Is the Afghanistan/Pakistan mission unraveling?

It seems that way. 🙁

Three explosions, two rocket attacks and subsequent gunfire have been reported in the near vicinity of the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 5. The attack occurred early afternoon local time when the consulate would have been full of both American and local employees. The death toll is reported at 36 but is expected to rise.
There are no assessments yet of the damage that the consulate building has sustained, but reports indicate that the explosions led to the collapse of other, adjacent buildings. Pakistani soldiers are also reported to be engaging militants in gunfire, indicating that militants are actively engaged in an attack near the area — possibly with the intention of breaching the U.S. Consulate.
[….]
UPDATE:
One attacker was able to blow up in the U.S. Consulate premises, AAJ TV reported April 5. The front side of the U.S. Consulate has been totally destroyed. Reports indicate that seven or eight security personnel in the consulate are dead. The consulate’s communication system is down.

Many people are wondering why this has happened. I think I know why. It could very well be because of this here:

The Story via Washington Post:

KABUL — President Obama’s visit to Kabul last week, intended in part to forge a closer working relationship with President Hamid Karzai, has helped produce the opposite: an angry Afghan leader now attacking the West for what he perceives as an effort to manipulate him and weaken his rule.
Karzai’s relationship with his U.S. backers in the past week has taken a sharp turn for the worse after his two anti-Western speeches in three days, remarks that some officials see as a rehearsed, intentional move away from the United States.
In remarks to parliament members Saturday, Karzai said that if foreign interference in his government continues, the Taliban would become a legitimate resistance — one that he might even join, according to lawmakers present.
“When I heard Karzai’s remarks, it really shocked me. It scared me,” a senior Afghan official who works closely with Karzai said. “We should not take this lightly. This is a golden opportunity to have the West here; we can’t squander it.”
Karzai’s comments have angered U.S. officials and some of his prominent Afghan colleagues in the government, who fear he is jeopardizing international funding and military support because his pride has been injured.
“That guy’s erratic, he’s unpredictable. I don’t get him,” said a senior U.S. military official in Kabul.

However, if you read a little deeper, you will see this:

But the next day, Karzai told a gathering of lawmakers that foreign interference fuels the insurgency. One lawmaker said Karzai made the point that if he is compelled to obey foreigners, “I’ll join the Taliban.”
“I know he’s cooperating with the U.S., but he just wants to give us a wrong perception. He’s trying to prove himself as a hero, a nationalist,” the lawmaker said.
Some of the presidents’ supporters said that people overreacted to the statements, and that Karzai is well aware of how reliant he is on the United States and other countries fighting in Afghanistan. The United States pours billions of dollars monthly into Afghanistan, and 30,000 new troops are arriving to fight the Taliban.
Speaking at a meeting of about 1,200 tribal leaders and local officials in the southern city of Kandahar on Sunday, Karzai again suggested that U.S. pressure is counterproductive.
“Afghanistan will be fixed when its people trust that their president is independent and not a puppet,” he said. “We have to demonstrate our sovereignty. We have to demonstrate that we are standing up for our values.”

I think this guy needs to make up his mind. Trying to play to his people and be friends with the west is not going to work. The United States of America is NOT interested in owning that Country, no more than it is interested in owning Iraq. We are, or at least we were, there to get rid of Al-Qaeda terrorists who wanted to attack and destroy America. It seems that our focus is shifting and we are now trying to play “Paddy Cake” with Afgan Leaders who want to be friendly with the the U.S. and the Taliban. The President of the United States needs to firm with Karzai, and tell him either choose the Taliban and possibly being killed by the United States in military action or choose true freedom and democracy. You cannot have it both ways, terrorism and democracy cannot co-exist.

Just a personal aside, I had a sinking feeling that this sort of a thing would happen, if we elected a Democrat for a President. For all of his failings, for all of the stuff that I did not like about him; George W. Bush knew exactly how to deal with these sorts of things. He was seen by the Afghan people and the Iraqis as a firm strong leader, who was willing to risk it all to stand against terrorism, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. President Obama just does not have that same stance. President Obama and by default, the Democrats see terrorism as a juvenile criminal behavior; and it is not; it is a war against freedom and democracy in the name of a backward and dangerous religion.

I guess the only hope at this point is that Obama realizes what he is dealing with here and changes his focus. However, I just do not see that happening at all. Needless to say, the next year few years is going to be interesting, when it comes to the war on terror and this entire situation.

UPDATED: Another good reason why I do not live in California – One Reported Dead in Mexico

Is because of stuff like this right here:

A string of earthquakes and aftershocks rattled the Pacific Coast of the United States and Mexico on Sunday, including a magnitude 7.2 quake that could be felt across Baja California, Arizona, and southern California, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
There were no immediate reports of injuries and only limited reports of damages from that quake, which struck northwestern Mexico's Baja California at 3:40 p.m. PT (6:40 p.m. ET) about 110 miles (175 kilometers) east-southeast of Tijuana, Mexico.
Residents across southern California and Arizona reported serious ground shakes.
“We have not felt a shake like that since about 1979,” Michelle Tapia told CNN from Brawley, California.
via Earthquakes rattle Pacific Coast – CNN.com.

The Left Coast Rebel is on it. As is Ed Morrissey.

Many others: L.A. NOW, The Moderate Voice, Mashable!, Gawker, The Lonely Conservative

This is why I stay my butt here in Michigan. We may have high unemployment and much snow. But Earthquakes are quite infrequent! 😀

Video of water shaking out of a pool, this is freaking crazy:

Again, that stuff is just freakin’ crazy. 😯 😮

Update: American Power, who also lives out in that area has pics and video.

Update #2: Temple of Mutt has coverage too.

Update #3: Liberal Blogger John Amato said it made him Dizzy. I am resisting the urge to be snarky here. 😉

Update #4: (H/T Douglas in comments section) CNN is now reporting:

[Updated at 9:40 p.m.] At least one person has been confirmed killed in a building collapse in Mexicali, according to the assistant director of civil protection in Tijuana. There have also been reports of injuries and structural damage, according to Alfredo Escobedo, Mexico’s director of civil protection.
Pictures from Mexicali showed the sides ripped off buildings, toppled telephone poles, cracked roads, and supermarket aisles strewn with food that had fallen off shelves. In California and Arizona, there were no immediate reports of injuries and only limited reports of damages. Residents across southern California and Arizona reported serious ground shakes.

So sad. 🙁 Thoughts and Prayers to our Neighbors to the south.

Not everyone is sold on the iPad

Irk! Now this is not a good thing to read:

Gadgets come and gadgets go. The iPad you buy today will be e-waste in a year or two (less, if you decide not to pay to have the battery changed for you). The real issue isn’t the capabilities of the piece of plastic you unwrap today, but the technical and social infrastructure that accompanies it.
If you want to live in the creative universe where anyone with a cool idea can make it and give it to you to run on your hardware, the iPad isn’t for you.
If you want to live in the fair world where you get to keep (or give away) the stuff you buy, the iPad isn’t for you.
If you want to write code for a platform where the only thing that determines whether you’re going to succeed with it is whether your audience loves it, the iPad isn’t for you.
via Why I won’t buy an iPad (and think you shouldn’t, either) – Boing Boing.

I have to give props to Mr. Cory Doctorow for his brutal honesty. The article is quite the good read; from a standpoint of someone, who does not even own a iPod, much less an iPhone! 😀 I mean, I am just not big into, what I like to call, useless gadgets. To me, a phone is for making phone calls. Not for sitting there and playing games and all the crap you can do on them today. I mean, there is a thing called “Sexting” which is transmitting rather nasty pictures of one’s self over the internet. We never had to contend with stuff like that when I was a kid. (I am 37, by the way…) Besides that, you would not want to be transmitting naked pictures of my body anyhow; as I am almost sure it would cause someone great problems of the psychological sort to see me naked.

Now, from a greedy capitalist’s stand point; if I had a bunch of shares with Apple right about now and I saw this article. I would be asking for this guys head on a platter. I mean, just who the hell does this grumpy old jackass think he is? I am sure that Steve Jobs is not too happy about someone dissing his product, that he’s worked his rear end off to produce. On the other hand, this is just one man’s opinion of this product and I am sure that there are many others who have written that this is an exciting product to try.

The bottom line is this; we live in a free market, capitalistic society, and that free market will decide if this product is a smashing success or if it will be a flop. That is because that Free Market allows the PEOPLE, not the Government, to choose whether a product will be sold or even successful or not. Granted, it will take effort to make this happen; promotion by the company, the sales people and even the customer to buy the product. However the point is….. the freedom of choice is there. You can choose which product you wish to own by apple, all of them or none of them at all. That is the beauty of America. The only thing stopping you is your financial situation and also possibly your personal desire to own such product. Personally, even if I did have the money to own one of these iPads, I most likely would not own one. Because I personally do not see the point in owning such a thing. I have a very nice laptop, which suits my needs perfectly. I also do not see the point in owning something like this, and then having to own a iPhone or something similar, why not just put a camera and the ability to make phone calls in it as well? Again that is wonderful power of personal freedom and choice.

Now I could yammer on here about how the some of the Democrats and the socialists want to do away with all this freedom and change the system we have here in America. But I think everyone that reads this knows my position on those subjects. It also is not lost on me, where this thing is produced and the political positions of some of the people that will own one of these things. However, I will not bring that into this discussion here, as I am blogging about an iPad. 😉 😀 😛

Update: Others Talking about the iPad: Pajamas Media, The Confluence, Althouse, Vanity Fair, Bits, Scripting News, VentureBeat and Gawker

Update #2: Message to AllahPundit: Do you really want to be known as the dude who owns a electronic gadget, who’s name basically invokes thoughts of a Electronic Maxi-Pad or Internet Maxi-Pad? Not if you are Beta-Male. I mean, you are already being called a candy-ass Rhino as it is; you do not need anymore help. I’m just sayin’ 😛

News from a different perspective

Disclaimer: The newsletter that I am presenting here is written by a Fundamentalist Baptist Pastor, who is a missionary overseas. The posting of this newsletter should not be taken as an endorsement of his beliefs. I do agree with SOME of his beliefs, but not all of them. Full Disclosure: I am a Fundamentalist Christian, although not necessarily a Baptist; in doctrine, yes. But in tradition, No. Having said all of that, I present the Newsletter.

Fundamental Baptist Information Service April 2, 2010

PDF VERSION

FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES

April 2, 2010, Volume 11, Issue 14

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

NATIONAL WORSHIP LEADER CONFERENCE AND CALVARY CHAPEL HOST NEW AGE-EMERGENT MYSTIC (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – The upcoming National Worship Leader Conference at Calvary Chapel in Albuquerque will feature “New Age sympathizer and emerging church leader” Leonard Sweet (Lighthouse Trails, March 26, 2010). The conference is sponsored by Worship Leader magazine, the chief editor for which is Chuck Fromm, Calvary Chapel founder Chuck Smith, Sr.’s nephew. Leonard Sweet is a United Methodist clergyman, E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew University, and founder and president of SpiritVenture Ministries. He promotes a New Age universalist spirituality that he calls New Light and “the Christ consciousness.” He describes it in terms of “the union of the human with the divine” which is the “center feature of all the world’s religions” (Quantum Spirituality, p. 235). He says it was experienced by Mohammed, Moses, and Krishna. Some of the “New Light leaders” that have led him into this new thinking are Matthew Fox, M. Scott Peck, Willis Harman, and Ken Wilber, all of whom believe in the divinity of man, plus the Catholic-Buddhist monk Thomas Merton. Sweet says humanity needs to learn the truth of Merton’s words, “We are already one” (Quantum Spirituality, p. 13). Sweet defines the New Light as “a structure of human becoming, a channeling of Christ energies through mindbody experience” (p. 70). Contemplative mysticism has been permeating evangelicalism for decades and it is one of the foundational elements of the emerging church (See the titles “The Emerging Church” and “Contemplative Mysticism,” which are available from Way of Life Literature in print and e-book editions.) Contemporary Worship Music (CWM) is mystical in itself. It focuses on an emotional experience, which is why rock & roll is the preferred form of music. CWM’s leaders and participants are “hooked on a feeling.” They are intoxicated with pop music and are led more by their emotions than by God’s holy Word. (Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren has also promoted Leonard Sweet.)

MUSLIMS KILL PASTOR AND BURN ANOTHER CHRISTIAN ALIVE (Friday Church News Notes, April 2, 2010, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Islamic “militants” murdered a pastor recently in Somalia and burned a Christian man nearly to death in Pakistan. Pastor Modabe Abdi was shot to death on March 15 in Somalia, after he was tracked down by an Islamic group called al Shabaab. He had escaped a kidnapping attempt less than two weeks earlier. The Muslims refused to allow Abdi’s body to be buried, ordering that it be left to the dogs (Voice of the Martyrs, March 24, 2010). In Pakistan, Muslim “extremists” set 38-year-old Arshed Masih on fire for refusing to convert to Islam. His wife was raped and the couple’s three children were forced to watch their parent’s brutalization (AsiaNews.it, March 22, 2010). Arshed is in intensive care with burns over 80% of his body and is not expected to live. The terrorist act occurred in front of a police station not far from Pakistan’s capital city.

Continue reading “News from a different perspective” →

Possibly one of the funniest iPad questions ever

Seeing AP is having the iPad orgasm blues or something to that effect. I thought I would share with you one of the funnier questions related to the iPad yet.

This comes via David Pogue over at the ol’ Grey Lady:

Q: I read that it has a fingerprint-resistant screen, but then you said the fingerprints show up disgustingly. What’s the real story?
A: Fingerprints are greasily, streakily visible when you turn off the screen. But the iPad has the same oleophobic (oil-resistant) coating as the iPhone, so all the streaks disappear with a single firm wipe on your pants leg.

Someone tell the person that asked that rather funny question, that you are not supposed to be playing with your, ahem, iPad, when you have your fingers into a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. 🙄

That is, of course, unless you are into such things. 😯

Just a thought. 😀

It's about time: Obama proposes offshore drillng

Finally, the stupid socialist is doing something right:

The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.
The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.
Under the plan, the coastline from New Jersey northward would remain closed to all oil and gas activity. So would the Pacific Coast, from Mexico to the Canadian border.
The environmentally sensitive Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska would be protected and no drilling would be allowed under the plan, officials said. But large tracts in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska — nearly 130 million acres — would be eligible for exploration and drilling after extensive studies.
The proposal is to be announced by President Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Wednesday, but administration officials agreed to preview the details on the condition that they not be identified.
The proposal is intended to reduce dependence on oil imports, generate revenue from the sale of offshore leases and help win political support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation.
via Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time – NYTimes.com.

It’s about time that Bambi Teleprompter is doing something right.

An exasperated Moonbat Steve Benon whines:

My confusion, then, is over the administration’s negotiating tactics. In February, the president cleared the way for the first new U.S. nuclear power plants in more than 30 years. Today, the president will reportedly open up new opportunities for coastal drilling.
In other words, Obama has already effectively given Republicans what they wanted on energy. What is he getting in return?

My question is, why the fuck should he get anything in return, at all?

He better be fucking hoping and praying that we don’t make his origin of birth a big issue when the Republicans take back the house and senate come 2010! What assholes… like the Republicans owe that floppy eared son-of-a- bitch anything at all. 😡 🙄

Again, I say, good on ol’ big ears for finally learning that capitalism is a good thing and that drilling is a good idea. Now if we could just teach the REST of liberal and socialist, and communist America that! We’d have to start in the fucking oval office first!

Egg Tosser exposed

Founding Bloggers has the scoop:

Turns out, it might be this dude right here: (Hard to tell though… IYKWIMAITYD)

It’s not surprising at all, that the accomplice is a black man. I mean, who else would throw eggs at a bus of evil white racist Obama haters? (Sarcasm) Thank you Abe Lincoln for betraying America. (Not Sarcasm)

More of that black liberal tolerance on display. See why I won’t vote for Democrats no more?

Others: The Daily Caller, Big Government, Erick’s blog, RedState, Gateway Pundit and American Power

About that Sean Hannity Ad in the sidebar

I am sure that by now most of you have noticed that Ad for Sean Hannity’s new book.

Well, as most of you know, I loathe Sean Hannity; I am not even remotely a fan. But $15.00 is $15.00 is $15.00, and seeing that I am in the financial position that I am in, any sort of extra money, say from advertisements like that —- is a good thing. Believe me, if I had tons of ads in that sidebar, that were paying me more money; I’d tell ol’ water carrier boy to pound sand. But right now, I will take any sort of money that I can get.

Some of you are wondering what I do not like about Hannity. I just don’t like his attitude and stuff he calls President Obama. It just strikes me as unprofessional and yes, I sometimes think he sounds a bit racist. That whole “Anointed One” line got stale long ago. I mean, I am not a big fan of Obama, and yes, I do criticize his polices. But I do it without the stupid and sometimes borderline racist nuances, name calling and general stupidity, which people like Hannity and his fans are known for. I will admit, during the election and a little after it. I partook in some of that myself. But there was a point, when I basically said, “Okay the man is President now; time to move on and criticize his polices.” I mean, it’s one thing to say something witty once and a while; but to revolve a whole show around it and repeat the same stale crap every week, is just downright stupid. I guess my biggest complaint is that Sean Hannity makes it personal about the President and his Wife and I have also heard his kids. That’s over the line in my book. I never make it personal. Hannity does, this is why I do not watch his show.

As for Hannity personally; I never liked him when he was with Alan Colmes either. He’s a very, very, very, arrogant man, and the sick part is, he has got nothing to be arrogant about. The man lied his way into the business and the only reason he is where he is today, is because some idiot at Fox News felt sorry for the bastard. So, the way I see it; he has nothing to be conceited about.

Anyhow, about that Ad Space — I have plenty of spaces available for advertising. If you have something you would like to promote. Please, take out an Ad. My rates are the lowest around. My site gets anywhere from 300 to over 3K hits a day, depending on the news cycle. I expect during the 2010 elections that this sites numbers will rise as election day nears. So, getting ad space would be a good idea; and besides, it is for a good cause — Me, of course! 😉 😛 😀 Seriously, with the economy like it is here in Michigan and seeing the Obama administration is now putting the hurt on small business. I fully expect the jobs in this area to simply decrease. So, this little blogging gig might be my income for a long time to come. I realize that my readers are not rich and that they are suffering too. But, this is America folks, hard times like this, is when Americans come up with the best ideas for starting a business, and the key to a successful business is advertising. Remember folks, Capitalism is America and being your own boss and being successful at it, is the American dream. I am just looking for my share. Help me do that, place an ad today!

America-haters, Liberals, idiots and pinheads need not apply…

Warren Jeffs to stand trial in AZ

One word: Good.

A trial date has been set in Mohave County Superior Court for the first of two cases against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs.
The 54-year-old former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is being tried in Mohave County on sexual conduct with a minor charges stemming from marriages allegedly involving underage girls that occurred in Colorado City.
Jeffs has been in the Mohave County Jail since February 2008. He is already serving two consecutive sentences of five years to life after being convicted in Utah on two counts of rape as an accomplice for his involvement in the marriage of an underage girl to an older man.
The first trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 2, with the second trial to be considered at its conclusion
via KTAR.com – Nov. trial date set in Warren Jeffs case.

It is about time that this nut ball has finally gotten his justice. Here’s hoping he has a nice “come to the real Jesus” moment in prison. With any luck, that moment will come at the hands of about 10 large black men. IYKWIMAITYD! 😯 😉 😛

More Moonbat Stupidity

🙄

About 100 fans came out to hear Karl Rove at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills Monday night to discuss his book “Courage and Consequences: My Life As a Conservative In The Fight,” — but the fight wasn’t contained to his book.
Anti-war protesters came out, some rushing the stage, to call Rove a “war criminal” and worse.
The fans came to get their books signed, but they never got that chance.
One woman, the co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, approached him with handcuffs and said she was there to make a citizen’s arrest. Jodie Evans charged him with “outing a CIA agent…you lied to take us to war…” and “totally ruining the country
via Karl Rove Gets Branded ‘War Criminal’ At Beverly Hills Book Signing – cbs2.com.

To be fair, even the Kos kiddies think these women are quite stupid. It’s too bad one cannot be armed at all times during these appearances. I mean, some times lethal force is just a good thing. I mean, they won the election, the hell else they want?