Strange stuff you might not have noticed

Not only does Good Sam, our local hospital, have an ebola suit, but now that nurse who came home infected with MERS is a worry: so far no contact case... And another Pinoy in Saudi is among the 15 new cases there.

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related item:  bird flu is messing up the chicken industry in the midwestern USA.

I believe the Philippines has banned chicken imports for awhile: We are off the migration paths so are birdflu free for now.

so eat imports from "Asia", and then all you have to worry about is the heavy metal poisoning via contaminated chickenfeed.

the good news? Well, it's an excellent year for French Fois Gras...
and if you need a job, the UK is hiring chick sexers.

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if you follow StrategyPage, you know that the US troops were withdrawn for political reasons (so Obama could brag and so the locals could divert funds). Which is why the Iraqi army fell apart so quickly: the US "advisors" would report corruption and get it stopped.

So will the same happen in Afghanistan? Their report here, which includes this factoid:

There are still some 16,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan and nearly three times as many civilian contractors with them... The contractors mainly perform support jobs, although some are involved in training. The only combat duties some contractors perform is security (usually bases but also embassies and other facilities as well as VIP security).

a couple thousand of these "contractors" are from the Philippines...cooks, drivers, cleaners, clerks and security guards...

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The Philippine president is in hot water after a police raid to arrest a terrorist bomber ended up with 44 dead policemen. At least 26 of them were killed "execution style", not in the firefight, and not by the Abus but by the MILF, who are supposed to be in peacetalks with the government which means they are not supposed to hide bad guys who kill innocent civilians.

Why didn't the army go? Well, StrategyPage dares to say what is taboo: The gov't agreed to tell the local larger "militant" group when they would raid, and the tame militants would promptly warn the bad guys and hide them. Several bombs had killed local folks, so this seemed the best option.

And politics being what it is, the president will be blamed, not just for approving of the raid, but because of the rescue delay. Why the president? Because admitting the MILF committed murder of injured soldiers might set the "peace talks" back, and the powers that be want to pretend that if the gov't yields enough there will be peace. There won't be: The feuds among Moro clans will continue to kill people (e.g. Manguindano massacre was a local feud) and the gangs will just go after Christians in the area to encourage them to leave.

read the whole report: It is grim.

there was another alternative: Send in the drones. Ah, but the left here hates the US and go ballistic at any threat of the US helping the Philippines.

and then read StrategyPage's cynical analysis of the MSM's horror at "targeted raids".

drones are just a new weapon: Airstrikes killed Yamamoto, wounded (and pretty well disabled) Rommel

another variation is the Sniper: also not new: Richard the Lion Hearted was killed by a crossbow "Sniper"

...and another modern variation of this is targeting by "Suicide bombers". But "suicide bombers" have a problem: they often" kill civilians and cause the population to turn against the militants...something the MSM doesn't recognize.

Drones also "kill civilians", as do smart bombs. But there is a bit of difference in killing bad guys using their wives or local civilians as human shields, and blowing up a wedding party to kill a big shot.

 (background here is about the Jordanian pilot was burned to death because Jordon wouldn't release a woman terrorist involved in a major killing at a wedding, something that horrified Jordanians).

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Instapundit notes that Capehart in the WAPO wonders if the MSM made up the real story of Ferguson..

What DOJ found made me ill. Wilson knew about the theft of the cigarillos from the convenience store and had a description of the suspects. Brown fought with the officer and tried to take his gun. And the popular hands-up storyline, which isn’t corroborated by ballistic and DNA evidence and multiple witness statements, was perpetuated by Witness 101.

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government by fiat: Ignore the minority because "I WON", then ignore the minority when they win and govern by edict. And now, ignore the courts if they disagree with you?

The first two points ignore the importance of checks and balances  of the constitution but is probably legal (The US is a Republic that allows balanced input by all opinions and compromise, not a winner take all Democracy).

But to ignore the court too?

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