| America Can't Ignore Al Qaeda's Resurgence
Four years ago, his words would have represented an almost unquestioned consensus view. In late January, the State Department's counterterrorism coordinator, Dell Dailey, described al Qaeda's top leadership as isolated, saying that they have "much, much less central authority and much, much less capability to reach out."
He is not alone in this assessment. In July 2007, Stratfor's Peter Zeihan argued that while a few thousand people may claim to be al Qaeda members, "the real al Qaeda does not exercise any control over them. . . . The United States is now waging a war against jihadism as a phenomenon, rather than against any specific transnational jihadist movement." The most prominent proponent of this view has been Jason Burke, a reporter for London's Observer and the author of Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam.
As Navy targets Gates County for OLF, residents raise concerns
AT THEIR FAMILY farm in the Gates County Sandbanks area, Elaine Herring and her sister Linda Warren, both wearing sweat shirts with "No OLF" on them, walked along a ditch bank thick with willow trees. Warren stopped at one tree and bent a tiny bare limb over for a closer look. Attached by a piece of silk was a tightly curled leaf she recognized as the winter shelter of a viceroy butterfly caterpillar. The sisters have planted more than 6,000 cedar trees for winter bird cover, berry trees for wildlife and willow trees for butterflies. "The people in Raleigh looked at a map and said, 'Let's go here,' " she said. "They don't really know what's here." Residents of the Sandbanks area are looking for whatever will best defeat the Navy's proposal to build a jet practice airfield near their homes, whether it be butterflies or barbecue.
Marinelli: Lions won't waive Rogers
This is the best year he's had, he practiced all year and didn't miss any games." Rogers had a career-high seven sacks this season and was a dominant force as the Lions rolled to a 6-2 record at the halfway point. Beginning with the 31-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, though, Rogers' production plummeted. In Detroit's six-game losing streak, Rogers had just 17 tackles (only eight solo tackles), no sacks, no forced fumbles and no fumble recoveries. While Rogers didn't participate in training camp because of knee problems, he missed almost no practice time and he played in all 16 games for the first time since 2004. Whether Rogers stays or goes, Marinelli continues to maintain that character and a passion for playing football is at the top of his agenda in formulating a roster.
Over on Kausfiles
How is letting Marketa Irglova back on stage to finish her Oscar acceptance speech like Kosovo independence? Feels good, bad precedent. [Other ex.?-ed Immigration amnesty!] 11:37 P.M. ___________________________ Friday, February 22, 2008 The McCain camp declares "Mission Accomplished" on the Iseman story. I mean, what could happen now to give it legs? ... Oh wait. Isikoff already has BS McCain Denial #1, which is where his campaign says that "[n]o representative of [Iseman client] Paxson [Communications] ...discussed with Senator McCain the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceeding regarding the transfer of Pittsburgh public television station (WQED) ..." It turns out McCain himself said in a deposition that he'd discussed it with Mr.
Official: La. to expand coastal commitment
Louisiana will change the way it addresses coastal restoration and protection issues in the next four years, a state official said recently. Garret Graves, the new director of the Governor’s Office of Coastal Affairs, said the changes will involve a bigger financial commitment from the state, more involvement in coordinating state and federal agencies, and a focus on doing larger-scale projects. "If we’re not going to do this (restore and protect the coast) then we need to stop the other economic development initiatives in Louisiana," he said. There will also be changes in the short term as Graves and others work to make changes in the fiscal year 2009 annual plan that will go to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.
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