Saturday, June 30, 2012

Photo for the Day - June 30, 2012

A U.S. paratrooper fires an M240B medium machine gun at insurgent forces during a firefight in southern Afghanistan's Ghazni province, June 15, 2012.

U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod
See more photos at link below…
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AubreyJ………
ROMNEY2012

Thursday, June 28, 2012

This post on top for the rest of the Day -- Scroll below for updates on Attorney General Erick Holder in Contempt of Congress
Supreme Court, In a Nutshell, Upholds
Health-Care Reform Law
Chief Justice JOHN G. ROBERTS, JR Was Swing Vote
** Obamacare Still Stands **
Welcome fellow Americans to the Biggest Tax Increase in U.S. History
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.Supreme Court Building - (Franz Jantzen)
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The Supreme Court upheld the Health Care Law today giving President Obama a MAJOR VICTOY… for now.
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In a Nutshell… the justices ruled the individual mandate, the part of the Law that requires most Americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine, is constitutional AS A TAX. (But remember… this bill was run down our throats with the premise… “This is NOT a TAX! That it wouldn’t coast you anymore.” Remember that one my friends, for you will be hearing a LOT more about just this for a LONG time forward.)
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One big surprise this morning was that Chief Justice Roberts is the one to end up providing the key vote… NOT Justice Kennedy!
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As has been said for months and years now… You NEVER can read into what these men and women on the Supreme Court will rule, on any given case! How TRUE… How True.
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Again… Obamacare Still Stands BUT as the Biggest Tax Increase on the Middle-Class Ever!
Meaning for one… If you don’t buy Health Insurance, YOU WILL have the IRS on your case!
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Chief Justice of the United States
JOHN G. ROBERTS, JR-
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Associate Justices
ANTONIN SCALIA-
ANTHONY M. KENNEDY-
CLARENCE THOMAS-
RUTH BADER GINSBURG-
STEPHEN G. BREYER-
SAMUEL A. ALITO, JR-
SONIA SOTOMAYOR-
ELENA KAGAN-
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My Take:
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Thursday, June 28, 2012
4:15pm CDT
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 This argument, by both Parties, that you can keep your existing HealthCare Plan if you wish is wonderful… well, it is not. Insurance is already being run up… making many to wonder.
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 Now I do not know about you guys but I have noticed that over the last year or so even the BEST of Insurance Policies have changed so much and stopped paying nearly as much as they use to on their coverage, putting a strong squeeze on those that have surgery and expensive test. And yes… my wife and I are two of those in that boat.
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In many ways I’m glad the Supreme Court ruled that the individual mandate, the part of the Law that requires most Americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine, is constitutional but AS A TAX, instead of throwing it out.
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This takes the Dems argument that it is all politics on the Supreme Court’s part right out of there, them dang Republicans, and now puts it ALL right back on them instead. Yes, this will become the Largest Tax Increase in U.S. History! And it will surely fall hard on many in the middle class.
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How soon so many forget that this bill was ran down our throats with the premise… “This is NOT a TAX… that it would NOT cost you ONE CENT MORE!” That’s President Obama’s words, and nearly EVERY Democrat in Congress… not mine. (And they said Bush lied!)
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Remember that one my friends, for you will be hearing a LOT more about just that for a LONG time forward. For the way I see it… the Sleeping Giant has been reawakened just like in 2010, but even more so -- if that is even possible.
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Now don’t get me wrong… we SOOO need Major Change in our Healthcare Laws and fast. But this 2,700 some odd page monstrosity that even the best of Lawyers have a hard time wrapping their heads around must GO! This time around though, let’s PLEASE get it right and on bipartisan bases.
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There really are parts of Obamacare that are popular and need to stay… but so much of it that needs to go. So to get it done we’ll need this November to get the Dems and Obama out of charge of the White House and Senate and just get on with it.
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No… that DOESN’T mean running it down the throats of our Democrat friends either. It HAS to be done with both sides on board and hard work. Only then will the American peoples start having faith in their government again and finally get a new Healthcare Bill that we ALL can be proud of. Obama promised us just that… along with all that Hope and Change. But look at all the mess we have now instead.
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With all that said… and everything stands as is… sadly, I see the beginning of ALL of us being FORCED, slowly but surely, into going on the NEW Government Health-Care Plan and just forced to suck it up!
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CHANGE is happening my friends. It’s happening right now, as I type… but in a very BAD WAY!
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    AubreyJ………
    Aubrey J. Fawcett
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ROMNEY2012

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Emil Inc. - "Man On The Throne" - HD
SORRY -- Just couldn’t help myself!
This Music Video posted on YouTube by reflectionpictures
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Obama Asserts Executive Privilege Backing Embattled Attorney General Over Fast and Furious - Today House voted and Passed to Hold Attorney General Erick Holder in Contempt of Congress


United States Department of Justice Official Portrait
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President Obama Asserts Executive Privilege
Backing His Embattled Attorney General Erick Holder Over Botched Arms Smuggling Operation Fast and Furious
Today the House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress with a vote of 255-67 on criminal contempt charges and 258-95 on civil contempt charges
Thursday, June 28, 2012
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CBS brings us this up to date report at 4:35pm CDT and it starts off like this... The House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress Thursday for failing to provide documents relating to the Fast and Furious gunwalking program… The House took two votes, one on criminal contempt charges, which passed 255-67. The criminal contempt of Congress is likely not to go anywhere as the Justice Department, which Holder heads, is the department responsible for opening a criminal investigation… The second charge, which passed 258-95, was a civil contempt charge, could move to federal court where it could take years to litigate. Though the action puts more pressure on the administration to abide by the subpoenas and provide requested documents… The Democratic Party was split on the action. Seventeen members voted with the Republicans to hold Holder in criminal contempt while just under two dozen voted to hold him in civil contempt. But most, led by the Congressional Black Caucus, walked off the floor to protest the vote, which they called "appalling."…
Read the full report at link below…
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More to come and that’s a certain!
AubreyJ………
ROMNEY2012
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Sunday, June 24, 2012

TROPICAL STORM DEBBY - June 2012



TROPICAL STORM DEBBY
UPDATE: MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 40 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. LATEST FORECAST TRACK ANTICIPATES THE STORM MOVING VERY SLOWLY EASTWARD ACROSS THE NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA PENINSULA DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. DEBBY IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN TO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO AS IT MOVES OVERLAND AND THEN OUT INTO THE ATLANTIC.
Last updated:
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
2:40pm CDT
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Read the Latest
Tropical Storm DEBBY
Public Advisory
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AubreyJ………
ROMNEY2012
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All Info/Images from NOAA.gov website
This will be my last update on this storm unless situation warrants
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2- Turkey Vows Response to Syria Shooting Down Their Fighter Jet Friday


Turkey Vows Response to Syria Shooting Down
Their Fighter Jet Friday
Retaliatory Action Could Be Diplomatic or…
Sunday, June 24, 2012
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Image credit-Turkey Air Force- F-4-Phantom Fighter Jet
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* CBC News had this AP report posted up early Saturday morning and it starts off like this… Turkey's president says his country would take the “necessary” action against Syria, a day after Damascus said it had shot a Turkish military plane that had entered its air space… Abdullah Gul said Saturday that Turkey was still trying to establish the exact circumstances of the incident but conceded the jet may have strayed into Syrian air space. He's convening another security meeting Saturday… Germany and Iraq urged Turkey and Syria to remain calm and not let the unrest in Syria become a wider conflict in the area…
Read the rest at link below…
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* LATimes.com had this report posted up on their website early this Sunday morning and it goes in part like this. …Turkey has said it would act “with determination” once the facts were clarified… Turkey is a NATO member and was probably consulting the United States and other allies before deciding how to respond. But there was no public indication that Turkey was seeking support from North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies for retaliatory action
Read this report in full at link below…
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POST UPDATE:
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
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* Google had the following AP report posted mid Tuesday afternoon and it starts off like this… Turkey warned Syria on Tuesday to keep its forces away from the countries' troubled border or risk an armed response -- a furious reply to the downing of a Turkish military plane last week by the Damascus regime… NATO backed up Turkey and condemned Syria for shooting down the plane but stopped short of threatening military action, reflecting its reluctance to get involved in a conflict that could ignite a broader war…
Read the full report at link below…
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* NYTimes.com reports it this way… Buoyed by support from his country’s NATO allies, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Syrian forces on Tuesday to stay clear of their troubled border or face a Turkish military response to any perceived threat, following the disputed downing of a Turkish warplane…
Read the rest at link below…

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POST UPDATE:
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
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* AsiaOne.com reports… Turkey is not going to war with neighboring Syria over the shooting down of a Turkish warplane, its prime minister said Wednesday but analysts expect a higher risk of clashes on the border…
Read this report in full at link below…
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As said, all this mess will be settled through Diplomatic efforts -- NOT Military Might. That is as long as another shoe doesn’t drop on the situation all of a sudden, spinning everything out of control. In that part of the world… one never really knows.
AubreyJ………
ROMNEY2012
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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

1- Obama Asserts Executive Privilege Backing Embattled Attorney General Over Fast and Furious


United States Department of Justice Official Portrait
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President Obama Asserts Executive Privilege
Backing His Embattled Attorney General Erick Holder Over Botched Arms Smuggling Operation Fast and Furious
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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How fast the news can change and in just a few hours too!
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I… like many others have been keeping up with all this news over the botched arms smuggling operation “Fast and Furious”. But to the best of my knowledge, I haven’t posted anything on all this mess and it has been going on for over a year now. That is until early this Wednesday morning when EVERYTHING CHANGED and sent the News Media into all kinds of a reporting frenzy.
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What set everyone off? President Obama did when he granted his Attorney General Eric Holder permission to assert executive privilege to withhold documents from the Republican-Led Congressional Committee. What a mess!!!
Here’s what started the chain of events this morning…
(Deputy Attorney General James Cole sent the following letter to Issa)

The Honorable Darrell E. Issa
Chairman
June 20, 2012
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

    After you rejected the Department's recent offers of additional accommodations, you stated that the Committee intends to proceed with its scheduled meeting to consider a resolution citing the Attorney General for contempt for failing to comply with the Committee's subpoena of October 11, 2011. I write now to inform you that the President has asserted executive privilege over the relevant post-February 4, 2011, documents.

    We regret that we have arrived at this point, after the many steps we have taken to address the Committee's concerns and to accommodate the Committee's legitimate oversight interests regarding Operation Fast and Furious. Although we are deeply disappointed that the Committee appears intent on proceeding with a contempt vote, the Department remains willing to work with the Committee to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution of the outstanding issues…
Read Letter in full and more HERE
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* FOX News just posted this up-to-date report and it starts off like this… Rep. Darrell Issa pressed ahead with a committee vote Wednesday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, despite an eleventh-hour move by President Obama to assert executive privilege over the Fast and Furious documents at the heart of the dispute… The announcement touched off a caustic debate on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that lasted well into the afternoon, as Democrats accused Issa of prosecuting a "political witch hunt" and Republicans stepped up their criticism of Holder's "stonewalling" over the Fast and Furious probe. Even for Washington, the tone at the hearing was decidedly bitter and accusatory… The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was first informed of the president's decision to assert executive privilege in a letter Wednesday morning, shortly before the contempt vote was scheduled….
Read the full report at link below…
* New York Post Opinion Columnist Michael A. Walsh writes in part: …Issa surely feels like Charlie Brown charging the football, with Holder as Lucy. For over a year, he’s been trying to pin down the slippery AG, issuing one “last chance” after another, dragging Holder in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (on top of Senate appearances) and firing off angry letter after angry letter… Each time, Holder has scampered off, meeting Issa’s legitimate demands with contempt -- for the congressman, the Congress itself and the rule of law.
He tried it again yesterday after his offer was rebuffed, calling Issa’s demands “political gamesmanship” and cracking, “The ball’s in their court.” Um… no, Mr. Attorney General. The ball’s in your court…
Read Walsh’s take in full at link below…
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More to come and that’s a certain!
AubreyJ………
ROMNEY2012
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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

#40- AubreyJ’s Energy Update Report - June 13, 2012


AubreyJ’s Energy Update Report
Iraq to Overtake Iran as OPEC’s Second Biggest Producer
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Image credit Chesapeake
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* Reuters brings us the following report and it starts off like this… Iraq’s rise is upsetting OPEC’s power balance. For the last decade, the oil cartel has let the Gulf country produce crude without an output quota. The exemption allowed Iraq the freedom to invest in its war-damaged oil industry. That reconstruction is picking up pace - production is now higher than before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Iraq is set to overtake Iran as OPEC’s second biggest producer. The rapid increase in output is an urgent challenge for OPEC’s oil ministers who are meeting this week in Vienna….
Read the rest at link below…
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* Also from Reuters is this report and it goes in part like this… A mutual need for oil above $110 a barrel to balance their budgets is expected to prompt Iran and Iraq to call for Saudi Arabia, pumping its highest in decades, to cut back when producers meet in Vienna on Thursday… Oil has fallen $30 since March to below $100 as oil stocks build and the economy wobbles. That falls short of the $100-$120 range that Iraqi Oil Minister and current OPEC President Abdul Kareem Luaibi says is reasonable...
Read this report in full at link below…
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Meanwhile, back to the States and my main love -- Natural Gas!
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Here’s a fun question for ya:
Just how much Shale Gas is there in the U.S.?
Would you believe…?
• Enough natural gas to meet US electricity demands for 575 years.
• Enough to fuel U.S. homes heated by natural gas for 857 years.
• MORE Natural Gas than Russia, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkmenistan… COMBINEED!
USA, USA, USA!!!
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* Gary Hunt wrote the following, in part, back on Feb. 15th… Low energy prices also bring energy security as long as reliable supply is sustained reducing American dependence on imported oil and natural gas from the Middle East and reducing the volatility of oil prices as demand is distributed across wider global supply opportunities from shale. Low energy prices especially in oil undermine the economies of OPEC member states and reduce their geopolitical and global economic leverage. This can lead to a change in US foreign policy priorities away from the Middle East
Read the full report at link below…
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* Steve Levine wrote this article back on May 31st and it starts off like this… One of the most consequential energy decisions on the Obama Administration's plate isn't one typically discussed in the election-year hot house -- whether to expand drilling, allow the expansion of a pipeline for Canadian oil sands, or to throw clean-tech entrepreneurs to the sharks… It is whether to more fully open the floodgates of the U.S. natural gas boom on the world by permitting greater exports of shale gas. The appearance of large volumes of U.S. shale gas on the global market could rattle geostrategy and markets from Russia, to Europe, China and the Middle East… Shale gas drillers -- saddled with a glut of gas, and fire-sale prices -- are pushing hard for permission to build liquefied natural gas terminals and export some of their supply, perhaps 60 billion cubic meters a year, especially to Asia…
Read the rest at link below
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* Forbes.com reports
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AubreyJ………
ROMNEY2012

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Pakistan/Afghanistan: On Ground Updates - June 09, 2012


Pakistan/Afghanistan: On Ground Updates
“We are reaching the limits of our patience, and for that reason it is extremely important that Pakistan take action to prevent this kind of safe haven.”
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta
Kabul, Afghanistan, June o7, 2012
READ the story HERE
.U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta walks with Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony in New Delhi, June 06, 2012. Panetta and Antony discussed the stable and well-developed defense relationship between the two countries and the possibility of India taking a larger role in Afghanistan.
DoD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo
* NYDailyNews.com had this report up Friday afternoon and it starts off like this… Expressing both public and private frustration with Pakistan, the Obama administration has unleashed the CIA to resume an aggressive campaign of drone strikes in Pakistani territory over the last few weeks, approving strikes that might have been vetoed in the past for fear of angering Islamabad… Now, said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity in discussing sensitive issues, the administration's attitude is, "What do we have to lose?"… Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta made clear the deteriorating relations with Islamabad on Thursday, saying the United States is "reaching the limits of our patience" because Pakistan has not cracked down on local insurgents who carry out deadly attacks on U.S. troops and others in neighboring Afghanistan… "It is difficult to achieve peace in Afghanistan as long as there is safe haven for terrorists in Pakistan," Panetta told reporters…
Read the rest at link below
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* FOXNews.com also had a great report posted up on their website Friday and it starts off like this… Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has not visited Pakistan since taking over as defense secretary a year ago… In a visit to India and Afghanistan this week, he skipped Islamabad again and expressed outright frustration with the Pakistani leadership and the safe havens they provide the Taliban in the Northwest Frontier province, especially the so-called Haqqani network… Admiral Mike Mullen in a parting shot at the Pakistanis did not mince his words when he said Pakistan's intelligence service provides direct support of the Haqqani network, whose fighters are killing US troops in Afghanistan….
Read this report in full/watch the News Video at link below…
US will do whatever necessary to protect forces in Pakistan, Panetta says
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* DAWN.com has the following report posted Saturday and it starts off like this… So it was a bad sign this week when the US defense secretary joshed in front of an audience of Indians about how Washington kept Pakistan in the dark about the raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden a year ago… “They didn’t know about our operation. That was the whole idea,” Leon Panetta said with a chuckle at a Q&A session after a speech in New Delhi, raising laughs from the audience… The Bin Laden raid by US commandos in a Pakistani town infuriated Islamabad because it had no advance notice, and it was seen by Pakistan’s powerful military as a humiliation… The US and Pakistan are starting to look more like enemies than allies, threatening the US fight against Taliban and al-Qaida militants based in the country and efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan before American troops withdraw…
Read the full report at link below…
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* HindustanTimes.com has this interesting Book Review that goes in part like this. Pakistani Journalist Ahmed Rashid, an astute chronicler of the troubled region, believes that talk about a peaceful transition to a workable Afghan State in 2014 is delusional, and smacks of tired spin. In ‘Pakistan On The Brink’, a collection of essays on the future of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the West, Rashid’s vision of the region is unrelentingly bleak. Nuclear-armed Pakistan, he writes, is on the verge of State collapse and becoming an international pariah, Afghanistan is far from ready for competent self-rule, and the US has no strategic vision for stabilising the region. So it is hurtling towards “greater conflict and contradiction rather than peaceful resolution and reconciliation”…
Read this review in full at link below
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AubreyJ………
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Photo for the Day - June 09, 2012


U.S. Soldiers Patrol in Afghanistan's Shaway Valley
U.S. Army Cpl. Brian Lewis greeted an Afghan boy while conducting a dismounted patrol in Shaway Valley in Afghanistan's Khowst province, June 02, 2012. Lewis, a team leader, is assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment.
View DoD Photo Essay HERE
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Epperson
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Thursday, June 07, 2012

After just over a year in Space, USAF TOP-SECRET Robotic Space Plane, the X-37B is to land in a few weeks

Image Credit NASA-MSFC
Post Date: Thursday, June 07, 2012
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According to VAFB officials back on May 30th, the US Air Force’s new Space Spy Plane, the X-37B that has been in Space for just over a year now, will finally be landing within the next few weeks at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. That is weather/technical conditions permitting of course.
Click out this fun read I ran across today at the Wyndham Weekly website…
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More on this whenever we get some good sound updates out of VAFB!
AubreyJ………
ROMNEY2012
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Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Wisconsin Recall Elections - Tuesday, June 05, 2012

-- Wisconsin Recall Elections --
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and Four Republican State Senators Face Recall Elections Today
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
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Normally I do not post on general local elections but this round of BS has too much implication on National Politics for years to come not to mention the Presidential Election in November. Whoever wins or loses today, one way or the other… is surely going to make a BIG impact on BOTH!
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I’m going out of my way right now to predict that Governor Walker wins this thing hands down tonight. (Polls I’ve seen over the last week suggest it to be so.) But the fate of the others… well I’m not so much sure on them. Yet, I’m really hoping Walker carries them all to a win too. We shall see soon enough.
That’s it for now… until the final results come in later tonight.........

GOOD LUCK to ALL my Republican friends!
Polls close 8:00pm CDT
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POST UPDATE:
9:10pm CDT
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Governor Scott Walker
And
Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch
BOTH Projected Winners in their Recall Elections!
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
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POST UPDATE:
11:50pm CDT
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ALL FOUR REPUBLICANS –
Jerry Petrowski, Terry Moulton, Van Wanggaard and Scott Fitzgerald
Kept Their Seats and by GOOD Margins Too!
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Keep up with the latest election results at…
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POST UPDATE:
Early Wednesday afternoon
June 06, 2012
12:35pm CDT
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Well… it’s looking like many of us are going to have to take back what we predicted last night saying ALL FOUR Republicans will keep their sets. Sadly, it is now looking like one of them might have lost by just under 800 votes and if it turns out to be so… the Dems will assume control of the Wisconsin State Senate.
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As of now and after the last votes were counted this morning… it looks like JOHN LEHMAN (D) got 50.5% of the vote and if all goes well for him, will have squeaked out a win over incumbent Van Wanggaard (R) who got 49.5% of the vote. That’s a 779 vote count difference between the two men and I’m sure a RECOUNT is now in the making… OHHH LORD… HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! LOL………
Read the report by JSOnline.com at link below…
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Now… if I was Van Wanggaard, I’d be making SURE a recount happens. Funny how those numbers changed late last night to this morning by such a LARGE margin… Just saying!
ANYWAY… again I say…
CONGRATS to ALL our Republican winners!
And thank you Wisconsin…
It was one heck of a night for you…
and this Great Country of ours.
AubreyJ………
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