Monday, 7 February 2011
Super Bowl Ads
For some, the ads are more important than the game:
See: "Best Super Bowl Ads," and "Advertisers Raided the National Memory Banks on Super Bowl Sunday."
Egypt News....
Senior US Marine: Multiple Platoons Are Heading to Egypt
When asked for his analysis Stormbringer replied "They will be met on the beaches by US Army Special Forces teams from 1/10 in Stuttgart, who will sell them beer & war souvenirs."
Video: Fighter Jet Gets Too Close to a Bomber
This video first saw the light Thursday, February 3, 2011, discovered by Stephen Trimble at The Dew Line. The accident happened during Red Flag 2007 at Ellsworth AFB.
H/T Marc
10 Top Democrats Way Dumber Than Sarah Palin.....from Dan Friedman
There’s really a glut, but these were first 10 that came to mind:
1. Harry Reid
2. Barney Frank/Andrew Sullivan (tie)
3. Joe Biden
4. Al Franken
5. John Conyers
6. Nancy Pelosi
7. Sheriff Dupnik
8. Jimmy Carter
9. Patty Murray
10. Howard Dean
Winter in Missouri.........
It’s winter in Missouri
And the gentle breezes blow,
70 miles per hour at 52 below!
Oh, how I love Missouri
When the snow’s up to your butt;
You take a breath of winter air
And your nose is frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful,
You may think I’m a fool.
I could never leave Missouri ,
Cause I’m frozen to the stool.
H/T DML
Spc. Nicholas Francioso, armored crewman, assigned to 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company C., 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, kneels atop a cliff overlooking the Arghandab River Valley Jan. 31, to provide security for his squad as they climb up the cliff from the valley below. Francioso, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, was conducting a foot patrol with his squad to search orchards throughout the district and interact with the local population. During their foot patrols, 2nd squad must maneuver their way through the Arghandab‘s many obstacles, including: farmer-built mud walls, irrigation canals, densely populated orchards, foot-wide pathways through long stretches of boggy flats and even a 30-foot-tall wall they must climb during their patrol. Photo by Spc. Breanne Pye
H/T Marc
News............
The dessert of forbidden art ... a small museum in uzbekistan saves 20th century russian art ...
How to Understand Rush Limbaugh
de Havilland’s prototype Mosquito to be restored
Farmer livelihoods in danger due to weather
The Obama Administration and the Middle East: A Half-Time Assessment
Huge spike in illegal Indian traffic to US via Mexico
Bush fears arrest, scraps Swiss visit
Human brains shrinking in size, say scientists
Iran can’t ‘dictate what movies Canadians watch’: Minister
Proposed Canadian oilsands pipeline stirs U.S. debate
Opinion: The Genius of Ronald Reagan's Humor
Egypt uprising falters as negotiations with government begin
Dossier to show Labour 'complicit' in Lockerbie release
Iran bans foreign food from cookery channels
Iranian opposition recruits disgruntled Revolutionary Guard to cripple Ahmadinejad
Chechen rebel leader threatens more attacks on Russia
UN calls for restraint between Thailand and Cambodia
Bush fires destroy dozens of homes in Western Australia
and finally.........
Corrigan Brothers –Shay Healy and Peter Creighton are releasing Country Music as the band Nashville Skyline
Football (and War) is about Winning
The film, “Patton”, opens with George C. Scott giving an abbreviated version of General George Patton’s actual speech to the men of the Third Army on the eve of D-Day.
Today’s wars apparently require a different kind of general; one who gets combat ribbons for testifying before Congress and giving press conferences. They could win wars if the pukes in Washington would let them annihilate the enemy.
Patton’s actual speech was laced with profanity of the kind any man who has spent time in the Army or other branches of the service understood. Patton began by saying “Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle.”
“When you, here, every one of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards.”
The late comedian George Carlin had a routine in which he compared baseball to football. In baseball, he said, you play “in a park.” In football, you play in a stadium “on a grid.” Carlin knew that football is as much about war as it is about winning. The very image of a football player is a large, intimidating man clad in body armor.
The Superbowl is a clash of titans, men who have fought for every inch and every point until the whistle blows and the game is ended. We don’t go to the games or tune in on television to watch women play football.
We don’t want women analyzing the game afterward. We don’t even like seeing them interview the players on the sidelines. We do like the cheerleaders in their skimpy outfits. That’s the only place for a woman anywhere near the field.
Vietnam War veterans will tell you they were winning in the field and they were. The problem was that we had been in Vietnam for seven years by the time the politicians, yielding to a weary public, pulled the plug.
Fifty thousand-plus lives were lost, mostly due to a lack of resolve. Out of Vietnam came the doctrine enunciated by Colin Powell who had fought there and rose to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He said America must only go to war with overwhelming numbers and force.
That was applied in the first Iraqi war (1990-91) called Desert Storm and it worked. George H.W. Bush, probably because of pressure from Middle Eastern allies, stopped well short of going into Baghdad. It was left to George W. Bush to do. Both were aided by our British and Canadian allies.
On March 20, 2003, Operation Iraqi Freedom commenced. U.S. forces arrived in Baghdad with too few troops to control the crowds and with no plan beyond finding Saddam Hussein. What followed was yet another long, meandering war without an end date though combat has ended.
This has been repeated in Afghanistan. How long have we been there? Can anyone remember? Have we “won”? Is it, by any definition winnable? It is technically a NATO operation.
Throughout the 2008 campaign, Obama, carped about Iraq and called Afghanistan the real war. As president he increased the number of troops in Afghanistan and it is still a stalemate.
We have troops in Korea, in Japan, in Germany. Even when we “win” we never leave. When not killing the enemy, we build schools and clinics. For this we get little thanks and no respect.
“Americans play to win all of the time,” said Patton. Well, we used to. Our victories since the end of World War Two have ended in stalemates. It’s not that we lack the capacity to win decisively and impose our will on our enemies; it’s that we lack the will to do so.
Unlike the Superbowl where millions tuned in to watch, I doubt you have seen any coverage of the war in Afghanistan in a long time. After a year, the Iraqis have managed to cobble together something they call a government.
We have two carrier groups parked off the coast of Iran and the Iranians have recently announced they are going to put some warships through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean off the coast of Israel.
“Sure we want to go home,” Patton told his men. “We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards that started it.”
Good advice then. Good advice now.
© Alan Caruba, 2011
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Egypt Siani gas pipeline blown up by terrorists
The pipeline supplying Egyptian gas to Israel and Jordan was blown up near the North Sinai town of El Arish early Saturday Feb. 5. Egyptian TV reports "terrorists" carried out the attack which caused a huge explosion and fire.
Jordan will suffer from this loss of Egyptian gas which covers 80 percent of its energy consumption and will have to use far more expensive oil and diesel to keep its power supply running. This will cause a raise in fuel prices, already a point of contention in the unstable Jordanian Monarchy.
Obama is Opening Pandora's Box............by Dan Friedman
The Muslim Brotherhood is slipstreaming behind Egypt’s rush to Obaman “democracy” and singing its praises in order to secure themselves a seat near the head of table when the new government is formed. Better to eat you with, my dear. We will soon discover why Mubarak had them outlawed, and why it wasn’t such a bad idea.
Brotherhood Presses Demands in Egypt Talks
Video: Iranium 90 Second Trailer
The film the iranian leaders don't want us to watch. This film will be presented on 8 February at the Heritage Foundation, Washinghton, DC.
Must watch!
H/T Filippo
MORE HERE
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Dear Egyptian demonstrators, Please do not damage the pyramids. We will not rebuild them. Sincerely yours, The Jews by @CoffeeonSwing
The Sunday Best...........
Reagan said "Nyet!"
Quartet urges Israel, Arabs to heed Egypt risk
Michelle Obama Shows Ravages of First Lady Role
Britney: Still Hot? Or Not?
Rule 5 Saturday Night: Lt. Col. “Mac” McKenzie
For Veteran's Day: A vet who understands the enemy we face
"The Fish Filet™ Commercial KFC Doesn’t Want You To See (Anymore).
Texas Woman, 76, Fights Off Cairo Crowd With Knife, Tea Kettle
State multiculturalism has failed, says David Cameron
Arab uprisings: why no one saw them coming
Dangerously underestimating the Muslim Brotherhood
Israel can meet electricity needs without Egypt gas, ministers say
Can complexity theory explain Egypt's crisis?
The country whose economy is coming in from the cold
Bikies trafficking in data secrecy using Mexican BlackBerrys
Egypt unrest: US disowns envoy comment on Hosni Mubarak
Police have 238 crashes in 18 months - without even leaving the station car park
Royal bodyguards to be issued with stun guns
Ronald Reagan statue to be unveiled in Grosvenor Square
The Middle East needs more than elections
Super Bowl viewers prefer chimpanzees to celebrities
Iran opens trial of 3 Americans on spy charges
Yes, we have no.............from Rico
While Benny sings "yes, we have no inflation" to us in the financial media, just take a look at the one year relative performance of commodities futures as of today.
Think of this when you are paying your ever-increasing grocery bills.
Yes, NO inflation here.....
Islam And World War III
By Alan Caruba
“I against my brother, I and my brother against our cousin. I, my brother and our cousin against the neighbors. All of us against the foreigner.”
– Bedouin proverb
Almost from its beginning, Islam has been a religion divided by warring camps. The tragedy of Islam is that Muslims are far more likely to die at the hands of their co-religionists than by those outside their faith. All religions have their sects and divisions, but Islam’s history is particularly defined by the violence that began shortly after the death of its founder, Mohammed.
If the turmoil in Egypt is about freedom than recent history gives little evidence that Arabs have any talent for it. Iran is a prison-nation. Syria is ruled by the son of its former dictator. Hamas rules Gaza. Monarchies. Et cetera.
I am beginning to think that the world is actually witnessing a repeat of the dispute between the two main branches of Islam, the Shias (also called Shiites) and the majority Sunnis. Meanwhile, in Egypt the killing of Christian Copts continues unabated while Iraqi Christians are being driven from that nation.
When the prophet Mohammed died in 632 AD, what followed was a struggle for control of Islam. Sunni Muslims, the largest of the two branches, believe that Ali, a cousin of Mohammed, was the fourth and last of the “rightly guided caliphs”, successors to Mohammed. Shias believe that Ali should have been the first caliph.
Preceding Ali were Abu Kakr (632-634), Umar (634-644), and Uthman (644-656). Uthman was murdered while at prayer and Ali then became the caliph. He was, however, opposed by Aisha, Mohammed’s widow and the daughter of Abu Bakr. A number of battles ensued. Ultimately, Mu’awiya declared himself caliph.
Here’s where it gets very odd. The line of Mohammed’s direct decedents through Ali ended in 873 CE when the last Shia Imam, Muhammed al-Mahdi disappeared within days of inheriting the title of caliph. He was four years old at the time!
Shias refused to believe he had died, concocting a story that he was merely “hidden” and would return.
This latter version of Shia is the heart of Iranian Islamic theology which includes the belief that, in order to facilitate his return, the world must first sink into complete chaos with massive loss of life, a kind of Islamic Armageddon.
Thus, the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran is looked upon by Sunnis and everyone else as truly a matter of life or death on a global scale. It would be the prelude to World War Three.
Sunnis take their lead from Saudi Arabia where the royal family is seen as the protectors of the faith and the two most holy sites of Islam, Mecca and Medina.
Muslims can be found in more than 200 nations these days and represent 23% of the world’s population. One out of every four people on planet Earth is a Muslim. Only 20% live in the Middle East and North Africa, the site of present conflicts.
It has been the fate of Middle Eastern and other Muslims to live with a conflict that began in the seventh century. Islam’s Sharia laws reflect seventh century values. They are at odds with hard won modern values of civilization.
The culture of the Middle East and northern Africa, dominated by Islam, has kept the people of that region in poverty and under the fist of oppression for the last 1,400 years. Mideast Muslims in the modern era have been striking out at the world blaming it, not Islam, for their problems. Al Qaeda is an example of this, along with the Taliban, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The reappearance of a modern state of Israel in 1948 brought everything to a boil. If Islam is the one true faith, the presence in its midst of a Western, democratic, militarily powerful and economically successful Israel severely challenges that belief.
After successive wars on Israel, Arab nations were repeatedly defeated. Further aggravating Muslims is that Israel is holy to both Judaism and Christianity. Jerusalem is not even mentioned by name in the Qur'an.
Sunni-Shia battles commemorate its schism and include Suffin, Karbala, and Zab, the last having been fought in Egypt.
In the last century the Middle East has been treated as the West’s fiefdom, divided among colonial powers, manipulated for control of its oil.
In recent times Middle Eastern nations were invaded, first by the former Soviet Union invading Afghanistan and, after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and 9/11, the U.S. invaded Iraq twice. From 1980 to 1988, Iraq waged a long war against Iran that ended in a stalemate. Syria occupied Lebanon for decades. There have been clashes as well between Muslim Pakistan and largely Hindu India.
President Obama’s insistence that the Muslim Brotherhood play a role in any future government of Egypt ignores the fact that it is sworn to kill Christians and Jews or make them dhimmi, subject to taxes and humiliation.
In its own words the Brotherhood’s guiding principles are, “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. Qur'an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope."
The Mubarak regime ruthlessly suppressed the Brotherhood that, among other deeds, assassinated his predecessor, former prime minister, Anwar al-Sadat and just tried to assassinate his vice president, Omar Suleiman. Not exactly democracy in action.
Those who rule Egypt are sorting out their difficulties and will resume power, but while all eyes are on the land of the pharaohs, it is Iran that threatens World War III.
© Alan Caruba, 2011
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Touring Long Beach Production Facility, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, February 4, 2011
Click on the image and enlarge for the full effect:
Quite an experience. Check the additional pictures here: "Long Beach Boeing C-17 Tour."
And previously: "The End is Near for Southern California's Conventional Aircraft Manufacturing."
Plus, at the Boeing homepage:
C-17 Globemaster III -- The C-17 is the world's premier heavy-airlift aircraft and has proven itself as a versatile strategic and theater airlifter in every recent worldwide operation, from Operation Iraqi Freedom to humanitarian relief missions. Worldwide, there are currently a total of 209 C-17s in service. Boeing is under contract with the U.S. Air Force to design, build and deliver 213 C-17s through July 2011. Boeing has delivered 202 aircraft to the Air Force as of September 2010.
Also, look for breaking updates on the Egypt crisis throughout the day.
WoW Weekend!
Honorable Mentions
- Liberty’s Spirit-Cultural Relativism, Political Correctness, Elitist Racism and the Death of Freedom in the Arab Middle East
- The Grouch-Beware of that Deadly Hickey!
- Thinking Strategically-Shi-lang!
- The Political Commentator – Rutgers University: Publicly funded institution or restricted country club?
Council Winners
- Joshuapundit--Lipstick On A Pig – Whitewashing The Muslim Brotherhood
- Second place with 2 votes – The Razor-Accepting the Change In Egypt
- Third place with 1 2/3 votes – Bookworm Room – The Egypt crisis; or, the Community Activist and foreign policy
- Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Future Pyramidland
- Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Right Truth – You have options if government shuts down Internet
- Fourth place *t* with 1 vote -Colossus of Rhodey- A “shut up and write” protest doesn’t quite work, but …
- Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Noisy Room – Of Philanthropists and Monsters – Rockin’ the Casbah
- Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – Law Prof Gets It Wrong On Right To Revolt
- Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Egypt revolution: so this is what it’s all about…
- Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – VA Right – Obama Observes 30 Days of Silence on Egypt
Non-Council Winners
- TPM- Pakistan and the Mumbai Attacks: The Untold Story submitted by Joshuapundit
- Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion – Big Law Firm Takes Down Big Conservative Blogger submitted by Rhymes With Right
- Second Place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –Energy Tribune – Is It Really The Warmest Ever? submitted by Bookworm Room
- Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –Iowahawk – B.Y.O.B. submitted by The Watcher
- Third place with 1 vote –Doug Ross – Constitutional Crisis Brewing: Administration Refuses To Submit to Subpoena Requests submitted by The Watcher
- Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Center For Security Policy -The Muslim Brotherhood: the enemy in its own words submitted by The Noisy Room
- Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -American Thinker-The Story Of The Egyptian Revolution submitted by The Watcher
- Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Passing Parade-State Of The Union submitted by Simply Jews
- Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Cato @Liberty-Judge Vinson’s Greatest Hits submitted by VA Right
- Fifth place with 1/3 vote -The Pagan Temple – Sarah Palin Responds To Obama’s State Of The Union submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
- See ya'll next week! from the WoW grrls at GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD
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