BREAKING: Senior Iranian Military Commanders Among 37 Killed in Suicide Bombing.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 37 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency.

The attack — which also left dozens wounded — was the most high-profile strike against security forces in an outlaw region of armed tribal groups, drug smugglers and Sunni rebels known as Jundallah, or Soldiers of God.

That really would be too bad about any civilians killed in the attack. Of course there's not telling how many jailed, dead and 'disappeared' Iranian citizens there are from this springs post-election protests in Iran at the hands of the Revolutionary Guard and Basij.

As for the Revolutionary Guard commanders- what can I say? Not so fun being on the receiving end of those, is it Mahmoud?

Today's Train of Thought: Life in a Northern Town- Oct 17, 2009

Today's Train of thought come to us from railpictures.net contributor Craig Williams as he documents a Minnesota Southern local through dowtown Adrian, MN. Here, Minnestoa Southern #1379 is seen passing through what could be a Garrison Keilor monolgue after it's just picked up 8 cars from the Union Pacific interchange a few miles away in Worthington.

Miss World Singapore STRIPPED.....

Of her crown....jeez....calm down people! It's not like that was a misleading headline or anything.

19 year old Ris Low was found guilty by a Subordinate Court in May this year of mutliple counts of identity theft, misappropriation and using illegaly-obtained credit cards, apparently using credit cards lost or forgotten by clients of the medical clinic she worked at. Court documents show that Ms Low purchased gold jewely, a cell phone, lingerie and food and drinks at upscale resautrants. The court sentenced her to 24 months of supervised probation.

Islamic Militia Whip Women Wearing "Deceptive" Bras.

What is it about the failed state in the Horn of Africa that seem to produce bizarre news stories seemingly lifted straight from The Onion?

The latest madness from Mogadishu is the banning of movies, playing or watching soccer, musical ring tones, dancing at weddings and...oh yes, bras by the Islamist al Shabaab militia.

Residents said gunmen had been rounding up any woman seen with a firm bust and then had them publicly whipped by masked men. The women were then told to remove their bras and shake their breasts.

“Al shabaab forced us to wear their type of veil and now they order us to shake our breasts,” a resident, Halima, told Reuters, adding that her daughters had been whipped Thursday.

Let's see....misogynist Kalashnikov wielding thugs forcing women to remove their brassieres and shake their breasts at gunpoint after whipping them? What could possibly go wrong?

For a group that's supposedly so concerned about Islamic purity, they seem disporportionately interested in whipping and publicly humiliating Somalia's Muslim women.

Today's Train of Thought

Today's train of thought is a study in ominous cloud cover at twilight courtesey of railpcitures.net contributor James Belmont.

Here, Savage Rail Service's freshly-painted Savage, Bingham & Garfield GP38-2 #8620 along with another GP38-2 and a General Electric B36-7 prepare to depart the Midvale, UT yard for an industrial park in West Jordan, Utah with a train of concrete ties and metal poles to be used in the UTA Tranist Authority's light rail project in December 2008.

Sports Chowdah Recap for Oct 16: Dodgers Walk Away; Angels Out In The Cold, Friday Knight Lights; Thomas Outduels Turco in Big D

(AP)
The last time Pedro Martinez started a postseason game? October 26th, 2004. Look- it's not as though there's any Red Sox games coming up this weekend....humor me.

While 99% of Americans were watching Kanye West being his usual douchebag self or Jay Cutler make his inauspicious regular-season debut for the Bears, I was watching Pedro throw eight innings and 130 pitches worth of shutout baseball on Sunday Night Baseball against the Mets. I was thinking what a bargain he turned out to be for the Phillies and wondering how he'd look in the postseason. This afternoon, I got my answer- just about flawless. It also bordered on the surreal to see Manny Ramierez batting against Pedro (let alone in Dodger Stadium with Pedro in a Phillies uniform and Manny in Dodger blue). Pedro went seven innings and threw 87 pitches before manager Charlie Manuel pulled him. However, Juan Pierre would score the tying run in the bottom of the 8th, heading home on a fielder's choice and throwing error by Chase utley off a Russel Martin ground ball. Andre Ethier had the go-ahead RBI after he drew a bases-loaded 2-out walk in the 8th and Jonathan Broxton would close out the top of the 9th for the Dodgers.

The NLCS heads back to Philly tied 1-1.

(Al Bello/Getty Images)

The Yankees took a 1-0 series lead on the Angels in a game where the temperature was a brisk 45 degrees and 17 MPH wind gusts made it feel even cooler. The go-ahead run came in the top of the 1st inning when Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar- each assuming the other was going to play it- allowed a Hideki Matsui popup to land on the outfield grass with two outs and Johnny Damon running in from second. Yankees starter CC Sabathia went eight innings allowing four hits and one run and Mariano Rivera closed out the game.

Meanwhile, across the Hudson River the Scarlet Nights of Rutgers hosted the Pittsburgh Panthers. The Panthers were winless against the Scarlett Knights since 2004, but that changed Friday thanks in part to freshman running back Dion Lewis running for 180 yeards and two TDs against Rutgers with Pitt winning it by a final of 24-17, bringing their overall record to 6-1.

(AP)

Marc Savard scored twice and Michael Ryder notched his second goal of the season as the Boston Bruins topped the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas by a final score of 3-0. Tim Thomas stopped 27 shots on goal for his first shutout of the year. I caught the game towards the end of the second period- I really dug how they kept the pressure on Stars goalie Marty Turco and were keeping the puck in the Stars' end, even though Dallas was on the power play.

This brings the Bruins overall record to 3-3-0. They face the financially beleaguered (but currently a respectable 4-2-0) Phoenix Coyotes tomorrow night at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ.

Pakistan: In Position to be The World's First Failed Nuclear State?

(AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

The Taliban and their cohorts have been busy this week:

A suspected suicide car bomb ripped through a police building in an army garrison of Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar on Friday, killing up to 11 people, police said.

This would be the third or fourth brazen, high profile attack on a Pakistani police or military installation in 24 hours. But there's more:

• Oct. 15, 2009: Teams of gunmen attack three security facilities in the eastern city of Lahore, leaving at 27 people dead including several militants, while a suicide car bombing at a police station kills 11 people in northwestern Kohat district and another bomb kills a 6-year-old boy in Peshawar in the northwest.

• Oct. 12, 2009: A suicide car bomb explodes near an army vehicle in a market in the northwestern Shangla district, killing 41, including six security officers.

• Oct. 10, 2009: A 22-hour long raid and standoff at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi leaves nine militants and 14 others dead.

• Oct. 9, 2009: A suicide car bomb in the northwestern city of Peshawar kills 53 people.

• Oct. 5, 2009: A bomber dressed as a security official kills five staffers at the U.N. food agency's headquarters in the capital, Islamabad.

Granted it's a little early to panic, but one has to wonder exactly how secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is in the midst of all this chaos.

Keep in mind this is idle early-morning speculation on my part, but I also have to wonder what role Pakistan's Intersrvices Intelligence Directorate (ISI) plays in all of this [also keep in mind I'm relatively unfamiliar with the military and intelligence hierarchy in Pakistan]. However, it's an undisputed fact that the ISI was a very early benefactor of the Taliban, and it's likely they still have the means to ship heroin out of Afghanistan and Pakistan and weapons and fighters into the region....perhaps using the Taliban as a proxy against their own government if they feel this pipeline of drugs, money and fighters is endangered? Although the Pakistani government distanced themselves from the Taliban in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, it's doubtful the ISI ever bothered severing ties.

Today's Train of Thought

Today's Train of thought was partially inspired by the earlier Iron Horse Roundup. Hurricanes, alligators, swarming mosquitoes, high humidity or invasive species of pythons notwithstanding, Florida remains a popular destination. The Florida East Coast railway operates entirely within the Sunshine State, from Jacksonville to North Miami [along the east coast, appropriately enough!]. In fact, the railway used to extend all the way to Key West but the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and the advent of US Route 1 was the end of the presence of any railroad on the Florida Keys.

But even without the line to Key West, there's still plenty of bridges and trestles on the present-day FEC. Sticking to the mainland, railpictures.net contributor Bob Pickering caught FEC SD70M-2 #101 and a trailing former Union Pacific SD40-2 crossing the Cane Creek Trestle in Melbourne, FL on Tax Day 2008 with a trademark palm tree prominently in the foreground and some intermodal freight in tow.

Sports Chowdah Recap for Oct 14-15: Dodgers Need To Be Talked Down Off of a Lidge; Big East Bonanza; Erin Andrews Stalkerazzi to Face Feds

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The Philidaelphia Phillies outlasted the LA Dodgers in a pitchers duel; 8-6. Outfielder Raul Ibanez hit a 3-run homer for the Phils in the eighth inning off of reliever George Sherrill to put them up 8-4. Ryan Madson gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Brad Lidge would get the save in the bottom of the ninth.

Yes- Brad Lidge, who's career was declared all but over earlier this year, is now 3-0 in save situations. That's better than Jonathan Papelbon or Joe Nathan. ouch. The Phillies lead the NLCS 1-0.

Elsewhere, a night after #5 Boise State survived a late drive from the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes, #8 Cincinnati and #21 South Florida went head-to-head in Tampa. The Bearcats won 34-17, but lost starting quarterback Tony Pike in the 3rd quarter to a sprained wrist. Cincinnati remains undefeated and takes on Louisville Cardinals next week while the 5-1 Bulls will take on the 5-1 Pittsburgh Panthers.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Police Blotter: A Chicago man accused of surreptitously videotaping ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews in the nude at a hotel appeared in Federal court earlier this month. Micheal David Barrett, 48, faces charges of interstate stalking for the taking of videos. Apparently Barrett was able to get a room next to Andrew's just by asking for one at the front desk.

Well, among other things I'm sure this will give ESPN reason to reconsider who provides their accomodations.

And for those of you who thought the fierceness of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry was exaggerated, guess again. A Nashua, NH woman faces charges of second degree murder after plowing her car into a crowd of Red Sox fans during a verbal altercation last year. Lawyers for 44 year old Ivonne Hernandez are trying to get her admission to a Nashua detective thrown out, saying that the detective lied about the victim's condition to her.

OK....So These Pirates Decide To Try and Board a French Navy Ship....

No- really. This is not an ethnic joke.

The crew of La Somme, a 160-metre (525-foot) command vessel and fuel tanker, easily saw off the brazen night-time assault by lightly armed fighters on two lightweight skiffs and captured five pirates, a spokesman said.
"The pirates, who because of the darkness took the French ship for a commercial vessel, were on board two vessels and opened fire with Kalashnikovs," Admiral Christophe Prazuck said in Paris.
La Somme is the French command vessel in the Indian Ocean, overseeing French air, sea and land forces fighting Somali pirates and hunting terrorists under the banner of the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom.

Surrender jokes notwithstanding, the French have a pretty significant military presence in the Horn of Africa, with a few military bases in their former colony of Djibouti.

In any case, epic pirate fail.