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POPSUSS New York Sets Sail: Commissioning Ceremony in November --photos, slideshow, video
The USS New York will soon be defending freedom and combating terrorism around the globe, while also ensuring that the world never forgets the evil attacks of September 11 and the courage and strength New Yorkers showed.” This morning, the ship departed the Mississippi River to make her first journey. The ship departed from Avondale this morning at 7:00 a.m. and headed for the Gulf of Mexico. The ship’s journey has been met with fan fare, salutes, and glorious praise. Beginning with a New Orleans style farewell, the ship passed through Gretna and was met by firefighters and a police honor guard who sowed their honor and respect to those who died heroically on 9/11. As the ship continues to make its way to New York, she will be greeted by those who choose to remember and honor the nearly 5,000 who tragically lost their lives on September 11, 2001. The ship’s motto is “Strength Forged Through Sacrifice. Never Forget.” View photos-slideshow and videos at website
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POPSNavy Destroyer Named After Marine Medal Of Honor Winner Jason L. Dunham In a solemn ceremony punctuated by talk of courage, service and sacrifice, the mother of a Marine corporal on Saturday christened a warship honoring her son, who died after covering an exploding grenade to protect his comrades in Iraq. After composing herself and taking a deep breath, Deb Dunham smashed a bottle of champagne over the bow of the 510-foot warship Jason Dunham, then held the bottle aloft before a cheering crowd of more than 1,500 people. She was joined by the Marines who served with her son, by her husband, Dan Dunham, and their daughter Katelyn Dunham. Two other Dunham boys also were in the audience. Retired Gen. Michael Hagee, a former Marine commandant who was with the Dunhams when their son died at Bethesda Naval Hospital days after the explosion, said Jason gave the “gift of valor.” Hagee said the warship will serve as a reminder that freedom “is paid for by the men and women who wear the cloth of this nation.”
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POPSUS Navy Ship Cancels Pacific Voyage After Swine Flu Diagnosed "We are not having the Dubuque on it. So the navy is looking at a range of options," he said, while not excluding the possibility of sending another ship on the mission. The 16,500-ton Dubuque usually travels with a crew of 396 sailors, 24 officers, 90 staff and a detachment of 840 Marines, according to the ship's website. Nine A(H1N1) cases have been confirmed so far among the armed forces, including five with the navy. All of the people who have been infected are in the United States, according to the Pentagon. -Dow Jones Newswires, 201-938-5500
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POPS Booty and the Beasts “A lightbulb went off and they realize they can get ransoms by taking unarmed ships,” said Robert Rotberg, a Harvard University Kennedy School professor. Here are some Somali pirate particulars: • Khat, pronounced like “caught,” is a mild stimulant that can have a euphoric effect. It’s grown mainly in Yemen, but is wildly popular in the lawless East African nation. • It took 206 years, but the Bainbridge name has been avenged. The USS Bainbridge, the American warship dispatched to rescue the crew of the Maersk Alabama, was named for the last American naval commander to lose his ship to pirates. Commodore William Bainbridge was at the helm of the USS Philadelphia when Barbary pirates captured it off the coast of Tripoli in what is now Libya. He also commanded the USS Constitution during the War of 1812, when the ship earned the moniker “Old Ironsides.” HT jules crittenden
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POPSGen. Petraeus Implements Military Surge Against Four Somali Pirates in a Lifeboat Think this is an ONION story? Nope just USAnian overkill... "We want to ensure that we have all the capability that might be needed over the course of the coming days," Petraeus said. Seriously, who needs the Onion? But the plot is thickening. While the US Navy rushes in its reinforcements (it really seems so silly to write this), it looks like the pirates may be calling in back-up of their own: two pirate ships had left Eyl on Wednesday afternoon. He said a third -- the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger -- had sailed from Xarardheere, some 230 miles south along the Somali coastline, and a fourth -- a Taiwanese fishing vessel seized Monday that was only 30 miles from the lifeboat -- was also on its way. The man said there were a total of 52 hostages aboard the ships floating toward the scene.
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POPSAmerican Captain Tries Daring Escape from Somali Pirates by another warship, the Halyburton, which carries two helicopters. The pirates also claim to be sending reinforcements, hijacked ships with their captured crews as human shields. "The pirates have summoned assistance -- skiffs and motherships are heading towards the area from the coast," a Nairobi-based diplomat told the Associated Press. "We knew they were gathering yesterday." A Somali pirate identified as Mohamed Samaw in the pirate stronghold in central Eyl, told the AP that among the ships heading to their colleagues' rescue was a Taiwanese fishing vessel seized Monday and the German cargo ship Hansa Stavanger, seized earlier this month. "They had asked us for reinforcement and we have already sent a good number of well-equipped colleagues, who were holding a German cargo ship," said another pirate. "We are not intending to harm the captain, so that we hope our colleagues would not be harmed as long as they hold him," Badow said.
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POPS History Repeats Itself “The Algerine depredations,” as these outrages were called at the time, continued with more and more hostages taken and ransoms paid. Finally, Congress was spurred to allocate money for a proper navy. George Washington signed “an act to provide a naval armament” and ax men were hired to fell trees from New England to Georgia. Up to 100 American merchantmen were plying the Mediterranean at any time in those days, and when Thomas Jefferson was elected the U.S. was paying one-fifth of its annual revenue in ransoms and to guarantee safe passage to Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli. Tribute went beyond mere money. The United Sates built a warship for the Barbary pirates, named “Crescent,” which was launched in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, while Old Ironsides was still being built. The U.S. tried treaties with the Barbary states of North Africa, but they didn’t solve the problem.
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POPSChinese heros save the day!!! The crew on the Chinese ship, MV Yandanghai, had prevented the pirates from boarding by taking evasive manoeuvres and training their fire hoses on their skiff. Two of the Yandanghai's crew were reported to be lightly injured in the attack.
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POPSNew Cold War on Short Fuse
I believe we are now closer to a real and large-scale nuclear war, more so than every other time in human history. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is considered the previous time we came so close to starting a large-scale nuclear war. (There's a good movie about this: "Thirteen Days," and a quick summary of the Cuban Missile crisis can be found, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis) In addition to this reality and one difference between how President John Kennedy handled it and how the Bush-Cheny-Rice White House is handling it is: President Kennedy took it seriously and he got on TV and told the nation and the world that this was heavy-duty dangerous. Today, repeatedly, the White House says, like in the clip here: "Washington Downplayed it's significance." News Flash - neither in 1962 or now will Russia allow a U.S. missile base be put on it's border. News Flash - Russia will not let the West steal it's Caspian Sea Oil. News Flash - Russia is right.
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POPS2006 Sue Singh - to New Community Southampton
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POPSUS Sends Warships to Middle East Region Watch out for a "Gulf of Tonkin" incident. They are looking for a way to engage Syria or Lebanon. Recall Israel and the neocons threatening both during the bombing of Lebanon over a year ago. Israel is the singular cause of all middle east conflict and US involvement in that region, period!
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POPSWarships poised to shoot down satellite They say they must deal with the 'toxic propellant hydrazine I fail to see how a missile can deal with it any better that reentry Perhaps the missiles are surplus and they need to justify military spending. How much hydrazine is there? The satellite was defunct. The whole equation just doesn't add up. The cure seems to be far worse than the problem.
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POPSUS vs. Iran - Part II (Iran airs contrasting footage of US navy standoff) I'm actually starting to lean towards Iran's version here... This actually does sound rather fishy. Like my comment on yesterday's story, I just don't see how Iran would benefit froma confrontation with the US. The "peace talks" IMO, will do no real good. So any mischief here would nierther add to the process or take away from them in the long run. If anything it would hurt Iran, not help them. Ie: it makes no sense that they would pull this kind of move. Plus the voice just sounds too "fake" to be what an Iranian wouls say... granted, I don't know that many Iranians :P
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POPSIran Accuses U.S. of Faking Persian Gulf Video Seems a littel stupid on both sides. i mean, If I were Iran, i would not send speed boats out to pester a warship in a battle group. that;s just fucking stupid. At teh same time, I can't imagine the US being soo desperate for conflict that they'd resort to such sillyness as faking a video like this. If anything, I would guess it was a 3rd party in speed boats.. possibly Iranian, but not of the military/navy/etc. That's like blaming Afghanistan for Osama Bin laden. He wasn't a soldier. So its not exactly Afghanistan's fault. Heck I could be wrong about it being a 3rd party... The president of Iran isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. PS: What really would Iran get out of a conflict with the US? nothing. they have too much to lose.
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POPSChina's Ship Building Challenges United States Singling out China, he said: "They are very competitive on the world market. There is no question that their ship building capability is increasing rapidly." Republican lawmaker Duncan Hunter told the hearing that China was turning out 5,000 commercial ships a year, against 300 by the United States, and an average of three submarines a year, to the United States' one.
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