Legend of Tora Bora more truth than legend

U.S. forces missed chance to get bin Laden in 2001
Sun Nov 29, 2009 7:11am EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military could have captured or killed Osama bin Laden in 2001 if it had launched a concerted attack on his hideout in Afghanistan, according to a report prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The report, written by staff working for the Democratic majority on the committee, said the al Qaeda leader's escape was a lost opportunity that altered the course of the war and paved the way for insurgencies in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.

"Removing the al Qaeda leader from the battlefield eight years ago would not have eliminated the worldwide extremist threat," the report said.

"But the decisions that opened the door for his escape to Pakistan allowed bin Laden to emerge as a potent symbolic figure who continues to attract a steady flow of money and inspire fanatics worldwide."

U.S. soldiers and Afghan militia forces launched a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001 in pursuit of bin Laden, believed to be hiding in the region with supporters after the Taliban government was removed from power.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5AS0T720091129

Saying grace sometimes?

by
Chaplain Kathie

Travelers are heading back to their homes after their annual trip to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. Most of the left overs are gone and Christmas shopping lists are checked against sales. Boxes come down from the attic, out of the basement and garages, containing treasured decorations along with the mess of tangled lights we should have packed more carefully. Christmas cards are being signed to let people know we're still thinking of them even though most people on our lists are forgotten about the rest of the year. We don't call most of them. We don't really email them unless we're passing on another chain email. It's really easy to hit the forward button instead of writing a personal note to them.

This time of the year, we manage to think of people in our lives. We manage to want to make them happy. We also manage to think of the reason most of us call ourselves Christian no matter if we faithfully attend church services or not. Somehow the CEO in us will guilt us into going. (Christmas and Easter Only)

Some of us gathered together Thursday for a Thanksgiving feast. Hours of cooking special foods, checking the silverware, unloading our best china to put on the perfect table and we breathed a sigh of relief when the turkey didn't dry out and we didn't burn the rolls. We sat with family and friends closest to us, bowed our heads as someone said grace and we gave thanks for the meal. For some families, Thanksgiving is the only time of the year where this seems natural. The rest of the year, we never even think of saying it.

What is the matter with us?

Do we say grace every time we put food in our mouths? Isn't it just as important to thank God for being able to feed ourselves all the time? Do we say thanks when we pull up to a fast food window as we reach into our wallets to pay for it? Do we say thanks when we reach into the refrigerators or cabinets for a late night snack? No, most of us don't. So why do we remember to be thankful on this one day out of the year?

Why is it that we only remember the people we send cards to once a year? Why do we think of making someone else happy this time of the year but not during the rest of the year?

This time of year, people volunteer to help the needy and the homeless by showing up to help them feel they have not been forgotten. While this is wonderful, they are still hungry and needy the rest of the year as well but we forget them. We are just too busy to be reminded of them, to notice them, to feel compassion for them.

What is the matter with us?

The last two months of the year are just about the only time we think of how much God has blessed us other than Easter but we don't manage to do all we do for Thanksgiving and Christmas for others on Easter. Why? Easter is the time of the year we honor the greatest gift of all. The day Christ sacrificed His life for all mankind. It is when we honor His life of mercy and compassion even though He knew the very people He would heal and feed, would be responsible for calling for Him to be crucified. The same man who healed the Roman Centurion's servant would be nailed to the beams insuring His death by Roman hands. None of that stopped Him from thinking of and taking care of others at all times. He even thought of others in His last moments on earth when He said "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." but we however seem to forget the homeless, the needy, the sick, the elderly and the imprisoned He came to heal.

What is the matter with us?

Saying grace is about being thankful for what we have and not about thinking we deserve what we have. We must always acknowledge that those who have less, have the same needs we do but have not had the same opportunities we do. A lot of people lost their jobs over the last few years through no fault of their own. Some of them lost their homes as well. Did they deserve to suffer the losses? Did their children deserve to lose their sense of security? Did any of them deserve to go from self-sufficiency to depending on the kindness of strangers? Do we really think they deserved to suffer? Christ didn't. After all, He was homeless, jobless and depending on the kindness of strangers to feed Him and shelter Him. He came not to make money off of everyone He helped. He did not take care of the rich and powerful because of what they could do for Him. He took care of those in need of being reminded they were loved by God even though they had hard lives and could give back nothing of material value.

We however manage to donate to charities more this time of year than any other time of the year. What's the matter with us?

We value wealth thinking the people with it someone deserve more. We value beautiful people and turn away in disgust when we see a homeless person with their hand out. We somehow manage to believe that if anyone deserves to be acknowledged for what they know and what they do, they will be and they need no help from us to receive it. Yes, this happens all the time.

Volunteers give of their time and the saying time is money holds true because that time they give, they could be earning more money working for a paycheck. Most will struggle trying to pay their own bills as they think of others first. They wonder where the money will come from to support them as they support others forgotten by the multitude moving on. I know this feeling well. I had a job and was able to pay my bills as I volunteered countless hours helping veterans and their families heal. Then I lost my job because of the economy and the church used volunteers instead of paying my salary. I still volunteered, became a chaplain, invested hundreds of dollars in this plus money traveling where I was needed, when I was needed. The difference was, I had no extra money coming in to pay for any of it. My family has been suffering financially ever since and we're going on two years as I search for financial support or a job.

I reached out to some of the organizations I belong to for financial help. One of them had a telling comment behind my back after I asked for help. The person believed that if I knew what I was talking about, I wouldn't need to ask for help. It never dawned on him that while I was there where I was needed, no one was there when I needed help from them, including him. Did I deserve less help than he did? Did I deserve to be turned away when in his own life he was helped greatly by others to get to where he was? He even stated that the veterans I was helping should just be left in the hands of the VA to take care of them.

I know about PTSD because I live with it in my family, studied it for over twenty five years and spent time with the veterans people like him avoided. What I never knew what how to support myself doing this or how to gain contacts that would believe in what I do. I cannot publicize the veterans I help because of honoring their privacy. I cannot scream out that today I helped a family cope or today I saved a life. While this may all be worthy to God and the people I help, some powerful people would rather let God take care of my needs instead of them. This does not mean I deserve less help or deserve to suffer because someone with the ability to help refuses to. It happened when Christ walked the earth and the poor were not fed by the rich and powerful. It happened when He wanted to spend time with them instead of spending time with the wealthy and powerful. When we refuse to help one person, there is a long line of people behind them waiting for their help. We do not avoid helping just the one we see with their hand out, but avoid helping all they have been helping as well.

Most of the people that lost jobs used to give to charities, help others in need but we see them as suddenly of lesser value than when they were giving. I often wonder what happened to the people refusing to help Christ with food and shelter when they had all they needed. Did they end up having everything they had taken away from them? When we refuse to help, God does not look kindly on us. When we say grace only for certain meals, it is as if we are ungrateful for the rest of them. When we think of others only a few months out of the year, it is as if they really don't matter to us at all. When we judge those we think deserve what they get, don't deserve our help all year long, we should be praying we don't get what we deserve in return.

For PTSD posts go to www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com

‘Shut up,’ Gates tells DoD leakers

‘Shut up,’ Gates tells DoD leakers

By John T. Bennett - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Nov 12, 2009 19:48:43 EST

ABOARD THE DEFENSE SECRETARY’S PLANE — In very blunt language, a visibly irritated Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that he is “appalled by the amount of” information government officials have leaked to the press during the president’s Afghanistan strategy review.

Talking with reporters aboard his jet en route to a military vehicle factory in Wisconsin, the secretary said such disclosures of sensitive information on any “options under consideration” does not serve the nation well. Nor are they in the military’s strategic interests, he added.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_gates_leakers_111209w/

Report: Florida among 10 states facing budget disasters

Report: Florida among 10 states facing budget disasters

By CATHERINE DOLINSKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2009

Updated: 05:45 pm
TALLAHASSEE - Florida is among nine states barreling toward an economic disaster similar to California's ongoing fiscal crisis, a new study warns.

The budget woes could mean higher taxes, accelerated layoffs of government employees, more crowded classrooms and fewer services in the coming year, analysts for the Pew Center on the States said.

While IOUs and budget-busting deficits have been hallmarks of California's fiscal problems, the study found that Florida, Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin are most at-risk for economic calamities of their own.

Double-digit budget gaps, rising unemployment, high home foreclosure rates and built-in budget constraints are the prevailing reasons.

"While California often takes the spotlight, other states are facing hardships just as daunting," said Susan Urahn, managing director of the Washington, D.C.-based center. "Decisions these states make as they try to navigate the recession will play a role in how quickly the entire nation recovers."

The analysts noted that the "Great Recession has not just stalled Florida's growth — it has reversed it."
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Florida among 10 states facing budget disasters

Soldiers fight 4-hour battle at Afghan village

Soldiers fight 4-hour battle at Afghan village

By David Guttenfelder - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 5, 2009 5:47:31 EST

EDITOR’S NOTE: AP Photographer David Guttenfelder accompanied U.S. soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division caught in a four-hour ambush by Taliban forces Tuesday. Here is his account.
QATAR KALA, Afghanistan — The villagers said they just wanted to be left alone. They claimed they had asked the Taliban to stay away, and wished the Americans would do the same.

But now the Americans were back, determined to stop the Taliban from passing through the village to attack U.S. targets. And shortly afterward the gunfire from the hills above served notice that the Taliban had no intention of leaving.

What unfolded Tuesday would highlight the tug of war being waged for the loyalties of one village in eastern Afghanistan.

The story had begun with a clinic, built here with U.S. funds to demonstrate to Afghans that they have more to gain from the Americans than from the Taliban.
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Soldiers fight 4-hour battle at Afghan village

Most U.S. youths unfit to serve, data show

Most U.S. youths unfit to serve, data show

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 4, 2009 10:26:14 EST

U.S. military-age youth are increasingly unfit to serve — mostly because they’re in such lousy shape.

According to the latest Pentagon figures, a full 35 percent, or more than one-third, of the roughly 31.2 million Americans aged 17 to 24 are unqualified for military service because of physical and medical issues. And, said Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon’s director of accessions, “the major component of this is obesity. We have an obesity crisis in the country. There’s no question about it.”

The Pentagon draws its data from the Centers for Disease Control, which regularly tracks obesity. The steadily rising trend is not good news for military recruiters, despite their recent successes, nor for the overall health of the U.S. population.

In 1987, according to the CDC, a mere 6 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds, or about 1 out of 20, were obese. In 2008, 22 years later, 23 percent of that age group — almost 1 out of 4 — was considered to be obese.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_unfityouths_recruiting_110309w/

Ship built with World Trade Center steel arrives in New York

Ship built with WTC steel arrives in New York

By Deepti Hajela - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 2, 2009 13:21:32 EST

NEW YORK — The new Navy assault ship New York, built with World Trade Center steel, arrived in its namesake city Monday with a 21-gun salute near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack.

First responders, families of Sept. 11 victims and the public gathered Monday at a waterfront viewing area, where they could see the crew standing at attention along the deck of the battleship gray vessel.

The big ship paused. Then the shots were fired, with a cracking sound, in three bursts.

The bow of the $1 billion ship, built in Louisiana, contains about 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen towers.
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Ship built with WTC steel arrives in New York

From farm field to cotton mill

From farm field to cotton mill: The making of America's denim
By Wayne Drash, CNN

October 30, 2009 10:10 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Cotton mill in northwest Georgia is America's No. 1 producer of denim
Mill has been operating since 1845
Most U.S. cotton mills shut in last decade, unable to compete with China
"This mill here it feeds my family," says Christopher Wolfe, 31

Trion, Georgia (CNN) -- Christopher Wolfe has a Tough As Nails, I Love America attitude. His pride swells along with his tattooed biceps. He's a dying breed, a blue-collar American working on a product as American as apple pie.

Blue jeans.

"This is our lifeline," Wolfe says.

Those jeans you squeezed into this morning? It's likely they began right here at Mount Vernon Mills, one of the last functioning cotton mills in America and the nation's No. 1 producer of denim.

In a tiny enclave of northwest Georgia, Wolfe and 1,200 of his colleagues churn out enough denim per week for 800,000 pairs of blue jeans.

Most U.S. mills shut down years ago, unable to compete with cheap overseas labor. And in another sign of the global economy, the fabric woven here is rarely sent to American plants to be turned into jeans. Instead, the fabric is shipped mostly to factories in Mexico. The jeans then carry labels that read "Made in Mexico of U.S. fabric."

Blame NAFTA. Blame outsourcing. Blame corporate greed for the selling out of America's manufacturing soul.

"I'd rather see people over here work, instead of struggling -- instead of giving somebody in another country a chance to make money that [Americans] should be making," says Wolfe, 31.

He's got a scar across his forehead, a shaved head and goatee. Like a pair of well-worn blue jeans, he's rough and tough.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/30/blue.jeans.mill/index.html

A church that pays you to come on Sunday

A church that pays you to come on Sunday

October 25, 2009

By Guy Tridgell

The Rev. Dan Willis is passing the collection plate in reverse. He will give you money to go to church.

For the last three weeks, his Lighthouse Church of All Nations in Alsip has raffled a combined $1,000 to attendees at the three Sunday services.

Big surprise, but attendance has shot through the chapel roof.

"It is gimmicky. It is totally gimmicky. I make no bones about that," Willis said. "But if I could get someone who would not normally come to church, why not?"

If the lure of free money has you breaking out the Sunday best, be prepared for some testimony from the preacher on how to spend that money.

You will hear of the glory of paying down debt, the revelation that comes with living on a budget and the miracle of compound interest.

For Willis, the cash is a mere carrot to get you through the doors. By sowing the seeds of the responsible personal finance, he hopes to create a few converts.
read more here
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1842522,102509tridgell.article
linked from RawStory

Georgia National Guards Col. John King building trust in Afghanistan

U.S. police officers sharing food, building trust in Afghanistan
By Moni Basu, CNN
October 24, 2009 10:57 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- On a recent night at The Fort restaurant in Denver, John King ordered American fare for his Afghan friend. Bison filet and elk chop.

Munir Mohammad Mangal, Afghanistan's deputy interior minister, had eaten enough lamb to last a lifetime. Game, however, was a daring gastronomic leap of faith. But if Mangal has learned anything from his American military adviser, it was this: You have to take chances to forge friendships.

A good meal and a broad smile have long been standard ammo for King, the police chief of Doraville, Georgia, and a colonel in the Army National Guard. He believes that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won solely through the barrel of a gun, but by building relationships.

And King's way of breaking down cultural barriers is by breaking bread.

"It helps people listen, while you are chewing," he said about the countless meals he has shared with friends, foes and those whose allegiances were indiscernible.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/10/24/intl.afghan.police/index.html

3 sentenced in plot to kill soldiers in Iraq

3 sentenced in plot to kill soldiers in Iraq

By John Seewer - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Oct 22, 2009 5:35:39 EDT

TOLEDO, Ohio — Three men convicted of plotting to recruit and train terrorists to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq were sentenced in federal court Wednesday to more than eight years in prison.

Mohammad Amawi, 29, received a 20-year term, with credit for three years he has already spent in custody. He will remain under lifetime supervision upon his release, U.S. District Judge James Carr said. Marwan El-Hindi, 46, described by prosecutors as the leader, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and given an 18-month consecutive term on an unrelated fraud conviction.

Both men had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_military_plot_sentencing_102109w/

Lost Greek city that may have inspired Atlantis myth gives up secrets

Lost Greek city that may have inspired Atlantis myth gives up secrets

Helena Smith in Athens guardian.co.uk, Friday 16 October 2009 19.49 BST
The secrets of a lost city that may have inspired one of the world's most enduring myths – the fable of Atlantis – have been brought to light from beneath the waters off southern Greece.

Explored by an Anglo-Greek team of archaeologists and marine geologists and known as Pavlopetri, the sunken settlement dates back some 5,000 years to the time of Homer's heroes and in terms of size and wealth of detail is unprecedented, experts say.

"There is now no doubt that this is the oldest submerged town in the world," said Dr Jon Henderson, associate professor of underwater archaeology at the University of Nottingham. "It has remains dating from 2800 to 1200 BC, long before the glory days of classical Greece. There are older sunken sites in the world but none can be considered to be planned towns such as this, which is why it is unique."

The site, which straddles 30,000 square meters of ocean floor off the southern Peloponnese, is believed to have been consumed by the sea around 1000 BC. Although discovered by a British oceanographer some 40 years ago, it was only this year that marine archaeologists, aided by digital technology, were able to properly survey the ruins.

What they found surpassed all expectations. Thanks to shifting sands and the settlement's enclosure in a protected bay, the exploration revealed a world of buildings, courtyards, main streets, rock-cut tombs and religious structures. In addition, the seabed was replete with thousands of shards of pottery.
read more here
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/16/lost-greek-city-atlantis-myth

US pays $400 per gallon for gas in Afghanistan

US pays $400 per gallon for gas in Afghanistan


By John Byrne
Friday, October 16th, 2009 -- 8:08 am

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed the $400 figure to the Congressional Research Service. The number is from the Pentagon.

Last year, the price of gasoline in the United States topped the $4 per gallon mark.

This year in Afghanistan, the price has topped $400.

The stunning revelation emerged Thursday in a report from the Pentagon to House officials. The information conveyed offers new insight into a recent report by the Congressional Research Service, which found that the US spends $1 million per year for each servicemember on the ground in Afghanistan.

Why so much? The cost includes shipping, which sometimes includes the pricetag of a helicopter flight. Sending fuel by helicopter is woefully inefficient, because it uses up almost as much fuel as it carries.
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http://rawstory.com/2009/10/us-pays-400-per-gallon-for-gas-in-afghanistan/

Texas man faces execution after jurors consult Bible

Texas man faces execution after jurors consult Bible to decide fate
A convicted murderer faces execution in Texas after jurors consulted the Bible while deliberating on his sentence.
By Tom Leonard in New York
Published: 5:56PM BST 15 Oct 2009
Amnesty International has appealed to the state to commute the sentence on Khristian Oliver, 32, who is due to die on November 5.

He was sentenced to death in 1999 for murdering a man whose home Oliver was burgling. The victim was shot in the face and beaten with his own rifle.

It later emerged that while deciding whether he should be given the death penalty, jurors consulted the Bible. Four jury members admitted that several copies had been in the jury room and that highlighted passages were passed around.

At one point, a juror reportedly read aloud from a copy, including the passage: "And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death."
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Texas man faces execution after jurors consult Bible

linked from RawStory

Rogue Insect Takes Down Missile Truck

Rogue Insect Takes Down Missile Truck
By Nathan Hodge October 12, 2009

It sounds like the opening scene of a B movie: A giant bug lands on a truck driver transporting intercontinental ballistic missiles. The trucker swerves off the road, inadvertently kicking off Armageddon.

The unthinkable didn’t happen when a truck driver recently lost control of a tractor-trailer carrying missile parts from Minot Air Force Base, N.D. But according to a statement released Friday by Air Force Space Command, the incident — which did not involve nuclear materials — was in fact caused by a “large insect” that landed on the driver’s back.
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Rogue Insect Takes Down Missile Truck
linked from RawStory