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[Krandall]

US-Saudi arms deal ripples from Iran to Israel

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – As American and Saudi officials spent months quietly hammering out a wish list for a mammoth sale of American warplanes and other weapons to the oil-rich kingdom, leaders in Iran were busy publicly displaying their advances in missiles, naval craft and air power.

In one memorable bit of political theater, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood under a cascade of glitter in August to unveil a drone bomber — dubbed the "ambassador of death" — that he claimed would keep foes in the region "paralyzed" on their bases.

The response by Washington and its cornerstone Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, moved a step ahead Wednesday. The Obama administration notified Congress of plans to sell as many as 84 new F-15 fighter jets, helicopters and other gear with an estimated $60 billion price tag.

The proposed deal — one of the biggest single U.S. arms sales — is clearly aimed at countering Iran's rising military might and efforts to expand its influence.

But it ties together other significant narratives in the region, including an apparent retooling of Israeli policies to tacitly support a stronger, American-armed Saudi Arabia because of common worries about Iran.

It also reinforces the Gulf as the Pentagon's front-line military network against Iran even as the U.S. sandwiches the Islamic republic with troops and bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"In this way, Saudi Arabia does become some sort of buffer between Israel and Iran," said Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a Swedish think tank that tracks arms sales.

Israel has made no diplomatic rumblings over the proposed Saudi deal — a marked contrast to almost automatic objections decades ago to Pentagon pacts with Arab nations. It's widely seen as an acknowledgment that Israel's worries over Iran and its nuclear program far outweigh any small shifts in the Israel-Arab balance of power.

Israel is moving toward a policy of "pick your fights," said Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.

"After all," he added, "Saudi Arabia is not such a big threat to us."

And Israel does not come out of the current American arms bazaar empty handed. Earlier this month, it signed a deal to purchase 20 F-35 stealth fighters that could possibly reach Iran undetected by radar. Israel has an option for 75 more.
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"This equipment is primarily to give (Israel) a better feeling facing the Iranian threat. It is not related to Israeli-Arab relations," said Inbar. "Ironically, in the current situation, Saudi Arabia is in the same strategic boat as Israel is in facing the Iranian threat."

Besides the new fighters for Saudi Arabia, the U.S. plans to upgrade an additional 70 of the kingdom's existing F-15s. State Department and Pentagon officials told lawmakers the sales also will include 190 helicopters, including Apaches and Black Hawks, as well as an array of missiles, bombs, delivery systems and accessories such as night-vision goggles and radar warning systems.

Congress has 30 days to block the deal, which was first revealed in September but has been in negotiations for months. U.S. officials say they aren't expecting significant opposition.

Iran, meanwhile, has concentrated on its missile arsenal overseen by the powerful Revolutionary Guard. Its solid-fuel Sajjil missile has a reported range of more than 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) — within range of Israel and all main U.S. bases in the region.

Iran's navy has staged war games in the Gulf and announced major additions to its fleet, including three Iranian-built submarines designed to operate in the Gulf's shallow waters.

It marks the Gulf as a buyer's market for arms, led by the U.S. as the dominant Western military power from Kuwait to Oman. Throughout the Gulf, Washington counts on access to Arab allies' air bases, logistics hubs and the Bahrain headquarters of America's naval powerhouse in the region — the U.S. 5th Fleet.

A report last month by the U.S. General Accountability Office said Washington approved $22 billion worth of military equipment transfers to the six Gulf Arab states between fiscal 2005 and 2009 through a Pentagon-managed program.

More than half was earmarked for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, including a $6.5 billion deal in 2009 for the UAE to buy the Patriot missile defense system.

The UAE agreement was the largest single arms approval during the five-year period — but is dwarfed by the proposed Saudi deal.

The researcher Wezeman said Iran is clearly the top perceived threat for the Gulf Arabs, but there are background concerns about Iraq's stability and the unrest in neighboring Yemen that includes Shiite Hawthi rebels and Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaida. The Saudi military was drawn into rare fighting in northern Yemen starting late last year, using airstrikes and artillery to battle a Hawthi rebellion that was spilling across the border.

"Of course it's against Iran. Of course it's against Yemen," said Wezeman. "You can read between the lines ... but there are not any official statements about it."

Wezeman's group issued a report this month that estimates the eight nations ringing the Gulf — including rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia — accounted for 10 percent of all conventional weapons imports between 2005-2009.

The appetite was on display earlier this month when envoys from more than 50 U.S. defense and aerospace firms held talks in Abu Dhabi, where they were welcomed by the UAE's minister of foreign trade at an opulent hotel on the shores of the Gulf.

As the American defense budget tightens, the Gulf's deep pockets beckon.

"This is a critical time for our companies abroad as the U.S. defense budget continues to face pressures at home," said a statement from Lawrence Farrell, head of the National Defense Industrial Association based outside Washington.

Jane Kinninmont, a Middle East and Africa specialist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said concerns over Iran are the primary motivation for the Saudi arms expansion. But she wonders how much the untested Gulf forces rattle Iranian commanders who are almost all veterans of the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

"I would not be surprised if the Iranians are pretty cynical about the armies here," she said during an interview in Dubai. "To put it bluntly, they've fought a war."

[Colorado700R]

Oh...fucking beautiful...

(CNN) -- The U.S. Geological Survey says a revised estimate for the amount of conventional, undiscovered oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska is a fraction of a previous estimate.

The group estimates about 896 million barrels of such oil are in the reserve, about 90 percent less than a 2002 estimate of 10.6 billion barrels.

The new estimate is mainly due to the incorporation of new data from recent exploration drilling revealing gas occurrence rather than oil in much of the area, the geological survey said.

"These new findings underscore the challenge of predicting whether oil or gas will be found in frontier areas," USGS Director Dr. Marcia McNutt said in a statement. "It is important to re-evaluate the petroleum potential of an area as new data becomes available."

The organization also estimates 8 trillion cubic feet less gas than a 2002 estimate of 61 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, conventional, non-associated gas -- meaning gas found in discrete accumulations with little to no crude oil in the reservoir.

"Recent activity in the NPRA, including 3-D seismic surveys, federal lease sales administered by the Bureau of Land Management and drilling of more than 30 exploration wells in the area provides geological information that is more indicative of gas than oil," the geological survey said.

The petroleum reserve in Alaska has been the focus of significant oil exploration during the past decade, stimulated by the mid-1990s discovery of the largest onshore oil discovery in the U.S. during the past 25 years, the organization said

[Colorado700R]

The next 'Batman' movie will be called...
..."The Dark Knight Rises," according to the Los Angeles Times, in an interview with director Christopher Nolan.

Nolan and his brother Jonathan are hard at work on a script for what they see as the final chapter in a Batman trilogy, set for release in July 2012.

As one might expect, much of it is shrouded in secrecy, including what, if anything, will be done about the late Heath Ledger's Joker character (last seen - spoiler alert! - tied up and hanging upside down off the side of a building).

There's been a lot of speculation about which villain will be featured in the movie, but the Times was only able to get Nolan to rule out the Riddler (he had earlier ruled out Mr. Freeze), making Catwoman or the lesser-known Hugo Strange good possibilities. Batman's "rogues gallery" is practically endless, so Nolan could certainly come up with someone that nobody is talking about, as well.

[Lady4Fiddy]

What a wonderful coming together of two diverse groups! We need more gatherings where the idiot activists are given warm, moist, aromatic welcomes like this one. This is why PETA usually protests women wearing fur rather than bikers wearing leather. Sounds to me like the old saying, "you mess with the bull, and you get the horns". Gee, I guess these characters thought that Bikers where going to be politically correct like the rest of the wimpy world. HERE'S HOW POLICE FOUND ONE OF THEM. (See Picture below)

Johnstown, PA (GlossyNews) - Local and state police scoured the hills outside rural Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after reports of three animal rights activists going missing after attempting to protest the wearing of leather at a large motorcycle gang rally this weekend. Two others, previously reported missing, were discovered by fast food workers "duct taped inside fast food restaurant dumpsters," according to police officials.

"Something just went wrong,"said a still visibly shaken organizer of the protest. "Something just went horribly, horribly, wrong."The organizer said a group of concerned animal rights activist groups, "growing tired of throwing fake blood and shouting profanities at older women wearing leather or fur coats," decided to protest the annual motorcycle club event "in a hope to show them our outrage at their wanton use of leather in their clothing and motor bike seats." "In fact," said the organizer, "motorcycle gangs are one of the biggest abusers of wearing leather, and we decided it was high time that we let them know that we disagree with them using it. ergo, they should stop."

According to witnesses, protesters arrived at the event in a vintage 1960's era Volkswagen van and began to pelt the gang members with balloons filled with red colored water, simulating blood, and shouting "you're murderers" to passers by. This, evidently, is when the brouhaha began.

"They peed on me!!!" charged one activist. "They grabbed me, said I looked like I was French, started calling me 'La Trene' and duct taped me to a tree so they could pee on me all day!"

Still others claimed they were forced to eat hamburgers and hot dogs under duress. Those who resisted were allegedly held down while several bikers "farted on their heads."

Police officials declined comments on any leads or arrests due to the ongoing nature of the investigation; however, organizers for the motorcycle club rally expressed "surprise" at the allegations.

"That's preposterous,"said one high-ranking member of the biker organizing committee. "We were having a party, and these people showed up and were very rude to us. They threw things at us, called us names, and tried to ruin the entire event. So, what did we do? We invited them to the party! What could be more friendly than that? You know, just because we are all members of motorcycle clubs does not mean we do not care about inclusiveness. Personally, I think it shows a lack of character for them to be saying such nasty things about us after we bent over backwards to make them feel welcome."

When confronted with the allegations of force-feeding the activist's meat, using them as ad hoc latrines, leaving them incapacitated in fast food restaurant dumpsters, and 'farting on their heads,' the organizer declined to comment in detail.  "That's just our secret handshake,"assured the organizer.

[Colorado700R]

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA!!!!!!

[Krandall]

remember reading this a while back, TOO FUNNY!!!

[Lady4Fiddy]

I love it! This brings so much happiness to me!

And I knew you guys would enjoy it. 

[Segkast]

'That's just our secret handshake' I fuckin love bikers !!!

[Peelz]

outstanding!

[Segkast]

Eet Mah Pussay or Dia !

(pic of the Woman is available on link) http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/west-virginia/woman-utters-line-never-previously-recorded-police-report

Meet Melissa Lee Williams. The West Virginia woman, 41, is facing assault and weapons charges after allegedly waving a knife at two men who declined her demands to engage in sexual conduct at a West Virginia motor inn.

The October 22 incident is detailed in an amusing/gross Jackson County Sheriff's Department report excerpted here.

According to investigators, Williams--who lives four doors down from her estranged husband at the 77 Motor Inn--showed up at his door and asked Danny Williams and another man to "eat my pussy." At this point, Williams, pictured in the mug shot at right, "commenced to undress herself," reported Deputy Ross Mellinger.

While Danny Williams "declined said invitation," the other man, Adam Watson, told cops that he "agreed to perform at her request." However, as Watson approached Williams, "he became overwhelmed by horrible vaginal odor emitting from Melissa Williams." Watson, understandably, "declined to proceed any further."

This is when Melissa Williams allegedly "produced a lock-back folding knife," opened it, and pointed the weapon at her estranged husband. She then reportedly uttered a line never before memorialized in a police report: "Somebody is going to eat my pussy or I'm going to cut your fucking throat."

When Deputy Mellinger arrived on the scene he observed Williams--who, like the two men, appeared to be intoxicated--nude from the waist down. After pocketing a knife that was on the coffee table in front of Williams, Mellinger arrested her for domestic assault and brandishing a deadly weapon.

Williams, who was released from jail after posting $3000 bond, is next due in Jackson County Magistrate Court on February 16.

[Krandall]

[Krandall]

Phiengchai Synhavong claimed she was crazy when she tied up 27-year-old Araceli Camacho Gomez then cut out her fetus with a box cutter. Most people wouldn't argue. But from a legal standpoint, jurors in the bizarre case weren't buying it as an excuse. And after being convicted of murder last month, Benton County Superior Court Judge Robert Swishes on Wednesday sent the 25-year-old Laotian woman away to die to prison.

Even without the details, the crime ranks up there as one of the most demented acts recorded in human kind's short history.

Regardless, here the details are:

Synhavong had taken to telling people that she was pregnant, which she wasn't. Gomez, however, was nine months pregnant and seemed the perfect target for the baby snatcher.

Synhavong somehow lured Gomez into her SUV, telling her that she was going to give her some baby clothes. A large-and-in-charge woman, Synhavong overpowered Gomez when she was in the vehicle, then tied her up with yarn.

Then, out came the box cutter.

After the unthinkable deed, Synhavong dumped Gomez's now lifeless body in a city park and took the child (a little boy named Salvador who somehow survived the ordeal) as her own.

She called police and told them she'd just delivered a baby and that it might be dead. But that story didn't add up when simple tests showed there was no way she just gave birth or had even been pregnant at all.

The cops also found bloody mechanic's gloves in her purse.

When they found Gomez's body and charged Synhavong with murder, she started acting all kinds of crazy--saying the police kidnapped her and toting around a blanket that she called her baby. Later though, when the cops and shrinks watched her in secret, she acted normal, playing cards with the folks at the hospital and joking around.

This pretty well blew a hole in her "not guilty by reasons of insanity" defense.

Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller had decided against seeking the death penalty after the woman's family expressed interest in putting the incident behind them.

Little Salvador, meanwhile, is said to have suffered brain damage, though most would call it a miracle that he survived at all.

[Colorado700R]

WTF!!!!! 

that bitch!

[Peelz]

sick. I think this was in a lifetime movie the wifey watched.   

[Krandall]

Vincent Unger Paid 12-Year-Old Girls Thousands to Fulfill His Sexual Wish List

​Vincent Joseph Unger knew the fastest way to a little girl's heart wasn't love or diamonds. It was cash -- thousands of dollars in cash. The 49-year-old degenerate was known around his Louisville neighborhood as "Uncle Joe." And he was a hit with the pre-teen girls set...

One mom says her stepdaughter and six other 12-year-old girls began hanging around his apartment nearly a year ago. What she didn't know was that Unger was a horny old dude who couldn't get women his own age. So he was paying the little girls to fulfill his sexual wish list.

He apparently plied them with liquor and porn at his apartment, then made a list of sex acts he wanted to see the girls perform, he admitted to detectives. For each thing they did, the girls were paid between $100 and $500.

"He wanted them to make out with him, touch him, and he would give them money," the mom told WHAS-TV. "But if they didn't he would give them money anyway."

Unger is believed to have spent thousands of dollars on the girls. What's amazing that none of their parents noticed they were hanging out with a creepy old pervert since last December, or that they suddenly were loaded with cash for no apparent reason.

A grand jury has now indicted him on 12 counts of committing sexual acts with minors, giving them adult beverages and showing them pornographic material.