[Dawn] Afghanistan's complex and often confusing business of talks with the Taliban took a surprisingly dramatic turn this week when a female politician told a news conference she had recently met the Death Eater group's leader, Mullah Omar, who agreed to make peace.
Despite questions of credibility, the large turnout to Thursday's unusual event, which included representatives from Western embassies, highlights the somewhat desperate nature of peace talks as foreign powers look for an exit from the war.
Homa Sultani, a former rights activist and now an MP from Ghazni, a volatile province southwest of Kabul, said she had met the reclusive Omar some 150 km from the capital and that they had wept together after deliberating the country's plight.
Omar then sat down on Sultani's headscarf which she had placed on the floor in front of him, she said, before the one-eyed runaway leader accepted her proposal to act as his lone mediator for peace.
"It wasn't that Mullah Omar had fallen in love with my eyes or my eyebrows, we seriously engaged in peace talks," Sultani told the news conference in Kabul on Thursday. Another male MP, Haji Abdul Basir, who was also at the news conference, had witnessed the meeting, Sultani said.
That Sultani's story would draw a packed audience from Kabul's local and international press corps along with low-profile Afghan delegates from Western embassies, shows just how little is really known about peace "talks" with the Taliban.
"Several embassies (inc Brits) sent people to today's bizarre presser with Mullah Omar's improbable mediators.
Clutching at straws?" one Western journalist said on Twitter after the news conference.
Reports about talks have intensified as the United States and its allies prepare to gradually withdraw from Afghanistan and as acceptance grows for the need for a negotiated settlement to a war that is fast approaching its tenth year.
But so little is known about these contacts that they have been open to widely different interpretations and have had all kinds of unrealistic hopes placed on them.
Late last year, the talks process itself bordered on farce when an apparent senior Taliban leader, who had been flown to Kabul for secret talks with the Afghan government, transpired to be an impostor, leaving Afghan and foreign officials red-faced.
A Taliban front man dismissed Sultani's meeting as fraud, saying it would take more than a woman's scarf to bring peace.
The Taliban have publicly maintained they will not enter into any negotiations as long as foreign troops are in Afghanistan.
Karzai's office was not immediately available for comment. "I can say no more!"
At Thursday's conference, Sultani also produced a handwritten letter. On one side, she said, was an endorsement from Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... and on the other side was a signature from Mullah Omar.
The letter had been written in Dari although Mullah Omar's first language, like the vast majority of the Taliban, is Pashto. Despite the letter however, the Afghan government had pulled out of the agreement at the last minute, she added later.
Sultani said she didn't have to wear a burqa or even a veil during her meeting with Omar but said she had not been allowed to take photos or record the encounter. Women were required to cover from head to toe when the Taliban were in power.
"I can present Mullah Omar here to you if his safety and security can be assured," said Sultani as some journalists sniggered.
But ever the jovial crowd, the Afghan journalists in the room soon made clear what they thought of Sultani's story. Reporters jokingly embraced and congratulated each other that peace had finally come.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
"It wasn't that Mullah Omar had fallen in love with my eyes or my eyebrow, we seriously engaged in peace talks,"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/16/2011 8:23 Comments ||
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#2
Comon, woman. Everyone knows he was squinting at your ankle...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/16/2011 16:47 Comments ||
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#3
The mullah operated al-qaeda Genocide camps in Afghanistan. Those who believe there is a separate identity between taliban and al-qaeda are highly misinformed.
After the Northern Alliance started marching south in 2001, the Bush government compelled dubious peace by armistice agreements with taliban-lite. It was like occupying post WW2 Germany, while allowing Nazis to administer much of the occupation. Kandahar should have been nuked when the 9-11 operatives were identified. Then dirty war tactics should have been used to clean the north of the pashtun vermin. Yah, I know of the 2,500 taliban/al-qaedas who were slaughtered in containers. I approve of that. If you don't believe in summary judgment in war, then learn what happened to German soldiers who were caught in US uniforms during the Battle of the Bulge.
[Dawn] RELATIONS between Pakistain and the US and cooperation between their militaries are at their lowest ebb.
As matters now stand, Paks suspect that the US is contemplating coercive actions that may reduce levels of friendship with that country. If that happens, it will mean that the late Osama bin Laden's ... who sleeps with the fishes... strategy for bringing nearer the 'battle of Khorasan' would have succeeded.
However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... unfortunate Pakhtuns in Afghanistan, Fata, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... and Balochistan will continue to suffer violence and death. With the recent murder of President Karzai's brother Ahmed Wali, one can foresee the end of talks with the Taliban.
With an upset Pak military and a despondent President Karzai, it would appear that the US exit strategy in Afghanistan is in pieces.
Is it according to some insane design that each day a new insult is heaped upon Pakistain? The ranks of US supporters in Pakistain must be dwindling by the day. If the current trend continues, pretty soon Islamabad may be declared part of the Axis of Evil, replacing Iraq.
The uncharacteristic remarks made recently by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen accusing the government of the murder of journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad are surprising. The murder, though abominable, is hardly a military matter. After all, in the past, Gen MacArthur and more recently Gen McChrystal were removed from their posts for making political statements.
The accusations against the security establishment after the discovery of Bin Laden in Abbotabad add to Pakistain's discomfiture. These charges leave no doubt that the intent is to embarrass the ISI or other arms of the security apparatus. But what if the US is wrong in its suspicions? What if the Pak intelligence services were actually unaware and incompetent?
The US 9/11 commission brought out many failures of its own intelligence network when it was found that the hijackers involved had been living undetected in the US for years. It was found that the FBI had even warned Washington that one of the Islamic fascistiwas taking flying lessons and was dangerous. Yet the intelligence system failed to react. Could the US institutions then be condemned for complicity?
It was recently reported that North Korea paid a bribe to Pak generals to obtain nuclear secrets. The central piece of this drama was a letter written in English purportedly by a North Korean and indicating the payment of a bribe.
While the authenticity of the letter is unclear, we should be concerned. In February 2003 Gen Colin Powell, then secretary of state, told the UN Security Council: "My second purpose today is to provide you with additional information ... [that] the United States knows about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction as well as Iraq's involvement in terrorism."
It is now known that Mr Powell had spoken inaccurately for no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. However, Houston lies southeast of Dallas... his accusation became the justification for launching a war against Iraq that killed thousands of people. No one was held accountable.
As one US commentator suspiciously noted, the source of the leaked North Korean letter is former Financial Times journalist Simon Henderson. Mr Henderson did not say how the letter came into his possession. What we do know is that he works for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy which was founded by Martin Indyk, the former research director of the powerful American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, a primary American pro-Israel lobby group that has been known to influence US policy.
It is remarkable that when it comes to disseminating American government propaganda, even advocates of journalistic ethics have no inhibitions about publishing what appear to be half-truths. Nobody in the US seems to really care whether any of the accusations levelled against other nations are true or not.
Clearly, the US would not be so desperate unless it badly wanted something from Pakistain. Or is this an attempt to shape public opinion in the US to undertake coercive action against Pakistain?
The latter is less likely because if Pakistain does not assist the US in disengaging from Afghanistan, it will be stuck -- and this is a result that President B.O. can ill afford for it may well cost him an election. It would appear, then, that the US wants Pakistain to do its fighting for it.
If the US wants to disengage from Afghanistan in an orderly manner, it needs Pakistain's help. An upset Pakistain military will
not provide that. Thus the stoppage of US assistance of $800m to the military for its past operations is bizarre. In the 140th Corps Commanders' meeting the military has decided not to seek further US assistance in the war on terror.
Clearly, the Pakistain military will end many joint operations and perhaps initiate peace deals with the hard boys. If this happens, American casualties in Afghanistan will increase.
The induction of Leon Panetta ...current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993.... as defence secretary and the constitution of his new team do not augur well. The Pakistain military seems set now to follow an independent and more nationalistic strategy against the hard boys. One of the first steps will be the drawdown of forces in Fata and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The US policymaking establishment has lost direction in the Af-Pak region and has begun making ill-considered decisions that will harm the chances of peace in the region. More sanity needs to prevail in US-Pakistain relations, if the US exit from Afghanistan is to be orderly.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Pakistan is corrupt and her military riddled with Islamists. The USA could only look the other way for so long. Pakistan needs to clean house and join the civilized world or collapse into Islamism and join Afghanistan in squaller.
[Dawn] IN their greed for unlimited power, ancient rulers came up with the concept of the divine right of kings so that the king was a 'god' or a shahinshah or raja were either the shadow of God on earth (zille ilahi) or his incarnation (avatar), thus exercising material as well as spiritual power. This concept took away all power and dignity from ordinary citizens.
In his book, Koran aur Insani Huquq ('The Koran and Human Rights'), Muhammad Akhtar Mohammedan writes that in the western narration of history, the concept of basic human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... is traced to 500BC Greece, then to the falling in 500CE of the Roman Empire, and suddenly to 1100CE, thus ignoring the intervening 600 years comprising the rise of Islam.
It can safely be said that the modern western movement for recognising human rights started from 1100 CE in Britannia and reached its fruition with the 1948 UN Charter of Human Rights. Prophet Muhammad (PTUI!) and the Koran revealed to him introduced a new concept of human rights in the sixth century CE. He is reported to have said the 'the whole of creation is the family of God. The better a person treats this family, the higher he is held in God's esteem'. (Mishkat)
The Prophet's landmark sermons and agreements uphold human rights. He was part of the agreement called Hilf al-Fudhul at a very young age. Made in 586 CE, 26 years before the announcement of his prophethood, its purpose was to establish peace and to support the rights of the downtrodden. The activists of this group would, against all tribal traditions, protect the persecuted, including strangers to the place, and strive for peace and economic equality. These qualities made people recognise him as a prophet later. The clauses of the oath taken by the knights of Europe centuries later were somewhat similar to the clauses of the Hilf al-Fudhul, which is said to be the first document in written history concerned with human rights.
The Mesaq-i-Madina of 623 CE, (1 AH), comprising 52 clauses, was drawn up to do away with the chaos of tribal society and
introduce the concept of a state. An effort was made to establish peace, remove biases and create justice, freedom, freedom of religion, a classless society, rules for coexistence with non-believers and to uphold the dignity of human beings. Dr Hamidullah calls it, 'The first written constitution of the world'. The Prophet introduced moral and ethical elements to politics and declared that real illusory sovereignty belonged to God alone. The ruler under the system would have to be a democratically elected representative responsible for benefiting all in a welfare state.
In 630 CE, the Prophet conquered Makkah, along with his Companions, without any resistance. The Makkans were afraid of Dire Revenge™ but the Prophet declared a general amnesty and gave a short sermon declaring all human beings equal. He said, "Today God has ... forbidden the concept of superiority on the basis of family heritage. All human beings were created from Adam and Adam was created from dust." He also recited from Surah Al Hujrat: "O people, indeed, We have created you from a male and a female and made you nations and tribes so that you would recognise each other. Indeed, the most honourable of you, in the sight of God, is the most God-conscious" (49: 13). This verse also establishes the basis for the full human rights of
women.
In 632 CE, the Prophet performed the only Haj of his lifetime. In his sermon known as the Khutba Hajjatul Vidah, he said, "No Arab is superior to a non-Arab and neither is a non-Arab superior to an Arab. No black is superior to a white and neither is a white superior to a black. If there is any measure for superiority it is piety...."
He asked his followers to take good care of their slaves. The Koran and the Prophet's example would gradually eliminate slavery. In future no one would be allowed to make a biased will in favour of an heir, because God has given everyone his due share. He made it clear that the criminal alone will be responsible for his deeds and asked men to be kind to women.
In ancient China, India, Greece, Rome, Persia and Europe women had no religious, moral or legal rights or identity. There was even discussion whether women possessed a soul. The suffragist movement for women's right to vote started in Europe in 1848 CE. It was granted in some countries as late as 1971.
The Koran gave women the right to vote in the seventh century. The bai'ah or the oath of allegiance to a leader was the vote of that time. In Surah Al-Mumtahenah the Prophet is asked to take the oath from women when he was satisfied with their faith (60:12). This oath was taken, or the vote was cast by women, independently of their men.
It is for Mohammedans to revert to the egalitarian model set up by the Prophet; all the agreements he ever made were based on the concept of human rights that form the basis of the social rights of citizens. All prejudices of colour, caste and tribe were done away with. The Prophet emphasised the values of peace, liberty, equality and fraternity like none before him.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Oh yeah, the human rights thingee in islam. Maybe the model was wrong?
1. An effort was made to establish peace, remove biases and create justice, freedom, freedom of religion, Ah yes, the religion of tolerance. I'm still trying to find the widespread acceptance of other religions by the Mohammedans.
2. He asked his followers to take good care of their slaves. The Koran and the Prophet's example would gradually eliminate slavery. Got side-tracked along the way. Slavery still exists.
3. The Koran gave women the right to vote in the seventh century. Oops, something happened in the intervening years since the 7th century. The honor killings just make it difficult to accept that women have rights.
4. It is for Mohammedans to revert to the egalitarian model set up by the Prophet. Whoops failed again. The egalitarian model gave way to a model of supremacy over all others somewhere along the time line.
#3
What a crock of BS. It is so full of apologistic deceit that it is best condemned in its entirety.
Western Civilization - persons are at Liberty unless Constraint is warranted, and address through due process.
Islamic Savagery - slaves-of-allah are under the absolute Constraints of tyrannic governance, and allah's viceregents - in emulation (sunna) of the "prophet" (pig piss be upon him) - process offenders summarily, in accord with the injunctions of islam.
#4
Go to the saud terrorist entity and hold up a sign against the "divine right of kings." The last thing you will see is the ground as your head bounces.
#5
Wow. Just when I have thought I've seen a bumper crop on bullshit this last week, the izlimists agit-prop weighs in and creates a no doubt record bullshit accumulation.
But say this is all true, and say it with a smile, because if true that means that after nearly 1400 years the culture of islam has not improved, has indeed regressed. So mohammed mohammed the most mohammedist's book is a decouncement of the creativity and maturity of slamic culture.
Aatish Taseer, the son of an assassinated Pakistani leader, explains the history and hysteria behind a deadly relationship
To understand the Pakistani obsession with India, to get a sense of its special edgeits hysteriait is necessary to understand the rejection of India, its culture and past, that lies at the heart of the idea of Pakistan. This is not merely an academic question. Pakistan's animus toward India is the cause of both its unwillingness to fight Islamic extremism and its active complicity in undermining the aims of its ostensible ally, the United States.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Thank you that was interesting and sad. "And it should provoke no triumphalism in India, for behind the bluster and the bravado, there is arid pain and sadness". Hope Mike gets a look at this. This fellow has a nice writing style.
#2
Could it be, dear Aatish, because your father belonged to a human subgroup members of which are markedly deficient in ability to feel love, compassion, and empathy with others---but, in compensation, are endowed with extra ability to hate?
Taseer also had a son, Aatish, in 1980 with Indian journalist Tavleen Singh. Though married at the time, Taseer met Singh during a book promotion trip to India in March 1980. According to Aatish, their "affair lasted little more than a week."
Israel may mount a strike against Iran in the fall, longtime CIA officer Robert Baer, who spent 21 years in the Middle East, told a Los Angeles radio station Saturday.
Baer ventured such a move will drag the United States into another major war and endangering US military and civilian personnel throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Baer spoke on the provocative KPFK Los Angeles show Background Briefing, hosted by Ian Masters.
Baer didn't name sources for his prediction of an Israeli attack, but the few he did cite are all Israeli security figures who have publically warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was adamant to strike Iran, such as former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan.
Baer said that "There is almost near certainty that Netanyahu is planning an attack (on Iran) and it will probably be in September before the vote on a Palestinian state. And he's also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict," he explained.
The ax-CIA official went on to guess that the Israeli air force would attack "Natanz and other nuclear facilities to degrade their capabilities. The Iranians will strike back where they can: Basra, Baghdad," effectively forcing the US to "jump into the fight" with attacks on Iranian targets.
"Our special forces are already looking at Iranian targets in Iraq and across the border (in Iran) which we would strike. What we're facing here is an escalation, rather than a planned out-and-out war...it's a nightmare scenario. We don't have enough troops in the Middle East to fight a war like that. I think we are looking into the abyss," he said. It sounds like this guy is a prima-donna hysteric, maybe trying to sell more books.
is fluent in Arabic, French, German, Persian, as well as his native English. He is also conversant in Russian, Tajik, and Baluch.
But not Hebrew, which isn't difficult to learn after acquiring Arabic, indicating a certain worldview. He is of a certain age as well, and likely is about as comfortable with computers as I, ie. an end user. A dear, old-fashioned, simple man who thinks in terms of straightforward rubble bouncing and political assassinations instead of recognizing Stuxnet and contaminated uranium as successful attacks in their own right. Compare his perspective to that of Prime Minister Netanyahu, whose thesis for his Management MS from MIT was about the impact of computerization on the newspaper industry.
Another way to think about it is that some people change their countries from military to economic/military/scientific powerhouses, while others get pulled from their clandestine assignments in Iraq for trying to organize the assassination of Saddam Hussein al Tikriti, even if both have written books about Islamic terrorism.
#3
A dear, old-fashioned, simple man who thinks in terms of straightforward rubble bouncing and political assassinations...
Not only is that what it's going to come to, but that is what is needed. Bouncing of rubble and serious wet work with extreme prejudice and malice aforethought. Just about everywhere.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
07/16/2011 15:57 Comments ||
Top||
#4
"Our special forces are already looking at Iranian targets in Iraq and across the border (in Iran) which we would strike. What we're facing here is an escalation, rather than a planned out-and-out war...it's a nightmare scenario. We don't have enough troops in the Middle East to fight a war like that. I think we are looking into the abyss," he said.
I agree with his assessment, with or without the attack prediction. Such a scenario could have very frightening second order effects for the United States.
It was seven months ago that Mohammed Bouazizi, a vegetable peddler in Tunisia set himself and the Arab world on fire. The 26-year-old staged his suicidal protest on the steps of the local city hall after a municipal inspector took away his unlicensed vegetable cart thus denying him the ability to feed his family of eight.
Most depictions of the Arab revolutions that followed his act have cast them as struggles for freedom and good government. These depictions miss the main cause of these political upheavals. No doubt millions of Arabs are upset about the freedom deficit in Arab lands. But the fact is that economics has played a decisive role in all of them.
...Most of the news coming out about Egypt today emanates from Cairo's Tahrir Square. There the protesters continue to demand ousted president Hosni Mubarak's head on a platter alongside the skulls of his sons, business associates, advisors and everyone else who prospered under his rule. While the supposedly liberal democratic protesters' swift descent into bloodlust is no doubt worth noting, the main reason these protesters continue to gain so much international attention is because they are easy to find. A reporter looking for a story's failsafe option is to mosey on over to the square and put a microphone into the crowd.
But while easily accesible, the action at Tahrir Square is not Egypt's most important story. The most important, strategically consequential story is that Egypt is rapidly going broke. By the end of the year, the military dictatorship will likely not only default on Egypt's loans. Field Marshal Tantawi and his deputies will almost certainly be unable to feed the Egyptian people.
...EGYPT IS far from alone. Take Syria. There too, capital is fleeing the country as the government rushes to quell the mass anti-regime protests.
...In response to the mass protests threatening his regime, Assad has effectively ended his experiment with the free market. He fired his government minister in charge of the economic reforms and put all the projects on hold. Instead, according to a report this week in Syria Today, the government has steeply increased public sector wages and offered 100,000 temporary workers full-time contracts. The Syrian government also announced a 25% cut in the price of diesel fuel at a cost for the government of $527 million per year.
Boasting foreign currency reserves of $18bn, the Syrian regime announced it would be using these reserves to pay for the increased governmental outlays. But as Reuters reported, the government has been forced to spend $70-80 million a week to buck up the local currency. So between protecting the Syrian pound and paying for political loyalty, the Assad regime is quickly drying up Syria's treasury.
...POOR ARAB nations like Egypt and Syria are far from the only ones facing economic disaster. The $3bn loan the IMF offered Egypt may be among the last loans of that magnitude the IMF is able to offer because quite simply, European loaners are themselves staring into the economic abyss.
Greece's debt crisis is not a local problem. It now appears increasingly likely that the EU is going to have to accept Greece defaulting on at least part of its debt. And the ramifications of Greek default on the European and US banking systems are largely unknowable. This is the case because as Megan McArdle at The Atlantic wrote this week, the amount of Greek debt held by European and US banks is difficult to assess.
Worse still, the banking crisis will only intensify in the wake of a Greek default. Debt pressure on Italy, Ireland, Spain and Portugal which are all also on the brink of defaulting on their debts will grow. Italy is Europe's fourth largest economy. Its debt is about the size of Germany's debt. If Italy goes into default, the implications for the European and US banking systems - and their economies generally -- will be devastating.
The current debt-ceiling negotiations between US President Barack Obama and the Republican Congressional leadership have made it apparent that Obama is ideologically committed to increasing government spending and taxes in the face of a weak economy. If Obama is reelected next year, the dire implications of four more years of his economic policies for the US and global economies cannot be overstated.
DUE TO the economic policies implemented by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu since his first tenure as prime minister in 1996, in the face of this economic disaster, Israel is likely to find itself in the unlikely position of standing along China and India as among the only stable, growing economies in the world. Israel's banking sector is largely unexposed to European debt. Israel's gross external debt is 44 percent of GDP. This compares well not only to European debt levels of well over 100 percent of GDP but to the US debt level which stands at 98 percent of GDP.
...Aside from remaining economically responsible, as Israel approaches the coming storms it is important for it to act with utmost caution politically. It must adopt policies that provide it with the most maneuver room and the greatest deterrent force.
First and foremost, this means that it is imperative that Israel not commit itself to any agreements with any Arab regime.
...Beyond that, with the rising double specter of Egyptian economic collapse and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power, Israel must prepare for the prospect of war with Egypt.
...with the US's weak economy, Obama's Muslim Brotherhood friendly foreign policy, and Europe's history of responding to economic hardship with xenophobia, Israel's need to develop the means of militarily defending itself from a cascade of emerging threats becomes all the more apparent.
The economic storms may pass by Israel. But the political tempests they unleash will reach us. To emerge safely from what is coming, Israel needs to hunker down and prepare for the worst.
#1
Banking systems are overextended. Now we are tied to them more than ever. They have pushed this one world order for so long they think this experiment will work. The problems of Egypt have been know for many months. It is a sad time for that area of the world and very dangerous.
#3
The US could exert enormous influence into much of the world right now, if it stopped ethanol production, temporarily subsidized fertilizer production and transport, and stopped holding back farm production. Then exported grain like there was no tomorrow.
But it shouldn't do this. The world and all these nations need to be seriously shaken up. Their tyrannical and stupid models of operation need to collapse, and will, if left to their own devices.
Ship grain to places that come down on the side of liberty and democracy (or at least avoid their current barbarism).
Let the rest starve until they too see the light. They will.
Sounds draconian, I know, and it is. No apologies. We owe no one anything.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
07/16/2011 10:44 Comments ||
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#5
"Sounds draconian, I know, and it is. No apologies. We owe no one anything". Well yes, they hate us don't they. I know of one ethanol plant in Pennsylvania that is shut down because they can't get corn. Another ethanol plant being built in Pennsylvania has stopped construction, why I don't know."We owe no one anything" is the major flaw of China. People within China want to help others but the government and major corruption will limit them. They will compete with us and anyone else for their own needs. Total indifference. We ourselves are having one disaster after another in crops and animals. Even Mexico has had crop failures and Canada isn't much better. Farmers are being wiped out now. Dairy farmers are going bankrupt in West Virgina at this time. Farmers have to barrow money to plant and they can't recover because they aren't getting a return to continue. Most farmers work another job to keep the farm going. Commercial farms heavily use manufactured fertilizer. They have done that for years. Now the soil is poor and the results will diminish. The soil has been poor since the thirties. We have a dust bowl now in several states. So yes to small farms in every place possible as soon as possible. Small banks, small industry, no more too big to fail giants.
#6
Ranchers are taking it on the chin out thisaways (nw Texas, west OK, west KS, east CO).
Gonna be worse if the EPA is allowed to complete its publicized agenda. Gonna be worse if the gov maxes out yet another credit card as the dollar plummits. Gonna wish for the days of the $5 burger; I'm not a doom and gloom guy, I am a regional realist. Seems the only people growing anything are grandfathered irrigationists and they are growing corn/silage.
These farmers, especially the family propriatorships, will qualify as the rich people to get more taxes.
#7
There was an AyePee article entitled "Betting the Farm on it" in our local newspaper business section this a.m. The gist of the article was that rich investors who made their money elsewhere were buying up farm land because they are betting that food will only get more expensive around the world. I also read that George Soros is buying up flooded Missouri farm land which people want to get out from under.
#9
For the life of me I can't figure out why the farmers keep planting year after year, losing money, year after year, hard times always. Drought, storms, freeze, heat, pests and plant diseases. I guess it's a holy calling, maybe a modern version of the flagelates.
Posted by: S ||
07/16/2011 16:32 Comments ||
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#10
S, I wonder myself God bless them. I have know a few that had to take Valium. The weather is bad enough but government has messed things up bad for them. Farmers Coops still operate but they need more than that now. To quit farming is like someone has died. They don't want to give up on it. The debt sucks them in deeper and deeper.
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.
North Korea
