Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Paul Craig Roberts: Israel Rules

By Paul Craig Roberts, Information Clearing House, Dec 29, 2009

On Christmas eve when Christians were celebrating the Prince of Peace, the New York Times delivered forth a call for war. “There’s only one way to stop Iran,” declared Alan J. Kuperman, and that is “military air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities.”

Kuperman is described as the “director of the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Program at the University of Texas at Austin,” but his Christmas eve call to war relies on disinformation and contradiction, not on objective scholarly analysis.

For example, Kuperman contradicts the unanimous report of America’s 16 intelligence agencies, the reports of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Russian intelligence with his claim that Iran has a nuclear weapon program. Astonishingly, it does not occur to Kuperman that readers might wonder how an academic bureaucrat in Austin, Texas, has better information than these authorities.

Kuperman is so determined to damn President Obama’s plan to have other countries enrich Iran’s uranium for Iran’s nuclear energy program and medical isotopes that Kuperman commits astounding blunders. After claiming that Iran has a “bomb program,” Kuperman claims that “Iran’s uranium contains impurities” and that Ahmadinejad’s threat “to enrich uranium domestically to the 20 percent level . . . is a bluff, because even if Iran could further enrich its impure uranium, it lacks the capacity to fabricate the uranium into fuel elements.”

What was the New York Times op ed editor thinking when he approved Kuperman’s article? Iran, Kuperman writes, needs “90 percent enriched uranium” to have weapons-grade material, but cannot reach 20 percent or even make fuel elements for its nuclear energy. So, how is Iran going to produce a bomb? Yet, Kuperman writes that “we have reached the point where air strikes are the only plausible option with any prospect of preventing Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. The sooner the United States takes action, the better.”

It could not be made any clearer that, as with the US invasion of Iraq, a military attack on Iran has nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction. An “Iranian nuke” is just another canard behind which hides an undeclared agenda.

One wonders about Kuperman’s non-proliferation credentials. How does a wanton military attack on a country encourage non-proliferation? Aren’t America’s bullying, threats and acts of war more likely to encourage countries to seek nuclear weapons?

At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the United States has wars ongoing in Iraq where the ancient Chaldean Christian community was destroyed–not by Saddam Hussein but by the neoconservatives’ illegal invasion of Iraq–in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yeman, and Sudan. The US initiated a war, which it lost, between its puppet ruler in the former Soviet province of Georgia and Russia.

The US, the world’s greatest supporter of terrorism, is the main financier of terrorist groups that stage attacks within Iran, and US money succeeded in financing protests against President Ahmadinejad’s re-election and in dividing the ruling Islamic clerics. It was American money, weapons, and diplomatic cover that enabled the Israeli war crimes against the Lebanese people during 2006 and against Palestinian civilians in Gaza during 2008-2009, crimes documented in the Goldstone Report.

Iran has never interfered in US internal affairs, but the US has a long record of interfering in Iranian affairs. In 1953 the US overthrew Iran’s popular prime minister, Mohammed Mosaddeq and installed a puppet who tortured Iranians who desired political independence.

Despite this and other American offenses against Iran, Ahmadinejad has repeatedly expressed Iran’s interest to be on friendly terms with the United States, only to be repeatedly rebuffed. The US wants war with Iran in order to expand US world hegemony.

One might expect a non-proliferation expert to take history into account, but Kuperman fails to do so. Kuperman also has nothing to say about Israel’s, India’s and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. Unlike Iran, none of these countries are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel, India, and Pakistan all developed their nuclear weapons in secret, and many experts believe Israel had American help, an act of treason. All three countries have been rewarded by Washington despite their perfidy. Why is Kuperman concerned about Iran, which submits to the IAEA inspections, but is unconcerned with Israel, a country that has never permitted a single inspection?

The answer is that the Israel Lobby, the US military-security complex, and the “Christian” Zionists have succeeded in demonizing Iran. Every real expert knows that an Iranian nuclear weapon would have no function other than deterring an attack on Iran. Ever since the US lost its monopoly on nuclear weapons, after using them offensively and pointlessly against a defeated Japan, nuclear weapons have served no purpose other than deterrence.

The US has no conflicting economic interests with Iran. Iran is simply a supplier of oil, an important one. A US attack on Iran, such as the one advocated by Kuperman, would most likely shut down oil flows to the West through the Strait of Hormuz. This might benefit refiners, who sell gasoline to the West and could charge enormous prices, but no one else would benefit.

Adding to the war cry are congregations of fake Christians. A great number of them, organized by someone’s money under the banner, “Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-free Iran,” has written to Congress demanding sanctions against Iran that amount to an act of war. The roll call http://www.clnfi.org/ includes the “Christian” Zionist John Hagee, who, according to reports, denigrates Jesus Christ and preaches to his illiterate congregation that it is God’s will for Americans to fight and die for Israel, the oppressor of the Palestinian people.

Among the signatories of the “Christians” demanding an act of war against Iran, are Dr. Pat Robertson, president of Christian Broadcasting Network, Nixon-era criminal Chuck Colson, and Richard Land, president of Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Southern Baptist Convention. Obviously, for southern baptists ethics means murdering Islamists, and religious liberty excludes everyone but “Christian” Zionists.

It is a simple matter for an educated person to make fools of these morons who profess to be Christians. However, these morons have vast constituencies numbering in the tens of millions of Americans. There are, in fact, more of them than there are intelligent, informed, moral, and real Christian Americans.

The votes of the morons will prevail.

In the second decade of the 21st century, America’s Zionist wars against Islam will expand. America’s wars in behalf of Israel’s territorial expansion will complete the bankruptcy of America. The Treasury’s bonds to finance the US government’s enormous deficits will lack for buyers. Therefore, the bonds will be monetized by the Federal Reserve. The result will be rising rates of inflation. The inflation will destroy the dollar as world reserve currency, and the US will no longer be able to pay for its imports. Shortages will appear, including food and gasoline, and “Superpower America” will find itself pressed to the wall as a third world country unable to pay its debts.

America has been brought low, both morally and economically, by its obeisance to the Israel Lobby. Even Jimmy Carter, a former President of the United States and Governor of Georgia recently had to apologize to the Israel Lobby for his honest criticisms of Israel’s inhumane treatment of the occupied Palestinians in order for his grandson to be able to run for a seat in the Georgia state senate. http://www.counterpunch.org/amiri12252009.html

This should tell the macho super-power American tough guys who really runs “their” country.

[Via http://sudhan.wordpress.com]

Aching

Just got back from the basketball courts where I suffered a two game dismal loss to Speedy Gonzales;

Indeed I thought I was good at basketball, however now I must re-evaluate. The last two days have been somewhat of a start to a new healthy, fit way, though it is quite possible I may not walk the next few days due to the fact my muscles are aching and as tight as blood brothers!

Remember “Pain is temporary, film is forever…”

Until then…

Miss D :)

[Via http://labloggy.wordpress.com]

Monday, December 28, 2009

AVATAR 3D

Avatar imdb`s
Ameerika ühendriigid

2009

lavastaja James Cameron

osades Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang jt.

Kuna iidne filmiblogimisvanasõna ütleb “vana aasta sees vaadatud filmidest tuleb rääkida vana aasta sees, muidu keegi enam su blogis ei kommenteeri ja päevas tuleb 100 külastajat vähem”, siis peaks ka rääkima paar sõna revolutsioonide revolutsioonist Avatarist. Kuna midagi uut kirjutada pole ja teravat ka ei viitsi punnitada, siis teeme lühidalt:

Mis toimus?

“Kurjad” ehk suurkorporatsioonid ja Ameerika sõdurid tahavad väärtusliku energiaallika kaevandamise eesmärgil vallutada “häid” ehk pärismaalasi (kelle poolele asuvad hiljem ka teadlased). Et oma eesmärki saavutada ründavad sõjaväelased ühte püha puud, kuid sellest ei piisa ja nad peavad veel ühte püha puud ründama. Tore, et James Cameronil ikka ideid jätkus. Väidetavalt pidid filmile ka järjed tulema- huvitav, kas ka nendes kogu möll toimub puude ründamise ümber? Samal ajal avastab halvatud sõdur Jake, et avatari ehk suurt sinist na`vit juhtides saab ta jälle joosta, seksida ja hullata ning armub jäägitult pärismaalaste džungliellu.  Loodus võidab tehnika, smurfid inimesed, armastus vihkamise, põiki sarvega ninasarvik roboti, lohe helikopteri ja nii edasi.

Mis ei meeldinud:

Põhimõtteliselt kõik, mis polnud filmi visuaalse küljega seotud, oli ikka piinlikult halb ja klišeedest kubisev. Huvitav, kas kõik tegelased ja tegevustik kirjutati seepärast nii must-valgeks ja lihtsaks lastefilmiks, et inimene ei peaks filmi vältel kordagi mõtlema ja saaks rahulikult neoonsele pildile keskenduda? Ju vist.

Mis meeldis?

Kuigi film oli vahepeal oma enda ilusse ära armunud, siis vaieldamatult on tegu suurteosega. Nii reaalselt liikuvaid ja perfektselt välja joonistatud miimikaga olendeid pole IT-osakonnad filmidesse veel sokutanud. Ja loodus, kus kõik asjad olid tehtud lihtsalt neoonseks ja suureks oli ka ilus. Vägev värk ühesõnaga.

Samas oli selles kõiges midagi nii revolutsioonilist, et paneks mind antud filmi uuesti vaatama? Vaevalt küll.

[Via http://filmifriik.wordpress.com]

Fee or no Fee?

So, we know that my relationships with the institution – whether that be the University/academy, or the school, or the gallery/museum, or the family, ect – are rocky, and often precarious.

No matter what I do, I always seem to be screwed by them.

Take the place where I study.  I love SHU. I think it’s great. Contemporary Fine Art at SHU is one of the best courses you could ever go on. For a number of reasons. You are taught to be self-motivated, to develope a practice and not just simply a portfolio or a piece of work, you have time and the space (mentally) to develop into the artist that you want to be. The staff, of course, are just simply fantastic; and the community of students are the least competitive and the most supportive that I have ever seen in terms of an art course.

However, the pure beurocracy of the institution limits the greatness of what SHU could be. (An ironic statement since their  wanna be – business – savy talk, and plans, and wanna be materialistic and capitalistic endeavors actually hinders their positive attributes!)

As part of my course I had to undertake a work placement/internship/work experience for 12 weeks. This could be taken at any time between the summer/september and to be completed by the end of January 2010.  I asked the student finance how to fill out my loan request form for tuition fees in my last academic year. They said tick these boxes (placement) and this one for one semester (university). So my LEA decided that I only had to pay half of the tuition fees because I am in actuality not in college. I am in a different country, working for free, NOT in the university.

I enrolled (after many problems – of course – more beurocracy) and as I enrolled it said: You will may £3,700. Alarm bells started to ring. My LEA loan form told me they were only going to pay the semester that I was at college. surely this was a mistake on the behalf of SHU?  I rang some people in the university – They told me that they’d call me back… then never did.

I went to America, had an amazing time.

When I arrived in the USA. My editor tells me that my college had never tried to contact him before my arrival. This was embarrassing on my behalf. It looks unprofessional, and certainly makes me look foolish. I didn’t appericate this. It also told me that the university didn’t actually care about my personal welfare. I just took a plane to Chicago, and no one checked to see whether there really was an office, or whether one would be insured. An act of gross misconduct if they want to be professional and business like!

So, I grit my teeth and shake it off. What did I really expect from SHU?  I had contact with a member of staff 2 times via email and skype (the latter to make sure i was still alive i suspect).  after 4 awesome months, I arrive back home to a bill for £1,6315 of tuition fees for the 1st semester that I wasn’t there for?

Thanks SHU!

I go to college the next available working day and ask to clarify a few things.

Here’s my case:

  • I was in a different country
  • I never had any classes, lessons, no staff contact, no use of facilities, the institution couldn’t even be arsed to check on the place I was going.
  • the placement takes a semester up in time
  • the placement was unpaid
  • There was no exchange, thus no one was using those facilities instead of me?
  • they could, of course, argue that I was using the SHU name for my placement – but to validate that excuse I believe that they should have checked-in in Chicago.

Erm, so why do I have to pay tuition fees for that semester?   For January onward I have no problems with?  I thought I paid tuition for well… it’s the name TUTITION FEE?

Clearly we are laboring under some misapprehension?

I went to Student Finance, they were equally confused. The woman rings another woman up – she doesn’t use my name – she refers to my student number throughout the whole conversation.

There the cold, unearthly realization hits me hard. I always moan – yeah we’re just numbers. But there it was, in the thick of my fincial crisis. I am being refered to 106.

“1-0-6 says that they got it in the post”  the woman continues.   I am – ultimately – just a number! Another pay cheque, another profit. Another student through the system who will cough up 1 and half grand of cash with no university support to show for it?

She gets off the phone, ” it’s not a finance thing” she replies handing me back the BILL, ” See your faculty”

So I go to call the Faculty. It’s rare for someone to meet the administration staff , poor folks are always the first to get students like me bitchin’ at them for the university beurocracy and lack of communications between departments (i hope they get my fee in their wage package) – i feel like i am on Deal or no Deal. The woman is the banker.

She tells me to go to the Finance department, I tell her i’ve been there and they told me to call her. She is now also confused. She tells me she will enquire and call me back.

45 minutes later, i was the belief it was going to be another non-call back, there was my New York Shit by Busta-rhymes ring tone.

Before I answered i KNEW that the answer was that I was to pay the money because, well they wouldn’t have called me back otherwise.

They tell me MOST of the people she has asked say I should pay it because it’s a modual component thus, i have to pay for it. Hmmm I think, isn’t computer science, architecture, engineering all compulsory modual components?  yes. But this is art, and well – the institution definitely would like to make an extra buck.  She tells me I NEED to tell my LEA to pay the other tution fees.

How do I do this when they, like most people, think i shouldn’t have to pay it by their classifications. PlACEment in a different country does indeed equal no teaching?!

Should be a fun phone call.

This of course comes at a time where the government wants to make courses 2 years long, instead of 3, raise tuition fees and get rid of maintenance grants all at the detriment of education.  Of course, this will reflect in years to come with a badly educated workforce and a classist system whereby only the middle class rich kids can afford to go to university, and receive a 2 year mediocre course in what typically should take even 4-5 years of studying to truly get to know the subject matter personally and intelligently with integrity and passion.

my irony continues, as I have discovered by writing this that i actually can’t spell tutition ! Thanks spell checker!?

But in conclusion, what do I know? I’m just a working class kid that has somewhat beat the system thus far by the skin of my teeth, to be caught out on the worst area to caught out on for me – MONEY!

Stubborn in my ways, one will have to call the LEA but I am still very convinced that this should not be the case.

Yeah, Sarah Smizz is back with the blogging.

HOLLA!

[Via http://smizz.wordpress.com]

Friday, December 25, 2009

Finnair Debuts New Business Class Product

Finnair has taken delivery of its fifth Airbus A330-300 aircraft this week. The jet, registered OH-LTR, is fitted with the airline’s new Business Class product featuring shell seats and a new layout that allows Finnair to increase seat capacity, yet offer passengers greater privacy.

 

45 of the Contour Vantage seats are now available on each flight, with 90% providing direct aisle access. For the first time on Finnair, each seat reclines into a full-flat bed and offers greater storage space for carry-on luggage and clothing, in addition to amenities found on the existing Recaro angled lie-flat seats fitted to its first 4 A330s and A340 fleet. The airline has also set aside a third of the seats as single units without another seat beside it, which is expected to be popular with business travellers.

 

Finnair will be progressively introducing the new product to the rest of its long-haul fleet. The airline’s 2-class A330s are fitted with 42/45 Business Class and 229 Economy Class seats and currently fly on the airline’s long-haul routes from Helsinki to Delhi, Nagoya, New York and Seoul.

 

For more information, visit www.finnair.com.

[Via http://travelwerke.wordpress.com]

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Senate health bill creates new insurance program

NEWS

Senate health bill creates new insurance program
Reporting by Donna Smith; Editing by Bill Trott

Thomson Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new government insurance program that would help the elderly and disabled stay in their homes is headed for passage in the U.S. Senate’s sweeping healthcare revamp despite doubts about its viability and cost.

Barack Obama |  Healthcare Reform

The measure has not received the intense scrutiny focused on a proposed government-run medical coverage plan, which has been jettisoned from the Senate’s healthcare bill and is unlikely to be restored in final legislation.

But the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, which was championed by the late Senator Edward Kennedy, is a significant program that supporters say is long overdue and critics say could add to the federal treasury’s long-term debt problems.

“If the CLASS Act becomes law, the federal taxpayer is at very serious risk of paying the price to clean up the fiscal disaster when the CLASS Act fails,” Republican Senator Charles Grassley said in a Senate speech on Tuesday.

Backers said the bill would allow disabled people to stay in their homes and out of institutional care.

It also could save states billions of dollars in the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor, which provides long-term institutional care for the disabled poor typically at much higher cost than supporting them to stay in their homes.

“We think CLASS is one of the real transformational items in the (healthcare reform) bill,” said Larry Minnix, chief executive at the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging. He said the cost to states to provide long-term care for their elderly and disabled through Medicaid will skyrocket during the next 10 to 15 years without the new program.

The insurance is voluntary and would provide a cash benefit to participants if they become unable to perform at least two activities of daily life, such as dressing and bathing.

Under the Senate proposal, workers pay a monthly premium to buy coverage, probably through their employer. They would have to pay into the program for at least five years before qualifying for benefits.

PART-TIME HELP

The benefit would be at least $50 a day and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimates the cost of pending legislation, assumed it would provide about $75 a day.

Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, says that would be enough to hire a nurse for a few hours to help a disabled person get ready for work or to give a break to someone who is caring for an elderly parent or disabled family member.

Harkin said it was Kennedy’s wish that the measure be included in the sweeping healthcare overhaul that the Senate is expected to pass on Christmas Eve.

The measure is supported by dozens of healthcare groups and stands a good chance of being part of a final healthcare bill that goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. But a number of analysts have voiced concern about whether the program would be financially sound over the long run.

“I think there is a significant risk it won’t work,” said Allen Schmitz, an actuary with Milliman Inc, a global consulting firm. With an initial monthly premium that one estimate said could be as high as $240, few healthy people would choose to purchase the insurance and that could undermine the financial stability of the program, he said.

“They are creating a new government program that everyone concedes is clearly unsustainable,” said Dennis Smith, a healthcare reform analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.

The insurance program would not screen people the way private insurers do. For that reason the program is likely to attract mostly those who will need some sort of long-term care, eventually undermining its financial health, he said.

The CBO said in its analyses that the program initially would raise enough money to reduce the federal deficit by $72 billion in the first 10 years, with about $2 billion of that attributed to savings in Medicaid, which provides long-term institutional care for the disabled poor.

Premium income would continue to help reduce federal deficits in the second decade. But after that it would begin to add to deficits as benefit payments exceeded premium income and any savings to the Medicaid program, CBO said without providing specific numbers.

A similar provision was included in the healthcare overhaul passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in November. The House calls for a more expansive program than the Senate. The Senate would make the program available to active workers while the House would allow non-working spouses to join as well.

The two chambers would have to work out their differences before a final bill can be delivered to Obama.

Share

[Via http://dominicstoughton.wordpress.com]

Home for people

By the end of 2008, slightly more than nine percent of all mortgages in the US were either delinquent or in foreclosure, this according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. A total of 8.1 million US homes, or 16 percent of all households with mortgages, could fall into foreclosure by 2012, this according to a report by Credit Suisse.

As people were getting thrown out of their homes across the country, and in the absence of any real government action thus far, some are taking action on the local level. The community organizing group ACORN recently unveiled a campaign in at least twenty-two cities to help homeowners resist foreclosure evictions. Meanwhile, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is busing homeowners facing foreclosure to the homes of chief executives of financial institutions to protest outside.

Sheriffs in some places have also taken a stand. In Wayne County in Michigan, Sheriff Warren Evans suspended all evictions starting February 2nd, until the federal government implements a plan to help homeowners facing foreclosures.

The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign recently revealed to the media its long-running project moving homeless people into many of the foreclosed and vacant homes in Minneapolis’s North and South Side. They’re also seeking a city moratorium on foreclosures, short sales and evictions.

CHERI HONKALA: We’ve begun to do a variety of things. One is that on March 11th we are organizing folks across the Twin Cities, and we’re going to stop sheriff sales on March 11th by going in and holding sit-ins over and over again to stop the sheriff sales.

The other thing that we’re doing is that we’re putting homeless people with vacant properties. So, any of the homes that have already been foreclosed on, that are sitting there vacant, we’re moving homeless families into them.

And then we’re also organizing what’s called emergency response teams as a part of the Underground Railroad project. And we’re going in and remaining with families that are in the final stages of foreclosure and saying that we’re not going to leave. We’re asking for a moratorium on evictions, foreclosures and sheriff sales, until we can deal with this serious affordable housing crisis in our country.

DWAYNE CUNNINGHAM: Well, it’s like this. I’ve been homeless for a while, so I’m just going to cut this short. But the home I just was blessed with by the homeless association, I couldn’t have got no better, because I’m outside of the cold, and being in the cold is not that nice. And trying to get in to talk to landowners or people who may foreclose their own homes, I can’t get in no doors. I have no numbers. I can’t get no door. So the best number I have and the best door I can walk through is this door right here.

DWAYNE CUNNINGHAM: Well, say, for instance, she heard about me and my plight, as far as my situation. And I have an injury I sustained back in June. I met Cheri through my wife and through another associate, a relative of mine. And ever since I met her, she’s been like a guardian angel over me and my wife, so, yeah, I’ve become like family to her. We’re like family.

So, whatever she’s on, I know it’s got to be something positive, because there’s not been one person that came to her I ain’t seen her—I have never seen her turn away no one. So, this is the truth, you know. I don’t know what you’re looking for, you know. I don’t know what the people are looking for, but this is the truth. Why you’ve got all these people out here homeless, and you’ve got all these homes, south and north, south and north. I’m talking about more homes than there is people homeless. And you still—this is—it’s red tape. So she’s cutting the red tape. That’s the way I look at it.

CHERI HONKALA: Yeah. One of the things is that Dwayne and his wife were not allowed to be vouchered into appropriate facilities. They both have very serious healthcare issues, and for insurance reasons, you know, the shelter just basically told me, you know, “Cheri, this is not an appropriate place for them to be at.” So, we didn’t think living in their car was an appropriate place for two people that have serious medical issues to be staying. So that’s why we thought they were an important candidate for one of our takeover houses.

CHERI HONKALA: Well, I mean, so far, in the thirteen houses that we have, there was only one house that we were kicked out of. But as Dwayne was saying, there’s plenty of them. So, you know, with thousands of empty properties, it was easy just to take that family and re-move them into another abandoned house. So, unless the police department starts to, you know, put police officers in front of every abandoned property, we’re OK.

The one property that folks were kicked out of, were only kicked out of there because we had a, you know, overactive cowboy police department at that particular property. But other than that, the police know that there’s more important things that they need to be doing, like dealing with murders and drug issues and all of those kinds of things.

And people, quite frankly, are sick of having empty houses next to them, that are then used for drug houses and those kinds of things. So, you know, we’re about the business of bringing the neighbors back into the neighborhood, as opposed to throwing them out onto the streets.

I’m standing trial against Housing and Urban Development, because during the Republican National Convention, the head of HUD here, the director, promised that he would meet with hundreds of families across the state of Minnesota to hear their foreclosure stories and to, you know, listen to the troubles that they’re dealing with. And right before the Republican convention, he went back on that commitment. So we organized a bunch of folks to bring them down to their office during public hours in a public building, and instead, they had us met by Homeland Security, and myself and another member, Deeq Abdi, were arrested and charged with trespassing. So we go to trial on that on March 9th. And the director of HUD has been subpoenaed in the case.

AMY GOODMAN: Overall, Cheri, you were homeless for years with your son. Can you talk about the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign that you started?

CHERI HONKALA: Yeah. Well, the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign is actually across the entire country. And one of the things that we do, and for people that are watching the show or listening today, is we teach people how to reclaim housing as a human right. We’ll teach you how to move into an abandoned government-owned property, to house families. We’ll teach you how to hold a sit-in, to hold a house that’s in the process of foreclosure. You know, we help people with food, with—that aren’t getting access to healthcare—all of the basic necessities of life.

It’s not enough to just try and change things in the halls of Congress, because people are dying today, the people that don’t have access to healthcare, the people that are going to freeze on the streets because they’re pushed out of their homes. And so, that’s why we have to take these immediate measures. We can’t just wait until perhaps some laws are changed in a year or two from now. You know, we’re going to lose people now. We’re going to lose them to our prison system, or worse, they’re going to die because they’re going to freeze to death on the streets, when we’ve got all these empty heated homes.

Discussion: Cheri Honkala, Dwayne Cunningham, Amy Goodman

Cheri Honkala, National Organizer with the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. She grew up in Minneapolis and is based in Philadelphia.
Dwayne Cunningham, Recently moved into a vacant home under the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign home-takeover program.

- from democracynow

[Via http://jagadees.wordpress.com]

Friday, December 18, 2009

China central banker says harder to buy U.S. Treasuries

Exchange Bigger IOUs for old IOUs

… on the global role of the dollar, Zhu told an academic audience that it was inevitable that the dollar would continue to fall in value because Washington continued to issue more Treasuries to finance its deficit spending.

He then addressed where demand for that debt would come from.

“The United States cannot force foreign governments to increase their holdings of Treasuries,” Zhu said, according to an audio recording of his remarks. “Double the holdings? It is definitely impossible.”

“The U.S. current account deficit is falling as residents’ savings increase, so its trade turnover is falling, which means the U.S. is supplying fewer dollars to the rest of the world,” he added.

“The world does not have so much money to buy more U.S. Treasuries.” (via China central banker says harder to buy U.S. Treasuries | Reuters).

Reuters slips in a dud

Interestingly, Reuters tried talking up the dollar by making out as though China was scrambling for dollars which were not available. Post the Lehman-collapse, after initial panic over the dollar has subsided – and most economies have continued on the dollar bearing – with a slight change in course. Unlike Britain (or most of Europe), US debt and deficit are still well within ‘reasonable’ limits.

Where did all this money go

Also, must be remembered, that most of this deficit and debt has been rung up for consolidating alliances and de-fanging potential adversaries (like China). For instance, in case of the USA,

The deficit for the fiscal year 2009 came in at more than $1.4 trillion-about 11.2 percent of GDP, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). That’s a bigger deficit than any seen in the past 60 years-only slightly larger in relative terms than the deficit in 1942 … having the fiscal policy of a world war, without the war … war in Afghanistan and Iraq … are trivial conflicts compared with the world wars.

According to the CBO’s … projections, (US) federal deficit will decline from 11.2 percent of GDP this year to 9.6 percent in 2010, 6.1 percent in 2011, and 3.7 percent in 2012 … (and) stay above 3 percent … Meanwhile, in dollar terms, the total debt held by the public (excluding government agencies, but including foreigners) rises from $5.8 trillion in 2008 to $14.3 trillion in 2019-from 41 percent of GDP to 68 percent.

While the above picture is not rosy, it’s not a cause for alarm. For any peace-loving nation, that is. For the Empire of the USA, seeking to maintain its hegemony. This is a bad financial situation to be in.

If war is what USA wants!

[Via http://quicktake.wordpress.com]

The John Hancock Center - Chicago

The Hancock Tower

The Hancock Tower

The Hancock Center is one of my favourite buildings. I took this shot from Karen and Larry’s apartment on the 40th floor of 161 East Chicago and with a bit of Photoshop trickery pokery I managed to get the perspectives correct. The original was taken with an ultra wide angled lens so the building looked like it was tilting backwards and to the right. Photoshop is an incredible tool for correcting distortions or even for being creative.

[Via http://anthonyjstewart.wordpress.com]

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Turn-key USA Property Investment

Atlanta USA – New property for sale fully renovated & tenanted

Price $49,400 fully renovated & tenant in place- “Turn-key” investment requiring little input from the investor… full rental management included….

  • Large detached property in fantastic setting
  • Excellent middle class area
  • 3 Beds, 2 bath (one en-suite)
  • House size = 1,460 sq.ft / Plot = 1/3 of an acre
  • Built in 1985
  • Current Value before renovation = $74,410
  • Property Tax = 2255 USD per year
  • Rental return = approx $800/month
  • Net Rental Return = 12.93%
  • Estimated market value after renovation $95,000
  • Images shown are pre-renovation. Read more….

[Via http://internationalhorizons.wordpress.com]

Yosemite Falls Black @ White Images

Thank the heavens for the rain …. When Luke and I first turned up to Yosemite National Park it looked dry, very dry. Yosemite Falls was not flowing at all and the Merced River was very low. I think this was a monday, but the following day as we set up for the morning 6am shoot it started to rain and it never stopped till after 6pm that evening. We woke the following day to a national park transformed overnight. The Merced and the many creeks where running high and loud, Yosemite Falls was a completely different place with huge amounts of water coming over the falls. The parked looked greener and photo opportunities exploded …

Below is a shot of Yosemite Falls the morning after the rains.

Larger view is accessible by clicking the thumbnail preview below …

http://www.spoolphotography.com

[Via http://spoolphotography.wordpress.com]

Monday, December 14, 2009

The Real Reason Behind The Copenhagen Walk-Out

Developing countries have walked out on the Copenhagen climate talks, but one of the primary reasons as to why nations like China and India have boycotted the summit is being hidden by the corporate media – namely the fact that the negotiations were doomed once poorer countries learned of the globalist’s neo-colonial agenda as a result of the Danish text leak.

“Negotiations at the UN climate summit have been suspended after developing countries withdrew their co-operation,” reports the BBC.

“Delegations were angry at what they saw as moves by the Danish host government to sideline talks on more emission cuts under the Kyoto Protocol. As news spread around the conference centre, activists chanted “We stand with Africa – Kyoto targets now”.

However, the media has completely failed to highlight the real reason behind the walk out – the fact that funds from climate financing, originally allocated to go to the UN and then be doled out piecemeal to third world nations, would instead be paid directly into the coffers of the World Bank and IMF, organizations that have made a habit out of looting poorer countries with crippling debts that cannot be paid back, forcing such countries to hand over their entire infrastructure to globalist loan sharks.

In the leaked Copenhagen text that emerged last week, leaders of third world countries were horrified to discover that developed nations would take on less of a burden than anticipated and that more would be demanded of poorer countries despite the fact that any further cuts in CO2 emissions would further cripple their flimsy economies and poverty-stricken people.

Billionaire elitist George Soros subsequently told Copenhagen delegates how poorer nations would be forced to take on what he described as “green loans” in the name of combating climate change, a policy that would land the already financially devastated third world with even more debt, payable to globalist institutions such as the IMF.

www.prisonplanet.com

[Via http://thedesso123.wordpress.com]

Dissolution

Amicable split completed

GE Intelligent Platforms to continue focus on software and services, control systems and embedded computing; FANUC to promote industry-leading CNC portfolio globally

GE and FANUC LTD have announced that the two companies have completed their agreement to dissolve the GE Fanuc Automation Corporation Joint Venture. This agreement reverts the respective portions of the joint venture back to the parent company and allows each company to focus on its existing businesses and pursue growth in its respective core industry of expertise. The two companies signed the final agreement on Friday 11th December 2009, in Chicago (US), and will now operate independently as GE Intelligent Platforms and FANUC LTD.

About FANUC
FANUC LTD, headquartered on the foot of Mt. Fuji, Japan, is the most diversified manufacturer of FA (Factory Automation), robots and Robomachines in the world. Since its inception in 1956, FANUC has contributed to the automation of machine tools as a pioneer in the development of computer numerical control equipments. FANUC technology has contributed to a worldwide manufacturing revolution, which evolved from the automation of a single piece of machine to the automation of entire production lines. FANUC develops better and more reliable products into the twenty-first century.

About GE Intelligent Platforms

GE Intelligent Platforms is an experienced high-performance technology company and a global provider of software, hardware, services, and expertise in automation and embedded computing. We offer a unique foundation of agile and reliable technology providing customers a sustainable advantage in the industries they serve, including energy, water, consumer packaged goods, government & defense, and telecommunications. GE Intelligent Platforms is headquartered in Charlottesville, VA and is part of GE Enterprise Solutions.

“Today begins the next phase in GE Intelligent Platforms’ focus to provide our customers with a sustainable advantage through industry-leading technology and the passion and expertise of our people,” said Maryrose Sylvester, President and CEO of GE Intelligent Platforms. “We will continue to invest in our product and solution platforms that allow our customers to compete and succeed in a challenging economy. In addition, we intend to utilize our world-class enterprise software as a platform for faster growth for the entire GE portfolio. ”

GE Intelligent Platforms continues to be a leading high-performance technology company that serves a vast array of industries around the world including government & defense, telecommunications, energy, water, transportation, and consumer packaged goods. The company delivers software and services, control systems, and embedded systems globally.

FANUC Honorary Chairman Dr. Seiuemon Inaba said, “Our joint venture has achieved great success in the computer numerical control (CNC) business. We have achieved many things together, but FANUC is now looking forward to focusing our efforts on our industry-leading CNC portfolio and the opportunities unique to our industry that will deliver great benefits to our customers.”

The two companies will continue to work together in a commercial relationship related to GE’s motion control and motor products with no interruption in supply of these components. In addition, GE intends to support its CNC customers in the Americas through its CNC services business.

Sylvester added, “We are truly grateful to Dr. Inaba and his team at FANUC for their partnership with GE over these past 20 years, and we wish them continued success in the future. We are confident that this change will allow both companies to serve our customers better as we continue to innovate and solve some of our customers’ toughest problems.”

[Via http://instrumentsignpost.wordpress.com]

Friday, December 11, 2009

Blackwater ‘became an extension’ of the CIA: report

By Raw Story,  Thursday, December 10th, 2009

blackwaterwelcomesign Blackwater became an extension of the CIA: reportThe role of Blackwater employees in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was so central to the US’s efforts that the lines between the controversial security contractor, the CIA and the military were effectively “blurred,” says a report in the New York Times.

During the height of the Iraqi insurgency from 2004 to 2006, Blackwater guards participated almost nightly in “snatch and grab” raids on suspected militants, the Times reported in a story published late Thursday.

The company’s cooperation in top-secret CIA operations “illuminate[s] a far deeper relationship between the spy agency and the private security company than government officials have previously acknowledged,” the Times reports.

“Blackwater’s partnership with the CIA has been enormously profitable for the North Carolina-based company, and became even closer after several top agency officials joined Blackwater.”

“It became a very brotherly relationship,” an unnamed “former top CIA officer” told the Times. “There was a feeling that Blackwater eventually became an extension of the agency.”

From the Times article:

Several former Blackwater guards said that their involvement in the operations became so routine that the lines supposedly dividing the Central Intelligence Agency, the military and Blackwater became blurred. Instead of simply providing security for C.I.A. officers, they say, Blackwater personnel at times became partners in missions to capture or kill militants in Iraq and Afghanistan, a practice that raises questions about the use of guns for hire on the battlefield.

Representative Rush D. Holt, a New Jersey Democrat who is chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, said in an interview that “the use of contractors in intelligence and paramilitary operations is a scandal waiting to be examined.” While he declined to comment on specific operations, Mr. Holt said that the use of contractors in such operations “got way out of hand. It’s been very troubling to a lot of people.”

Over the course of the past year, information has been slowly leaking out about Blackwater’s role in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the broader war on terrorism. Allegations have emerged that the Bush administration hired Blackwater to run elements of its “extraordinary rendition” program, which saw terrorism suspects kidnapped and taken to countries where they could be tortured.

Following the revelation last summer of a secret “CIA hit squad” that targeted high-value terrorists for assassination, allegations emerged that the government had outsourced parts of that program to Blackwater, a move some critics have described as “unconstitutional.”

And an investigative report from The Nation reporter Jeremy Scahill revealed last month that the Obama administration is using Blackwater in a program to assassinate terrorist targets in Pakistan.

With a slew of bad news about his company emerging almost weekly in the press, Blackwater founder and chairman Erik Prince revealed last week that he plans to retire from the company. Prince said he wants to teach high school.

[Via http://sudhan.wordpress.com]

«Viva Palestine» raise money for suicide bombers and Hamas in the US

The Viva Palestina USA group do not only raise support for the population of Gaza, but for its Hamas rulers as well.

Brad Sherman ring the alarm bell on American money being collected to support Islamic suicide bombers.

This is the claim from Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) in a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder. The Attorney General is being urged to launch an investigation into whether or not a new pro-Palestinian charity is raising funds on American university campuses that will eventually end up in Hamas’ pockets.

Sherman noted that Viva Palestina USA was founded by British lawmaker George Galloway, and was modeled after his British-based charity Viva Palestina.

In their first visit to Gaza in March, Galloway and other Viva Palestina representatives gave medical supplies to Gaza hospitals, but also met with and voiced their support for Hamas leaders. According to a report at the time, Galloway held up a bag of cash, declared that it was not charity, but politics, and handed it to Hamas officials.

When Viva Palestina USA first visited Gaza several months later, it avoided outright political statements, but Sherman and other pro-Israel figures in the US insist the spirit and intentions remain the same.

If true, that could cause legal problems for the group, which started raising fund on the campus of the University of California, Irvine during the summer. It if a federal crime to raise money in the US that may end up in the hands of recognized terror groups.

Source: Israeli magazine, Israel Today.

[Via http://ivarfjeld.wordpress.com]

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Landon Donovan loaned to Everton

The Internet is ablaze with the news that LA Galaxy midfielder and US National Team star Landon Donovan has finalized a loan deal sending him to Everton in the Barclay’s Premier League.

The rumors of the move first surfaced yesterday.  The BBC is reporting today that the move is in the final stages of closing.  MLS has yet to make an announcement or comment on the move, possibly because it has not been 100% finalized.  The loan is reportedly for three months, beginning when the January transfer window opens.  This will allow Donovan to return to the Galaxy for the start of the 2010 MLS season. 

Many USMNT fans, myself included, would like to see the loan extend through the remainder of the EPL season, but given Bruce Arena’s comments at the end of the MLS season, that is unlikely.  The Galaxy will already be without David Beckham through the end of the World Cup, provided Beckham makes the England squad.  The chances the Galaxy want to play half a season without their captain and top ticket draw when Beckham is already out are slim to none.  Recent reports have slim leaving town on the next bus.

[Via http://captainpositive.wordpress.com]

Obama expands war into Pakistan

Barry Grey, wsws.org, Dec 9, 2009

One week ago, President Obama in a speech at West Point sought to portray his escalation of the war in Afghanistan as the prelude to an early withdrawal of US troops. It has since become increasingly apparent that the speech was nothing more than a calculated exercise in public deception.

The speech was crafted to chloroform the public, the better to defy and disorient mass popular opposition to the war.

Continues >>

[Via http://sudhan.wordpress.com]

Monday, December 7, 2009

Writing Supplies in Germany and the USA

I’m American, but I go to school in Germany, and I’ve noticed a few differences in writing supplies between the two countries.

All through high school, I wrote my class notes in cheap spiral notebooks from Target, you know the type, with college-ruled paper. I didn’t bring any with me to Germany, because I figured, cheap notebooks must be available everywhere! And, sure, they are. But not college ruled. I found only two kinds of notebooks at Marktkauf, the German equivalent of a Wal-Mart or Target:  lined notebooks with paper closer to what we call wide-ruled, and notebooks with squared paper. Nothing college-ruled in sight! I chose squared paper, because I have small handwriting, and I have to say, I now actually prefer to write on squared paper. The lines are more my size than even college-ruled paper.

After some discussion with a German friend, we figured out a theory as to why college-ruled paper doesn’t exist in Germany: students are taught to write with fountain pens. I had never in my life used a fountain pen; in America, there are artsy, old-fashioned, or elite people who might use them, but we use cheap ballpoint pens, or pens with gel inks or whatever (or pencils, but I’ll get to that in a minute), not fountain pens. The vast majority of Americans (myself included at that point) would have no idea how to use a fountain pen, but for a German student, it’s normal. They all have correcting ink for when they make a mistake with fountain pens, too! To my German friend, it was unthinkable that one would turn in any sort of official assignment written with the kind of pen that comes in a package of twenty for less than three dollars at any discount store–or, God forbid, written in pencil!

They even write math in ink, and when I did find some pencils at a stationary store in Germany (a chain called McPaper, for some reason), none had erasers. None. Okay, maybe one over on the end, but 99% did not have erasers. In America, fancy artist pencils may not have erasers, but those that the average person writes down grocery lists or scribbles calculations with certainly do! Again, I turned to my German friend, who said : “Why would those pencils have erasers? Pencils with erasers are for children.” Which, in my opinion, is a really interesting statement. It says that in the German mindset, they can’t admit to the fact that they might make mistakes and have to correct something. They do have erasers, separate from the pencils, but those are not so readily available: those do not have the reminder that one might make a mistake staring you in the face as you write. I guess. Apparently, admitting that we’re all human and make mistakes is not the German thing to do.

I still don’t know why squared paper is a normal writing paper in Germany, though. I guess because schoolchildren use it a lot, definitely because it’s easier to do math on, and possibly the teaching of handwriting is made easier on squared paper, the same way we use paper with a dotted line between every two solid lines to teach handwriting in the States.

It’s interesting–something I always thought was universal, stationary, turned out to be far from that!

[Via http://writersxblock.wordpress.com]

SNL Tiger Woods And Elin Woods Skit

Saturday Night Live presented a hilarious sketch lampooning the ”trangressions” that Tiger Woods admitted to,right before his wife beat him down with an iron golf club.

In the skit posted here, actor Jason Sudeikis portrayed Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s “Situation Room” reporting on a news conference that Woods (played by Kenan Thompson) and his wife (played by host Blake Lively) were holding outside his home.

What happens next is truly a funny take on this sordid affair. That is what comedy is for.

The writers have actually created a skit that Kenan is funny in, and attempts to portray a different character, outside of the same one he always does.Maybe this is the beginning of funny stuff for Kenan to finally be able to do on this show.

Leave it to the comedians at SNL to bring humor to a heavy subject.  Keep up the good work guys,I enjoyed the laugh…

SNL Tiger Woods Skit

SNL Tiger Woods Skit

If the You tube clip is deleted for copyright issues,then check out the skit attached to the article on the link below…

http://www.examiner.com/x-32213-Memphis-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m12d6-SNL-Tiger-Woods-skit-See-Saturday-Night-Live-skit-here-video

[Via http://jerrybrice.wordpress.com]

Friday, December 4, 2009

No Way Out

No Way Out

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Protest started oct 5th
free counters

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Sign Petition by one click at http://act.ly/t4

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No Way Out

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who should we turn to?

United Nations?

all they did was to empty their seats when tyrant was speaking!

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who should we turn to?

United States?

USA has enough trouble and can’t solve his own problems!

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who should we turn to?

God?

he was, is & will be with tyrant!

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who should we turn to?

Israel?

today Russia & China are waiting to crush Israel!

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No Way Out.

[Via http://iranvote.wordpress.com]

Seti@Home Leads To $1 Million Loss For School?

Talk about really wanting to find E.T.

A network systems administrator for the Higley Unified School District has resigned after it was discovered he had deployed Seti@Home on more than 5000 computers.

What’s Seti@home?  Why, only the first distributed computing project that used the unused power of individual computers to chug through data received from the Arecibo Observatory!  Basically, the project scans the skies for signals from E.T.  All that scanning creates data, and this stuff has to be analyzed to see if there are any signals.

In order to foster more adoption, the Seti@Home guys put ranking in place, so people would have bragging rights and create an element of competition.

And this guy really took up to it:

[Higley superintendent Denise] Birdwell said the massive software slowed down educational programs in every classroom and cost the district more than $1 million in added utility fees and computer replacement parts.

Apparently, the alien-seeking software had been running since Niesluchowski was hired nearly 10 years ago.

“Basically our processors were hooked up and running 24 hours a day, 12 months a year, every day of the school year,” Birdwell said.

It took them 10 years to figure this out?  Forget intelligent life in space; what about intelligent life closer to home?

There is–supposedly–more to this story, apparently.

Links to same stories covered here and here.

[Via http://datasecurityguy.wordpress.com]

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Obama orders more troops to Afghanistan

After ordering 30,000 more US troops to Afghanistan, US president Barack Obama warned that his country would begin to withdraw its military forces by 2011. (photo, from aljazeera.net)

Deployed as quickly as possible, those soldiers will bring the US troop strength in Afghanistan to more that 100,000.

Calling for more allied troops, Obama said the world security is at stake.

He added that the mission in Afghanistan is to defeat al-Qaeda, reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny them the ability to overthrow the government.

The deployment decision followed more than three months of deliberations and 10 top-level meetings between president Obama and advisers.

Obama’s speech was welcomed by Gen Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan,who said he had been given “a clear military mission” and the necessary resources.

Although some 32,000 foreign troops are serving in Afghanistan, Nato allies have been cautious about contributing further forces.

Yet Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato’s Secretary General, said he was confident 5,000 extra troops could be found.

The Afghan government also welcomed the decision.

However there is concern that putting a date on a US withdrawal sends the wrong signal, says the BBC’s Ian Pannell in Kabul.

According to him it risks giving encouragement to the Taliban. Furthermore, most Afghans do not want more troops but direct talking to the insurgents to end the conflict.

There were three major points in Obama’s speech. The president celebrated the US as a nation “founded in resistance to oppression” and talked about its long record of sacrifice in “advancing frontiers of human liberty.”

Then he promised an “effective partnership” with Pakistan, warning that the US could not “tolerate a safe haven for terrorists.”

Citing repeatedly the poor economy, he also explained that the estimated cost ($30bn for the military this year) was a factor in his deliberations.

‘Vital national interest’

Obama’s speech was delivered to cadets at the West Point military academy in New York, and nationally televised. (photo, from nytimes.com)

The US president stressed that his country was in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks on America by al-Qaeda militants. He said that their Taliban allies had “begun to take control over swathes of Afghanistan” while committing “devastating acts of terrorism” against Pakistan.

He added that US forces lacked “the full support they need to effectively train and partner with Afghan security forces and better secure the population”.

“I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 US troops to Afghanistan,” he told the cadets.

“After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home.”

Domestic opposition to the eight-year-old war has been increased by the rising violence, more than 900 US soldiers died in Afghanistan, and August’s discredited presidential elections.

Urging the Americans not the see the conflict as a new Vietnam war, president Obama said he was aware of the gravity of his decision to send extra troops.

He said that America was backed by a “broad coalition of 43 nations” and was not facing a “broad-based popular insurgency”.

“Most importantly, unlike Vietnam, the American people were viciously attacked from Afghanistan, and remain a target for those same extremists who are plotting along its border,” the US leader added.

He said the US would take the Iraq experience as its model for withdrawal.

“Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground.“

Though he pledged to continue to advise and assist Afghanistan’s security forces, he warned : “It will be clear to the Afghan government – and, more importantly, to the Afghan people – that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country.

“The days of providing a blank cheque are over,” he added.

During his speech, the US president also outlined other priorities, such as enhancing the country’s domestic security, preventing nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists and forging better ties with the Muslim world.

Allies help

The BBC’s Matthew Price says that the White House wants to convey that this is Barack Obama’s war and he is clear about the aims he wants to achieve.

“What’s at stake is the security of our allies, and the common security of the world,” said the US president, calling on America’s allies to boost their troop commitment.

UK prime minister Gordon Brown welcomed the US pledge saying “I call on all our allies to unite behind President Obama’s strategy.

“Britain will continue to play its full part in persuading other countries to offer troops to the Afghanistan campaign,” Mr Brown said. The day before, London confirmed it was sending 500 more troops, taking the UK’s total deployment to 10,000.

Although French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered full support to Mr Obama’s strategy and called it “courageous”, France earlier ruled out deploying more combat soldiers, though it might send military trainers.

Italy said it will also increase its force, but without saying by how much.

Germany has said it will wait until after a 28 January conference in London on Afghanistan before deciding on any troop increases.

[Via http://babs22.wordpress.com]

D.U.T.C.H.

Hello,

Tonight President Obama gave a speech, addressing cadets at the USMA at West Point, NY.  The focal point of the speech was the war in Afghanistan and the future of American plans for the region.  It is no secret that part of the world is one of the most precarious places to fight and practice politics.  Nations throughout history have come to Afghanistan only to meet defeat at the hands of the locals.  From Alexander the Great, who conquered the known classical world, to the massive Red Army of the Soviet Union, tried to submit the Afghans to foreign rule.  The terrain, and culture when clashed with an invading nation’s tactics proved fatal to all who have tried.  The Soviets used some of the most aggressive and inhumane tactics to eliminate the Mujahadeen threat to their operations in Afghanistan, only to strengthen the opposition.

The mountains and caves of Afghanistan provide an insurmountable natural barrier to any army that may face them.  Nuclear blasts could not topple the refuges the enemy takes from Coalition forces when night comes.  Afghans do not like to fight at night.  Just like any other place on Earth, money dictates the reason d’etre in Afghanistan.  The cash crop of the local economy is opium, which is made into heroin, morphine and other narcotics.  Money from drug sales finances Taliban and Al Qaida operations in that region, with everyone having their price.  In effect, we are buying the Taliban off, not to fight us.  We are not going to win a fair fight with anyone in Afghanistan.  The Soviets tried chemical weapons and that didn’t work.  The true strategy would be to deny the enemy any ground in their operating areas.  Mines, reconaissance, UAV drones, bribes won’t do the job by themselves.  Unconventional weapons, unfortunately, have the moxy to rid the mountains of the Taliban, but at a substantial cost to everyone in the region. (See Chernobyl).

Not only can we not win in Afghanistan with things as they are, the situation in Pakistan is much more dire.  The Pakistani government has nuclear weapons.  Islamabad is very close, about 80 miles, to the border with Afghanistan.  Many in Pakistan see the US as an enemy due to the Bush administration’s support of the Musharraf regime, which persecuted many in tribal areas.  The average Madras in Pakistan teaches Muslim children conservative Islamic values which can be exploited for use by any extremist group in the area.  The real scary part is if a patient, Pakistani mal-content gets his/her hands on a bomb and gives it to Al Qaida.  Though the probability is rare, it could happen.  Did I mention that U.S. Predator and Reaper drone are just blasting the hell out of things in Pakistan’s tribal areas? Yes, the CIA is at it again and has been for years.  The thought of the CIA doing anything besides playing Risk scares me, after reading “Legacy of Ashes”.

The heart of the matter and what disappoints me the most is how the United States cannot afford this war right now.  I believe war to be the worst way to solve a problem  Sun Tzu often suggested diplomacy and reason over a fight, but if you have to fight… On 9/11/2001 the U.S. had no choice but to fight.  Al Qaida called us out onto the mat and we had to respond.  The lawlessness of Afghanistan in the regime set up by the Taliban fostered an environment acclimate to Al Qaida’s activities.  Activities, which could not be held without notice in other nations.  Without going in to the mis-deeds of the previous administration, the U.S. made it’s point and there are now bigger fish to fry.

The American people have been under an economic siege, without respite for close to two years.  Lives all across the nation have been changed for the worst, whole states have gone bankrupt, while those responsible receive bailouts and are living as things have not changed. Courtesy of you and me. AIG, Goldman Sachs, Chrysler, GM all received money when there was none to be had.  Many said the Obama administration just printed more, under the direction of a Treasury Secretary that can’t even pay his own taxes. Many in the Obama administration are wayward with taxes and the IRS, a luxury not afforded to the unwashed masses.  The President can legally send troops abroad without the consent of Congress, but only they can approve the necessary spending for such deployments.

Where is Congress going to get the money? First they’ll gut an already anorexic health care bill, after that, a “war tax” on all of those who make more than $30,000.00 per year.  So, in addition to the tax money we are already paying, we will have to pay more.  Please tell me if I am wrong in my thinking.  If that is the case, I see the TEA party becoming the next political party in the United States.  The one thing the Obama administration has tried to accomplish for the good of the people is about to be eclipsed by the act of sending 30,000 more troops to fight a pointless war.  Hundreds of U.S. soldiers stand to die for an 18-month stand in the face of Al Qaida and where is the logic?  Obama’s action proves his lack of skill and understanding in this area.  Military operations hardly go according to plan, and telling the enemy when you plan to withdraw only makes them wait until that date.  In the words of an Australian serviceman in Afghanistan, the decision reflects a D.U.T.C.H. spin on the whole war and where to go.

D.U.T.C.H. ~ Don’t Understand The Circumstances Here   … and not the people of that delightful European nation.

I like President Obama and if I did not, I would want him to succeed in his efforts.  His successes are our successes, but this will not be one of them.  I don’t know if his decision to proceed with more forces in Afghanistan was made out of consensus among his staff, or by himself, but someone needs to read up on their history there.  History has a tendency of repeating itself.

Thanks!

[Via http://apoliticum.wordpress.com]