Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Martyrdom of 18 citizens of Zahedan. (18 Iranian Revolutionary Guards sent to Hell)


Explosion kills 18 in Iran
AP Independent
Published: 14 February 2007

A car loaded with explosives blew up near a bus carrying members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards in southeastern Iran, killing 18 of them, the state-run news agency reported today.

The car stopped in front of the bus near Zahedan, the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan Province, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. It called the attack a terrorist operation and said the car's occupants fled on motorbikes seconds before the car exploded.

"This blind terrorist operation led to the martyrdom of 18 citizens of Zahedan," IRNA quoted a Guards commander, Qasem Rezaei, as saying.

State-run television said the bus had been taking them to work when the attack took place.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Rezaei blamed "insurgents and elements of insecurity" for the attack.

Hossein Ali Shahriyari, a deputy representing Zahedan, told an open session of the parliament today that "insurgents and drug traffickers" were behind the attack.

Shahriyari called lawless regions in southwestern Pakistan a safe haven for Iranian insurgents and drug traffickers, and called on the government to take up the issue with Islamabad.

"Why doesn't our foreign diplomatic apparatus deal with Pakistan, whose soil has turned into a safe heaven for insurgents," he asked. His speech was broadcast live on state-run radio.

Soltan Ali Mir, a local Interior Ministry official, said five of those behind the explosion were arrested, IRNA reported. It did not say how many were involved.

"Two of the terrorists were arrested (immediately) after the attack. Police confiscated a camera and hand grenades from them. Later, three other terrorists behind today's bomb explosion were arrested," IRNA quoted Mir as saying.

The passenger car stopped in the middle of the road at around 6.30am in Ahmadabad district on the outskirts of Zahedan, IRNA said. After the bus stopped, the car's occupants fled and the vehicle exploded.

Zahedan and its surroundings, which lie near Iran's borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, have been the scene of clashes between police and drug smugglers in the past.

Three small explosions injured two people in Zahedan last June, but today's explosion was the deadliest in years.

The explosion comes at a time of high tension between Iran and the United States over insurgents in Iraq and Iran's controversial nuclear programme.


75 comments:

  1. And Mookie's there to witness.
    Needed:
    Hundreds of US Army Predator directed remote controlled car bombs for the "Revolutionary Gaurd" and the Mullahs and their families.

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  2. I have wondered how they would handle "Death of a thousand cuts". Own medicine can taste worst.

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  3. 2164th said...
    Bush has emboldened the enemies of the US on every continent.

    He refuses to secure the borders of the United States and enforce US laws. He has the worst combination of weaknesses to be found in a leader.

    His level of competence is marginal. His intuitions are suspect. His accomplishments nil and he fails to recognize the depth and of any personal defiicts.

    There is not one US Government institution that has been improved, strengthened or enhanced by his guidance, inspiration or insight.

    He has reduced US political strength and has set back the gains made by the US military and diplomacy since the 1970's.

    GWB rescued the reputation of the disgraced Bill Clinton by comparison. He has undone the rescue of the Republican Party resurgence, a creation of Newt Gingrich.

    His answer to the North Korean nuclear program is to pay them off at four times the rate of the Clinton Administration.

    Tue Feb 13, 06:53:00 AM EST
    2164th said...
    If this Administration finds weapons of Iranian origin being used against US troops. Find the factory producing it and make it disappear.

    Find the politicians behind the decision and kill them. Do it with stealth, consistancy and deniability.

    Find Iranian agents in Iraq? Torture them, interrogate them and then dump them in the Euphrates.

    Tue Feb 13, 06:59:00 AM EST
    Tue Feb 13, 07:12:00 PM EST

    Peter said...

    Close the borders. To Iran. To Syria. To Mexico. To Jordan. Shoot those not vetted by the US coming over.

    Good fences make good neighbors.

    What is so hard about these ideas?

    Round up and send back to their country of origin those who we do want in country.

    The Hobo
    Wed Feb 14, 01:45:00 AM EST

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  4. Are Predators flying above Manpad ceilings?

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  5. Korean deal has Bush classic signature:
    Spend plenty of OUR MONEY.

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  6. Thanks Doug, every once in awhile I have to say what I really think. I wasn't sure you noticed.

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  7. The "Compassionate Conservative" turned out to be a hypocritical, lying liberal.
    ...and gutless and incompetent to boot.

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  8. Ingraham:
    The good news is the Bush Admin realizes the value of secure borders.
    The bad news is that it is in Iraq.

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  9. I like Bush. I don't think he's really interested in his job.

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  10. Beneath the station of the Ivy League Elite?
    One might ask WHY you like someone who chose to become POTUS, then decides he's not really interested.
    (them workouts with Condi are so much more of a turn on for the devout self-worshipper)

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  11. Heard the news, while still in bed, this morning.
    Made me smile.

    Three years late, but what the hell, better late than never.

    As to Mr Bush and the Oval Office, gettin' it and winning reelection were the Goals. The rest has been anticlimatic, he beat his Daddy's record, which was the drivinh factor, it seems to me.

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  12. Meanwhile, out of Salt Lake City the facts on our domestic terrorist Suleiman are hard to come by.

    ___Was he a shahid?

    ___Did he tape his last will and testament?

    ___Other than a "trench coat", what else was the lad wearing, e.g. standard shahidi accoutrement?

    ___Where are the mall's surveillance tapes?

    ___What was found at the lad's home?

    And the list goes on.

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  13. Doug,

    His heart was in the right place. He's just emotionally tired. Why I like Bush? Because he was a fighter.

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  14. Where have we heard this before?

    "He was a such a good boy. I don't know what happened."
    ___Ajka Onerovic (aunt)

    Link

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  15. He was such a "good boy"
    or so said an auntie.

    Normally the story is all about the shooter, not so now.
    No motive known. None speculated.

    Another Malvo?
    If so, where is Mohammed?

    Anna Nicole took all the O2 out of the room, aye?

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  16. Damned allen, you beat me with the "good boy" storyline.

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  17. Tit for tat, when's the next bomb go off it Tehran?
    Remember Ogden!

    Not much of a battle cry!

    The little girl that was shot, 15 years, same age as my daughter.
    Cryin' shame.

    If it was another Mohammedan slice at US, down into the memory hole it'll go.
    Religion of Peace and all that...

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  18. Rufus is right. Bush does deserve a complement for his well managing of the US economy.

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  19. Senor al-Sadr has just shifted locales on the battlefield, he "redeployed", just like the US National Guard did when threatened on the AZ border.

    He is neither dead nor eliminated from the Game. Waiting out the Surge, out of Mr Maliki's AO, no longer a matter of US concern or conversation.

    As Mr Maliki told Mr Bush, al-Sadr is "under control". al-Sadr is and always has been "On the Team". The Shia/Iranian DAWA, SCIRI team. The team the US backs, in Iraq.

    Now the US has to strike at the Six Tribes of aQ, and start providing Security to the Shia of Baghdad.

    Be careful what you ask for' Because now the Iraqi have delivered on standing down the Militias.
    Can the US provide short & medium term Security to the people there?

    As shown during the Iraqi Elections, we have in the past.
    As exampled by Ogden, UT, I tend to doubt it. I think the nature of the Enemy has shifted, since those Elections.
    The dissenting view of the NIE, most likely accurate.

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  20. How the economy is doing is based upon perspective. If Governmental reciepts constitute the full picture of National economic health ....

    Then Venezuela is swimming in properity. Short term Governmental revenues there are through the roof.

    The US trade deficit hit another all time high, The Chinese manufacturing capacity running full out. We have go-cart racer dealerships up and down the highway.
    Must be six store fronts selling Chinese licensable micro cars within 3 miles of our city house.

    Real property values continue to decline or stagnate.

    Publishing and advertising are in an economic slump, that coincides almost exactly with Mr Bush's tenure:
    December 27, 2006
    The Star Tribune of Minneapolis to a private equity firm, Avista Capital Partners, for $530 million, citing the lagging performance of the paper and the tax advantages from the sale.

    Tuesday's issue of The Star Tribune of Minneapolis, which was sold to a private equity firm.
    McClatchy said in a statement that the sale of the newspaper, which it bought for $1.2 billion in 1998, would help reduce its debt after the purchase of the Knight Ridder chain for more than $4 billion.


    $1.2 billion in value in '98, to less than half that. This is an indicator of losses in valuations that is industry wide.

    Shuld Mr Bush get the credit or the blame, or neither?

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  21. Interesting topic, especially after reading this previously -

    Anxiety grows on Iran's eastern border; Rumours grow over Iranian interest in Taliban heartlands of southern Afghanistan and tribal regions of Pakistan
    GRAEME SMITH-Wednesday's Globe and Mail

    (Sorry, also link challenged)

    ...But the problems with the border are less of a threat to Afghanistan & Pakistan than to Iran, because the Western allies now operating in the region are trying to make trouble for his country.

    He alleged that British forces are using the drug dealers in Helmand province for espionage against Iran: "They are gathering information, visiting, making connections, watching us."

    At the same time, Mr. Zeineddin said, the United States and Pakistan are supporting the Baloch tribes in their separatist insurgency in southeastern Iran.

    "They are raising the Baloch against us," he said, even suggesting that NATO operates training camps for Baloch fighters inside Afghanistan.

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  22. You misunderstand, rufus.
    Newspapers are not about news.
    They never have been.
    They are about advertising, something the Web will NEVER deliver to a neighborhood retail business community.

    When the giamt newspapers cartels took over the business, the accountants took over. Gannett and Knight-Ridder prime examples.
    Newspapers need to be local concerns, to be successful.

    All the communications companies will become more decentralized, print and broadcast.

    But still, rufus, we agree on the loss in evaluation, somewhat agree on the cause, the loss of classified ad revenues to the Web.
    Tell me though, where sits the "blame" or the "credit" depending upon perspective.

    In the White House, the Congress or the Boardroom? Or do the nameless "they" get the laurels, for bankrupting parts of the MSM?

    For driving NBC into the #2 for News ratings spot?

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  23. Bush is kicking ass at this press conference.

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  24. No diminishing of the Goals

    Full speed ahead

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  25. Bush has repeatedly said that based on evidence found in Iraq, American intelligence analysts have determined the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps known as the Quds Force has been killing US troops and providing weapons to do so.

    Bush is in fine fighting form this morning.

    He said that the Quds Brigade is part of the Iranian government and he is going to do something about it. No bullshit, no fuzzy diplo-talk.

    The International Herald Tribune has this:

    Fissures emerge on Iran's role in Iraq attacks

    By Mark Mazzetti and Michael R. Gordon
    Published: February 14, 2007

    WASHINGTON: Bush administration officials, intelligence analysts and some leading Democrats in Congress all agree that a particularly lethal class of roadside bomb is killing American troops at an increasing rate. But fissures have emerged as to whether senior leaders of Iran's government are directly involved in the attacks.

    The disagreements have laid bare a fundamental tension in intelligence analysis — how and when to draw firm conclusions from battlefield intelligence about the motivations of foreign leaders.

    Based on evidence gathered inside Iraq, American intelligence analysts have concluded that a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps known as the Quds Force is supplying Shiite groups with Iranian-designed weapons, called explosively formed penetrators.

    Because the Quds Force, which operates outside Iran, historically has fallen under the command of Iran's senior religious leaders, intelligence agencies have concluded that top leaders in Tehran are directing the attacks. Adding to this view, intelligence officials say, is the assertion by intelligence officials that Iran has been arming and training Shiite militants for several years.

    "Based on our understanding of the Iranian system and the history of IRGC operations, the intelligence community assesses that activity this extensive on the part of the Quds Force would not be conducted without approval from top leaders in Iran," a senior intelligence official said, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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  26. Mr Ralph Peters, whose opinions are sometimes praised as well as jeered.

    "We're a fringe player in multiple zero-sum struggles: Persian Zoroastrianism in Muslim garb vs. Bedouin fascism; multiple insurgencies within the Sunni global campaign to re-establish the Caliphate; an interfaith competition to jump-start an apocalypse; an old ethnic struggle between Persians and Arabs; and a distinctly Zoroastrian struggle between good and evil (alert the White House).

    Many will reflexively reject this interpretation of Shi'ism and Sunni Islam as two separate faiths with profoundly different inheritances. Blog Bedouins and "scholars" alike will feel threatened. That's part of our problem: We're often as close-minded as our enemies. The greatest power in history thinks small. ...
    ...
    In my years as an intelligence analyst, I consistently made my best calls when I trusted my instincts, and I was less likely to get it right when I heeded the arguments around me. Today, those surrounding arguments damn Iran.

    My instincts tell me our long-term problem is with Arab Sunnis, whose global aspirations have veered into madness. We have a problem with the junta currently ruling Iran, but not with Persian civilization. Meanwhile, the Bedouin fanaticism gripping so much of the Middle East has no civilization. "

    Sunni vs. Shi'a: It's Not All Islam

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  27. Roger that, our true enemy in Wahhabiism, the maddrassas and the Saudi support for them. That is the source and head of the snake.

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  28. Good press conference for Bush. Good show. He likes Nork deal, Bolton does not. Bush is practicing realpolitik in North Korea, Bolton wants to be a purist. I do not think that Bolton is giving enough weight to the Chinese role in this. Afterall, North Korea is parked on the Chinese border.

    I think if I were wearing a black turban, I would pay attention to where those aircraft carriers were parked. Bush was very clear on his leaning. I smell a focused attack on the Quds. That would be a little demonstartion of what could happen to the nuclear facilities at a later date.

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  29. rufus mention AZ real estate values, over a twenty year window.
    Things have been good.

    But we were discussing Mr Bush's performance, not the "Long Economy".

    The latest boom & retrenchment cycle occurred on Mr Bush's watch. Is he to blame, get credit for a shallow dip, or is the White House not really be involved in the cycle at all.

    The cycle is not all that interest rate driven, I recall the late '70s boom, under Mr Carter, when 12% was a low mortage rate.
    In the '90s we sold a couple of million USD worth of land/mobile homes packages at 10%.

    That is the point I was making.
    Govermental revenues boomed during both Bush & Clinton Administrations.

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  30. Sucked into incrementalism?
    Further tits and tats

    God, I hope not.
    Be a grave error, tacticly.

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  31. "We have a problem with the junta currently ruling Iran, but not with Persian civilization."

    We certainly had no problem with the German civilization even shared the religion. then Hitlergruber said hello. both great civilizations. Just worried about the Nukes.

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  32. On the subject of alleged Iranian involvement in Iraq, Bush appeared to back away from a weekend briefing in Baghdad by three senior U.S. military officials. They said shipments into Iraq of deadly new weapons had been approved at the highest levels in Tehran.

    Bush said he could say "with certainty" that the weapons were provided by an elite part of Iran's Revolutionary Guards that is part of the government.

    But, the president added, he does not know whether the weapons were "ordered from the top echelons of government. But, my point is, what's worse, them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and it happening?"


    It is happening, at least that much is clear. The Iraqi have announced that they are closing the border, for three days.

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  33. The drift I've gotten from the multitude of rhetoric from both the Military and the White House.

    The battle within Iraq will be escalating, Iranian agents increasingly targeted, but overt Military operations will remain localized within the Iraqi borders.

    Unless ...

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  34. DR,

    re: Suleiman the Magnificent

    What galls me is the effort of the authorities to keep things under wraps, lest we bumpkins draw lines to dots. When you have this level of PC by the powers-that-be, something stinks.

    My son is 16, so I know where you come from. Poor girl was probably at the mall doing what kids do.

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  35. rufus,

    Here is a story that should give us all hope.

    Taliban flee battle using children as "shields"


    What this or the economy have to do with Mr. Bush is unclear to me, but never look a gift horse in the mouth.

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  36. rufus,

    Sorry, but my money is on Bolton's take of the much heralded North Korean deal. Here's one reason why.

    Japan faces isolation over North Korea

    "'The deal seems to be the result of a change in US policy to stress dialogue instead of pressure on North Korea, which means Japan is isolated in the six-party talks,' said Masafumi Iida, a researcher at Japan's National Institute For Defence Studies."

    Now, this is worth a WTF.

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  37. Weak sisters in charge

    not the twisted sister

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  38. DR,

    Poor Mr. Bolton is about to get a harsh lesson in modern conservatitism, where the only thing that matters is the answer to the question, "What have you done in the last five minutes to confirm my prejudices?".

    Yesterday's super-hero sandwich is reduced to chopped liver on stale matza (as if there is anyother kind).

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  39. Too many fingers, too few active brain cells - "conservatism".

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  40. I thot Bush (of all people) did a Great job of addressing Dave Gregory, the left, the Iraq Surrender group, peace activists, and our very own Trish regarding their Ostrich Approach (Andy McCarthy) to Iran/WOT.
    ---
    In addition to Rat's quote:
    "But, the president added, he does not know whether the weapons were "ordered from the top echelons of government. But, my point is, what's worse, them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and it happening?"

    He also said, (paraphrasing the summation):
    "We know with certainty that Quds forces are bringing this stuff in to kill our troops.
    I can't tell you that I know with certainty that Akmablowjob picked up the phone and ordered it, but who gives a fuck?
    They represent the Iranian Govt., they are killing our troops, we're going to protect our troops.
    "
    (finally, if it happens, WE WISH {except, apparently for trish who does not want to admit that Ledeen has ever been right about anything.})

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  41. Savage got a call from Salt Lake that as of yesterday, all the local Media was refering to Suleman as SOLOMAN!

    ...SOLOMAN GOLDSTEIN will be next!

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  42. Mətušélaḥ,
    "Bush's economy" won't mean shit to me or our kids once his process of turning us into Mexico Norte is finished.

    Bank of America giving accounts to people without SS Numbers or valid ID (ie ILLEGALS)
    ...Just the latest indication of where Bush/Clinton's Outlaw Paradise is headed.
    (I think we should all take out multiple phoney Accounts and overdraft the shit out of them.)
    You people that refuse to see what's happening at the end of your noses are different only in degree to the holocaust deniers.
    JMO.

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  43. Bush is SUCH a good boy:
    His HEART is in the right place and he is a fighter!
    (for Mexicans, Big Intrusive Government, Illegals, and Muslim terror supporters)
    (pardon me ROP Promoters, thanks for the correction, Karen Hughes)

    Yippee: I like Bush too!
    (Never really wanted to pass on our country's Legacy and bonteous Riches and Freedoms to our kids, anyway.)
    Dhimmi Mexican Nationhood, Rah, El Presidente Bush!

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  44. I'm with you, Doug. I'd have mined the border with proximity mines. And after the fireworks go off, I'd have filmed the vultures feast on the Mexican food.

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  45. Even the Belmont Club doesn't have many comments like yours anymore, Mat.
    Thank God.

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  46. So WHY THE FUCK DO YOU "LIKE (presidente) BUSH"???

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  47. bobalharb,

    re: Anna Nicole Smith

    Where in the world is "Hef"? Just a little too quiet, hey?

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  48. He's let in more illegals and welfare cheats/terrorist cover agents SINCE 9-11 than any other President!
    ...and Prosecutes Border Agents on False Testimony and enemy conspiracies.

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  49. Allen,
    Why do you think they're trying to preserve the body for a while?
    Hef wants to do the first ever
    Post Mort Centerfold!

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  50. Doug,

    What can I say. I work in an office surrounded by girls. They must have feminized me.

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  51. I dont understand all this intel about Sadr leaving Iraq for Iran, how do we know, did we see him leave? And if we saw him leave, why didn't we kill him?

    ALSO

    Allen, It's high time you told us how you REALLY FEEL about Bush....

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  52. Allen, oops sorry about that, I meant DOUG...

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  53. Publishing and advertising are in an economic slump, that coincides almost exactly with Mr Bush's tenure.....

    I guess global warming is Bush's fault, too? It is nonsense to attempt to pin blame on Bush for an economic shift in factors of production that is historic in nature.

    Publishing and advertising are undergoing structural transition last seen when Gutenberg's press was invented. The Internet, and more specifically, the broadband Internet (which has reached critical mass during the last six years), eliminates the cost of distribution as an economic factor in media publishing and advertising. The fact that some businesses, including most of the historical advertising and publishing concerns, have not adjusted their business models has absolutely nothing to do with Bush or politics. For extended treatments of this subject, see Carlota Perez: Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital and Clayton Christensen: The Innovators Dilemna. For more concise observations in point of the facts of structural change in advertising business, I refer you to these:

    excerpt from Andy Kessler series of blog posts on Media 2.0 (money manager, investment banker & vc/hedge fund operator who also writes books (latest titled Running Money) and articles published by Forbes, Wired, LA Times, Am Spectator, Weekly Standard & WSJ)

    So what is a Media Mogul to do? They control pipes in a world of zero margin costs. It costs virtually zero to sell one more digital song, or run one more digital ad or post one more digital classified. As chips and bandwidth get cheap, digital distribution crumbles the quaint old days.

    * Craigslist took the classified ad business away from newspapers by doing it better for zero marginal cost. They charge for job listings in San Francisco and NY because, well because they have some bills that need to be paid. So classifieds were are huge profit center and are now,... , are worth almost nothing.

    * Music is must cheaper to distribute in digital form than truck deliveries to record stores. Copyright issues be damned, listeners preferred digital music to be carried around in devices the size of a deck of playing cards or a pack of Wrigleys Chewing gum. Morpheus, Kazaa, BearShare, LimeWire gave customers what they wanted. iTunes barely makes up for the record labels missing the beat. Music may not want to be free, but it sure wants to be distributed for free.

    * Voice calls via Skype, PC to PC, are free. They singlehandedly yanked down the price umbrella of overseas calls to 7 cents a minute. The telcos had to respond to free.

    * Newspaper and TV journalists had a long run as the trust voice of news. Now distributed bloggers can take turns scooping professionals. It's not only that distributed news gathering is cheaper, its the zero marginal cost of distribution. Post it to a blog, get picked up by other blogs and search engines. Bask in glory. Rinse. Repeat.

    In each of these examples, because of marginal costs approaching zero, it is increasingly a better business to provide technology to millions, even billions of folks rather than try to protect the control of a pipe to a few. The right answer is to GO WIDE. It's time to get horizontal. Newspapers should have licensed Craigslist's (or eBay's) technology years ago. Telcos should have embraced or emulated Skype. Drop CDs and distribute all your music (and everyone else's) online at a price that doesn't protect retail, but destroys it (which is happening anyway!).

    The time and the tools are ripe for this GO WIDE approach. Especially on the Web, which is nothing but layers and layers of functionality.

    Bill Gates

    This process will be hastened, he believes, as more and more television content moves online. "Internet TV and the move to the digital approach is quite revolutionary," he says. "TV has historically has been a broadcast medium with everybody picking from a very finite number of channels. If you want content that is a local sports thing or a hobby that you are interested in, that's not available to you. The use of the internet to deliver those video signals and the idea of seeing what you are interested in, and having the ads targeted to you, is becoming the standard way that video is delivered. Over the course of this next decade that will be very common."

    Internet advertising, aimed at niche audiences and more creatively ambitious, will provide a way round the increasing problem for advertisers of television viewers fast-forwarding through commercial breaks in shows that they have recorded. "It will be possible to target the ads and it will be important to have ads that the consumer doesn't skip over, incorporated in the right way."

    Om Malik Google... the OS for Advertising and The Web Money Machine - Beyond Adwords(author of Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist, writer for Red Herring, Business 2.0, Forbes, WSJ and now founder/executive editor for GigaOm.com)

    excerpts:

    Google’s core competency is to use technology in a manner that devalues and deflates4 traditional industries by extracting inefficiencies in existing processes. And the long-term strategic implications of this “Google effect” is much more disruptive than simple market realignment… rather, it’s an issue of rendering old core (human) competencies obsolete and replacing them with new ones reliant on automated, scalable technologies (much like what Wal-Mart did to retailing and what Craigslist is in the process of doing to classifieds). For instance, the only way for traditional media companies to leverage the core competencies they have today in order to compete with Google’s Ad/OS, in the long run, is to start breeding ad salespeople who will have the expertise and capability to sell across all media platforms. Sure, that’s feasible… when pigs can fly.

    The media industry is in the middle of a massive change, thanks to the ubiquitous presence of broadband everywhere. Fast pipes are enabling niche networks, venture capitalists are investing in new media properties. The online video market resembles an old fashioned bubble, and companies are sprouting up like mushrooms after a fresh monsoon. All of this is predicated on one business model: advertising. Google bet $1.65 billion in chips on YouTube, betting that it can profit from this shift to online video. Their confidence is understandable: Google now accounts for 25% of all online advertising dollars.

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  54. doug,

    re:...and Prosecutes Border Agents on False Testimony and enemy conspiracies.

    I believe its the same Andrew McCarthy whom you referenced early who differs with you on this subject

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  55. J Willie:
    "Nevertheless, those who obsess over illegal immigration need to understand: Humanity is a major issue here. Yes, we want the illegals gone; we want the smugglers and dopers prosecuted, jailed, and then gone. We want our dedicated agents to know we back them when they have to fire at the thugs who truly imperil them, and that we give them the benefit of the doubt their dangerous job demands. But shooting human beings on sight just because they happen to be suspects, or here illegally, is reprehensible. It is inhumane. It is against the principles of honorable law enforcement. It is un-American."

    Girly Man McCarthy can suck my cock.
    He's ALSO the one that said Fitzpatrick is a great stand up guy that he's worked with and can testify for.

    ...so McCarthy comes out as a prosecuter for law and disorder when what we need is good old fashioned LAW AND ORDER.
    IF we had shoot on sight at the border, the issue would be solved overnight, AND FEWER PEOPLE EACH YEAR WOULD DIE.
    ...ESPECIALLY INNOCENT CITIZENS OF THE USA at the hands of Bush's Mollycoddled Career Mexican Criminal Illegals.

    A lady that lives two miles from where the agents got busted says the jury was ANYTHING BUT impartial:
    She says the drug money and corruption in the area has resulted in MANY people with a vested interest in illegals, just as do Bush's Corrupt friends.
    Sutton promised Roger Hedgecock on air that the agents would be kept separate from the general prison population. (30% consisting of illegals from Mexico/points south)
    Three days later, Nacho was kicked and beaten severely by 5 illegals.
    Sutton has proved in many other ways to be a Bush Stooge.
    It is also a fact that there was collaboration between investigating agents family and family/friends of the professional drug smuggler.
    Andy Girl must be in favor of prosecuting Marines that shoot without a court order to, right?
    ---
    Excuse me of "OBSESSING" over Bush selling the country down the Rio Grand.

    More to the point:
    Fuck You, you criminal loving scum, supporter of corruption, Andrew McCarthy!

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  56. J. Willie,
    That's interesting stuff about Google, et al.
    Once again, Desert Rat was ahead of the curve by predicting what has happened in online video several years ago.
    ...as well as leading the pack with his own online video advertisements.

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  57. Where the fuck is the "humanity" in career criminals with sky high smuggling, human traficking, rape, pillage, and murder statistics, Andy?

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  58. Too damned many lawyers making life altering decisions today that leaders once made in this country.

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  59. Even a stopped clock can be right:
    "Are you worried about illegal immigration? Are you frustrated beyond words with the government’s failure to defend our borders? Me too. I find the notion of a mass amnesty (or, to be in vogue, “regularization”) for illegal-immigrants to be inane. I think the “comprehensive” way to deal with the millions of illegal aliens currently in our country is very simple: Enforce the law — against the aliens and those who hire them. Do that, and millions will leave, millions more won’t come, and what now seems like an insuperable problem will shrink to a manageable one. And if the Mexican government is making mayhem on the border, I’m all for reading it the riot act."
    ---
    Presidente Bush Manifestly has not done any of that, quite the opposite.

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  60. McCarthy concentrates on the inspector general’s report, and bad reporting on it.
    That does not change facts on the ground that have been established, and support the conclusion that Justice, Law, and Order, have not been well-served in the Backwaters of Bush's Beloved Texas.

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  61. Buddy Larsen early on gave personal examples of the corruption endemic to and accepted by Texans in that area.
    To them, it's the way things always have been, so what's the big deal if gang activity, smuggling, illegals, and etc go ballistic in LA and elsewhere throughout the country.

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  62. Doug,

    There might be a deal to be had with the Iranians after all. You buy their IEDs, and they secretly plant them on the Mexican border.

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  63. Both Fitzpatrick and Sutton spend their time and our money pursuing "obstruction of justice" and other petty process "crimes," while letting murder, rape, child-molestation, gang killings, drug running, terrorist covering, and etc run out-of-control.
    Just what we need to keep Presidente Bush on the side of US Citizens!

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  64. NOW you're talkin, Mat, my man!

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  65. Well doug, good of you to mention our Youtube work. Here is some of the latest.

    Newspaper classified ads are down, across the board. Craigslist and most of the online auction houses do not allow animals to be listed. The classified inches for animals are down, without online competetion.

    I can attest to the limited success of online advertising. We have had clients relate tales of getting business leads from Austrailia. The Bit their only advertising effort. Our print work is not exported to Austrailia, so the results must be due to the web.

    The Web will not effect the local feed & tack stores, though.
    Newspaper will return to localized messengers

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  66. Troops Sweep 3 Shiite Areas in Baghdad Push
    By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and DAMIEN CAVE 4:31 PM ET
    Thousands of American troops in armored Stryker vehicles swarmed through three mostly Shiite neighborhoods of northeastern Baghdad.

    Photographs: With the Troops

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  67. Right, Rufus:
    Prime Sugar Cane land.
    Been fueling refineries w/Bagasse since 1800's.

    Maui now has a very productive windfarm on a hill above Maalaea, a place where the wind almost never stops.

    Why do you ask?

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  68. Shouldn't be GROWING sugarcane, of course, since it is only the corrupt federal support that makes it "profitable."

    I'd like to see Alfalfa for Livestock for Japanese trade/Biofart co-generation.

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  69. Rat,
    On Maui, we have two local papers that do fine on advertising.
    I knew the one guy when son was growing up-going to functions with them.
    Left winger, but good businessman.
    (even lefty Jews are good at business, as most of us are well aware!)

    Then there's the MauiNews:
    Not sure if it's run on Sugar Money, or what.
    Union, I think.

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  70. Ha! Thanks, Doug.
    But I just got to warn you, I bite.

    :)

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  71. Now tell me, rufus, why supporting any of the Move0On Republicans serves either my or the National best interest?

    "... In a canny move, the Democrats had given a portion of their allotted time to the Republicans who oppose Bush's introduction of more than 20,000 additional combat troops to the Iraqi theater of war. During this portion of the debate on Wednesday, ten Republican congressmen came to the floor to join Rep. Jones in support of Resolution 63. And if you had closed your eyes while listening to them speak, you would have found their rhetoric to be indistinguishable from that of the antiwar Democrats.

    "Vote for this resolution," said GOP Rep. Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland, "and we can move on to end the violence, the sectarian chaos, the foolish, bitter electronic exchanges between countries." "Let's pass this resolution," said Rep. Jones. "Let's work with this president to find an endpoint to this strategy." Rep.

    Jim Ramstad of Minnesota said that when he cast his vote to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein in 2002, he never meant it to authorize an escalation of the war in 2007. Rep. Phil English of Pennsylvania said he'll vote for Resolution 63 because it may force the administration to adopt the recommended strategy of the Iraq Study Group.

    And Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina said the conflict in Iraq was an Iraqi, not an American, problem. "The Iraqi people were given a choice between freedom and civil war," Coble said. "Unfortunately, the chose the latter. They rejected freedom and chose civil war. And the longer we maintain a presence there, the more they will rely on us. The time has come, in my opinion, for the baton to be handed to the Iraqis."


    That's from the Weekly Standard

    bastion of liberal group think reporting.

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  72. Doug,

    I am as opposed to illegal immigration as you are and agree that Bush has absolutely failed to protect our country in that regard. Prior to reading McCarthy's column/article, I would have agreed 100% with you about those Border Patrol agents. I don't know much about McCarthy, but based on National Review standing its ground on illegal immigration (vs Weekly Standard not giving a shit about it), I assumed McCarthy's report was legit and it made me think twice about just assuming those guys were innocent. I have not dug into the details whatsoever, so I don't know. You appear much more well informed regarding McCarthy.

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  73. DR,

    the limited success of online advertising?

    Google's market cap is $145 billion; Kleiner Perkins probably doesn't think of their investment in Google as a limited success.

    Total advertising dollars spent online in 2006 -> $16 billion
    Total advertising dollars spent online in 2001 -> $7 billion
    Compound annual growth rate -> 18%

    Newspaper industry -> 350+ years old
    Internet/WWW accessible via browser -> 13 years

    Total Internet Ad Spend/Household in 2006 - $217
    Total Newspaper Ad Spend/Household in 2006 - $980

    Newspapers - cost-per-thousand (and how many different ways is that gamed)
    versus
    Internet - cost-per-click-thru-to-purchase (not game-able).

    Revenue from Internet video advertising to date = virtually zero, yet 60% of ALL Internet traffic today is P2P file sharing of audio/video; clearly demand exists and it will be monetized. Google/YouTube points the way. You don't think that local advertisers would pay to sponsor the filming and publishing (via Internet of course) of a local high school football game? Damn sure would here in Atlanta.

    Finally, Editor and Publisher does not share your sanguine view regarding the newspaper industry, and wonders if the web can save them.


    Note: all figures other than age of newspaper/Internet and Google market cap (from Google, where else?) are from Morgan Stanley.

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  74. From victorycaucus.com:

    GIULIANI: The nonbinding resolution thing gets me more than are you for it or against it. I have tremendous respect for the people who feel that we either made a mistake going to war, who voted against the war, who now have come to the conclusion, changed their minds, they have every right to that, that it’s wrong, you should, in a dynamic situation, keep questioning. What I don’t like is the idea of a nonbinding resolution.


    KING: Because?

    GIULIANI: Because there’s no decision.

    KING: But it’s a statement.

    GIULIANI: Yes, but that’s what you do. That’s what Tim Russert does and that’s what Rush Limbaugh does. That’s what you guys do, you make comments. We pay them to make decisions, not just to make comments. We pay them to decide.

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