Rantburg and its mods and regulars have been displaying War on Terror news for 25 years. This date also is one year and one month since the move to the new server.
We have curated news from news outlets concerning the barbarians, Domestic and Foreign, who have been moving to destroy the nation and the free world as well as this humble project.
We also have had a small amount of news describing what our and other governments have done to help -- and to hinder us.
All done on a volunteer basis.
Help us thank the regulars, the volunteers and others who’ve been keeping Rantburg alive.
#5
I stumbled onto Rantburg looking for better information pertaining to the War on Terror. The format fit my way of organizing information, the brevity allowed for quick review and the comments were insightful and very funny. Stayed for the next 25 years.
#6
Love this place, and have deep respect for those that keep it going. I even enjoy most of the comments. Thanks also for the troll-trimming. A few have escaped, but mostly they're kept within bounds. Again, thank you all!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/11/2026 6:47 Comments ||
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#7
Kudos to Rantburg for your hard, unblinking work. So very thankful for every story, every line ...
#10
Scoured the Internet in the days after 9/11 - looking for insights and anything that could help understand how it happened and who was responsible. I found the 'Burg and have been reading and lurking ever since.
Thanks to all that keep Rantburg running! it is still a daily read for me after 25 years.
#13
Rantburg consistently delivers information and viewpoints that are never found on TV or in the newspapers. The comments are sometimes as informative as the articles. And then there's the opportunity to do a little ranting of my own. Sometimes you just need to get things off your chest, so to speak, and nobody else will listen. But if you get too far out of line, other commenters will let you know about it. The debates are lively but usually civil and well reasoned. Keep up the good work, Rantburg.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/11/2026 11:30 Comments ||
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#14
Hat tip to TW, Badanov, Fred, the mods, lurkers, and regular contributors. We are indeed blessed to live in a country that permits such a forum and compilation of articles, ideas, and opinions.
Site was recommended to me, and I was like yeah sure. Then I was at a party with libertarians, which was the fashion at the time, and Bush Whackers, Rantburg was named dropped then described to me a some neocon site. Really, I say to myself, such hate dribble now I have to check the place out.
#17
Although I've been distracted lately, I've been reading and occasionally posting since March 2003. My thanks to all the folks who keep this valuable site running. And I remember with great fondness the contributors who have moved on, such as Pappy and TGA.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/11/2026 15:03 Comments ||
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#19
The Burg is the first news I open every day for as long as I can remember....usually at 9 P.M. the day before. 9-11 was a terrible blow, felt a bit like when they killed Kennedy and when the son killed the royal family in Nepal. I know the Lord is in control and He will make it all make sense when we come into His Presence...!!
Posted by: Oregon Dave ||
09/11/2026 15:33 Comments ||
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#20
A daily read because I trust the people who run it and the regulars who read it and comment!
Trust is in very short supply these days my friends, making this place all the more important!
#21
I’ve been coming to Rantburg for 25 years. The information, both in the articles and the comments, provides a detailed overview of our world. We are in a fight that we must win. Understanding our enemies is a key to that victory. The Burg is an invaluable resource. Thank you to all who make it happen each and every day. I do miss muck4doo and farminBhard.
#24
I found this place sometime after 9/11 and to this day I'm still struck by one of the articles found here. It was from the Belmont Club and it was an essay titled "The Three Conjectures". It's still a great read, and I've enjoying having this place to visit.
#25
You all make this the place I hang out at, for the company as well as the learning.
The Three Conjectures is for sale at Amazon for $2.49. I just threw some money into Mr. Fernandez’s pocket — he deserves it for that essay and much, much more.
#27
Like Frank G, I followed an Instapundit link. I've been daily since. Many changes since then, always Rantburg. I open it like the GWOT weather report. I don't comment much. Simply here paying attention. I appreciate what it takes from alcon to make this thing go.
#28
Found the Burg in maybe 2003. Have walked away from time to time and returned. 9-11 is one of the magnets. Watching the line of firefighters march into the building is one image that haunts me. I knew the building was coming down. I knew they knew as well. For them, the line was death, but to step out of line was impossible. It was a different death that they could not choose. RIP.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/11/2026 20:58 Comments ||
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#29
I don't recall which door I came through. The world had changed and the blogosphere was the new New Thing. There was a lot going on - Little Green Footballs, Instapundit, Belmont Club, Rantburg, Gates of Vienna, and more.
For me, Rantburg as a news aggregator has replaced the morning paper. I think Rantburg U has changed the way I look at the world. Whatever the subject, there seems to be somebody here who either knows about it or was there when it jumped off. News, analysis, and snark. Yeah, baby!
[FOX] Twenty-five years ago, 40 men and women showed uncommon courage on Flight 93. Today, we honor their sacrifice and their example on a field of honor forever in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
On the morning of 9/11, I was in a skyscraper in Pittsburgh as the attacks unfolded. We knew another plane had been hijacked somewhere over Pennsylvania, but we did not know where it was or where it was headed. Then came the news from Shanksville — and, later, the story of what its passengers and crew had done.
Less than an hour after United Flight 93 left Newark, four al Qaeda terrorists seized the plane and forced the passengers and crew to the rear of the aircraft.
Flight 93 was different from the other hijacked planes that morning because a ground delay gave its passengers time to learn of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. When the plane turned toward Washington, they knew that Flight 93 had become another weapon of terror.
#1
I happened to visit Joe McGrady this summer, he recommended I view this video. Some of might find same:
https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/pilots-remember-september-11-2001/232714
Some background:
Lieutenant Colonel Joe "Rosey" McGrady and General Dan "Razin" Caine were military fighter pilots who played crucial roles in the United States' airborne response during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001
They are frequently recognized together in historical panels, aviation retrospectives, and events like the 9/11 Memorial & Museum's "Above & Beyond" symposium, where they have recounted the unprecedented chaos and rapid decision-making required to secure American airspace that morning
General Dan "Razin" Caine: On the morning of 9/11, Caine was an F-16 fighter pilot and the Chief of Weapons and Tactics for the 121st Fighter Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base. He served as a mission commander protecting the skies over Washington, D.C.. In an unprecedented defense measure, Caine and his fellow D.C. pilots were granted direct intercept authority, meaning they were individually authorized to make the high-stakes decision to shoot down civilian aircraft if they threatened the nation's capital.
Lt. Col. Joe "Rosey" McGrady: McGrady was an F-15 fighter pilot stationed with the 102nd Fighter Wing. When the attacks began, his unit scrambled from Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts to patrol the airspace over New York City—taking off so rapidly into combat conditions that they did not have time to fully equip their jets with standard weapons payloads.
#7
The White House or, more likely, the U.S. Capitol building was the probably target. Imagine the symbolic impact worldwide had they not been brought down by American Patriot Heroism!
#8
ref # 5 above - curiously, the states in the darker red seem to have have a much more pro-American population these days! Curious eh, not to mention a deep concentration of Scots-Irish forebears and a strong proclivity for military service!
#9
Yes, I saw the enlistment spread for the army a few years ago. It was overwhelmingly below the Mason-Dixon Line. BTW, the North used conscription during the Civil War, drafts, contracts, and immigrants right off the boat. Not so in the South.
Mali 🇲🇱 | Ce 10 septembre, dans la matinée, le camp FAMa de Dioura (Mopti) a été attaqué par le JNIM
🔶 L’attaque a été revendiquée par le groupe terroriste et reconnue par l’armée malienne qui a indiqué en fin de matinée qu’une « riposte est en cours » et que « des informations… https://t.co/6WLUitM6ICpic.twitter.com/SwyoIT1ndl
Mali 🇲🇱 | On September 10, in the morning, the FAMa camp in Dioura (Mopti) was attacked by JNIM
🔶 The attack was claimed by the terrorist group and acknowledged by the Malian army, which stated in the late morning that a "counterattack is underway" and that "additional information will be provided later"
JNIM reportedly took possession of the camp before abandoning it. This tactic is recurrent in the Sahel.
A propaganda video was released after the attack by the terrorist group (📽️ in comments)
🔷 Pending a precise report, some sources indicate that several soldiers were killed and equipment seized.
ℹ️ The Dioura military base has been attacked 4 times in 3 years (September 2023, December 2023, May 2025, and today), resulting in several dozen deaths among the FDS during the previous attacks (Wamaps post quoted)
The day before, JNIM claimed an ambush against a FAMa patrol between Hérémékano and Sikasso (📽️ in comments)
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin
[ColonelCassad] The Houthis have captured all the islands in the Red Sea and are fighting for control of Perim Island in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Saudi-led coalition ships are ignoring the situation, fearing drone strikes and anti-ship missiles from the Houthis, whose fleet consists only of a handful of motorboats armed with anti-tank guided missiles and drones.
The Houthis are also close to establishing control over the entire coast of western Yemen, which will strengthen their grip on the Red Sea. The Houthi leadership announced that all armed individuals who have fought or are fighting against the Houthis on the western coast of Yemen will receive an immediate presidential amnesty if they lay down their arms and return to civilian life. A significant number of Saudi-led coalition soldiers have already begun to exercise this option yesterday and today, which has seriously damaged the morale of the intervention forces.
Part of the front has simply crumbled. It's unclear where the disorderly flight of those who refuse to surrender will stop.
The price of Brent crude, amid the events in Yemen, has reached almost $103 per barrel. Despite all the US efforts, including the unpacking of strategic reserves and the plundering of Venezuelan oil, the price is treacherously creeping upward. Trump and company were forced to admit yesterday that they would not be able to achieve victory over Iran before the November elections.
But they are counting on Iran making concessions once the elections are over, losing its leverage over influencing the US elections. However, if Trump loses the election and becomes a lame duck, why would Iran make concessions?
Ummm, guys — President Trump is not running for anything. Technically he’s been a lame duck since he was sworn in back in January 2025, because he only gets two terms as president. America does not run on a parliamentary system. The election in November is strictly for the House and 1/3rd of the Senate. But do go on, dear boy.
On the contrary, it would demonstrate that the Iranian strategy worked and led to Trump's domestic political defeat.
Or not, but you go ahead hugging yourself with glee, anyway.
In this regard, the goals of Iran and the globalists in the US coincide. Globalists are prepared to temporarily sacrifice the Iranian war for the sake of defeating Trump.
Yes — they’re really stupid that way — always have been.
Iran, however, having achieved victory in the war with the US, will dramatically increase its influence in the region. This is, in principle, beneficial to both us and China. Overall, this is a very rapid turnaround in the Yemen war, which has been going on since March 2015.
More from Boris Rozhin: Saudi Arabia's Defeat in Yemen
Saudi Arabia and its proxies suffered a crushing defeat in Yemen. The Houthis captured a huge swath of territory (over 2,600 square kilometers) and several cities, including the strategic port of Mokha. The Houthis also captured Zuqar Island off the coast of Yemen, strengthening their control over the Red Sea.
Saudi mercenaries and Yemeni collaborators abandoned their positions and fled south. Many were captured. Counterattacks and Saudi airstrikes aimed at slowing the Houthi advance were ineffective. This defeat surpasses even the destruction of four Saudi brigades in Najran eight years ago.
Pakistan has asked Iran to pressure the Houthis to cease attacks on Saudi Arabia before the conflict escalates. Pakistan, however, noted that negotiations regarding Turkey and Pakistan's involvement in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen are currently not underway.
Earlier, the Houthis again struck Saudi Aramco facilities and airbases in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the Saudis lost five Chinese CH-4 reconnaissance and attack drones in just two days. The Houthi victory strengthens Iran's position and promises the Axis of Resistance new opportunities to control the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
P.S. And to top it all off, American media reported that eight F-15 fighter jets were "damaged" as a result of Iranian strikes on US bases in Jordan, and an explosion tore off a wing from an A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft ("doesn't look destroyed").
Another point of view from Russian military correspondent Rybar
The military and political situation in Yemen
As we expected, Ansarallah’s recent offensive against Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and allied formations failed badly – so much so that the Houthis not only failed to gain ground but lost positions on several fronts after… pic.twitter.com/bjPOZHDnas
The military and political situation in Yemen
As we expected, Ansarallah’s recent offensive against Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and allied formations failed badly – so much so that the Houthis not only failed to gain ground but lost positions on several fronts after counterattacks.
How it unfolded:
– The 3 September push initially succeeded: Houthis broke pro-government defenses along the coast and penetrated southeast and southwest of Taiz, threatening to encircle the city and cut the road to Mocha, a key supply route for Saudi arms.
– On 4 September, Yemeni and Saudi air forces launched heavy strikes on Houthi positions at the breach points, helping ground forces halt Ansarallah’s advance.
– On 5 September, Houthis briefly seized the dominant height of Jabal Dabbas near Hays, but pro-government forces then mounted successful counterattacks and opened new offensives on the northern and eastern fronts.
– By 7 September, Houthis had lost both the newly taken positions and some of their own; Yemeni armed forces and Aden-loyal formations advanced 6-17 km across Hudaydah, Taiz, al-Jawf, and al-Bayda provinces.
While the terrain means this isn’t a full breakthrough, pro-government troops captured several key heights, further complicating Houthi maneuver along the contact line. Despite advances in rocket and drone capabilities, Ansarallah has yet to translate them into battlefield success on the ground.
Unsurprisingly, the movement has again refocused on Saudi oil infrastructure. This both rallies supporters after setbacks and gives the Houthis economic leverage over their adversaries - an approach that, as the Iran conflict has shown, can often be more effective than bombardment.
#2
#1 I am so grad that the us miritaly and the chia agency has seculed egypt fol us with theil execution of uncre mumi in ribya and we wirr own the suez canar now WONDEL WHY NOBODY HAS ATTACKED YET? I wirr stirr ret them stail at rittre boys and young men in tight revis and jelkoff behind theil computels thank you CHIA coy fish agency and flench flie qaeda rong rive UNCLE MUMI and BATONGA VILLE !
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Israeli forces move into Jamlah village in western Daraa on Thursday, stopping and searching passersby before withdrawing toward the Golan Heights.
Local sources told North Press that an Israeli military force comprising three vehicles, including two troop carriers, entered Jamlah village in the Yarmouk Basin area of western Daraa and deployed around the village for some time.
The sources said no clashes or injuries were reported during the incursion. The forces stopped and searched passersby before later withdrawing toward the Golan Heights.
Footage circulating online shows Israeli military vehicles moving through the Wadi al-Raqad area and advancing into residential neighborhoods in Jamlah village. The footage also shows vehicles stopped in the middle of the road and Israeli personnel stopping passersby.
[DM] The terrorists who have previously tried to launch attacks on US ships in the Red Sea tried to use Anthropic artificial intelligence models to build ballistic missiles, a new report has found.
In its AI misuse report published Thursday, Anthropic revealed that a 'cell of threat actors' in Yemen had tried to leverage the Claude chatbot to run 'three weapons development programs.'
The report did not specifically name the terrorist organization involved, but the threat likely came from the Iran-backed Houthis, which control much of northern Yemen.
The Houthis tried to develop a multi-stage ballistic missile, a multi-variant missile, and a guided rocket that used a 'commodity phone-class flight computer,' according to the report reviewed by the Daily Mail.
The terrorists used Claude Code in an attempt to develop 'guidance, navigation, and control software that steers and stabilizes a flying vehicle,' the report said.
They also used the chatbot to 'integrate an open-source autopilot on to a phone-class flight computer, writing the control and position estimation software, tuning the control settings, running a firmware build pipeline, and performing a flight simulation.'
#1
Detecting and countering misuse of AI: September 2026 Over the past eight months, our Threat Intelligence team identified and disrupted operations in which threat actors tried to use Claude for malicious activity. In this report, we share case studies from those operations and describe how malicious use of Claude has evolved since our previous threat reports in March, August, and November 2025. In each case, we disrupted the activity, used what we learned to strengthen our safeguards, and shared intelligence with authorities and industry partners, where appropriate.
This report covers activity we disrupted between December 2025 and August 2026 across seven harm areas: cyber operations, influence operations, surveillance, scams and fraud, biological misuse, conventional weapons development, and distillation. Claude Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus models were used. None of the misuse cases involved the use of Claude Fable or Mythos-class models, with the exception of one illicit distillation case.
The cases we share here aren’t typical misuse, but rather examples of the most notable and novel threat activity we’ve identified to date. We’re publishing this work because we believe we have a responsibility to disclose malicious misuse of our services. As models become increasingly capable, their risks will increase, unless AI developers and society’s defenders act to make them safer.
The threat actors covered in this report include suspected state-sponsored groups, financially motivated criminals, commercial spyware vendors, state propaganda institutions, and politically motivated individuals. The cases range from a network of fake dating apps designed to defraud users to surveillance systems built to identify and monitor dissidents.
Sophisticated and persistent threat actors continuously test our safeguards and try to circumvent the technical measures we use to detect and prevent misuse. We’ll continue to evolve our safeguards and coordinate with our partners to improve our ability to detect, disrupt, and prevent future misuse.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three members of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been detained by Iraqi intelligence forces in Prde (Altun Kupri), north of Kirkuk, over their alleged involvement in the recent killing of a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) member, a source told Rudaw on Thursday.
Dozens of Kurdish residents in the town have been arrested and interrogated following the killing of Ali Bahjat Hamid, a member of a Turkmen-dominated PMF brigade, last week, according to information obtained by Rudaw’s Hardi Mohammed on the ground.
Fuad Abdulwahid, a Kurdish resident of Prde, said the arrests were arbitrary.
"The situation is honestly very bad, and I hope it gets resolved. You cannot just arrest and detain people randomly. Even during Saddam’s time, it was not like this,” he told Rudaw.
Although most of the Kurdish residents arrested were released after interrogation, the fate of three young men serving in the Peshmerga remains unknown.
A local security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the three Peshmerga remain in detention “because of personal problems they had with the killed PMF member.” "He needed killin'" More at the link
[DM] Israel has blown up a key tunnel network built by the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, causing a 4.1 magnitude tremor from a blast that filled the night sky with flames and billowing plumes of smoke.
The explosion on Thursday, which sent shockwaves rippling across the region for miles, obliterated the major underground complex built by the Iran-backed terrorist organisation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday evening it had demolished the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon. It is understood 1,100 tons of explosives were used.
Footage released by Israel's defence minister Israel Katz shows the dark night skies emblazoned with orange fire as smoke billows out from the destroyed tunnels. The video was captioned: 'We promised and we delivered. The terrorists were eliminated and the Ali Taher tunnels were destroyed. Kudos to the IDF.'
Meanwhile, the operation was captured by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Israeli sources said dozens of Hezbollah fighters were found dead inside the tunnels – which have long been seen as a flashpoint in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
'This is strategic terrorist infrastructure that was built over two decades, with Iranian funding and planning,' said a joint statement by Netanyahu and Katz.
The destruction 'completes the achievement of operational control over the Ali al-Taher ridge - above and below ground,' the statement added.
The United States Geological Survey meanwhile reported a 4.1 magnitude tremor in the area, after Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that Israel carried out a 'massive explosion' on the Ali al-Taher ridge in the Nabatieh region, 'causing tremors and a powerful rumble'.
Israeli security bodies confirm the killing of a top member of the Hamas terror group, responsible for numerous deadly terror attacks, in a strike in Gaza City yesterday.
Yesterday, Hamas said Farah Hamed, a "commander and fighter" in the terror group's military wing, and a… pic.twitter.com/fQRlGcBnDa
Israeli security bodies confirm the killing of a top member of the Hamas terror group, responsible for numerous deadly terror attacks, in a strike in Gaza City yesterday.
Yesterday, Hamas said Farah Hamed, a "commander and fighter" in the terror group's military wing, and a member of the "Military Council of the al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank" was killed in a strike in Gaza City's Sheikh Ijlin neighborhood.
The strike killing Hamed was carried out by the Israel Police's elite Gideonim unit (Unit 33, in a joint operation with the Shin Bet and IDF, the three bodies say.
🔸بعد أن أنجزت قوات قيادة المنطقة الشمالية والفرقة 36 سيطرتها العملياتية على مرتفعات علي الطاهر في جنوب لبنان، تستكمل قوات جيش الدفاع تدمير شبكة المسارات التحت الأرضية التي أقامها حزب الله في المنطقة على مدار سنوات.
— Lieutenant Colonel Ella Waweya | إيلا واوية (@CaptainElla1) September 10, 2026
Translated Text:
Statement by the spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces:
🔸After the Northern Regional Command forces and the 36th Division completed their operational control over the Ali al-Taher Heights in southern Lebanon, IDF forces are continuing to destroy the network of underground routes established by Hezbollah in the area over the years.
🔸This network was established over nearly two decades, with funding and direction from the Iranian terrorist regime, and was used as a main command headquarters and as the command headquarters for Hezbollah's "Badr" Unit in the area.
🔸The destruction of the infrastructure is considered an achievement of a complex ground maneuver that included deception and stratagem operations, during which the 36th Division forces took control of the Beaufort mountain range from an unexpected direction after crossing the Litani River, surprising the terrorist Hezbollah.
🔸All the saboteurs who were trapped inside the underground routes were eliminated, or they fled.
🔸Despite Hezbollah's statements emphasizing that it would defend this infrastructure at any cost, it failed to do so and even abandoned its operatives, leaving them to die inside it.
[Reuters] The Israeli military destroyed Hezbollah underground infrastructure at the Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday, adding that the operation completed the consolidation of a security zone in the area.
Israeli forces would remain in the area to prevent the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militant group from re-establishing its presence and rebuilding its capabilities, the two officials said in a joint statement.
The Ali al-Taher ridge, about 15 km (10 miles) from the Israeli border, has become one of the most contested areas of the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Hezbollah is believed to have built an underground command centre and weapons stores there, according to Lebanese security sources who spoke to Reuters in July.
Lebanon's state news agency NNA said the Israeli military carried out a powerful blast at the ridge, with tremors and the sound of the explosion felt across Nabatieh and surrounding areas.
The Israeli military said its forces had established "operational control" over the ridge, both above and below ground, before dismantling the infrastructure. The network extended for more than 2 km (1.24 miles) and contained dozens of rockets, missiles and drones, as well as anti-tank missiles, mines and explosive devices, it said.
The military said a central command complex belonging to Hezbollah's Badr unit was located within the underground infrastructure. The complex contained command centres, weapons storage rooms and living quarters that allowed fighters to remain underground for extended periods, it said.
Israel has pushed into southern Lebanon and seized several strategic positions since the conflict erupted on March 2.
The ridge has been one of Israel's main operational focuses and lies within an expanded, self-declared Israeli buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
A U.S.-brokered framework agreed after a June ceasefire called for Israeli forces to gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon while Lebanese troops disarm Hezbollah. The process has stalled, however, with Hezbollah refusing to give up its weapons and Israel saying it will not withdraw until the group disarms.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
