THE ENTEBBE RAID

The Entebbe raid is perhaps the most successful hostage rescue operation carried out by the Israeli Defense forces IDF. June 27th 1976 and the drama unfolds....An Airbus 103 takes off from Telaviv Israel, destination Paris France. A stopover at Athens Greece would be the beginning of the mother of all woes.Palestinian terrorists hijack the plane, conveniently refueling in Benghazi before flying to Entebbe Uganda, a warm welcome awaits them from their semi-illiterate buffoon host Iddi Amin. Provided with full military cover, the terrorists freed all other hostages except 100 or so deemed to be Israeli or of Jewish descent. they demanded the release of their 'brothers' held in Israeli prisons. The hornets' nest had been stirred and what was to follow is to date narrated in lecture halls and around campfires.The Israeli Defense forces deployed 3 C131 planes and 200 troops backing 28 highly skilled commandos lead by Yohan Netanyahu ( brother to future prime minister). The operation is on, its about to get Warmer in East Africa.Two of the planes land like phantoms in Entebbe while the third one Engine still rearing awaits in neighboring Nairobi.The element of surprise stunned the Ugandan soldiers. They stood at attention as the now famous black Mercedes sped into the terminal. All this while they believed it was Iddi Amin himself. unknown to them, they had just laid a guard of honor for the enemy and the price of their stupidity would run any potent Black card into debt. it took the Israeli forces 38 minutes to free the hostages, that would be the average time it took Amin to construct a sentence in proper English.Within the hour, the IDF officers and Hostages were well on their way home. behind them in statistics were 7 terrorists, 20 Ugandan soldiers and several Ugandan air force jets....all dead! Colonel Netanyahu however was the only one who returned home cold, draped in the Israeli flag. He did not make it out but his legacy did and still remains unrivaled to date.

VALOUR OF THE CROWDS

oh raise the chariots,
of a war that fed on its king,
of the whimpering knights,
the darkness of their grace,
paints the arena of mercy,
laden with dust and webs,
for it never saw the great feast.

oh clamour in defeat,
and hide their shame in amour,
and lift silver chalices,
not in celebration of glory,
but to quench the thirst of shame,
that befell the mighty crusaders,
for they saw no battle but sun.

oh clutter the deafening jeer,
the mockery in chatter and giggle,
and soak the kingly robe,
in the strands of cowardly sweats,
in the rust of the swords in sheaths,
for the enemy combatant that never showed up.

US GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

The Republican-led House of Representatives insisted on delaying President Barack Obama's healthcare reform - dubbed Obamacare - as a condition for passing a bill. This has lead to the US federal government shutdown. In U.S. politics, a government shutdown is a situation in which Congress fails to pass authorization for sufficient funds for government operations. Typically, the government stops providing all but "essential" services at first, but since Congress must authorize all expenditures, there is no law protecting any government service from stoppage. Federal services that may continue for a time after a shutdown include the National Weather Service and its parent agencies, medical services at federal facilities, armed forces, air traffic management, and corrections (the penal system). The US government is facing a shutdown after congress failed to pass its latest budget.More than 700,000 federal employees face unpaid leave with no guarantee of back pay once the deadlock is over.It is the first shutdown in 17 years and the dollar fell early on Tuesday.Goldman Sachs estimates a three-week shutdown could shave as much as 0.9% from US GDP this quarter.On Tuesday, Mr Obama blamed the House of Representatives for the stalemate and said he would "keep working to get Congress to reopen the government [and] restart vital services".

"This shutdown was completely preventable. It should not have happened," he wrote in a letter to federal government employees."And the House of Representatives can end it as soon as it follows the Senate's lead, and funds your work in the United States Government without trying to attach highly controversial and partisan measures in the process."

On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner told reporters he hoped the Senate would agree to a committee between the two chambers known as a conference "so we can resolve this for the American people".

"The House has voted to keep the government open but we also want basic fairness for all Americans under Obamacare," he said.

But on Tuesday morning, the Senate voted 54-46 to reject the request for formal negotiations to end the impasse.

Effects of a government shutdown
As directed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the federal agencies now maintain contingency plans for dealing with government shutdowns. The emphasis of those plans is to determine which functions should continue. Most notably, the Department of Homeland Security and its Transportation Security Administration (TSA) did not exist in 1995 when the last long-term government shutdown took place. Due to the critical nature of their function, it is highly likely that the TSA would continue to function normally during a government shutdown.

Based on history, here is how a long-term government shutdown might impact some government-provided public services.

• Social Security: Benefit checks would probably keep coming, but no new applications would be accepted or processed.

• Income Tax: The IRS will probably stop processing paper tax returns and refunds.

• Border Patrol: Customs and Border Patrol functions will probably continue.

• Welfare: Again, the checks would probably continue, but new applications for Food Stamps might not be processed.

• Mail: The U.S. Postal Service supports itself, so mail deliveries would continue as usual.

• National Defense: All active duty members of all branches of all armed services would continue duty as usual, but might not get paid on time. More than half of the Defense Department's 860,000+ civilian employees would also work, the others sent home.

• Justice System: Federal courts should remain open. Criminals will still be chased, caught, prosecuted and thrown in federal prisons, which would still be operating.

• Farms/USDA: Food safety inspections will probably continue, but rural development, and farm credit and loan programs will probably close down.

• Transportation: Air traffic control, TSA security personnel, and the Coast Guard will remain on the job. Applications for passports and visas may not be processed.

• National Parks/Tourism: Parks and forests will probably close and visitors told to leave. Visitor and interpretive centers will be closed. Non-volunteer rescue and fire control services might be shut down. National monuments and most historic sites will probably be closed. Parks police will probably continue their patrols.

THE POEM OF A FLAME

Shoved to the stove,
the fire, smoke higher,
the fire's anger,
i smiled back.

Eat and bring me luck,
flapping with anger,
maybe from hunger,
i smiled back.

Raised up, charred,
then back with a soft putter,
crush! sweet ash,
i.....smiled back

OPERATION DESERT STORM

DESERT STORM!!!  Sound like a cool name the tough kids would throw around just before a high school hallway fight. It also sounds like the name of a fighter pit-bull....so what is/was DESERT STORM? listen to this old story. The year is 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is flexing his muscles in the sandunes of middle east. His army has invaded Kuwait and is unleashing terror on the Civilians as he is seen on news networks all over the world wielding a gilded AK47 while wearing his trademark ‘evil’ mustache and a grin to match. Women are being raped, children slaughtered and men butchered. The world is not going to watch silently, the UN is disturbed and of course the big boy uncle Sam (read The USA) is not going to let it slide. January 1991 and Coalition forces with the US marine and naval forces in the forefront launch an operation to flush out Saddam. The morning of January the 16^th 1991 saw General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA Commander-in-Chief U.S. Central Command utter these words "Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of the United States Central Command, this morning at 0300hrs, we launched Operation DESERT STORM, an offensive campaign that will enforce the United Nation's resolutions that Iraq must cease its rape and pillage of its weaker neighbor and withdraw its forces from Kuwait. My confidence in you is total. Our cause is just! Now you must be the thunder and lightning of Desert Storm. May God be with you, your loved ones at home, and our Country."  The coalition forces launched sea, land and air attacks pursuing Saddam to Baghdad. DESERT STORM began with a coordinated attack which included Tomahawk land attack missiles (TLAMs) launched from cruisers, destroyers and battleships in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea. The TLAM launches opened a carefully crafted joint strategic air campaign. The initial barrage of over 100 TLAMs took out heavily defended targets in the vicinity of Baghdad and made a critical contribution to eliminating Iraqi air defenses and command and control capabilities. US had half of its military boots on the Gulf for ‘operation desert storm’. 100 hours later, a cease fire was called, the Deserts storm had settled, the Gulf war was over, Saddam’s boys had their tails between their hind legs. The man himself lived to fight another day, literally. Saddam Hussein was to face the US marines again in 2003 and this time he was beaten to pulp. He and whatever was left of his ego was found curled up like a field rat in a bunker...the Desert storm finally caught up with Saddam.