US & Israel Sign Murder-Suicide Pact
Babba Zee
Outraged Spleen of Zion
Allman Bros. ~ Whipping Post
American crews will control US FBX-band radar granted Israel DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
August 19, 2008, 12:43 PM (GMT+02:00)
In granting Israel the powerful FBX-T radar system to enhance its early warning resources against incoming missiles, Washington laid down a strict hands-off proviso. The system will be installed at a US base in the southern Israeli Negev. It will be off-limits to Israelis and managed exclusively by American personnel.
This discovery, revealed here for the first time by DEBKAfile's military sources, has aroused astonished rancor in senior Israel army circles. They questioned the judgment of prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Ehud Barak, foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Shaul Mofaz, who leads the Israeli side of the twice-annual strategic dialogue with the US, and chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi in accepting this proviso.
Even Poland, one officer commented, looked after its sovereignty and only signed its defense pact with the United States for the installation of missile interceptors on its Baltic coast after the Americans agreed to instruct Polish crews in their future operation.
Yet none of the Israeli officials involved in the radar transaction saw fit to carry this point. The FBX-T was requested to allow Israel's Arrow missile defense system to engage a Shehab-3 missile about halfway through its 11-minute flight from Iran, several times sooner than the Arrow's Green Pines radar is capable of doing.
The FBX-T can track objects in space such as a missile tipped with a chemical, germ or nuclear warhead.
When they swung the deal in Washington last month, Barak and Ashkenazi said the Israeli Defense Forces would acquire a major resource and Israel a valuable shield against enemy missiles.
But they erred badly in failing to demand its integration in Israel's national interceptor system for four reasons:
1. Israel will have no denied direct access to the data gathered by the system and can only hope the American operators will pass on the information as and when Israel needs it for self-defense rather than when it suits US interests.
2. The FBX-T will not only be able to track Iranian and Syrian missiles and aircraft but also keep watch on Israeli operations, giving the Washington a handle for stalling them. DEBKAfile's military sources point out that the Americans are suddenly in a hurry to have the system deployed in the Negev as soon as September. They will then be in position to forestall a possible Israeli pre-emptive attack on Iran's nuclear installations should one be decided in Jerusalem.
3. US experts say the FBX-T radar will lengthen the Israeli Arrow anti-missile system's range for detecting incoming Iranian missiles several times over. This is technically accurate, but in practice this enhanced capability is entirely contingent on a Pentagon order to the American crews in the Negev to activate a link between them.
4. Barak and Ashkenazi said on their return from Washington that they had procured US consent to links between Israel's early warning and missile interceptor systems, the X-band radar (which can pick up a missile 2,000 km from target) and also the American JTAGS satellites (which detects a missile launch).
This is not the case.
Any links between the IDF's radar and interceptors and the JATG satellites must be channeled through the X-band radar base in the Negev and are not direct. The data passed to Israel will be subject to pre-selection by American decision-makers.
Several billion dollars of US and Israeli funds have been sunk into developing the Arrow, which Israeli officials until recently claimed was a match for Iran's Shehab-3 ballistic missiles. It turns out now that the Arrow and its Green Pine radar pick up incoming missiles only when they are 800 km short of their target. Israel applied for the FBX-T radar to extend that range to 2,000 km from its territory. But as long as the system is operated exclusively by American personnel, its usefulness for shielding Israel against enemy missiles will circumscribed.
AUGUST 13, 2008:
U.S. puts brakes on Israeli plan for attack on Iran nuclear facilities
By Aluf Benn
The Americans viewed the request, which was transmitted (and rejected) at the highest level, as a sign that Israel is in the advanced stages of preparations to attack Iran. They therefore warned Israel against attacking, saying such a strike would undermine American interests. They also demanded that Israel give them prior notice if it nevertheless decided to strike Iran. As compensation for the requests it rejected, Washington offered to improve Israel's defenses against surface-to-surface missiles. Israel responded by saying it reserves the right to take whatever action it deems necessary if diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclearization fail.
Senior Israeli officials had originally hoped that U.S. President George Bush would order an American strike on Iran's nuclear facilities before leaving office, as America's military is far better equipped to conduct such a strike successfully than is Israel's. Jerusalem also fears that an Israeli strike, even if it succeeded well enough to delay Iran's nuclear development for a few years, would give Iran international legitimacy for its program, which it currently lacks. Israel, in contrast, would be portrayed as an aggressor, and would be forced to contend alone with Iran's retaliation, which would probably include thousands of missile strikes by Iranian allies Hezbollah, Hamas and perhaps even Syria. Recently, however, Israel has concluded that Bush is unlikely to attack, and will focus instead on ratcheting up diplomatic pressure on Tehran. It prefers to wait until this process has been exhausted, though without conceding the military option.
Israel's assumption is that Iran will continue to use delaying tactics, and may even agree to briefly suspend its uranium enrichment program in an effort to see out the rest of Bush's term in peace. The American-Israeli dispute over a military strike against Iran erupted during Bush's visit to Jerusalem in May. At the time, Bush held a private meeting on the Iranian threat with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and the Israelis presented their request for certain specific items of military equipment, along with diplomatic and security backing. Following Bush's return to Washington, the administration studied Israel's request, and this led it to suspect that Israel was planning to attack Iran within the next few months. The Americans therefore decided to send a strong message warning it not to do so. U.S. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen both visited here in June and, according to the Washington Post, told senior Israeli defense officials that Iran is still far from obtaining nuclear weapons, and that an attack on Iran would undermine American interests.
Therefore, they said, the U.S. would not allow Israeli planes to overfly Iraq en route to Iran. The Americans sent a similar message to Iraq, which had objected vociferously to the idea of its air space being used for an Israeli attack on Iran. These private messages were accompanied by a series of leaks from the Pentagon that Israel interpreted as attempts to thwart any possibility of an attack on Iran. For instance, the Americans revealed details of a major Israel Air Force exercise in the Mediterranean; they also said they doubted Israel had adequate intelligence about Iran's nuclear facilities. In addition, Mullen spoke out publicly against an attack on Iran. Two weeks ago, Barak visited Washington for talks with his American counterpart, Robert Gates, and Vice President Richard Cheney. Both conversations focused on Iran, but the two Americans presented conflicting views: Gates vehemently opposes an attack on Iran, while Cheney is the administration's leading hawk.Barak presented Israel's assessments of the Iranian situation and warned that Iran was liable to advance its nuclear program under cover of the endless deliberations about sanctions - which have thus far produced little in the way of action. He also acknowledged that effective sanctions would require cooperation from Russia, China and India, all of which currently oppose sanctions with real teeth. Russia, however, is considered key to efforts to isolate Iran, and Israeli officials have therefore urged their American counterparts in recent months to tone down Washington's other disputes with Moscow to focus all its efforts on obtaining Russia's backing against Iran. For instance, they suggested that Washington offer to drop its plan to station a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic - a proposal Russia views as a threat, though Washington insists the system is aimed solely at Iran - in exchange for Russia agreeing to stiffer sanctions against Iran.
However, the administration rejected this idea. In an attempt to compensate Israel for having rejected all its proposals, Washington then offered to bolster Israel's defenses against ballistic missiles. For instance, Gates proposed stationing an advanced radar system in Israel and linking Israel directly into America's early warning satellite network; he also offered increased American funding for the development of two Israeli missile defense systems - the Arrow-3, an upgrade of Israel's existing Arrow system for intercepting ballistic missiles, and Iron Dome, a system designed to intercept short-range rockets. In addition, Washington agreed to sell Israel nine Super Hercules long-range transport aircraft for $2 billion.
However, it would not agree to supply Israel with any offensive systems. Now, Israel is awaiting the outcome of the latest talks between the West and Iran, as well as a formal announcement of the opening of an American interests section in Tehran. Israel views the latter as sure proof that Washington is not planning a military strike.7/31/08: Olmert to Quit AFTER ELECTIONS IN SEPTEMBER
8/17/08: Israel to free 200 MORE prisoners as Rice visits Mideast
Ian Gillan ~ Gethsemane
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
~ Genesis 12:3
Want more Babba Zee and scenes from the Outraged Spleen? Try these recent posts: * Missing Links vs the Fall of Night & the Mares it Rides in on * 3 Wood: Dollars vs Euros * INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING UPDATE : GEORGIA |
by Babba Zee
images: Outraged Spleen of Zion
Source: US & Israel Sign Murder-Suicide Pact
US & Israel Sign Murder-Suicide Pact
Babba Zee
Outraged Spleen of Zion
Allman Bros. ~ Whipping Post
American crews will control US FBX-band radar granted Israel DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
August 19, 2008, 12:43 PM (GMT+02:00)
In granting Israel the powerful FBX-T radar system to enhance its early warning resources against incoming missiles, Washington laid down a strict hands-off proviso. The system will be installed at a US base in the southern Israeli Negev. It will be off-limits to Israelis and managed exclusively by American personnel.
This discovery, revealed here for the first time by DEBKAfile's military sources, has aroused astonished rancor in senior Israel army circles. They questioned the judgment of prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Ehud Barak, foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Shaul Mofaz, who leads the Israeli side of the twice-annual strategic dialogue with the US, and chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi in accepting this proviso.
Even Poland, one officer commented, looked after its sovereignty and only signed its defense pact with the United States for the installation of missile interceptors on its Baltic coast after the Americans agreed to instruct Polish crews in their future operation.
Yet none of the Israeli officials involved in the radar transaction saw fit to carry this point. The FBX-T was requested to allow Israel's Arrow missile defense system to engage a Shehab-3 missile about halfway through its 11-minute flight from Iran, several times sooner than the Arrow's Green Pines radar is capable of doing.
The FBX-T can track objects in space such as a missile tipped with a chemical, germ or nuclear warhead.
When they swung the deal in Washington last month, Barak and Ashkenazi said the Israeli Defense Forces would acquire a major resource and Israel a valuable shield against enemy missiles.
But they erred badly in failing to demand its integration in Israel's national interceptor system for four reasons:
1. Israel will have no denied direct access to the data gathered by the system and can only hope the American operators will pass on the information as and when Israel needs it for self-defense rather than when it suits US interests.
2. The FBX-T will not only be able to track Iranian and Syrian missiles and aircraft but also keep watch on Israeli operations, giving the Washington a handle for stalling them. DEBKAfile's military sources point out that the Americans are suddenly in a hurry to have the system deployed in the Negev as soon as September. They will then be in position to forestall a possible Israeli pre-emptive attack on Iran's nuclear installations should one be decided in Jerusalem.
3. US experts say the FBX-T radar will lengthen the Israeli Arrow anti-missile system's range for detecting incoming Iranian missiles several times over. This is technically accurate, but in practice this enhanced capability is entirely contingent on a Pentagon order to the American crews in the Negev to activate a link between them.
4. Barak and Ashkenazi said on their return from Washington that they had procured US consent to links between Israel's early warning and missile interceptor systems, the X-band radar (which can pick up a missile 2,000 km from target) and also the American JTAGS satellites (which detects a missile launch).
This is not the case.
Any links between the IDF's radar and interceptors and the JATG satellites must be channeled through the X-band radar base in the Negev and are not direct. The data passed to Israel will be subject to pre-selection by American decision-makers.
Several billion dollars of US and Israeli funds have been sunk into developing the Arrow, which Israeli officials until recently claimed was a match for Iran's Shehab-3 ballistic missiles. It turns out now that the Arrow and its Green Pine radar pick up incoming missiles only when they are 800 km short of their target. Israel applied for the FBX-T radar to extend that range to 2,000 km from its territory. But as long as the system is operated exclusively by American personnel, its usefulness for shielding Israel against enemy missiles will circumscribed.
AUGUST 13, 2008:
U.S. puts brakes on Israeli plan for attack on Iran nuclear facilities
By Aluf Benn
The Americans viewed the request, which was transmitted (and rejected) at the highest level, as a sign that Israel is in the advanced stages of preparations to attack Iran. They therefore warned Israel against attacking, saying such a strike would undermine American interests. They also demanded that Israel give them prior notice if it nevertheless decided to strike Iran. As compensation for the requests it rejected, Washington offered to improve Israel's defenses against surface-to-surface missiles. Israel responded by saying it reserves the right to take whatever action it deems necessary if diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclearization fail.
Senior Israeli officials had originally hoped that U.S. President George Bush would order an American strike on Iran's nuclear facilities before leaving office, as America's military is far better equipped to conduct such a strike successfully than is Israel's. Jerusalem also fears that an Israeli strike, even if it succeeded well enough to delay Iran's nuclear development for a few years, would give Iran international legitimacy for its program, which it currently lacks. Israel, in contrast, would be portrayed as an aggressor, and would be forced to contend alone with Iran's retaliation, which would probably include thousands of missile strikes by Iranian allies Hezbollah, Hamas and perhaps even Syria. Recently, however, Israel has concluded that Bush is unlikely to attack, and will focus instead on ratcheting up diplomatic pressure on Tehran. It prefers to wait until this process has been exhausted, though without conceding the military option.
Israel's assumption is that Iran will continue to use delaying tactics, and may even agree to briefly suspend its uranium enrichment program in an effort to see out the rest of Bush's term in peace. The American-Israeli dispute over a military strike against Iran erupted during Bush's visit to Jerusalem in May. At the time, Bush held a private meeting on the Iranian threat with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and the Israelis presented their request for certain specific items of military equipment, along with diplomatic and security backing. Following Bush's return to Washington, the administration studied Israel's request, and this led it to suspect that Israel was planning to attack Iran within the next few months. The Americans therefore decided to send a strong message warning it not to do so. U.S. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen both visited here in June and, according to the Washington Post, told senior Israeli defense officials that Iran is still far from obtaining nuclear weapons, and that an attack on Iran would undermine American interests.
Therefore, they said, the U.S. would not allow Israeli planes to overfly Iraq en route to Iran. The Americans sent a similar message to Iraq, which had objected vociferously to the idea of its air space being used for an Israeli attack on Iran. These private messages were accompanied by a series of leaks from the Pentagon that Israel interpreted as attempts to thwart any possibility of an attack on Iran. For instance, the Americans revealed details of a major Israel Air Force exercise in the Mediterranean; they also said they doubted Israel had adequate intelligence about Iran's nuclear facilities. In addition, Mullen spoke out publicly against an attack on Iran. Two weeks ago, Barak visited Washington for talks with his American counterpart, Robert Gates, and Vice President Richard Cheney. Both conversations focused on Iran, but the two Americans presented conflicting views: Gates vehemently opposes an attack on Iran, while Cheney is the administration's leading hawk.Barak presented Israel's assessments of the Iranian situation and warned that Iran was liable to advance its nuclear program under cover of the endless deliberations about sanctions - which have thus far produced little in the way of action. He also acknowledged that effective sanctions would require cooperation from Russia, China and India, all of which currently oppose sanctions with real teeth. Russia, however, is considered key to efforts to isolate Iran, and Israeli officials have therefore urged their American counterparts in recent months to tone down Washington's other disputes with Moscow to focus all its efforts on obtaining Russia's backing against Iran. For instance, they suggested that Washington offer to drop its plan to station a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic - a proposal Russia views as a threat, though Washington insists the system is aimed solely at Iran - in exchange for Russia agreeing to stiffer sanctions against Iran.
However, the administration rejected this idea. In an attempt to compensate Israel for having rejected all its proposals, Washington then offered to bolster Israel's defenses against ballistic missiles. For instance, Gates proposed stationing an advanced radar system in Israel and linking Israel directly into America's early warning satellite network; he also offered increased American funding for the development of two Israeli missile defense systems - the Arrow-3, an upgrade of Israel's existing Arrow system for intercepting ballistic missiles, and Iron Dome, a system designed to intercept short-range rockets. In addition, Washington agreed to sell Israel nine Super Hercules long-range transport aircraft for $2 billion.
However, it would not agree to supply Israel with any offensive systems. Now, Israel is awaiting the outcome of the latest talks between the West and Iran, as well as a formal announcement of the opening of an American interests section in Tehran. Israel views the latter as sure proof that Washington is not planning a military strike.7/31/08: Olmert to Quit AFTER ELECTIONS IN SEPTEMBER
8/17/08: Israel to free 200 MORE prisoners as Rice visits Mideast
Ian Gillan ~ Gethsemane
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
~ Genesis 12:3
Want more Babba Zee and scenes from the Outraged Spleen? Try these recent posts: * Missing Links vs the Fall of Night & the Mares it Rides in on * 3 Wood: Dollars vs Euros * INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING UPDATE : GEORGIA |
by Babba Zee
images: Outraged Spleen of Zion
Source: US & Israel Sign Murder-Suicide Pact
WAR!
1942 General MacArthur vows, "I shall return".
2003 A subdued Saddam Hussein appeared on state-run television after the initial U.S. air strike on Baghdad, accusing the United States of a "shameful crime" and urging his people to "draw your sword" against the invaders. American combat units rumbled across the desert into Iraq from the south and U.S. and British forces bombed limited targets in Baghdad. The start of war in Iraq triggered one of the heaviest days of anti-government protesting in years, leading to thousands of arrests across the United States and prompting pro-war counter-demonstrations.
TERRORISM
1993 IRA-bomb kills 3 year old in Warrington England.
1995 In Tokyo, 12 people were killed, more than 5,500 others sickened when packages containing the poisonous gas sarin were leaked on five separate subway trains by Aum Shinrikyo cult members.
DISASTER
1760 Great Fire of Boston destroys 349 buildings.
1972 19 mountain climbers killed on Japan's Mount Fuji during an avalanche.
1998 A tornado in rural northeast Georgia killed at least 13 people and injured 100.
WOW!
1988 8-year-old DeAndra Anrig found herself airborne when the string of her kite was snagged by an airplane flying over Shoreline Park in Mountain View, Calif. (DeAndra was lifted 10 feet off the ground and carried some 100 feet until she let go; she was not seriously hurt.)
MUPPETS
??? Big Bird muppet was born today on in an unknown year.(Sesame Street)
DICTATORS
1992 Manuel Noriega's (Panama) wife Felicidad arrested for stealing buttons from dresses.
PRO WRESTLING
1994 Wrestlemania X at Madison Square Garden New York, Bret "The Hitman" Hart pins Yokozuna to win WWF championship.
PATENTS
1885 John Matzeliger of Suriname patents shoe lacing machine.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
1954 1st newspaper vending machine used (Columbia Pennsylvania).
MURDER
1996 Erik & Lyle Menendez found guilty of killing their parents.
ESCAPES
1815 Napoleon Bonaparte returned to Paris after escaping his exile on Elba, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
CLINTONS
1998 President Clinton's lawyer, appearing before a federal court in Little Rock, Ark., declared that Paula Jones' evidence of sexual harassment was "garbage" unworthy of a trial.
CLUELESSLY IMPOTENT
1980 US appeals to International Court on hostages in Iran.
JEWS
1939 7,000 Jews flee German occupied Memel Lithuania.
BEATLES
1969 John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
HANGED
2007 Saddam Hussein's former deputy, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was hanged in Baghdad, the fourth man to be executed in the killings of 148 Shiites.
GODLESS
1984 Senate rejects amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools.
RESCUED
2007 Rescuers found Michael Auberry, a 12-year-old Boy Scout, who was dehydrated and disoriented after four days in the wooded mountains of North Carolina.
BORN
1902 Edgar Buchanan Humansville MO, actor (Uncle Joe-Petticoat Junction).
1906 Ozzie Nelson Jersey City NJ, actor (Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet).
1908 American broadcasting pioneer Frank Stanton, the president of CBS for 26 years, was born in Muskegon, Mich.
BIRTHDAYS
Producer-director-comedian Carl Reiner is 86. Actor Hal Linden is 77. Singer Jerry Reed is 71. Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney is 69. Country singer Don Edwards is 69. TV producer Paul Junger Witt is 65. Country singer-musician Ranger Doug (Riders in the Sky) is 62. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Bobby Orr is 60. Blues singer-musician Marcia Ball is 59. Actor William Hurt is 58. Rock musician Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake and Palmer) is 58. Rock musician Jimmie Vaughan is 57. Country musician Jimmy Seales (Shenandoah) is 54. Movie director Spike Lee is 51. Actress Theresa Russell is 51. Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway is 51. Actress Holly Hunter is 50. Rock musician Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) is 47. Actress-model Kathy Ireland is 45. Actor David Thewlis is 45. Rock musician Adrian Oxaal (James) is 43. Actress Liza Snyder is 40. Actor Michael Rapaport is 38. Actor Alexander Chaplin is 37. Rock singer Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) is 32. Actor Michael Genadry is 30. Actress Bianca Lawson is 29.
DEATH
1727 Sir Issac Newton English physicist/astronomer, dies in London at 84.
1991 Conor Clapton Eric Clapton's son, falls out of 53rd floor window at 4.
March 20, the 80th day of 2008. There are 286 days left in the year. Spring's arrival: 1:48 a.m. Eastern time.
compiled by Mondoreb
image: granitegrok
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
ICONS
1852 Uncle Sam cartoon figure made its debut in the New York Lantern weekly.
WAR!
2003 U.S. officials said President Bush might delay a vote on his troubled United Nations resolution or even drop it - and fight Iraq without the international body's backing.
DISASTER
1895 Spanish cruiser Reina Regente sinks off Gibraltar, 402 die.
1928 Hundreds of people died when the San Francisquito Valley in California was inundated with water after the St. Francis Dam burst just before midnight the evening of March 12.
1961 Landslide in USSR, kills 145.
1992 570 die in a Turkish earthquake.
1994 Oil tank/airship crash at Bosporus (huge fire/15+ killed).
ATTEMPTS
1915 Dodgers manager Wilbert Robinson tries to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substituted a grapefruit.
PATENTS
1887 Chester Greenwood of Maine patents earmuffs.
DEALS
1677 Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000.
CLIMATE
1888 Great Blizzard of 1888 rages.
1993 Blizzard of '93 hits north-east US.
INVENTIONS
1894 J L Johnstone of England invents horse racing starting gate.
ASSASSINATION
1981 Attempt on Pope John Paul II by Mehemet Ali Agca.
NAZIS
1933 Josef Göbbels becomes German minister of Information & Propaganda.
1938 Anschluß-Austria annexed by Nazi Germany.
TRIALS
1998 Sgt. Maj. Gene McKinney, once the Army's top enlisted man, was acquitted at his court-martial of pressuring military women for sex, but was convicted of trying to persuade his chief accuser to lie.
SCIENCE
1781 The planet Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel. He thought it was a comet.
1925 A law went into effect in Tennessee prohibiting the teaching of the theory of evolution.
JEWS
1656 Jews are denied the right to build a synagogue in New Amsterdam.
1951 Israel demands DM 6.2 billion compensation from Germany.
MURDER
1964 Bar manager Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, 28, was stabbed to death near her New York home; the case generated controversy over charges that Genovese's neighbors had failed to respond to her cries for help.
RESIGNING
1980 Ford Motor Co. Chairman Henry Ford II announced he was stepping down, the same day a jury in Winamac, Ind., found the company innocent of reckless homicide in the fiery deaths of three young women in a Ford Pinto.
2007 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales admitted mistakes in how the Justice Department handled the dismissal of eight federal prosecutors but said he wouldn't resign.
POLITICALLY CORRECT
1988 yielding to student protests, the board of trustees of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a liberal arts college for the hearing-impaired, chose I. King Jordan to become the school's first deaf president.
TRAGEDY
1996 a gunman burst into an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and opened fire, killing 16 children and one teacher before killing himself.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
2007 President Bush sought to soothe strained ties with Mexico by promising to prod Congress to overhaul tough U.S. immigration policies, but Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized U.S. plans for a 700-mile border fence.
ABORTION
2003 The Senate voted 64-33 to ban partial birth abortion.
BORN
1733 Joseph Priestly England, clergyman/scientist (discovered oxygen).
1770 Daniel Lambert England, giant (weighed 739 lbs (334 kg) at death).
1908 American billionaire, publisher and diplomat Walter Annenberg (TV Guide) was born in Milwaukee.
BIRTHDAYS
Jazz musician Roy Haynes is 83. Country singer Jan Howard is 78. Songwriter Mike Stoller is 75. Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka is 69. Actor William H. Macy is 58. Actress Deborah Raffin is 55. Comedian Robin Duke is 54. Actress Glenne Headly is 53. Actress Dana Delany is 52. Rock musician Adam Clayton (U2) is 48. Jazz musician Terence Blanchard is 46. Actor Christopher Collet is 40. Actress Annabeth Gish is 37. Actress Tracy Wells is 37. Rapper Common is 36. Rapper Khujo (Goodie Mob, The Lumberjacks) is 36. Singer Glenn Lewis is 33. Actor Danny Masterson is 32. Actor Emile Hirsch is 23. Singers Nicole and Natalie Albino (Nina Sky) are 22.
DEATH
1901 Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, died in Indianapolis.
1938 Clarence S Darrow Scopes Monkey Trial attorney, dies in Chicago at 80.
Today is March 13, the 73rd day of the year. There are 293 days left in 2008.
compiled by Mondoreb
images:
* sonofthesouth
* allposters
Sources:
* today in history
* Today in History
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page
PROGRESS
1876 the first successful voice transmission over Alexander Graham Bell's telephone took place in Boston as his assistant heard Bell say, "Mr. Watson — come here — I want to see you." (The words were recounted by Bell in his lab notebook.)
WAR!
1848 The Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war with Mexico.
2003 Facing almost certain defeat, the United States and Britain delayed a vote in the U.N. Security Council to give Saddam Hussein an ultimatum to disarm.
2007 President Bush, in Uruguay as part of his Latin America tour, asked Congress for $3.2 billion to pay for 8,200 more U.S. troops needed in Afghanistan and Iraq on top of the 21,500-troop buildup he had announced in January 2007.
TERRORISM
1982 President Reagan proclaims economic sanctions against Libya.
1995 Car bomb explodes in Karachi at shiite mosque, 17+ killed.
2007 In their first direct talks since the Iraq war began, U.S. and Iranian envoys traded harsh words and blamed each other for Iraq's crisis at a one-day international conference.
DISASTER
1902 Earthquake destroys Turkish city of Tochangri.
1906 Coal dust explosion kills 1,060 at Courrieres France.
1939 17 villages damaged by hailstones in Hyderabad India.
1946 Train derailment kills 185 near Aracaju Brazil.
CANCEL
1893 New Mexico State University cancels its 1st graduation ceremony, its only graduate Sam Steele was robbed & killed the night before
PATENTS
1849 Abraham Lincoln applies for a patent; only US President to do so.
1975 Dog spectacles patented in England.
WHAT IF?
1951 FBI director J Edgar Hoover declines post of baseball commissioner.
NANNY STATE
1933 Nevada becomes 1st US state to regulate narcotics.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
1980 Willard Scott becomes the weather forecaster on the Today Show.
FUNERALS
1994 1 million Greeks attend Melina Mercouri's funeral.
CHIX R DIX
2003 Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, told a London audience: "Just so you know ... we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."
BOWLING
1913 William Knox, becomes 1st in American Bowling Congress to bowl 300.
FINANCE
1995 Dow-Jones hits record 4035.64.
DIPLOMACY
1785 Thomas Jefferson was appointed minister to France, succeeding Benjamin Franklin.
ARMY
1880 the Salvation Army arrived in the United States from England.
TREASON
1949 Nazi wartime broadcaster Mildred E. Gillars, also known as "Axis Sally," was convicted in Washington, D.C., of treason. (She served 12 years in prison.)
MURDER
1948 The body of the anti-communist foreign minister of Czechoslovakia, Jan Masaryk, was found in the garden of Czernin Palace in Prague. Authorities said that his death was a suicide, but others continue to claim that he was murdered.
1980 "Scarsdale Diet" author Dr. Herman Tarnower was shot to death in Purchase, N.Y. (Tarnower's former lover, Jean Harris, was convicted of murder; she served nearly 12 years in prison before being released in January 1993.)
JEWS
418 Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire.
BORN
1888 Barry Fitzgerald Dublin Ireland, actor (Academy Award-Going My Way).
1918 Heywood Hale Broun journalist.
1920 Jethro Burns country singer (Homer & Jethro).
1923 Ara Parseghian football coach (Northwestern, Notre Dame).
BIRTHDAYS
Talk show host Ralph Emery is 75. Bluegrass/country singer-musician Norman Blake is 70. Actor Chuck Norris is 68. Playwright David Rabe is 68. Singer Dean Torrence (Jan and Dean) is 68. Actress Katharine Houghton is 63. Rock musician Tom Scholz (Boston) is 61. Producer-director-writer Paul Haggis is 55. Actress Shannon Tweed is 51. Actress Sharon Stone is 50. Rock musician Gail Greenwood is 48. Magician Lance Burton is 48. Actress Jasmine Guy is 46. Rock musician Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) is 45. Music producer Rick Rubin is 45. Britain's Prince Edward is 44. Singer Edie Brickell is 42. Actor Stephen Mailer is 42. Actress Paget Brewster is 39. Country singer Daryle Singletary is 37. Rapper-producer Timbaland is 36. Actor Cristian de la Fuente is 34. Singer Robin Thicke is 31. Actress Bree Turner is 31. Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shannon Miller is 31. Country singer Carrie Underwood is 25. Actress Emily Osment is 16.
DEATH
1985 Konstantin U. Chernenko, who was the Soviet Union's leader for just 13 months, died at age 73.
1988 Pop singer Andy Gibb died in Oxford, England, at age 30 of heart inflammation.
1998 Actor Lloyd Bridges died in Westwood, Calif., at age 85.
2007 Standup comedian Richard Jeni, 49, died at a Los Angeles hospital of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
March 10, the 70th day of 2008. There are 296 days left in the year.
compiled by Mondoreb
image: dkimages
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
KIDNAPPED!
1932 Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J. (Remains identified as those of the child were found the following May.)
WAR!
1896 Battle of Adua: 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians.
2003 Iraq began complying with orders from U.N. weapons inspectors to destroy its Al Samoud II missiles. The United Arab Emirates called for Saddam Hussein to step down, the first Arab country to do so publicly. Turkey's parliament dealt a stunning blow to U.S. war planning by failing to approve a bill allowing in American combat troops to open a northern front against Iraq.
TERRORISM
1954 Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.
1981 Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he died 65 days later.
2003 Suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was captured by CIA and Pakistani agents.
DISASTER
1910 3 passenger trains buried at Steven's Pass in Cascade Range: 118 die; Worst snowslide in US history.
1962 American Airlines 707 plunges nose 1st into Jamaica Bay NY killing 95.
1965 Gas explosion kills 28 in apartment complex (La Salle Québec Canada).
1982 5 die as ski lift malfunctions a Lúz-Ardiden in Pyrenees.
2007 Tornadoes killed 20 people in the Midwest and Southeast, including eight students at Enterprise High School in Alabama.
CUISINE
1784 E Kidner opens 1st cooking school, in Great Britain.
IRONIC
1954 Ted Williams fractures collarbone in 1st game of spring training after flying 39 combat missions without injury in Korean War.
GRAVE ROBBERS
1978 Charlie Chaplin's coffin was stolen from a Swiss cemetery.
UPSETS
1866 Paraguayan canoes sink 2 Brazilian ironclads on Rio Parana.
GERONIMO!
1912 Albert Berry makes 1st parachute jump from an airplane.
MYSTERY SHIP
1854 SS City of Glasgow leaves Liverpool harbor & is never seen again.
WRONG ASSESSMENTS
1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt returns from the Yalta conference and pronounces to Congress that it's a success.
CLIMATE CHANGE
1980 Snow falls in Florida.
CULTS
1970 Charles Manson's album "Lie" is released.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
1957 Kokomo the Chimp becomes Today Show animal editor.
1968 NBC's unprecedented on-air announcement, Star Trek will return.
BLUELIGHT SPECIAL
1962 K-Mart opens.
UNREST
1954 Rebellion during visit of President Naguib in Khartoum Sudan, 30 die.
PANIC
1933 Bank holidays declared in 6 states, to prevent run on banks.
LEVIATHAN
1937 1st permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut).
1946 British Govt takes control of Bank of England, after 252 years.
1994 Senate rejects a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
1996 Plans approved allowing traffic cameras High Harrington & Shap England.
DEATH PENALTY
1847 Michigan becomes 1st English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty (except for treason against the state).
WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS
2007 An independent commission concluded the National Guard and Reserves weren't getting enough money or equipment.
CREDIT
1977 Bank of America adopts the name VISA for their credit cards.
SPIES
1950 Klaus Fuchs sentenced to 14 years for atomic espionage (London).
MARRIAGE
1968 Singers Johnny Cash (36) & June Carter (38) wed.
CALENDARS
1 -BC- Start of revised Julian calendar in Rome.
WATERGATE
1974 Watergate grand jury indicts 7 Presidential aides.
EXECUTED
1947 J Boogaard Nazi collaborator in the Netherlands, executed.
POLITICS
1781 the Continental Congress declared the Articles of Confederation to be in force, following ratification by Maryland.
1790 President Washington signed a measure authorizing the first U.S. Census.
1803 Ohio becomes 17th state.
1845 President Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas.
1867 Nebraska became the 37th state.
1967 U.S. Representative Adam Clayton Powell of New York, accused of misconduct, was denied his seat in the 90th Congress. (The Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that Powell had to be seated.)
CITIES
1642 Georgeana (York) ME became the 1st incorporated American city.
LABOR
1937 US Steel raises workers' wages to $5 a day.
MURDER
1995 Vladislav Listyev Russian TV-journalist, murdered at 38.
NAZIS
1941 Himmler inspects Auschwitz concentration camp.
CIVIL RIGHTS
1780 Pennsylvania becomes 1st US state to abolish slavery (for new-borns only).
1864 Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first black woman to receive an American medical degree, from the New England Female Medical College in Boston.
JEWS
1942 Suriname camp for NSB people opens to save Jews.
1943 Jewish old age home for disabled in Amsterdam raided.
1955 Israeli assault on Gaza, kills 48.
BLOODBATHS
1562 Blood bath at Vassy; General de Guise allows the murder of 1200 Huguenots.
1811 Egyptian king Muhammad Ali Pasha oversees ceremonial murder of 500.
PARKS
1872 President Grant signed a measure creating Yellowstone National Park.
STAMPS
1869 Postage stamps showing scenes are issued for 1st time.
SCANDAL
2007 The Army general in charge of Walter Reed Army Medical Center was relieved of command after disclosures about dilapidated buildings and inadequate treatment of wounded soldiers.
BORN
1904 Glenn Miller bandleader (Glenn Miller Orchestra-In the Mood).
1911 Harry Golombek chess grandmaster.
1917 Dinah Shore Winchester TN, singer (See the USA in a Chevrolet).
BIRTHDAYS
Actor Robert Clary is 82. Singer Harry Belafonte is 81. Former U.S. Solicitor General Robert H. Bork is 81. Actor Robert Conrad is 73. Rock singer Mike D'Abo (Manfred Mann) is 64. Former Sen. John Breaux, D-La., is 64. Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 64. Actor Dirk Benedict is 63. Actor Alan Thicke is 61. Actor-director Ron Howard is 54. Actress Catherine Bach is 54. Country singer Janis Gill (AKA Janis Oliver Cummins) (Sweethearts of the Rodeo) is 54. Actor Tim Daly is 52. Singer-musician Jon Carroll is 51. Rock musician Bill Leen is 46. Actor Russell Wong is 45. Actor John David Cullum is 42. Actor George Eads is 41. Actor Javier Bardem is 39. Rock musician Ryan Peake (Nickelback) is 35. Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar is 34. Actor Jensen Ackles is 30. TV host Donovan Patton is 30. Rock musician Sean Woolstenhulme is 27. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sammie is 21.
DEATH
1991 Edwin H Land inventor (Polaroid Camera), dies at 81.
March 1, the 61st day of 2008. There are 305 days left in the year.
by Mondoreb
image: oregonlive
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Someone must listened. The power of the suggestion.
Two days ago, we wrote a piece taking the FBI to task in the "Baby Grace" case for offering a reward that could only be found by digging into their website documents.
The story was tops on Google and apparently somebody listened: 36 hours later, the FBI has scheduled a news conference for later this morning to formally announce the reward.
Perhaps the reward will somehow help identify who this little girl is.
From the Police News:The Galveston County Sheriff's Office and the FBI will hold a news conference this morning at 10:30 to update the media on the Baby Grace investigation and to formally announce the $20K reward posted by the FBI.
The press conference will be held at the Sheriff's office in the Criminal Justice Center.
Our original story:
FBI Offers $20,000 Reward But Issues No Press Release
The Madeline McCann Connection: What the Definitive Answer?
Read the Rest of the story: "FBI Offers $25,000 Dollar Reward, But Doesn't Announce It".
We’ve been following the story of Baby Grace, the little girl whose body was found on a small inlet on Galveston Bay. A fisherman discovered her October 29th encased in a blue plastic tote that came to rest on a sand bar.
The FBI has a reward of $20,000 for information leading to the identity of Baby Grace. It was tacked onto a poster released by the FBI. It is unknown what date the FBI put out this flier. Although the reward is on the flier, no press release was issued concerning the reward.
The Galveston County Sheriff’s Department has not released any further info on the Baby Grace case. The last known press release was November 12th when CBS News put out its story, “Police Flooded With Baby Grace Tips.”
Why isn't the local press pursuing this? Where's the Houston Chronicle?
The police are sifting through clues and tips; have they ruled any of the little girls they are considering out? There have been no new statements; this does not mean that parents of the missing girls across the country have lost interest in developments in this case.
by Mondoreb
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Is Baby Grace Madeline McCann?
The strange sad case of the little girl found floating in Galveston Bay has taken another turn. Investigators have now said it's now possible that the body of Baby Grace could be that of McCann, who was abducted during a trip to Portugal earlier this year. Earlier reports had ruled out McCann.
More on this sad case and it's developments from the Galveston Daily News:
Investigators haven't formally ruled out the possibility that Baby
Grace is Madeline McCann, the 4-year-old British girl who went missing from her parent's Portuguese hotel room in May, Tuttoilmondo said. But he said despite an Internet effort to link the two, officers are fairly confident the child wasn't McCann. Sheriff's office detectives are collaborating with officials in Great Britain and Portugal to see if dental records and DNA tests can confirm the two cases are
separate.
"She's not off the radar yet," Tuttoilmondo said.
The cases are scattered across the country, he said. Detectives are also looking into the potential that the case could be international, even though the child was found wearing Target-brand clothing only sold in the United States.
Investigators haven’t formally ruled out the possibility that Baby Grace is Madeline McCann, the 4-year-old British girl who went missing from her parent’s Portuguese hotel room in May, Tuttoilmondo said. But he said despite an Internet effort to link the two, officers are fairly confident the child wasn’t McCann. Sheriff’s office detectives are collaborating with officials in Great Britain and Portugal to see if dental records and DNA tests can confirm the two cases are separate.
“She’s not off the radar yet,” Tuttoilmondo said.
Officers continue to receive hundreds of tips, something Tuttoilmondo said he hopes doesn’t stop.
“I’m just waiting for someone to make that call that tells us something that seems incredibly insignificant to them,” he said. “That could be the call that leads us to answers.”
Learning about how Baby Grace died is secondary to finding out who she is, Tuttoilmondo said. The final autopsy report is not yet complete, but once it is, the cause of death will be kept secret to prevent harm to the investigation, Tuttoilmondo said.
Preliminary reports said she had a skull fracture but did not identify that as what killed her.
The case has drawn worldwide attention as the authorities search for the whereabouts of one little girl whose name is known. And try to put a name to the yet-unknown little girl called "Baby Grace".
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 409-766-2222, the agency’s tip line at 866-248-8477 or any Crime Stoppers organization.
by Little Baby Ginn
Back to Front Page.
Kathleen Willey is back in the news and she's saying she doesn't think it was the butler that did it.
Hillary Clinton did the cover-up to what she believes was a suspicious death of her husband. It wouldn't be the first time the Clintons have been hinted at being involved in a suspicious death.
More on this Clintonesque tale from World Net Daily:Willey, who claims she was groped by President Clinton in the White House, acknowledged in an interview with WND today that she stands by the speculation she poses about her husband's demise in "Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton," set for release this week by World Ahead Publishing, WND Books' partner.
A medical examiner had some suspicions too, apparently. According to the book, others are now looking into some familiarly similar events.
Asked if she suspects her husband Ed, a lawyer and son of a prominent Virginia lawmaker, was murdered, Willey replied, "Most definitely."
"I'm having someone with a forensics background look at this, and I intend to pursue this further, now that these questions have been raised," she told WND, pointing to alleged discrepancies in the autopsy report.
Does she believe the Clintons were involved?
"I do have suspicions," Willey said, "yes." Willey said she requested a copy of the autopsy report and spoke to a medical examiner who told her the powder burns on her husband's right hand were consistent with suicide.
"When I asked if the burns were indicative of a left-handed person committing suicide, [the examiner] said no. The room started to spin, and I went into the bathroom and threw up. By the time she sent me the full report, though, she'd reconsidered, saying it could be consistent with a left-handed person. She suggested that he held the gun with both hands but pulled the trigger with his right. That's exactly how Vince Foster is said to have killed himself."
This is not the first time that people who've crossed the Clintons have accused them of being behind burglary. Tapes, manuscripts, documents have all been claimed to have been taken in "mysterious" break-ins, much like Willey described.
This is also not the first time Hillary has been accused of covering up nefarious actions against Clinton political enemies. Is it just a coincidence that every time someone has threatened the Clintons they suffer break-ins--or worse?
Of course, the mainstream media will either ignore this or attack Willey, much as they did Paula Jones and anyone else who brought accusations against Bill Clinton.
The attack poodles will begin tomorrow in the New York Times and Washington Post, and rotten eggs will be splattered by Clinton outpost, Media Matters.
Mark this down. The Clinton War Room "Emergency Media Template" will be followed as it has been whenever these kinds of unpleasant things surface. There will be no answering of anything the book alleges. There will be a 55-gallon drum of mud and invective thrown.
"Journalists" who puff up their chests in pride at their investigative abilities, will suddenly go limp. Investigative lions who roar about taking on the "Big" interests--Oil, Tobacco, Pharmaceuticals--will suddenly turn into kittens at the thought of taking on Big Clinton. Others on the Left will call Willey a "conspiracy nut".
It was Hillary who coined the quaint phrase "Great Right Wing Conspiracy". She believed there was a conspiracy out to get her. Why wasn't Hillary ridiculed for her "conspiracy theory". Why was it that members of her alleged conspiracy, rather than the Clintons, had their homes and offices broken into?
One is then struck by what older people used to say all the time.
"People who can't be trusted don't trust other people."
by Mondoreb & Little Baby Ginn
[hat tip: pat]
Back to Front Page.
She wore a little pinkish red shirt and skirt; her sneakers were white with little pink flower decorations that lit up. A little blonde girl somewhere between the ages of three and five, her body was stuffed in a storage bin floating on the salty blue green waters of Galveston Bay, her skull fractured. The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled that she had been dead for at least two weeks.
No one knows who she is or where she came from. The Galveston authorities have named her “Baby Grace” and have asked for anyone with information about this case to contact them.
Where are this little girl’s parents? No one has come forward to claim his or her precious missing little girl. To me, if her mother were alive, she would have gone to the police when her baby went missing unless, unless… the mother is involved in her baby’s death or the mother is also dead, perhaps the victim of foul play?
My prayers go out to Baby Grace and to the good people of Galveston who are faced with dealing with not only the heinous crime of the murder of an innocent little child but also the mystery of who she was and who the monster, or monsters were that did this to her.
by Little Baby Ginn
[image:oliver maerz]
NOTE: The phone number for the Galveston Police, Jamaica Beach station is 409-766-2100.
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