No doubt I will return to the question of the EU, multiculturalism and all that, but I thought that it would be a change to descend from great historical issues of principle to a closer look at how the morass of human rights laws, political correctness and the floods of illegal immigrants claiming political asylum are undermining efforts to put down piracy off Somalia.
On 11 November 2008, the frigate HMS Cumberland intercepted a suspected pirate dhow. Eight suspected pirates were arrested.
It all sounded a rather well conducted operation, but curiously the Government spinmasters were not out telling us all of this NuLab triumph. I tried to find out more from the private office of the relevant Defence Minister, but was passed from one telephone extension to another, finishing up at one stage with the security guard at the main door.
Eventually I found a friendly official who told me that there was a problem because the Home and Foreign Offices were in a state of (I think she used the word "concern", but "panic" seemed closer to the truth) over the possibilty that if the suspect pirates were brought here for trial they might claim political asylum.
I began to feel that the Government was not best pleased that the Royal Navy had interpreted a brief to put down piracy as a brief to put down piracy, rather than as a brief to look as if they were putting down piracy, subject to the overwhelming need to avoid bringing pirates to justice here in Britain.
A friendly Foreign Office Minister half-heartedly defended the policy with the question, "What else could we do?" I suggested that they could be put into the care of Haringey social services department, but we both agreed that might constitue a cruel and unnatural punishment. In fact, a deal was done with Kenya to put the pirates on trial in Mombasa.
Over a year later, on 2 December 2009, in reponse to a Parliamentary Question, I was told by the Foreign Office that the prosecution case was coming to a close and the defence was expected to be heard shortly.
More recently, I enquired on how many occasions Royal Navy units had made contact with pirates off Somalia, how many suspects were involved and whether they were armed. Back came the answer: the Navy had carried out "compliant boardings" on seven suspected pirate vessels, involving a total of 74 pirates, all of whom were armed.
The spin masters had been at it again. By choosing to interpret my expression "made contact with" as meaning "boarded", they had airbrushed away the incident in which the crew of the Cumberland had to watch the kidnapping of a British couple rather than risk their lives by engaging with the pirates. That couple are still being held hostage and their lives are still at risk. The pirates have run no risk at all to their own lives.
Another curious fact emerges from all this. In the first incident in November 2008, the Navy arrested all eight suspects and brought them aboard a Royal Navy ship, in essence within British jurisdiction. That caused the panic in Whitehall over possible applications for asylum here. Since then, I am told, there has not been "sufficient evidence" to charge any of the 66 pirates involved in the six further compliant boardings. How convenient. Indeed, how curious.
All the suspects were armed. Again by use of Parliamentary Questions, I discovered that in three cases hostages were found on the suspect pirate vessels. In all three cases those hostages were released. Now that sounds to me as if they were kidnap victims, and kidnapping at sea is piracy. But it seems there was "insufficient evidence" to charge the suspect pirates. How odd.
Do not blame the Navy. Our men are doing their best. Since October 2008 they have "seized and where appropriate disposed of 39 assault rifles, six rocket propelled grenades, four pistols, a quantity of ammunition, five ladders, several grappling hooks, numerous fuel barrels and four skiffs".
Not much evidence there then, so no need to embarrass anyone by arresting the "suspects", was there?
So why were these poor innocent sailors deprived of their hostages and their property? The Government tell me they had the right to do it under Article 105 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. But as I (and a distinguished lawyer) read that, the suspect pirates must be arrested before their property can be seized. After all, your local bobby, sorry Community Police Officer, can not just relieve a "suspect burglar" of his jemmy without taking the matter a little further.
Oh, and if all this was not enough, the Foreign Office tells me that "there have been four instances where water, fuel or food has been provided to suspected pirates". Well, that's fair enough, I suppose. If you take away the equipment they use to earn a living they should be entitled to welfare, shouldn't they?
While the world has been preoccupied with the crisis in Haiti, Latin America has quietly passed through a tipping point in the ideological conflict that has polarized the region -- and paralyzed U.S. diplomacy -- for most of the past decade.
The result boils down to this: Hugo Chavez's "socialism for the 21st century" has been defeated and is on its way to collapse.
During the past two weeks, just before and after the earthquake outside Port-au-Prince, the following happened: Chavez was forced to devalue the Venezuelan currency, and impose and then revoke massive power cuts in the Venezuelan capital as the country reeled from recession, double-digit inflation and the possible collapse of the national power grid. In Honduras, a seven-month crisis triggered by the attempt of a Chavez client to rupture the constitutional order quietly ended with a deal that will send him into exile even as a democratically elected moderate is sworn in as president. In spite of socialist solidarity with the Obama Administration.
Last but not least, a presidential election in Chile, the region's most successful economy, produced the first victory by a right-wing candidate since dictator Augusto Pinochet was forced from office two decades ago. Sebastian Piñera, the industrialist and champion of free markets who won, has already done something that no leader from Chile or most other Latin American nations has been willing to do in recent years: stand up to Chavez.
Venezuela is "not a democracy," Piñera said during his campaign. He also said, "Two great models have been shaped in Latin America: One of them led by people like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Castro in Cuba and Ortega in Nicaragua. . . . I definitely think the second model is best for Chile. And that's the model we are going to follow: democracy, rule of law, freedom of expression, alternation of power without caudillismo."
Piñera was only stating the obvious -- but it was more than his Socialist predecessor, Michelle Bachelet, or Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been willing to say openly. That silence hamstrung the Bush and the Obama administrations, which felt, rightly or wrongly, that they should not be alone in pointing out Chavez's assault on democracy. Piñera has now provided Washington an opportunity to raise its voice about Venezuelan human rights violations.
He has done it at a moment when Chavez is already reeling from diplomatic blows. Honduras is one. Though the country is tiny, the power struggle between its established political elite and Chavez acolyte Manuel Zelaya turned into a regional battle between supporters and opponents of the Chavez left -- with Brazil and other leftist democracies straddling the middle.
The outcome is a victory for the United States, which was virtually the only country that backed the democratic election that broke the impasse. Honduras is the end of Chavez's crusade to export his revolution to other countries. Bolivia and Nicaragua will remain his only sure allies. Brazil's Lula, whose tolerance of Chavez has tarnished his bid to become a global statesman, will leave office at the end of this year; polls show his party's nominee trailing a more conservative candidate.
Haiti only deepens Chavez's hole. As the world watches, the United States is directing a massive humanitarian operation, and Haitians are literally cheering the arrival of U.S. Marines. Chavez has no way to reconcile those images with his central propaganda message to Latin Americans, which is that the United States is an "empire" and an evil force in the region.
Then there is the meltdown Chavez faces at home. Despite the recovery in oil prices, the Venezuelan economy is deep in recession and continues to sink even as the rest of Latin America recovers. Economists guess inflation could rise to 60 percent in the coming months. Meanwhile, due to a drought, the country is threatened with the shutdown of a hydroelectric plant that supplies 70 percent of its electricity. And Chavez's failure to invest in new plants means there is no backup. There is also the crime epidemic -- homicides have tripled since Chavez took office, making Caracas one of the world's most dangerous cities. At a recent baseball game a sign in the crowd read: "3 Strikes-Lights-Water-Insecurity/President You Struck Out."
Chavez's thugs beat up those baseball fans. The man himself is ranting about the U.S. "occupation" of Haiti; his state television even claimed that the U.S. Navy caused the earthquake using a new secret weapon. On Sunday his government ordered cable networks to drop an opposition-minded television channel.
But Chavez's approval ratings are still sinking: They've dropped to below 50 percent in Venezuela and to 34 percent in the rest of the region. The caudillo has survived a lot of bad news before and may well survive this. But the turning point in the battle between authoritarian populism and liberal democracy in Latin America has passed -- and Chavez has lost.
BHARAT RAKSHAK/TOPIX > ANARCHY IN THE UK [AND IN THE US TOO].
* SAME > OTHER BLOG Artics > WHY IS CA BROKE? + PLUNDERING CALIFORNIA: HOW PUBLIC-SECTOR UNIONS BROUGHT THE STATE TO ITS KNEES, + TWENTY REASONS WHY THE US ECONOMY IS DYING AND ISN'T GOING TO RECOVER.
* SAME > IS THE US ECONOMY BEING TANKED[destroyed] BY MISTAKE, OR BY INTENT [pre-planned/wilful]?
Our Parents + Grandparents, etc. lived through a roughly DECADE/TEN YEAR-OR SO LONG "GREAT DEPRESSION" > POST-9-11 GWOT AMERICA = AMERIKA MAY NOT BE SO LUCKY.
Absolutely amazing poll results from CNN today about the $787 stimulus package: nearly three out of four Americans think the money has been wasted. On second thought, they may be right: it's been wasted on them.... "Idiots! Fools! You've no idea how good you have it!"
After "explaining" how the stimulus is the Greatest Thing Ev-er and has saved everyone's butt even though most of the money hasn't been spent yet, he concludes:
So, two thoughts:
1. The Obama Administration has done a terrible job explaining the stimulus package to the American people...especially since there have been very few documented cases of waste so far. "But, but, but Joe . . . Barack Obama is the greatest orator ever to orate, isn't he? That's what you told me last year, and the year before."
2. This is yet further evidence that Americans are flagrantly ill-informed...and, for those watching Fox News, misinformed. "It's YOUR fault!"
It is very difficult to have a democracy without citizens. It is impossible to be a citizen if you don't make an effort to understand the most basic activities of your government. It is very difficult to thrive in an increasingly competitive world if you're a nation of dodos.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/25/2010 17:24 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
He's right - we need to PROVE to the American people how successful the $787 billion stimulus has been. So, how about a full-scale in-depth independent audit of the stimulus spending?
#2
Unfortunately the "two party system" we have in place in Illinois are City Democrats and County Democrats. I have been focus grouping with one of our congressional candidates, however, and my household "get out the vote" program is in full operational mode. I brought it up at sunday dinner with my young adults that not voting is not an option if they want to be invited to sunday dinners!
Posted by: Pearl Unineling2375 ||
01/25/2010 20:03 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Oops, I ran afoul of Fred's Random Nym Generator.
Pearl Unineling is me.
Posted by: Pearl Unineling2375 ||
01/25/2010 20:05 Comments ||
Top||
#5
I believe you
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/25/2010 21:14 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"Pearl Unineling", you need to post another comment, anywhere in the 'Burg, in which you click on My Original Nic below the comment box, or else type in your name in the Your Name box -- each should work. Good luck!
USNS Comfort - (T-AH-20)
Keel Laid: May 1, 1975 (the oil tanker SS Rose City)
Launched: February 1, 1976 (SS Rose City)
Commissioned: December 1, 1987 (as USNS Comfort)
One of two of Military Sealift Command's Hospital Ships and part of its 41-ship Naval Auxiliary Force. (Other Hospital Ship: USNS Mercy)
Features: USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) and USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) each contain 12 fully-equipped operating rooms, a 1,000 bed hospital facility, digital radiological services, a medical laboratory, a pharmacy, an optometry lab, a CAT-scan and two oxygen producing plants. Each ship is equipped with a helicopter deck capable of landing large military helicopters. The ships also have side ports to take on patients at sea.
Background: Both hospital ships are converted San Clemente-class super tankers. Mercy was delivered in 1986 and Comfort in 1987. Normally, the ships are kept in a reduced operating status in San Diego, Calif and Baltimore, Md., respectively.
USNS Comfort Status as of January 1, 2010:
Reduced Operating Status (5)
Reduced Operating Status Crew: 18 civil service mariners and 58 Naval medical personnel
Definition of 'Reduced Operating Status (5):
ROS-(5) requires a small crew onboard to assure the readiness of propulsion and other primary systems if the need arises to activate the ship. (5) indicates it will take five days to make the ship ready to sail, fully crewed and operational.
ROS 4 & 5 are defined as 'Priority Readiness'.
From Global Security: Those ships requiring the fastest activation (4 and 5 days) are maintained in Reduced Operational Status (ROS, i.e., ROS-4 and ROS-5). ROS vessels are required to be fully mission capable within either four or five calendar days from notice to activate (ROS-4 & ROS-5 designations). These vessels are in a state of continuous maintenance and many of the systems are continuously or frequently operational.The vessels are crewed by maintenance crews that serve as the core of the ships' operating crew when the vessels are activated. High priority ships kept in Reduced Operating Status (ROS) 4-day and 5-day status have 9 or 10 person maintenance crews on board, are berthed at dispersed "outport" locations, and have frequent sea trials to test their operational capability. When the ships are activated, remaining crew members come from the pool of seafarers whose normal jobs are aboard U.S.-flag merchant ships which operate in the nation's domestic and international commerce.
Last activation:
January 13, 2010, to support Operation Unified Response Haiti
Sailing Date:
January 16, 2010
Arrival on station:
January 20, 2010 and immediately began receiving patients.
Comfort left Baltimore ahead of schedule in just 76.5 hours with a crew of 67 civil service mariners, 560 medical personnel and an approximately 110-person contingent of support personnel.
Comfort is one of 10 MSC ships mobilized to date in support of humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti. These ships include hospital ship USNS Comfort, fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn, rescue and salvage ship USNS Grasp, dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Sacagawea and Maritime Prepositioning Ship USNS 1ST LT Jack Lummus.
In addition, four ships have been activated from the U.S. Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force to assist with the effort. When activated, these ships come under the operational control of MSC. Note: I was slammed the other day for my comments on a 'vague' comment from another RBer about the deployment of the USNS Comfort. I stand by my comments. Had the 'slammers' bothered to read all of my 'very clear' comments, I was specific in criticizing bureaucratic budget cutters, NOT Navy personnel. I'm not going to respond by telling patriots to do that which they wrote of me, but perhaps the original poster should be more specific in comments and the other slammer should simply re-read.
Our military response on-scene has been somewhat lacking, tempered by the excellent efforts of our military personnel. However, THEY are not responsible for the fact that they have no training for relief efforts, AND, specific to my previous comments, ROS crew are not themselves responsible for the fact that the USNS Comfort was NOT in a condition befitting 'Reduced Operating Status' at the time of her activation, due to the fact that it had NEITHER operational Comms or operational generators when it sailed. As quoted from the previous poster's article, "Last Tuesday morning the Comfort was sitting at pier 11 in Baltimore with no power or people or supplies. A big chunk of cold steel.", plus "...shoved off the pier around 1000 Saturday with only that external power. Because of that limited power and how this old ship's wiring is configured, we didn't have any communications. None."
That is NOT meeting Reduced Operating Status requirements. In fact, should they have sailed at all? I was not a navy officer, but I believe sailing a ship of that size without working comms is a major violation of both civilian and military maritime rules. Perhaps mobile comms are permissible if they permit communications with other traffic, but that was not elaborated.
I have no knowledge of the media bad-mouthing the Navy, as the author of the original article suggested. I would question again, as I asserted to in my previous comments, 'where is the criticism of this administration', including the Hill. (see U.S. Navy Readiness Flaws Exposed)
As I tried to suggest in my previous comments, let your congressman/senator know how you feel about military funding and, for that matter, this horrible disaster jokingly referred to as 'fiscal management'. Cuts WILL have to be made in the coming 2 years. If we can't keep RRF and ROS ships ready to sail now, it will only get worse when the Dems begin cutting. The personnel tasked with readying the Comfort and those sailing with her are to be commended. Perhaps I should have commented on that previously, but that was NOT the point I was making at the time.
I spent an hour collating this data from many sources and elaborating on my comments. If I'm still to be denigrated, it's only Ricky Boxing by closet liberals...
#1
Thanks for digging out the information, LogiCal.
I wondered about the readiness of the ship but didn't know enough to comment. If we're only going to have two major hospital ships, and if we're going to keep them in storage against the day we really need them, then they have to be ready to go when needed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/25/2010 13:00 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Here is a posting by The Armorer at Castle Argghhh! blog, telling what it is like on the Comfort. There are some selfless and dedicated people on this ship, going into a very tough mission.
================================ Sorry itâs been so long for an update but internet access has been non-existent on the ship. In fact as Iâm typing this I still donât have access but I wanted to catch some notes on my laptop and mail them as soon as I can.
When I do send email, if you reply please delete all the text of the email I sent you to keep the message small. The bandwidth for this entire ship is less that 1 MByte per second. Way less than what you have in your home. And here itâs shared by almost 1,000 people.
I got on the ship without a hitch and they assigned me berthing. They told a petty officer to show me where Iâd be. He looked at my paper and said, âOh no, sir. You donât belong there!â and took me to the enlisted berthing. That was fine by me but it turned out he was wrong and Iâve ended up in a stateroom with four senior Navy Captains. Howâd the old Sarge ever end up here with these O-6s?! I have to remember to behave and not pick my noseâ¦
We were supposed to get underway Friday at 1800 but were delayed. There are two diesel powered electrical generators on the ship and when they went to fire one up, neither would start. So they placed a temporary generator on the deck and wired it up.
Electricians worked all night and we shoved off the pier around 1000 Saturday with only that external power. Because of that limited power and how this old shipâs wiring is configured, we didnât have any communications. None. The Skipper and the shipâs master were communicating on satellite phone and a hand held maritime radio. The Navy sent a big ship full of people out to sea with no comm⦠THATâs how serious the Navy is about getting the Comfort into Haiti ASAP.
A few hours out of the Chesapeake into the ocean they got the power up and started bringing internet service up. But there was just a small fire in the radio room. As I type this, power is all back and running and âsoonâ weâll have internet access. Then Iâll send this.
We understand that a lot of the media is bad mouthing the Navy. They always seem to take the half empty glass frame of mind. They ask how is it that China has people on the ground operating and the Comfort still isnât there. Well, the US military could easily put a surgical team on a C-17 to come to Haiti and perform simple surgeries like the Chinese did. In fact the Army 82nd Airborne field hospital is operational. The media doesnât say that the Chinese and Russians and Cubans are all holding their serious patients THEY CANâT HANDLE for the Comfort to arrive. The Comfort will have the capability to take in 1100 Haitians at any time. That takes a staff of 1300 blue suit Navy professionals with all the medical supplies⦠and food and water for all those people.
Last Tuesday morning the Comfort was sitting at pier 11 in Baltimore with no power or people or supplies. A big chunk of cold steel. From the time the President said go, in 66 hours we were turning knots. That means getting all the people and supplies and getting the ship seaworthy. This was a major accomplishment!
We sailed with almost 500 crew on board. The remainder of the crew will be flying into Haiti over the next few days. Some crew members will be hot racking. That means two people will share a bed on different shifts. For the first two days the crew ate MREs. Weâve got meals now as theyâve brought up the galley.
When the ship has its full compliment, with the water requirements of the patients and the water making capabilities of the ship at anchor, the crew will probably not be able to shower every day. And when we do itâll be a âNavy shower.â Turn the water on and get wet then turn it off. No more than 15 seconds. Soap down and wash, then turn it on and rinse. No more than 30 seconds. And by the way, the water may not always be very warm⦠oh well.
I started to write, âSo thatâs the bad side.â But thatâs not the bad side. Itâs just the way things are. And Iâve not heard a single complaint from anybody on this ship. I say again these are professional caregivers. The best the country has to offer.
The bad news you probably know better than me right now because weâve seen no news. We know people are dying. Weâre getting there as fast as we can but thatâs only about 12 knots. And people will be dying here on the ship.
Personally, this isnât OpSmile with cute kids we can fix. Thisâll be people with severe injuries: amputations, brain injuries, etc. Weâre going to be dealing with newly orphaned kids. And what do we do with everybody after their medical treatment? Especially the orphans.
Being in the news isolation bubble is sort of strange. We donât know what weâll see when we get to port. Weâre chugging along preparing and rehearsing. But itâs going to hit the fan soon. I donât know what to expect.
Itâs Monday evening now and we just had the 1900 briefing. Weâre about 36 hours out so weâll be arriving Wednesday morning. When weâre within range of the Carl Vinson (CVN-70) some MH-60âs will begin lifting the most critical patients here and the pace will change. Theyâre talking about thousands of patients going through here over the next few months. Weâll be going to 24/7 operations. Flight operations canât fly at night [gee⦠my dear old friend Mike Stratton flew LOTS of night dustoff flights around Hui Ba Den in Viet Nam! I miss him.] so the casualty receiving will slow down at night but the ORs will keep cranking.
So what is it Iâm doing you may ask. Iâm working for the Skipper on how the Comfort will work with Non-Government Organizations to replace the blue suiter to go home forâ¦. A break. Project HOPE has a long list of doctors, nurses and other folks who have volunteered. With the Navy taking close to 1,300 of their people out of the Navy medical centers, those left behind are stretched very thin. So we canât maintain this many blue suits on the ship.
After a couple weeks weâll start bringing in those Project HOPE people. Iâm working on planning that. American Red Cross is sending 100 Haitian-Americans here as translators. Iâll be assigning them to wards, OR, ICU, CASREC, etc. Including 2 for the chaplains. The chaplains said their job is âTo help the Haitians die and to keep the sailors alive.â A chilling look at what may be in store.
Weâve gotten lots of email from Church of Christ, Latter Day Saints, Catholic Relief, Rotary Club, and others about people already on the ground in Haiti. We need to put teams on the ground for triage. But we donât have enough blue suits to run the hospital AND do triage. So one thing we discuss in staff meetings is who and how to mesh all this together.
And my friends, I sit in these meetings and just wonder how the hell I got here. One of the biggest GOOD things our country has done in a very long time and Iâm involved in the planning⦠and they listen! What an unbelievable honor it is to be here with these people and be part of this. Iâll carry it the rest of my days.
You all know Iâm not a religious man and lots of you arenât very religious⦠maybe not as much a heathen as I am, though. I ask you to pray for these good people. And if you donât pray, just think of them. Theyâll need strength physically and mentally. One of my roommates has a masterâs degree in disaster medicine and he briefed about care giver PTSD. I knew nurses from Viet Nam with that problem.
Several times the CO, XO, and head of nursing have stressed that the surgeons are critical and do a great job. But itâs the nurse and nurse practitioner who touches and treats and heals the patient. Or itâs the nurse who holds the patients hand as they leave this world⦠and wraps them up in a bag. Please pray for our nurses.
Itâs Tuesday afternoon. This morning after the Skipper SITREP briefing, Captain Ware talked about how the pace will change. How although nobody will be shooting at us here on the ship, it will be like a battle with a fast pace of critically injured and dying people. Patients dying and perhaps crew dying ashore. He told us to prepare for the possible loss of a shipmate.
I sat there feeling like the âwarâ was getting ready to start and I was being left out. How was I going to be involved and help people more than just pushing paper and coordinating NGOs. So I talked with the CO of nurses and got his permission to spend my spare time on the 2 Forward ward, pediatrics. I went down to meet the staff and let them know I was available for whatever they needed and while there the chaplains came in. They talked to the staff about children dying.
Iâve got to go to the 1400 planning meeting. This will be the last planning meeting before we go into operation so itâs all got to be finalized today. I wish you could see the planning and caring that goes into this. Take all the politician assholes out of the picture and get it down to the people of the United States and we can do just about anything.
Hereâs an exchange from the 1400 briefingâ¦
âHow many bodies can the morgue handle?â
âSir, the morgue will hold 22 bodies. But of course we could stack 4 or 5 babies or 2 or 3 kids into one slot.â
19 January
We had our first two patients come aboard at 2130. Itâs a woman with a big chunk of cinderblock in her brain and a child with a crushed pelvis whose bladder is pretty much destroyed. The staff on the Vinson had them stable but couldnât do any more. My roommates are working tonight.
20 January
This morning I went to the galley about 0545. Around 0600 the ship shook. A LOT! Some thought it had gone aground and some thought theyâd put the screws into reverse. Chiefs told us later this old boat doesnât have the power to reverse the screws. It was a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. So big it shook a ship over 300 feet long like a toy.
Patients are flowing in and the mood of the ship has changed dramatically. Casualty receiving (CASREC) is packed.
Iâve talked with the nurses in pediatrics about toys and stuff for the kids. Unlike OpSmile, the Navy doesnât bring toys on a mission! I talked with a chief about when weâre going to get the post office working then Iâm going to try to order some stuff. They want coloring books and crayons, underwear [whatâs that?!], and what theyâre asking for the most is Bibles. Iâve talked with the chaplains about that because Bibles printed in Kreyol may be hard to find! Kreyole is not the same as Creole.
Time for the 1900 briefing. Itâs Wednesday. A week since I was sitting watching TV. What a ride so far⦠I hope I can sent this tomorrow.
So itâs not tomorrow yet⦠We saw 81 patients today. The count will go up once the Haitians learn where the landing zones will be and they start showing up. We donât have our Marine combat cargo Gunnery Sergeant yet so a Navy chief filled in today. We had 147 helicopters land on the Comfort. Only 81 patients so you can see there were a lot of politicians trying to show the world how important they are. Plus media was all over CASREC today.
Captain Sharpe, one of my roommates, just came in all pumped up about the day. He said, âThis is what itâs all about. Helping people.â We talked about how much busier things are going to get. Last night he and I talked about amputations. You chop the limb off clean _ they call it a guillotine amputation _ cover it with gauze, and put the patient in the ward for a couple days. Then you have to bring him back and operate again to take out whatâs died, rap it up, and put them away again for a couple day. This may go on 3 or 4 or 5 times until you open it up and nothings dead. Then you can close the skin flap and be done. The point is that a person with an amputation doesnât get operated on once and done. So heâs concerned with the number of amputations weâll see the number of surgeries will go thru the roof. Weâll just have to see.
So today was a 15 hour day for me. The medical folks had it a lot harder. Chief Woods was on the flight deck non-stop, except for 5-minute bathroom breaks, on his feet in the sun from 0630 to 1930. And all he could do tonight was smile. Iâll see you all tomorrow. Yeah yeah yeah,,,,
So obviously I have email but itâs convoluted. This morning the Skipper reassigned from NGO support to supporting the Navy Captain and Lieutenant Commander preparing metrics for the ship. Patient Admin keeps metrics for onboard admissions very well but nothing is set up ashore. We have teams setting up clinics. 82nd Airborne is setting up secure perimeters. But nobody is keeping records ashore. Skipper is talking with legal about a civilian [me] doing that and what the liabilities may be. I hope we can work past that so I get ashore and into the action. Weâll see. Take care of yourself and remember my shipmates aboard the Comfort.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/25/2010 13:29 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Fyi, the RB post I link to links to the 'Arggghh' site & article and is the basis for my comments.
I suppose I should also have elaborated on my secondary point:
Read FIRST, then react.
I'm going to withhold further comment while I go bang my head on my office door...
#2
Not quite a photoshop, but if you look at the drawings on the wall, it's not the same room in which he met with the kids. They had one room for the kids and another for an important statement from TOTUS.
Here's the photo OP before the Q & A with the kids. Apparently they did the photo op, cleared the room, had a Q & A with the kids, and then important words from SecEd and TOTUS in another room. I thought Barry looked a bit like Charlie McCarthy to Arne Duncan's Edgar Bergen in the video.
#4
It's so simple. We don't need to wait until 2012 to change direction. Just reprogram the teleprompter and everything will be fixed. Plug in some Sarah Palin speeches for starters. Or plug in a Stalin speech and see if anyone notices...
#5
Load the teleprompter with the lyrics to "I Am The Walrus." Please.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/25/2010 13:17 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The kids were probably pre-screened, to insure that only the children of reliable Democrat apparatchiks were permitted in the room. And only children with acting experience who are politically reliable would be given scripts to ask questions and give complements.
Since they couldn't get enough of those kids in that school, they probably bused in ringers.
#1
While I agree that a MacArthur constitution would have been better for both countries, I would like to point out that Iraq is not under Sharia law, but the international version of the Code Civil, the modern French version of Napoleonic law. Whether this is better than Sharia remains to be seen.
#3
DAILY STAR.LB [Lebanon] OP-ED > FOR AMERICA, THERE IS NO WAY OUT. Amer's macro-managment approaches to waging the GWOT will likely NOT suffice to win or prevail in the GWOT unless Amer also makes good at serious efforts to understand the MICROS = SHIFTING REALITIES of these Regions + their various competing Cultures-Societies.
Last week, I received a call from a friend who said, "This week's Newsweek has a picture of you along with a statement that you made about Muslim terrorists. It makes you sound ridiculous."
My statement published in Newsweek was, "Though the vast majority of Muslims aren't terrorists, there are hundreds of millions who are."
I have been interviewed dozens of times on the issue of Islamic terrorism. I believe this quote was taken from my appearance on Jan. 7 on Neil Cavuto's Show on Fox News.
In response to the Newsweek piece, I sent the following e-mail to its editor:
"Your reference to my remarks concerning Muslim terrorists, which appeared in the January 18, 2010, edition of Newsweek, is somewhat misleading.
"My comments concerning Muslim terrorist are well-known. I have often said that there are about 1 billion 200 million Muslims worldwide, and that the vast majority are peace-loving and decry terrorism. Nevertheless, I believe Osama bin Laden is the most popular figure in the worldwide Muslim community. If you estimate that 20 percent of Muslims support terrorism (defined as approving the intentional killing of civilians to achieve political goals) that would add up to more than 200 million Muslim terrorist supporters.
"I concur, as was stated by Abdel Rahman al-Rashad, the head of an Arab television channel who wrote in 2004: 'It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorist, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims...We cannot clear our names unless we own up to the shameful fact that terrorism has become a Muslim enterprise, an almost exclusive monopoly, implemented by Muslim men and women.'
"In my judgment those facts allow profiling as a reasonable response, and I believe most of our readers have come to a similar conclusion. Why not poll them.
"I am sorry that it did not cross the mid of anyone at Newsweek that my reference was to terrorist supporters, and that a telephone call to verify was not made."
I immediately received the following response from the magazine's letters editor which gratified me.:
"Dear Mayor Koch. We would like to use your letter on Newsweek's letters page. Our policy is to include the writer's name, city, and state, so I wanted to confirm your city and state before we run anything. If you could please reply with that information at your earliest convenience we would greatly appreciate it. Thanks very much."
The following day, I received another e-mail from the letters editor which read:
"Dear Mayor Koch. I'm sorry to inform you that it looks like we won't have a letters page in the magazine this week.
Occasionally we need the space for other content and I just learned this afternoon that we are losing the page this week for that reason. I apologize for any inconvenience."
I thought someone should read my explanation, so I'm burdening you with it and look forward to receiving your opinions on it. What people in public life treasure most is their reputation. I refer to integrity and common sense. At the age of 85, I shall continue to lift my voice and offer my opinions. Mr. Koch: Here is your letter. Rantburgers: Should you concur, Please disseminate it. Post it/link to it EVERYWHERE..
#1
Mr. Koch describes Newsweek's caption as "somewhat misleading." I would describe Mr. Koch's statement as "somewhat charitable."
The difference between 200K terrorism supporters/enablers/apologists versus 200K terrorists is so vast that Newsweek's caption cannot be dismissed as stupidity or carelessness.
#2
Koch erred only in one respect. You cannot win a fight by being purely defensive, in this case, just defending against the slander without challenging the attacker.
Instead, a few inquiries would have led to the discovery of the individuals, the people, at Newsweek who were personally responsible for the slander.
By personally implicating them, the dual purpose is made that to maintain its credibility (what little if any it retains), Newsweek needs to downsize such individuals; and as fair warning to others that Newsweek tolerates such slander, *and* that it must be assumed that the named persons will do so in the future, so should not be trusted.
#3
"...I have often said that there are about 1 billion 200 million Muslims worldwide, and that the vast majority are peace-loving and decry terrorism...."
Sadly, Ed Koch doesn't realize that for a lot of Muslims 'terrorism' does not include infidels being killed by muslims. For a significant number, the very existence of Israel is an act of terrorism, the fact that US troops are in Afghanistan is terrorism, the fact that the Caliphate was overthrown is terrorism, the fact that Spain is not islamic is terrorism, etc.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/25/2010 11:39 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I don't read Newsweek, I can already access DNC press releases on-line.
#2
Not to pound away on what seems to be one of the themes of the day here, but as evidenced by his belief that his life was meant for something much bigger than what it's actually turned out to be, it's obvious that he suffers from acute Narcissistic Personality Disorder. No surprise there, of course, given that his father suffers from severe NPD, as well, and it tends to be passed down from generation to generation.
#3
He's making an interesting propaganda argument... Osama just wanted the US to enter Afghanistan and waste billions.... nothing to come after from his dad.....
But, he ignores Bali, Spain, UK and a host of other attacks....
I think he's a BS'er still in contact with his dad.
The judicial keelhauling of New York's Bravest continues apace.
Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis -- without a shred of evidence that the FDNY had discriminated against minority applicants -- last week imposed strict racial hiring quotas on the department.
For every five new hires, Garaufis ordered, the department must reserve two spots for black applicants and one for Hispanic applicants -- until precisely 293 minority firefighters have been hired.
He also ruled that fully 7,400 minority applicants who took the FDNY entrance exam in 1999 and 2002 could claim monetary damages from the city.
It's a ruling as absurd as it is offensive.
Absurd -- because, despite Garaufis' pinpoint precision in judging exactly the ratios needed to satisfy the purported demands of racial justice, his evidence for actual discrimination doesn't exist.
Indeed, he ruled that merely because the test used in '99 and '02 -- which no one has demonstrated is anything but totally job-related -- didn't produce the desired racial outcome, FDNY brass must have been intentionally biased against minorities.
That's nonsense on stilts: The FDNY didn't become the best metropolitan firefighting force in the world by focusing on anything but whether applicants could do the job.
On the other hand, injecting considerations other than competence into hiring decisions is the first step down a dangerous path.
Besides, few things are more offensive to American notions of fairness and equity than strict racial quotas.
To be sure, there are probably a number of things the FDNY can do to boost the minority presence in its ranks.
But on this ruling, a vigorous appeal -- to the Supreme Court, if necessary -- is more than appropriate.
#4
Didn't the Supreme Court rule on a similar case last year in the contrary manner? Ricci v. DeStefano was decided on June 29, 2009 and said that the city of New Haven, CT illegally discriminated against white firefighters who were denied promotion because the department had strict racial quotas.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
01/25/2010 9:27 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Unless Obama can fill another two seats, hard quotas won't survive SCOTUS' already established precedent.
I think Ogabe would need just one more - if he was replacing Kennedy or one of the conservatives. Here's the current ideological scoreboard on SCOTUS:
Conservative: Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas
Leftist: Stevens, Breyer, Ginsburg, Sotomayor
Swing vote: Kennedy
I keep expecting Ogabe to offer Kennedy some goodie to get him to retire - some kind of make-work "international law" position at the UN or something. And the Chicago boys are probably going over Kennedy's background with a fine-tooth comb, looking for something to pass along to their operatives in the sockpuppet media.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
01/25/2010 9:42 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Thats grim ... Welcome to nuLabour think tanks ..
Posted by: Oscar ||
01/25/2010 10:24 Comments ||
Top||
#7
So when will the good Judge rule on the NBA?
Exactly. People need to picket Nicks games with "End the racial imbalance in the Nicks team! More whites!" placards. See how that gets received.
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.
