TERRORISM EXPLAINED - A TRANSSEXUAL, TURKEY & 9 11 TRAINERS

Louai Sakka, who was reportedly hired by the CIA in 2000. He helped train the 9 11 'hijackers.'



In Turkey, in September 2010, Hanefi Avcı, a former police chief, was arrested due to his links to a 2009 act of terrorism in Istanbul. (Avcı wiretap records raise questions about shadowy links )



Found in Avci's home were audio clips of phone conversations featuring former Turkish intelligence asset Tuncay Güney, mafia boss Sedat Peker, drug lord Drej Ali, famous transsexual Seyhan Soylu (also known as Sisi) and retired General Veli Küçük.



All these people are believed to have close links to Ergenekon, the terror organisation which has been linked to the CIA, NATO and Mossad. (KILLING KIDS ON A FIELD TRIP; ERGENEKON AND 9 11)

Note that the bad guys appear to have links to drugs, the mafia, the media and NATO generals.

Transsexual Sisi, allegedly involved in a plot to undermine top people. In 1996 Müslüm Gündüz, leader of a Moslem sect, was arrested by police in an İstanbul house where he was found in bed with a 22-year-old female student, Fadime Şahin. Ümit Oğuztan, an author of pornographic books and former editor-in-chief of the Strategy monthly, famous transsexual Seyhan Soylu (known as Sisi) and Police Chief Ümit Bavbek secretly met at the office of the Strategy magazine to write the “script” and talk about its details. Şahin, working as a call girl at an entertainment facility, was hired for a large sum of money. Sisi and Oğuztan coached Şahin in her new role, according to the witness, and introduced her into Muslum Gunduz's sect. (Witness: Ergenekon involved in Feb. 28)



Things are hotting up in Turkey.



Reportedly the CIA, NATO and Mossad want to break Turkey up.



On 31 October 2010, Istanbul was rocked by a bomb



On 27 October 2010, Police in Turkey arrested 12 people 'suspected of links to al-Qaeda'. (Turkey seizes al-Qaeda suspects)



On 26 October 2010 we learnt that Turkey's intelligence establishment has severed working ties with Israel's Mossad. (Turkey's intel severs ties with Mossad)



Turkey has also "conditioned its consent to stationing a NATO missile-defense system in its territory on a guarantee no information collected by the system be transferred to Israel."



Gaza Convoy attacked on 31 May 2010



On 31 May 2010, there was a rocket attack on a naval base, in İskenderun, in Turkey; seven people were killed.



On the same day, 31 May 2010, Israeli soldiers killed a number of Turks on the Gaza aid convoy.



There is a renewed suspicion of Israel's role in the İskenderun attack

Reportedly, the CIA, Mossad and elements of the Turkish military want to topple Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan, because he is not sufficiently pro-Israel and pro-USA. Erdogan is a moderate, but he has criticised Israel.

Mossad has been active in Turkey.



According to a report in The Jerusalem Post, intelligence cooperation between the Mossad and the Turkish security service, MIT, "was enshrined in a 12-clause agreement that was signed during a 1993 visit to Israel by then-Turkish foreign minister Hikmat Chetin".



Soon after, according to the London-based newsletter Foreign Report, a large Mossad operation was established in Turkey, with Mossad agents based in both Istanbul and Ankara. (http://www.hr-action.org/archive1/990225tjp1.html)



On 15 November 2003, in Istanbul, there were bomb attacks attacks on the HSBC bank in the and on the British Consulate. (http://globalresearch.ca/articles/ANA311A.html)



The British Consul General Roger Short, was killed by the bomb as he was entering the consulate building. Press reports confirmed that he had cancelled an appointment at the last minute and "if he had gone to his appointment, he would have been alive"



"A Turkish daily close to the ruling justice and development party quoted Turkish intelligence sources as saying that the Mossad had established the organization that launched the two attacks on 15th November, 2003." (Turkey, terror bombs, the CIA and Mossad)

Website for this image



The CIA and NATO have been active in Turkey.



The CIA-NATO has had a 'stay behind' secret army in Turkey, of the sort associated with Operation Gladio in Italy.



This secret army in Turkey has used members of the fascist National Action Party and its youth wing, the Gray Wolves.

This secret army has gone in for "the type of right-wing terror program and destabilization effort" that was seen in Italy. (http://www.spitfirelist.com/f059.html)



On 19 July 2010, there was an attack "by the Kurdish PKK" in Hantepe in Turkey; a number of soldiers were killed.



It has been alleged that top people in the military did nothing to prevent the attack despite earlier being notified about the approaching terrorists by Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).



Some of the top people in the Turkish military reportedly do the work of the CIA and its friends.(Slain soldiers' families frustrated, angry over military statement)

Louai Sakka, a Syrian, was interrogated by the authorities in Turkey.



By his own account, Sakka "is a senior Al-Qaeda operative who... helped train the 9/11 bombers.

"He has been jailed in connection with the bombing of the British consulate in Istanbul." - London Times



Louai al Sakka is also known as Sakra and Saqa



Sakka worked for the CIA?



Ercan Gun, on 15 August 2005 at zaman.com (Alleged Trainer Of 9/11 Hijackers a CIA Informant) reported that Sakka was caught by the Turkish authorities and then interrogated.



As a result, according to Ercan Gun, Turkish intelligence specialists now believe:



1. Al-Qaeda is the name of a secret service operation.



2. Al Qaeda is linked to the CIA-NATO's 'strategy of tension'. (Operation Gladio ; Turkey, terror bombs, the CIA and Mossad)



3. Sakka, the fifth most senior man in al-Qaeda, was offered employment by the CIA.



The CIA gave him a large sum of money.



The CIA claimed it eventually lost contact with him.



The Turkish security service MIT captured Sakka in Turkey.

Turkey's military, whose wiretapping equipment is reportedly used by Israel to spy on Turks. Website for this image



In 1974 there were rumours of Israeli aid to the Turkish military in its invasion of Cyprus. (The Ostrovsky Files.)



Reportedly, the Turkish military has been involved in 9 11 type false flag activities.



A 2003 Turkish military plot, codenamed "Sledgehammer", was to involve bombing two Istanbul mosques and forcing Greek jets to down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea.



The idea was to cause chaos and topple the Turkish government, which was not sufficiently friendly towards the USA and Israel. (Turkey coup plot)

Will Israel keep or lose its influence in Turkey?



The Turkish government (the moderate Moslem AKP party) has criticised Israel and has opposed an attack on Iran.



The Turkish military, said to contain crypto-Jews ('Moslems' of jewish origin), has had close ties to Israel.



'Israel uses wiretapping equipment it sold to Turkey on Turkish citizens'



According to Turkey's pro-government newspaper Taraf, the Turkish army's deputy chief of staff, Aslan Guner, bought wiretapping equipment in Israel in 2007.



Reportedly, Israel uses this equipment to listen in to the cell phone conversations of Turkish citizens.



Israel supplies the Turkish military with aerial drones and electronics.



The Turkish (AKP) government has accused Israel of being behind PKK (Kurdish) terrorist attacks. (aangirfan: ISRAEL LINKED TO TERRORIST ATTACKS IN TURKEY)

In 1980 there was a military coup in Turkey.



650,000 people were taken into custody.



Almost everyone was severely tortured.



According to official numbers 171 people died from torture.



A total of 49 people were executed. (coup plotters could and should be sent to jail! by ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ)



The bad guys are still powerful.



A Turkish court has annulled the arrest warrants in the 'coup plot'



~~

1960 Turkish coup d'état

1971 Turkish coup d'état

1980 Turkish coup d'état

1997 military memorandum (Turkey)



KILLING KIDS ON A FIELD TRIP; ERGENEKON AND 9 11



aangirfan: Istanbul Bombs



~~

YEMEN TERROR EXPLAINED?

Ibrahim al-Asiri 'of the CIA'.

The CIA and the Pentagon want to do to Yemen what they are doing to Pakistan, and what they have already done to Iraq and Afghanistan.

After Yemen will eventually come Saudi Arabia.

(DID THE CIA USE NASSER AGAINST SAUDI ARABIA'S KING SAUD? / Saudi Arabia - You are next?)

"In February of 1975 the London Sunday Times revealed information from a leaked and classified US Department of Defense plan.

"The plan, drawn up by the Pentagon, was code named 'Dhahran Option Four' and provided for an invasion of the world's largest oil reserves, namely Saudi Arabia." - (Who Really Wants to Invade Saudi Arabia, and Why?) - Who can Saudi Arabia trust?

A plan to split Saudi Arabia gives the Saudis the holy sites and us the oil - New Statesman - The secret partition

Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri (Aseery) is alleged to be the bomb maker in:

(1) the failed Yemen parcel bomb plot of October 2010

(2) the failed attempt to kill Saudi counter-terrorism chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in August 2009

(3) the failed Christmas bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Underpants Bomber.

(U.S. eyeing Saudi-born bombmaker in parcel bomb plot / Yemen parcel bombmaker believed to be al Qaeda terrorist Ibrahim ...)

UK journalist Con Coughlin, who is believed to be an asset of MI6 (Con Coughlin and MI6-Mossad propaganda), writes:

"Not since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (aangirfan: LOCKERBIE IS ABOUT HEROIN), which killed 270 people, has a terror group sought to smuggle primed explosive devices in the cargo holds of commercial aircraft...

"In February 2006 ... 23 suspected al-Qaeda members managed to escape from a prison in Sana'a, including the alleged mastermind of USS Cole attack.

"Nasser Abdul Karim al-Wuhayshi, a former personal assistant to bin Laden in Afghanistan, was another escaper ."

The boss of the Yemen al Qaeda militants is said to be AL-AWLAKI OF THE CIA?

~

THE SPOOKY TEA PARTY

"The aim of the Alice in Wonderland or confusion technique is to confound the expectations and conditioned reactions of the interrogatee." - CIA torture guide dated July 1963. (Cached ) "CIA programming themes include ... Alice in Wonderland." (Cached)



The Tea Party movement seems to be run by the CIA?



In the USA, the Tea Party movement got its name back in February 2009.



(Taking America back - Edward Luce, in the FT, 30 October 2010)



The Tea Party people are angry about the $700bn Wall Street bailout, about the 'socialist' idea of helping the 'undeserving' poor and about threats to the divinely inspired US Constitution, God's gift to the world.



According to Ronald Dworkin, 'a leading constitutional scholar' at New York University, "the Constitution was a product of the Enlightenment, which took society away from religion, not towards it."



Dworkin points out that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, owned slaves.



George Washington was a freemason.



According to some in the Tea Party, the USA was a wonderful place until about 1900.



The Tea Party people do not like Woodrow Wilson.



Wilson created the US Federal Reserve and passed an amendment to allow the central government in Washington to collect income taxes.



So, the Tea Party is good in parts.



Americans murder Philippinos



But, it does not seem to know the truth about what happened before 1900:



1. The slaughter by White Americans of American Indians.



By 1891, "through ruthless genocide carried out by the United States Government, the native population of the U.S. had been reduced to 2.5% of its original numbers and 98% of Indian land had already been stolen, almost all in violation of legally binding treaties." (MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR HYPOCRISY: The American History.)



2. The lynching by White Americans of innocent Black Americans.



3. The murder of up to one million Philippinos by US troops.



And the Tea Party keeps quiet about events after 1900:



Operation Northwoods,



Operation Gladio,



Operation Mockingbird,



Operation Cyclone,



Operation Paperclip,



Operation Chaos,



and 9 11.



The Koch family are the biggest financial backers of the Tea Party.



Fred Koch and his sons "are on lists of Jewish billionaires, and Fred "made his fortune building refineries... for Josef Stalin". (savethemales.ca - The Zionist Billionaires.)



The Tea Party has its own sex scandals:

A Tea Party U.S. Senate candidate stands accused of sex with a kid he met at church.

There is an anonymous article, entitled “I Had a One-Night Stand With Christine O’Donnell:”

And in South Carolina there is a Tea Party sex scandal -

And what about the war?

"Tea Party darling Sarah Palin has issued a major foreign policy statement on her Facebook page taking a generally hawkish neocon line.

"She wants, for example, to eliminate the withdrawal timetable for US troops in Afghanistan and presses for support of that war, along with other aggressive measures." (Cached)

~~

KIRCHNER KILLED? CIA SAID ARGENTINA COULD BE DESTABILISED.

Nestor Kirchner

Nestor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 - 2007, is a hero.

He stood up to the USA. (South American Hero).

In October 2010, he died rather suddenly.

In February 2009, the CIA's Leon Panetta "said Argentina - and Ecuador and Venezuela - could be destabilised." (BBC - CIA comment / ecuador coup attempt: cia fingerprints, corruption)

Did the CIA assassinate Nestor Kirchner?



Nestor Kirchner was a popular president.

He defied the USA and the IMF, thus allowing Argentina to flourish.

He defied fascist generals and judges.

He sided with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.

In May 2010, he became secretary-general of Unasur (Wikipedia) a new 'union' of 12 South American nations, which includes Venezuela.

He was a likely candidate for re-election as president of Argentina.

~~

New Zealand's former prime minister David Lange died in mysterious circumstances. (David Lange says US threatened to kill him.)

Victims of Operation Condor, carried out by the CIA generals

According to journalist Bob Woodward, "the (Buenos Aires Argentine) CIA station had extremely close relations with the Argentine generals." (Asad Ismi: Cry for Argentina)

Under the rule of the American-trained generals, from 1976-1983:

"Five hundred babies were stolen from their parents by the military junta...

"Only 66 of these children have been found.

"The armed forces were responsible for the genocide of over 30,000 people during the reign of terror they called the Dirty War.

"Many were tortured to death in 340 secret camps, shot and buried in mass graves, or thrown alive from airplanes into the Atlantic Ocean." (Asad Ismi: Cry for Argentina)

Notorious Argentinian Army Generals Roberto Viola and Leopoldo Galtieri were graduates of the US army School Of the Americas.

Argentina's Army Intelligence Battalion 601 was at the centre of the generals' fascist repression.

It "engaged in drug and arms trafficking, extortion, and money laundering.

"One of the Battalion's commanders, General Carlos Suarez Mason, head of the First Army Corps, ran an extortion/kidnapping ring that abducted businessmen and bankers.

"Suarez Mason was also a partner with major cocaine traffickers in the Bolivian army who overthrew their government in 1980 with the Argentine military's help.

"The Argentines received a portion of the drug profits from the Bolivian generals.

"The money was used for military operations in Central America.

"For this purpose, Battalion 601 set up a special intelligence unit, the Extraterritorial Task Force (GTE) in 1978 in Florida.

"Authorized by the CIA, the GTE helped train the Nicaraguan Contras for the U.S. and carried out drug and arms trafficking as well as money laundering." (Asad Ismi: Cry for Argentina)

The Sunday Salon and a little Ghost Story by Mark Twain for Halloween

It's Sunday! And Halloween! The ancient Celts thought that Halloween was the day when the dead can return to roam the earth, and they would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off the evils of the night... Are you lighting your bonfires tonight?! Maybe just a pumpkin or two? What better time of year for a ghost story... There have been many ghost stories written by famous authors including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. Even Edith Wharton has written a collection of ghost stories, including Kerfol which is said to be her best, where a wealthy bachelor, urged by friends to purchase a home in Brittany, finds the estate of Kerfol devoid of human presence and populated instead by a pack of eerily silent dogs. Directed to a regional chronicle by a local resident, the narrator reads the 200-year-old account of a woman terrorized by her jealous husband, a mysterious and gruesome murder, and the sensational trial of the survivor. You can follow the links above to read all three tales online, and for today's Sunday Salon I thought I'd share a different kind of ghost story by literary favorite, Mark Twain... about the Cardiff Giant...

A Ghost Story

I TOOK a large room, far up Broadway, in a huge old building whose upper stories had been wholly unoccupied for years, until I came. The place had long been given up to dust and cobwebs, to solitude and silence. I seemed groping among the tombs and invading the privacy of the dead, that first night I climbed up to my quarters. For the first time in my life a superstitious dread came over me; and as I turned a dark angle of the stairway and an invisible cobweb swung its slazy woof in my face and clung there, I shuddered as one who had encountered a phantom.

I was glad enough when I reached my room and locked out the mould and the darkness. A cheery fire was burning in the grate, and I sat down before it with a comforting sense of relief. For two hours I sat there, thinking of bygone times; recalling old scenes, and summoning half-forgotten faces out of the mists of the past; listening, in fancy, to voices that long ago grew silent for all time, and to once familiar songs that nobody sings now. And as my reverie softened down to a sadder and sadder pathos, the shrieking of the winds outside softened to a wail, the angry beating of the rain against the panes diminished to a tranquil patter, and one by one the noises in the street subsided, until the hurrying foot-steps of the last belated straggler died away in the distance and left no sound behind.

The fire had burned low. A sense of loneliness crept over me. I arose and undressed, moving on tiptoe about the room, doing stealthily what I had to do, as if I were environed by sleeping enemies whose slumbers it would be fatal to break. I covered up in bed, and lay listening to the rain and wind and the faint creaking of distant shutters, till they lulled me to sleep.

I slept profoundly, but how long I do not know. All at once I found myself awake, and filled with a shuddering expectancy. All was still. All but my own heart -- I could hear it beat. Presently the bed- clothes began to slip away slowly toward the foot of the bed, as if some one were pulling them! I could not stir; I could not speak. Still the blankets slipped deliberately away, till my breast was un- covered. Then with a great effort I seized them and drew them over my head. I waited, listened, waited.

Once more that steady pull began, and once more I lay torpid a century of dragging seconds till my breast was naked again. At last I roused my energies and snatched the covers back to their place and held them with a strong grip. I waited. By and by I felt a faint tug, and took a fresh grip. The tug strengthened to a steady strain -- it grew stronger and stronger. My hold parted, and for the third time the blankets slid away. I groaned.

An answering groan came from the foot of the bed! Beaded drops of sweat stood upon my forehead. I was more dead than alive. Presently I heard a heavy footstep in my room -- the step of an elephant, it seemed to me -- it was not like anything human. But it was moving FROM me -- there was relief in that. I heard it approach the door -- pass out without moving bolt or lock -- and wander away among the dismal corridors, straining the floors and joists till they creaked again as it passed -- and then silence reigned once more.

When my excitement had calmed, I said to myself, "This is a dream -- simply a hideous dream." And so I lay thinking it over until I convinced myself that it WAS a dream, and then a comforting laugh relaxed my lips and I was happy again. I got up and struck a light; and when I found that the locks and bolts were just as I had left them, another soothing laugh welled in my heart and rippled from my lips. I took my pipe and lit it, and was just sitting down before the fire, when -- down went the pipe out of my nerveless fingers, the blood forsook my cheeks, and my placid breathing was cut short with a gasp! In the ashes on the hearth, side by side with my own bare footprint, was another, so vast that in comparison mine was but an infant's'! Then I had HAD a visitor, and the elephant tread was explained.

I put out the light and returned to bed, palsied with fear. I lay a long time, peering into the darkness, and listening. Then I heard a grating noise overhead, like the dragging of a heavy body across the floor; then the throwing down of the body, and the shaking of my windows in response to the concussion. In distant parts of the building I heard the muffled slamming of doors. I heard, at intervals, stealthy footsteps creeping in and out among the corridors, and up and down the stairs. Sometimes these noises approached my door, hesitated, and went away again. I heard the clanking of chains faintly, in remote passages, and listened while the clanking grew nearer -- while it wearily climbed the stairways, marking each move by the loose surplus of chain that fell with an accented rattle upon each succeeding step as the goblin that bore it advanced. I heard muttered sentences; half-uttered screams that seemed smothered violently; and the swish of invisible garments, the rush of invisible wings. Then I became conscious that my chamber was invaded -- that I was not alone. I heard sighs and breathings about my bed, and mysterious whisperings. Three little spheres of soft phosphorescent light appeared on the ceiling directly over my head, clung and glowed there a moment, and then dropped -- two of them upon my face and one upon the pillow. They spattered, liquidly, and felt warm.

Intuition told me they had turned to gouts of blood as they fell -- I needed no light to satisfy myself of that. Then I saw pallid faces, dimly luminous, and white uplifted hands, floating bodiless in the air -- floating a moment and then disappearing. The whispering ceased, and the voices and the sounds, and a solemn stillness followed. I waited and listened. I felt that I must have light or die. I was weak with fear. I slowly raised myself toward a sitting posture, and my face came in contact with a clammy hand! All strength went from me apparently, and I fell back like a stricken invalid. Then I heard the rustle of a garment -- it seemed to pass to the door and go out.

When everything was still once more, I crept out of bed, sick and feeble, and lit the gas with a hand that trembled as if it were aged with a hundred years. The light brought some little cheer to my spirits. I sat down and fell into a dreamy contemplation of that great footprint in the ashes. By and by its outlines began to waver and grow dim. I glanced up and the broad gas flame was slowly wilting away. In the same moment I heard that elephantine tread again. I noted its approach, nearer and nearer, along the musty halls, and dimmer and dimmer the light waned. The tread reached my very door and paused -- the light had dwindled to a sickly blue, and all things about me lay in a spectral twilight. The door did not open, and yet I felt a faint gust of air fan my cheek, and presently was conscious of a huge, cloudy presence before me. I watched it with fascinated eyes. A pale glow stole over the Thing; gradually its cloudy folds took shape -- an arm appeared, then legs, then a body, and last a great sad face looked out of the vapor. Stripped of its filmy housings, naked, muscular and comely, the majestic Cardiff Giant loomed above me!

All my misery vanished -- for a child might know that no harm could come with that benignant countenance. My cheerful spirits returned at once, and in sympathy with them the gas flamed up brightly again. Never a lonely outcast was so glad to welcome company as I was to greet the friendly giant. I said:

"Why, is it nobody but you? Do you know, I have been scared to death for the last two or three hours? I am most honestly glad to see you. I wish I had a chair -- Here, here, don't try to sit down in that thing!

But it was too late. He was in it before I could stop him, and down he went -- I never saw a chair shivered so in my life. "Stop, stop, You'll ruin ev--"

Too late again. There was another crash, and another chair was resolved into its original elements.

"Confound it, haven't you got any judgment at all? Do you want to ruin all the furniture on the place? Here, here, you petrified fool--"

But it was no use. Before I could arrest him he had sat down on the bed, and it was a melancholy ruin.

"Now what sort of a way is that to do? First you come lumbering about the place bringing a legion of vagabond goblins along with you to worry me to death, and then when I overlook an indelicacy of costume which would not be tolerated anywhere by cultivated people except in a respectable theater, and not even there if the nudity were of YOUR sex, you repay me by wrecking all the furniture you can find to sit down on. And why will you? You damage yourself as much as you do me. You have broken off the end of your spinal column, and littered up the floor with chips of your hams till the place looks like a marble yard. You ought to be ashamed of yourself -- you are big enough to know better."

"Well, I will not break any more furniture. But what am I to do? I have not had a chance to sit down for a century." And the tears came into his eyes.

"Poor devil," I said, "I should not have been so harsh with you. And you are an orphan, too, no doubt. But sit down on the floor here -- nothing else can stand your weight -- and besides, we cannot be sociable with you away up there above me; I want you down where I can perch on this high counting-house stool and gossip with you face to face."

So he sat down on the floor, and lit a pipe which I gave him, threw one of my red blankets over his shoulders, inverted my sitz-bath on his head, helmet fashion, and made himself picturesque and comfortable. Then he crossed his ankles, while I renewed the fire, and exposed the flat, honey-combed bottoms of his prodigious feet to the grateful warmth.

"What is the matter with the bottom of your feet and the back of your legs, that they are gouged up so?"

"Infernal chillblains -- I caught them clear up to the back of my head, roosting out there under Newell's farm. But I love the place; I love it as one loves his old home. There is no peace for me like the peace I feel when I am there."

We talked along for half an hour, and then I noticed that he looked tired, and spoke of it. "Tired?" he said. "Well, I should think so. And now I will tell you all about it, since you have treated me so well. I am the spirit of the Petrified Man that lies across the street there in the Museum. I am the ghost of the Cardiff Giant. I can have no rest, no peace, till they have given that poor body burial again. Now what was the most natural thing for me to do, to make men satisfy this wish? Terrify them into it! -- haunt the place where the body lay! So I haunted the museum night after night. I even got other spirits to help me. But it did no good, for nobody ever came to the museum at midnight. Then it occurred to me to come over the way and haunt this place a little. I felt that if I ever got a hearing I must succeed, for I had the most efficient company that perdition could furnish. Night after night we have shivered around through these mildewed halls, dragging chains, groaning, whispering, tramping up and down stairs, till, to tell you the truth, I am almost worn out. But when I saw a light in your room to-night I roused my energies again and went at it with a deal of the old freshness. But I am tired out -- entirely fagged out. Give me, I beseech you, give me some hope!"

I lit off my perch in a burst of excitement, and exclaimed:

"This transcends everything -- everything that ever did occur! Why you poor blundering old fossil, you have had all your trouble for nothing -- you have been haunting a PLASTER CAST of your- self -- the real Cardiff Giant is in Albany!

[Footnote by Twain: A fact. The original fraud was ingeniously and fraudfully duplicated, and exhibited in New York as the "only genuine" Cardiff Giant (to the unspeakable disgust of the owners of the real colossus) at the very same time that the latter was drawing crowds at a museum in Albany.]

Confound it, don't you know your own remains?"

I never saw such an eloquent look of shame, of pitiable humiliation, overspread a countenance before.

The Petrified Man rose slowly to his feet, and said:

"Honestly, IS that true?"

"As true as I am sitting here."

He took the pipe from his mouth and laid it on the mantel, then stood irresolute a moment (unconsciously, from old habit, thrusting his hands where his pantaloons pockets should have been, and meditatively dropping his chin on his breast), and finally said:

"Well -- I NEVER felt so absurd before. The Petrified Man has sold everybody else, and now the mean fraud has ended by selling its own ghost! My son, if there is any charity left in your heart for a poor friendless phantom like me, don't let this get out. Think how YOU would feel if you had made such an ass of yourself."

I heard his, stately tramp die away, step by step down the stairs and out into the deserted street, and felt sorry that he was gone, poor fellow -- and sorrier still that he had carried off my red blanket and my bath tub.

From "Sketches New and Old", Copyright 1903, Samuel Clemens

Happy Halloween Everyone! And Happy Reading... Suzanne

Bawful After Dark: Halloween Weekend Watch

Happy Halloween!

Shaq with a nice pre-game snack
(via Andy Gray's SI Vault)
Well, some breaking news to start your Halloween weekend: Delonte West has gotten into an "altercation" with one of his teammates. Anyone who didn't see that one coming a mile away, say "aye."


Thought so. So what happened? Only a fight. At least Delonte didn't go all Mad Max this time on his motorcycle packed with loaded weapons.

Less than one week after tempers flared during a two-on-two game in practice, Delonte West and Von Wafer had another altercation earlier this afternoon.

During a three-on-three game with Avery Bradley, Luke Harangody, Semih Erden and assistant coach Tyronn Lue, West began fouling Wafer each time the reserve guard touched the ball. West was increasingly physical to the point that Wafer exited to the locker room midway through the game. As he walked away, West barked obscenities and taunted Wafer.

After Wafer had showered and sat down at his locker, West approached from behind and threw a punch. Wafer didn't see the punch coming but quickly got off of the ground and connected on two punches of his own. He then wrestled West to the ground before being separated by the team's veterans.

The Celtics say this appears to be a issue dealing only with West and Wafer, and nobody else on the team. Sadly, that means they're less likely to cut him, and even less likely to resign Mario West to fill their quota of players-named-West on their team. I, naturally, only have one response:

:(

Well, it's hard to top that action, but here's something that isn't basketball-related, but I know this will definitely be worth watching for quite a few of us: Crispin Glover's Back to the Future screen tests. (h/t Jonah Keri)






Worst of the Night in Pictures:

Hey, didn't we just see that same exact pose yesterday from Drew Gooden? Man, that must suck to be Q-Rich right now, getting compared to Drew Gooden...

Nice Halloween costume there! It really scared me! wait, you mean that's not a costume, that's just AK47's new hairdo? Oh...

Nationally Televised Friday Games:
Magic at Heat, ESPN, 8pm: These two teams hate each other's guts right now. Even Marcin Gortat(!) is running smack. And yet tickets are still available! Per ESPN's Rachel Nichols, "Perhaps city of Miami already nonchalant about LeBron, Wade and Bosh being here together - tickets still available for 2night's home opener."

Lakers at Suns, ESPN, 10:30pm: AccuScore has this game dead even -- each team has a 50% chance of victory. Okay, yes, Phoenix has home court advantage, but serious question here: how are they going to do anything to control the paint? This could be a game worth watching to see a true evaluation of where the Suns are with their new "all small ball, all the time" format.

All The Other Friday Games:
Kings at Nets, 7pm: The Nets are in a tie for first place right now! The Prokhorov smiles.

Hawks at 76ers, 7pm: Huzzah! Another chance to see Doug Collins not play his best players as much as possible!

Cavaliers at Craptors, 7pm: Per ESPN's Chris Sheridan, the 2010-2011 Craptors media guide has a section (under Miscellaneous on page 3, for those five folks who have a copy of the media guide) that states: "Any media member wishing to "take my talents to South Beach" will have their credentials confiscated and be escorted from the building." All right, Toronto, I'll give you that one. But it's right back to making fun of your team next week!

Pacers at Bobcats, 7pm: I'm sure it's possible to care even less about a game than I do about this one, but I'd have to try really hard to do that. And trying hard to not care about something is such an oxymoron that I just broke my brain.

Knicks at Celtics, 7:30pm: The Celtics have won 20 of their last 25 games against the Bricks. I doubt that you need to know much more than that about this game.

Nuggets at Hornets, 8pm: No joke here -- I just wanted to say it's fantastic to see George Karl back on the sidelines coaching the Nuggets after all his health troubles last year.

Thunder at Pistons, 8pm: The Pistons are going to lose this game. How do I know? Because of this.

Bucks at Timberwolves, 8pm: There have been rumors of the NBA discussing contracting a team or two. Even though I don't foresee that happening any time soon (we all know how David Stern would consider that a last-gasp kind of move), it's still a possibility. However! "I can say that Minnesota is not one of the teams that would be contracted, nor do we expect that in the future," said owner Glen Taylor, the chairman of the NBA's board of governors. So Minnesota fans have that going for them, which is nice.

Grizzlies at Mavericks, 8:30pm: Let's break this down: the Mavs have two 7-footers, and the Grizzlies are missing Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph due to injuries. This could get uglier than even the Grizzlies' last 9 games against the Mavericks, which they have also lost.

clippers at Warriors, 10:30pm: The Warriors had a decidedly run-and-gun style under the leadership of Don Nelson, but new head coach Keith Smart said we could expect that to change as the team planned on focusing more on defense and rebounding. Nice to see that the players apparently didn't get that memo and are still running and gunning anyway.

* * *

Nationally Televised Saturday Games:
Nuggets at Rockets, NBA TV, 8:30pm: Ah, another chance to be entertained by Yao Ming. He's already delivered so much material for this blog in just a couple games!

All The Other Saturday Games:
Wizards Generals at Hawks, 7pm: Well, the glass half full outlook for this game, Washington fans? Things can only improve after that game against the Magic!

Kings at Cavaliers, 7:30pm: Just a gut feeling, but for some odd reason, this game might actually be interesting. (Of course, now that I've said that, watch it be a 128-87 blowout...)

Trail Blazers at Knicks, 7:30pm: Well, the Knicks are on a one-game winning streak! That's... something.

Pistons at Bulls, 8pm: You know, I doubt it will really matter if Rose continues his shot-jackery or not in this game... (Did the Pistons seriously win a title only a few years ago?? Hard to believe.)

76ers at Pacers, 8pm: I have absolutely nothing of interest to say about this game. So instead, I'm just going to link you to this video of a gigantic fight in a McDonald's after Game 1 of the World Series. You're welcome.

Timberwolves at Grizzlies, 8pm: According to the ESPN.com schedule, this game is not being televised at all. And the world breathes a sigh of relief...

Bobcats at Bucks, 8:30pm: Both teams on the second night of back-to-backs? No thank you.

Hornets at Spurs, 8:30pm: The Hornets are on a back-to-back here, but the Spurs should have fresh legs. Unfortunately for the Spurs, "fresh legs" for them is a relative term since the average age on that team feels like it's close to 47.


* * *

Nationally Televised Sunday Games:
Jazz at Thunder, NBA TV, 7pm: Dejected Deron Williams is dejected: "If we play like this against Oklahoma City we’ll lose by 50." SAD FACE.

All The Other Sunday Games:
Heat at Nets, 1pm: I have a feeling we can safely refer to them as the Nyets again after this game...

Mavericks at Clippers, 3:30pm: Well, for something more exciting in Dallas sports, go watch this video of Brad Richards hitting a hockey puck through the glass.

Warriors at Lakers, 9:30pm: And yet another one-sided battle of California teams.

First Lines...

"He had never been able to stand the sight of blood. There was something about the consistency, thick and pulsating. He knew it was irrational, especially for someone like him. Recently this revulsion had taken over his dreams, taking expression in ways he couldn't control." Red Wolf by Liza Marklund (coming Feb. 2011! A Swedish Mystery!)

SOUTH AFRICA BECOMING MORE LIKE USA?

South African president Jacob Zuma

Africa is becoming more like the USA and Europe?

In 2004, Edward Clay, the UK high commissioner in Kenya, said that corrupt Kenyan officials were "eating like gluttons" and "vomiting on the shoes" of donors. (UK Kenya envoy's comments justified?)

In South Africa, in October 2010, politically connected businessman Kenny Kunene spent a vast fortune on his 40th birthday.

Top people connected to President Jacob Zuma's government attended the party, where women 'dressed only in underwear' clung to Kunene's arm. (Elite 'spitting in faces of poor' - Sowetan LIVE)

Zwelinzima Vavi was at one time a child labourer.

Now he is General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

He has just crticised some of South Africa's "predatory elite" for "spitting in the faces of the poor" while guzzling "sushi... served from the bodies of half naked ladies."

Vavi's comments target wealthy relatives of both President Zuma and Nelson Mandela.

Julius Malema, a top man in President Zuma's party, is one of those alleged to have been using his position to win lucrative government contracts for several private companies that he runs, or used to run. (South African power broker Malema condemns 'smears')

According to Trade Unions boss Vavi, "Why sweat, when political connections and greasing the hand of those in political office can make you an instant billionaire? We are rewarding laziness, greed and corruption and discouraging hard work, honesty and integrity." (Spit, sushi, and the battle for South Africa's future)

Worst of the Night: October 28, 2010

Want a picture that tells you everything you need to know aboutthe Washington Wizards Generals? Well, here you go.
The Washington Wizards Generals: I'm not going to sugarcoat this: The Wizards Generals got their asses kicked so hard that Nike could use their butts as shoe molds. I've seen coffee shop floor mats with fewer footprints on them. Based on what I witnessed last night, this Generals squad could give "roll over and die" lessons to Vince Carter...who was in his standard "I'm great in nearly meaningless regular season games against crap teams" mode (18 points, 8-for-12, 5 boards).

Unlike the Celtics, the Magic apparently take lesser teams pretty seriously. To wit: Washington shot 37 percent (compared to Orlando's 55 percent), got outrebounded 53-25 (including 11-3 on the offensive glass) and was outscored 56-28 in the colored rectangle.

The Magic led by as many as 35 points before settling for a 112-83 win. Now imagine how lopsided the final score would have been if Orlando hadn't missed 14 free throws and given up 29 points of 21 turnovers.

Dwight Howard's foul shooting: The line: 9-for-19. Roughly the same number most guys in my pickup league could hit by accident.

John Wall: As Basketbawful reader LotharBot pointed out, Wall had a Calvin Murphy in his debut with 14 points and 9 assists. Sure, a lot of those points and assists were racked up during garbage time, but it's still a decent debut. Right? I mean, check out this killer crossover:


I'll say this much: The kid's a shooter. And by "shooter" I don't mean that Wall provides consistent, high-percentage, long-range jump shooting. I mean he apparently loves shooting the Eddy Curry loves Twinkies. Wall jacked up 11 of his team's first 24 shot attempts. He it three of 'em. Wall -- who, I should remind you, is Washington's starting point guard -- finished 6-for-19 on a night in which none of his teammates attempted more than nine shots.

The best part? Wall's first NBA points came off a goal tend by Brandon Bass.

But hey, I guess that's what happens when rookies are mentored by Gilbert Arenas. Speaking of which...

Gilbert Arenas: After missing most of the past three seasons due to injury and suspension, Mr. "I signed a contract for only $111 million to help my team" Arenas missed the game with strained blah blah blah in his blah blah blah. Does it really matter what's wrong with Gil this time? His contract was a bigger waste of time and money than Eddy Curry's copy of P90X.

Andray Blatche: Last year's late-season fantasy stud was a fantasy turd in his season debut: 6 points on 2-for-9 shooting to go with 2 boards, 2 dimes, a steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls. Man, I sure hope nobody around here has Blatche on their fantasy team...

Jason Williams: William's performance last night is forcing me to seriously consider giving out a "Worst Player of the Night" award in these posts. His line: 8 minutes, zero points, zero rebounds, 1 assist, zero steals, zero blocked shots, 3 turnovers, 1 personal foul, 2 technical fouls, 1 automatic ejection.

Of course, he still had a better plus-minus score (-2) than John Wall (-31).

John Wall, quote machine, Part 1: "It was tough. It's really telling me what I need to work on, but I already know."

John Wall, quote machine, Part 2: "But as a team aspect, we have a lot we need to work on."

Marcin Gortat, mildly broken English quote machine: "Honestly, I'm sick of listening every hour about Miami -- Miami that, how great they are, how big they are, what kind of record they gonna have. I get every day interviews back in Poland, people calling me about Miami, Miami, what you think about Miami? What you think about Big Three? I'm going to say the same thing: they are a great team, they have three superstars, they got a couple good role players on the team. They looking good on the paper, but they got to start winning."

Stan Van Gundy, quote machine: "You guys can decide what's a big game and what's not. If they give me two wins for tomorrow night, then it's a big game. I'm not big on the human-interest stories."

The Utah Jazz: Oh dear God. After receiving the scorched earth treatment in their season-opening 110-88 loss to Nuggets in Denver, the Jazz came home and got donkey-punched 110-94 by the Work-in-Progress Suns.

It's enough to make John Stockton's gonads shrivel up in his short-shorts.

The sad part of this loss is that Utah is HUGE compared to Phoenix. Hence the stat-paddery by Paul Milsap (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Al Jefferson (20 points, 9 boards). But the Jazz pulled down only one more total rebound and their Offensive Rebound Percentage (30.4) was barely better than the Suns' (27.9). Shooting 42 percent from the field and 3-for-13 on threes didn't help either.

Oh, and then there was the transition D, which gave up 20 fast break points.


This team definitely hasn't gelled yet. In fact, they're more of a gritty paste.

Deron Williams: Look, I'm a big Deron Williams fan. I really am. But I can't stop myself from reminding everybody that he proclaimed himself the best point guard in the league last season. And we all remember what that did for Stephon Marbury's career, don't we?

Anyway, Williams was crap in Utah's season opener (3-for-10, 6 assists, 4 turnovers, 4 fouls) and he was crappity crap last night: 13 points on 3-for-12 shooting, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, 5 fouls and a plus-minus score of -16. The only Jazz player with a worse plus-minus was freaking Gordon Hayward (-17).

The obvious lesson: Never proclaim yourself the best [whatever] in the league.

Raja Bell: The Jazz signed Bell to (partially) replace Kyle Korver's shooting. Well, that wasn't happening last night, as Bell missed nine of his 12 shot attempts and went 1-for-5 from downtown.

Steve Nash, captain obvious: "Hakim [Warrick] was great on the glass and hustled. He finished and got to the line. He did a lot of little things that matter. But he also scored, and when he can do that, it makes us a better team."

So when a teammate can score, it makes you a better team? It's like Nash just gave my brain an assist. Thanks, Steve!

Steve Nash, the voice of realism: "We haven't got the chemistry yet and there are no shortcuts. It just takes time. You got to find the understanding and be unselfish and conscious of the other players on the team. But there is no easy formula."

In keeping with the recent overreactions to Nash quotes: STEVE NASH SAYS SUNS HAVE NO CHEMISTRY!!!!

Paul Milsap, quote machine, Part 1: "Things are not going our way."

Paul Milsap, quote machine, Part 2: "We've got to continue to stay with it. I mean we've got to continue to get better."

Paul Milsap, quote machine, Part 3: "We got punched in the mouth twice in our first two games."

Lacktion report: Chris had an easy but fulfilling night of lacktion reporting:

Bullets-Magic: Hilton Armstrong makes his first reservation in the lacktion ledger by countering one successful charity stripe shot (and two assists) in 11:14 with 5 fouls and two giveaways for a 7:3 Voskuhl. Hamady N'Diaye armed himself with a pair of fouls in 3:40 for his first ever suck differential, a +2 that also counted as a 2:0 Voskuhl!