Friday, August 10, 2007

Daily Headliners--Cold War is back, Giuliani 9/11 exaggerations, Cheney urging attacks on Iran, 'Separate but equal' latrines in Iraq

How about another day of Daily Headliners? This is going to be fun....

Russian strategic bombers resume Cold War sorties: Wait a minute--I thought we already won the Cold War? This is from Reuters News;

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's strategic bombers have resumed their Cold War practice of flying long-haul missions to areas patrolled by NATO and the United States, a Russian general said on Thursday.

A Russian bomber flew on Wednesday over a U.S. military base on the Pacific island of Guam and "exchanged smiles" with U.S. pilots scrambled to track it, said Major-General Pavel Androsov, head of long-range aviation in the Russian air force.

"It has always been the tradition of our long-range aviation to fly far into the ocean, to meet (U.S.) aircraft carriers and greet (U.S. pilots) visually," Androsov told a news conference.

"Yesterday we revived this tradition, and two of our young crews paid a visit to the area of the (U.S. Pacific Naval Activities) base of Guam.

"I think the result was good. We met our colleagues - fighter jet pilots from (U.S.) aircraft carriers. We exchanged smiles and returned home," Androsov said.

What a wonderful feeling--going back to the good ole Cold War days. Remember this?



There was a turtle by the name of Bert
and Bert the turtle was very alert;
when danger threatened him he never got hurt
he knew just what to do...
He ducked!
And covered!


Giuliani Says He is Equal to 9/11 Recovery Workers: Why do I get the feeling that our mainstream newspapers are looking more like the front pages of The Onion these days? This is from ABC News;

ABC News' Jan Simmonds Reports: In Ohio on Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani R-NY handed his critics new ammunition regarding his role surrounding 9/11.

Speaking to reporters in Cincinnati, Giuliani said: "I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. ... I was there working with them. I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them."

Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives Endowment Association, the union of NYPD detectives, told the Associated Press that the mayor's record can't compare to those who spent 12 months sifting through toxic debris for evidence and human remains.

"As a result of their hard work, many are sick and injured. The mayor, although he did a fine job with 9/11, I don't think he rises to the level of being an equal with those men and women who were involved in the rescue, recovery and cleanup," Palladino said.

Here is the YouTube video of Giuliani's exaggeration through TPM Cafe:



How do you respond to such an exaggeration? Carpetbagger dryly notes that Guiliani couldn't have been at ground zero as often as the rescue workers since Giuliani "was busy doing press conferences. He couldn’t possibly have been exposed to the same toxins the workers were exposed to, unless Giuliani is prepared to argue that he was sifting through debris and human remains for 40 hours a week for a year." So Giuliani is either lying his bald head off, or he has so deluded himself into this fantasy of America's Mayor becoming America's President, that he will say the most asinine comments in order to get elected. Of course, Carpetbagger has even more Giuliani exaggerations here.

Cheney urging strikes on Iran: This McClatchy story shouldn't be too surprising for anyone. President Bush is beating his chest, accusing Iran of arming and training insurgents into killing U.S. soldiers, while threatening action if Iran continues to persist. At the same time, there is a back story of Darth Cheney continually whispering into the president's ear that the U.S. should attack Iran....The U.S. should attack Iran....The U.S. should attack Iran.

Haven't we've had enough of this?



At U.S. base, Iraqis must use separate latrine: I just don't know how to comment on this McClatchy story, except to say it is time to get out of Iraq. We've gotten rid of "separate but equal" facilities from the United States in the 1950s, only to see it now reemerge in Iraq. From McClatchy;

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARHORSE, Iraq — The sign taped to the men's latrine is just five lines:

"US MILITARY CONTRACTORS CIVILIANS ONLY!!!!!"

It needed only one: "NO IRAQIS."

Here at this searing, dusty U.S. military base about four miles west of Baqouba, Iraqis — including interpreters who walk the same foot patrols and sleep in the same tents as U.S. troops — must use segregated bathrooms.

Another sign, in a dining hall, warns Iraqis and "third-country nationals" that they have just one hour for breakfast, lunch or dinner. American troops get three hours. Iraqis say they sometimes wait as long as 45 minutes in hot lines to get inside the chow hall, leaving just 15 minutes to get their food and eat it.

It's been nearly 60 years since President Harry Truman ended racial segregation in the U.S. military. But at Forward Operating Base Warhorse it's alive and well, perhaps the only U.S. military facility with such rules, Iraqi interpreters here say.

It's unclear precisely who ordered the rules. "The rule separating local national latrines from soldiers was enacted about two to three rotations ago," Maj. Raul Marquez, a spokesman for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, wrote in an e-mail. That was before his brigade or the 3rd Stryker Combat Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, Wash., the other major combat force here, was based at Warhorse.

The madness continues on....

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