Christianity

A devout religious person goes shopping

as the world slowly goes mad.

Adding to the list of countries in deep doo doo, count Israel.
In Israel, recession problems boil over into looting

Looks like the deal there is similar to here and many other countries,
greedy bankers, greedy middlemen, greedy merchants, greedy greedy greedy.

Maybe instead of race or nationalities,
we should just distinguish between the greedy,
and whoever is left.

and forget about religion because if anyone really believed that stuff,
they'd be home praying.

Stay tuned for the next world war.

Stairway through the fairy forest

Ancient Mesopotamian ruins?

Nope,
it's the seement pond!

The seement pond gets a do-over

This pool was left un-used for years and had become a scaley, peeling hole in the ground with a slimey green mosquito farm in the bottom of it.
But it's making a comeback, starting with the chipping out of the old plaster.
5 guys with jackhammers, buckets and wheelbarrels took it off and hauled it away, busting their butts for a day and a half.
Yay, glad it's done!

General Blowhard speaks......

This just in from the er um ahhhhh
"Middle East Times" (here)
never heard of this one, bet it comes from Alexandria Virginia

General: Drug cartels linked to terrorism

Published: March 09, 2009

BALTIMORE, March 9 (UPI) -- The head of the U.S. National Guard Bureau said the link between terrorism and drug cartels along the United States' border with Mexico is increasingly clear.

Really? Is that right? I don't see it.

Gen. Craig McKinley, chief of the National Guard Bureau, called the National Guard critical in helping protect the United States in the event of a terrorist attack and the growing threat of violent drug cartels operating along the Southwestern border with Mexico, the bureau reported.

McKinley, who addressed the National Guard's 2009 Domestic Operations Workshop, said the drug cartels in Latin America are clearly connected to organized criminal groups who support and funnel money

to terrorist organizations.

Really? Is that Right? I don't see it

"The Southwest border is one of the most critical areas in the nation right now," McKinley said, according to the bureau.

"The nature of the drug cartels along the Southwest border is becoming increasingly menacing, and the linkages between drug cartels through organized crime back to terrorist organizations cannot be disputed."

Really?

This blowhard keeps using phrases like "increasingly clear" "clearly connected"

"cannot be disputed" without offering a shred of evidence to support his statements.

And of course I don't believe him because I know that gangsters are in it for themselves and wouldn't touch an idealistic cause with a ten foot pole.

But hey, what the fuck, lets toss another trillion dollars into the rathole just to support our military industial complex.

What a trillion dollars looks like....(here)

Shop with a view

In the big concrete box we used to have our shop in,
I'd have to walk out to the parking lot and look over more concrete boxes across the street if I wanted to see a very obscured sunset.
Here at the ranch, I just have to look out the door.

If goats could fly?

This little boy loves flying.
He loves being up on the rocks, jumping and dancing around.
Happy in his goatskin.

Who killed Paula Loyd?

Last November, HTT Anthropologist Paula Loyd was attacked by an alleged Taliban member while conducting interviews with locals in Maywand Afghanistan.
She was doused with gasoline and set aflame. (here)
She passed away from the injuries in January
The perpetrator was apprehended and then shot dead by one of Loyd's associates.
For those not familiar with HTT, it is a program instituted by the US military for the purpose of understanding local culture.

When I first learned of this incident, there were many puzzling questions.
Why did she put herself in the position of being attacked in the first place?
A person of her background surely would know the risks involved with a woman speaking openly in public with local Islamic residents, particularly men.
Was she properly attired?
Did she have an escort?
Most of the accounts I've read put her with a second person, but it is not clear if the other was an armed escort, an interpreter or if that person was even nearby.
The shooter is identified by name and as an associate, but was away from the scene "chatting" with some US soldiers.
It seemed from first accounts that she was blatantly ignoring the risks and brought it on herself, which can't be discounted but yet it's hard to draw firm conclusions from a scenario such as this without more information.
Further reading on the subject reveals animosity between US military and the social scientists involved in the program.
The HTT members are apparently viewed with disdain by the soldiers. (here)

The shooter Don Ayala went to trial in February and plead guilty to the charge of manslaughter. (here)

I'd like to see the transcripts from the trial , the testimony of the witnesses, because the scenario doesn't quite fit. Where was her escort, the shooter? Did anyone else actually witness the attack?
The shooter said that he apprehended the attacker when the attacker ran directly towards them from the scene of the crime, but was he sure about the id? Did the shooter witness the attack?
Because Ayala plead guilty, I don't suppose any witnesses were called.
Questions about this incident need to be raised because of recent events in Afghanistan regarding other HTT people.
Death threats have been made against another female HTT member, Marilyn Dudley-Flores, and in the course of the investigation, some pretty disturbing events have come to light.
He's a quote from the story....
Sources allege that through the months of November and December 2008, Flores‐Dudley and other HTT female members were deliberately put in harm’s way by Milan Sturgis — a former HTT leader ‐‐ who sent Flores‐Dudley and female HTT members in known hot areas (like Qarabagh) where the Taliban was active, and, in one instance, knowingly had them wait for seven hours on a remote airstrip for a airlift back to Bagram, AB.
and another......
Further, the active duty lieutenant charged with protecting Dudley‐Flores and female teammates acted with discredit by fleeing and not covering Dudley‐Flores when she was fired upon (fire incident) and; in another incident, leaving his sidearm and other arms in a Humvee while a female HTT member was inside a structure interviewing Afghans who, it was later found out, were Taliban seeking intelligence.

Makes me wonder if Milan Sturgis was Paula's team leader as well.

Death Threat Tarnishes US Army Human Terrain System( here)

The facts as stated in the various publications conflict, such as where the attack occurred and where Ayala was at the time. Maybe that will eventually get cleared up.

Chalmers Johnson

I don't read the San Diego Union anymore and might have missed this except that it made the daily newsroll on Informationclearinghouse today. It's an interview of sorts with Chalmers Johnson, one of our own local wise men. I think he's right on the money with his thoughts.
Here's quote from it..........

“If we cannot cut back our long-standing, ever increasing military spending in a major way, then the bankruptcy of the United States is inevitable. As the current Wall Street meltdown has demonstrated, that is no longer an abstract possibility but a growing likelihood. We do not have much time left.” The Johnsons, it's fair to note, are unencumbered by children or stocks, two common articles of faith in the country's prosperity. Johnson's UC pension is secure. He can afford to cast a cold eye on the future.

“It's possible that it's over – and there's nothing to be done,” he told me with a ghost of a smile.

We're the national equivalent of a zombie bank. A dead country walking. And we might not even know it"

You can read the rest (here).

No snow on the ground here

Just goats, dogs, cats,scorpions, rats, coyotes, centipedes, and pretty soon when it gets a little warmer.........
rattlesnakes.
Woooohoooooooooooooooo
Coexistence.
...