Framing the Dialogue

Posts Tagged ‘terrorists’

Update: News Briefs – Volume XXXI – Very UnCONSTITUTIONAL

As I was driving to work this morning I thought of perhaps one of the best (i.e. worst) examples of unconstitutional actions by our federal government;

Brief 6:  Shortly after the new year began in 2012 President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act.  Tucked into the bill is a provision that many believe greatly expands the ability of the federal government take you into custody and hold you indefinitely;

Headline Humor – Volume VIII

I know many of these stories are serious, but the headlines removed the restrain from my brain and we get headline humor. These are the actual headlines as I found on-line. When you click on the headline you will be taken to the original story which more often than not has nothing to do with my vision of the headline.

Obama summer reading list leans toward fiction

Obama summer reading list leans toward fiction - Part deux

Playboy Mansion illness traced to hot tub bacteria

Lindsay Lohan Might Teach Acting Classes at Homeless Shelter

 

Full Black

Released in the heat of the summer of 2011, Full Black adds more heat as super agent Scot Harvath is once again thrust in the middle of a vast terrorist network.  Their intent is the same, but the methods and leaders may surprise you.  Author Brad Thor hits another home run in this latest thriller as Harvath and company race across the globe struggling to prevent further attacks.  The list of perpetratorstouch on all of America’s “enemies;” China, Russia, Middle East, Britain, and Globalists.  All Harvath knows is that his security is compromised hence the need to go “full black” refering to deep deep cover. 

The Bourne Legacy

Author Eric Van Lustbader seems to have successfully captured the magic of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series with The Bourne Legacy.  David Webb (Jason Bourne’s real name) has seemed to settle in to a quaint life as a college professor until an attempt on his life setting off a series of events that has him hunting and hunted by “friends” and enemies alike.  The trail leads him to Europe where he discovers a fiendish plot by terrorists to do bad things, really bad things (I don’t want to give up too much information).

Parse-imony – Karzai

In “Parse-imony” I break down current news stories with my pithy, running commentary…

First the headline:

Karzai demands that NATO halt airstrikes

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan President Hamid Karzai, angered by an airstrike that Afghan officials said killed 14 civilians during the weekend, demanded on Tuesday that the U.S.-led coalition halt aerial strikes on Afghan houses and threatened to take unspecified actions if the coalition doesn’t comply. [when one doesn’t possess a “big stick” or any stick for that matter it is best to leave out the specifics.]

A Few Words About Egypt

It is hard to even a few hours without hearing troubling news about the events in Egypt.  I have a few thoughts that you may have already heard and wanted to share them without deep analysis that can only reasonably come after the dust has settled.

  • I find it telling that the Obama Administration has delved deeply into the struggles of a nation ruled by a man seemingly unpopular with his people.  A man who rules with an iron fist, but is friendly to the west and Israel.  Obama’s daily calls for another country’s leader to step down is unsettling in that I thought he was against interference with the governance of other countries.

Piecemeal Peace Deal

In case you haven’t noticed Afghanistan has sort of become a major hotbed of resistance to our military.  There has been heavy fighting and far too many deaths of our military personnel.  One thing that seems the most disappointing to me about Iraq and Afghanistan is how the local citizens do not seem fully committed to their freedom.  As Americans I am not sure that we can completely understand this because most of us were born free and continue to live free.

Power Down

You can add author Ben Coes to the list of my favorite thriller writers Vince Flynn, Ted Bell, Brad Thor, and Daniel Silva.  In Power Down the United States is attacked by fundamentalist terrorists after burrowing into our country’s infrastructure for decades.  The attacks are concentrated on our ability to produce energy.  As intelligence agencies race against time to stop future attacks two unlikely characters become heroes in the cause. 

American Assassin

I don’t know how author Vince Flynndoes it, I just hope that he does it for a very very long time.  In his latest Mitch Rapp novel Flynn takes us back to the beginning of Rapp’s “career” navigating in the World’s sleazy underworld of terrorists, mobsters, gun dealers, corrupt bankers, and crocked politicians.  After intense training, super hero Mitch Rapp becomes an American Assassin as he brings the fight to our enemies.  We get to hate the Russians and Islamic Extremists in the same book.  Cocky and brash would be appropriate words to describe Rapp, but you would have to add highly successful to the list of the CIA’s covert operative.  Covert may not be the proper term as there is no direct, official connection between Rapp’s group and the CIA. 

Warlord

“S.O.A. [Sword of Allah] was one of the newer Muslim gangs to take power within the American prison system, after only two, maybe three years of existence in hte United States.  It was a group that had already proven itself extraordinarily capable of any atrocity.  Scary things?  Harry told him CIA estimated that total American S.O.A. prison membership already at over five thousand and climbing.  That’s five thousand suicidal terrorists sitting around in the slam every day thinking up new ways to kill Americans.”