Friday, October 31, 2008

Political Video - Obama Supporter

Modest Expectations From An Obama Supporter


Local Miami News 10/29/08
Political Video posted on YouTube by Ticklemyfootsies
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Now I wonder why Miss Peggy wasn’t fired-up about Obama helping her keep/get a long-lasting, good paying job!!!?
AubreyJ.........

Russia Rejects US allegations that some Russian Nuclear Weapons are unaccounted for

Russia Rejects US allegations that some Russian Nuclear Weapons are unaccounted for
Friday, October 31, 2008

Russia insisted Friday its nuclear arsenal is secure, angrily rejecting U.S. allegations that tens of thousands of aging Soviet weapons may not be fully accounted for...
Read this short report at
AP.Google.com

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

No. 918-08 October 31, 2008
DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. Scott J. Metcalf, 36, of Framingham, Mass., died October 29th, in Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky. The incident is under investigation.
For more information, media may contact the Fort Campbell public affairs office at (270) 798-9966, or go to
http://www.campbell.army.mil/eh/eaglehonors.htm

Thursday, October 30, 2008

#24- Haynesville Shale Updates - Post Date Thursday, October 30, 2008

NOTE: This post on top today - Scroll for newer post below
...
Haynesville Shale
Large Natural Gas Deposit, Northwest Louisiana
UPDATES:
October, 2008

Photo Credit: AubreyJ.........
Wells of Past, 1967 - Grandfather’s Farm - Red Shute Plantation
Bossier Parish
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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Let’s get started off with this article posted on the Shreveport Times website, early Wednesday morning, Oct. 29th. It starts off like this... Don't blame Bossier City if you see a "help wanted" sign in its window... Energy companies moving to the Shreveport area to drill the Haynesville Shale are offering a lot of money to local workers, so much so that Bossier City is worried it won't be able to match... "I suspect that's what's going on," Mark Hudson, Bossier City engineer, said of younger workers who recently left city government. "I know once drilling gets up and running with the Haynesville Shale, we're going to lose more to that industry."... Bossier City does not officially track where employees go after leaving its employment, but Hudson said he thinks a handful of workers already have left for natural gas companies, with more to come...
Read this article in full at link below...
Drilling companies vie for local workers - Bossier City says better pay luring away younger employees

* EarthTimes.org... had this report posted today, Thursday, October 30, 2008...
Flotek Industries, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2008 Results
.
* IStockAnalyst.com... had this report posted today, Thursday, October 30, 2008...
Southern Star Energy Spuds Second Haynesville Test Well; Company's Natural Gas Production Growing

* RedOrbot.com... Report posted Thursday evening, Oct. 30, 2008...
Chesapeake Energy Corporation Reports Financial and Operational Results for the 2008 Third Quarter

* MarketWatch.com... This report posted Wednesday, Oct. 29th...
Cabot Oil & Gas Provides Operations Update, Establishes 2009 Plans
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* MarketWatch.com... This report also posted Wednesday, Oct. 29th...
Penn Virginia Corporation Provides Third Quarter 2008 Oil and Gas Operational Update - Record Quarterly Production Continued Lower Bossier (Haynesville) Shale and Granite Wash Successes
.
* SeekingAlpha.com... Following Transcript posted Wednesday, Oct. 29th--
Encore Acquisition Company, Q3 2008 Earnings Call Transcript
.
* SeekingAlpha.com... Following Transcript posted Monday, Oct. 27th--
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP Q3 2008 Earnings Call Transcript
.
* ShreveportTimes.com... This article posted Sunday, Oct. 26th-- It starts off like this... On a Tuesday night in October, the line to get into Fort Worth City Hall was out the door... The fire marshal ordered police to cut off access to the council chambers because capacity had been reached, and the mayor held up a stack of comment cards a phone book thick... "There will be no attacks on any member of this dais," Fort Worth Mayor Michael Moncrief told the audience. "Above all we are going to be civil."... The topic: natural gas drilling in urban Fort Worth, a city of about 640,000 people...The city was the first in America to have had a major natural gas deposit discovered right under the heart of its city limits. The second? Shreveport, with the news-making Haynesville Shale under the city boundaries and covering most of northwest Louisiana... The announcement of the Haynesville Shale "play" earlier this year — experts say it is the largest natural gas discovery in the United States — thrust Shreveport and the region into a frenzy of mineral rights negotiations and property leasing, bonus payments, new drilling rigs and visions of wealth for individuals and governments, not to mention the energy companies involved... But Fort Worth witnessed its own shale frenzy — the Barnett Shale — years before Shreveport did. Fort Worth saw its first permit for a natural gas rig inside the city limits in 2001. Only seven years later, more than 1,200 natural gas wells have been drilled inside Fort Worth, with estimates of 3,000 or more by the time the drilling boom is finally over...
Read this article in full at link below...
Fort Worth’s experience may offer lessons
.
* MarshallNewsMessenger.com... This article from Saturday, Oct. 25th-- Drilling in the Haynesville Shale has brought "a tremendous economic boom to the area," Harrison County Judge Richard Anderson said... And, he added, there has also been "a lot of increase in drilling activity in Cotton Valley wells, which are one layer above Haynesville Shale."... Anderson was guest speaker at a recent Marshall Lions Club meeting... And while an increase in oil and gas activity is good news for the county and property owners in the form of higher taxes and hefty royalties, "our roads are taking a beating," the judge said. "We have 742 miles of county roads. They are not designed to the same standards as Texas highways."...
Read the rest at link below...
Anderson addresses Haynesville Shale boom
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* DallasNews.com... This article posted on Oct. 25th-- It starts off like this... The party in the Barnett Shale is winding down... With natural gas prices half what they were earlier this year, production companies called a cease-fire in the bidding war for land leases, and some are rolling their drilling rigs to newer, hotter fields elsewhere... "We had an unprecedented and phenomenal run-up in gas prices, which I think led to a lot of exuberance, particularly in the Barnett Shale," said Roy Patton, senior vice president of commercial operations for the pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners... "Is it winding down from the exuberant place it was last year? Yes."... For North Texas, this means one of the region's important buffers against a national recession has thinned. Lower natural gas prices mean smaller royalty checks, shrunken leasing bonuses and fewer rigs, leading to smaller tax receipts and fewer jobs...
Read the rest at link below...
As the Barnett Shale's production peaks, economic factors weigh heavily on its future
.
* MineralWellsIndex.com... This article posted on Oct. 25th-- It goes in part like this...
...Attention to another shale has also affected local Barnett Shale activity. The Haynesville Shale, centered under Shreveport, La., has several companies moving to East Texas and Louisiana... The Shreveport Times announced it is presenting the first Haynesville Shale Expo on Nov. 21 to “educate the public on the potential effects of the natural gas discovery.” Also presenting with The Times are Chesapeake Energy, Devon Energy, EnCana Energy, Petrohawk Energy and XTO Energy... Wharton said he has not expanded into Louisiana, “but it’s under serious consideration. The problem is, they’ll be backing off drilling there too [because of the natural gas price].”...
Read the full article at link below...
The Mineral Wells area could soon begin to feel the effects of a slowdown in natural gas drilling
.
* MarshallNewsMessenger.com... This article from Saturday, Oct. 25th-- Drilling in the Haynesville Shale has brought "a tremendous economic boom to the area," Harrison County Judge Richard Anderson said... And, he added, there has also been "a lot of increase in drilling activity in Cotton Valley wells, which are one layer above Haynesville Shale."... Anderson was guest speaker at a recent Marshall Lions Club meeting... And while an increase in oil and gas activity is good news for the county and property owners in the form of higher taxes and hefty royalties, "our roads are taking a beating," the judge said. "We have 742 miles of county roads. They are not designed to the same standards as Texas highways."...
Read the rest at link below...
Anderson addresses Haynesville Shale boom
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* KSLA.com... From Oct. 24th-- Here’s a report/News Video you’ll want to click out and it starts off like this... It's been a week of big highs and big lows involving the Haynesville Shale. Thursday (10/23), we revealed secretly recorded lease negotiations showing the tactics used by some landmen... The bright side this week: Checks from Chesapeake Energy arrived for all those Keithville property owners we've been following since our initial story on them last week...
Click out the rest at link below...
Haynesville Shale: A week of the good, the bad and the ugly
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* KSLA.com... From Oct. 23rd-- Here’s another KSLA report/News Video you’ll want to click out and it starts off like this.... Caught on tape: What some call the 'darker side' of the Haynesville Shale. Secretly recorded negotiations for mineral rights show the tactics some landmen use to get someone to sign on the dotted line... There's a battle of wills taking place right now in parts of the Ark-La-Tex. It pits property owners who want the most money for their mineral rights versus leasing agencies and their landmen trying to make a buck...
Click out the rest at link below...
Caught on tape: Secretly recorded mineral lease negotiations
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* KSLA.com... From Oct. 22nd-- You’ll want to click out this KSLA report/News Video too and it starts off like this... Oil prices will rise again, warned oil and gas baron T. Boone Pickens. He made a stop in Shreveport Wednesday morning for a town hall meeting to unveil his energy plan to local residents... That plan calls on using natural gas, lots of it, instead of foreign oil. It's a perfect fit locally considering the Haynesville Shale...
Click out the rest at link below...
Oil baron T. Boone Pickens pitches energy plan
.
...NOTE: I support, in part, the
‘PickensPlan’. But I fully support Senator John McCain’s energy plan and that would be an All Of The Above Energy Solution’.
> Be sure to watch T. Boone Pickens who was on CBS 60 Minutes last Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008
HERE
.
* ShreveportTimes.com... This article posted Oct. 22nd--
Deadline near for Shale Expo luncheon RSVP
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* SeekingAlpha.com... This transcript posted Oct. 22nd--
EnCana Corp. Q3 2008 Earnings Conference Call Transcript
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* I found this article posted on the Star-Telegram.com website back on Oct. 21st. It starts off like this... Titan Operating became the latest natural gas company to suspend its leasing activities, putting contract signings with the big Bedford-Colleyville Mineral Rights Coalition on hold — but not before signing an additional 550 property owners Saturday... Chesapeake Energy, Vantage Energy and XTO Energy last week either called a halt to Barnett Shale leasing or said they would proceed only under sharply reduced financial terms. The moves follow a 50 percent decline in natural gas prices since July and a tight credit market...
Read the rest at link below...
Another big neighborhood group sees its gas leasing put on hold
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* PR.com... This Press Release posted Oct. 21st...
American Right of Way Associates Opens Haynesville Shale Office

* Forbes.com... This article posted Oct. 21st-- Shares of Petrohawk Energy Corp. jumped Tuesday after the Oil and Gas Company announced what it is calling a significant new natural gas field discovery in the Eagle Ford Shale in south Texas...
Read this article in full at link below...
Petrohawk announces discovery of Texas gas field
.
* MarketWatch.com... These articles posted Oct. 21st...
>
Petro Resources Announces Results in Nacogdoches County, Texas
...AND
>
Fitch Affirms Chesapeake's IDR at 'BB'; Outlook Remains Negative
.
* Reuters.com... These articles posted Oct. 21st...
Petrohawk shrs up on gas field discovery; well results
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* MarketWatch.com... This article posted Oct. 2oth-- JV Partner and operator has commenced drilling operations on the first JV well to evaluate potential of the Haynesville Shale gas formation on Mainland's Louisiana leases... Mainland Resources, Inc. holds interest in approximately 2,695 net acres, which form part of the East Holly Field in DeSoto Parish, northwest Louisiana... The Griffith No. 1-H well is the first well to be drilled on Mainland's property based on Company data and proximity to several vertical Haynesville wells waiting on completion, two horizontal wells being drilled, and another Haynesville well recently permitted...
Read the full report at link below...
Mainland Resources, Inc. and JV Partner Spud First Haynesville Shale Well on the Company's DeSoto Parish, Louisiana Property
.
* OGJ.com... This article posted Oct. 2oth--
Southern Star Energy Inc., Houston, said logs indicate that its Atkins-Lincoln 17-2 well in Sentell field, Bossier Parish, La., north of Shreveport, encountered gas in the Jurassic Lower Bossier and Haynesville shales...
Read more at the following link...
Sentell Bossier-Haynesville well logged
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* News-Journal.com... This article posted on Sunday, October 19, 2008-- As oil and gas drilling continues to click and clack East Texas' economy forward, finding enough skilled workers to keep the region's economic engine pumping is growing more challenging for some area oil and gas companies... "It's virtually impossible to find help," said Jo Maxwell, president of Signal Well Service in Kilgore. "We've run ads in the paper, but that hasn't even worked."...
Read the rest at link below...
Lack of workers limits area drilling operations

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Post Update:
Thursday,
November 06, 2008
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* KSLA.com... From Oct. 31st-- Be sure to click out this KSLA report/News Video at link below...
Haynesville Shale: What's the value of a handshake?
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* MarketWatch.com... From Nov. 3rd--
Forest Oil Announces Third Quarter 2008 Results; Continues to Control Cash Costs
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* EarthTimes.org had the following report on Nov. 3rd and it goes in part like this... St. Mary is currently drilling its first horizontal Haynesville shale well, which is located in De Soto Parish, Louisiana at the Spider Field. The rig is currently taking core samples in the Bossier and Haynesville sections and is expected to kick off the horizontal lateral within the next two weeks. The well design calls for an approximately 4,500 foot horizontal lateral. The well is expected to be completed in early January 2009...
Read the rest at link below...
St. Mary Provides Guidance and Operations Update
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* MarketWatch.com... From Nov. 3rd--
Comstock Resources, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2008 Financial and Operating Results
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* FWBusinesspress.com had the following report on Nov. 3rd and it goes in part like this...
EnCana also increased its stake in Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale, which covers about eight parishes in the northwestern part of the state...“In the third quarter of 2008, we strengthened our position in the Haynesville gas resource play by acquiring 25,000 net acres, increasing our land position to about 400,000 net acres, plus 63,000 net acres of mineral rights. We continue to see great potential in this promising shale play,” Eresman said...
Read the rest at link below...
Cano cuts budget by more than half

* RTTNews.com... From Nov. 3rd--
GMX Resources Q3 earnings surge, top estimates; initiates FY09 forecast - Update
.
* SeekingAlpha.com... From Nov. 4th--
St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. Q3 2008 Earnings Call Transcript
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* SeekingAlpha.com... Also from Nov. 4th--
Comstock Resources, Inc. Q3 2008 Earnings Call Transcript
- AND -
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Q3 2008 Earnings Call Transcript
- AND from the 5th of Nov -
Devon Energy Corporation Q3 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

* MORE TO COME SO CHECK BACK! *
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* Links of Interest *
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* City of Shreveport website...
Shreveport Shale
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.
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> At the following TwinCitiesDev.com link, you can click on various parts of the rig (indicated by numbers) and read or listen to part descriptions...
Parts of a Drilling Rig described
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> At the following TwinCitiesDev.com link, you can you can learn how the Fracing Process makes it possible to release gas from deep below the surface...
Fracing Process
Requires QuickTime Player
Click HERE for Free QuickTime Player Download
.
> At the following TwinCitiesDev.com link, you can watch how horizontal drilling increases production rates while reducing the impact to the surface...
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* Gas Leases - You’re sitting on a Gas MineThis link is full of info you need to know before signing an Oil/Gas Lease Contract
Click it out at link below...
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...
* Past Post *
...
> Sunday, May 4, 2008...
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> Sunday, May 11, 2008...
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> Thursday, May 15, 2008...
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> Wednesday, May 21, 2008...
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> Thursday, May 29, 2008...
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> Thursday, June 5, 2008...
#12 Haynesville Shale Updates - Tuesday, July 28, 2008
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> Tuesday, August 05, 2008...
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>Tuesday, October 14, 2008...
#23
Haynesville Shale Updates - Wednesday, October 14, 2008
. ...
********************************************
AubreyJ.........

Photo for the Day - October 30, 2008

* Photo for the Day *PETITE PRESENTS
During a routine security patrol in the town of Rutbah, Iraq, Oct. 23, 2008, U.S. Marine Cpl. Joseph Shutta, gives stuffed animals to children outside their home.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Greenberg

Iraq: On Ground Updates - October 30, 2008

Iraq: On Ground Updates
.IRAN IN IRAQ.
Iranian-Backed Terrorism Suspects Captured
News Article Post Date: October 29, 2008

Coalition troops in Iraq today captured a suspected financer and four others associated with an Iranian-backed terrorist group believed to be responsible for bombings, military officials said.

Acting on intelligence information, coalition forces this morning targeted the suspected Kataib Hezbollah facilitator during an operation in Amarah in Iraq’s Maysan province, which borders Iran.

Kataib Hezbollah, also known as Hezbollah Brigades, is a terrorist group believed to receive funding, training, logistics and material support from Iran to attack Iraqi and coalition forces using what the military calls “explosively formed penetrators,” or EFPs – roadside bombs designed to pierce armor-hulled vehicles – and other weapons such as rocket-assisted mortars. The group is believed to be responsible for a June 4 explosion in the Shaab district of Adhamiyah in Baghdad that killed 16 Iraqi civilians and injured 29 others, officials said.

The suspect and his associates were detained without incident. During their search, troops discovered more than $50,000 in U.S. currency and nearly 12 million Iraqi dinar, the equivalent of about $10,000, officials said.

It was the second blow to the leadership of terrorist networks in Iraq in two days, officials said. Yesterday, coalition forces captured a suspected terrorist and an additional suspect during an operation near Tikrit, about 100 miles north of Baghdad, they said. During that operation, the suspect surrendered to coalition forces and identified himself as the wanted man believed to be an al-Qaida in Iraq cell leader in the area.

On Oct. 27, coalition troops captured six men suspected of working with Iranian-backed terrorist groups in eastern Baghdad, officials said. Based on a resident’s tip, soldiers assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, detained the men, who a witness identified as terrorists known to Iraqi security forces.

During the operation, troops also seized five AK-47 assault rifles with 32 magazines, a 9 mm pistol with three magazines, a shotgun and 60 shotgun shells, an SKS rifle, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a fragmentation grenade, a scope and nine magazines for a Dragonov rifle and 3,000 rounds of small-arms ammunition.

In other news from Iraq, coalition and Iraqi security forces yesterday seized several illegal weapons caches in and around Baghdad. The seizures were based on residents’ tips and included Iraqi soldiers and national police as well as the 25th Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, and the 10th Mountain Division’s 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Brigade, 4th Brigade Combat Team.

The seizures included two 60 mm mortar base plates, three 60 mm high explosive mortar rounds, three 81 mm high-explosive mortar rounds, four rocket-propelled grenade launchers, five RPG warheads, three RPG fuse assemblies and hundreds of rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition. In what was believed to be a bomb-making factory, they found 160 blocks of C4 explosives, 34 complete EFPs, 53 copper plates, 40 shaped plates for EFPs, three presses and a punch and 14 107 mm rockets.


News Article by DoD’s American Forces Press Service - Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases
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About Photo: EFPs, EFP Cones and other materials seized in Oct. 28th raid
Photo courtesy of Multinational Division Baghdad
.
The Long War Journal website has a great post today on Iran in Iraq.
Click it out at link below...

Iraqi troops find EFP factory in Sadr City
Above link has lots of info, maps and more...

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Haynesville Shale - October 29, 2008

Haynesville Shale
Wednesday
, October 29, 2008
...

Image courtesy of Chesapeake Energy
.
This is a short note to let you know that I finally got caught up with my latest Haynesville Shale Post and I’ll have it up in the morning... Thursday, October 30th...

* You can find my past posts on this huge NATURAL GAS FIND... HERE
.
Be sure to check back in the morning...
AubreyJ.........

Photo for the Day - October 29, 2008

* Photo for the Day *Learning to Fly
Iraqi elementary school girls run in circles during their physical education class in the city of Basra, Iraq, on Oct. 23, 2008.
Photo by Sgt. Gustavo Olgiati

DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

No. 910-08 October 29, 2008
DoD Identifies Marine Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
1st Lt. Trevor J. Yurista, 32, of Pleasant Valley, N.Y., died October 27th while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
For additional background information on these Marines, news media representatives may contact the 1st Marine Division public affairs office at (760) 763-5397.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Iraq/Syria: On Ground Updates

Note: This post moved to top from Sunday - Scroll for newer post below
...
Iraq/Syria: On Ground Updates
U.S. Special Ops launch attack inside Syria's Border Sunday
Sunday/Monday/Tuesday, October 26-27-28, 2008
.
Time.com brings us the following report and it starts off like this... U.S. military helicopters attacked an area along Syria's border with Iraq Sunday, killing eight people, the Syrian government said... The Syrian report comes just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq told reporters that American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he said was an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq... A government statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency said Sunday's attack was on the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border...
Read the rest at link below...
Did U.S. Forces Cross Over Into Syria?
.
BBC News had this take on the story... US helicopter-borne troops have carried out a raid inside Syria along the Iraqi border, killing eight people including a woman, Syrian authorities say... The official Syrian news agency Sana said the raid took place in the Abu Kamal border area, in eastern Syria... It said that American soldiers on four helicopters had stormed a building under construction on Sunday night... The US says it is investigating. It has previously accused Syria of allowing foreign militants into Iraq...
Read the rest at link below...
'US troops' carry out Syria raid
.
Telegraph.co.uk reports the attack this way... In an echo of the Israeli air strikes which last year targeted a suspected Syrian nuclear facility, US military helicopters were reported to have crossed into Syria to drop troops who then executed the mission... The state news agency Sana reported that eight civilians had been killed in the raid. "Four American helicopters violated Syrian airspace around 16:45 local time (1345 GMT) on Sunday," it said... "American soldiers" who had emerged from helicopters "attacked a civilian building under construction and fired at workmen inside, causing eight deaths..."The helicopters then left Syrian territory towards Iraqi territory," Sana said...
Read this report in full at link below...
US forces destroy Syrian construction site near Iraq border, Damascus says

HAARETZ.com...
Those who anticipated an American bombing of Iran on the eve of the presidential elections or immediately after must for the moment be satisfied with a somewhat lesser replacement: the helicopter attack Sunday night in north-eastern Syria... The central target of the attack, according to initial reports overnight, was a senior operative in the "global jihad" - the web of organizations connected to al-Qaida... The context, from an American perspective, is mainly Iraqi. This was a strike on those who have been causing them problems in their backyard and an attempt to gain stability in Iraq...
Read the rest at link below...
ANALYSIS / U.S. takes page from Israel's book in Syria strike

.Map Courtesy of CENTCOM
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.
UPDATE: Monday, October 27, 2008
.
Good day to everyone. Well... as I thought last night, more in-depth info has come out this Monday morning on Sunday’s U.S. Operation in Syria.
...
Let’s get started with the following Report/News Video I found at the FOXNews.com website...
News Report at following link...
U.S. Military Helicopters Launch Attack Inside Syria
...
View News Video by Fox below...
* Strike on Terror *

U.S Attack Kills Al Qaeda Leader in Syria

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* AP.Google.com put this report out late this afternoon and it starts off like this... Families in this Syrian village on Monday buried relatives they said died in a U.S. helicopter attack. A U.S. counterterrorism official said American forces killed the head of a Syrian network that funneled fighters, weapons and cash into Iraq... The raid Sunday targeted the home of Abu Ghadiyah, the nickname for the leader of a key cell of foreign fighters in Iraq, according to the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. The U.S. Treasury Department has identified him as one of four major figures in al-Qaida's Iraq wing who were living in Syria... Also Monday, a villager said U.S. forces grabbed two men and took them away by helicopter during the cross-border raid...
Read the full report at link below...
US official: Raid on Syria killed leader of cell
Has photos

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...
Update: Tuesday
, October 28, 2008
...
* BBC News has a very interesting news article posted on their website today and it starts off like this...
Mystery surrounds the fate of a top al-Qaeda operative reportedly targeted by an alleged US strike on Syria... US officials have identified Syrian militant Abu Ghadiya as a key figure behind the smuggling of foreign fighters into Iraq... They are reportedly claiming that his death in the raid will have a major impact on al-Qaeda's capabilities... But this runs at odds with statements made by the militant's organisation, al-Qaeda in Iraq, which announced his death on jihadist web sites over two years ago...
Read the rest at link below...
Profile: Abu Ghadiya.
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AubreyJ.........

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

No. 908-08 October 28, 2008
DoD Identifies Army Casualties


The Department of Defense announced today
the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died October 27th in Baghlan, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when a suicide bomber detonated explosives as they were preparing to enter a building.

Killed were:

Sgt. Nicholas A. Casey, 22, of Canton, Ohio, who was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.
Sgt. Kevin D. Grieco, 35, of Bartlett, Ill., who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 122nd Field Artillery, Illinois Army National Guard, Sycamore, Ill.

> For more information on Casey, media may contact the U.S. Army Special Operations Command public affairs office at (910) 432-6005 or at http://news.soc.mil
> For more information on Grieco, media may contact the Illinois National Guard public affairs office at (217) 761-3569; after hours, (217) 725-2265, or at http://www.il.ngb.army.mil

Monday, October 27, 2008

T. Boone Pickens on CBS 60 Minutes


T. Boone Pickens on CBS 60 Minutes
Sunday
, Oct. 26, 2008

(CBSnews.com) If you've been watching television lately, chances are you've seen a white-haired Texas oil man promising he can save America from foreign oil by using wind power, solar energy and domestic natural gas. He's T. Boone Pickens, and he's playing the role of pioneer and provocateur, in a massive national campaign warning of an energy crisis as dire as the current financial one....As 60 Minutes contributor Charlie Rose reports, Pickens says he has a solution - a plan that might sound unrealistic in the current economic climate - but one he hopes will be good for the country and good for Boone Pickens...
.
********************.

Man On A Mission


The oil and gas maven is on a mission to lessen America’s dependence on foreign oil. Charlie Rose reports.

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My take on the 60 Minute report is this... It was an overall good report about Mr. Pickens and his vision of our Countries energy future needs and how we must achieve energy independence.

However as one would expect... CBS News Charlie Rose did do his best to make this a Dem issue and tried to spin the issue of drilling for offshore oil as a no go.

Sadly... Mr. Pickens let him get away with it.

Energy Independence is not a Democrat or a Republican Issue. This is an American Issue. This is a Bipartisan Issue that all Americans should be part of and 100% behind.


In short... I support, in part, the
‘PickensPlan’. But I fully support Senator John McCain’s plan and that would be an ‘All Of The Above Energy Solution’.

AubreyJ.........

Photo for the Day

* Photo for the Day * About photo: Women show off an information booth for Iraqi business women at the Sadr City Road Show, a business and employment fair, in the Sadr City District of Baghdad, Oct. 25, 2008. The story behind this photo starts off like this...
Heavy rains flooded the streets in front of the Sadr City District council building, but that didn’t stop a deluge of more than 150 Iraqi business owners and hundreds more Iraqi residents from the first business and employment fair in the popular Baghdad district, Oct. 25...
Read the rest at link below...
Rainy Day Doesn’t Stop Sadr City Business, Employment Fair

Photo by Maj. Michael Humphreys, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs

Sunday, October 26, 2008

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

No. 904-08 October 26, 2008
DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Pfc. Cody J. Eggleston, 21, of Eugene, Ore., died October 24th at the National in Bethesda, Maryland, of wounds suffered on October 16th in Baqubah, Iraq, when he received indirect fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
For more information media may contact the U.S. Army Alaska public affairs office at (907) 384-1542. Naval Medical Center

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Photo for the Day - October 25, 2008

* Photo for the Day * About Photo: A boy writes at his desk during class at the Cortoba School in the Mansour District of western Baghdad, Oct. 21, 2008. The story behind it starts off like this... Teachers, children and Coalition forces celebrated the completion of construction and renovation projects at the Cortoba School in Muhallah 603 of the Mansour District of Baghdad, Oct. 21, 2008...
Read the rest at link below...
Cortoba School Celebrates Completion
Photo by Staff Sgt. Brock Jones

Russia slams US Sanctions meant to punish firms for sales that have potential to the development of WMD

AFP.Google.com... Russia warned Friday that US sanctions on a Russian firm accused of defying a ban on sales of sensitive military technology to Iran will affect talks between world powers on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explained in a press conference that Washington's unilateral approach was "inadmissible," not based on international law and threatened to wreck Iranian cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Russia's foreign ministry described the sanctions against Rosoboronexport are an "unfriendly act which cannot but have negative consequences as regards our dialogue with Washington, in particular in discussions between the Six," a statement said.

Thirteen foreign firms, including Russia's biggest arms exporter, were listed Friday in the US State Department's Federal Register as being "engaged in activities that warrant imposition of measures" under its Iran, North Korea and Syria Non-Proliferation Act.

The United States says the sanctions -- also targeting firms from China, Syria and Venezuela among other countries -- are meant to punish the firms for sales that have "potential to make a material contribution to the development of weapons of mass destruction or cruise or ballistic missile systems."


Read the full article HERE

Friday, October 24, 2008

DoD Identifies Marine - Air Force - Army Casualties

No. 903-08 October 24, 2008
DoD Identifies Marine Casualties


The Department of Defense announced today the death of two Marines who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Cpl. Adrian Robles, 21, of Scottsbluff, Neb., died October 22nd while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Lance Cpl. San Sim, 23, of Santa Ana, Calif., died October 22nd while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
For additional background information on these Marines, news media representatives may contact the 1st Marine Division public affairs office at (760) 763-5397.


No. 902-08 October 24, 2008
DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Brian P. Hause, 29
, of Stoystown, Pa., died October 23rd of non-combat related medical causes at Balad Air Base, Iraq. He was assigned to the 20th Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.
The incident is under investigation.
For further information related to this release, please contact the Shaw Air Force Base public affairs office at (803) 895-2019.


No. 901-08 October 24, 2008
DoD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Spc. Deon L. Taylor, 30, of Bronx, N.Y., died October 22nd in Bela Beluk, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New York Army National Guard, Syracuse, N.Y.
For more information media may contact the New York National Guard public affairs office at (518) 786-4581.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Next Space Shuttle Mission in Mid November

* STS-126/Endeavour *
Target Launch Date: November 14th
Target Launch Time: 7:55pm EST
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Image above: Space shuttle Endeavour begins its slow move from launch Pad 39B to Launch Pad 39A early this morning, Thursday, October 23, 2008
Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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Endeavour on its Way to 39A

.Oct. 23, 2008 -- Space shuttle Endeavour began moving off Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Thursday morning at 8:28. It will take about seven hours to reposition the shuttle for launch on Launch Pad 39A. Launch is targeted for Nov. 14 at 7:55 p.m. EST.

Endeavour will carry the Leonardo cargo module, NASA’s version of a U-Haul, to the International Space Station during the mission, which is designated STS-126. The Leonardo is carrying about 9 1/2 tons of equipment and supplies.

The Leonardo module is waiting inside a clean room at the launch pad. It will be bolted inside Endeavour’s payload bay after the shuttle is in place on the launch pad.
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Here are some Interesting Links:
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STS-126 Mission Summary (pdf)
Shuttle Section
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> International Space Station
Click HERE for some cool shuttle mission imagery that points out significant changes in the configuration of the Space Station over the past few years
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Above info/links/photos from the NASA.gov website