We’re heading to Afghanistan, why?
Because of Al-Queda?
Intelligence estimates are there are 100 Al-Queda fighters left in Afghanistan…and my guess is they’re in pretty rough shape.
So we need 30,000 troops to deal with that?
This is a bonanza for somebody – but not for Afghanistan or Americans.
Watch for the coming war surtax…
Hey, someone’s got to pay for this.
Source: Brass Check TV
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As he justified sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan at a cost of $30 billion a year, President Barack Obama’s description Tuesday of the al Qaeda “cancer” in that country left out one key fact: U.S. intelligence officials have concluded there are only about 100 al Qaeda fighters in the entire country.
A senior U.S. intelligence official told ABCNews.com the approximate estimate of 100 al Qaeda members left in Afghanistan reflects the conclusion of American intelligence agencies and the Defense Department. The relatively small number was part of the intelligence passed on to theWhite House as President Obama conducted his deliberations.
President Obama made only a vague reference to the size of the al Qaeda presence in his speech at West Point, when he said, “al Qaeda has not reemerged in Afghanistan in the same number as before9/11, but they retain their safe havens along the border.”
A spokesperson at the White House’s National Security Council, Chris Hensman, said he could not comment on intelligence matters.
Continued at ABCNews
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Do yourself a favor, and take the time to read as much as you can.
Source: 911 Blogger
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A Kentucky census worker found hanging from a tree with the word “fed” written on his chest killed himself and staged his death to look like a murder, authorities said Tuesday.
Kentucky State Police said Bill Sparkman died at the same location where his body was found Sept. 12 near a cemetery in a heavily wooded area of southeastern Kentucky.
A man who discovered the body in the Daniel Boone National Forest said the 51-year-old was bound with duct tape, gagged and had an identification badge taped to his neck.
Police told a news conference Tuesday that Sparkman was naked except for socks and had his glasses taped to his face “so he could see what he was doing.”
Kentucky State Police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski said the investigation revealed that the letters “fed” scrawled on his chest in black pen had been written from the bottom up and Sparkman’s DNA was the only forensic evidence found at the scene.
He was touching the ground, and to survive “all Mr. Sparkman had to do at any time was stand up,” she said.
Sparkman spoke to a witness they wouldn’t name about hanging himself and making it look like someone else killed him, according to Rudzinski.
Authorities say Sparkman acted alone in manipulating the scene to conceal the suicide.
“Our investigation, based on evidence and witness testimony, has concluded that Mr. Sparkman died during an intentional, self-inflicted act that was staged to appear as a homicide,” Rudzinski said.
Sparkman’s mother, Henrie Sparkman of Inverness, Fla., bristled at the conclusion: “I disagree!” she wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Investigators believe he killed himself and made it look like a murder because he’d recently taken out two life insurance policies that wouldn’t pay out for suicide.
But they didn’t say what motivated Sparkman to end his life in the first place. He didn’t leave a note, Rudzinski told reporters.
If Sparkman had been killed on the job, his family also would have been be eligible for up to $10,000 in death gratuity payments from the government.
He was not eligible for a separate life insurance policy through the government because his census work was intermittent, Census Bureau spokesman Stephen Buckner has previously said.
The Census Bureau suspended door-to-door interviews in the rural county after Sparkman’s body was found.
Anti-government sentiment was initially one possibility in the death. Authorities said Sparkman had discussed perceived negative views of the federal government in the area.
A friend of Sparkman’s, Gilbert Acciardo, previously told The Associated Press that he warned Sparkman to be careful when he did his census work.
Acciardo, a retired Kentucky state trooper, said he told Sparkman people in the rural area would perceive him differently because he worked for the federal government.
Henrie Sparkman has said her son was an Eagle scout who moved to the area to be a local director for the Boy Scouts of America. He later became a substitute teacher in Laurel County and supplemented that income as a census worker.
Friends and co-workers have said that even while undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, Sparkman would show up for work smiling with a toboggan cap to cover his balding head. They said he was punctual and dependable.
Source: Fox News
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Zak Hessey was 8kg (17lb 6oz) when mum Lisa took him to hospital, telling doctors he was a “fussy eater” and not gaining weight.
Medics said he should weigh 9kg (19lb 8oz) and advised the mum of five to bulk him up on crisps, chocolate and cakes.
When she said no, social workers were called in and her tot put into foster care to assess if his eating improved.
Healthy eater Lisa, 28, and her HGV driver husband Paul, 48, battled through the courts for four months before they got their son back.
Social workers then admitted in court that the couple, from Bolsover, Derbys, were devoted and loving parents.
Angry Lisa claims Zak’s time in care left him a “chocoholic” and just 250g (8oz) heavier.
She said: “I thought I was doing the right thing going for help when Zak began refusing to eat and lost weight.
“Instead they basically accused me of neglect. They said I should give him chocolate, cakes and junk food just to get calories into him.”
Lisa said she was warned her parental rights could be removed if she took legal action.
She added: “The Government and doctors always drum into parents the importance of healthy eating – yet they were telling us to feed Zak all the wrong things.
“Now it’s hard to get him to eat anything else.”
Back home, Zak has gained weight and is “doing well”, she said. A Chesterfield Royal Hospital spokesman said: “We believe we acted in Zak’s interest.”
Source: The Sun
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Monday afternoon, two Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to 350 West Morning Glory in Pueblo West, to deal with a reportedly unruly child, for what would end up being the fifth of sixth time. According to a report supplied by the Sheriff’s Office, the boy had threatened to assault his foster father with a two foot pipe and was destroying property.
When the deputies arrived, the boy ran. He took off across the street, he quickly found himself cornered in a neighbors yard, pinned in-between an RV, a pontoon boat and a wooden fence. Still carrying the pipe, the deputies repeatedly ordered the boy to drop the weapon. According to the report, the boy just shook his head and said, “I’m not going to drop the pipe.” Deputy Meyers then tased the boy and the ordeal quickly came to an end.
The boy was examined. He suffered no physical damage from the taser.
When asked how he reacted to hearing his deputies tased a 10 year old boy, Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor said, “My goodness, it’s a 10 year old. Is he okay?” He went on to explain that every situation is different and circumstances being what they were, the deputies were justified in their actions.
“Given his violent history, and the physical location where this individual is, I probably would have deployed my taser as well,” said Taylor.
In an interview with KKTV, the boy’s foster father, Daniel Biby, explained that the boy has troubles.
“On this child they’ve been out there four, five, six times. [The deputies] know him well, they’ve always been professional, they’ve always been patient, they’ve always been great,” said Biby. He also says, “The deputies did the right thing.”
“If they tried to attack him and take him down, they or he or both could have been hurt, this way nobody was hurt,” said Biby.
While some may still believe there were other avenues the peace officers could have taken to disarm the child, the fact of the matter remains no one was seriously hurt, physically. How the child reacts to the event psychologically is yet to be seen. His foster father hopes, it will have a lasting impression on him, and that it helps get the child on the right path.
“It’s going to be one of life’s lessons for him, you know, that’s my hope anyway,” said Biby.
Source: KKTV
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