HOME PAGE: No matter what your political views might be... One thing is for certain. In these days of fast news and even faster life styles... We all seem to have forgotten those moments in history that so abruptly and tragically changed this beloved Country of ours... 9/11… How soon we forget…
No. 037-09 January 16, 2009 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Marquis R. Porter, 28, of Brighton, Mass., died January 11th as a result of a non-hostile incident in Anbar province, Iraq.He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The incident is under investigation. For additional background information on this Marine, news media representatives may contact the 2nd Marine Division public affairs office at (910) 450-6575.
* Photo for the Day *Capt. C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger * A True American Hero * About Photo: Before you stands one Capt. C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger, a US Airways Pilot who was definitely blessed in giving the performance of a miracle emergency landing in the Hudson River today. Read the story HERE Lots of Photos HERE . * The following link is to a NEWS Video with CNN's Wolf Blitzer and one of the passengers on the US Airways plane that recounts the day's event. Click HERE to view- Video 13:25 minutes long . * KOAA.com reports it this way... "Miracle on the Hudson"--everyone survives plane crash
*********************. ‘Miracle on the Hudson’
FoxNews.com brings us this News Video W/ Greta Van Susteren
President Bush Gives Farewell Address to Nation Thursday, January 15, 2009
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About photo: President George W. Bush embraces his daughters Barbara and Jenna as he receives a standing ovation from invited guests and members of his staff and Cabinet at the conclusion of his televised farewell address to the nation Thursday evening, January 15, 2009, in the East Room of the White House. White House photo by Chris Greenberg
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President Bush on Thursday said, "It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country, and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other - citizen of the United States of America. And so, my fellow Americans, for the final time: Good night. May God bless this house and our next President. And may God bless you and our wonderful country." Read the TranscriptHERE
Watch the Video HERE Info/Photo/Video courtesy of the White House
.. *****************. Well done, Mr. President... And thank you... AubreyJ.........
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has issued a new audio message to his followers, calling for a holy war against Israel. The White House is saying new bin Laden Tape is an “Effort to Raise Money.” Wednesday, January 14, 2009 .. File photo from: Rewards for Justice .. * Telegraph.co.uk brings us the following repot and it goes in part like this... ...In a message entitled "A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza", the speaker called for a jihad against the Israeli offensive against Hamas and criticised Arab regimes for preventing their people who want to "liberate Palestine"... He added: "God has bestowed us with the patience to continue the path of jihad for another seven years, and seven and seven years... "The question is, can America continue its war with us for several more decades to come? Reports and evidence would suggest otherwise."...
. *************************************** . * AP had this take on the bin Laden Tape...
The White House said Wednesday that the recent audiotape believed to carry a message from Osama bin Laden reflects the "isolation" of the al-Qaida leader whose influence over the terrorist network has waned... "Wherever he is, he's in a deep hole," Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview Wednesday with PBS' "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer." "He does not have much impact on the organization as best we can tell."... Read the rest at link below... White House: Audiotape shows bin Laden is isolated . ********************** CBS.comhad this News Video Report posted on their website earlier this evening...
About Video:CBSNews.com- In just six days, Barack Obama will be sworn-in as President of the United States. Today, Osama bin Laden marked the occasion with a new threat. But in an exclusive interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric, the president-elect sent a message of his own for bin Laden and his terror network. . ******************* AubreyJ.........
No. 028-08 January 13, 2009 DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Bennett, 23, of Clifton, Va.,died January 11th as a result of a non-hostile incident in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The incident is currently under investigation. For additional background information on this Marine, news media representatives may contact the 2nd Marine Division public affairs office at (910) 450-6575.
No. 027-09 January 13, 2009 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pvt. Sean P. McCune, 20, of Euless, Texas, died January 11th in Samarra, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. For more information the media may contact U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii, public affairs office at (808) 656-3157 or (808) 656-3160.
AubreyJ’s Energy Update Report Let’s get caught up with Mr. T. Boone Pickens Monday, January 12, 2008 .Image credit: John McCain’s Campaign Website . ************************** . Yes We Can, and Yes We Will
From T. Boone Pickens’ Video Blog . ************************ . Following is from an email I received last week by Mr. Pickens himself.
It goes as follows....
Army! . We have to stay on offense! We can’t let the new Congress and the new Administration shove our dependence on foreign oil to the back burner. . Here’s why. When we started the Pickens Plan last July, oil was at about $147 per barrel, gasoline at the pump was $4.11, and we were importing about 70 percent of the oil we use. Today oil is $100 per barrel less, but we are still importing about 70 percent of our oil. . Why is this important? Because we are still at the mercy of foreign governments and unstable areas of the world for our oil supply. . It is still a crisis, but it’s also an opportunity for us to fix it. . Look at the headlines from just the past couple of days. . -Oil up $5 on OPEC cuts. -Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine. -Iran calls for oil embargo for supporters of Israel. . Just before the holidays, OPEC met to try to raise oil prices. OPEC delivers 40 percent of the daily oil supply. They decided to cut their output by 2.2 million barrels per day to try and get the price back in the $70 range. . You’ve heard me tell you before that if consumption runs short of supply, then the only way to balance the books is by raising the price. What have we seen? Gasoline at the pump has jumped back over $2 per gallon in many areas and is moving back up. . Next headline: On New Year’s Day, Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine in a dispute over prices and payments. . According to Reuter’s news service, “That has hit natural gas supplies to countries in eastern and southern Europe facing freezing temperatures and has worried European countries, which get one fifth of their gas through pipelines that cross Ukraine.” . Think about that: The Russian government is willing to force its customers to pay whatever price it sets by cutting off supplies; not threatening to cut off supplies, but by actually doing it in the coldest part of winter. . We don’t rely on Russia for our natural gas. We don’t import any of it, and we have plenty of our own natural gas supply. . The problem comes from that second headline – what happens if Iran and other Mideast and African countries decide to use oil as a weapon against us like Russia is using natural gas as a weapon against Ukraine? . I’m not making this up. Here is what the Iranian News Agency reported over the weekend:
. "Pointing at Westerners' dependence on the Islamic countries' oil and energy resources, [Iranian leaders] called for cutting the export of crude oil to the Zionist regime's supporters the world over.” . Iran understands how to leverage our over-dependence on foreign oil. OPEC understands how to manage output. We are left without any weapons in this price war. . We have to remind our leaders in Washington that whether oil is a $50 a barrel or $150 a barrel it is the level of our dependence on foreign oil, not just the price, which puts us all at the mercy of unfriendly foreign governments and you don’t know when they will move against us. . -- Boone
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P.S.If you haven’t yet joined your Pickens Plan District Group, click HERE to join today.
Second Stage of *Operation 'Cast Lead* Continues throughout the Gaza Strip Day Fourteen-Fifteen-Sixteen-Seventeen - Week Three Retaliation for Ongoing Rocket Attacks against the Jewish State Israel/Palestinian Conflict Post Dates: Friday-Monday, January 09-12, 2009 This post moved on top today from Friday’s original posting - Scroll below for newer post
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Photo from IDF ... . Operation Continues: Anti-Tank Missiles Fired Upon IDF Forces
As the ground operation continues, Friday (Jan. 9), several armed Hamas operatives were hit in the northern Gaza Strip. During a Paratrooper Brigade operation, forces identified a booby-trapped house with several mines planted inside. Over the course of a Golani Brigade operation, which also occurred in the northern Gaza Strip, anti-tank missiles were fired at the forces. The Golani forces responded with precise fire and identified directly hitting terrorists. In a different incident, Armored Corps forces targeted a building that was housing terrorists. It is from this build Sergeant Amit Robinson was shot and killed on Thursday (Jan. 8), when snipers opened fire at IDF forces. . In addition, the IAF struck over 70 targets throughout Friday (Jan. 9), which include 15 rocket launching sites and an armed rocket launcher, and rocket launching squads that launched rockets into Ashkelon earlier during the day. Furthermore, three houses belonging to Hamas terror operatives that were used as weapons storage facilities, two weapons smuggling tunnels, four weapons storage facilities, 20 terror operatives and a vehicle transporting with armed terrorists were targeted. . On Thursday night (Jan. 8), the IN struck at least ten armed terror operatives in the central Gaza Strip. IN forces continued providing support to the Ground Forces throughout their operation in the Gaza Strip.
Info from IDF Official Website . ********************************* . . IDF Paratroopers Fight Their Way Through Gaza's Streets
About Raw Video: An IDF Paratroop Unit fight their way thru North Gaza coming up against enemy fire and discovering Hamas weapons, uniforms, bombs and bomb making plans along the way... In a pinpoint operation conducted by IDF forces in coordination with the ISA this morning, soldiers targeted and identified hitting a number of Islamic Jihad operatives who in recent days launched rockets into Israel... Video posted on LiveLeak by barnesy . ********************************* . JerusalemOnline.com Israel’s Channel 2 News Online Click out their Daily News ReportHERE (Due to HEAVY Internet traffic, News Video may take a few to load) . ****************** . * Here’s some Links out of Israel for you... Most with 24/7 up-to-date News on this Operation . * YNET News * Arutz Sheva *Jerusalem Post *DEBKAfile *(IDF)-Israel Defense Forces * (YouTube)-IDF Spokesperson's Unit *(MFA)-Israel Ministry Of Foreign Affairs . ******************************
Click Banner above to get all the Updated News from the ones making it... The Israeli Defense Forces! .. ******************. No Cease Fire In Gaza
About Video: Fighting continues in Gaza, as both Israeli and Hamas leaders have abandoned the U.N. cease-fire plans. CBS News Mark Phillips reports from along the Israeli-Gaza border. News Video Report posted on YouTube by CBS
*************** . POST UPDATE: Saturday, January 10, 2009 . ‘Quote for the Week’
Livni BIO photo from MFS.gov.il . “...When we left Gaza, Hamas used to write on billboards that terror won and Israel left Gaza because of terror. So today the message for the Palestinians is that we left the Gaza Strip in order to create hopes for peace. But now we are coming back because of terror..." By Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Read the story behind the QuoteHERE . **************** . POST UPDATE: Sunday, January 11, 2009 . * MedicineHatNews.com has this report posted on their website this Sunday morning and it starts off like this... Israeli troops made their deepest advance into the Gaza Strip's most heavily populated area Sunday, encountering increasingly fierce resistance from Hamas fighters... Speaking to his cabinet, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the country "is nearing" its goals, but that the offensive will continue despite global calls for a ceasefire, led by the United Nations Security Council... Israel warned Gaza's 1.4 million residents Saturday that it plans to escalate a devastating air and ground assault that already has killed more than 800 Palestinians... Read the full report at link below... Israeli troops meet fierce Hamas resistance in Gaza City suburb . * Telegraph.co.uk has this report... Israel has signaled that it is close to achieving its goal of destroying the military wing of Hamas but said its offensive would continue for several more days... Read the rest at link below... Israel 'close to destroying military wing of Hamas' . ********************* . Hamas Map Found in Operation
About Video: Hamas turn a Gaza neighborhood into a warzoneThis map, confiscated Wednesday (Jan. 7th) by IDF paratroopers operating in the north of Gaza, shows how Hamas uses an entire neighborhood, rigging it with explosive devices and putting the entire civilian population at great risk. The map shows the al-Tatraa neighborhood in Gaza City divided into three areas of operation (red, blue and green). The dots on the map indicate where Hamas operatives had planted a variety of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), with the colors indicating the type of IED. . Additional marks show sniper positions next to mosques. Next to the entrance of the el-Tawid mosque near to Shauuda Plaza at the top left of the map there is a sniper posting with marking indicating the direction of fire marked on the map. At the bottom center of the map there is a gas station where Hamas planted an IED which, if activated, could cause a very large explosion throughout the neighborhood.
An overall study of the map demonstrateshow Hamas deliberately uses civilians, using them as live targets and hiding behind them; they plant IEDs at the enterances of homes, they booby trap homes and they use places of worship, all with no regard to collateral damage or civilian lives.. Video/Info posted on YouTube by idfnadesk . ********************** . IDF has the following update for us today...
IAF Strikes Head of Hamas Military Wing . Throughout Saturday night (Jan. 10th), IAF forces continued striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. One of the targets was the house of the head of Hamas's military wing, Ahmed Jabri, in Sajaiya. . The IAF struck over 60 targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including a mosque in the city of Rafah used for storing weaponry, such as machine guns and sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles. The mosque was also used as a training camp and a meeting place for Hamas members. Similarly, the Air Force carried out aerial strikes on 10 weaponry storage facilities (some located in houses belonging to Hamas operatives), 10 squads of armed operatives, nine weapons smuggling tunnels in the Philadephi Corridor in the Rafah area, three launching sites, an underground rocket launcher, and a Hamas police station. . IDF Infantry Corps, Armored Corps, Engineering Corps, Artillery Corps and Intelligence Corps forces continue to operate against Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. The forces were involved in a number of incidents in which several armed operatives were hit. Armored Corps and Paratrooper Brigade forces identified a group of armed operatives and assisted in guiding IAF forces to the operative cell. In a separate incident, IDF forces in the northern Gaza Strip identified an armed operative planting an explosive device and fired at him. Info from IDF official website - Photo credit: IDF Spokesperson . ************************ . PM Olmert's Remarks at start of Weekly Cabinet Meeting Sunday, January 11, 2009 . Following are Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 11 January 2009: . "For three weeks now, the State of Israel has been making an impressive military effort in the Gaza Strip in order to change the security situation in the south of the country. For many years we've demonstrated restraint. We reined our reactions. We bit our lips and took barrage after barrage. No country in the world - not even those who preach morality to us - would have shown similar patience and self-control. At the end of the day, the sense of responsibility and the obligation to defend our citizens, after endless warnings, led us to the unavoidable decision to defend our children and our residents whose lives had become intolerable. . We knew in advance that this struggle would be neither easy nor simple. We did not delude ourselves that what seemed natural, clear and self-evident for any other country, would be received with a proper measure of agreement given that the State of Israel is involved. This did not impair, and does not impair, our determination to defend our residents. We have never agreed that someone should decide for us if we are allowed to strike at those who bomb kindergartens and schools and we will never agree to this in the future. No decision, present or future, will deny us our basic right to defend the residents of Israel. . I must note that UN Security Council Resolution 1860 also sharply rules out continued attacks directed against civilians and does not forbid urgent action against them. . Until now, we have made impressive achievements in the operation being conducted against the terrorist organizations in Gaza. They are the result of the courage, determination and sacrifice of IDF fighters and commanders, from IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi to the soldiers now fighting terrorists somewhere in the Gaza Strip. To this must be added the exemplary and decisive contribution of the anonymous fighters of the ISA and ISA Director Yuval Diskin. . This is the time to translate our accomplishments into attaining our goals. Israel is nearing the goals that it set for itself; however, further patience, determination and effort are necessary in order to achieve those goals in a way that will change the security reality in the south, so that our citizens will be able to feel long-term security and stability. We must not, at the last minute, lose what has been achieved in an unprecedented national effort that restored the spirit of unity to the nation. The Israeli public, especially the residents of the south, have the requisite patience and willingness - so does the Government!" Above communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser - Taken from a MFA Newsletter
**************** . POST UPDATE: Monday, January 12, 2009
Since Monday morning (Jan.12), IDF Infantry Corps, Armored Corps, Engineering Corps, Artillery Corps and Intelligence Corps forces continued to operate against the Hamas terrorist infrastructure throughout the Gaza Strip. .Ground Forces were involved in a number of incidents in which several armed gunmen were hit. . A squad of terror operatives opened fire at ground forces from a mosque. The forces directed aerial forces that attacked the squad, and then the forces proceeded to search the mosque, uncovering Qassam rockets and mortar shells..In a separate incident, IDF forces identified a number of armed gunmen and opened fire at them. The force later searched the area and uncovered a large amount of weaponry including anti-aircraft missiles, mortar shells and machine guns..In addition, IDF forces uncovered a tunnel while searching a house in the northern Gaza Strip, and destroyed it. Additionally, forces identified a terror operative planting an explosive device and opened fire at him. . An IDF soldier was severely wounded and three other soldiers were lightly injured in the course of operations carried out Paratrooper Brigade forces. The casualties were evacuated to hospitals in Israel to receive medical treatment, and their families have been notified. .The IAF attacked over 60 Hamas terrorist sites throughout the Gaza Strip, among them nine groups of armed gunmen, twenty smuggling tunnels along the Rafah border, two mortar shell launchers, nine rocket launching sites, three buildings utilized by terror operatives, two vehicles in which Hamas terror operatives were driving and additional targets hit in order to assist the Ground Forces..Approximately 20 rockets and mortar shells were launched into Israel on Monday (Jan. 12); two rockets directly hit buildings in Ashkelon and Sderot, causing severe damage..165 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were transferred to the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom and Karni crossings during the daily three hour long cease-fire period. Info from IDF official website - Photo credit: IDF Spokesperson
********************** More news to come as Operation ‘CAST LEAD’ continues... .****************************
God’s speed in a fast... successful mission, IDF And in the end... I hope you can finally achieve a Long Lasting Peace . AubreyJ.........
No. 037-09 January 16, 2009
