OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD

[erik_t]

I am thinking I see a DONE FUCKING BLOWED UP H-60 in the garbage disposal area.

[MKSheppard]

Link

(CNN) -- Online chatter about the death of Osama bin Laden was so intense on Sunday night that Twitter set a new record.

During President Barack Obama's address, Twitter users posted messages at an average rate of 3,440 tweets per second, according to the company's official public relations news feed.

"Last night saw the highest sustained rate of tweets ever. From 10:45 p.m. - 2:20 a.m. ET, there was an average of 3,000 tweets per second," the company wrote, before updating that number to 3,440.

It's unclear what events Sunday's news beat out to claim that record.

At the peak of this online conversation, Twitter users posted 5,106 tweets per second, according to the company.

The fastest rate of tweeting ever occurred on New Years Eve in Japan, when users posted 6,939 tweets per second, a measure of online conversation that Twitter refers to, in all seriousness, as "TPS."

"At 11 p.m. ET, there were 5,106 Tweets per second. At 11:45 p.m. ET, when Pres. Obama finished his remarks, there were 5,008 TPS," the company wrote.

[TheHammer]

Well, it looks like the right wing's descent into utter madness has begun. Starting with FoxGOP tossing rocks at Obama for getting done the job their beloved Decider couldn't even be bothered with.

Media Matters link

Called it. Tiny right wing brains just cannot cope with reality even for a second.

Not that I agree with him, but to be fair to Napolitano he also called for the indictment of Bush and Cheney over Gitmo - http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/node/38320

So at least he is consistent if nothing else.

Of course, that shameless shitbag Hanity can be counted on to be a liar and a hypocrit:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201105020015

[General Mung Beans]

Does anybody feel like they're living in a novel right now? I mean we had in the last four months revolutions in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, a massive tsunami and quake in Japan, the Royal Wedding of Prince William, and now the death of Enemy #1!

[Lonestar]

Does anybody feel like they're living in a novel right now? I mean we had in the last four months revolutions in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, a massive tsunami and quake in Japan, the Royal Wedding of Prince William, and now the death of Enemy #1!

How old are you?

No, I don't. This is something that happens from time to time.

[MKSheppard]

Someone on Bill Roggio's Long War Journal noticed that a subunit of the Pakistani Army Medical College (AMC Masjid) is just up the road from him.



This is other hospitals in the general area loaded up.

So it's easy to see how he could get dialysis support and equipment and keep it working.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Jon Stewart is killing it right now on the Daily Show. Comedy gold from Bin Laden's death.

[Pelranius]

Well, Bin Laden might benefit from patient confidentiality laws (though I don't know how they work in Pakistan, Shep).

On the other hand, if someone ever hacked into said medical records, he'd be in a lot of trouble.

It'd probably be easier just to buy his own dialysis equipment and get a sympathetic doctor on house duty.

[Guardsman Bass]

Does anybody feel like they're living in a novel right now? I mean we had in the last four months revolutions in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, a massive tsunami and quake in Japan, the Royal Wedding of Prince William, and now the death of Enemy #1!

There are always some years where tons of happenings pile up. 1848, 1968, and apparently 2011.

[Edward Yee]

Most likely what you said (sympathetic doctor on house duty), but perhaps receiving the dialysis equipment in some way involving the local hospitals?

Re: the MK 18 -- I've actually gotten to handle it during Fleet Week, and I'd pretty much call it the Navy's "official" short-barreled rifle (SBR, both terms seen more common with civilian weapons), and think the M4A1 with four inches less barrel and the flash hider being basically right in front of the front sight "triangle"... which felt way more natural than even the M4A1, much less the M16A4, in terms of handling for my 5-foot-5 frame.

As for the 77 grain ammo, you may be thinking of the Mk 262, though supposedly there's supposed to be a 62 gr M855A1 "Enhanced Performance Round," and the Marines had the MK 318 MOD 0, also 62 gr and with a similar concept.

Not to turn this historic thread into special forces dick waving but does anyone know why SEALs were used for this mission ? Would not Delta be more suited for what is arguably the most important special forces operation in living memory ? Especially considering that Bin Laden was nowhere the sea which as I understand is the SEALs environment of greatest expertise...

Actually, the SEALs have been very active in Afghanistan... after all, SEa Air Land. According to Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic and National Journal, "the shooters" were Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), previously aka SEAL Team Six -- the Navy counterpart to Delta, both of which would be part of Stanley McChrystal's old outfit Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). More on that here (National Journal), here's the version from The Atlantic.

[Pelranius]

Or Bin Laden could get dialysis machines from the Pakistani black market. Hospital staff might talk if dialysis machines kept on (or parts) disappearing and then reappearing at regular intervals. To say nothing of having to go and fudge the records (given that a lot of retired senior Pakistani brass will be among the clientele, they probably have decent records, most likely digitized now).

Stealing from the local hospitals might do in a pinch.

[Broomstick]

But some Islamic scholars and clerics were divided Monday over whether the sea burial was appropriate or an insult to Muslims. Several said Bin Laden should have been buried on land in a simple grave.

Fact is, no matter what was done with the body someone was going to be pissed off. There is no one ruling body in Islam, so it is entirely possible that what is acceptable to one group will offend another. That, and those who liked the rabid motherfucker will latch on to anything to demonize the people who killed him.

Some Islamic rites and dumping him at sea probably was the best choice among the possibilities.

[Lord of the Abyss]

Does anybody feel like they're living in a novel right now? I mean we had in the last four months revolutions in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, a massive tsunami and quake in Japan, the Royal Wedding of Prince William, and now the death of Enemy #1!

How old are you?

He's something like 14-15 IIRC.

[Broomstick]

Does anybody feel like they're living in a novel right now? I mean we had in the last four months revolutions in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, a massive tsunami and quake in Japan, the Royal Wedding of Prince William, and now the death of Enemy #1!

Naw, we're just living in interesting times. It's history happening.

[Shroom Man 777]

They should've buried Osama in the Antarctic.

[wautd]

Right, appearantly Osama's dead was thanks to divine intervention from John Paul II.
Praise Jebus!

Link

Bin Laden is late pope's 'miracle': Peru leader
..It was more than just an answer to prayer.

A US military mission that cornered and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan was nothing short of a miracle, said Peru's President Alan Garcia, who attributed the divine intervention to newly beatified pontiff John Paul II.

"His first miracle has been to rid the world of this incarnation of evil, this demon of hatred and criminality," the Peruvian leader said, referring to the Al-Qaeda leader.

The late John Paul II showed uncanny timing, with his miracle falling on the very same day as a Rome ceremony beatifying him.

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday bestowed the status of "blessed" on his predecessor in front of a million people, after the Roman Catholic Church determined that John Paul had performed the necessary miracle for beatification.

Garcia said the late pontiff wasted no time in performing the second miracle needed for sainthood, making it possible for American commandos to find and kill their hated Al-Qaeda foe, whom they had hunted for the past decade.

"We hope that with his fall, that entire group that had hoped to spread terrorism throughout the world loses its importance," Garcia said.

The Peruvian leader said Sunday's assault on bin Laden's compound "should please President Barack Obama and vindicate former president George W. Bush," whose relentless pursuit of a global "war on terror" became a central focus of US foreign and military policy during his tenure.
...

After outlawing condoms in Afrika or protecting pedofiles, it looks like the bloke finally did something right.

[Metahive]

[Captain Kirk] "What does God need Special Forces?" [/Captain Kirk]

It's fine to know that certain religious people still haven't found out that post-hoc reasoning is a fallacy. Also, "vindication of GWB", the guy who abandoned the search for OBL to go on his private little adventure in Iraq? How do get such moronic fuckwits to be leaders of nations? It's not fair!

[Iroscato]

Right, appearantly Osama's dead was thanks to divine intervention from John Paul II.
Praise Jebus!

Link

Bin Laden is late pope's 'miracle': Peru leader
..It was more than just an answer to prayer.

A US military mission that cornered and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan was nothing short of a miracle, said Peru's President Alan Garcia, who attributed the divine intervention to newly beatified pontiff John Paul II.

"His first miracle has been to rid the world of this incarnation of evil, this demon of hatred and criminality," the Peruvian leader said, referring to the Al-Qaeda leader.

The late John Paul II showed uncanny timing, with his miracle falling on the very same day as a Rome ceremony beatifying him.

Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday bestowed the status of "blessed" on his predecessor in front of a million people, after the Roman Catholic Church determined that John Paul had performed the necessary miracle for beatification.

Garcia said the late pontiff wasted no time in performing the second miracle needed for sainthood, making it possible for American commandos to find and kill their hated Al-Qaeda foe, whom they had hunted for the past decade.

"We hope that with his fall, that entire group that had hoped to spread terrorism throughout the world loses its importance," Garcia said.

The Peruvian leader said Sunday's assault on bin Laden's compound "should please President Barack Obama and vindicate former president George W. Bush," whose relentless pursuit of a global "war on terror" became a central focus of US foreign and military policy during his tenure.
...

After outlawing condoms in Afrika or protecting pedofiles, it looks like the bloke finally did something right.

Oh wow. I've seen people jump to conclusions and clutch straws, but that there is a jump to conclusion hyperspace and grabbing a whole bale of hay.

[hongi]

The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, yielding what a U.S. official called “the mother lode of intelligence.”

The special operations forces grabbed personal computers, thumb drives and electronic equipment during the lightning raid that killed bin Laden, officials told POLITICO.

“They cleaned it out,” one official said. “Can you imagine what’s on Osama bin Laden’s hard drive?”

U.S. officials are about to find out. The material is being examined at a secret location in Afghanistan.

“Hundreds of people are going through it now,” an official said, adding that intelligence operatives back in Washington are very excited to find out what they have.

“It’s going to be great even if only 10 percent of it is actionable,” the official said.

Aw hell yes!

Radioing a commander on Sunday, the team reported the capture with a pre-arranged signal: “Geronimo!”

Mirroring the Doctor I see...

[Patrick Degan]

All rightwingers aboard for the Crazy Train!

Meet the Deathers:

Mere hours after President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden, supported by incontrovertible DNA evidence, the conspiracy theorists are hard at work. Andrew Breitbart, a prominent right-wing commentator with close ties to the Republican Party and the Tea Party, is pushing the theory on his website Big Peace.

On Breitbart’s website, J. Michael Waller, suggests Obama take a number of extraordinary steps so he can “make sure [Osama] is dead.” Pictures are apparently not enough. Walker asserts that he needs to be able to “walk right up to bin Laden’s corpse and view it.” More:

The free world, particularly the United States, has a right to make sure Osama bin Laden is really dead. Every American has a right to walk right up to bin Laden’s corpse and view it. We are entitled to know for a fact that the witch is dead. No shroud for dignity’s sake, please – bin Laden’s naked, bullet-riddled corpse should be put on display in lower Manhattan for all the world to see. The entire body should be digitally scanned, inside and out – and made available for everyone to take his or her own picture.

Walker ads that “For us Doubting Thomases out there – we need to see in order to believe.”

Brietbart isn’t alone. On Twitter, Emily Miller, a senior editor at the Washington Times demanded “proof” that Osama is dead.

With birtherism quickly losing steam after the release of Obama’s long form birth certificate, will the right-wing follow Brietbart’s lead?

So I guess now the demand will be for the long-form death certificate.

Update: Responding to ThinkProgress on Twitter, Breitbart wrote, "I am not a friggin' 'deather'" and noted that he doesn't agree with everything written by other authors on his web sites. He said he is merely providing a forum for an "open debate" on whether or not Bin Laden is alive.

No, no, no. Of course you're not a deather, Andy. You'll just let your little interweb clubhouse churn out deather propaganda by the ton in the coming weeks/months but that doesn't mean YOU'RE one. No, of course not...

[CJvR]

A-Q should get the best OBL lookalike they can find and put out a video of him holding up a paper with the headlines about his death. That would feed the conspiracy paranoia quite nicely, particulary among those who don't want to belive.

[wautd]

Offcourse, if Osama was still alive he could just easily let the world know. As long has he doesn't show his head, I assume he's dead.

[Broomstick]

There will always be people convinced that bin Laden isn't really dead, just as there will always be people convinced the moon landing was a hoax and the Earth is flat or Jesus rose from the dead. I try not to waste too much time on such idiots.

[Raj Ahten]

CNN is already speculating that pictures of Bin Laden's body might be released as early as today and that there is no consensus yet in the White House, but they are leaning towards releasing the photos.

With all the doubters I'd think they would release them, not that it will matter to the most deluded.

[TheHammer]

There is no appeasing conspiracy theorists. If you produce DNA evidence they will say it is fake. If you produce photos they will say they are photo shopped. If you produced a body they'd say it was created by special effects and plastic surgeons. Hell, you've still got people claiming the government orchaestrated 9/11. I'm sure that they'll see this is as a continuation of the same conspiracy.