BRITNEY SPEARS was reunited briefly with her sons on Saturday night, spending about three hours with the two little boys nearly two months after the troubled pop star last saw them.
Spears' father, JAMES, played a key part in making possible the visit with JAYDEN JAMES, one, and SEAN PRESTON, two, said a spokesman for Spears' ex-husband KEVIN FEDERLINE. The spokesman would not say where the reunion took place or who else was there, but People magazine reported that Spears' psychiatrist was present. Spears had not been allowed to see the boys since January 3, when she refused to return the children after a visitation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2008 00:00 ||
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AMMAN: Even as it enriches Arab rulers, the recent oil-price boom is helping to propel an extraordinary rise in the cost of food and other basic goods that is squeezing this region's middle class and setting off strikes, demonstrations and occasional riots from Morocco to the Gulf.
In Jordan, the soaring price of oil led the government to remove almost all its costly fuel subsidies this month, pushing the price of some fuels up 76 percent overnight. In a devastating domino effect, the cost of basic foods like eggs, potatoes and cucumbers doubled or more.
In Saudi Arabia, where the inflation rate had been virtually zero for a decade, it has reached an official level of 6.5 percent, though unofficial estimates put it much higher. Public protests and boycotts have followed, and 19 prominent clerics posted an unusual statement on the Internet in December warning of a crisis that would cause "theft, cheating, armed robbery and resentment between rich and poor."
The Middle East's heavy reliance on food imports has made it especially vulnerable to the global rise in commodity prices over the past year How ironic. The rich Arabs get the oil profits, and the poor Arabs get to pay the bill. Maybe we can exchange a bushel of wheat for a barrel of oil.
I've just returned from a 10-day trip to Cuba and I must say that the misery and decay I encountered in Havana (Habana Vieja) exceeded my expectations by a wide margin. . . . Havana has two markets. One for Cubans, who pay with pesos, and one for tourists who pay with "pesos convertibles" (1 CUC = 1/0.9 USD = 1/1.3 EUR). The latter offers hotel rooms, gastronomy, good cigars, cabs, and souvenirs (interestingly, often made out of Coke-cans). Prices are the same as in developed countries and are actually even higher when adjusted for quality. When it comes to food, there aren't too many items I'd recommend. Salad is tasteless and beef is unchewable most of the time. So you'd better stick to fish. Cohibas are a bit cheaper than abroad, except if you live in tax crazy Canada.
The market for Cubans is a dispersed fleamarket. Even the "big" stores look like closed stores with a couple of items forgotten in the window. I highly recommend not visiting a local butcher: You wouldn't feed your dog with that stuff. . . .
Unfortunately, Cubans don't have access to "world news" (no foreign newspapers, no internet, no satellite dishes), so the people I talked with were actually quite happy with their situation ("We don't earn much, but as opposed to other countries education and health care is for free!" (translation mine)) and couldn't see that people in developed countries who are considered as dirt poor have a way higher living standard (I didn't have the impression that they were afraid to speak openly).
More at the link, including photos.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/25/2008 11:58 ||
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A small bomb exploded outside the headquarters of Venezuela's leading business chamber on Sunday, killing one person, police said.
The blast occurred near the entrance of the Fedecamaras business chamber headquarters in Caracas's middle-class La Florida neighborhood in Chacao district at approximately 1 a.m. local time, killing a man and shattering windows, Federal Police Chief Marcos Chavez said. "There's a person who was close by, and presumably could have been hit by the shock wave," Chavez told The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview. "We still have not identified the person."
Chacao Police Director Carlos Arreaza said the victim was missing his right hand, leading Chacao police to presume the dead man accidentally detonated the bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2008 00:00 ||
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Chacao Police Director Carlos Arreaza said the victim was missing his right hand, leading Chacao police to presume the dead man accidentally detonated the bomb.
Raul Castro was last night named president of Cuba, ending his brother Fidel Castro's 49-year rule but keeping the country on a Communist path.
Raul, 76, nodded and smiled as the National Assembly applauded his election by the rubber-stamp legislature. He was the sole candidate proposed for head of state.
In his first speech as Cuba's new leader, Raul said he could continue to consult Fidel on important decisions of state. He also vowed to be on guard against US "meddling". "We have taken note of the offensive and openly meddling declarations by the empire and some of its closest allies."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2008 00:00 ||
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HMMMMMM, REDDIT > RAUL reportedly desires to move Cuba towards a better, improved form of SOCIALISM and, ultimately, [SOcilaism-derived?]DEMOCRACY??? See also RENSE > ENERGY AND CAPITAL.com > SHERRITT INTERNATIONAL [Canada] AND THE RUSH/DRIVE [US-International?] TO 4.6BILLION BARRELS OF CUBAN OIL. Miyuuhns and Bilyuuhns also in new FDI, other depends on the oil goodies near Cuba's = Quba's shores???
Compare above to AFRICANCRISIS [paraph] > SOUTH AFRICA [SA]: ANC IS NOW THE NAZI/COMMUNIST PARTY OF SA, + SA: ANC CANNOT HANDLE [control] ITS OWN FINANCES, OPERATIONS LET ALONE TAKE CARE OF A NATION; + SOUTH AFRICA: AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER - WILL WHITES SECEDE FROM SOUTH AFRICA?
PORT-AU-PRINCE - Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier highlighted $555 million in aid to Haiti on Friday, as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the impoverished Caribbean nation. The funds, to be paid between 2006-2011, were earmarked to help build roads, police precincts and implement social and economic programs in the Western Hemispheres poorest country, Bernier told reporters.
Compared to other donor countries, our assistance to Haiti is one of the biggest per capita contributions, he said. We are proud to be able to help Haiti because we have in Quebec a Haitian community that has brought so much to Canada, said Bernier, adding that Canada will act according to aid priorities set by Haitian authorities.
If the Canadians can force some accountability this would be an excellent example of how to do aid: one country to one country. Focus responsibility and make clear that the old ways are no more. We'll see ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/25/2008 00:00 ||
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An aid worker told me that in one venture infrastructure money went toward building luxury homes for political officials. Haiti is full of usable agricultural land that sits vacant because anything earned from the land would go to corrupt officials. Thus, locals eke out subsistence livings. In other countries, corruption greases some productive wheels. In the poorest countries, it causes them to spin.
#2
If any country really wants to help Haiti and other poor countries, they should inform the politicians that they'll send PEOPLE, not CASH. People who teach land management, forestry, agriculture, and ways to help the poor help themselves.
Agricultural missionaries have been doing this for decades. The Southern Baptist Convention, for example, had foresters working to prevent erosion in Haiti, and agricultural experts teaching animal husbandry. In the Phillippines, one agriculturalist developed a whole range of useful projects, like fish and rabbit farming for protein, use of a native shrub as a hedge to shore up terraces for farming (Cheaper than wood and no danger to the forests).
#3
I agree mom, that eating dirt should never be considered nutricious...the VI has pioneered a fish farm that captures the droppings for fertilizer to grow vegetables that works in even the poorest of African nations on the coast and women can work it, not being dependent upon corrupt officials or lazy and abusive men so prevalent in these cultures
Hard-charging former businessman Lee Myung-bak became South Korea's new president Monday with a mandate to boost the economy and take a tougher line on nuclear-armed North Korea. The conservative, pro-U.S. Lee, nicknamed "The Bulldozer" for the can-do image he honed as a construction company CEO and later as mayor of Seoul, was to take the oath of office at the National Assembly at 11 a.m. (0200 GMT).
Lee's presidency ends a decade of liberal rule that critics say hindered economic growth, was too soft on communist North Korea and fomented tension with traditional close ally Washington.
Tens of thousands of officials and ordinary citizens were to attend the inauguration, along with foreign dignitaries including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2008 00:00 ||
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What great timing. South Korea and the US will be friends for about nine months.
Posted by: Big Phimble5120 ||
02/25/2008 23:27 Comments ||
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The brouhaha of the day in the Democratic race is the photo, on the Drudge Report, of Barack Obama, during a 2006 visit to Kenya, trying on what Drudge calls a "Somali Elder" outfit. Maybe I'm wrong, but in the photo, Obama appears to be wearing khakis and a red polo shirt, plus the African garb. Anyway, Drudge attributed the "smear photo" to the Clinton campaign. So the Obama campaign fired away with this statement from manager David Plouffe:
On the very day that Senator Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election. This is part of a disturbing pattern that led her county chairs to resign in Iowa, her campaign chairman to resign in New Hampshire, and it's exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties and diminishes respect for America in the world.
Now the Clinton campaign has fired back with this statement from campaign manager Maggie Williams:
Enough.
If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely.
This is nothing more than an obvious and transparent attempt to distract from the serious issues confronting our country today and to attempt to create the very divisions they claim to decry.
Hmm... Two weird things in this Team Hillary statement, about the picture of Obama in Somali garb.
1) They don't really deny distributing it, do they?
2) Doesn't this almost sound as if they're accusing Obama of using the Somali photo garb? Are they suggesting Team Obama put this out, in order to pin it on Team Hillary?
Posted by: Mike ||
02/25/2008 13:57 ||
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And in more good news for Obama, it appears he's also mesmerized Calypso Louie...
CHICAGO - In his first major public address since a cancer crisis, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Sunday that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the "hope of the entire world" that the U.S. will change for the better.
The 74-year-old Farrakhan, addressing an estimated crowd of 20,000 people at the annual Saviours' Day celebration, never outrightly endorsed Obama but spent most of the nearly two-hour speech praising the Illinois senator.
"This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better," he said. "This young man is capturing audiences of black and brown and red and yellow. If you look at Barack Obama's audiences and look at the effect of his words, those people are being transformed."
Farrakhan compared Obama to the religion's founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father. "A black man with a white mother became a savior to us," he told the crowd of mostly followers. "A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall."
Farrakhan also leveled small jabs at Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, suggesting that she represents the politics of the past and has been engaging in dirty politics.
Excuse me. Could you hand me my ten foot pole? Actually, make it the twenty footer...
Said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton: "Sen. Obama has been clear in his objections to Minister Farrakhan's past pronouncements and has not solicited the minister's support."
Please capture and save a copy of the subservient Sheik Hussein Obama in muslim costume. I've got this ugly gut feeling it can be used for years to come - or at least until the Marxist sob shuts RB down through a Demorcratic Party Fatwa.
#4
The photo was obviously divisive in that in the minds of a neutral observer, Obama 'looks' like a Muslim cleric, Imam, or Islamic 'official'. The Hillary camp knew that the submerged suspicions of some of the electorate would be heightened by uncertainty, thus promoting the 'fear mongering'. Obama's camp needs to accentuate this calculation; and dig up shots of Billy Boy donning international garb during his 8 years on foreign junkets. Hillary's camp didn't lay off the Obama speech issue until clips of Hillary using his phrases and clichés were shown. More obvious signs of desperation on the sinking 'Clintonic' Ocean liner.
#7
"Said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton: "Sen. Obama has been clear in his objections to Minister Farrakhan's past pronouncements and has not solicited the minister's support"
Hes denounced Farrakhans statements. AFAIK, he hasnt actually said Farrakhan is a complete shit. That would cause pain in part of the african-american community. That may well be what is asked of Obama though.
#9
Thankyou GK (#5)! Lets me know there are open minded people who can see through the 'fog of fear mongering'! The archive divers in the Hillary campaign obviously has someone(s) raking over the muck without first cleaning up her own 'backyard'. I would love to be the fly on the wall in the dark dank closet room, where the 'searcher' who says: "...This one, run with this one!", and then rush it over to Ms Williams for the 'green light', resides.
#10
Okay, I'll bite, whats wrong wid one's ancestral = continental heritage??? IMO THE PHOTO IN QUESTION IS NOT EXTRAORDINARY OR MALICIOUSLY GRAPHIC ENUFF TO BE LABELED AS "SMEAR". I see very little in itself to harm the Obama campaign.
OTOH, AFRICAN CRISIS/TOPIX > article on how the ULTRA-RADICAL, ISLAMO-MARXIST NATION OF ISLAM suppors the Obama campaign, + similar for the PRO-SOVIET/COMIE WORLD WORKER'S PARTY, PROGRESSIVE, etc. vv MUGNIYA/MUGNIYEH. In addition, MANY ON THE NET ARE SPECUL THAT WWP, WPP, etc. WILL COME OUT IN SUPPOR OF OBAMA.
Iff OBAMA wants to worry about something, its the last ^ above.
#11
Joseph, any photo that can be obtained showing Obama in 'moptop', propagates the 'fear mongering' among any folks who want any 'evidence' of the Muslim Connection Conspiracy.
#12
Joe, besides, B. Hussein's father was Kenyan, not Somali. Same continent, different country.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
02/25/2008 19:37 Comments ||
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If somebody has Muslims names, went to a Saudi sponsored Muslim school, his best friends are Muslims or just plain hate America, and Muslim terrorist are very open about their plans to destroy America. Explain to my why are you going to vote for him? Is political correct so valuable, that we have to risk everything on it, our Country and our lives?
Posted by: lena ||
02/25/2008 19:52 Comments ||
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#14
ION, INTERFAX-AVN/WAFF.com > RUSSIAN MILITARY ANALYST: USA CAN ATTACK RUSSIA 2012-2015, via ADVANCED/SUPERTECHS + Russ-annihilating NON-NUCLEAR PEEMPTIVE STRIKES.
Article - USA also desires to split Russia into THREE REGIONS > EASTERN, which will ge given to Euro = EU; CENTRAL, which the USA wants for itself; + WESTERN, includ Russ FAR East-Siberia, which will be given to CHINA [and JAPAN?].
LOOKS LIKE RUSS-CHIN'S "WAR NOT ONLY POSSIBLE BUT DESIRED" ANTI-US WAR IS NOT SCHEDULED FOR 2014 - 2018 - 2020/2022 ANY MORE???
A diiileeemmma for a new POTUS OBAMA, POTUS HILLARY, or POTUS MCCAIN.
Once again, POST-PEARL HARBOR = AMER HIROSHIMA? > USA DECLARE WAR, or instead SEND A STRONGLY WORDED LETTER(S) OF PROTEST??? UNSC VOTE??? CANCEL THE OLYMPICS???
It seems to me that the biggest proof that the Clinton campaign is in a flop-sweating panic is that while they are desperately trying to scrounge-up super delegates, they aren't doing anything to make their use more palatable to the Democratic base or to the political press. Even if she could win over super-delegates in a nominal way, she can't use them unless the party and the press consider it legitimate to decide the nomination via super-delegates. Right now, surrogates should be spouting analogies that make her case. "A race isn't over if nobody crosses the finish line" or some such should have been repeated so often we should be sick of hearing it already.
The Clintons used to be masterful about staying on message like this. During the impeachment debates, Clinton's surrogates spoke with one voice about how "the president is not above the law, but he's not below the law either." No Clinton sock-puppet was allowed to exhale a breath without calling Ken Starr a dirty tobacco lawyer. But now there seems to be no such discipline or foresight in Clinton land.
As Jim Robbins noted the other day, the media narrative is that Clinton can't catch-up to Obama. But the reality is that Obama can't win either. Neither of then can get enough delegates to keep the supers from deciding this thing.
The Obama people have the best possible framing of the issue right now. Basically, they cast the contest like boxing match: Whoever is ahead on points when the bell rings should automatically be declared the winner by the judges. The Clintons need to change that interpretation. One way to do that is to say that the race isn't over if no one crosses the finish line. Another is to say the judges don't have to decide the thing on points. After all, the reason there are super-delegates is because they are undemocratic, right? They're supposed to have the best interests of the party in mind, not the passions of the primary voters.
There may be better analogies out there. But the point is the Clintons don't have any. And, I don't care if Harold Ickes has a whole floor at Clinton HQ dedicated to scrounging up super-votes. If the Clintons don't provide a rationale that allows super-votes for Hillary to seem legitimate, she simply won't get them.
We're now at the throw-spaghetti-against-the-wall-and-see-if-it-sticks stage of the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Pictures of Obama in Somali garb? Got it.
Complaints that Obama is a dirty campaigner because of his mailer, hitting her on health care mandates? Check.
Mockery of his style, and declarations that, "the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect"? Got that too, and maybe long overdue.
Thing is, desperate and flailing as it seems, this is the way she's gotta be. She can't run a normal campaign when she's behind.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/25/2008 11:08 ||
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My biggest hope is that a few months from now we'll see a similar headline, with "Obama" replacing "Clinton".
In a ceremony that received virtually no attention in the American media, the United States and Canada signed a military agreement Feb. 14 allowing the armed forces from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a domestic civil emergency, even one that does not involve a cross-border crisis.
The agreement, defined as a Civil Assistance Plan, was not submitted to Congress for approval, nor did Congress pass any law or treaty specifically authorizing this military agreement to combine the operations of the armed forces of the United States and Canada in the event of a wide range of domestic civil disturbances ranging from violent storms, to health epidemics, to civil riots or terrorist attacks.
In Canada, the agreement paving the way for the militaries of the U.S. and Canada to cross each other's borders to fight domestic emergencies was not announced either by the Harper government or the Canadian military, prompting sharp protest.
"It's kind of a trend when it comes to issues of Canada-U.S. relations and contentious issues like military integration," Stuart Trew, a researcher with the Council of Canadians told the Canwest News Service. "We see that this government is reluctant to disclose information to Canadians that is readily available on American and Mexican websites."
The military Civil Assistance Plan can be seen as a further incremental step being taken toward creating a North American armed forces available to be deployed in domestic North American emergency situations.
The agreement was signed at U.S. Army North headquarters, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, by U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, or USNORTHCOM, and by Canadian Air Force Lt. Gen. Marc Dumais, commander of Canada Command.
"This document is a unique, bilateral military plan to align our respective national military plans to respond quickly to the other nation's requests for military support of civil authorities," Renuart said in a statement published on the USNORTHCOM website.
"In discussing the new bilateral Civil Assistance Plan established by USNORTHCOM and Canada Command, Renuart stressed, "Unity of effort during bilateral support for civil support operations such as floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes and effects of a terrorist attack, in order to save lives, prevent human suffering an mitigate damage to property, is of the highest importance, and we need to be able to have forces that are flexible and adaptive to support rapid decision-making in a collaborative environment."
Lt. Gen. Dumais seconded Renuart's sentiments, stating, "The signing of this plan is an important symbol of the already strong working relationship between Canada Command and U.S. Northern Command."
"Our commands were created by our respective governments to respond to the defense and security challenges of the twenty-first century," he stressed, "and we both realize that these and other challenges are best met through cooperation between friends."
The statement on the USNORTHCOM website emphasized the plan recognizes the role of each nation's lead federal agency for emergency preparedness, which in the United States is the Department of Homeland Security and in Canada is Public Safety Canada.
The statement then noted the newly signed plan was designed to facilitate the military-to-military support of civil authorities once government authorities have agreed on an appropriate response.
As WND has previously reported, U.S. Northern Command was established on Oct. 1, 2002, as a military command tasked with anticipating and conducting homeland defense and civil support operations where U.S. armed forces are used in domestic emergencies.
Similarly, Canada Command was established on Feb. 1, 2006, to focus on domestic operations and offer a single point of contact for all domestic and continental defense and securities partners.
In Nov. 2007, WND published a six-part exclusive series, detailing WND's on-site presence during the NORAD-USNORTHCOM Vigilant Shield 2008, an exercise which involved Canada Command as a participant.
In an exclusive interview with WND during Vigilant Shield 2008, Gen. Renuart affirmed USNORTHCOM would deploy U.S. troops on U.S. soil should the president declare a domestic emergency in which the Department of Defense ordered USNORTHCOM involvement.
In May 2007, WND reported President Bush, on his own authority, signed National Security Presidential Directive 51, also known as Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20, authorizing the president to declare a national emergency and take over all functions of federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, without necessarily obtaining the approval of Congress to do so.
#2
This just formalizes with the Canadians that the Mexican Army has been crossing the border for years.
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2008 9:25 Comments ||
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Corsi and WND are sensationalizing this (no surprise).
We've had defense agreements with Canada for decades via NORAD. Nothing in this agreement "allows armed forces from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation" directly.
What it does do is to provide a framework for coordinating planning so that when and if civil authorities request it, both militaries can respond rapidly and effectively to major casualty situations.
This is exactly like all those Pentagon plans for invading Upper Blovistan that the media breathlessly report on from time to time.
Prudent military leaders do SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) of their readiness to respond to foreseeable events all the time.
#8
In May 2007, WND reported President Bush, on his own authority, signed National Security Presidential Directive 51, also known as Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20, authorizing the president to declare a national emergency and take over all functions of federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments, without necessarily obtaining the approval of Congress to do so.
Of course prior to this the feds had to wait upon the governor of a state to declare an emergency and request assistance. Days were squandered in the last set of LA riots while the local politicians played political games. Days were wasted when hurricane Andrew hit south Florida. The MSM stuck Bush Sr with the blame. The former governor of Louisiana played the same game during Katrina and the MSM went along with it during Bush Jr's tenure. So now they change the rules to match the track record. Of course MSM cries again. "Oh, now they're doing something about which we complained about." How dare they change the rules! /sarcasm off
#9
OK Nutty Crazy RIGHTWING Moonbats, there is no way that Canada or Mexico (or combo thereof) will ever remotely think of invading the U.S. under any pretense. If I am proving wrong in the future I will kiss the ass of whomever they choose at high noon at the steps of the U.S. capital while Barney Frank violates me. That is how confident that this is all moonbattery. FYI we have had (to many degrees) a mutual defense agreement with Canada since their independence from England. During that time I don't remember one platoon of Canadian troops invading the U.S.
I'm sure this can all be traced back to FDR's declaration of an unlimited national emergency. Or is it fluoridation of water? The Federal Reserve perhaps? Masons? Joooooos?
Whatever it is, I am sure that abolishing public schools and going back on the gold standard will fix it.
#11
Sarge, while I agree that this is more than likely paranoia, I do think you misunderstand the perceived threat.
IF THIS WAS NEW AND TRUE, then the perceived threat would be of the kind of stealth integration that is turning the EU into a non-democratic, bureaucratic oligarchy and turning the countries of Europe into minor administrative regions with no significant sovereignty.
No threat of invasion, that's so last century. Now the way is to batter through bureaucracy. And I KNOW that there are a number of folks that would love to see a North American Union in the mold of the EU. I doubt that I'll live long enough to see if they make any headway, but check out what the founders of the EU were doing 60 + years ago.
Just think where the ideas to use "International Law" as precedent for the US, the ICC, Kyoto, etc. come from and where they go when continually ratched up.
#12
As I recall, September 11, Canada went into immediate action, helping to bring all those planes headed to the US on the ground in something under 2-3 hours. They landed most of our international inbound flights on their lands.
I don't directly recall -- but I'm betting, some of those military planes that were scrambled, circling cities and borders had Canadian flags on them.
I'd say, this agreement as always been there, just a little more formalized so there is formal planning for aid for another September 11 (disaster of any kind) between the two countries.
I'm not military, but I'll betcha there were American and Canadian military folks on the phones to each other that day. And we were glad to accept their help.
#14
AlanC: I agree with you that the problem is not acute, but chronic. There are a lot of true believers, in both political parties, that the US *must* become more like the EU. "It has to, because it has to!"
What grates is that the leaders of the three NA countries *know* their citizens don't want this, but think that they know better, and so are going to do it anyway.
It is not just "covert" government and treaties, agreements, councils and declarations that are outside of normal government processes, but blatantly lying about it, that is the annoying part.
For example, Texas is in the middle of a huge fight over the trans-Texas corridor, that the people don't want. But *while* the federal and State government is fully backing it, they just blatantly deny that it even exists. C'mon, that is like something Bill Clinton would do.
There are so many trilateral "think tank" organizations between the three countries that are pushing for this, led by well known internationalists, that there has even been some efforts in the US Congress to kill the deal:
"On January 22, 2007, 43 federal lawmakers who introduced H. CON. RES. 40, a resolution that expressed:
'The sense of Congress that the United States should not engage in the construction of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Superhighway System or enter into a North American Union (NAU) with Mexico or Canada.'
The bill has sat idle in Congress. Beyond these 43 Congressmen, it has little support. And that alone should send up warning flares. Congress does not care about US sovereignty.
Mexico is far along creating its Plan Puebla Panama. Canada joined, without any parliament vote, the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), based solely on the input of 30 multi-national corporations that Canada should join. Just of few of their legislators objected as well.
In other words, the actions of the governments of all three nations have been so coordinated, but at the same time, so unconstitutional by their own laws, that *anything* they do multi-nationally is suspect.
#15
The Canadians are already closely integrated into Space command. Just looks like an extension to what they are doing already.
Yes. Since the US recently formed USNORTHCOM, which is now the parent command for NORAD, there is now both an organizational framework as well as a potential value in such an agreement.
#18
FYI I've been part of NORTHCOM down in Colorado Springs. Not that big and evil an organization. Its more concerned with airspace security, and training WMD response units at the state local and National Guard level.
#20
RJS that's the kind of thinking that misses the point. No one is going to invade the USA, the USA, like the UK, will just cease to exist in any meaningful way.
I'd bet, in my more pessimistic moods, that the USA in 100 years will be no more than a historical footnote or a name on a map.
40 years ago when I first went to college I learned about the "One World Federalists". The ideas and impetus has not died and the movements methodology is a slow bureaucratic suffocation.
Again, reference the EU and what little Britain retains in the way of sovereignty.
#21
"Unity of effort during bilateral support for civil support operations such as floods, forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes and effects of a terrorist attack, in order to save lives, prevent human suffering an mitigate damage to property, is of the highest importance, and we need to be able to have forces that are flexible and adaptive to support rapid decision-making in a collaborative environment."
Oh yeah, just to coordinate air space.
Maybe the EU screwed up and failed to allow local pols to call in an army to stop the natives from throwing out the muzzies in their slums. The last thing I want to see is some foreigner directing traffic at the corner and telling us to stay in our houses, nothing to see here. The plain fact is we never needed this and we don't now, so what's really up ?
I agree with all the NAU critics. We have lost control of our political parties to the CFR, and we must regain such control if we are to pass this America to our grandchildren. Funny isn't it how America is wide open for anyone to enter, but not area 51.
Your gubmint has become your master. You still have a choice, but you will have to dedicate yourselves. Talking has it's limits.
#22
AlanC are you suggesting we'd all just suddenly become some sort of super-state and everyone would not notice it until it's too late? I just can't accept that.
NO IT'S NOT GOING TO BE SUDDEN!! That's the whole point. That's why I suggested that you check out what the EUophiles were doing and saying 60 years ago.
How did a coal/steel treaty of 1952 wind up becoming the EU? By a process of slow encroachment through various treaties and organizations; moving to the ECC and then the Euro and then the EU constitution which will be law in most of Europe without benefit of a vote. You see, it's just another treaty, nothing to see here, no need for a vote.
This is a bureaucratic example of the "First they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did nothing."
Each small step looks harmless and maybe beneficial in itself, but it will be part of a strategy of undermining the sovereignty of the countries involved.
Check out the EU Referendum blog for all the gory details.
#25
No one is going to invade the USA, the USA, like the UK, will just cease to exist in any meaningful way.
Really? What do you call all these illegal aliens that have flooded our country from Mexico and parts further South? What do you call all these Muslim immigrants and Somali refugees?
Homeland Security confirms that Boeing's 28-mile prototype of electronic border surveillance will not be expanded
The major Presidential candidates talked up its innovative approach to securing the U.S.-Mexico border. Aerospace and defense giant Boeing (BA), along with dozens of subcontractors, anticipated that it would give them a lucrative foothold in future government work worth billions of dollars. And fervent advocates of stronger obstacles to illegal immigration hoped the U.S. had finally found a more affordable way to fortify its southwest border than building hundreds of miles of physical barriers.
But Homeland Security Dept. officials have decided that an experimental 28-mile "virtual fence" meant to extend the U.S. Border Patrol's eyes and ears along the U.S.-Mexico bordera web of radar, infrared cameras, ground sensors, and airborne droneswon't be copied anywhere else in its entirety. The project was plagued with design, software, and other glitches; had fallen months behind schedule; and sometimes proved inoperable.
Translation: unlike ballistic missile defense, it doesn't work.
The government agreed to pay Boeing almost the full $20 million for successful completion of the prototype endeavor just south of Tucson, known as Project 28. But in choosing not to expand the project, Homeland Security officials are dashing expectations and causing embarrassment from Capitol Hill to the campaign trail.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/25/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If there is no physical fence, I think it's guaranteed failure. All they have to do is rush it en-masse. If half of them get past the border patrol due to lack of manpower, they've more than accomplished what they need to to make it attractive enough for the remaining 50% to try again until they succeed.
Now suppose you build a workable fence. If a couple make it through, they're easily caught if there are sensors to see where they are hiding or running to. And it doesn't take so much manpower.
But what does a workable fence look like? It would have to include a serious risk of inconvenience, death, and injury to be an effective deterrent. I imagine something like a tall concrete outer fence, a somewhat smaller inner fence, guard towers, and landmines or punji sticks or whatever. But a minefield can be breached. Perhaps autonomous guns or something. How are the Israelis keeping the Paleostinians away from their fence? Do they also have a chain link or smaller fence on the outside as well in order to slow down intruders long enough to shoot them?
If this physical barrier were supplemented with some simple laws that required solid proof of American citizenship/resident/guest-worker status for major services like housing, schooling, work, entitlements, major purchases (like cars), wiring money, bank services, and medical care (and hefty penalties all around for breaking these laws), maybe the fence could be toned down. We'd need a serious and reasonably generous guest worker program to offset it, too, that didn't allow for citizenship loopholes like anchor babies. In any case, border security would have to be good enough to keep terrorists out, too, and the US has way more border to worry about than just that between the US and Mexico. Heck, they could just fly right over the fence to LAX for a "vacation" and never go home.
#2
It sounds like the DHS has so mismanaged the contract that we really don't know what might have worked and what was a mistake. Getting real information from people on the ground instead of big heads in DC would help clear this story up.
#3
Without a physical barrier to slow and channelize the opponent, it is NOT a fences. Its just a detection system.
Fences stop people. Fences slow them down and make them go around. The make it hard to cross an area.
The "Electronic fence" does NONE of the above.
The whole purpose of a border fence isnt to be air tight, it is to increase the difficulty and time it takes to enter the US to the point where peopel stop trying to do that, and those that continue to try stand out much more easily to sensor systems, and are apprehended.
#4
But it makes a good sound bite which is what the Homeland [in]Security Department is all about.
The Virtual fence isn't to secure the border - its to shutup the "racist bigots" who want to deprive mexicans from doing the murders, rapes, and beatings jobs Americans won't do.
#7
I think bull----. We need to have a guest worker program with biometric ID required and enforced, deport anchor babies with their entire family so they are not on the public dime when leaving behind dependents, and get real serious about enforcing the border crossings at only mointored checkpoints. We have armed drones that work very well in the war zone and our border security should be priority one. Poor Mexicans are indistinguishable from terrorists with WMD's, it won't take but once to make it clear we mean business, and start defending against all enemies, foreign or domestic, smoked or ingested. It is quite clear to me why a blind eye is being turned to these human mules freely crossing the Tucson sector as all too many are profiting on this side of it. The "walkers" often end up in the emergency room and psych units on the taxpayer dime, bankrupting the hospitals. I don't blame Boeing as the real hang-up is Congress.
#8
The senior management of DHS should operate in 'virtual offices' as well. Sorta like those temps all the school kids are stuck with in the southwest due to overcrowding created by - illegal immigration.
#12
The redneck in my says we stock the Rio Grande with pirhanas and gators. That's an easy, quick fix to the river-border portion. Then work on the REAL (not virtual) fence.
Posted by: BA ||
02/25/2008 14:13 Comments ||
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#13
Sooo the US government enters into a massive contract with Boeing to design, build, and implement an unproven detection system. The terms of payment for the nearly $20 million price tag simply required the successful completion for the project. A little pricey but that sounds fair right? Not surprising, the contract was structured in such a way as to squelch discussion of the predicted limitations. And, of course, the design was introduced with cleverly written clauses for diminished expectations. But hey this has never been tried before. And dont forget this is like high-tech and cutting edge maann. Then a funny thing happened on the way down to the border the virtual fence concept turned into an actual failure. Clearly the big-shots at Boeing must have felt awfully bad for the DHS folks as they were forced to endure those embarrassing little phrases like marginal functionality at best". Why else would Boeing agree to give the government a whopping $2 million discount on future work? Where o where will they get that revenue shortfall back? Hopefully they can make it up through that little additional $64 million contract to develop a "common operating picture" system. Normally this is the kind of red meat that politicians love to sink their incisors into regarding government waste and the like. Whats different here is for this first class boondoggle to work the politicians only need that classic deadpan response to the obvious criticisms coming their way in the future. And in this case its are ya ready The virtual fence was always designed to function in conjunction with a comprehensive immigration policy. Weird aint it? Its almost like they knew it was gonna happen like this from the get go.
#14
The whole fence idea, virtual or real, is a crock of crap and a first class boondoggle. We need a Real ID with stiff prison sentences for employers who hire these people.
Hell, the government already knows who I am. The IRS knows my Social Security number, where I live, where I work, how much I make, who my kids are, etc.
So what's the problem with the Real ID? It'd work, that's what. Because that, my friends, is what the government, the Bushes, the Kennedys, the McCains, the Clintons, the Tysons, etc. do NOT want.
So as long as these people are in power we will continue to get red herrings like the virtual fence. None of them will make us any safer from terrorists crossing the border. None of them will make a damn bit of difference in the number of illegal aliens or the amount of drugs coming into the country.
#15
Hopefully they can make it up through that little additional $64 million contract to develop a "common operating picture" system.
Common operation pictures are key to how our military fights now. The first real COP was provided to tactical and higher operations centers in Iraq, fusing real time UAV and other sensor data with command and control systems etc.
From the Joint Forces Command glossary:
Common Operation Picture (COP) - A single identical display of relevant information shared by more than one command. A common operational picture facilitates collaborative planning and assists all echelons to achieve situational awareness.
COPs are central to joint operations, whether that means joint across the services, within coalitions or between law enforcement, emergency responders and possibly military commanders. They ensure a common picture in real time for what's happening in the battle / operational space.
That's especially important in efforts that DOD would call network centric, i.e. based on the use of real time information feeds and supporting software to enable rapid updates to situation awareness and local decisionmaking.
Basically, we had young Captains making decisions in Iraq that in Vietnam or Korea would have required Colonels, because we could a) collect and disseminate detailed info quickly and b) higher commanders could keep tabs on the overall picture much better than previously.
Just thought you'd want to know ... ;-)
Oh, and this other concept from JFCOM might be relevant if things really deteriorate on the border:
Civil-Military Operations - The activities of a commander that establish, maintain, influence, or exploit relations between military forces, governmental and nongovernmental civilian organizations and authorities, and the civilian populace in a friendly, neutral, or hostile operational area in order to facilitate military operations, to consolidate and achieve operational US objectives. Civil-military operations may include performance by military forces of activities and functions normally the responsibility of the local, regional, or national government. These activities may occur prior to, during, or subsequent to other military actions. They may also occur, if directed, in the absence of other military operations. Civil-military operations may be performed by designated civil affairs, by other military forces, or by a combination of civil affairs and other forces
It's the kind of situation in which a COP that spans over to law enforcement would be valuable. Because it may end up being the case that the civilian authorities the military is working with are our own.
Ralph Nader formally announced yesterday that he is to make his fifth run for the White House, renewing fears that he might again take votes from the Democrats in a tight race.
The consumer champion, who will turn 74 this week, rejected suggestions that he would damage the prospects of the Democratic candidate.
He stood in that campaign as the Green party candidate and took 2.7% of the vote. He stood again in 2004, as an independent, taking only 0.3%.
"If the Democrats can't landslide the Republicans this year, they ought to just wrap up, close down, emerge in a different form," he said.
Nader has stood four times for the presidency since 1992. Many Democrats blame him for taking crucial votes from Al Gore in 2000, allowing George Bush to take the presidency, an assessment that Nader rejects. He stood in that campaign as the Green party candidate and took 2.7% of the vote. He stood again in 2004, as an independent, taking only 0.3%.
He will offer a platform to the left of the two Democratic runners, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/25/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
Ralphie isn't going to make much difference. Now all those Trunks and Independents who crossed over during the primaries to do on to the Donks what Kos promoted in Michigan to do on to the Trunks, that will come home in November. The same people who designed the Florida ballots [Donks] are the same people who designed open primaries. Which of course matters nothing to them even though they are the ones who made it happen, because its always been about POWER. They'll whine, they'll bitch, they'll call America racist [as though having to vote for someone because of the color of his skin is any different than voting against someone because of the color of his skin]. Mirror, self.
#3
Don't forget Cynthia McKinney is running for President on the Green Party ticket. Be sure to urge all your progressive friends give their full support and disposable income to Nader and McKinney.
Posted by: ed ||
02/25/2008 8:08 Comments ||
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#4
I'm hoping he syphons off votes from the moonbat donks.
#7
Maybe they can raffle off one of these as a fundraiser.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/25/2008 12:37 Comments ||
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#8
Why not? It's safe.
In what may be the automotive industrys greatest irony, NHTSA, the federal agency created from Naders consumer advocacy, investigated the Corvair and issued a report in 1971 clearing the cars design, two years after the car went out of production.
#9
Proof that consumer advocacy and liberal agenda have never had anything to do with factual reality but rather on perceived panic spawned by ignorance.
no wonder they destroyed the schools and keep the masses stupid.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
02/25/2008 13:52 Comments ||
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#10
Nader. Looks like someone left the shelter doors open again.
Lockheed Martin has said that it would compete in India for up to $5 billion worth of naval contracts, mainly for three new vessels and a submarine upgrade programme. According to a senior company official, the company would also bid for defence communications contracts worth another $4 billion.
Richard Kirkland, Lockheed Martin's president, South Asia, in conversation with the media at the Singapore air show, said that India plans to have dedicated voice and data networks for its army, air force and navy, as well as a national command network.
He also said that India had taken an option to buy a further six C-130J military transport planes, over and above the six that it has already ordered. The billion-dollar deal, inked just this month, was significant in that it broke the long drought of military sales to India by American companies.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/25/2008 00:00 ||
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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.
BRITNEY SPEARS was reunited briefly with her sons on Saturday night, spending about three hours with the two little boys nearly two months after the troubled pop star last saw them.
Raul Castro was last night named president of Cuba, ending his brother Fidel Castro's 49-year rule but keeping the country on a Communist path.
