Well, duh

 Iraqis want US out as soon as possible: US commander.

Haleakala

The cliffs are a’a, a type of lava that looks like freshly tilled soil, but is solid rock. In the background are the foothils of 10,000 ft. Mount Haleakala, which erupted 200+ years ago, creating the cliffs.

Photos taken during a hike in the Makena area of Maui.

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Kaho’olawe

The island in the distance, Kahoolawe, used to be a Navy bombing range. It’s now being restored to its orginal condition and when completed, only native Hawaiians will be able to go to it.

 

Surfer cross

There was another cross next to it. They weren’t there last year when we did this hike. Don’t know what happened.

 

 

Blogdom comes through

Body and Soul will continue. Blogdom came through and now Jeanne will be able to replace her dying computer and thus save her blog, a blog treasured by many.

Jeanne blogs her stunned thanks, more than 100 donated, using a metaphor of her love for the blubbery movie "It’s a Wonderful Life." In the [...]

Hawaii sovereignty

The monarchy of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893 by armed thugs backed by the US government and commercial interests. Armed insurrection by a relatively small group of men, most of them American by birth or heritage, succeeded in wresting control of the Islands with the backing of American troops sent ashore from a warship in [...]

Who’s on first. A clueless CIA

CIA’s bungled Italy job Sloppy use of cell phones, other missteps help police unravel cleric’s 2003 abduction.

The trick is known to just about every two-bit crook in the cellular age: If you don’t want the cops to know where you are, take the battery out of your cell phone when it’s not in use.

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How to escalate the insurgency

Iraqi court disqualifies prominent Sunni candidates

FBI follows tribe’s money trail

 The Mashpee gave tens of thousands to lobbyist Jack Abramoff and California Rep. Pombo.

The Mashpee Wampanoags, famed for greeting the Pilgrims at Plymouth, will be named a nationally recognized tribe — a designation they sought for 30 years so that they could benefit from federal aid programs.

Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist embroiled in a [...]

US radiation snooping of Muslims

 The Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim rights organisation in the United States, has described the revelation that Muslim gatherings and homes around Washington have been electronically "sniffed" for radiation as "disturbing."

In a statement on Friday, CAIR said, "This disturbing revelation, coupled with recent reports of domestic surveillance without warrant, could lead [...]