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North Korea Watch: North Korea Test Launches SCUD Missiles – Taepodong 2 Missile Is Launched But Fails in Flight – White House Says No Immediate Threat to United States – Six Missiles Have Been Launched – Updated Now to Ten (10) Missiles
***Scroll Down For Updates***
AP: Japanese Broadcaster NHK says North Korea has test-launched a missile.
AP: N. Korea Launches Missile Into Sea of Japan
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il
North Korea test launched a missile early Wednesday morning that landed in the Sea of Japan, Japanese media reported.
North Korea launched the missile at 0332 Japan Time and it crashed into the Sea of Japan several minutes later, public broadcaster NHK reported.
NHK said Japanese government officials were trying to determine whether the missile was a long-range ballistic missile that had been readied for launch recently, or whether it was a different missile.
North Korea had been believed to be preparing a test launch of its Taepodong 2 missile, which is believed able to reach parts of the United States.
Officials were not immediately available to confirm the report.
Update 16:43 EDT:
AP is reporting that Kyodo News Agency reports North Korea test-launches two mid-range missiles into the Sea of Japan. A Pentagon official said they were Scud missiles and not the the longer-range variety that has been the focus of international concern.
Update 16:53 EDT:
AP: North Korea test-launches 2 Scud missiles
North Korea test-launched two missiles Wednesday that landed in the Sea of Japan, but a
Pentagon official said they were Scud missiles and not the longer-range variety that has been the focus of international concern.Japan’s Kyodo news agency said they were believed to be mid-range Rodong missiles.
The reclusive communist state launched the first missile at 3:32 a.m., or 2:32 p.m. Tuesday EDT, and it crashed into the Sea of Japan several minutes later, public broadcaster NHK reported. Kyodo carried a similar report and quoted a government official as saying a second missile had also been fired.
A Pentagon official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said there were launches of two Scud missiles.
“The launch appears not to be the launch that has been in the news. This appears to be a launch of a lesser variety of scud missiles,” the official said.
Han Song Ryol, deputy chief of North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in New York, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview: “We diplomats do not know what the military is doing.”
So, Flap asks, what about the long-range Taepodong 2 missile. Is this a shot across the bow of the United States on America’s birthday?
Update 17:02 EDT
Reuters: North Korea launches two missiles: reports
In Washington, a Pentagon official said North Korea appeared to have launched two Scud-type missiles and not long-range missiles that the United States had been monitoring.
U.S. sources said North Korea had launched a third, long-range missile but that it had failed in flight.
Update 17:13 EDT
AP: Kyodo reports that North Korea has test-launched four mid-range missiles into the Sea of Japan.
Update 17:22 EDT
AP: However, the State Department official said North Korea appeared ready to launch the long-range Taepodong-2 missile. The official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, did not confirm that the Taepodong-2 had been launched. Experts believe a Taepodong 2 could reach the United States with a light payload.
Update 17:26 EDT
Reuters is reporting that the Taepodong-2 missile has been fired by North Korea but has failed.
North Korea launched a long-range Taepodong-2 missile and two small Scud-type missiles within a two-hour period, but the long-range missile appears to have failed, a diplomatic source told Reuters on Tuesday.
CNN also reported that a Taepodong had been fired.
The Taepodong 2 missile, which had been under intense scrutiny by the United States and other western powers, appeared to have failed in flight, the diplomatic source said.
AP is reporting that the Japanese government is confirming that three missiles have been test-launched by North Korea into the Sea of Japan.
Update 17:33 EDT
AP reports the United States State Department officials say North Korea launched its long-range missile, but it failed 35 seconds after lifting off.
Update 17:45 EDT
AP reports that Japan said it “sternly protests” North Korean missile test-launches.
“North Korea has gone ahead with the launch despite international protest,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said. “That is regrettable from the standpoint of Japan’s security, the stability of international society, and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
The Question: Where was the Taepodong 2 missile going?
Second Question: Where the other two missiles used as counter measures against American Aegis Sea based missile defenses?
CNN has reported the United Nations Security Council may convene tonight.
Update 18:28 EDT
CNN is reporting U.S. government officials report that the Taepodong 2 missile was launched at 4:02 EDT and failed in flight after about 42 seconds in flight.
Senior Administration officials in the White House say there is no immediate threat to the United States but this is a “PROVOCATION.”
Update 18:34 EDT
CNN is reporting that NORAD reports a fourth North Korean short-range missile having been launched within the last fifteen minutes.
AP reports the United States Ambassador to Japan says the North Korea’s missile launches are a “provocative act.”
Update 18:55 EDT
CNN: Senior Administration officials at the White House confirm there were six missile tests:
#4 Short-Range Scud
#5 A second long-range Taepodong 2 missile
#6 Another short-range missile
Analysts at CNN are speculating that North Korea is testing a warhead.
Update 20:27 EDT
AP: Yahoo News agency cites government officials as saying North Korea tested ten (10) missiles in all.
Bush sees the missile firing as “defiance” of the international community by North Korea,” a senior U.S. administration official said. “This is further indication of the isolation of North Korea.”
U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley called the launches “provocative behavior,” but said they were not a threat to U.S. territory.
“We are urgently consulting with other delegations of Security Council on the situation,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said in a statement.
CNN’s Larry King is currently hosting a round-table discussion on North Korea. In a lack of class former Secretary of State called in and in a short statement related that the Bush administration’s foreign policy is a failure and generally moaned about the Bush Administration.
What a lack of class!
Now Albright is on Fox News.
Here is Albright’s idea of dealing with Kim Jong-Il:
Update 21:33 EDTÂ
Fox News is now reporting that there will be a meeting of the United Nations Security Council tomorrow morning.
When MORE information is available Flap will update this report.
Blogosphere:
Previous:
North Korea Watch: United States Responds to North Korea Threat of Nuclear War
North Korea Watch:North Korea Warns of Nuclear War
North Korea Watch: Bush WARNS North Korea Not To Test Missile
North Korea Watch: United States Warns North Korea About Talks “BLUFFâ€
North Korea Watch: President Bush – North Korea Should Tell World of Their INTENT
Technorati Tags: NorthKorea, KimJongIl, MissileDefenseAgency
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Space Shuttle Discovery Watch: Discovery Goes Into Orbit
The Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on mission STS-121 Tuesday, July 4, 2006.
AP: Space shuttle Discovery goes into orbit
In a majestic Independence Day liftoff, Discovery and its crew of seven blasted into orbit Tuesday on the first space shuttle launch in a year, flying over objections from those within NASA who argued for more fuel-tank repairs.
NASA’s first-ever Fourth of July launch came after two weather delays and last-minute foam trouble that conjured up worries that have dogged NASA since Columbia was brought down by a chunk of fuel tank insulation foam 3 1/2 years ago.
The foam problem resurfaced during last July’s flight of Discovery and again Monday, keeping the space agency debating safety all the way up to the eve of liftoff.
As Discovery thundered away from its seaside pad at 2:38 p.m. and into space Tuesday, video showed was no initial sign of significant foam loss. Engineers will spend the next few days poring over the video before the shuttle returns to Earth.
Commander Steven Lindsey, an Air Force fighter pilot, was at Discovery’s controls and aiming for a Thursday linkup with the international space station.
A magnificent launch on America’s birthday.
A slideshow of photos is here.
And watch the NASA TV feed here.
Technorati Tags: NASA, SpaceShuttle, Discovery
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Wide Awakes Radio Watch: July 4 Launch
Today is Wide Awakes Radios launch.
Check it out here.
Flap knows you will be glad you did.
Previous: Wide Awakes Radio Watch: Stop The ACLU Radio
Technorati Tags: WideAwakesRadio
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Canada Watch: Canadian Veterans Outraged Over Canada’s National War Memorial Defacement
Canada’s National War Memorial, Confederation Square, Ottawa
MSN News: Veterans outraged by war memorial defacement
Veterans demand the government heed their calls for security around Ottawa’s National War Memorial after hooligans urinated on the site during Canada Day celebrations.“It is abhorrent. It is vile. It is an insult to anyone who has ever served,” Bob Butt of the Royal Canadian Legion said Monday.
On Saturday night, retired Maj. Michael Pilon captured pictures of several men defacing the Ottawa monument after the holiday fireworks.
Dr. Pilon, who served with the Royal Canadian Dental Corps, said most of the crowd reacted with cheers and laughter.
However, the photos were published in local Ottawa newspapers, and people interviewed by CTV News clearly did not approve.
The legion plans to use the photos to pressure the government for increased security at the monument.
And where were the police during a national holiday, Canada Day?
‘It’s absolutely disgusting,’ said the Royal Canadian Legion’s Bob Butt of the young men who urinated on the National War Memorial on Saturday. ‘It’s the same as if you urinated on someone’s grave.’Police have contacted Ottawa dentist, Dr. Michael Pilon who Flap knows from the Internet Dental Forum and have confirmed to him that charges of mischief will be laid, Ottawa Police Detective Mike Walker said.
Dentist Mike Pilon whose photgraphs have created a national Canadian uproar.In the meantime, Canadian Veterans are clearly upset with the government over lack of security. Newly elected Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated:
“As you know often, people who get carried away do thoughtless things,” Harper said. “Obviously, it’s a terrible thing to do.”
“Certainly my impression is it doesn’t represent in any way the views of any segment of Canadian society,” he said. “I think we all strongly honour our vets.”
But, H. Clifford Chadderton, chairman of the National Council of Veteran Associations in Canada (NCVA), told CTV.ca that veterans’ groups have been asking for more security since 1995 but especially since the creation of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in May 2000.
Flap asks again where were the police? Or do Canada’s finest look the other way during drunken celebratory national holidays?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will certainly fix the security for next year’s Canada Day because this is a national disgrace. But, one asks where was the former Liberal Party Prime Minister Paul Martin when the veterans made their initial requests for more security?
The Answer:
He was ripping off the Canadian people in the Adscam Scandal and bashing the United States.
Technorati Tags: Canada, CanadaNationalWarMemorial, MikePilon, StephenHarper, PaulMartin, RoyalCanadianLegion
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Happy Independence Day America July 4, 2006
Signing of the Declaration of Independence, painting by John Trumbull in U.S. Capitol- In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous declaration of the thirteen
- United States of America.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.
THE UNANIMOUS
DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.WHEN, in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s GOD entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their CREATOR, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that Governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.
HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyranny only.
HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the mean Time, exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our Legislatures.
HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:
FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:
FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection, and waging War against us.
HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.
HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with Circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.
HE has constrained our Fellow-Citizens, taken Captive on the high Seas, to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes, and Conditions.
IN every Stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every Act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.
NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them, from Time to Time, of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our Connexions and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the Rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connexion between them and the State of Great-Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of Right do. And for the Support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour.
John Hancock.
GEORGIA, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, Geo. Walton.
NORTH-CAROLINA, Wm. Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.
SOUTH-CAROLINA, Edward Rutledge, Thos Heyward, junr. Thomas Lynch, junr. Arthur Middleton.
MARYLAND, Samuel Chase, Wm. Paca, Thos. Stone, Charles Carroll, of Carrollton.
VIRGINIA, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Ths. Jefferson, Benja. Harrison, Thos. Nelson, jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.
PENNSYLVANIA, Robt. Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja. Franklin, John Morton, Geo. Clymer, Jas. Smith, Geo. Taylor, James Wilson, Geo. Ross.
DELAWARE, Caesar Rodney, Geo. Read.
NEW-YORK, Wm. Floyd, Phil. Livingston, Frank Lewis, Lewis Morris.
NEW-JERSEY, Richd. Stockton, Jno. Witherspoon, Fras. Hopkinson, John Hart, Abra. Clark.
NEW-HAMPSHIRE, Josiah Bartlett, Wm. Whipple, Matthew Thornton.
MASSACHUSETTS-BAY, Saml. Adams, John Adams, Robt. Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
RHODE-ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE, &c. Step. Hopkins, William Ellery.
CONNECTICUT, Roger Sherman, Saml. Huntington, Wm. Williams, Oliver Wolcott.IN CONGRESS, JANUARY 18, 1777.
ORDERED,
THAT an authenticated Copy of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCY, with the Names of the MEMBERS of CONGRESS, subscribing the same, be sent to each of the UNITED STATES, and that they be desired to have the same put on RECORD.
By Order of CONGRESS,JOHN HANCOCK, President.
BALTIMORE, in MARYLAND: Printed by MARY KATHARINE GODDARD.
Let Freedom Ring
Independence Day from the Blogosphere:
Technorati Tags: IndependenceDay, July4, America, UnitedStatesofAmerica
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Day By Day by Chris Muir July 4, 2006
Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum
Technorati Tags: DayByDay, ChrisMuir, DixieChicks, NatalieMaines