives as a flagship of the liberal establishment inside the Beltway. The fact The Post is reporting that not only could Republicans sweep the House of Representatives this November, but may even take the Senate as well, is a reflection of just how far the mainstream, overwhelmingly left-of-centre US media has moved in the last month towards acknowledging the scale of the crisis facing the White House.

To its credit, The Washington Post has generally been ahead of the curve compared to its main competitors such as The New York Times in reporting President Obama�s travails, but its striking front page coverage of the �Democrats� plight� and talk of a possible GOP Senate win (regarded as fantasy just a fortnight ago) was a bold step for a publication that is probably read in every office of the Obama administration.

The Post also ran another headline yesterday on its front page � �Republicans making gains ahead of midterm elections� � which would undoubtedly have sent a shudder through the White House. It carried a new poll commissioned jointly with ABC News, which showed public faith in Barack Obama�s leadership has fallen to an all-time low, with just 46 percent approval. The Washington Post-ABC News survey revealed high levels of public unease with President Obama�s handling of the economy, with 57 percent of Americans disapproving, and 58 percent critical of his handling of the deficit.

For most of the year, America�s political and media elites, including the Obama team itself, have touted the notion of an economic recovery (which never materialised), significantly underestimated the rise of the Tea Party movement, and questioned the notion that conservatism was sweeping America. It is only now hitting home just how close Washington is to experiencing a political revolution in November that will fundamentally change the political landscape on Capitol Hill, with huge implications for the Obama presidency. What was once a perspective confined largely to Fox News, online conservative news sites, or talk radio is now gaining ground in the liberal US print media as well � historic change is coming to America, though not quite the version promised by Barack Obama.

Question for members

dirtydawg — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:47:11 GMT

Hello Everyone,
There is an option i can turn on for the board that requires a person to enter the word in the box on the screen before they can complete a post. It would be like when you signed up and had to enter a word in the box to complete your registration.This option would help cut down on automatic posting programs from posting so many spam posts but it would add an extra step to posting.

My question is should i turn the option on or not?

Thanks
DD

Educational e-mails

dirtydawg — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:21:56 GMT

As we approach the end of another month - I want to
thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am
totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery.

I no longer open a bathroom door without using a paper towel, or have the waitress put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel.

I can�t use the remote in a hotel room because I don�t know what the last person was doing while flipping through
the adult movie channels.

I can�t sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last
washed..hmmmm

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking one�s nose.

Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed
over the years.

I can�t touch any woman�s purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I MUST ALSO SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS to whoever sent me the one about rat shit in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

ALSO, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa�s Novena has granted my every wish.

I can�t have a drink in a bar because I�ll wake up in a bathtub full of ice with my kidneys gone.

I can�t eat at KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes, feet or feathers.

I can�t use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes. I finally had to stop with the prayers as my apartment is filled with little angels flying around and they don't stop flying, even if they have diarrhea!

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer buy gas without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer doesn�t crawl in my back seat when I�m filling up.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Fanta since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to
put �Under God� on their cans.

I no longer use Cling Wrap in the microwave because it causes seven different types of cancer.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW I can�t boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face.. Disfiguring me for life.

I no longer go to the movies because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS when I sit down

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex since they are actually Al Qaeda agents in disguise. And I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a
phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore , and Uzbekistan

I no longer buy cookies from Neiman-Marcus since I now have their recipe.

THANKS TO YOU I can�t use anyone�s toilet but mine because a big black snake could be lurking under the seat and cause me instant death when it bites my ass.

AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE I can�t ever pick up a dime dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting to grab me as I bend over..

I no longer drive my car because buying gas from some companies supports Al Qaeda, and buying gas from all the others supports South American dictators.

I can�t do any gardening because I�m afraid I�ll get bitten by the Violin Spider and my hand will fall off.

If you don�t send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, and the fleas from 120 camels will infest your back, causing you
to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor�s ex-mother-in-law�s second husband�s cousin�s best friend�s beautician .. . .

Oh, by the way.....

A German scientist from Argentina , after a lengthy study, has discovered
that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse.

Don�t bother taking it off now, it�s too late.

PS: I now keep my toothbrush in the living room, because I was told by e-mail that water splashes over 6 ft. out of the toilet.

A different take on global warming - Why Canada is looking hot

aiti — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:52:04 GMT

By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, QMI Agency

How often do you hear anyone make the obvious point global warming will be good for Canada?
Arctic scientist Laurence C. Smith makes this logical argument in his new book, The World in 2050: Four Forces Shaping Civilization�s Northern Future.

Smith, a professor of geography and earth and space sciences at UCLA who has done extensive research on the negative impacts of climate change, nonetheless predicts Canada, Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland), Russia and the northern U.S. will all become economic powerhouses and immigration magnets due to global warming over the next 40 years.
Among the benefits, Smith said in an interview with UCLA Newsroom promoting his book, to be released Sept. 23:
(1) Global warming will free up previously inaccessible deposits of oil, gas, water and other natural resources at a time when they are becoming increasingly scarce everywhere else in the world.
(2) Canada�s oil resources will be second only to Saudi Arabia�s and economically invaluable, since wind, solar and hydrogen technologies still won�t be able to meet the world�s energy needs.
(3) Canada�s population will increase by more than 30%, a growth rate rivalling India�s.
(4) Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver will significantly increase in size and global prominence.
(5) Canada�s crop production will likely increase, one of the few places on Earth where this will occur.
(6) The �northern rim countries� (NORCS), including Canada, will constitute the world�s fourth-largest economy, with highly-coveted reserves of fresh water, which can be sold or transported to other regions.
(7) The opening of new shipping lanes in the Arctic during the summer will make the 500-year-old dream of a direct trade route between the Far East and the Atlantic a reality.
(8) Canada�s northern aboriginal communities will benefit economically.
�In many ways, the New North (including Canada) is well positioned for the coming century, even as its unique ecosystem is threatened by the linked forces of hydrocarbon development and amplified climate change,� Smith writes.
�(T)he stresses that will be very apparent in other parts of the world by 2050 � like coastal inundation, water scarcity, heat waves and violent cities � will be easing or unapparent in northern places.�
Smith, who analyzes the global impacts of a growing and aging population, dwindling natural resources and increasing globalism and economic integration in addition to climate change, is no Pollyanna about global warming.
His best-known previous work identified the role of climate change in the disappearance of more than 1,000 Arctic lakes over the last quarter of the 20th century.
What�s significant about his work for Canadians is it goes beyond the �world is ending� hysteria we so often hear from politicians, environmentalists and media, whose �solution� to climate change is for us to undermine our economy and ship billions of dollars to the developing world, for reasons that are never made entirely clear.
In the real world, if the climate is warming, there are positive implications for Canada, as well as negative ones, and our response has to be intelligent, not stupid.
Indeed, if the Arctic is going to become much more economically valuable due to climate change, and if that will lead to massive immigration, we had better be able to enforce our sovereignty over it and get our immigration and refugee systems under control.
Starting now.
lorrie.goldstein@sunmedia.ca

Man Arrested For Defending Home With AK-47

KingOfPain — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:13:14 GMT

Long Island Man Arrested For Defending Home With AK-47

Says Many Gang Members Were Coming After His Family

September 7, 2010 11:00 PM

AK-47 assault rifles (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)

From jcap17

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBS 2) � He was arrested for protecting his property and family.

But it�s how the Long Island man did it that police say crossed the line.
He got an AK-47 assault rifle, pulled the trigger and he ended up in jail, reports CBS 2�s Pablo Guzman.

George Grier said he had to use his rifle on Sunday night to stop what he thought was going to be an invasion of his Uniondale home by a gang he thought might have been the vicious �MS-13.� He said the whole deal happened as he was about to drive his cousin home.

�I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, �Can you please leave?� Grier said.

Grier said the five men dared him to use the gun; and that their shouts brought another larger group of gang members in front of his house.

�He starts threatening my family, my life. �Oh you�re dead. I�m gonna kill your family and your babies. You�re dead.� So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass,� Grier said.

Grier was later arrested. John Lewis is Grier�s attorney.

�What he�s initially charged with � A D felony reckless endangerment � requires a depraved indifference to human life, creating a risk that someone�s going to die. Shooting into a lawn doesn�t create a risk of anybody dying,� Lewis said.

Grier said he knew Nassau County Police employ the hi-tech �ShotSpotter� technology in his area and that the shooting would bring police in minutes. Cops told Guzman he was very cooperative.

Grier also said he was afraid the gang outside his house was the dreaded MS-13. And Nassau County Police Lt. Andrew Mulraine, head of the gang unit, said MS-13 has 2,000 members in the county.

�They�re probably the most organized. They almost have a military hierarchy within the gang, so they are the most organized gang we encounter on a daily basis,� Mulraine said.

You may think a person has the right to defend their home. But the law says you can only use physical force to deter physical force. Grier said he never saw anyone pull out a gun, so a court would have to decide on firing the gun.

Police determined Grier had the gun legally. He has no criminal record. And so he was not charged for the weapon.

That ShotSpotter technology pinpoints where a gun has been fired within 35 feet. Police said it also detected two other shootings in nearby Roosevelt that night.

CBS New York Video

http://video.newyork.cbslocal.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1= 5092573&at1=News&h1=Were