Thursday, 24 June 2010
News.........
And Obama's choice to replace General Stanley McChrystal is...
Chinese Navy Steaming for Oakland!
Judge Robert Bork Blasts Elena Kagan
Pensions shake-up could see most people working into their seventies
General David Petraeus is the only man who can save the surge strategy in Afghanistan
There is plenty of oil and gas in the world
Iraq power failures trigger fatal riots
European anger as Russia-Belarus 'gas war' hits supplies
Chavez pushes Venezuela into food war
and finally......
Australians shoot each other in backside 'to see if it would hurt'
Real Chance For Afghanistan?
Murders (per capita) (most recent) by country
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Information about Gonorrhea Lectim
The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease. The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim. It's pronounced "Gonna re-elect 'em," and it is a terrible obamanation.
The disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum. Many victims contracted it in 2008...but now most people, after having been infected for the past 1-2 years, are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is.
It's sad because Gonorrhea Lectim is easily cured with a new drug just coming on the market called Votemout. You take the first dose in 2010 and the second dose in 2012 and simply don't engage in such behavior again; otherwise, it could become permanent and eventually wipe out all life as we know it.
Several states are already on top of this, like Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts , with many more seeing the writing on the wall.
H/T Paul B
What's it gonna be?........from Rico
I think it will be a combination of things, not just one thing. A "mix" of things lies ahead.
- Default on promises to pay back debt, to pay social entitlements. We cannot pay for everything we have 'promised' to pay for, and will default on some of them.
- Raise taxes. Even if we taxed everyone and everything at 100% it would not be enough to cover the bill that's coming due. Be assured of one thing, however. Your taxes are gonna go up, and keep going up.
- Sell-off assets. Remember the failed Dubai Port deal? Selling land, ports, resources, toll roads, etc to foreign entities and corporations will have to happen to raise cash.
- Inflate away the debt. Yeah, we'll keep the nominal Dollar, but devalue it to fractions in order to pay back all of our debt with Monopoly money.
- Innovation. Whatever it is, nanotechnology, whatever, we are a very creative and inventive species. We will innovate, which is good news. It will NOT be enough to pull our chestnuts out of this debt fire, which is the bad news.
Americans Sour on Obama, Incumbents, Poll Finds
At WSJ:
Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the country and less confident in President Barack Obama's leadership than at any point since Mr. Obama entered the White House, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.RTWT.
The survey also shows grave and growing concerns about the Gulf oil spill, with overwhelming majorities of adults favoring stronger regulation of the oil industry and believing that the spill will affect the nation's economy and environment.
Sixty-two percent of adults in the survey feel the country is on the wrong track, the highest level since before the 2008 election. Just one-third think the economy will get better over the next year, a 7-point drop from a month ago and the low point of Mr. Obama's tenure.
Amid anxiety over the nation's course, support for Mr. Obama and other incumbents is eroding. For the first time, more people disapprove of Mr. Obama's job performance than approve. And 57% of voters would prefer to elect a new person to Congress than re-elect their local representatives, the highest share in 18 years.
The results show "a really ugly mood and an unhappy electorate," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducts the Journal/NBC poll with GOP pollster Bill McInturff. "The voters, I think, are just looking for change, and that means bad news for incumbents and in particular for the Democrats."
Cross-posted from American Power.
Discrimination Based on Social Condition?
That title? Yeah, it's kinda off, I know.
But consider the source: Libby Davies, Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party. Davies was caught in a recent controversy in which she denied Israel's right to exist. At the American Spectator, Aaron Goldstein calls her "Canada's Helen Thomas." Prime Minister Stephen Harper "demanded that her boss, NDP Leader Jack Layton, fire Ms. Davies."
All of this is pretty emblematic of today's radical left, and what actually got me interested in Ms. Davies is Blazing Cat Fur's post, "Libby Davies ...even more stupid than first thought possible!"
It turns out that Ms. Davies has "introduced two bills in the House of Commons to change the Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to prohibit discrimination against a person based on their social condition."
This bill would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of social condition. In doing so it would protect from discrimination people who are experiencing social or economic disadvantage, such as adequate housing, homelessness, source of income, occupation, level of education, poverty, or any similar circumstance. As the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation and many other organizations have pointed out, a person's standing in society is often determined by his or her occupation, income, education level or family background.Pretty unreal, eh?
Check this comment at Roy Eappen's:
Legislation such as this is a grave danger to a free society, grave danger to morals, ethics and commonsense ... they want to eradicate personal reponsibility and place the burden on the fabric of society.All in a day's blogging, I guess.
RELATED: From Darleen Click, "'It is a terrible price society will pay for all the entitlement we have given over to people'":
Cross-posted from American Power.
Obama Fires McChrystal
At NYT, "Obama Relieves McChrystal of Command":
President Obama removed Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal as commander of American forces in Afghanistan on Wednesday, and tapped as his replacement the general’s boss, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the architect of the 2007 surge in Iraq.More at Memeorandum and USA Today. Related updates at The Other McCain.
Mr. Obama, standing with General Petraeus and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the White House Rose Garden to underline the continuity and solidity of his Afghan policy, said that he had regretfully accepted General McChrystal’s resignation.
He said he had done so not out of personal insult, but because a magazine article featuring contemptuous quotes from the general and his staff about senior administration officials had not met standards of behavior for a commanding general, and threatened to undermine civilian control of the military.
“War is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or president,” Mr. Obama said. “As difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe it is the right decision for national security.”
RELATED: "McChrystal Apologizes for Rolling Stone Interview."
Cross-posted from American Power.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
SUPPORT ISRAEL!
London, England
Article in The Times 17 June 2010 by José María Aznar
Support Israel: if it goes down, we all go down
Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the Wests best
ally in a turbulent region
For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel.
In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in
the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion.
In an ideal world, the assault by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara
would not have ended up with nine dead and a score wounded. In an ideal
world, the soldiers would have been peacefully welcomed on to the ship. In an
ideal world, no state, let alone a recent ally of Israel such as Turkey, would
have sponsored and organised a flotilla whose sole purpose was to create an
impossible situation for Israel: making it choose between giving up its security
policy and the naval blockade, or risking the wrath of the world.
In our dealings with Israel, we must blow away the red mists of anger that too
often cloud our judgment. A reasonable and balanced approach should
encapsulate the following realities: first, the state of Israel was created by a
decision of the UN. Its legitimacy, therefore, should not be in question. Israel is
a nation with deeply rooted democratic institutions. It is a dynamic and open
society that has repeatedly excelled in culture, science and technology.
Second, owing to its roots, history, and values, Israel is a fully fledged Western
nation. Indeed, it is a normal Western nation, but one confronted by abnormal
circumstances.
Uniquely in the West, it is the only democracy whose very existence has been
questioned since its inception. In the first instance, it was attacked by its
neighbours using the conventional weapons of war. Then it faced terrorism
culminating in wave after wave of suicide attacks. Now, at the behest of radical
Islamists and their sympathisers, it faces a campaign of delegitimisation
through international law and diplomacy.
Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival.
Punished with missiles raining from north and south, threatened with
destruction by an Iran aiming to acquire nuclear weapons and pressed upon by
friend and foe, Israel, it seems, is never to have a moments peace.
For years, the focus of Western attention has understandably been on the
peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. But if Israel is in danger today
and the whole region is slipping towards a worryingly problematic future, it is
not due to the lack of understanding between the parties on how to solve this
conflict. The parameters of any prospective peace agreement are clear,
however difficult it may seem for the two sides to make the final push for a
settlement.
The real threats to regional stability, however, are to be found in the rise of a
radical Islamism which sees Israels destruction as the fulfilment of its religious
destiny and, simultaneously in the case of Iran, as an expression of its
ambitions for regional hegemony. Both phenomena are threats that affect not
only Israel, but also the wider West and the world at large.
The core of the problem lies in the ambiguous and often erroneous manner in
which too many Western countries are now reacting to this situation. It is easy
to blame Israel for all the evils in the Middle East. Some even act and talk as if
a new understanding with the Muslim world could be achieved if only we were
prepared to sacrifice the Jewish state on the altar. This would be folly.
Israel is our first line of defence in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk
of descending into chaos; a region vital to our energy security owing to our
overdependence on Middle Eastern oil; a region that forms the front line in the
fight against extremism. If Israel goes down, we all go down
To defend Israels right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a
degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared
in Europe. The United States shows worrying signs of heading in the same
direction.
The West is going through a period of confusion over the shape of the worlds
future. To a great extent, this confusion is caused by a kind of masochistic selfdoubt
over our own identity; by the rule of political correctness; by a
multiculturalism that forces us to our knees before others; and by a secularism
which, irony of ironies, blinds us even when we are confronted by jihadis
promoting the most fanatical incarnation of their faith. To abandon Israel to its
fate, at this moment of all moments, would merely serve to illustrate how far
we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears.
This cannot be allowed to happen. Motivated by the need to rebuild our own
Western values, expressing deep concern about the wave of aggression against
Israel, and mindful that Israels strength is our strength and Israels weakness is
our weakness, I have decided to promote a new Friends of Israel initiative with
the help of some prominent people, including David Trimble, Andrew Roberts,
John Bolton, Alejandro Toledo (the former President of Peru), Marcello Pera
(philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate), Fiamma Nirenstein
(the Italian author and politician), the financier Robert Agostinelli and the
Catholic intellectual George Weigel.
It is not our intention to defend any specific policy or any particular Israeli
government. The sponsors of this initiative are certain to disagree at times
with decisions taken by Jerusalem. We are democrats, and we believe in
diversity.
What binds us, however, is our unyielding support for Israels right to exist and
to defend itself. For Western countries to side with those who question Israels
legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israels vital
security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather
than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral
mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.
Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its
Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and
Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is
inextricably intertwined.
José María Aznar was Prime Minister of Spain, 1996-2004
Video: DEEP & STEEP POWDER RUNS BLACKCOMB OPENING DAY 2009 WHISTLER, BC, CANADA
I really miss skiing.......
Am I the only person to still have a couple of pairs of Hexcels?
Video: Football is For Girls
I hope someone puts together a collection of the best dives of the World Cup.
H/T Filippo
VBS TV: TOXIC: Gulf 1 of 3
As someone’s hopefully told you, for the last month and a half a 2-foot-wide pipe in the Gulf of Mexico has been ejaculating oil to the tune of half a million gallons a day. They went down to Louisiana over Memorial Day to see some of the damage for themselves.
Who needs a Zamboni............
...the Montreal Canadiens didn't have them when I was living there, I suppose I should become a Blackhawks fan instaed.
H/T Pete H
Puns for those with a high IQ..............
A man's home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
Dijon vu - the same mustard as before.
Practice safe eating - always use condiments.
Shotgun wedding - A case of wife or death.
A man needs a mistress just to break the monogamy.
A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
Dancing cheek-to-cheek is really a form of floor play.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
Condoms should be used on every conceivable occasion.
Reading while sunbathing makes you well red.
When two egotists meet, it's an I for an I.
A bicycle can't stand un its own because it is two tired.
What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead give away.)
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
In democracy your vote counts. In feudalism your count votes.
She was engaged to a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist, you get repossessed
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia - the LAN down under.
Every calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted - Taint yours and taint mine.
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
A midget fortune-teller who escapes from prison is a small medium at large.
Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
Acupuncture is a jab well done.
H/T RIS
Video: Adrenaline Rush.......
HD version here A must see (May need DivX player to watch) H/T Old Dude
News..........
Ted Kennedy's KGB Correspondence
You think the military doesn't despise the white house? ... oh, they do, and it is official ...
Barack Obama's Square Box
Dutch police to use 'decoy Jews' as concerns grow about mounting hate crime in cities
VAT rise: What supermarket food is exempt?
Judge halts Obama's oil-drilling ban
Obama's real McChrystal problem: Afghanistan plan in trouble
Amid crises, Obama declares war -- on Arizona
Mexican Gangs Maintain Permanent Lookout Bases in Hills of Arizona
MOD aircraft 'in 832 near misses'
General Stanley McChrystal has been stitched up by Rolling Stone
Times Square bomb plot: Faisal Shahzad warns of further attacks
Rahm Emanuel 'traded political favours with Rod Blagojevich'
Russia pushing for control of fuel supplies to crucial US airbase
Peru overtakes Colombia as world's leading producer of coca leaf
and finally.......
This town ain't big enough for a naked cowboy and a naked cowgirl
Doug Hagin Radio Show If You are Left You Just ain’t Right #3
Drug Cartels Death Threats Against US Law Inforcement In Arizona
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The Aden sisters............from Rico
I have long been a 'fan' of Jim Rogers and Marc Faber. Yankee Jim forecasts the markets from Singapore, and Swissie Marc from Hong Kong.
They have some competition for my attention however, the Aden sisters who prognosticate from Costa Rica. Like both the above gents, they are right more often than not, and ALL of them are right almost all the time compared to the mentally challenged deep-thinkers in Foggy Bottom [our politico's in DC].
Mary Ann and Pamela Aden write "The Aden Report" from San Jose. From 'afar' I think (1) they see the forest more clearly, and (2) they may very well be on-target with their bullish call on gold [see attached chart]. Are the Aden sisters right?
It is certainly NOT a good time to be long on any sort of Gooberment Bond right now (promises to maybe pay you back), and despite short-term Dollar strength (driven by the flight from the Euro) I am even more pessimistic on the future of the greenback. The Dow at 50,000 wouldn't mean very much if the US Dollar was devalued like the Zimbabwe Dollar has been...and any serious student of economic history knows that the German stock market went parabolic during the Weimar German Mark collapse and hyperinflation. Imaginary paper profits being REALLY taxed by the bloodsuckers in the IRS doesn't much appeal to me either.
So, what DOES appeal to me? Having some of my retirement money in gold bullion outside the US does for one thing, and I always DID like Costa Rica.....
Will Obama Fire McChrystal?
A really good video clip:
And the source of all of this, Rolling Stone's interview, "The Runaway General."
RELATED: James Fallows, "Obama Has to Fire McChrystal." (Via Memeorandum.)
Cross-posted from American Power.
McChrystal and Civil-Military Relations
Eliot Cohen, who is not kind to Obama (and his strategic blunders in Afghanistan), puts the burden on McChrystal's breach of civilian control, "Why McChrystal Has to Go":
It is intolerable for officers to publicly criticize or mock senior political figures, including the vice president or the ambassador (who is, after all, the president's personal representative to a foreign government). It is intolerable for them to publicly ridicule allies. And quite apart from his own indiscretions, it is the job of a commanding general to set a tone that makes such behavior unacceptable on the part of his subordinates.RELATED: Some interesting links at Instapundit, here and here.
Cross-posted from American Power.
Althouse on Gaga
Hey, all the big bloggers blog Lady Gaga, like Ann:
She posed for the cover in a big machine-gun bra and a nearly naked ass and purports to "tell all," yet everyone's talking about McChrystal, whose name isn't even on the cover! Life is so unfair to Lady Gaga!Glenn Reynolds chimes in, "THE REAL VICTIM IN THAT MCCHRYSTAL/OBAMA FIGHT..."
And previously at American Power, "Lady Gaga Goes Double-Barrel at Rolling Stone."
Cross-posted from American Power.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Runaway General
Fire General McChrystal? Heck - promote the guy!
Quick note - the journalist that wrote this is very, very disingenuous: 44 did not "...immediately ..." set about to do AfPAK, Marjah is not "...a doomed..." offensive (indeed - COIN Ops are a long, slow grind) and the time line seems awful suspect. Almost like the quotes are a year old - or older. Only the bit about Paris seems timely...
NASCAR misfire...
Convincing motor racing fans from around the world the value of NASCAR is rather hard. Most of the time motorsport fans make comments on how boring it is watching them go round and round for hours in a circle. Its understandable if you are used to road racing like Touring Car (German, World, BTCC etc), where the racing is almost exclusively on road courses. There are a few exceptions to the ovals on the NASCAR schedule. One occurred on Sunday in Sonoma California.
At first it was not a bad race, save for Jeff Gordon punting people off the track left and right. One driver vowed revenge at the next race, a driver known for not having outbursts, Martin Truex Jr. There were quite a few lead changes and not much race stoppage due the normal “debris” excuse.
Unfortunately NASCAR endeavoured to do their best to ruin a good day of racing. In doing so they either look like a bunch of inconsistent rule enforcers or at worst the fix is in for Jimmy Johnson. Only the most cynical would think that latter but after Sunday you can’t blame them for broaching the subject.
The day was dominated by Marcos Ambrose, an Aussie driver of V8 Supercar fan and fortune, he outclassed the entire field. The only one close was the bore by the name of Jimmy Johnson. A champion in the mode of personality-free, great but dull to watch, F1 great Michael Schumacher.
There was a wreck near the end. During the yellow flag period, Ambrose's car stalled on an uphill section of the track. NASCAR refused to allow him to go back to the front before the restart. They cited some obscure rule that probably few drivers knew about and it was obvious no one told Ambrose about. As a result NASCAR, due to its pedantic nature, gave the win to Jimmy Johnson. What was pathetic to see was JJ's crew chief, who is also a Speed contributor, rushing off to a NASCAR official to whine.
Why would any road-race fan from across the world want to watch NASCAR again after this pathetic display of rules merchant idiocy? We want to see a fair race won, by the best driver, no some lame stitch-up by a team that knows the rules better than anyone else.
NASCAR used to be about ability, these days it seems to be more about who knows the rules best. If NASCAR wants to attract motor racing fans from throughout the world, which it clearly does, it has to clean up its act.
Jennifer Love Hewitt Looks Fabulous in New People Magazine!
Hey, my wife gets People Magazine, and man this week's issue is fantastic!
See, "Jennifer Love Hewitt Advises Girls to 'Love the Way You Look'":
In a world that's overly focused on body image, Jennifer Love Hewitt is urging young women not to obsess about weight – because it's simply not worth it.Well, she's one to talk!
Plus: "Sneak Peek! PEOPLE's Most Amazing Bodies."
CROSS-POSTED FROM AMERICAN POWER.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
If you're not careful, you'll miss some of the cooler stars on the sidewalk, which are often located where you least expect them. Below, just reading their names was breathtaking. At bottom, the parking attendant took my picture (the ANSWER commie stickers on my shirt are part of my "cover" for my inside reporting). I parked at Hollywood and Vine, across from the Capitol Records building. I think I'll take my family up there one of these weekends. It's much more family friendly than it was in the 1980s, when I used be in Hollywood all the time for punk rock concerts:
Video: Brian Blessed's Battle Cry for England
I fear he is wasting his breath........that bunch of semi-literate nancy boys couldn't win if they were the only team on the pitch. (PS I hope I am wrong)
H/T Paul N
