Monday, August 30, 2010
Is The ROTC Coming Back To Elite Colleges?
Is ROTC Poised For A Comeback At Elite Colleges? -- Time MagazineShawna Sinnott spent the last four years performing a balancing act: she took courses for her self-designed major at Harvard, practiced her jazz number for the Miss Massachusetts Pageant, and woke up at 4:30 a.m. three days a week for Navy ROTC training across town at MIT.
She was one of 11 Harvard graduates commissioned into the Armed Forces this May in a ceremony on campus that some see as easing tensions between the university and the military. Harvard is one of several elite colleges that do not formally recognize the Reserve Officers Training Corp, which trains students at hundreds of schools but is not recognized at most of the Ivies and other top-tier universities because the military violates their anti-discrimination policies. However, these schools' opposition to ROTC, which started on many campuses during the Vietnam War, could soon change if Congress repeals the federally mandated policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT).
Read more ....
My Comment: This ban is so much from the 1960s .... and with most administrators in Ivy League Schools being from this time .... rescinding this ban will still have a long way to go, even with repealing DADT.
Britain And France To Share Aircraft Carriers
HMS Illustrious, a British aircraft carrier, passes London's financial district in Canary Wharf before docking at Greenwhich November 4, 2008. Credit: Reuters/Kevin CoombsBritain, France To Share Aircraft Carriers -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Britain and France are getting ready to unveil plans to share aircraft carriers amid pressure on the British military to cut costs, the Times reported on Tuesday.
Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicholas Sarkozy were expected to announce the proposal at a November summit, the Times said, quoting an unidentified British naval source for its information.
No immediate comment was available from British officials on the report.
Earlier this month, a Defence Ministry source told Reuters that Britain might cancel one or both of its planned new aircraft carriers to cut costs, though there were no plans to scale back the country's nuclear deterrent.
Read more ....
More News On England And France Sharing Aircraft Carriers
Britain, France 'plan defence pact' -- Press Association
UK and France to share aircraft carriers -- The Sun
Plan to share aircraft carriers with France -- The Independent
Jump jets to fall victim to spending cuts -- The Telegraph
My Comment: Britain and France working together .... hmmm .... I guess cats and dogs can live together.
Another Terror Plot Busted
ABC News Exclusive: Two Men On United Flight From Chicago Arrested On 'Preparation Of A Terrorist Attack' In Amsterdam -- ABC News
Suspects Had Been Cleared Sunday by TSA in Chicago, Birmingham Despite Security Concerns
Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands have been charged by Dutch police with "preparation of a terrorist attack," U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News.
U.S. officials said the two appeared to be travelling with what were termed "mock bombs" in their luggage. "This was almost certainly a dry run, a test," said one senior law enforcement official.
Read more ....
More News On This Terror Plot
Two Men Arrested On Terror Suspicion On Flight From Chicago To Amsterdam -- FOX News
Dutch arrests may have been dry run, U.S. source says -- CNN
Dutch police question two men on trans-Atlantic flight -- BBC
Dutch Police Arrest Two Men After Suspicious Baggage Discovered -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Dutch Police Arrest Two Men Arriving on U.S. Flight Amid Probe Into Bags -- Bloomberg
Dutch Arrest 2 From U.S. On Terror Suspicions -- NPR
AP source: Suspicious luggage sparks questioning -- AP
Dutch arrest two men on US flight -- AFP
2 Airline Passengers Held on Fears of a Terrorist Plot -- New York Times
Pair held after odd items turn up in luggage -- Washington Post
Two Airplane Passengers Arrested on Fears of Terror Plot -- Wall Street Journal
Dutch police arrest terror suspects on US flight -- The Telegraph
2 men with Michigan ties raise suspicion of terror plot -- Detroit Free Press
My Comment: ThreatsWatch sums it up best ....
Bulky clothing in summer and cell phones taped together, perhaps to simulate bomb triggers, by Middle Eastern men on an American flight.
If it walks like a duck, and looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, chances are it's a duck.
A Bad Day For U.S. Troops In Afghanistan
U.S. Army Capt. Cory Petro, left, waits for Afghan elders to arrive for a meeting near Combat Outpost Mizan in Mizan district, Zabul province, Afghanistan, Aug 19, 2010. Petro is assigned to the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nathanael CallonBombs Kill Seven US Soldiers In Afghanistan -- CNN
Seven US soldiers have been killed in two bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan, the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) says.
Five troops were killed by a roadside bomb in one incident while two others died in a separate bomb attack, Isaf said in a statement.
Witnesses in Kandahar said a US Army vehicle hit a bomb in the early afternoon, the Associated Press said.
Fourteen US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in the last three days.
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More News On U.S. Casualties in Afghanistan
7 US troops die in bombings in violent south -- AP
Seven U.S. troops killed in south Afghan bombings -- Reuters
Seven US soldiers killed in Afghan bomb attacks -- AFP
7 ISAF members killed in Afghanistan -- CNN
7 foreign troops killed by IED in S. Afghanistan -- Xinhuanet
US troops killed in Afghan blasts -- Al Jazeera
Why Is The CIA Providing Aid To Sudan, A State That Has Been Branded A State Sponsor Of Terror By Washington
CIA Training Sudan's Spies As Obama Officials Fight Over Policy -- Spy Talk/Washington Post
American officials may be at odds over U.S. policy toward Sudan, but the CIA is soldiering on there.
The East African regime is not just an international pariah for its genocidal track record in the western region of Darfur, it’s officially been branded by Washington as a terrorist state, in part for its past harboring of Islamist radicals, including Osama bin Laden in the 1990s.
Despite that, the CIA is continuing to train and equip Sudan’s intelligence service in the name of fighting terrorism.
Read more ....
My Comment: So we are now helping governments that are labeled as state sponsors of terror .... as well as committing genocide in Darfur.
With allies like this .... who needs enemies.
More Sanctions On North Korea's Nuclear Program
Obama Widens North Korea Sanctions on Nuclear Funding -- BloombergPresident Barack Obama widened U.S. financial sanctions on North Korea today in an effort to cut off sources of income that fund the nuclear weapons program of the regime’s leader, Kim Jong Il.
The U.S. will freeze the assets of four North Koreans, three of the country’s companies and five government agencies suspected of “illicit and deceptive activities” that support the regime’s weapons industry, according to an executive order posted on the Treasury Department’s website.
Read more ....
More News On North Korean Sanctions
US to impose new North Korea sanctions - official -- BBC
US steps up N Korea sanctions -- Financial Times
North Korea punished by US over sinking of warship -- The Guardian
US wants N.Korea to show serious about denuclearization -- Reuters
US slaps new sanctions on North Korea: Treasury -- AFP
My Comment: Unfortunately, China's relations with North Korea will probably undermine these new sanctions.
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