Before you jump all over my case: yes, I know that this is pointless. I know that a lot of people consider the topic an obsession of the fringe.
And Barry Soetoro is going to be President of the United States. He is The One, and nothing can stop him now, especially not some stupid little piece of paper like the U.S. Constitution. Get used to saying President Obama, because come January 20th, thats what well all be saying.
Except when we have to say The Dear Leader, of course.
But it looks like there really is an issue about where Obama was born, because his supporters apparently were already thinking strategically about the problem as early as 2006. According to a post at Patriot Brigade Talk Radio forum:
While digging my way through the Internet last night, I came across the following paper [pdf], written by SARAH P. HERLIHY. Its title
AMENDING THE NATURAL BORN CITIZEN REQUIREMENT: GLOBALIZATION AS THE IMPETUS AND THE OBSTACLE
caught my eye, and had to read it
I had to ask myself, what would drive any American to want to change a clause in a document that is the very foundation of our government?
So, I kept digging, and found that SARAH P. HERLIHY is employed by Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Noting that this law firm is based in Chicago, the light bulb was shining a little brighter. Upon looking at the firm, and the partners, I found that Bruce I. Ettelson, P.C., is Member of finance committees of U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Richard Durbin. (towards bottom of the page)
So it sure looks like Obamas people have looked into the matter of Natural born as far back as early 2006. What is even more disturbing is that it would appear that they are following the thought of :
If the facts do not support the theory, Destroy the facts!
Here is the introduction to the paper It looks like a road map for Obamas defense lawyers And a precursor to a Socialist world.
#2
heh - congrats to Zenster. Ace of Spades had their very own Zenster - Christoph, who made every post about him, dominated comments, and finally got the ban hammer. Neither were bad guys, nor dumb, by any means (perhaps one and the same - the M.O. was so similar) but their overbearing comment dominance got em the exit
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/29/2008 19:35 Comments ||
Top||
#1
In 2009, Washington will spend roughly $700 billion on the military. Adjusted for inflation, even the $515 billion for normal (non-Afghan/Iraq) operations is more than America spent annually during the cold war, Korean War, or Vietnam War. Yet then the United States faced the Soviet Union and, in the latter two cases, was fighting a very hot war. Today America faces no threats of comparable magnitude.
The writer is comparing apples and oranges. How so? Cause all the other wars and for an extensive time of the Cold War, it was a draft army paid minimal wages. Today the vast expense is personnel costs both in active duty force and the increased population of military retirees living longer like the rest of the population. That professional forces is expensive per head than any other time, it is also the finest military of its size seen in history in it's skill and conduct. You get what you pay for. Also the writer should check real close how much of the DoD budget was spent on retirees back in Korea and Vietnam and how much is spent today. DoD already projects that the majority of its medical costs are going to shift from active to retiree in a few years.
#1
Except the large number of small donations end up being non-traceable. Not that the study truly addresses that issue except in 'theory' and then only to the benefit of the (pre-established) study's finding.
The death of British terror plot suspect Rashid Rauf in a US missile strike in North Waziristan area on Friday, along with four other al-Qaeda men, has confirmed Western fears that the trouble-stricken Waziristan region was the new battlefield for Kashmiri militants who are joining forces with the anti-US and pro-Taliban elements there.
Rashid Rauf, a close relative of Maulana Masood Azhar, the chief of Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), was killed along with al-Qaeda leaders Abu Nasr Al-Misri and Abu Zubair Al-Masri after their rented hideout was spotted due to their frequent use of a mobile phone.
Pakistani agencies have found fighters belonging to at least four Kashmiri militant groups in Waziristan. They are the Harkatul Jehadul Islami (HuJI) led by Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri, the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) led by Maulana Masood Azhar, the Harkatul Mujahideen (HuM) led by Pir Syed Salahuddin and the Jamaatul Furqaan (JuF) led by Maulana Abdul Jabbar.
HuJI chief Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri happens to be a veteran of jihad in Kashmir and spent several years in an Indian jail. Pakistan arrested Kashmiri after the December 2003 twin suicide attacks on Musharraf's cavalcade in Rawalpindi. But he was released shortly, prompting him to shift base to North Waziristan and join hands with Baitullah Mehsud.
Kashmiri also established a training camp in Razmak area of Waziristan, shifting also most of his warriors from the Kotli training camp, 20 km from Kotli in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
The Hizbul Mujahideen, meanwhile, is considered the mother of the ongoing militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. The Hizb leadership had established contact with many Afghan Mujahideen groups such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hizb-e-Islami, under which some of its cadre received arms training at camps in Afghanistan.
On September 11 this year, Afghanistan-based American forces fired a missile at an alleged al-Badar training camp. The al-Badar, a Kashmiri militant group, was being aided by the Hizb. American Predator aircraft launched several missiles at a target in the village of Tol Khel on the outskirts of Miramshah, the administrative seat of North Waziristan. Twelve al-Badar members were killed.
The Jamaatul Furqan is a splinter group of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, led by Maulana Abdul Jabbar, involved in the Kashmiri jihad as a Jaish commander. Post-9/11, Pakistani authorities have arrested him many times but he was set free each time.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/29/2008 00:00 ||
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The Taj Mahal hotel, with its combination of Moorish and Florentine architecture, is a wonderful place to hang out in, sipping coffee in the Sea Lounge or having a relaxed drink in the Apollo Bar on a nice clear November day. But the same inviting structure became a nightmarish catacomb when it turned into a war zone on November 26.
The art of urban warfare itself is new and fighting inside a large skyscraper is newer still, says Captain Raghu Raman, a former army man and now an intelligence consultant. Conventional battles are normally fought in plains, jungles or hills. Over time, thumb rules have evolved on how many people it would take to defeat an entrenched enemy in such terrains. Typically, in the plains or a jungle you would need three men for every enemy person already entrenched there. On the hills, the ratio changes and you need five men to take out one person from the enemy side, says a Major in the Indian Army on the condition of anonymity. He has seen commando action in Kashmir.
In a high-rise like the Oberoi Trident hotel or the Taj Mahal Tower, these calculations go out of the window. A small group of people can engage a force that may be ten times larger than them, says the Major. A hotel with 27 floors like the Oberoi or as many rooms as Taj565 in alloffers the enemy immense space to manoeuvre, says a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army who has served in Africa and in North East India. This poses huge challenges for the Indian Army to take on the terrorists who are holed up in the Taj or the Oberoi. To understand this, consider a situation from Kashmir that has a minor resemblance to what has unfolded in Mumbai.
In Kashmir, we would get a tip off in a place like, say Kupwara, that militants were holed up in a house. We would just go and surround a wider area. Then we would make announcements to get the civilians out of the area. Since the houses there are maximum two or three floors, we would then lay a siege and then we would exchange firepower. In due course, we would enter the house from the top through a helicopter lift to get the militants. Because the houses were of a smaller area it was easier to do this than in Taj or Oberoi, says the Major. In a large hotel, the terrorists can move from room to room and from floor to floor. Typically, the National Security Guard (NSG) uses a team of four members as a basic unit in such operations. So two members attack, while the other two provide cover. In a hotel like the Taj, with hundreds of rooms, you will need at least four people per room to hold the rooms to ensure that terrorists dont retake the rooms that have been cleaned, says the Major.
The irony of the situation is to be appreciated. While the terrorist has enormous space to operate in, the Army has constraints. The first constraint is clearly the large number of personnel required. The tactics too get affected.
Technically, there is a three-step sequence in conventional warfare. Step one is to use the artillery to pound the enemy and destroy the buildings. In step two, tanks and missiles are used to shock the enemy. The last step is to cordon off the area and lay siege so that the enemy is not able to replenish food and ammunition supplies. This leads to a drop in morale and eventual surrender. In a high-rise, none of these tactics work.
Even cordoning or surrounding the enemy doesnt work because the enemy inside Taj or Oberoi has no fixed defenses, so how do you attack him, says the Major. So in the Oberoi for instance, the terrorists kept moving between the 16th and the 18th floor, through staircases and elevator shafts. It is very draining for commandos to secure a floor, move up and then to hear gun fire again from a lower floor, says the Major.
The short answer to this problem? Stealth and technology. Most operations against an enemy inside a building need an entry from the top of the building, simply because the lower reaches are usually well defended. You cant have a situation where you have the ground forces cordoning off the building moving back or the fire engines moving away because that just gives away the motive, says the Lieutenant Colonel.
If stealth is achieved then at least three pieces of technology are a must: a sniper rifle, a thermal imaging device and finally a stun gun or gas gun. The sniper rifle is for precision shots because if there are hostages involved then machine gun would just end up killing even the hostages. Indian army uses Dragunov sniper rifles that are incredibly accurate, says an army source.
Then, of course, there is the use of thermal imaging equipment. This device can use the heat generated from the human body to see through walls. So this equipment can be used from outside the hotel to estimate the number of terrorists. Indian armed forces have both types of equipment: fixed and portable. Fixed thermal imagers have a range of 5 kilometres in open ground. The portable ones are like binoculars and have a range of 500 metres. Even inside a hotel, they can see through at least four-five rooms quite easily, says the Major.
There is also the option of using a gas that can slow down the reflexes of the terrorists. The problem is that old people may not be able to handle the effect of this gas in case they are hostage.
But this form of warfare is relatively new for India. It is the job of a specialised unit like the NSG. The NSG has four units, two of which are anti-hijack and anti-hostage and they are the ones ideally positioned to take on such an assignment in India. In the Oberoi and Taj event, there was a delay in bringing the NSG for sure and there were far too many agencies trying to tackle the situation. Only NSG has the expertise to do this, says the Major. India would do well to swell its rank if the events in Mumbai are anything to go by.
Shishir Prasad is Deputy Editor with the new business magazine to be launched by Network18 in alliance with Forbes, USA
Posted by: john frum ||
11/29/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"Indian army uses Dragunov sniper rifles that are incredibly accurate,
Umm, no. The SNIPER is accurate (or not). The rifle is only a tool.
#3
Dragunov rifles are acceptably accurate, not incredibly accurate. Civilian AR-10 or .308 AR-15 clones are just as accurate as the standard Dragunov which is a long barrelled AK action chambered for the Russian 7.62x54mm rimmed round.
#4
The portable ones (thermal imagers) are like binoculars and have a range of 500 metres. Even inside a hotel, they can see through at least four-five rooms quite easily,
I didn't know that. In fact, I doubt its possible for thermal imaging. Sounds likes some secret Israeli or US radar tech.
#7
Ain't it funny how everyone says the AK-47 works SO well but when push came to shove the Russians went ahead and invented their own analogue to the M-14?
Today's extreme stock market volatility is not just a symptom of fear -- fear cannot account for days of wild market swings upward -- but a reaction to meta-economic events: political decisions that have vast economic effects.
As economist Irwin Stelzer argues, we have gone from a market-driven economy to a politically driven economy. Consider seven days in November.
We may one day go back to a market economy. Meanwhile, we need to face the two most important implications of our newly politicized economy: the vastly increased importance of lobbying and the massive market inefficiencies that political directives will introduce.
Lobbying used to be about advantages at the margin -- a regulatory break here, a subsidy there. Now lobbying is about life and death. Your lending institution or industry gets a bailout -- or it dies.
You used to go to New York for capital. Now Wall Street, broke, is coming to Washington. With unimaginably large sums of money being given out by Washington, the Obama administration, through no fault of its own, will be subject to the most intense, most frenzied lobbying in American history.
That will introduce one kind of economic distortion. The other kind will come from the political directives issued by newly empowered politicians.
First, bank presidents are gravely warned by one senator after another about "hoarding" their bailout money. But hoarding is another word for recapitalizing to shore up your balance sheet to ensure solvency. Is that not the fiduciary responsibility of bank directors? And isn't pushing money out the window with too little capital precisely the lending laxity that produced this crisis in the first place? Never mind. The banks will knuckle under to the commissars of Capitol Hill. They control the purse. Prudence will yield to politics.
Even more egregious will be the directives to a nationalized Detroit. Sen. Charles Schumer, the noted automotive engineer, declared "unacceptable" last week "a business model based on gas." Instead, "We need a business model based on cars of the future, and we already know what that future is: the plug-in hybrid electric car."
#2
What gets me is... they're going to cut the achilles heel of entire industries (like the slow death of a thousand duck-nibbles the oilfield's been suffering the last twenty years, or the faster one it may face under Da Zero...) but it's not going to work, but after all the bankers have gotten their bailout and still have their working capital and their priveliged access to leverage... what are the rest of us in the crippled industries supposed to vote for? A free market where the looters get to keep their money and we don't have any (or a job?) A socialism run for the benefit of the rich connected people on the coasts?
#4
This issue was settled 80 years ago. Even Reagan couldn't get the decision reversed. It will be interesting to see what happens after this round of government aggrandizement.
#1
This is very bad. An analogy would be the effect on an automaker if people were paying full value for cars at auto dealers, but then the dealers refused to deliver the car.
Assuming, of course, there were only 17 auto dealers in the whole country.
Even if the buyers wanted a car that the automaker wanted to sell, they wouldn't dare buy, on the chance that the dealer would not deliver.
#2
I call bs. If there were really a problem in the repo market, it would affect Fed Funds almost immediately and offshore interbank lending as well. I'm not hearing about interbank lending issues these days, more banks unwilling to lend to credit worthy commercial and retail customers. lotp?
#5
Nimble, before you hoist the BS flag, consider that Treasuries have been oversold as a "flight to quality" ever since things turned really ugly in September. The index of them being oversold is the 30-day note and it's rate, now less than one-tenth of a percent. In normal times, it would probably be over four-tenths of a percent.
Another indicator is the Overnight LIBOR index. LIBOR is the Brit index on money loaned between banks. It works opposite to Treasuries, so as it rises, less money is being loaned. To have a free flow of interbank money, LIBOR needs to be down at two-tenths or below, and after the recent Central Bank interventions over there, it did drop to that level, but is now back up to over eight tenths.
The primary objective of all the trillions in central bank relief in all nations has been to unfreeze the credit markets, and by these indicators, it's easy to see that all such efforts to date have had only temporary results, and the markets are currently frozen again.
It's all a psychological game, and will continue so until the underlying problems of quality in borrowers are solved. Making those changes requires severe de-leveraging, and repeal of all of the ease-credit rules passed by the central governments. Some de-leveraging is happening as a by-product of equity loss, but not one single credit rule has been tightened, because all the liberal political philosophy of the last twenty five years has advocated loose credit, and unless and until that base philosophy changed back to status quo ante, there will be no solution, only feel-good temporary rises in equity value.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
