Friday, May 08, 2009

Good News Friday

Wow, finally! Some good news. It seems that the playing board has been cleared and now, drum roll please...The games can begin:

GENEVA – The U.N. refugee agency says half a million people have fled fighting in northwestern Pakistan in the past few days, bringing the total displaced in recent months to 1 million.

A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says the fighting has led to massive displacement in the area.

Ron Redmond says up to 200,000 people have arrived in safe areas in the past few days and that another 300,000 are on the move or are about to flee.

Redmond told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the numbers are in addition to 555,000 already counted by the U.N. since August.
I'll have to check my COIN manual but I think that since this is Paki military operating within its own borders, no COIN operations are needed.

Also, that Secretary Clinton...she kicks Paki butt two weeks ago and now they're going after the bad guys with a vengenance. No one listened to George Bush but now that he's out the way, we'll see some real progress from the progressives.

More Good News?
US denies report that 147 died in Afghan violence

KABUL – The U.S. military said Friday that reports that as many as 147 civilians died in fighting involving American forces and the Taliban were "extremely over-exaggerated," and said the investigators were still analyzing the data collected at the site.

Officials said preliminary findings of the joint U.S.-Afghan investigation into the deaths in the villages of Ganjabad and Gerani in the western Farah province could be released as early as Friday but have yet to schedule an announcement.

A local official said that he collected from residents the names of 147 people killed during fighting on Monday night and Tuesday. If true, it would be the deadliest case of civilian casualties in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban regime.

But the U.S. military described that toll from the fighting as over the top.

"The investigators and the folks on the ground think that those numbers are extremely over-exaggerated," U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias said. "We are definitely nowhere near those estimates."
That should settle that.


176 comments:

  1. It's Friday, and that means I'm going to have to chloroform my son when he gets home from school.


    Safe and effective and it might even be legal, this being South America and all.

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  2. How 'bout that PakMil, hmmm?

    I say if they pull this one off we give the entire team vouchers for a weekend in Vegas. Chaperoned by the defense attaches in Islamabad. You guys rock.

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  3. No adventure in cholroform, trish, better to just give him the keys to the black Suburban.

    That way he'll feel like he is a prominent personage, too.

    Rather than a wannabe Ranger with an over bearing mother.
    You may be lucky, though, I don't think the French Foreign Legion is looking for recruits, in Colombia.

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  4. Soft power, fellas.

    Team Obama is on a roll, first they get the Turks step up to assist in Lebanon.

    Then they convince the Russians to withdraw their combat forves from Georgia, keaving behind a constabulary force of border guards, instead. Less than a 1,000 Russian constabulary, at that.

    Now soft power has another confirmed hat trick, the Paki Army is on the march.

    Billery has shown Condi how to get shit done, no doubt of that.

    And in 100 days, too.

    What an improvement in performance!

    On every front, so far.

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  5. Team Obama has America back on track!!!

    Team America is back!!!

    We've finally gotten the second string off the field. Put the first string back in the Game.

    The collective reasoning of the people of the United States really does know best.
    Taste that pudding Billery baked.

    Better than Condi's cookies, fer sur.

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  6. ...according to Wretchard the result will be a pro-syria regime in Lebanon instead of pro-freedom.

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  7. ...and the release of the assasins.

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  8. Hurray for Hezbolah!
    Hurray for HBO!

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  9. Few headlines, but real progress.

    No drama Obama scores, again.

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  10. Good morning, rodent.

    And what a beautiful morning, too. Partly sunny and calm and in the sixties. Granted, it'll be threatening to rain by lunch, but for now I savor the sunshine - that of the city and your own far-reaching Muridae radiance. I am doubly blessed.

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  11. Wretchard is wrong.
    As he has been, consistently, over the past 6 years.

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  12. (not of the past 6 years, but Lebanon, Syria, and Ollie's evidence in Iraq)

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  13. Is Rat Radiance a sellable commodity, Trish?

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  14. First time I ever felt sorry for 'Rat.

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  15. Rat's Radience will be reborn in the form of a Baby Anaconda.

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  16. That was a water rat, but that's but a minor detail, doug.

    Quite well edited, that clip.

    Evidence?

    We don't need no stinkin' evidence, doug.

    We got feelings!

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  17. I don't know if my prediction of 0.5% growth in the second quarter will come to pass, but it's going to be close. The "Household" survey was actually UP about 100,000 this morning.

    About 3/4 of a million people "entered" the work force in April.

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  18. ...a clutch of Baby Anacondas!
    The Radience, multiplied.

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  19. I feel sorrow for the former Rat,
    jubilation for the spawned Radiance.
    ...continued scepticism about Ruf's predictions.

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  20. heh, whatever is going on in Pakistan I'd venture has precious little to do with a talking to by Billary.

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  21. I've got to go, for bit, but will provide a theme for Team obama's actions.

    While Team43 ignored the positions of the electorate of these foreign lands, while Team Obama is working to modify those positions. Using precedents that have worked, historically, as their template.

    They are taking the first steps, whether it really works, it may be too late, the US may have wasted its opportunity, with the play of Team43, but maybe, just maybe, Team Obama can pull off a comeback.

    Put your rally caps on!

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  22. The Racing World has Don Gartlis.
    We got Rufus, our very own Swamp Rat.

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  23. Salable commodity? I'd say so.

    And an extremely precious one, at that.

    We few, we lucky few, get it gratis.

    I've broken out the lawn chairs and ice chest. Might even dig out the cheap swimsuit I bought on an unpleasant weekend in the jungle.

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  24. I could send two coconut shells for the upper, Trish.

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  25. Dr. Pepper, the friendly Pepper Upper, was spawned in Plano Texas!

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  26. Um, how thoughtful.

    I think I saw that on an episode of Gilligan's Island.

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  27. Going so far unnoticed on the good news Friday is Obumble saving 17 billions or so in 'budget cuts'!

    hooray

    This includes the closing of any possibility of using Yucca Mountain.

    So there goes any further development of the nuclear industry in the near term.

    Coal too is on the shit list.

    Xena's natural gas better come in big time.

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  28. Burn that invaluble, finite gas, liberals, Heaven can wait for Coal, Nukular, Shale, Offshore, etc.

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  29. "Let's get this out of the way Kate"
    -
    ...for the next half hour.

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  30. Who is "Kate" btw?
    'Rat should know,
    he moniters the pop culture scene for the likes of al-Bob and me.

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  31. Damn Doug, that Kate clip makes me want to blow my brains out.

    I might as well just start watching the Young and the Restless with the wife.

    "Noon Wine" is another great story by Katherine Anne Porter. She's a heck of a writer.

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  32. Who is "Kate" btw?That's exactly what I just asked my wife.

    She was grumpy and didn't answer.

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  33. ...Mark Twain would wax eloquent.

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  34. Good news this Friday--recession's over.

    US jobless rate hits 25 year high.

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs in April, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy's steep decline may be easing.

    However, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate soared to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983, from 8.5 percent in March. Payrolls figures for March and February were revised to show job losses were 66,000 more than previously reported.

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  35. Kate Gosselin, of Jon and Kate Plus Eight, a reality show that features daily life of the husband and wife and their eight children - a set of twin girls and sextuplets, three of each flavor.

    Kate plays obsessive-compulsive drill sergeant and Jon plays beleaguered companion.

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  36. My wife is never Grumpy,
    Always answers.

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  37. In this instance, Jon played the beleaguered stud in need of some strange pussy.

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  38. Pain has it's rewards, al-Bob.
    ...but then,
    you knew that.

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  39. My wife is never Grumpy,
    Always answers.
    You got it good, must be the climate.

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  40. Remember, Bob, the "Payrolls" report doesn't cover small start-ups, etc. That's where your "New" jobs come from.

    We, actually, have 100,000 more people working than we did a month, ago.

    We're not out of the woods, yet; but we're heading in the right direction.

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  41. "However, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate soared to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983..."

    1983 was a good year, though. With some exceptions. Beirut, for instance.

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  42. I want a show about the daily life of Octomom.

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  43. Who is "we" white man?
    I got one losing N..... of a POTUS.

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  44. I'm down more on Obumble than usual today. He's nixed Yucca, the moron.

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  45. We're like that little boy lost in the woods, but without the Sheriff's Department and Search and Rescue to help out.

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  46. I feel for Jon.

    Apparently Jon feels for Jon as well.

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  47. Maybe there is hope. Headline says--

    "Obama vows to retrain"

    Send that man back to school

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  48. You remind me, Trish:
    Wife attended CPR class that included a Beirut Survivor
    (who then became a NY Cop until he lost his firefighter brother in the WTC)
    Says Frank picked her up like a feather.
    I said:
    "Doing the Heimlich?"
    She said:
    (I don't remember what he was doing!)
    ...anyhoo, the dirty little secret from the class was that Paris Hilton OD'ed at the Hilton-owned Grand Wailea, and became a CPR Demo Volunteer.

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  49. You'd have to have a heart of ice not to feel for Jon.

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  50. '83 featured those glorius 15% yields on savings, for those of us who had not yet blown our savings like good Americans.

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  51. What if I don't have a heart of ice, but don't know Jon from Shinola?

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  52. anyhoo, the dirty little secret from the class was that Paris Hilton OD'ed at the Hilton-owned Grand Wailea, and became a CPR Demo Volunteer.heheheh--ah, jeeze

    Shower time for me, been up all night reading Katherine Anne Porter, highly recommended.

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  53. Then spread your compassion around, like a good fellow.

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  54. Pretty Rude, al-Bob:
    Everyone knows you want to wash off the Sleaze of al-Doug.

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  55. Long as you know your shit from your granola you ought to be alright.

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  56. I thot I'd get a Shakespear quote, as a minimum.

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  57. I knew William,
    and you're no William.

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  58. (William being al-Doug's son)

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  59. One of the all-time great scenes is The Jerk's black foster father teaching him the difference between Shit and Shinola.

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  60. "The 'ola' suffix is popular in the USA as part of trade names, e.g. Crayola, Granola etc. This leads to the pronunciation of Shinola as shine + ola. That spoils the alliteration a little as it would work better as shin + ola.

    This phrase is typical of the barrack room vulgarity of WWII,
    which is where it originated.

    Other "doesn't know" phrases, also mostly from the military are, "doesn't know his arse from a hole in the ground" (or elbow, or a hot rock, or third base), "doesn't know enough to pee downwind", "doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his ass". The tone is lifted a little by the English conductor Sir Henry Wood who expressed a similar opinion with "he doesn't know his brass from his woodwind".
    "

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  61. "doesn't know whether to scratch his watch or wind his ass".
    ---
    Youthful fella that I am,
    I hadn't heard that.

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  62. Well. Good for Paris! And for CPR!









    1983 featured some deplorable, but personally entertaining, behavior on my part. Surpassed in 1984. I don't know how my parents survived but I now feel that I owe them a thank you note.

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  63. Ohhhhhhh, I'm picking out a thermos for you,

    Not an ordinary thermos for you...

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  64. Here you go, Doug:

    Ready For Primetime

    by John Cole

    Saw this on Fark during lunch and it made me laugh, so I thought I would share it:

    Vicious e-mails and personal attacks by Smithfield Township Supervisor Christine Griffin have been the source of friction on the township’s planning commission. Now she has been asked to step down from the commission.

    Long, rambling, sometimes incoherent messages have routinely been forwarded from Griffin to dozens of people both on and off the commission.

    “Don’t you dare waste my time with your (expletive) you lying cheating son of a (expletive), sneaky back door (expletive) nut (expletive) sucker.” Griffin wrote to one recipient.

    In another e-mail sent to multiple readers, Griffin wrote, —¦ all the banging in the bathroom didn’t tell you what I was made of, buddy?? no cement boots for me! Nice try though. a real drama rama! Reminder: I am the quintessential professional! decorum and common sense are my bylaws!”

    I gotta admit, with a number of years in a fraternity, decades playing team sports, and almost a decade in the Army, I though I was pretty well-versed in the art of all things profane, but “sneaky back door nut sucker” is a new one for me.

    Live and learn.

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  65. Doesn't quite have the flair of 'coat-holding rump-swab' but it's pretty zingy nevertheless.

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  66. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  67. Man o live, I'd missed out on Kate and her story.

    Lucky me.

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  68. ...Paris Hilton OD'ed at the Hilton-owned Grand Wailea, and became a CPR Demo Volunteer...

    Old Conrad takes another roll in his grave. Does anyone know the birthplace of Conrad Hilton?

    Anyone? Bueller?

    Conrad Hilton was born in San Antonio, New Mexico, a hard scrabble hamlet astraddle the Rio Grande just south of Socorro. San Antonio these days should be famous for the Owl Bar and Cafe where I discovered their green chile sauce last Saturday evening. I took home a quart wrapped in ice.

    You'd enjoy that country, Bob. The Trinity Site is accessed just a ways east of San Antonio. Continuing thataway you'll come to Roswell in an hour or two. Or, turning west at Socorro, you'll enjoy the Very Large Array antenna facility where they lurk and listen for signs of intelligence from outer space.

    I seriously doubt that Paris ever visited San Antonio. She doesn't know what she's missing.

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  69. I guess you could watch Hannity rail about Dijon mustard...

    ...which is worse, Hannity on Dijon or Kate and Jon? Of course, rumors of Paris Hilton happenings are the beeeessstest!!!

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  70. Pakistan confirms full-scale Swat attacksMINGORA, Pakistan, May 8 (UPI) -- The Pakistan military said it implemented a full-scale offensive in the Swat Valley Friday in an attempt to drive out Taliban militants.

    ...

    Abbas said nearly 4,000 militants estimated to be in the Swat Valley were fleeing the military offensive.

    ...

    "They are on the run and trying to block the exodus of innocent civilians by preventing their departure through coercion," the military spokesman said.

    ...

    Pakistan's English-language newspaper Dawn reported security forces in the Swat Valley have orders to eliminate any key Taliban leaders they find
    .

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  71. Al-Doug, be not lost so poorly in your thoughts, thou mewling rude-growing gudgeon, thou wimpled knotty-pated popinjay, thou foul defacer of God's handiwork.

    Thou appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.

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  72. Thou burly-boned ill-breeding varlot!

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  73. Draw thy tool. My naked weapon is out. Thou leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agatering, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish pouch!

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  74. Thou bawdy fen-sucked lewdster!

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  75. 70 percent or more of the American people want illegal immigratin stopped and we get This--
    --

    Same as Bush, only worse.

    The system don't work.

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  76. Talking about hunting, I'm hoping to hear the details when Linear makes his first kill with Flyshooter, The Original Bug Gun.

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  77. Sorry, that was in response to the upi article:

    "...orders to eliminate any major league asshole they find." Or words to that effect.

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  78. I'm thinking of putting in for some contolled hunt drawings this fall. Wolf. Antelope. Moose.

    Though I don't even have a pickup truck now. Would force me to get one.

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  79. Or to draw on the generosity of a friend with a pickup, offering a share of the proceeds in return.

    One moose is a lot of jerky, I'm thinking.

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  80. I'm hoping to hear the details when Linear makes his first kill with Flyshooter, The Original Bug Gun.

    Stay tuned. BBQ tonight with daughter. Bug Shooter to make its debut. Must remember baler twine.

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  81. Talked to DeathAn Afghan writer says that the idea of reaching out to the Taliban must be shelved.

    This approach has failed every time. Thus it is puzzling to many Afghans that President Obama has also been talking about negotiating with “moderates.” Let’s hope that when the two men met in Washington this week, along with President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, the idea of reaching out to the Islamic extremists was shelved once and for all.

    After all, President Karzai’s efforts have simply revealed the weakness of the Afghan government and its international allies. Taliban spokesman have repeatedly demanded unacceptable conditions for talks, including the departure of all foreign forces from Afghanistan and the establishment of Shariah law.

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  82. including the departure of all foreign forces from Afghanistan and the establishment of Shariah lawA daring opening negotiating position, to be sure.

    What's left to talk about?

    And who would be left to do the talking?

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  83. RAH said:

    54. RAH:


    I thank DWB for the friend’s perspective; though I am credulous and the statement that Israel could be wiped off is silly based on realistic military capabilities. That seems to be Arab pride speaking, your friend may be a Christian but he is a Lebanese and betrayed by all sides for 30 years in Lebanon. The Christians pacifistically supported Hezbolla in the Israel latest conflict. They allowed without resistance Hezbolla to set up rockets at their homes and then cried when Israeli return fire destroyed those homes. I do not blame them for being bitter about Israel but when a person allows himself to be used for evil intents then he has supported evil and is not innocent.

    No Christian should have allowed Hezbolla to use his property to instigate attacks against another unless he supports those attacks. That cowardice is the same as being part of Hezbolla.

    I have no mercy toward those whose homes are bombed that hold AQ in Pakistan or Afghanistan and others are killed. The children are unfortunate victims as children of terrorist supporters. Proper parents would get women and children out of a home being used for those purposes if they truly valued those children and women, I saw how easily Lebanese allowed themselves and their dead children to be used as propaganda and will not fall for that again.

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  84. D0ug said:

    "Pakistan confirms full-scale Swat attacksMINGORA,
    Pakistan, May 8 (UPI) -- The Pakistan military said it implemented a full-scale offensive in the Swat Valley Friday in an attempt to drive out Taliban militants.
    ...Abbas said nearly 4,000 militants estimated to be in the Swat Valley were fleeing the military offensive....

    "They are on the run and trying to block the exodus of innocent civilians by preventing their departure through coercion ,"
    the military spokesman said
    ---
    I would never charge the Taliban with such dastardly behavior, and place all blame on the gutless civilians for so eagerly sacrificing their offspring.

    ....Pakistan's English-language newspaper Dawn reported security forces in the Swat Valley have orders to eliminate any key Taliban leaders they find."

    ht, linear

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  85. I say if they pull this one off we give the entire team vouchers for a weekend in Vegas. Chaperoned by the defense attaches in Islamabad. You guys rock.

    Don't forget to comp them at Hooters, Trish.

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  86. No mention of Pakistan/Swat at Drudge just now. Strange.

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  87. Trish will be serving ObamaBurgers wearing Biden and Obama buttons as Pasties.

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  88. 64. Marie Claude:

    “They are in fact truly alone, with a world bent on wiping them out. The recent Krystallnacht in France, near one of France’s biggest Holocaust sites (deliberate) re-inforces that reality.”
    Hmmm can you elaborate to which event you’re referring to ?

    I can’t remember any recent event that look like a krystallnacht, plus near a big holocaust site ?

    Don’t tell me you’rereferring to the worn out pics of cars burnings, or ?

    May 8, 2009 - 3:39 pm

    65. Doug:

    From what I understand, Peugeots Spontaneously Combust.
    …another feature, not a Beetle.

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  89. They got a William's Chief down there, linear!

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  90. "If you live in an area adjacent to an evacuation area, we encourage you to get ready to leave now," Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said in a news conference this morning at the fire command center.

    "In my small, short tenure as chief I never thought I would be using cliched lines, but last night all hell broke loose," said acting Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Andrew DiMizio.

    At least 75 homes have been destroyed since the fire began Tuesday, but that figure does not include those burned down today. The fire was 10% contained.

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  91. The upside is, they'll leave nothing but Ashes for the Reconquistas to acquire.

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  92. Senior moment, Doug.

    Drawing a blank on William's Chief.

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  93. Dont't laugh---Spontaneous Automotive Combustion--happened to me once, with my 1978 Reliant Station Wagon.

    Reliant, count on it.

    Made a hell of a blaze, gas tank blew up, tires aflame, ammo popping, my rifle melted, still have that as a keepsake, black smoke pouring over the highway.

    Fun!

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  94. I was lucky. Ex-Wife got the Reliant in the property shakeout. I kept the '65 F-100. Got the better of the deal for once.

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  95. Obastard's Budget Kills Border Fence Extension--
    --

    Well, of course. I'm planning my 4th of July Tea Party now. All I can do.

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  96. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  97. Just between you and me, Reliants were pieces of shit. I was glad to see it burn, except for the rifle.

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  98. Off to do errands, pick up some beer, and attend the BBQ. Bugs beware!

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  99. Rat praises Obama, as the illegals move in next door to his house.

    All praise to King Obama, he's defanged the Norks, and the Iranians too. Not even Bush could do that.

    And he's stopped piracy in it tracks.

    I feel so much safer now.

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  100. Team Obama supports the democrats, in Pakistan, and lo' and behold, the Paki Army moves out.

    Sends a series of high level Diplomats, Generals and Dignitaries to Pakistan, then brings the leaders of AfPak to the White House, to lay down the Law.

    Working, it seems, all the contacts in Pakistan, even that opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif.

    Seems to have worked, for now.

    In Turkey, Team Obama has gained the assistance of the Turkish military to train the Lebanonese Army. It being the Turkish Army that guarentees Turkey a reasonably secular and moderate government. The Turkish model being the one the US should have been trying to emulate, in Iraq and beyond.

    Now, lesson learned, we are attempting the first incremental steps towards training the Lebanese Army to achieve that goal, in Lebanon.

    The Turks, a NATO ally, stepping up to take an active role, a leadership role, within the Region.

    That the demographics of Lebanon guarentee that the HB faction will be well represented in the Government, a given. The Civil War remedy somewhat disenfranchised the Shia, they have a disproportionatly smaller share of power than they would recieve in elections without quotas that guarentee minority reprsentation.

    The only local force that could effectivly challenge and balance HB, in Lebanon, the Army. As in Turkey.

    The UN peacekeeping forces, Romans and Franks, also our NATO partners. So an attack on the UN forces or on the Lebanese/Turkish Army in Lebanon, is an attack upon NATO, a call to arms easily made under Article 5, as the Turks already in the Lebanon, embedded with the Lebanonese Army.

    We are seeing the NATOization of Lebanon, back door, no drama by Obama. But even without fanfare, a strengthen security operation, bringing in the Turks as trainers and consultants, to the Lebanonese, rather than US or Blackwater.

    That we've started late, on the historically proven course, does not guarentee failure, but certainly does not guarentee success, either.

    But there is an easily decernable plan. Active coalition building amongst our core allies. They putting boots on the ground.

    In Georgia, another success. How much jawboning or leverage was used, is not known, but we're measuring performance, not motive or method.

    The Russians pulled their military out. They sent border guards in.
    While they are not stepping back, they are standing down.
    At least in Georgia.

    Where they already had been maintaining a Peacekeeping military contingent, previous to the invasion. Under an arrangement that the US had approved of, back in the Bush days.

    So the Russian presence, that is nothing new, but their miltary pulling back, is.

    Score another for Team Obama, king of low drama.

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  101. Good hunting, Linear!

    Don't fire till you see the whites of their many eyes!

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  102. Not appaulding Obama, per se, bob, but results.

    Aren't those what we are measuring?

    The migrants that live near my residence, bob, those are Republican Mexicans. They've not come recently, not on the current DHS Secretary's watch, but that of her predecessors, on Team43.

    If Obama legalizes their presence, it'll be a good step forward.
    If they can buy liability insurance, for the cars they drive, I'll cheer.

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  103. The fact that the Taliban was within 90 miles or whatever of the big city had nothing to do with the Pak response.

    It was all Hillary putting a little spine in them.

    Maybe they can push them back to where they were before.

    This will be read as a victory for Obama. Results that count.

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  104. Exactly right, bob

    Results count.

    We'd been down for so long, it looked like up, to some.

    Well, in regards who gets the credit, same guys that would have gotten the blame. Team Obama.

    Team Obama logged the miles, made the meetings, did what had to be done, on our side, to get the Pakis to move, and to assure our Generals that their nukes are secure.

    Which is good on Team Obama, fer sur.

    Hope it works out well, for Pakistan's civilian government.

    One that represents the people of Pakistan, those that Team43 abandoned to a tinpot dictator and the ISI.
    A General-President.
    Oxi-moronic.

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  105. ...according to Wretchard the result will be a pro-syria regime in Lebanon instead of pro-freedom.

    rat says:
    "Wretchard is wrong.
    As he has been, consistently, over the past 6 years."

    ThreatsWatch says"Lebanon continues to slide into the hands of Hizballah, Syria and Iran. After the recent release of suspects of Rafik Hariri's 2005 assassination, four in Hizballah-controlled south arrested for 'spying for Israel.' The Cedar Revolution is dying, enemies emboldened."

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  106. Glad to know Hillary has secured the nukes. Maybe she brought them home with her, in her purse.

    I'll sleep better tonight.

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  107. And Team Obama, representing the US, has called upon our NATO ally, Turkey, to help rebalance the Lebanese see-saw.

    They've acted quickly, in under 100 days, working with a country that had been so ill disposed to US, that they refused the 4th ID landing and transit rights.

    So, in under a score of days the US has moved the Turkish Army into a key leadership role in the Region.

    In an effort to arrest that slide that occurred on Team43's tenure and is their legacy. As I said, the US is behind the curve, many wasted years under a poor front office.

    There is no arguement that the enemy was ascendent, in Lebanon, under the previous Administrations policies.

    New management has come, bringing a different line up of players. The series is not over, put on your rally caps.

    Team America is back in the game!

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  108. There is no arguing that the US is behind.

    The is no arguing who led US there.

    The challenge is to see if the new Team manager and his staff has a clue.

    They seem to. Going for base hits, trying to start a rally.

    If you do not trust the judgement of Admiral Mullen, bob, who's judgement do you trust, in regards security?

    The empty voices on C2C?

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  109. Capt' America on the march!

    Li'l Kim shaking in his booties, Iran collapsing.

    NATO floods Afghanistan with troops.

    Paks push Taliban from outskirts of big city.

    Virtually worthless fence being built on southern border.

    Illegals to be welcomed with open arms.

    Israel prepares to go it alone. As Gaza is flooded with American relief money.

    Capt' America on the march!

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  110. Don't forget to comp them at Hooters, Trish.

    Fri May 08, 05:31:00 PM EDT

    Was that an action plan, or what?

    We have to get more of those out there. As it is our relative good fortune is being upheld by precisely two t-shirts in the CENTCOM realm.

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  111. C2C often seems sane, to what I sometimes read in the papers these days.

    Alien intervention to save world!

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  112. Imagine the possibilities were it three. Or four.

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  113. It is kind of nice to see the intelligence agencies twist Pelosi's panties a little. She was practically the first one in Congress to be briefed on waterboarding.

    I never knew a thing, she says.

    heh

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  114. America, bob, love it or leave it.

    My girl's boy friend says they pay folk to move to Sweden.

    You can go home, again.

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  115. But then the Federals were giving land away, back when the Swedes were migrating, to the US.

    Fair is fair, I guess.

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  116. The illegals are already here, bob, they've been welcomed, already.

    I'd just like to see them held to the Standard the rest of US Americans are.

    Insure their cars, or go to jail.

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  117. Where is the covert war against Iran, the one that Mr Bush laid our hopes upon, to stop the Iranian enrichment program?

    The one that was pointed to, when some Iranian aircraft or another went down.
    Thusly credited, at the time, to our cleverness, not Iran's poor maintaince schedules.

    But then, nothing followed, while the centrifuges continued to spin.

    A little late now, to start localized insurrections across the remaing rump of the Persian Empire

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  118. NATO in Afghanistan never made sense for Europeons, bob.
    They have no history there.
    No precedent for action.

    But the Levant, for Rome and the Franks, let's admit the obvious.
    Turkey, too.

    They all see a seat for themselves at that cedar pine table.

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  119. We need to light that waterboarding up, bob, out of the shadows, into the glare of the klieg lights...

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  120. The Ottoman will not allow the next set of green houses to be destroyed.

    The solution is crystal clear.

    Suitable for nuts.

    Just like at Bastone.

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  121. bob gets his wish, NATO in Israel.

    But not Israel in NATO.

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  122. "It is kind of nice to see the intelligence agencies twist Pelosi's panties a little."

    It's not the agencies so much as her, and others, fellow Democrats who are doing the twisting. From the other end.

    How ironic.

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  123. and rat believes willy wonka and the chocolate factory is based on a true story
    "Obama's elaborate state visit to Turkey under the benighted assumption that Turkey's old role as the quintessential modernizing state of the Third World — a cliché which no one has believed since World War II — has resulted in no settlement with Ankara"

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  124. Back to the future.
    In the Levant

    As the whirled comes together and implements the SOP for Conflict Resolution

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  125. That article does illustrate the poor shape that previous policies have left US in.

    Obama has a regional program that may work, It may not. The Team43 program was a failure, by your current position.

    What alternative startegy do you propose, for US, in Lebanon?

    The Obama Strategy leads to an eventual Internationalization of Security in the region and an imposed settlement.
    At least the attempt.

    The SOP of Conflict Resolution.

    Using NATO contingents to do the policing. Mostly Turks.

    Israel, Palistine, Lebanon, parts of Syria and Jordon.

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  126. Why I was asking, earlier, where's Rev Wright's theology on Armeggedon?

    Can the second coming be induced by human actions, according to Rev Wright's preachings?

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  127. The musing, in the piece, with regard Turley are [artially correct. Turkey is playing each side, as our agent, now.

    But they do want a confrontation with Iran.
    They are going to secure and expand their southwestern flank, along the Med.
    Not fight over Kurdistan.

    Which is in the greater US interest.
    Which is the free flow of oil, to lubricate the whirled economy.

    The keystone to the strategy is that Turkey will remain more moderate than not. We'll see.

    Get that rally cap on!!!

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  128. As to Turkey's position on Georgia. Same as the US President's, low drama.

    The Russians withdrew their combat strength. Back to the previous status que, with little further loss of life. Soft power success.

    The military option closed on D-Day once the Russians passed the choke points, in that valley and at the tunnel. When death did not come from above, there, Russian success was guarenteed.

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  129. Reestablish the benefits, to the West, of the Ottoman Administration, of the Levant.

    Through NATO and the Turkish Army the secular stalwart of the Islamic Arc.

    When the Turks see something in it, for them, they'll play.
    They've shed blood standing shoulder to shoulder with US, before. When it was in their interest.

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  130. Alinsky... you magnificent bastard, I read your book!

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  131. The Episcopal Church Is As Good As Dead--
    --

    100 semianry students led by some nitwit named Ragsdale.

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  132. Alinsky... you magnificent bastard, I read your book!And no book club in which to make a report.

    So, how was it?

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  133. Book club meets on May 14th.

    Probably without me.

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  134. Send 'em a memo, tell 'em to read Pale Horse, Pale Rider, and to forget Alinsky.

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  135. "Send 'em a memo..."

    Sincerely, Bob, four words never sounded so kind.

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  136. More Friday good news--

    Obumble has Fannie back on the track--

    Fannie Loses $23 Billion, Prompting Even Bigger Bailout

    Chance of Repaying Taxpayers Is Slim

    Fannie Mae is to get an additional $19 billion to stay solvent.



    By Zachary A. Goldfarb
    Washington Post Staff Writer
    Saturday, May 9, 2009

    Fannie Mae reported yesterday that it lost $23.2 billion in the first three months of the year as mortgage defaults increasingly spread from risky loans to the far-larger portfolio of loans to borrowers who have been considered safe.

    The massive loss prompts a $19 billion investment from the government to keep the firm solvent, on top of a $15 billion investment of taxpayer money earlier this year.

    The sobering earnings report was a reminder of the far-reaching implications of the government's takeover in September of Fannie Mae and the smaller Freddie Mac. Losses have proved unrelenting; the firms' appetite for tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer aid hasn't subsided; and taxpayer money invested in the companies, analysts said, is probably lost forever because the prospects for repayment are slim.


    And with that good news, it's off to the dormatorio, led away by Mr. Morpheus, god of dreams and silent breathing, and the sweet sweet heaven of rest.

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  137. Glad to be of help.

    May I say, Goodnight, Trish?

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  138. Was that an action plan, or what?

    Aye. Short and to the point. No elements of a clear op order overlooked, right down to c & c.

    Forget the rally caps...Hooters Tees all the way!

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  139. Hunting season was short, Bob. It took me a while to find her new place, and by then the daylight was fading. But, we knocked 'em dead. Fifteen feet of premium grade Nebraska baler twine more than tripled the range of the Mark I version Bug Shooter. Dead and wounded mosquitoes littered the battlefield.

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  140. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Rat.

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  141. Well. I'm not ashamed, but thoughly entertained.

    The scenario by which all the fears of the "Friends of Israel" come true.

    How else could Obama "screw" Israel, but love it to death?

    The SOP of Conflict Resolution sets the stage. It is the way forward, the Whirled Standard.

    Where does Black Liberation Theology stand on Armeggedon, anyway?

    God Bless America!

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  143. $35 billion to shore up the US housing market through Fredie and Fraudie, peanut dough.

    Just around a third of the current Emergency War Appropriation for Iraq and AfPak.

    That money is gone, with never a hint of "repayment".

    The money spent on the Fraudsters has not been "massive", not nearly the costs of liberating housing in Iraq, for the Shia Muslims, in 2003, and the subsequent "investment" in Iraqi infrastructure.

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  144. George C Scott, as Patton, bob.

    Thought he was fighting Rommel.

    Rommel's book

    Infantry Attacks (in German: Infanterie greift an) is a classic book on military tactics written by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel about his experiences in World War I. In it were his Stoßtruppen (shock troops) tactics. It was published in 1937...
    It is still reprinted from time to time
    .

    A tale of tactics, bob.
    Which can be employeed at will, by any commander.
    As is Alinsky's Rules for Radicals.

    The Rules apply for reactionaries, too.

    Which can easily be deployeed, even in a Bar fight, which trish finds just shameful.

    Like bringing a gun to knife fight.

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  145. The Superior Man always seeks an unfair advantage.

    Hare al-Doug
    PBUD

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  146. Where does Black Liberation Theology stand on Armeggedon, anyway?
    God Damn America!

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  147. "Rules for Radicals" breaks no new ground, not if one is a student of the "Five Rings" and "Art of War".

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  148. Which makes the Internationalization scenario all the more likely, doug.

    ReplyDelete
  149. ...like Chrysler, and Govt Motors.

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  150. Wouldn't you really rather have a Fiat?

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  151. ""It's a players' league. They allow you to coach them or they don't,"

    Daly once said.

    "Once they stop allowing you to coach, you're on your way out."
    "

    Jerry West Shudders.

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  152. Jerry Alan West was born into a poor household in Cheylan, West Virginia.[1]

    His main distraction was shooting at a basketball hoop which a neighbor had nailed to his storage shack. West spent many years shooting from every possible angle, ignoring the mud of the shoddy backyard, his mother's lashes whenever he came late for dinner, and playing with gloves when the court was covered with snow.[1]

    West attended East Bank, West Virginia, High School from 1952–56. During his first year, he was mostly benched by his coach Duke Shaver due to his lack of height; however, Shaver emphasized the importance of conditioning and defense, lessons which the teenager appreciated.[2] Soon, West became the captain of the freshman team; and during the summer of 1953, he grew to 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m), a very welcomed growth spurt.[1]

    West's son, Jonnie, is currently a redshirted-freshman for the West Virginia Mountaineers basketball squad.

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  153. West and Paisley.
    W Va Legends in their own time.

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  154. This comment has been removed by the author.

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