Monday, May 02, 2011

Osama Bin Laden Is Dead - How It Was Done, Part One

As the enormous tide of blog posts and Twitter tweets about the end of Osama Bin Laden, and the search for content under "Osama Bin Laden Is Dead" continues at a "volcanic" level according to Google Trends, an email came in from an old friend who was a US Army Captain.

It reads that the operation to get Bin Laden was...

..carried out by combined force of Navy Seals from Seal team 7 & US Army SOC (Special Operations Command) Joint Force including Squadron from 1st Special Forces Detachment (Delta Force) US Army 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment- My old Unit-Lost one Aircraft and Crew...) and USAF Special Operations Wing (combat observation and Support).....

In the days ahead it will come out that the seal team were the ground observers, the Delta team was the reaction force, the SOAR moved Delta into position for the Mission and Flew Close Combat Air support, and the AF ran the Predator Drones and flew the AC-130 combat support Plane....It's a Mission operation template that has worked(with only one exception - Somalia) since 1983.....

the 4 Helos: 2 CH-47 Heavy Lifters and 2 MH-60 Blackhawks......the 47's moved the troops and the 60's provide fire support(I flew the 60's...)


My Old Unit-The 160th SOAR(SPECIAL OPERATIONS AVIATION REGIMENT)
Motto: Night Stalkers Don't Quit(NSDQ)
HQ Base Ft. Campbell Ky
Officially formed: 10/16/1981
Stay tuned.

Osama Bin Laden Is Dead: Politics In The Post-Bin Laden World



Now that Al Qaeda Head Osama Bin Laden has been laid to rest at sea after the successful excursion to Pakistan by US, Navy Seals, it's time to consider how both American and World politics will be reshaped in the wake of this event of fantastic proportions.

Yes, Osama Bin Laden is dead.

Consider that since September 11, 2001, when Al Qaeda-directed airplane hijacks resulted in four crashes and the destruction of the twin towers of The World Trade Center, America's perceived standing in the World fell both from an economic and from a militaristic perspective. President George W. Bush, who vowed to get Bin Laden "Dead or Alive" seemed more intent on using the fact that he was alive as political fuel for his two terms as President.

Now that President Barack Obama successfully went after and got Bin Laden, there's no longer that political card to play - but thankfully, Obama never did so.

By following through on a campaign promise to go to Pakistan and get Bin Laden, and get out of Iraq, President Obama has firmly cemented his place in World History. He will forever be known as the man who helped bring an end to a reign of terror exacted by Al Qaeda and operatives in the Mid East and bring in a new, more democratic and free way of life.

Obama didn't do this by force, but by pushing along Arab Cultural forces already active. And indeed, the people involved in the formation of the "New Mid East," are certainly no friends of Bin Laden. When Obama saw an opening to take out Osama Bin Laden, he gave the order to do so.

His timing, just right in the middle of the greatest upheaval of Arab regimes in Mid East History, was perfect. While there will always be terrorists and terrorism, the Arab desire for freedom is overtaking those Arabs who would want to destroy any chance for it. And this is great for America.

No, it doesn't mean an end to security lines at airports, and it should not. But it - the changing of regimes and the death of Bin Laden - does mean that we in America can all look at the Mid East with pride and not with trepidation. And hopefully it means better opportunities for American business, particularly in tech, which means more jobs here and in the Mid East, too.

This moment, really this combination of many events happening close together, may also be the catalyst for the easing of credit and the restoration of the American and the World economy. Overnight the Japanese stock index increased after the announcement that Bin Laden was dead. And U.S. Markets, from the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the S&P 500, were all up today.

The bet here is that's just the shape of more good news to come.ma Bin Laden has been laid to rest at sea after the successful excursion to Pakistan by US, Navy Seals, it's time to consider how both American and World politics will be reshaped in the wake of this event of fantastic proportions.

Consider that since September 11, 2001, when Al Qaeda-directed airplane hijacks resulted in four crashes and the destruction of the twin towers of The World Trade Center, America's perceived standing in the World fell both from an economic and from a militaristic perspective. President George W. Bush, who vowed to get Bin Laden "Dead or Alive" seemed more intent on using the fact that he was alive as political fuel for his two terms as President.

Now that President Barack Obama successfully went after and got Bin Laden, there's no longer that political card to play - but thankfully, Obama never did so.

By following through on a campaign promise to go to Pakistan and get Bin Laden, and get out of Iraq, President Obama has firmly cemented his place in World History. He will forever be known as the man who helped bring an end to a reign of terror exacted by Al Qaeda and operatives in the Mid East and bring in a new, more democratic and free way of life.

Obama didn't do this by force, but by pushing along Arab Cultural forces already active. And indeed, the people involved in the formation of the "New Mid East," are certainly no friends of Bin Laden. When Obama saw an opening to take out Osama Bin Laden, he gave the order to do so.

His timing, just right in the middle of the greatest upheaval of Arab regimes in Mid East History, was perfect. While there will always be terrorists and terrorism, the Arab desire for freedom is overtaking those Arabs who would want to destroy any chance for it. And this is great for America.

No, it doesn't mean an end to security lines at airports, and it should not. But it - the changing of regimes and the death of Bin Laden - does mean that we in America can all look at the Mid East with pride and not with trepidation. And hopefully it means better opportunities for American business, particularly in tech, which means more jobs here and in the Mid East, too.

This moment, really this combination of many events happening close together, may also be the catalyst for the easing of credit and the restoration of the American and the World economy. Overnight the Japanese stock index increased after the announcement that Bin Laden was dead. And U.S. Markets, from the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the S&P 500, were all up today.

The bet here is that's just the shape of more good news to come.

Sohaib Athar Was Twitter Witness To US Attack On Bin Ladin

The Twitterverse and now blogosphere is, well, a buzz, or a Twitter (if you like) over the discovery that Sohaib Athar, who describes himself on Twitter @ReallyVirtual as a "IT consultant taking a break from the rat-race by hiding in the mountains with his laptops," provided a tweet-by-tweet account of the US Navy Seal raid that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden.

His tweets started April 28th in Abbottabad, Pakistan, with this one:

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).


Then, Mr. Athar became annoyed with the helicopter, and let his Twitter followers know it.

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
Go away helicopter - before I take out my giant swatter :-/

But a bit later, it was clear to Athar something big and "nasty" was up.

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S

Then the "giant fly" was gone...

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
@
@m0hcin all silent after the blast, but a friend heard it 6 km away too... the helicopter is gone too.

A Fast Action Assault

From the read of his Twitter tweets, the entire US attack lasted only a few minutes. The US Navy Seals got out as fast as they got in. But, at the time, Aohaib didn't know what was going on; he could only guess:

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
Since taliban (probably) don't have helicpoters, and since they're saying it was not "ours", so must be a complicated situation #abbottabad

Mr. Athar tweets that the craft was not a spy plane, as it was "too noisy." There was also a copter crash, but from reports it wasn't American; President Obama said there were no Americans harmed in any way.

One thing's for sure about all this, "Abbottabad " certainly found a place on the map of pop culture, as has Sohaib Athar. Mr. Athar has been inundated with emails from the media, and from general people around the World.

ReallyVirtual Sohaib Athar
For the people who are trying to email me to reach me, I simply can't filter out the notifications from the emails :-(


Stay tuned.


Osama Bin Laden Is Dead - Credit President Obama




Osama Bin Laden Is Dead. President Barack Obama made the stunning announcement at 11:39 PM EDT Sunday, as this blogger sat in a position of stasis. For almost 10 years, the name Osama Bin Laden had become an indelible part of American Culture, and with an image just equal to that of Adolf Hitler.

The Mastermind of the September 11th 2001 events we call 9-11 and that led to the total destruction of the twin towers of The World Trade Center in New York City was on the run, seemingly forever.

Not any more...



And while the media points to a intelligence gathering process that started back in 2001, the truth is that America's political leaders in charge for much of that time wrongly focused American military resources on Irag, and not Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Now, almost a trillion dollars, and 4,000 lost lives by 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama, just starting what would become his successful presidential run, said that he would end the Iraq War, and go on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden right in Pakistan.

The statement led to a ton of criticism from his major presidential rivals. In a blog post dated Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at Zennie62.com, this blogger pushed-out for distribution what CNN's Ruben Navarrette Jr, wrote:

When Sen. Barack Obama suggested getting out of Iraq and moving "onto the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan," and then pledged, if elected president, to go into Pakistan if our military was in hot pursuit of "high-value terrorist targets" (read: Osama bin Laden), his opponents pounced.


Rudy Giuliani suggested that Obama should be more accommodating of Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Mitt Romney said that Obama was "confused as to who are our friends and who are our enemies." Sen. John McCain called Obama's remarks "kind of typical of his naivete." And Sen. Hillary Clinton said that Obama's foreign policy views were "irresponsible and frankly naive."

Now, fast-forward to 2011 and while Hillary Clinton is now Secretary of State, and Rudy Giuliani is semi-retired (or so it seems) Mitt Romney is talking about running for President, again. And Sen. John McCain doesn't seem to be in the mood of thanking President Obama, issuing this Twitter Tweet:

SenJohnMcCain John McCain
We finally got him, justice has been done. Read my full statement here http://tinyurl.com/3auckey...


Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), made the following statement this evening regarding the announcement made by President Obama that Osama Bin Laden has been killed:


"I am overjoyed that we finally got the world's top terrorist. The world is a better and more just place now that Osama bin Laden is no longer in it. I hope the families of the victims of the September 11th attacks will sleep easier tonight and every night hence knowing that justice has been done. I commend the President and his team, as well as our men and women in uniform and our intelligence professionals, for this superb achievement.


"But while we take heart in the news that Osama bin Laden is dead, we must be mindful that al-Qaeda and its terrorist allies are still lethal and determined enemies, and we must remain vigilant to defeat them."
That's great.  But never forget that it was McCain who wasted no time in saying then-Senator Obama was naive for wanting to go into Pakistan to get Bin Laden.  If McCain were POTUS, and not Obama, this day arguably would never have come. 

And the list of potential GOP Presidential Candidates who don't have the class to thank President Obama includes Sarah Palin and, of course, Mitt Romney, as of this writing.

What Were We Doing In Iraq?

All of this, this modern V-Jay Day, now brings back the question "What were we doing in Iraq?"   It was, indeed, not just the wrong war, but a costly war.   And we wasted years in Iraq while Osama Bin Laden gained enough time and money to have the giant compound in Pakistan constructed to keep him safe.  

Now, a revisiting of what the USA was doing over that time is in order, especially since it's clear Osama Bin Laden was no where near Iraq.

We got him.   In Pakistan.  

Stay tuned. 

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Donald Trump Eviscerated On Twitter After White House Correspondents Dinner

Donald Trump's eroding brand name took another massive hit at last night's White House Correspondents Dinner, after the combination of jokes from President Barack Obama and Saturday Night Live Comedian Seth Myers blasted him for his focus on Obama's birth certificate.

Now, Sunday morning on Twitter sees "Seth Myers" as a trending topic, while the Twiterverse eviscerates Trump. If you've not seen the performance by Myers, it's in the video below, and you have to forward to the 12 minute mark to not miss his segment about The Donald.

Here's the video:



Donald Trump is, as one can tell from the photo here, not amused. Trump sat, looking like he was forced to eat a bitter, salty sandwich, because the jokes fired at him were a bitter, salty sandwich.

The joke getting the most play? Seth Myers: "I hear Donald Trump's running for President as a Republican, which is funny, because I thought he was running as a joke."

And on Twitter the Trump hits keep coming:

wajobu wajobu™
@realDonaldTrump We should verify your quals for biz viability before you declare bankruptcy on our nickel...again & again. #birther #mtp

Lippmania Jason Lippman
Never seen such a public shellacking like the one on @realDonaldTrump at #whcd, but he kind of asked for it. @BarackObama @sethmeyers21

talentdiva Adrienne Graham
@realDonaldTrump Pay attention. That's how it's done. You got served by @BarackObama & he didn't even have to hire anyone. Go sit somewhere!

maleah_jrm Maleah
The best part is watching him have to sit there and take it. @BarackObama takes down @RealDonaldTrump Sorkin-style http://goo.gl/36cvi

And there's more here: Donald Trump Blasted On Twitter.

Stay tuned.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

2011 NFL Draft Thoughts And Video Interviews - Part One

While this is not the last blog post on the 2011 Nfl Draft, by this space, it's a good idea to start summing up what happened at the NFL's Annual Player Selection Meeting. The idea of segmenting thought into word groups is appropriate, accompanied by YouTube.com/Zennie62 2011 NFL Draft videos that fit them.

Chaos and Controversy

The off-then-on again nature of the National Football League Lockout and the overarching struggle with the NFL Players Association dominated and colored every aspect of the production of The NFL Draft, and made long time draftniks observe that it seemed to put the normally relaxed NFL staff on edge.

Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had to deal with how fans viewed the labor struggle, and constant questions from the media, including this blogger. Goodell handled it all with his customarily smooth intensity. Here, during the NFL Red Carpet, Goodell said he just wants the players to get back to the negotiating table, but seemed to imply getting them to do so was as hard as running against the 1985 Chicago Bears Defense:



And when the NFL Labor Issue wasn't the focus, former Auburn Quarterback Cam Newton was. Cam, for reasons that focus on classic American Cultural issues with outgoing, confident black men, became a polarizing figure. At times, it was hard to figure out if criticism of Newton was based on race issues or very real concerns. It was an issue I talked about to varying degrees with three NFL Draft Media veterans, NFL.com's Vic Cariucci, CBS Sports' Clark Judge, and NFL Network's Steve Mariucci (who provided a more comprehensive view of the quarterback situation beyond Cam Newton), as well as "McLovin" from The Dan Patrick Show:









Frankly, the entire Cam Newton Controversy really altered how I think about the NFL and the media. The criticisms of Newton's intellect and made-up assumptions about his character were all too much like classic ways that black men have been put-down in America.

Coupled with Donald Trump's overzealous focus on President Barack Obama's birth certificate, it seemed like some people and media institutions (like the USA Today) that America gave an iconic spotlight to were degenerating into institutional racists, bent on using the age-old image paint that tries to makes a black person look unAmerican in the case of President Obama and Mr. Trump, and unintelligent and dangerous in the case of Cam Newton and the USA Today.

Even Ryan Mallet, who was heavily hammered for his character issues and an arrogance that's not unlike Eminem at his defiant best, fell in the NFL Draft - fell up to The New England Patriots. Now, Ryan's in position to be the heir-apparent to Tom Brady. I'll bet even Newton's looking at that development with some envy, because at Carolina, the burden's on his shoulders, where Mallet can kick back and learn from the best. Still, Newton's in position to collect a big guaranteed check, and huge endorsement deals, as long as he keeps smiling. Right now, he's just relieved:



Still, I came away feeling a little sorry for Blaine Gabbert, because, while he welcomed the competition, had to feel a little weird being painted as the "white male" alternative to Cam Newton.

Here, in Gabbert, is a young man completely of the 21st Century, with tons of black friends and zero race issues, dealing with American Cultural issues with race mostly possessed by people contaminated by the racist stench of the 20th Century, and old enough to know better. Even as he may have been a kind of pawn in the game, the hype surrounding Gabbert landed him in a great place: Jacksonville. It's just that he wanted to be the number one pick - you could see that in his eyes:



Promise and Faith

Seeing new New York Giants Cornerback and 2011 NFL Draft First Round hire Prince Amakamura meet former New York Giant Tiki Barber, who's returning to the NFL, was interesting because it was just simply two ships passing in the day who had a lot of information of common interest to share. Tiki, a player under Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin, can certainly talk to Prince about how to work with "Coach C" and Prince Amakamura can learn about life as an NFL Player from Barber, and talk about how the college game as changed since Tiki played.



Moreover, Tiki Barber's return to football, while taking a promising path, is still really one big question mark until some NFL team expresses a need for him. This space is rooting for his return to the NFL, if only to add to his already expansive playing resume, but also to regain what seems to be the diminished sheen of his NFL playing career.

Fun Times And People - Next

Former Alabama Defensive Tackle Marcell Daureus is just plain ready to take over the Buffalo Bills Defense, and it shows in this interview below (and this blogger will post an interview with former Auburn and now Detroit Lions Defensive Tackle Nick Fairley on Sunday night).



And in this area we have to place new Bengals Wide Receiver AJ Green, Denver Broncos new Linebacker Von Miller, and Green Bay Packers new pass-catcher Randall Cobb, who will bring a "Wild-Cobb" style to the Packers already explosive offense. Cobb's going to be fun to watch up there in the Frozen Tundra.

For more videos, visit Youtube.com/zennie62 and stay tuned for the next installment of this 2011 NFL Draft recap.

Stories Waiting to be Found at Your County’s “Office of the Unclaimed Dead”

What happens when someone dies who has no assets - or friends or relatives - to pay for his burial?

As our society becomes more and more fragmented, and the economic crisis worsens for more and more people, your jurisdiction may be struggling to pay for the disposition of bodies of indigents. Or, perhaps you've had a recent experience yourself with a neighbor or a friend, or even a local homeless person, who died unable to afford a burial. What happens then?

Procedures for pauper's burials vary widely by jurisdiction. It is one of those little-discussed arenas of public health, a topic that often intersects with the deaths of the homeless.

In Florida, counties bear the cost of burying indigents.  But, in Leon County, for instance, friends and relatives may not attend the burial at the Pauper's Cemetery, due to "liability issues," and cremation is not allowed. In Bexar County, Texas,  paupers are entitled to a simple casket, a viewing for up to two hours, burial three to a plot (one to a plot for children), a brief gravesite service, and a granite headstone. Cremation is allowed.

When I was a medical resident here in San Francisco, an Office of  the Unclaimed Dead (literally) handled paupers' burials. Now, the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office handles them.

San Francisco has roughly 250 indigent deaths a year to manage - approximately one a weekday. Richard Vetterli, adminstrator of the Office of the  Chief Medical Examiner, is the person charged with dealing with these cases.

Establishing identity is a crucial first step, Vetterli says. As in most major urban areas, San Francisco's medical examiner investigators use DNA databases and publicity. Most people are conclusively identified fairly quickly. But there are still, even after prolonged and intense efforts, John and Jane Does who remain unidentified, sometimes for years.


Read more...


Disclaimer: Identifiable patients mentioned in this post were not served by R. Jan Gurley in her capacity as a physician at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, nor were they encountered through her position there. The views and opinions expressed by R. Jan Gurley are her own and do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the City and County of San Francisco; nor does mention of the San Francisco Department of Public Health imply its endorsement.

Photo Credit:  Potters Field image from Bcostin via flickr

Photo Credit:  Tagged body image from Calvin Cropley via flickr