(no subject)

For 60 years the rotting masts of the SS Richard Montgomery have poked eerily from the sea at low tide, surrounded by buoys.

Small signs attached to the masts inform those who sail by on the Thames estuary: "Danger: unexploded ammunition." There are 3,172 tonnes of high explosive in the forward holds.

The ship foundered 60 years ago tomorrow in the mudbanks of the Medway, a mile from the Kent port of Sheerness. Today it is claimed the cargo of 13,700 bombs is a disaster waiting to happen.

If the Second World War American cargo ship was to blow up, a report warns, it would be one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever and could devastate Sheerness (population 11,000).

Tests in 1970 showed that a blast at low tide, when the wreck is covered by only 36ft of water, would hurl a 1,000ft-wide column of mud, metal and munitions almost 10,000ft into the air, shattering every window in Sheerness and causing widespread damage to buildings. No assessment was made of likely injuries or loss of life.

(no subject)

The 177 pounds of marijuana found in a car trunk after a routine traffic stop near Rapid City can be used as evidence against the two people in the car, a split state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The driver, Touray Akuba, voluntarily consented to the search by a South Dakota Highway Patrol officer, the high court said in a 3-2 decision. And Kaisha Paul, the woman riding with Akuba, had no standing to challenge Akuba's consent to the search, the justices said.

But the two dissenting justices said the search should be considered an unconstitutional search and seizure. Law officers should be required to have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before they can request permission to search a vehicle, the dissent said.

In addition, the facts indicate the trooper might have stopped the car Sept. 2, 2002, on Interstate 90 because it was driven by a black man with out-of-state plates, Justice Richard Sabers wrote in his dissent.

Highway Patrol Trooper Matt Oxner stopped the vehicle, a rental car with Oregon license plates, after spotting it traveling 68 mph in a construction zone with a speed limit of 65 mph, according to court records.

(no subject)

( Ack! DEMON LLAMA! )

(no subject)

A young man drove up in a pickup truck to a Farmington, N.M., Chevrolet dealership Monday, walked in and demanded that he be given a new car, reports the Daily Times of Farmington.

When asked how he planned to pay for the vehicle, the man's answer was simple: Jesus would finance it for him.

Then he became threatening.

He said, 'If you don't give me the keys to the car, I'm going to drive [the pickup] through the showroom window,'

(no subject)

It's a bouncing baby... elephant. 3 feet tall, 338 pounds, gestated for two years. Imagine carrying THAT.

(no subject)

"Swift Boat Veterans For Truth" speaker who insists that John Kerry is lying and was never under fire's records show that he won a Bronze Star that very same day - for heroism UNDER FIRE.

The newly obtained records of Larry Thurlow show that he, like Kerry, won a Bronze Star for the same engagement and that Thurlow's citation said he came under "constant small arms fire," the newspaper reported Thursday.

Thurlow, also like Kerry, commanded a Navy Swift boat during the war. Thurlow swore in an affidavit last month that Kerry was "not under fire" when he rescued Lt. James Rassmann from the Bay Hap River.

Thurlow's records, obtained by the Post under the Freedom of Information Act, include references to "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at all five boats in the flotilla that day. In his Bronze Star citation, Thurlow is praised for helping a damaged Swift boat "despite enemy bullets flying about him."

Kerry has described how his boat came under fire from the river banks after a mine explosion disabled another U.S. Swift boat. Kerry and members of his crew say the firing continued as Kerry leaned over to fish out Rassman, who was blown overboard in another explosion.

Thurlow described Kerry's Bronze Star citation as "totally fabricated," saying "I never heard a shot."

"This casts doubt on anybody's awards," he said. "It is sickening and disgusting."

Thurlow said he lost his Bronze Star citation more than 20 years ago. He said he would not authorize release of his military records because he feared the Kerry campaign would discredit him. [Emphasis mine]

Members of Kerry's crew have said Kerry is telling the truth. Rassman said he has vivid memories of enemies firing at him from both banks.

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So, and let's get this straight, the guy with the political axe to grind has been on TV swearing up and down that he was never under fire and that Kerry is lying about it - despite the rest of the witnesses, including the rescued soldier, disagreeing, and despite the purple hearts awarded - and now it's shown that he himself was awarded a medal for gallantry under fire, due to ALL the reports (including his) at the time saying he was under fire, and he's been trying to keep that a secret to keep the people he's been lying about from proving that he's lying about them?

Just remember, people, if it's a damaging allegation and paid for by Bush, the record consistently shows that not only is it NOT TRUE, but that the people putting it out know that and are relying on you to not question it and relying on it to distract you from issues that actually matter.

(no subject)

Just one more on this:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/06/veteran_retracts_criticism_of_kerry/

Kerry's CO admits that he lied in a sworn affidavit that forms the basis of the "Swift Boat Veteran For Truth" campaign against Kerry. Of course, the fact that Larry Thurlow is known to be a liar and a kook doesn't help.

I'm not normally a fan of Chris Matthews, but this is great: Larry Thurlow on Hardball, getting the inconsistencies in his story and claims DESTROYED, and being forced to admit that he's raising the issue out of personal spite, as a distraction from serious issues, AND that Bush has not taken a side here and will not because the accusations are groundless.

Oh, AND that he's being funded by the Republican Party to make groundless, evidenceless accusations that involve deliberate, verifiable contradictions with the facts. Look it up.