In the first substantive legal ruling on President Barack Obamas health care reform law, a federal judge has rejected the Justice Departments request to dismiss a lawsuit from Virginias state government challenging the reforms requirement that individuals purchase health insurance.
U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson ruled that enough factual issues were in dispute in the case to allow the suit, brought by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, to go forward against the health care reform law, Obamas signature legislative accomplishment. At issue is whether the insurance mandate included in the reform exceeds the federal governments authority under the Constitution -- in particular, whether Congresss ability to regulate commerce allows the federal government to penalize those who decline to buy health insurance. The lawsuit is also based in part on a law passed in that state in March seeking to bar the federal government from imposing any mandate to purchase health insurance.
"Unquestionably, this regulation radically changes the landscape of health insurance coverage in America," Hudson wrote in a 32-page decision filed Monday morning. "Never before has the Commerce Clause...been extended this far." Hudson said there was no clear legal precedent allowing the federal government to impose such a rule, even under Congresss power to require individuals to pay taxes. However, he also conceded there was no clear precedent to the contrary.
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It is claimed that the rate of housemaids running away from their sponsors usually increases as the holy month of Ramadan approaches.
They escape as they are often able to command larger salaries of around SR2,500 per month, particularly because many Saudi families find it difficult to manage without a house help during the fasting month.
The pressing need for housemaids during Ramadan drives some families to employ illegal foreign maids, particularly in larger cities such as Jeddah, Riyadh and Makkah.
However, a housemaid who successfully escapes often gives her original sponsor the headache of having to recruit a replacement, which may cost as much as SR10,000 in addition to residence fees. Moreover, the maid might steal from the house before running away.
Citizen Muslih Al-Rifae said it was noticeable that a growing number of housemaids usually flee from their sponsors when Ramadan nears searching for better pay.
The housemaids will continue to run away even if their sponsors are regularly paying them their monthly salaries, he said.
Al-Rifae said many brokers from their native lands encourage the housemaids to escape for better payment during Ramadan. Most of these brokers hang around malls and supermarkets hunting for easy prey.
The brokers will offer a housemaid or driver a monthly salary of around SR2,500, in addition to accommodation and food. They then take around SR500 a month in commission.
Faisal Al-Matrafi called for crackdowns near malls and supermarkets to arrest runaway housemaids as well as the brokers.
Fawziyah G. said a possible solution was to install iron bars as well as electric curtains on windows and hide the apartment key away from the housemaids.
Cameras may also be planted in various areas of the house to observe the movements of the housemaid 24/7, she suggested.
Recruitment office owner Muhammad Al-Subhi said he was embarrassed whenever a housemaid ran away from her sponsor, especially as he has paid a lot of money to recruit her.
He also asked employers to be good to housemaids and treat them nicely.
There are some Saudis who mistreat their housemaids, compelling them to run away, he said.
Nasser Al-Subaie says he recruited a housemaid from Indonesia and paid a lot of money to cover her expenses. When she landed at King Abdulaziz International Airport immigration officials discovered that she could not enter the Kingdom as she had a criminal record.
She was sent back home and I lost the money I had spent on her recruitment, he said.
An official from the National Recruitment Committee at the Saudi Council of Chambers said Saudi embassies abroad would be connected to the same fingerprinting system currently in use at airports to prevent foreign recruits with criminal records from returning to the country.
BEIJING (Reuters) -- Thousands of tons of garbage washed down by recent torrential rain are threatening to jam the locks of China's massive Three Gorges Dam, and is in places so thick people can stand on it, state media said on Monday.
Chen Lei, a senior official at the China Three Gorges Corporation, told the China Daily that 3,000 tons of rubbish was being collected at the dam every day, but there was still not enough manpower to clean it all up. China does not have enough manpower?
"The large amount of waste in the dam area could jam the miter gate of the Three Gorges Dam," Chen said, referring to the gates of the locks which allow shipping to pass through the Yangtze River.
The river is a crucial commercial artery for the upstream city of Chongqing and other areas in China's less-developed western interior provinces.
Pictures showed a huge swathe of the waters by the dam crammed full of debris, with cranes brought in to fish out a tangled mess, including shoes, bottles, branches and Styrofoam.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/02/2010 19:27
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#3
I still recall TV film footage of CHINESE KIDDIES PLAYING, FROLICKING IN + AROUND MASSIVE MOUNDS OF RIVERBANK GARB-A-G-E + VARIABLY COLORED WATERS.
ION MSM-NET > Most recently in the PHILIPPINES, poverty-stricken Locals are repor building whole makeshift Villages = Tent Cities/Camps atop, within, andor alongside CEMETERY MAUSOLEUMS, etc. They repor are removing the entombed dead in order to make "living space" for their Families + personal wares???
TOMB OPENINGS + REMOVAL OF THE DEAD = "HOUSE-WARMING"???
The Air Force will hang on to its F-22 tooling at Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Ga., production plant even after it stops making the fifth generation fighter jet in 2012, according to Flight International's Stephen Trimble. Though the Air Force has said in the past the goal would be to provide a long-time service plan for the jets, the decision also implicitly preserves the option to restart production if future administrations decide that the USAF needs more than 186 F-22s, Trimble writes.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/02/2010 17:38
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#2
Something I always wondered, who owns the tooling in this- and similar- cases? This says it´s the AF, but I would think it´s the company, and why on earth would they destroy it, unless the were told to, and what would be the point of that?
Posted by: Grunter in Lima ||
08/02/2010 20:22
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who owns the tooling
depends on the contract
why on earth would they destroy it
to be able to charge the govt if they need to rebuild it and to save storage charges if they don't. Stuff like tools don't store well unless maintained. We ain't talking jigs. And that costs money.
PHOENIX - He's been at the center of the discussions and controversies surrounding illegal immigration enforcement in Arizona for quite a while.
On the day parts of Arizona's immigration law, SB 1070, went into effect, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is in the news for another reason: there's a price on his head - allegedly offered by a Mexican drug cartel.
The audio message in Spanish is a bit garbled, but the text is clear.
"It's offering a million dollars for Sheriff Joe Arpaio's head and offering a thousand dollars for anyone who wants to join the Mexican cartel."
A man who wants to remain anonymous says his wife received the text message Tuesday evening. It also included an international phone number and instructions to pass the message along.
"She showed it to me..I was kind of disgusted..I reported it to the Sheriff's department yesterday..they said they were going to direct the threat squad on it."
Lisa Allen of the Sheriff's office says they believe the message originated in Mexico. Although the Sheriff has received numerous death threats in the past, they believe this threat is credible because of its timing.
"Arpaio gets threats pretty routinely, but obviously with this heightened awareness of his role in the immigration issue we've got to take this one a little bit more seriously with a million dollar contract out on him," said Allen.
But she says what really concerns investigators is how quickly the message may have been spread. "It's going so many different places that our folks are looking at it and thinking well at any given point in time it could land in front of some crazy person who thinks I can do that."
As for Arpaio's reaction to the threat, "It's a little bit like water off a duck's back for him, but you never know if it's that sense of false bravado with him..you just can't read it, I'm sure he's concerned, I'm sure he's concerned for his family more than anything else," said Allen.
The Sheriff's office says investigators are trying to trace exactly where the text message came from, but because it did originate from an international number, that will be difficult too.
Remember all the guff from the progressive Left about how Rush and other conservative commentators were 'inciting violence' because of what they say? Turn around is fair play -- given all the nasty things said about Sheriff Joe by the progressive community, if anything happens to him I'm laying the blame at the feet of Nancy Pelosi, Eric Holder, etc.
#2
Assuming someone took them up on that, how the hell would they claim their bounty? I mean, the cops can't find the cartel and would you agree to a "secret meeting" with them to claim your million bucks? They would just as likely shoot you to save the million bucks.
I don't think they will find a lot of takers for their bounty. It would be too hard to collect.
#3
Ironically as all get out, it would be far more effective to offer a smaller bounty, one that the typical pendejo could wrap his brain around. $5,000 actually sounds bigger to them than $1m. Another irony is that a lot of them are no longer motivated by gold, because they have no experience with it, and no idea of what to do with it.
#6
Cyber Sarge the iraqi and the afghan kick the pink asses of your boloni sandwich raised moron army think of what the mexican will do to your MTV little soldiers expecially the females one
A SNIPER in the British Army submitted a legal challenge to the Ministry of Defence over a "catastrophic error" that put him and his family at risk of being kidnapped by al Qaeda.
The soldier received huge media coverage when it was reported he had shot dead several Taliban fighters at a range of 1.5 miles during his tour of Afghanistan.
The publicity, which he says he never agreed to, meant that police feared he could be the victim of a reprisal attack by British-based Islamists and he was forced to leave the country with his family.
He has now posted a "letter of claim" with the ministry, accusing it of failing in its duty of care to him by allowing his identity to become public, Britain's Sunday Telegraph has reported
The soldier was interviewed during a parade at his regiment's barracks. His story was picked up around the world and received millions of hits on the internet.
The solider claims he was given an undertaking by officials that his personal details would not be made public but that no such guidelines were detailed by Ministry of Defence media representatives present during the interview.
The letter of claim states: "Following the reporting of the story and the publication of our client's photograph and personal details, he and his family suffered acute distress and anxiety. It was described to our client by the press liaison officer as a 'catastrophic error.' This was also accepted later by the Media Operations team within the MoD."
US President Barack Obama said this morning he would keep his campaign promise to end the country's combat mission in Iraq by August 31 and added that “a grateful America must pay tribute to all who served there.”
Remember, our nation has had vigorous debates about the Iraq War, Mr Obama said in a speech at the Disabled American Veterans national convention in Atlanta.
There are patriots who supported going to war, and patriots who opposed it. But there has never been any daylight between us when it comes to supporting the more than one million Americans in uniform who have served in Iraq - far more than any conflict since Vietnam.
Obamas pledge to end the US combat mission in Iraq comes despite increased violence and political tension there.
According to official figures, 535 people died in Iraq in July the highest figure since May 2008, according to The Wall Street Journal.
US and Iraqi officials say insurgents are attempting to take advantage of a five-month impasse in forming a new Iraqi government.
But Obama struck an optimistic tone saying violence is near the lowest its been in years and praising Iraqi troops for taking the lead in security in many parts of the country.
The president also expressed a commitment to the war in Afghanistan, saying: We will continue to face huge challenges But its important that the American people know that we are making progress and we are focused on goals that are clear and achievable.
We will disrupt, we will dismantle and we will ultimately defeat al Qaeda, he added.
#1
The Left's cut-and-run attitude, which started as soon as bullets started flying when the troops hit the ground, will hurt America through out the Middle East. The Soviet Block did not callopse because America cut and ran in Europe. We stood ground. A major strategic victory for Al Qaeda.
#3
CNN + FOXNEWS AM > the majority of their Guest Perts respect POTUS Bammer's desire to keep his Electoral promise, but also admit the AFGHAN = AFPAK GOVTS ARE NOT READY TO ASSUME FULL SECURITY + LEADERSHIP ROLES FROM THE US-NATO/COALITION AS PER EFFEC RESISTING THE ISLAMIST INSURGENCIES.
IOW, the LOCAL GOVTS are still UNSTABLE + RADIC ISLAM will only bide its time + take over, VIOLENTLY ANDOR ELECTORALLY, at the proper time after the US pullout.
* Lest we fergit, ISLAMIST FOCUS ON MAINLAND CENTRAL + EAST ASIA > NEW MANPOWER + ESPEC "FREE NUKES".
#5
DAILY TIMES.PK > AGHAN WAR ENTERING ITS DECISIVE PHASE. US Troops in Afghanistan approaching 100,000 mark, + CONTROL OF KANDAHAR is key to the US effort.
US SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM = US will be trouble iff there is NO PROGRESS come DECEMBER 2010.
#6
ION BHARAT RAKSHAK > {Wired.com] WIKILEAKS DOCS:US BATTLING MILITANTS FROM TURKEY ITS NATO ALLY?
ARTIC > WIKILEAKS > US troops fought alleged "Turkish" fighters in Fall 2007; + also captured a CACHE OF ALLEGED TURKISH $$$ inside a Militant compound in NOVEMBER 2009.
ARTIC AUTHOR believes that above alleged
"Turkish" linkas is highly subjective or dubious as it is possible that US-Coalition forces confused AFGHAN MILITANTS OF PAST TURKIC DESCENT/ANCESTRY WID CURRENT TURKISH/TURKIC CITIZENS-RESIDENTS WHOM HAD RECEN MIGRATED OR INFILTRATED INTO AFGHAN + AFPAK TO WAGE JIHAD.
#5
This could be a huge opportunity for India, to set up a vast training area in Afghanistan, rotating entire Corps, that would function as a border guard in an ironically crescent shaped pattern along the 2430km border with Pakistan.
Afghanistan and India would become bestest buddies. And Pakistan would lose its marbles.
#10
Hey Anonymoose, what if we train the Afghans to capture some Pak airliners and crash a bunch of them into their most crowded cities? ooohh feel the pain, main.
Posted by: Mr. Bill ||
08/02/2010 22:50
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Posted by: john frum ||
08/02/2010
12:38 ||
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#1
As long as the war continues, Radical Islam gets support, they maintain power and clients in both countries, their intel gets them access to both Western sources and the heart of AQ/Taliban, and they get $billions from the gullible west.
Despite the post-modernist elites Political Correctness and dismissal of anything "old", Kipling and the Brit experience in this part of the world had it perfectly: "Now it is not good for the Christian's health To hustle the Aryan brown, For the Christian riles and the Aryan smiles, And it weareth the Christian down. And the end of the fight is a tombstone white With the name of the late deceased-- And the epitaph drear: "A fool lies here Who tried to hustle the East."
I smell a job opening for a Dust Czar.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering a crackdown on farm dust, so senators have signed a letter addressing their concerns on the possible regulations.
The letter dated July 23 to the EPA states, "If approved, would establish the most stringent and unparalleled regulation of dust in our nation's history." It further states, "We respect efforts for a clean and healthy environment, but not at the expense of common sense. These identified levels will be extremely burdensome for farmers and livestock producers to attain. Whether its livestock kicking up dust, soybeans being combined on a dry day in the fall, or driving a car down the gravel road, dust is a naturally occurring event."
Many in the Oklahoma farming industry are opposed to the EPA's consideration. One farmer said the possible regulations are ridiculous.
"It's plain common sense, we don't want to do anything detrimental," said farmer Curtis Roberts. "If the dust is detrimental to us, it's going to be to everybody. We're not going to do anything to hurt ourselves or our farm."
Roberts, a fourth generation farmer and rancher in Arcadia, said regulating dust in rural areas will hurt farmers' harvest, cultivation and livelihood.
"Anytime you work ground, you're going to have dust. I don't know how they'll regulate it," Roberts said. "The regulations are going to put us down and keep us from doing things we need to be doing because of the EPA."
Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Mike Spradling said the rules could be detrimental to farmers across the Sooner State.
"We as an organization do not feel dust is a pollutant," Spradling said. "It would almost be impossible to comply with what's being addressed now from the EPA as in agriculture. We're doing everything we possibly can."
"It's just common sense, we don't like dust in the morning but it's something we got to live with," Roberts said.
#5
Hey, I've got a great idea! Why not just shut down agriculture? Yeah, a lot of people would starve, but that is just a side benefit.
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/02/2010 18:37
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#6
During the Dust Bowl, dust was indeed a serious health issue. However, I've heard no reports to indicate those conditions currently obtain. Perhaps the officious asses should show their data, Climategate style.
[the parents say]: "We do not know why Shane, Sarah and Josh are still being held without charge, why their human rights are being violated, why they are not allowed regular consular visits or to make calls and write letters home and why they have had no access to their lawyer. Most mystifyingly and cruelly of all, we do not know why Sarah remains in solitary confinement, denied any human contact other than brief periods each day when she is allowed to meet Shane and Josh in the prison yard." Obama said something similar
Which I find a bit baffling, since the three Americans are getting the same sort of treatment as anyone else who falls into the clutches of the evil regime. There are six American hostages in Iranian hands right now, and there are thousands of Iranian hostages, many of them treated much worse than the three hikers, who are undergoing psychological torture, but not the ghastly physical ordeals that we know all too well.
They are entitled to be angry -- and of late, they've expressed some anger -- but they are not entitled to be perplexed, any more than the president is. Doesn't anyone understand what the Iranian regime is all about?
Apparently not. the hikers are almost certainly anti American leftists and were probably captured by Iranians before they crossed the Iran border
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/02/2010
10:39 ||
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The high-speed rail link China Railway Construction Corp. is building in Saudi Arabia doesn't just connect the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. It shows how Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America are holding the world economy together.
I guess Osama bin Ladin's daddy is only good for roads and bridges, not train tracks.
Ties between emerging markets form what economists at HSBC Holdings Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc call the "new Silk Road" -- a $2.8-trillion version of the Asian-focused network of trade routes along which commerce prospered starting in about the second century.
#1
1. a French company is involved in this project
2. it also going to serve the port of Jeddah
3. Current projection is for 3M passengers a day but it may be that a third to a half of them will be using the railroad during the week of the greater hajj (during the 12th month of the Islamic calendar). That would mean that on most days the usage would be about 1-3k but during the peak week, it would be 100-200k. Seems crazy.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/02/2010 11:00
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#2
"New Silk Road Built by China Connects Asia to Latin America"
I wanna see the part that goes over the ocean....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/02/2010 19:12
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#4
ION YINA/JINA WAFF > [The Australian] NORTH KOREA ATTACKED SHIP OVER SOUTH'S "AID REJECTION".
Seoul's rejection of Milyuhns + Dilyuhns of tonnes of DPRK-requested SOKOR Fertilier + other econ goodies.
and
* CHINESE MIL FORUM > JAPAN TO BEEF UP SUBMARINES TO COUNTER CHINESE NAVAL POWER.
-----------
* WMF > US "INDEPENDENT COMMISSION" ON MILITARY AFFAIRS RECOMMENDS THE US NAVY INCREASE THE SIZE OF ITS FLEET TO 346 SHIPS IN ORDER TO SAFEGUARD WORLDWIDE US INTERESTS + PROTECT OPEN/FREE US ACCESS ACROSS THE WESTERN PACIFIC. ASIA NAMED AS A "RISING GLOBAL POWER".
* WMF >"DEFENCE TODAY" AUSTRALIAN MAGAZINE: "USS LOUISIANA" TRIDENT SUB DAMAGED [oxygen + pulp tanks]IN PLA BOMBING ATTACK WHILE TRYING TO OBSERVE PLA MILEX IN SOUTH CHINA SEA. PLA OFFER OF JOINT DAMAGE CONTROL ASSISTANCE REJECTED BY US NAVY IN ORDER TO PROTECT SENSITIVE TRIDENT-CLASS NAVAL TECHNOLOGY. PREEMPTIVE DEPLOYMENT BY CHINA OF UNDERWATER NAVAL MINES N MILEX AREA IN ANTICIPATION OF US OR FOREIGN ATTEMPTS TO CCOVERTLY COLLECT NAVAL OR MIL-RELATED INTELLIGENCE.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Sunday that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) has "the cojones" that President Obama "does not have" to take on illegal immigration. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Palin blasted Obama for suing Arizona to block the state's controversial new law without addressing "sanctuary cities" -- in which local law enforcement are prohibited from asking people about their immigration status. Zing!
#1
What part of "permanent majority strategy" does she not understand?
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
08/02/2010 8:27
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#2
How many of those "permanent majority" are prepared to give, as Lincoln said, 'the last full measure of devotion'? Power from the ballot box is an illusion. 20th Century dictators had 'referendums' with 99% 'for'. The real test is when the population is asked to die for the 'system'. That's the problem the permanent party faced in Moscow twenty years ago, along with its little brothers throughout the Eastern Block.
it implies Obama wants to take on illegal immigration
I'm almost certain that Obama likes the immigration the way it is.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/02/2010 15:50
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#6
"Obama lacks 'the cojones' to tackle immigration"
FTFY
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/02/2010 19:14
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#7
Beat me to it, Barbara. Looked at the heading and thought, last phrase, redundant.
Posted by: Grunter in Lima ||
08/02/2010 20:25
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#8
No kidding, Grunter.
Off topic, I'm presuming you're in the South American Lima, not the Ohio one - how's winter?
**she asks while preparing for another 100-degree day this week :-( **
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/02/2010 20:30
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#9
Hi, Barbara. In one word, wierd. Windcheater cool, no more. But Lima (in Peru, yes) in winter has a perpetual fog or low cloud that picks up the lights at night and after a while is the dismal-est thing you ever saw. And if there is no wind, it has the worst air pollution imaginable. Luckily the air is moving a bit now.
Fantastic food, though...Friendly people.
Just posted a bit at the club about our doin´s.
Having a lot of fun. Cheers!
Posted by: Grunter in Lima ||
08/02/2010 21:06
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Chechnya's guerrilla chief and self-proclaimed "Emir of the Caucasus" Doku Umarov announced he was stepping down in a video posted on YouTube. "We have unanimously decided that I shall leave my post today," said the bearded rebel fighter who claimed to be behind the Moscow suicide attacks in March.
The new head of Islamist group "Caucasus Emirate" will be Aslambek Vadalov, who Umarov said was "younger and more energetic." But Umarov, 46, stressed that "this does not mean that I will withdraw from the jihad" and promised to do "all I can, in words and deeds," to help his successor.
#1
Supposedly he resigned 'for health reasons', but the article behind the title was blocked by our corporate filter. I'd like him to resign for the same health reasons as the Hussein boys.
FIVE rockets slammed into the southern Israeli resort of Eilat on Monday but there were no immediate reports of casualties, army radio reported.
Israeli police confirmed that a series of explosions had taken place in Eilat but could not confirm a rocket attack.
"There were a number of explosions heard in and around Eilat," police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said. "As yet, nothing has been found on the ground," he added.
The radio said at least one of the rockets had landed in the sea. There were explosions just across the border in Jordan a couple of months back. I suggested at the time that they were from missiles fired from Sinai which overshot. It looks like the shooters have figured out the range.
#2
They certainly are busy bees in Israel today. phil_b's article was posted at 12:26 Israeli time. Two hours later Jerusalem Post staff put up another article: Jordan: 1 dead in rocket attack
Defense sources believe 6 Iranian-made Katyushas fired from Sinai.
Jordan condemned Monday the firing of a rocket that struck near the Intercontinental Hotel in Aqaba in which a Jordanian man was killed and four others were injured. The rocket was one of six which struck the area, including a second rocket in Jordan, one near Eilat, two in the Red Sea and one in the Sinai Peninsula.
The rockets were almost definitely fired from Sinai, according to sources in the defense establishment quoted by Israel Radio. The rockets were suspected to have been launched from the Sinai Peninsula by Islamic Jihad.
Eilat Police sappers said that the Grad-type Katyushas were Iranian-made, with a range of some 20 kilometers. The rockets reportedly weighed 6 kilograms each.
In April, two rockets fired landed in Eilat and the adjacent Jordanian port of Aqaba.
one rocket exploded in the Sinai
one or maybe two went into the sea near Aquba
zero or one landed in Israel near Eilat
the rest hit Jordan within or near Aquba
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/02/2010 12:22
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Local Officials are claiming the rockets that struck both ISRAEL + JORDAN appear to be IRANIAN-MADE???
On July 20, 22 young illegal immigrants in caps and gowns entered the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., and began sit-ins in the offices of several senators. Twelve soon returned to the atrium, where they formed a circle around a banner reading "Undocumented and Unafraid." Refusing to be moved, the students were arrested by Capitol Police, as were nine others who had stayed put in the offices of Sen. John McCain and Majority Leader Harry Reid. Yeah. Arrested them, threw them in the paddy wagon, drove them far enough away that they would be tired after they walked back, and let them out is more like it.
Less than two miles away, a similar protest by a separate but allied group was taking place at Lafayette Square in front of the White House. These students went a step further. Openly announcing their immigration status and giving their full names just across the Mall from Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters, they forced a difficult choice upon ICE officials. Yeah, I'm sure. Do nothing or don't do anything.
Take no action, and ICE would undermine the law. But come down hard by deporting the students, many of them still teenagers, and it would risk drawing overwhelming public outcry. Uh, NO IT WOULDN'T. It would risk drawing the ire of the Obama regime.
These individualsplus several hundred more high school and college students of illegal statushad come to the capital to call for passage of the floundering Dream Act. Dream, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, co-sponsored by 36 senators, including Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) and Richard Lugar (R., Ind.), would offer temporary residency to students who arrived in the U.S. illegally as minors if they attend college. It would grant them permanent residency upon graduating. IOW: Citizenship would be the next step after that.
#1
Call their bluff. If they're here in good faith, that is if their intention is to contribute meaningfully to a strong nation, then they should be offered amnesty for some level of service to the nation upon graduation. For ex., draft them into the National Guard and send them to police the border.
#4
Scene from The Kentucky Fried Movie, which had all kinds of interesting trivia associated with it. That particular scene had the real martial artist Hapkido Master Bong Soo Han.
It also had George Lazenby (James Bond), Donald Sutherland, Henry Gibson, Bill Bixby, the infamous Uschi Digard, Forrest J Ackerman (king of sci-fi), director John Landis, Tina Louise, and barely registering on the credits, Leslie Nielsen.
#6
One problem is deportation is the only thing we do to them when we do something (and even then they get a free lunch). They broke a law. A law many Americans find to be a rather serious one. They should spend a bit of time in prison prior to being deported and the length should increase upon subsequent arrests. Three strikes and you're in jail for a year or so.
#7
...jail them AND bill their home country for the service. And while were at it start adding up the cost of education and health care services by country of origin and send out bills. Once Mexico stats re-imbursing 1st world healthcare costs those $ remittances won't look so great.
DIALA / Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen captured two members of the Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in northeastern Diala province on Sunday, according to a local security source.
The two AQI operatives were arrested in al-Rubaia village, al-Saadiya, Khanaqin district, (45 km) northeast of Baaquba, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The Iraqis may not be able to form a government but they seem to be able to hunt down the remaining AQI guys just fine ...
The two are wanted by security agencies and were arrested upon warrants on charges of supervising AQI armed organizations, he added.
The arrested AQI members are remanded under investigative custody, the source said, not revealing further details.
Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2010
00:00 ||
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#1
The Iraqis may not be able to form a government but they seem to be able to hunt down the remaining AQI guys just fine ...
Doc, the politicians were trained by our State Department and the soldiers by our military???
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Intelligence officials has said that a roadside bomb exploded as army troops were clearing a road in northwestern tribal region, killing two soldiers.
The officials said that the bomb was detonated by remote control on the road connecting the villages of Sararogha and Janata in South Waziristan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2010
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Google Translate from a string of articles on Milenio.com For a map, here.
Saturday morning dawned in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon with several streets blocked through action by criminal gangs, according to the Mexican daily Milenio.
The actions took place primarily in the suburbs of Escobedo and San Nicolas. The first action was the hijacking of a tractor trailer rig which was used to block the Northwest Bypass. A shuttle bus and a refrigerated trailer were also hijacked and emplaced as a block on other parts of the thoroughfare.
Another block was made by several stolen sedans on Avenida Adolfo López Mateosin the Azteca district in front of the Metropolitan Hospital and where the street intersects with Calle Moctezuma.
Other similar block were located at Avenida Los Angeles in the Valle del Nogalar district.
No one was reported hurt in the several blocks.
Why'd they do it? Practicing for something or just the sheer joy of kidnapping large vehicles?
Narcobloques are usually done for one of three reasons: 1) The criminal gang wants to impeded movement of police/military forces in an area. 2) A response to a reverse such as an arrest of a capo or 3) they want to cover their own withdrawal. In Nuevo Laredo last week, for example, Los Zetas used these tactics frequently to prevent the Mexican Army from closing and engaging, and when they wanted to escape an police or army cordon.
At 1900 hrs. three armed suspects riding aboard a Jeep Grand Cherokee open fired on a Mexican Army patrol near the intersection of Avenida Felix U. Gómez and Madero in downtown Monterrey.
An ecotaxi
Ecotaxi? What's that?
carrying a family was overturned by the suspects attempting to avoid arrest injuring all on board. A standoff started and lasted 15 minutes. Two armed suspects were wounded by gunfire while the third was killed by Mexican Army soldiers attempting to flee the scene.
In the Jeep investigators found several guns.
At 1500 hrs. elements of the Mexican Army on patrol on the highway to China near the Empalme Los Herrera farm found two unidentified corpses in a state of decomposition. Both victims were males in their 30s and were bound by their hands and blindfolded.
Somehow seedy politicians seemed appropriate, given it's Massachusetts and all. My favorite quote from Kris Mineau kind of sums it up. "The ruling elite don't believe we're smart enough to decide anything for ourselves.."
An amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution proposed by Democrats could virtually put an end to citizen-initiated referenda in the state.
The amendment, proposed jointly by state Rep. Byron Rushing in the House and by state Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem in the Senate, would exclude any citizen petition that deals with issues concerning a person's right to "the enjoyment of life, liberty and property, according to standing laws."
#1
Amendment I. Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion and Petition
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
If the lawyers can find the "right to abortion" or the "right to privacy" in that sentence, then surely the people's right to petition for a change in state law should be obvious.
#3
Rushing's one of the local kooks up here, a small time Charlie Rangel. Because of his idiot constituents, the only way he'll leave that seat is in a box. Creem's out of the Brookline-Newton-Wellesley axis that gave you Barney Frank.
This hasn't hit the Globe or the Herald yet. I look forward to the backpedaling when it does.
#5
"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is a part of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.
What a sorry state. Rushing and Creem should do not serve the State of Massachusetts if they believe the above to be not relevant to the freedoms of the people of Massachusetts. I thought the First Amendment (Bill of Rights) insured that the amendment prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. These people should be out if they don't understand this!
#7
This is what happens with a single party State or nation.
There are 40 senatorial districts in Massachusetts, named for the counties in which they are located. The current composition of the Senate is 34 Democrats, 4 Republicans, with 2 vacancies.
The current composition of the House is 144 Democrats and 16 Republicans.
#8
Not long ago Mass passed (or debated) a bill that would send all of their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote. Hearing about this on the news it sounded very much like it was taking the voters of Mass voice out of the picture entirely. If Mass voted 100% for Obama but Palin got the popular vote nationally Mass electoral votes would go to Palin. Perhaps I got it wrong, or the news got it wrong, but either way it sounded to me as if the Mass legislature was filled with fools. This latest convinces me that it is.
#10
The only way we ever get any decent laws in California is by statewide ballot propositions that are submitted to the voters for approval. To get on the ballot the sponsors have to submit petitions that have been signed by a sufficient number of registered voters. Without this mechanism we would be completely at the mercy of the crooked morons in Sacramento. I've said it before, I'd be willing to actually dissolve the legislature altogether. Maybe you think this makes me a crackpot but our experience in California shows that the legislature really is more trouble than it's worth. Our budget was due on June 15 and they still haven't acted.
Israeli President Shimon Peres left for Cairo early on Sunday where he was to hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the Middle East peace process, Peress spokeswoman said.
During the visit, the two will discuss the advancement of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and different levels of cooperation between Israel and Egypt, his office said in a statement.
The meeting was initiated by the Egyptian leader, who invited Peres for talks followed by a working lunch, it said. The two men last met in November.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2010
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LAS VEGAS -- Jacob Appelbaum, US citizen, computer programmer & security researcher, also involved with the Wikileaks Web site, was detained at the US border (US customs at the Newark airport) for three hours and questioned about the controversial whistleblower project as he entered the country on Thursday to attend a hacker conference, sources said on Saturday.
He was also approached by two FBI agents at the Defcon conference after his presentation on Saturday afternoon.
In Newark his laptop was taken and then returned. 3 mobile phones he brought with him were seized.
After he was released he made his presentation at DefCon. Then two casually dressed men identified themselves as FBI agents and asked to talk to him. Appelbaum asked when his equipment would be returned, and declined to speak further with them after getting no answer.
A few weeks earlier in mid-July Appelbaum had presented at a New York hacker conference. There he urged the largely sympathetic audience to support Wikileaks by volunteering or by donating money and boasted that Wikileaks remains uncensorable.
"You can try to take us down... but you can't stop us," he said. He also challenged modern U.S. foreign policy and called for civil disobedience by way of exposing heavily guarded secrets.
Appelbaum told that earlier audience that although he's significantly involved in Wikileaks, he has no access to classified U.S. data that may have been sent to the site.
So he's involved in Wikileaks, encourages violations of US national security laws, and boasts about his skills. Let the FBI toss him, his files, his accounts and his movements with great care, and if they can get anything on him, jug him. Any American involved in Wikileaks should be considered suspect.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/02/2010 8:24
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#3
shouldn't he be on the no fly list?
although I've lost what little confidence I had with airport security. I got through with a knife I didn't realize I still had in my backpack but they confiscated my shampoo, sunscreen and shower gel.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
08/02/2010 12:03
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The Navy is listing dangerously in politically correct water
The Navy wants to judge sailors by the color of their skin, not the content of their seamanship.
The latest national security leak is a shocking e-mail from a Navy admiral on "Diversity Accountability." The message, sent to a list of other flag officers, notes that "a change in focus of this year's diversity brief is the desire to identify our key performers (by name) and provide insight on each of them." CDR Salamander claims to have a copy of the email
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, who apparently originated this order, "is interested in who are the diverse officers with high potential and what is the plan for their career progression. He may ask what is being done within to ensure they are considered for key follow on billets within the Navy."
How this dual-track system will be implemented is difficult to discern. Will officers doing fitness reports on those on the list be made aware of their subordinates' privileged status? Will the people on the list have knowledge that the system is looking out for them? If they get a poor fitness report, will they have special means of getting a second look? Will there be repercussions for reviewing officers who did not know they were supposed to just keep the list members on the fast track no matter what? Does the USN care about, oh say, military capability or, say, integrity of the officer ranks
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/02/2010
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#1
Multi-Mission, All-Purpose, BATTLESPACE "MOTHER SHIPS" whom are also ENVIRO-CORECT to roam the seas.
HYBRID SHIPS FOR HYBRID THREATS.
For some reason, images of the OFF-SHAPED, CONVERTED BULK/CONTAINER SHIPS Madge Thatcher sent ala the UK-Argentine FALKLANDS WAR comes into mind.
In preparation for the annual Diversity Accountability Brief that I will be giving CNO next month, my N1 has put together the attached slides. The data, pulled from TWMS earlier this week, represents what is in the system but actual assignment of personnel in your XXXXXX may vary. Please review and submit changes as necessary.
A change in focus of this year's diversity brief is the desire to identify our key performers (by name) and provide insight on each of them. CNO is interested in who are the diverse officers with high potential and what is the plan for their career progression. He may ask what is being done within to ensure they are considered for key follow on billets within the Navy. This list must be held very closely but will provide ready reference to ensure we are carefully monitoring and supporting the careers of the best and the brightest the Navy has to offer.
Please review the data provided and report your concurrence or identify specific anomalies. Your insight to the diverse composition of your command will assist in my discussion with CNO. Additionally, provide your by name list including career insight for your top performers (03 and above) in those key positions. This reporting requirement will not be put into TV4 taskers due to the sensitive nature of the by name list. Input is due to me by 2 August 2010.
#6
Pursuing diversity over preparedness is indeed a problem. It's not just the Navy that has been following this course. Our entire government and private sector is steeped in this nonsense. As if one could dictate/legislate diversity in a meaningful way. Nonsense.
#7
the USN has been doing this for years, with different names for cover;
most obvious is the ill fated attempts to force pilots with sub standard skills upon the fleet; gender is unimprotant if you can't bring the bird back home.
I was privileged (spit) to sit through yearly diversity classes that earned the moniker 'Watermelon U' where we were fed the party line. Actions, not color/gender/religion matter.
(funny, not one of the W.U. instructors was a white male)
#9
#7 the USN has been doing this for years, with different names for cover;
Not just the Navy. I recall some years ago when we were trying to hire a new engineering faculty member. We had a meeting with the diversity people and were told we had to give priority to African-Americans in the search process. The department head at the time asked if that included African-Africans. We were told yes. African-Africans had to be given preference over citizens according to this diversity person. This diversity person seemed to be just making it up and she went along. He hit the roof and called various university administrators and all of our Congressmen and Senators.
Minorities tends to mean African-Americans and then other minorities. It is difficult to find African-American engineering faculty. First, there are not that many and second, every public university is competing for them. A faculty spends considerable scarce money advertising for, searching for, and interviewing minorities for faculty positions. This is money that could be used for raises, student and scholarships, equipment, labs, etc. Your pool of candidates has to constituted correctly or you might have to start over in this costly process all in the name of political correctness and diversity.
#10
Even in my navy days (during the adminstration of a certain Jew-hatin' Georgia peanut farmer), this nonsense was starting to rear its head. Couple of specific incidents:
A YNSN from a certain Protected Ethnic Group reported aboard, and since he was below E4, was assigned to messcooking duty (that's squidspeak for KP). He was lucky enough to get assigned to softer duty as a wardroom messcook, but nonetheless complained to the XO that serving white officers offended his racial dignity. XO being a spineless weasel who made Harry Reid look like Clint Eastwood, he was released from messcooking.
A deck-force E2 decided he wanted to strike for the HT (Hull Tech - they were called shipfitters in the old days) rating via on the job training. Only problem was, the HT shop didn't want him since he was what used to be called a "s**tbird" in a less PC time. But of course he was from the same Protected Racial Group as the YNSN described above, and of course he went to the same gutless turd of an XO crying "racism". He wound up finally getting thrown out of the navy, but not until he walked through the messdeck one afternoon smoking a joint.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/02/2010 17:31
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#11
I was privileged (spit) to sit through yearly diversity classes that earned the moniker 'Watermelon U' where we were fed the party line.
Back in my day, we called it "Archie Bunker 'A' School," owing to its tendency to actually reinforce and increase mutual prejudice and animosity between racial groups.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/02/2010 19:26
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#12
I was one of two jarheads in my last command (which was navy) - the diversity horse sh*t is alive and well - we had diversity reports due each month to CNO - it was pathetic. The running joke was about finding the Inuit female engineer in the mid-west...
#17
CF - once DADT is finally repealed, watch for LGBT types to become just another protected group, subject to diversity quotas, protections, special privileges, etc.
Glad I'm retired from the Navy.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/02/2010 22:09
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Google Translate from a variety of Mexican news sources. For a map, click here.
The story is that in April the 16 year old son of Sinaloa Drug Cartel leader Ignacio Villareal, Alejandro Coronel, was murdered by the Beltran-Leyva Cartel.
Villareal's response was to immediately order a hit on the shooters responsible, which was done over several days in Jalisco and Nayarit, murders which included incinerating the victims.
In May, Clara Helena Laborin Archuleta, wife of Beltron-Leyva cartel boss Hector Beltran Leyva, was kidnapped in Sonora on orders of Villareal, but she was released a few days later unharmed.
In Mexico, unless you are a wealthy individual, a kidnapping is virtually a death sentence. But instead a message was left:
We are going to teach you to be men and respect the family, child murderer. Here is your wife, which you refused to answer, you lay it safely so you can see and learn that we see the family is sacred
Whether the details of the story are true or not, Villareal was known as the "King of Crystal" by the FBI and a danger to both Mexico and the United State, and so his end at the hands of the Mexican Army was fitting. He had been indicted in Texas and a warrant issued in Spring, 2003 for trafficking in crystal meth.
At the time of his death he was 56 years old. He was born February 1st, 1954 in Canelas, Durango. He was originally with the Juarez drug cartel operating under Amado Carrillo Fuentes until his death in 1997. After Fuentes' death he joined the Sinaloa Cartel. He eventually became Number Three in the organization.
Look at that -- they have Number Threes in Mexico, too! No wonder he was killed, it's the natural order of things.
Villareal normally operated out of Zapopan, Jalisco, where he eventually died.
In Zapopan, Mexican authorities were constantly raiding the area in search of Villareal, but were always coming up short, despite high profile events such as one of Villareal's sons killing two at a bar, and an arrest sweep in 2006 which yielded the arrest of five of his associates, jewelry and about $2 million in cash, but no Villareal.
In Zapapoan, Villareal kept to himself, associating with no one else except for a single lieutenant, Iranian born Francisco Quinonez Gastelum.
Iranian born? That seems odd.
He owned two homes in the area he used as safe houses which were stocked with weapons and cash. He also had safe houses in the Yucatan and Morelia, and in Durango.
Without saying in so many words, Mexican military authorities called the intelligence operation which pinpointed Villareal's location as "precision" meaning electronic means were used to find his hideout.
And about bloody time, too! What took them so long?
When the end came, elements of the Mexican Army cordoned off the area around his location. Apparently Villareal himself shot two Mexican soldiers as they closed in, killing one. His bodyguard, Gastelum, was captured armed with an AK-47 assault rifle. Inside the home military authorities found the $7 million in cash, nine rifles, seven handguns, two hand grenades and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, as well as Villareal's personal laptop and cellphones and documents.
Published reports say Villareal's death and the intelligence find will put a large dent of crystal meth manufacturing and trafficking in the Mexican republic.
WE have been raised to think of the historical process as an essentially cyclical one.
We naturally tend to assume that in our own time, too, history will move cyclically, and slowly.
Yet what if history is not cyclical and slow-moving but arhythmic, at times almost stationary, but also capable of accelerating suddenly, like a sports car? What if collapse does not arrive over a number of centuries but comes suddenly, like a thief in the night?
That's punctured equilibrium, that is. But what if overall it's cycles, but the occasional puncture sets everything to a new, and drastically different range?
Great powers and empires are complex systems, which means their construction more resembles a termite hill than an Egyptian pyramid. They operate somewhere between order and disorder, on "the edge of chaos", in the phrase of the computer scientist Christopher Langton.
Such systems can appear to operate quite stably for some time; they seem to be in equilibrium but are, in fact, constantly adapting.
Back when I played with factories for my pay, Total Quality was all the rage, which tells you how long ago that was. The idea was to tighten up the range within the system actually worked, not to remove variability and cycles altogether. Removing variability and cycles being impossible, as it turns out. Constantly wobbling around a balance point is the normal order of things. This becomes especially noticeable when one pulls a back muscle.
#2
I suspect that if the US goes down along the lines Ferguson speaks of, China will go down also. We are linked by trade as well as debt. It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. -- Yogi Berra
Relations between Britain and Pakistan have been strained since Mr Cameron bluntly suggested during a visit to India that its Islamic neighbour was responsible for exporting terrorism. relations were strained before that, otherwise Cameron wouldn't have said what he did
About a dozen protesters from the Islamist group Shababe Milli yesterday burned an effigy of the Prime Minister outside the Karachi Press Club, chanting "Down with Cameron." One placard read: "Cameron -- the loose mouth."
In London, Qaman Zaman Kaira, the Pakistan information minister, said that President Asif Ali Zardari will raise the issue during his official visit to Britain this week.
The developments came after it emerged that Lieutenant General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, head of Pakistan security agency Inter-Services Intelligence, called off a trip to London planned for next week when he had been due to discuss security co-operation with British intelligence.
Mr Cameron said during his India trip that Pakistan must not be allowed to "promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world." in some Pak neighborhoods in Britain they have openly operating terrorist recruitment centers and the only thing Cameron thinks he can do about it is give a speech
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/02/2010
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They're also building a border fence. Apparently they know something about border security that we in the US do not ...
JERUSALEM - Israel on Sunday approved new residency criteria that could result in the deportations of hundreds of children of migrant workers. The decision by Israels Cabinet represented a small step by Israel to clear up the status of thousands of foreign workers in Israel.
Under the decision, children of migrants whose parents entered Israel legally may remain if they are enrolled in school, speak Hebrew and have been here longer than five years.
An Israeli advocacy group, the Hotline for Migrant Workers, estimates 700 of 1,200 school-age children are at risk of deportation, along with their parents.
About 200,000 migrant workers live in Israel, mostly from the Philippines, China and Africa. About half have overstayed their visas, thousands for many years. Many have children who were born in Israel and know no other home.
Some Israelis complain that illegal migrants are taking jobs away from citizens. Others worry that the non-Jewish workers could upset the Jewish nature of the society.
At the Sunday Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed with the critics. This is a tangible threat to the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel, he said.
In another step to limit the influx of foreigners, Israel is building a fence along its rugged 130-mile (200-kilometer) border with Egypt. Thousands of asylum seekers and illegal migrants cross the Sinai desert border every year, many guided by Bedouin trackers who live in Sinai. Netanyahu said the border fence would be completed by 2013.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2010
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#1
We could take a cue from Israel if anyone had any cojones and was not pandering to the Hispanic vote.
KABUL, Afghanistan - The Netherlands became the first NATO country to end its combat mission in Afghanistan, drawing the curtain Sunday on a four-year operation that was deeply unpopular at home and even brought down a Dutch government.
The departure of the small force of nearly 1,900 Dutch troops is not expected to affect conditions on the ground. But it is politically significant because it comes at a time of rising casualties and growing doubts about the war in NATO capitals, even as allied troops are beginning what could be the decisive campaign of the war.
Canada has announced it will withdraw its 2,700 troops in 2011 and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski has promised to pull out his countrys 2,600 soldiers the year after.
That is likely to put pressure on other European governments such as Germany and Britain to scale back their forces, adding to the burden shouldered by the United States, which expects to have 100,000 troops here by the end of next month.
If NATO doesn't want to be there, fine. But we'll need to draw forces from somewhere to make up for it. I suggest our remaining forces in Europe should be drawn down even further. We can keep the hospitals and airfields in Germany and the naval bases in Italy, but eventually Europe has to defend itself. If they don't want to do it in Afghanistan they can do it at home.
I don't say this in anger: the Euros helped out in Afghanistan, and we should acknowledge that. But there's still work to be done there, and if the Euros can't help us any more, then they have to pick up the slack elsewhere. Iraq is done. There's no large scale fighting elsewhere. The Euros don't have enough of a combined navy to do anything off Somalia. So they can defend the home front and we'll pull our forces. Seems like the best we can do for now.
The Dutch departure was sealed after Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenendes government collapsed earlier this year over disagreement among coalition members on whether to keep troops in Afghanistan longer. His Christian Democrat party suffered heavy losses at parliamentary elections in June.
Twenty-four Dutch soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the mission began in 2006. Most of the Dutch soldiers were based in the central province of Uruzgan, where they will be replaced by soldiers from the U.S., Australia, Slovakia and Singapore.
The Dutch pioneered a strategy they called 3D defense, diplomacy and development that involved fighting the Taliban while at the same time building close contacts with local tribal elders and setting up numerous development projects.
Dutch troops, some of them riding bicycles, mingled closely with the local population and often did not wear helmets while walking around towns and villages as a way of winning the trust of wary local tribes.
The international community and NATO are helping Afghanistan to stand on its own legs so the country can defend itself against extremists who want to use it as a breeding ground for global terrorism, Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said in a message to Dutch troops.
NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz played down the significance of the Dutch move, saying it did not signal a weakening of coalition resolve.
The overall force posture of (NATO) and of the Afghan security forces is increasing, Blotz told reporters. He noted the surge of mostly U.S. forces that have recently taken control of key areas in Helmand and Kandahar provinces from British and Canadian forces.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2010
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#1
Yokay, I'll bite, NET > isn't diving up/surrendering early supposed to be FRANCE'S JOB!
#2
I've seen comments from people I know who are currently deployed there to the effect of, a lot of the European troops might as well not be there to begin with, because they absorb our logistics but don't have ROE that let them make a difference.
#3
The Dutch, on the other hand, worked hard in their little corner of the region. I've a girlfriend who is just back from over there for six months as a civilian contractor, and she was very proud of what they accomplished... and frustrated her projects will not be continued. It sounds like the troops didn't want to leave.
#4
...I've said this before, and it bears repeating: the 'Allies' - and now without even the qualified exception of the UK - shut down their militaries after '91 to the absolute minimum possible to avoid killing NATO. They have a few 'palace guard' units (although the UK still maintains some real military formations)but that's it. If we were to pull any more of our forces out and tell the Allies "Hey, you gotta defend Europe now," they would panic...because there's nothing there to do it with.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/02/2010 8:25
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A propos European self-defence, it's interesting how the missile shield is being viewed. From the [Irish] Independent:
A US MISSILE shield to deter an Iranian strike on southern Europe is on course to be activated as soon as next year amid growing gloom over international efforts to halt Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons programme.
The United States is close to activating a missile shield over southern Europe as part of its effort to shore up regional defenses in the face of a missile threat from Iran.
WASHINGTON: A small part of Pakistan does not share Talibans ideology and it is working to contain the threat posed by the group, said Pakistans Ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani said on Sunday.
Speaking on CNNs programme GPS, Haqqani said, The Pakistani intelligence services are working effectively to contain all terrorists, including Taliban from Afghanistan and Pakistan. He brushed aside WikiLeaks reports which suggested a link between the Pakistani intelligence services and Afghan Taliban.
Haqqani said that the military field reports made online from 2004 to 2009 are not reflective of what is happening today. Over the last two years Pakistan and the US have entered into a special collaborative relationship, he said.
Yup, 2010 is different than 2007. You can see the difference in the way the mighty Pak army has retaken control and driven out the Taliban. The Taliban are extinct, a figment of our imaginations.
Its not important right now from our perspective to dwell on the history. But lets be very clear that Pakistan does not share or appreciate the Talibans vision for Afghanistan or for Pakistan, he said. We want to make sure that we enter the 21st century as a modern Muslim and democratic nation and we do not wish for Afghanistan what we do not wish for Pakistan, he added.
Pointing out that WikiLeaks documents are obsolete, the ambassador said that US President Barack Obama, top US military official Admiral Mike Mullen and White House National Security Adviser James Jones have all said that what is happening today is very different from the WikiLeaks reports.
Which is why no one cares about Wikileaks ...
In reply to a question about Pakistan going after Afghan Taliban thought to be hiding in North Waziristan, Haqqani said the country would not allow any Taliban to gather there. North Waziristan is a part of sovereign Pakistan. There is no way we will let terrorists of any view or persuasion, whether originating from Pakistan or from other parts of the world or from our neighbouring countries congregate there, he said.
Except for Binny when he decides to travel there ...
However, he said Pakistan would go after the Taliban
who are extinct after all
only when it feels it can succeed militarily. He also said all those responsible for terrorism will be dealt with and no exceptions will be made, whether it is the Pakistani Taliban or the Afghan Taliban.
The envoy drew attention to the fact that Pakistan has faced more terrorist attacks than any other country, losing civilians and security personnel including senior military officers. He said Pakistan has lost 74 ISI officials and more than 250 have been injured. The Taliban are very clear that we are the enemy. Why should we lack the clarity that they are all our enemy, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Doc, they aren't extinct - they aren't even covered by the Wildlife Protection Act. Well, maybe by the Pakistani WPA but not ours. Yet.
#2
Haqqani said that the military field reports made online from 2004 to 2009 are "not reflective of what is happening today". "Over the last two years Pakistan and the US have entered into a special collaborative relationship," he said.
Admission from the Pak GOVT that the Perv Govt helped/train the Taliban?
Chairman of Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (UCPN-M) Prachanda has claimed that the nation would get the new prime minister in the third round of election to be held today.
Alternative headline: China to complete conquest of Nepal Real-Soon-Now ...
"The UCPN-Maoist would form the next government by coordinating with other political parties, if the parliament fails to elect the new PM on Monday [today]," Prachanda told journalists on after meeting with chairman of the Constituent Assembly Subash Chandra Nemwang.
According to yesterday's The Rising Nepal daily, the ongoing peace and constitution making processes were discussed at the meeting in addition to other contemporary issues.
"I asked Prachanda to expedite the constitution making process by ending the ongoing political deadlock," Nemwang was quoted by the daily as saying.
The Legislature Parliament is holding the third round of election today after it failed to elect new prime minister twice. Prachanda and Nepali Congress Vice President Ram Chandra Paudel are contesting the election.
Prachanda will ensure that there's no need for a vote ever again ...
The Communist Party Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal withdrew his candidacy in the first round of election saying that he failed to muster support from the two-thirds majority of parliament members.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Nineteen individuals were killed by ongoing drug and gang crime in northern Mexican states, including a prison riot which killed two inmates Sunday and a lawyer in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora killed Saturday.
Five unidentified men were shot to death in an attack in northern Chihuahua city, Chihuahua, Saturday, say Mexican news reports. The assault took place near the intersection of calles Tarahumara and Lucha Obrera in the Villa Nueva district when the five were shot at while riding aboard their Chrysler sedan. The armed suspects fled the area aboard a vehicle.
Four unidentified men were shot to death in separate crimes in Juarez, according to the Mexican daily La Polaka. The first crime took place when two vendors of bonzai trees were shot to death by an armed suspect on Avenida Manuel J. Clouthier in the Plaza del Reloj district. Two armed suspects riding a vehicle approached the vendors as potential customers, then open fired killing both.
The second crime took place at a residence near the intersection of calles Antonio Maura and Valentin Fuentes in the Infonavit Casas Grandes district. One armed suspects stood watch as the other entered the home and shot the victims.
Two unidentified women were shot to death Saturday night in Juarez, according to Mexican press reports. The shooting took place near the intersection of calles Caiman and Lucha & Esfuerzo in the El Märmol district where the two were found face up shot with 9mm weapons.
Two unidentified men were shot to death in two separate crimes in Juarez, according to the Mexican daily La Polaka. In the first crime a man was found shot to death near the intersection of calles Baja California and Tehuacan streets in the Polo Gamboa district. The victim was found with a single gunshot wound to the head.
In the second crime a man was found shot to death near the intersection of Antonio R. Villalba and 40 Ejidatario in the Libre district. The victim was performing masonry work as he was shot by two armed suspects.
A lawyer was killed Saturday afternoon in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, according to Mexican press reports. Trinidad Arteaga, 41, was shot as he boarded his GMC Sierra pickup truck. He was shot at at least three times.
Three unidentified young men were shot to death in Juarez Sunday, say Mexican press reports. The victims, all under 18 were shot aboard their Jeep Cherokee by several armed suspects near the intersection of Las Torres and Libramiento Aeropuerto in the Smart Libramiento shopping center.
Two inmates were killed in a prison riot at a Centro de Readaptación Social (CERESO) in Juarez Sunday, say Mexican press reports.
The riot started at 1600 hrs. during visiting hours. Several are reported injured. Reports say visitors and guests were rounded up by prison officials and sheltered in a tunnel while the rioters were dealt with.
#1
The lawyer is perhaps understandable but whats up with the bonsai tree sellers? I sure wish there was some hint as to why some of these people are shot. Are a large number of people being murdered at random or for sick reasons as things fall apart?
#2
Are a large number of people being murdered at random or for sick reasons as things fall apart?
From what I gather, business people who are murdered are killed for failure to pay protection money, or they are involved in drug dealing and there is a problem with their goods invoice.
PESHAWAR: The death toll from devastating floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has risen to 1,300, followed by the outbreak of waterborne disease that have added to the misery of the people affected by the flood.
A Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) official told Daily Times on Sunday that unofficial death report had risen to 1,300. He said the number of deaths confirmed so far had reached 730 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said 690 people had been killed in Charsadda, Nowshera, Peshawar, Mardan and Swabi. He said that 115 people were still missing since the torrential rains and flood hit the province.
Locals said thousands people were stranded in Nowshera and water level was gradually decreasing.
According to unofficial reports, the death toll in the worst hit districts of Swat and Shangla had reached 434 -- Swat 244 and Shangla 190.
The Pakistan Army is operating at full stretch continuously in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and had so far rescued over 28,000 people trapped in floodwater and moved them to safer places.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government declared all flood-hit districts "calamity-hit" and waived off all provincial taxes in these areas. The KP government called on the World Health Organisation to provide 50 kits for Diarrhea treatment and 50 kits for emergency treatment of the people affected by the floods.
About 17 mobile teams have been providing health facilities in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera.
Meanwhile, efforts were still under way to rescue Chinese nationals stranded in Kohistan. Of over 200 Chinese nationals, 110 have been shifted to safer places.
"The government is facing a lot of difficulties to carry out rescue operations because of the collapse of bridges and roads in several areas," Shakil Qadir, PDMA director, told reporters in Peshawar.
In Punjab, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Bhakkar, Layyah and Muzaffargarh districts were put on a red alert due to "exceptionally high flood" expected to hit these areas anytime between Sunday night and Tuesday.
The Meteorological Department issued a warning on Sunday, saying a high tide was expected to pass through Taunsa Barrage between Sunday and Tuesday, putting southern Punjab districts at high risk.
In Taunsa Sharif, hundreds of villages had reportedly been submerged by floodwater.
The Met Department also forecast another spell of rainfall in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab during the next 48 hours. The chief meteorologist said rains would also spread across Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2010
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#1
Allan is displeased. If we send relief helicopters will they be shot at?
#2
The S Asia Monsoon has been ferocious this year after many years of moderate to mild monsoons.
The locals are always unprepared for this and the lax building standards and flood control standards and lax enforcement of whatever standards exist make this kind of tragedy inevitable.
Of course, the locals will blame America, Israel, Britain, Genghis Khan, etc.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/02/2010 10:09
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#4
ION NOT-NOAH'S-ARK, TIMES OF INDIA > MILITANTS POSE AS VICTIMS TO FISH IN PAK FLOOD WATERS, +
BTW also to SSSSSSSHHHHHHHH....CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC SNEAKEY-SNEAKILY CROSS THE BORDERS TO ENTER/PENETRATE INTO PESHAWAR FOR VARIOUS HARD/BAD BOYZ TERROR SHENNANIGANS.
The 25 statistics below prove that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate.
Why? Compared to the rest of the world, American workers are extremely expensive, and the government keeps passing rules, regulations and taxes that make it even more difficult to conduct business here. What has developed is a situation where the people at the top are doing quite well, while the average family barely gets by. Entitlement programs are expanding at unprecedented rates, but it is the people in the middle -- who shoulder the costs of these programs, while their salaries stagnate -- who are being squeezed in a sea of depressing statistics . . .
1. According to a 2009 poll, 61% of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49% in 2008 and 43% in 2007.
2. 36% of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.
3. A staggering 43% of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
4. 24% of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
5. The number of Americans with incomes below the official poverty line rose by about 15% between 2000 and 2006, and by 2008 over 30 million US workers were earning less than $10 per hour.
6. According to Harvard Magazine, 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
7. In New York, the top fifth of earners collect more than 53% of the income; the bottom fifth takes home less than 3%.
8. Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32% increase over 2008.
9. Only the top 5% of households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
10. For the first time in US history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
11. In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
12. As of 2007, the bottom 80% of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
13. The bottom 40% of income earners now collectively own less than 1% of the nation's wealth.
14. Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17% when compared with 2008.
15. The average income of the top fifth of New York families is 8.7 times greater than that of the bottom fifth. This is the biggest difference of all states.
16. The average income of families in the top 5% in New York was five times greater than the average income of families in the middle 20% of earners. Again this is the biggest difference of all states.
17. The average federal worker now earns about twice as much as the average worker in the private sector.
18. An analysis of income tax data by the Congressional Budget Office found that the top 1% of US households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
19. The average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
20. More than 40% of Americans who are employed now work in often low-paying service jobs.
21. For the first time in US history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the US Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
22. What American workers compete with: In China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour, and in Cambodia it's 22 cents an hour.
23. Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the US rose a whopping 16% to 7.8 million in 2009.
24. About 21% of all children are living below the poverty line in 2010 -- the highest rate in 20 years.
25. According to Professor Emmanuel Saez of the University of California at Berkeley, the top 10% percent of Americans now take in approximately 50% of the income.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/02/2010
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#1
24% of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
That would include me. But from fear over what the government WILL do to me rather than what it has done or even the economy.
The problem is so many now on some sort of help they will vote for whoever will keep sending the money. Medicare for example every time they have a guest speaker they promise to save or expand benefits but never cuts (senior centers for example).
#3
I fear that the only chance my kids will have of home-ownership/middle class lifestyles will be if I die so they can inherit. It's gonna happen someday anyway (I'm told), but I can see Oblahblah trying to take away 401K, et al, money "being underutilized" by us plebes so our betters can administer it "for us". That will be the armed insurrection
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/01/2010 16:26
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#4
I also fear for a country with so few with "skin in the game" as far as paying taxes. When nearly 50% of the households pay no federal taxes it pays to be a class-warfare populist Donk pol that can motivate the poorer classes to vote themselves larger and larger shares of other's money.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/01/2010 16:30
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#5
We've reached a point where such a large percentage of the population is unproductive, uneducated, and only interested in voting for more spending and social/welfare programs instead of fiscal responsibility.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/01/2010 17:18
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#6
The 50% figure is misquoted. The original article stated 50% of US households pay no federal income tax. It did not mention whether or not they pay FICA or Medicare taxes.
Anyone have a source on what percent of voters in the last presidential election paid federal income tax? What percent were unemployed at the time? What percent of unemployed who voted for Obama in 2008 are still unemployed?
#8
AH - ask 100 people what they pay in FICA/Medicare taxes. I doubt 90% could tell you. They DO know what their tax refund was last year though. It's all perception and zombie-like voting
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/01/2010 18:14
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#9
Mike Hunt, the best fiscal responsibility is for Americans to buy Made in USA. In stead of trying to change the elected representatives in USA government, the Tea party folks need to start changing the mind set of Americans to pay a few bucks more and buy USA made goods and to demand that made in USA means 100% made in USA, not only the card box. If only 50% of we take an oath to resist buying goods made in foreign country, and let the merchants know about it, we will be able secure our jobs and the future of our children and grand children. The basic difference between our government and rest of the worlds is that ours is from bottom to top, not from top to bottom. So please, look at what we did for the misery we brought (actually we bought) to ourtselves, correct it and do not blame others just kike the Islamic terrorist do. Please be Americans for we Americans dont blame others.
#10
the best fiscal responsibility is for Americans to buy Made in USA
Have you tried FINDING items made in America? Believe me I look. Usually it's a choice of several items ALL made in China. If the bean counters running most American companies insists on outsourcing everything, buying American is not a viable option.
#11
#10, so what are the viable options? Well, let me jolt you a bit more. I am expecting many harsh responses because what I said, although truth, but not much different than the story goes in rains birds sitting comfortably in their nests told the monkeys to build nests instead of becoming wet and cold out side and the monkeys snatched and threw the birds nests after the rains. There is always some monkey business in all of the human kind. But only the worst critic can tell me where I went wrong. So help me by throwing the worst you can on me. # 10 your comment imply that the solution to our problems are to service what we do not produce. Well, it was tried, did not work. All the creative economy without manufacturing did not work caused disaster for Aericans, is the fact, not theory.
#12
Annon, why will I be better off spending a few thousand more for a Government Motors car so some fat, dumb and happy UAW member can retire at my expense while I work till death? They can compete with every one else just as I do. Buy American is a suckers game.
#13
Buy American, the job you save may be your own. Quick info on some sweatshop free USA clothing:
LL bean- Freeport Maine. Look online specifically at their canvas custom boat bags can be custom made to your specs in your choice of colors. I own a sm, med, large, and the large works as a weekend bag
Quoddy-shoes made in Maine, USA.
Americanapparel.net. Sweatshop free made in US.
http://shop.moxsie.com/ Features independant designers, many American, at affordable prices.
For household items, furniture, etc, they are out there, but additional costs equal better peace of mind.
#17
Great N.S., You are a bit angry and the truth is coming out of your mouth. You do not have any solution to prevent loss of jobs in USA. Instead, you are driven by the jealousy and anger -- same story when a person worshiped the God to bestow up on him the blessing that his neighbor will loose both legs when he breaks one of his. Very typical of the wishes of a Tea Party person without brain, isnt it? But let me ask you a simple question. How long you think you will hold on to your highly competitive job in America when your business management could replce you any day by paying only one tenth of your salary to some one in under/non developed country. Have your pride so long it lasts. I will suggest you to get your head out of the sand
#19
Annon - I'd warn about walking unarmed into a battle of wits, but you are determined, it seems. Onward! You have only your head to be handed you! Along with your dignity, credibility, etc.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/01/2010 21:58
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#20
Dear T.W. and Tea Party Rntbergers, I am sorry, I stepped out of my self restrained expression.
I like Rantburg, I have been visiting this site at least for the last 4 years, have contributed once financially, and I know T.W. has a very moderating voice here. But I always thought, Rantburg could have a constructive and problem solving discussion chapter also. Unfortunately, this is not going to happen. Thank you TW for the warning and good by to all of you folks.
#23
Gotta get rid of the minimum wage and unions if you want American made. Minimum wage means US workers CANNOT compete with Asians.
Look at what the article says 22. What American workers compete with: In China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour, and in Cambodia it's 22 cents an hour.
I'm thinking inflation is the problem. My folks paid $30,000 for a house in 1960. Today you couldn't buy that place for less than $300,000. What percentage increase is that? Sorry, I'm slow with math but I know it's a helluva lot. Who is to blame? I nominate Bawney Fwank and Chris Dodd. Complicit, of course, was George W. Bush. It's a bi-partisan mistake/crime.
Bottom line: we're screwed.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/01/2010 23:28
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#24
It is unfortunate when we get all worked up over such small things.
If my employer could hire someone else for 1/10th the salary, then she should. But she can't. Why, because I work harder and have skills that those others don't have.
When I started my career, I had a secretary. She had a PhD in Archeology, and was a great secretary. Now I have a computer. It is a poor secretary. Nevertheless, her job was outsourced/automated. Now, she is a museum curator. And far better off.
The future is not the past. In change is opportunity. Seize it, or don't.
#25
Annon has (had) a good point, and it's one that's almost never made by our professional pundits or politicos: today's US economy has been built on a mirage aka cheap credit. Our version of bread-and-circuses has, or had, at its center a free lunch for the politicos, who didn't have to be fiscally prudent, or come up with an answer to the destruction of our manufacturing base, or improve or schools and elevate US workers' skills, or even make a pass at creating real and sustainable economic growth.
Instead, our craven political class took the easy way out. They reached for the credit spigot, and told some 50m US workers that $hit wages and utterly no employment security was no problem, saying in effect, Ignore the hole in your future, and live large today: load up on super-cheap Asian-made crap with your tiny paychecks, and take out crap mortgages and fill your cheap house with stuff you don't need bought with money you don't have!
That works OK, I suppose, when credit's artificially cheap, and crap mortgages enable ordinary folk to pretend they're playing the wannabe-WallStreeter's leveraged roulette game.
But there won't be any more cheap credit, and people have suddenly realized that they can forgo most of the shiny junk they stuffed into their shopping carts each weekend without missing a beat. Poof! There goes a hefty chunk of the 70% of our GDP that was the Big Fat American Consumer Economy!
My solution? Start by rediscovering the YANKEE virtues that made this nation the envy and aspiration of working people around the world, namely
INGENUITY - make it here. Make it better and make it more intelligently.
THRIFT - get our f###ing house in order. No more excuses.
SUPERIOR SKILLS - restore vocational ed. Reform primary and secondary education root and branch.
HIGH WAGES - to be achieved once again by not via legislative fiat but through a cultural change in which consumers agree to pay a bit more for companies that not only make good products but also pay good wages-- living wages, wages that you can support a family with and build communities around.
Bottom line (and end of my rant): either America will rediscover the virtues that made for the world's largest and wealthiest middle class, or it will cease to be America. In that case, we should just change our name to s.t. like Latin America North.
#26
One could make the Unappreciated Cultural benefit argument and how cost accounts and tax laws don't factor that in....
But none of it matters when you can hire a 2yr tech school grad in Chungking for less than $1 a day.
#27
The only effective response to globalized competition is to migrate our skills and our product quality / sophistication upward, ever upward. The Germans have heavy state intervention in business. They also have outstanding product quality, unmatched technical skills, and world-class manufacturing exporters. Either we learn how to make things again, and pay our people good wages to make and design and service those things, or we will go the way of that neighboring state that has cynically dumped its dumbest, least-educated and most desperate campesinos on us.
#28
Economic justice can best be won by free men through free enterprise.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/02/2010 6:09
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#29
I'm thinking inflation is the problem. My folks paid $30,000 for a house in 1960. Today you couldn't buy that place for less than $300,000.
Back when we were in the landlording business (yes, I was once a bloody-handed plutocrat, before getting busy with other things), I was told that historical inflation meant that the price of things generally doubled every ten years. That means that a house costing $30,000 in 1960 should be worth about... carry the seventeen and add 43 (I've always been fond of prime numbers)...$960,000 in 2010. At $300,000 you're paying theoretical 1995 prices -- not too bad.
Not to mention, Abu Uluque, as I recall you live in California, yes? What did that house sell for three years ago?
Annon has indeed been a Rantburger for years. That's why I was surprised at the sudden and unnecessary personal attack. Problem solving rarely occurs when one party begins by attacking the character and intelligence of the other party. Nose-punching is the more usual outcome.
The solution to the jobs problem is to strengthen the small business side of the economy, which is where job growth happens in America, or so I'm told. Unfortunately, the current administration loathes small business with a passion (they loathe large business, too, but those are so much easier to manage), so whatever happens in the next few years will be against the headwind of increasing regulatory and tax burdens.
Nonetheless, I expect small businesses will continue to be formed, and those that survive the current situation will be ready to grow as soon as the business climate improves. In the meantime, many college business, engineering, and other programs are looking to place interns and co-op students, who as a group are reasonably intelligent and energetic... and cheap and short-term. There are also temp. agencies which, while not necessarily cheap, have the advantage of being easily let go during a financial downturn... and most of the paperwork is handled by the agency.
#31
Holy mackerel, Moonbeam almost wrecked my train of thought.
What an active weekend at the burg. Annon is a story teller as I am myself. We all have to be thick skinned to survive these days.
Rush told this Russian story. Two friends were walking along and one had a dog. The one who didn't have a dog was jealous. The one without a dog killed the friends dog. So now they were equal.
That's how the riots went in DC. If your neighbor had anything they were to share it and if you didn't they took it.
#32
"A number of Rantburgers are founding members of Tea Party organizations... and not one of them is anything like brainless."
Hmmm maybe I should start one in Germany? (Although I guess "beer party" would appeal to more people...
Posted by: European Conservative ||
08/02/2010 8:27
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#33
Because made in North Korea for North Koreans has worked so well for them, we should follow the model of self sufficiency. Because Smoot-Hawley helped recover the battered economy before. /sarc off
There is no perfect. It's all trade offs. The problem is that politicians decide the trade offs for short term personal/party gain rather than allow a true 'national' free market system to do it in the interest of the majority. It's all about control and fear of riding the unpredictable beast that a true free market can be. Humans are more comfortable with predictability and routine than vagaries and uncertainty.
Beer garden would work. You can start planning for October fest. I think tea party types are more out going than most others. I would advise you to serve the beer after the work is done but tea during activities.
#38
The world is changing. A lot. Rapidly. Mainly because of Point 22 above. Someday Clinton will be viewed as a terrible President for two decisions; not stopping the Nork nuclear program and admitting China to the WTO. Some day we find out why he made these decisions, also. But in the meantime, we need to live with the consequences.
One of them is an oversupply of relatively fungible low skilled labor in the world. An oversupply will lead to a price drop, no matter how hard we try to resist it with income transfers like Buy American or protectionist measures. The major question is whether we adopt such measures to spread the pain, thus subsidizing the unskilled, or whether the pain is borne mainly by the unskilled.
This is a major and real problem. (And remember that you get more of what you subsidize.) We would do well to remember how we dealt with the problem last time. The New Deal programs were not terribly effective in solving our economic problems. But the destruction of the rest of the world's productive capacity while we provided the arsenal for democracy proved incredibly effective. Under the post war security umbrella we provided the free world we were able to establish economic rules that allowed the middle class to flourish.
But with the decision to extend entry to our markets to those who didn't play by our rules exposed their weakness. The humpty-dumpty of the post war settlement can't be put back together. A new settlement will be reached, but not until after events more terrible than the last "good" war. And I have no idea what it will look like, anymore than someone in the 30's knew what the 50's would look like. But I know that those without skills will be remunerated at a wage established in a world market.
#39
Instead, you are driven by the jealousy and anger
Annon,
Its extremely rare when a person is motivated simply by spite. To paraphrase Napoleon: The two primary levers of mankinds motivation are self-interest and fear. And when one automatically assumes anothers motivation is of the irrational and discounts the legitimate, its usually a sign that he is consumed with an agenda. The Buy American to save US manufacturing is the most fatigued Union canard. For example, what would motivate someone to buy a foreign electric hybrid vehicle over a US built Chevy Volt? First, it would be in their self-interest to purchase a superior product at a lower price. Second, would be the fear that their neighbors and friends would think theyre a fool if they did otherwise.
#40
Lex - Good point about the mirage of cheap credit and the US economy's dependence thereon. There's another critically important take away from that idea which is rarely touched upon but equally true: while cheap credit fed an artificial, extraordinary, and unsustainable expansion of the US economy it also, in turn, fed an artificial, extraordinary, and unsustainable expansion of the public sector. Cheap credit inflated a government bubble as surely as it inflated a real estate bubble.
Unfortunately there exists no simple market mechanism to deflate this most damaging of economic distortions. Elections will bring few tangible improvements as enough members of both major parties (nearly all Democrats and many Republicans) like being or desire to be members of the ruling class that theres strong incentive across the political spectrum to maintain the present order. Though the left and right would utilize the mechanisms of the present overlarge system to different ends, theres little impetus for any elected official to voluntarily give up power and influence. But, until and unless we deflate the government bubble and remove most of its restrictive regulation and at least some of its unbearable cost, all the restoration of fundamental American ideals in the world will have little impact on our economy.
#41
But I know that those without skills will be remunerated at a wage established in a world market.
Right.
But those with skills too. As a computer programmer I am keenly aware that there are programmers in India who are just as skilled as I am. If I was to sit here and claim that I am smarter, better educated, harder working and more productive than they are it would be as foolish as it is arrogant. That's why we have fewer students in this country who will major in computer science. That's how we lose our edge in that critical field just like we've lost our edge in steel, textiles and automobiles. What's left? Cotton? Wheat? Corn? Lettuce that is harvested by illegal aliens? Big Macs?
What I'm saying is that maybe those wages that are established in a world market wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for inflation. If there had been no inflation since 1960 then maybe our workers could compete. We're getting squeezed by an exorbitant cost of living here in the USA and a vast pool of cheap labor that is not entirely unskilled overseas. We really are screwed, all of us, except the uber rich who can live on their investments and the union members who manage to keep their jobs and their pensions.
And why do we have inflation? I'm no expert here but it seems to me that runaway government spending and easy credit have had a lot to do with it. That's why I mentioned Bawney Fwank. I guess what I meant was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because, when people can get a mortgage for a house that they really can't afford it encourages even more housing inflation resulting in the real estate bubble that has just about ruined us. When people can buy stuff on credit, when they are living beyond their means, it encourages retailers and producers to increase their prices. Unions that demand ever increasing wages and benefits can blame it on inflation but they can also share the blame for inflation and they have themselves to blame when their jobs are sent overseas and they are left unemployed.
And yes, TW, I live in California where it is much more expensive to live than in the so-called flyover country. I'd leave it if I could but I've been here so long that it has spoiled me rotten. Besides, some of my fellow Rantburgers would be upset if I Californicated Colorado. Hmmmm. I wonder what a four-bedroom, three-bath, three-car garage, 2500 sq. ft., two-story house is going for these days in the Denver-Colorado Springs area? But I don't wonder too much because I don't like snow. I wonder how much it would be in Bangalore?
#42
There are a lot of great ideas above, and even better correctives. In particular P2K #33, N.S. #38 have very good posts. The various posters railing against robotic "buy American" and other sloganeering are dead on, too, as are those like rammer #24.
But is it all for naught?
I mentioned it recently (http://rantburg.com/poparticle.php?D=2010-07-06&ID=300351&HC=) in an excellent discussion here, and I'll say it again.
Until and unless Americans stop overrating the monetary and material value of their work in terms of lifestyle expectations, and until they stop worshipping at the altar of the false god of bulletproof income stream security, none of the suggestions above will work. Period.
The middle class isn't being "destroyed", except by some very arbitrary standards. It is, however, being reset to a more historical norm, a norm more in line with an economy not blown out of proportion by a hallucinogenic credit scenario.
I've been saying it for years here at the 'burg and on other sites. 1954 is dead. 1986 is dead. Do NOT listen to any politician (of either party) or professor or union boss or co-worker or blogger or drunk in a bar who tells you that he can get us back to either time. We can only go forward. And we must end the insanity of the fifty-year revolution of forever-rising expectations.
And we MUST get over the fact that some people will be richer than we are, and have more stuff.
The globalization of world labor markets is like toothpaste out of the tube. It can't be put back to its original state. None of you would want me to get my legislators to put in tariffs and taxes on you to pay (in a de facto way) ten times more for what I do just so I can live the lifestyle I've convinced myself I deserve, without regard to any historical context. That's thuggery, no matter who is doing it to whom (grammar?).
I agree, other countries where labor ends up are less free, have less safe workplaces, are less environmentally safe, etc. That's a moot argument. I don't like that stuff, either. But even if those things were equalized, the sense of expectation and entitlement of Amercans would be the real paralysis.
We can either nitpick and howl about it, and waste time with fifty different theories about how we can go back to some other hallowed era, or we can do something genuine and effective that recognizes that reality that moves us forward.
Lex, "high wages", "good wages"? This isn't the tune you were singing recently in our discussion!
Who is paying for those, but us? That truly becomes ourobouros. How about "wages which are in line with any real-world historical context"? Before the 1950's, even in good times, folks had very realistic expectations about what an hour of work entitled them to in terms of material standards. In good times, and in bad (like a good marriage!). Now, everybody thinks their work entitles them to live like a king, literally, in historical terms. Unless we can get back to deriving more of our joy in life from things not inolving purchases and stuff, we are in big trouble.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/02/2010 13:50
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#43
The 25 statistics below prove that the middle class is being systematically wiped out of existence in America. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer at a staggering rate.
This article is extremely deceptive.
1. According to a 2009 poll, 61% of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49% in 2008 and 43% in 2007.
Polls aren't facts, but there's some truth in this. Part of the reason is that people are gullible, and there's a group of people out there that push living paycheck to paycheck. Heck, I live paycheck to paycheck. I do have savings, but I don't use it for routine purchases. I wait until I get a paycheck, then buy what I need. The problem isn't "living paycheck to paycheck", but living BEYOND your paycheck, routinely. The problem is debt - debt beyond your ability to pay it off in a reasonable time period. More and more Americans understand this, and are gradually weaning themselves from credit cards and easy debt.
2. 36% of Americans say that they don't contribute anything to retirement savings.
That's 36% that have been sold the canard that social security IS a retirement account - and even that 36% probably contribute to it. Social security by itself will keep you from starving, but that's about it. Part of that 36% are probably the chronic unemployed, or those trying to game the system by living on Social Security Disability Insurance or other government largess. My son gets SSDI. He's basically unemployable. He lives in a group home where his SSDI covers room and board. I spend about $300 a month meeting some of his other essentials and paying his Medicaid co-pays, because there's nothing left after he covers room and board.
3. A staggering 43% of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.
How many of those are union employees who have a contractual retirement? How many have the kind of retirement account I had at a local company, where the company put "X" amount into a retirement account for me every month, plus ten shares of common stock for each year I worked for them? I didn't directly contribute, but the cash was deposited into my account each month. When I left, I got that cash, plus the stock (I also paid taxes on both - a real bite!).
4. 24% of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.
How many of those were planning an early retirement? How many had planned to retire at the minimum Social Security retirement age? How many were offered an incentive to stay? My father worked four years beyond age 65 at his company's request. Unless you can answer those questions, this statistic is meaningless.
5. The number of Americans with incomes below the official poverty line rose by about 15% between 2000 and 2006, and by 2008 over 30 million US workers were earning less than $10 per hour.
This piece of drivel needs to be dissected and discarded. What percentage of the US population was actually living below the poverty line? How many of those people were getting benefits from the State or Federal government, and how much? In some counties in the US, what's considered "the poverty line" is about the median income. How many of those "below the poverty line" were in prison, living on Native American reservations, in the military (lower enlisted ranks, up to about E-3, earn below the poverty level), or like my son, on SSDI? How many of those living on "less than $10/hour" were under 21, single, and living at home?
6. According to Harvard Magazine, 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.
Sigh. Yes, it probably did. When you're earning $2-$3 million a year (or you're a business making $2-$5 million a year) ANY increase is probably going to be staggering. How much of that, however, was in non-dollar income, such as stock options? For small businesses (treated like persons), a better year means income growth, and falls in that 66%.
7. In New York, the top fifth of earners collect more than 53% of the income; the bottom fifth takes home less than 3%.
And the top fifth pay 75% of ALL taxes, while the bottom HALF pay no income taxes, and less than a third of all other taxes. This statement is only relevant if your purpose is to induce envy and justify "wealth redistribution". Nothing is keeping anyone from increasing their earning power, if they're willing to work at it. Three things are needed to guarantee income: education, experience, and a willingness to work. The more of each you have, the more likely your income will be greater. I went from earning $8 an hour in 1994 to earning $18 an hour in 2000 because I had the right mix of education, experience and willingness to work. If you dropped out of high school in the tenth grade, have little or no work experience, and would rather goof off than work, your income is going to reflect that.
8. Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32% increase over 2008.
Another lying statistic. There are supposedly 134 million working Americans. That means that a little less than 1% of Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, in the midst of a roaring recession and near-10% unemployment. If that number were 10% or greater, I'd be worried.
9. Only the top 5% of households have earned enough additional income to match the rise in housing costs since 1975.
I have my doubts about this. I'd have to see some raw data. Too many people bought houses since 1975. Were the figures adjusted for inflation? Did they reflect the change in mortgage rates? Was the unbelievable 17% inflation of the 1977-1980 period factored in?
10. For the first time in US history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.
I need data. This statement, at face value, looks pretty iffy. And how much of what the banks own is the result of being FORCED to loan to people who had no ability to repay the loans? How much of that is in "derivatives", and how much in actual deed ownership? How much is the result of foreclosures caused by people losing their jobs as the economy retrenched - caused by the housing loan bubble?
11. In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
Again, so what? Nothing but a statistic to cause envy and encourage "wealth redistribution". The better question is how much income did each earn compared to what they contributed to the company's overall income and growth. Productivity of the individual worker in the US is among the highest in the world. While I don't believe that many "executives" are worth what they're paid, there are those whose contributions to a company deserve their seven-figure salary plus perks.
12. As of 2007, the bottom 80% of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets.
Well, duh! The income of the bottom 80% is less likely to result in huge surpluses (especially when most of those 80% are living beyond their incomes), while those top 20% have incomes significantly larger to provide a greater portion that can be saved. Also, how much of that 93% of liquid financial assets is in stocks and bonds provided as part of the upper 20%'s average annual salary?
13. The bottom 40% of income earners now collectively own less than 1% of the nation's wealth.
See above. Just another useless statistic.
14. Average Wall Street bonuses for 2009 were up 17% when compared with 2008.
And in 2010, how much BELOW 2009 are they? Again, just another 'envy' statistic.
15. The average income of the top fifth of New York families is 8.7 times greater than that of the bottom fifth. This is the biggest difference of all states.
New York, at the center of the financial infrastructure of the nation, would naturally include more people in the upper brackets than say, Gary, Indiana. Picking which data you're going to use can allow you to "prove" just about anything.
16. The average income of families in the top 5% in New York was five times greater than the average income of families in the middle 20% of earners. Again this is the biggest difference of all states.
Again, see above.
17. The average federal worker now earns about twice as much as the average worker in the private sector.
And has greater benefits. Factor out the military, and the span is even greater. Most of this is the direct result of Congress buying the civil service votes with greater pay and benefits. It needs to change, but it'll take a revolution - the shooting/killing kind - to make those changes. Eliminating the "unionization" of government employees would go a long way toward redressing this problem. Reducing the federal bureaucracy by 15%-20% would also help immensely.
18. An analysis of income tax data by the Congressional Budget Office found that the top 1% of US households own nearly twice as much of America's corporate wealth as they did just 15 years ago.
How many households owned ANY corporate wealth 15 years ago? There are too many variables one needs to see the data on to even comment on this.
19. The average time needed to find a job has risen to a record 35.2 weeks.
How much is this due to a continued recession, how much to a lack of jobs, and how much to extended unemployment compensation?
20. More than 40% of Americans who are employed now work in often low-paying service jobs.
As compared to what? Low-paying farm jobs during the first half of the last century? Low-paying manufacturing jobs that have since been shipped overseas due to payroll increases? How many are the result of the loss of union jobs, as compared to non-union income? That blanket statement means nothing without some supporting information.
21. For the first time in US history, more than 40 million Americans are on food stamps, and the US Department of Agriculture projects that number will go up to 43 million Americans in 2011.
Again, how much of this is because of the crappy economy? How much is because of a population increase, especially illegal immigration? How much of it is just out-and-out fraud?
22. What American workers compete with: In China a garment worker makes approximately 86 cents an hour, and in Cambodia it's 22 cents an hour.
Sigh. How does that compare to the cost of living in China, or Cambodia? When I was in Vietnam in 1970-71, the barracks housemaid got 1000 piasters from each of the 36 people in our barracks. That's 36,000 piasters. At an exchange rate of 500P=$1, that was a whopping $72/month. That put her in the upper 50% of the population in income. Garment workers - highly unionized - get $15-$25 an hour, but the number of jobs keeps decreasing because manufacturers cannot pay that and compete with companies in the Third World.
23. Despite the financial crisis, the number of millionaires in the US rose a whopping 16% to 7.8 million in 2009.
More forced envy. So what? So someone was able to hang on to more of their money, make more money, or operate a business more profitably than others. My income also rose 11% last year. So fricking what?
24. About 21% of all children are living below the poverty line in 2010 -- the highest rate in 20 years.
Again, how many of those are living below the poverty line because they're children of illegals, how many are children of people who have lost their jobs, and how many of those "children" are 15 or older and on their own? How many are children of unwed mothers, which has increased for the first time in a decade?
25. According to Professor Emmanuel Saez of the University of California at Berkeley, the top 10% percent of Americans now take in approximately 50% of the income.
And how is this different than what it was in the 1870's, or the 1890's, or even the 1920's?
This entire article is not about the "decline of the middle class" but an attempt to justify more greed on the part of politicians by igniting "envy of the haves", and "justification" for either higher taxes, or the expiration of the Bush tax cuts (or both). In truth, most Americans, including those "below the poverty line", live better than even the top 10% in most Third World nations. If government would quit trying to run every aspect of every person's life, would quit trying to confiscate as much of each person's productivity as possible, we could ALL live better. The person that wrote this article is part of the problem, and should reside at the end of a rope attached to some DC lamp post.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/02/2010 14:26
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#44
Tell us we're selfish all you want, especially as the government (whose "public servants" make much more than the rest of us) strangles what's left of private industry in this country. Just remember what those people y'all decided to give one of y'all's most strategic industries to have as a saying: at the narrow passage, there is no brother, there is no friend.
#45
It's probably more the case that our vaunted postwar middle class was much smaller in reality than the myth had it.
We never really had a large middle class, as that category is traditionally understood: well-educated, highly-skilled managers, professionals and others capable of managing some organizational entity with a degree of foresight, planning and prudence. The middle class historically has been those with the skills, character and education needed to accumulate some small amount of capital instead of living from paycheck to paycheck or delegating their economic future to overlords of the feudal, patrimonial/agrarian or capitalist company-store varieties.
When you look at many of the Americans who call themselves "middle class," what you see is a badly-educated or even completely uneducated proletariat with few marketable or competitive skills and no understanding of middle-class virtues such as thrift, planning, hard work etc.
We call ourselves a middle-class nation, but in a global information-based economy, probably more than half of our workforce is simply uncompetitive. IOW, not deserving of the fat middle-class lifestyle that post-1930s American generations came to believe was their birthright.
#46
no mo uro - Lex, "high wages", "good wages"? This isn't the tune you were singing recently in our discussion!
Let em clarify: I don't believe that many, perhaps most, of our workers at present deserve such wages, but I am 100% certain that unless we focus our efforts on getting those workers' skillsets up to world-class levels-- German levels would be a worthy target for the near future-- we will never have a sustainable, stable, broad-based prosperity in this brutally competitive global economy. I'm not blaming the workers, I'm not blaming management or shareholders. I'm simply saying that we as a nation, collectively, have to have a clear understanding that the only way out of our mess is to create real value with a supremely well-educated, highly skilled workforce that is second to none.
Right now, our workers' skills in many areas suck. Even where they're pretty good, they're still uncompetitive, for many reasons. It's not enough to just leave it up to slash-and-burn artists who will never invest their workforces; neither will it do any good to shovel money at a primary/secondary educational model that's broken. We need to get very serious about vocational and tracking-based education, in a hurry, and turn out as many STEM grads and highly skilled tradesmen as we possibly can.
I don't argue for a "chicken in every pot." More like "globally-competitive tools in everyone's toolset." Whatever path to get there ASAP, I'm for, whether it means keeping the idiot kids in school, in lockdown, "don't leave til you can read" mode, or even letting corporations take over school budgets and dictate a large protion of the curriculum or any other means necessary.
#47
The reason America's middle class is being destroyed is not because of globalization. The reason Americas middle class is being destroyed is because we are a people who don't share the same set of values that others in third world countries do. Therefore, here within our own borders, we still don't allow sweat shops, child labor, and people to die in the streets or children to go unfed and uneducated.
So the end result is that we are generous and willing to share a portion of our income to house, clothe, educate and assist an unending supply of people who keep entering the system.
The highest unemployement rates in the nation are in El Centro (27%), Yuma and one other border town. Why? Because there is ALWAYS a steady stream of cheap labor that just got off the boat from a third world country that does not share the same values for their people as we do, so they are always willing to come to the west because it is better than what they can find at home.
The life boat is sinking because we can't continue to just keep taking more and more on board.
We no longer demand accountability from our leaders because it became passe to talk about issues like character, honor, values and commitment and we allowed the Clintons, the Obamas and every other liberal puke to pretend that we could just keep writing checks with no accountability on any level and that was somehow smart to pretend we could wave a magic fairy wand and make it so.
Posted by: Martini ||
08/02/2010 16:11
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#48
TFSM #44-
Your comment about the government strangling the private sector is spot on. I agree 100%.
I'm not sure why you think that trumps or even affects my comments about a populace that has historically inaccurate and ridiculously excessive lifestyle expectations.
Lex-
Agree entirely with your post #45, and thanks for the clarification in #46. However, that post begs the question - in a global labor environment which is the one we will have going forward, is this something the political ruling class will ever have the cojones to do? It will require many of them doing the fall-upon-their-sword and tell prospective voters that they can't have their owned house and flat screen and new car and Carribean cruises etc. just because they are American and above ground. What do you think the odds of that might be (asking seriously)?
OP-
Your post is classic. Enjoyed reading it. A lot.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/02/2010 16:49
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#49
Excessive? I call it a Blessed life style. Take a vacation. And stay there. Raise your chickens and a cow for milk if you can afford to buy feed for them, and if you get sick, too bad, your dead. You want third world, go there. Your daddy in the white house wants third world here for you while he and his union thugs are on the golf course all day.
#50
... in a global labor environment which is the one we will have going forward, is this something the political ruling class will ever have the cojones to do?
But the global labor environment is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. You simply CANNOT compare labor costs alone across borders, such comparisons are nearly meaningless. There exist a multitude of other relevant factors including but certainly not limited to the: availability of capital, quality of the workforce, level of expected graft, regulatory environment, tax system, level of political stability, level of legal risk, etc.
Once upon a time the US was competitive with both the developed world and the less developed world on nearly every one of those bullet points. Today we: have among the most stringent, expensive and rapidly-advancing regulatory regimes on the planet; have among the highest real effective (not just marginal alleged rates) tax rates on the planet, particularly on business who pays *all* of the bills directly or indirectly; suffer from runaway size, scope & cost of government creating an extraordinarily uncertain business climate; seem to import more unskilled labor who don't even speak the native language than skilled and/or monied folks of the sort who propped us up for the past few decades even as we export the jobs the less skilled might do; are forced to do business in a legal shooting gallery that's more expensive to business owners than any graft demanded of a business in a third world kleptocracy.
It's true we can't have our vacations, detached single family homes and big screen plasmas along with all of that crap. It's a choice between: have our lifestyle and not our present level of government or have our present level of government along with its forthcoming growth and lead a third world lifestyle. Easy call IMHO, I think there's enough vestigial sanity in America that it'll become an easy call for the majority soon enough.
#52
How will our government respond?. The actions they take will be more of the same. Tax revenue will decrease. Programs will not be cut. Print more money will be the first action. Then tax efforts will only increase at the same time. Obama is not going to change. His enablers will continue to sing his praise. Then in November we will see Rino's and Dino's continue on this same path. Why? the tough decisions will be put off. Reality is the patient is very ill and wants only to be medicated. The old skin must be shed for new growth to occur.
#53
It's true we can't have our vacations, detached single family homes and big screen plasmas along with all of that crap. It's a choice between: have our lifestyle and not our present level of government or have our present level of government along with its forthcoming growth and lead a third world lifestyle. Easy call IMHO, I think there's enough vestigial sanity in America that it'll become an easy call for the majority soon enough.
That call's already been made, which is why the economy's tanking. Aside from addictive crap and shiny gadgets, Americans aren't spending anymore.
In effect, we need to change the entire culture of BSYDN (Buying $hit-You-Don't-Need) with money-you-don't-have that arose around that time credit became cheap and memories of the Depression faded-- date it to the 1980s and the "You can have it all!" Michelob ads.
There's a simple model, and it goes back to the north European roots of this country: the high-savings, high-education model of Protestant Northern Europe. The issue isn't really the amount of government intervention in the economy. Sweden, Holland and Germany are doing fine. The keys are
- low debt and clean government
- a tight rein on bankster mischief via high capital ratios and strong govt watchdogs
- a social ethos and cultural bias in favor of thrift and high cultural and intellectual attainment, and against BSYD
Imagine: a society in which we measure success by the strength, beauty and depth of our communities rather than by square footage of our housing and the amount of Chinese-made shiny crap in our living rooms.
You offer a false choice, and you damn well know it. There is very sustainable and comfortable level somewhere between. There is a third choice between having a society where workers who are unskilled or semiskilled (or are highly skilled in a field where there are lots of other people who can perform the same highly skilled task) live in third-world squalor, and one where the same group lives high off the hog, demanding and expecting a level of material luxury and services (and the shiny SYDN lex talks about) and bulletproof income stream security that bears no resemblance to what our granparents and their grandparents thought to be normal.
And yeah, you might need to relearn how to do some things for yourself instead of just calling someone every time something doesn't work and saying, "Fix it, boy". Boo fricken hoo. That will make your existence "third world"?
You might even want to catch a few fish to eat, or you and your wife might want to put up some veggies and jam for the winter. "Oh, the horror! We're no different than savages!" Please.
And you might even want to sacrifice the joy jolt from some purchase and save the money, like our "squalorous" grandparents did.
And yes, you might need to retrain yourself to derive joy in life from church, community, taking your kids to Cub Scouts, bowling, going hunting and fishing with your friends, etc. All things, I would point out, that our grandparents and their grandparents thought defined happiness in their life. Was America "third world", to use your term, when they were living that way?
BTW - is your point about the union thugs golfing anger at their corruption, or is it really envy that they might have that lifestyle and you wouldn't?
#50 Azcat-
Agree that globalization of labor is only one of a myriad of factors. I've said that repeatedly on this thread and others. But it is one of the biggest factors, and we ignore dealing with it in a mature and honest way at our peril.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/02/2010 20:36
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#55
Someone should regress the American states' performance-- fiscal health, economic and job growth, income and housing market stability, etc-- against % of population that are of north European origin. I suspect that the nordic/Lutheran states like MN, WI, WA, SD, UT etc will come out on top, and the states with the highest % of non-north Euros will be on the bottom....
If so, then our problem isn't political so much as it is cultural. Not socialism vs capitalism-- again, the heavily interventionist nordic states are all doing fine-- but thrifty yankee vs oligarco/bread&circus.
#56
There is a third choice between having a society where workers who are unskilled or semiskilled (or are highly skilled in a field where there are lots of other people who can perform the same highly skilled task) live in third-world squalor, and one where the same group lives high off the hog, demanding and expecting a level of material luxury and services (and the shiny SYDN lex talks about) and bulletproof income stream security that bears no resemblance to what our granparents and their grandparents thought to be normal
Go to Europe and you'll see what I and no mo are talking about. Slim women; reasonable portions of excellent, fresh food; small houses that have twice as many books as consumerist junk instead of v-v; tons of first-rate cultural offerings in city centers that preserve buildings instead of ripping them down for big-box Chino-Crappo Emporia... .
Look, we've become fat, stupid and drowing in SYDN. We used to be stronger, healthier, smarter than the denizens of the Old World. Not true any more. Time to get back to our historical roots, and get rid of all this SYDN.
Not sure we want to be like Euroland, either. Demographic collapse, cultural marxism, bigotry against religion, etc., y'know.
I'd not want to end up like that.
Their way isn't all that wise, either.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/02/2010 20:56
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#58
All this educated for the new economy stuff is BS!
As an engineer who tries to stay educated... the gov doesn't want you educated if your a citizen (look at foreign vs citizen grad school rates)...
If you do get educated they will bring in a ton of scabs (H1B-Visa holders) who are modern indentured servants to do your job. Why? Because if they hesitate one second... the company can pull their stay in the US. They are modern slaves, paid a good wage, but no benefits that need to actually be paid out. Just pull their damn visa and deep six their run...
But it really screws the US worker. But, who cares because the plan call for upper mgnt and majority owners to move their families to some tax haven and operate everything from some Nike factory hell hole as soon as their accountants give them a thumbs up.
#59
Agree that globalization of labor is only one of a myriad of factors. ... But it is one of the biggest factors, and we ignore dealing with it in a mature and honest way at our peril.
No doubt it is a significant factor but it's not the be-all end-all and is one of the biggest only in a few select unskilled labor intensive industries. The fact that US labor commands higher wages than similar labor in other nations merely argues strongly that we must become more competitive in other areas. A good start would be killing off the federal regulatory state, eliminating all business and capital gains taxes, eliminating our corrupt bureaucratic nightmare of a tax system in favor of a true flat or single-level consumption tax to give everyone equal skin in the game, busting the public sector unions, phasing out entitlements as we know them, eliminating all federal labor & discrimination laws, rules, regulations & causes of action, etc. Do those things and a few others and America dominates the globe for another century with wages and standards of living that put today's to shame. Fail to do so or fail to do something similarly bold and pro-market and, well, fail as a nation. Both the problems and possible solutions are clear, only the will to go forward is lacking.
Go to Europe and you'll see what I and no mo are talking about.
Europe ran along 20-30 years ahead of the US in their implementation of their particular leftist / statist hell. They're less consumerist because they're taxed half to death and regulated most of the rest of the way there just as we're about to be. It's not cultural superiority that prevents European peoples from buying more stuff, it's lack of money.
As far as specifics:
Norway is a bad comparison as the government there controls tremendous oil wealth from which it draws significant income to support a welfare state with a relative small population. Their solution can't be implemented in the US as the US government does not have access to a similar per capita wealth generator.
Sweden was rapidly becoming a socialist backwater hellhole until they smelled the proverbial coffee and implemented pro-market / pro-business reforms over the past decade or so. And, oddly, as they abandoned a few of their statist ideals in favor of policies that rewarded, rather than punished, productive individuals and organizations they began to prosper. We can learn from their example.
We could learn from Germany but not in the way you imply. The German government seems to view the German industrial base as an asset, not so the US government who has been seeking to destroy ours for most of the past half-century.
As no mo indicated: the "European" peoples, pretty much all of them, are in demographic collapse. It's almost certainly due to the cost of their socialist governments. Due to extraordinarily high taxes and imposed regulatory costs couples require dual incomes to support a decent lifestyle; many therefore delay or forego having children. Any hope of reversing that trend lies in slashing the imposed costs of taxation & regulation to the bone. Any hope of our avoiding a similar fate lies along those same lines. Nowhere does there exist a statist social democracy with a healthy birthrate; the correlation is clear, the causation I believe we can reasonably infer.
#60
I've been sitting here arguing with myself about this thread.
Fair trade, as espoused by Adam Smith, is based on comparative advantage. Countries have different levels of natural resources, so it's advantageous to trade these raw materials with minimal tariffs.
But, thinking about it, conversion of raw materials to useful goods depends on people. If we 'fair trade' human labor, the work goes to countries having an advantage in cheap labor. This didn't start happening with manufactured goods until the 20th century. First the fabric mills left, then the shoe factories, then the auto plants, then the machinery business and the steel mills.
We had a vibrant high tech semiconductor industry. First we offshored the assembly, then the wafer fabs, followed by the semiconductor processing equipment. Finally, the design is leaving because the engineers in the East are good (having had scholarships at MIT instead of our children) and cheap.
We were able to mobilize for World War II and subsequent because we had extensive manufacturing capability. If we were strategically cut off from the Orient and faced with war, where would we get our semiconductors? It takes billions of dollars and a semiconductor equipment industry to set up one fab, and the leadtime is years.
This is a possibly fatal strategic error.
Going further, let's say we use robots to do assembly and don't outsource our consumer goods. The people who traditionally did this work still won't have jobs. At this point we have perhaps 20% working for the government, 15% in health care, 10% in finance (hedgies, banks, Wall Street) and global corporate management. The rest are flipping burgers for each other, watching each other's kids, (badly) educating each other, and making movies about fishies looking for their mommies, when they're not on unemployment.
Retraining the latter group to be German craftsmen is futile. First, because they don't have the education, manual skills, or inclination any more. Second, because the skills are readily available elsewhere for less.
So fair trade of human labor, i.e. globalization, clearly will result in pulling down the US standard of living. TFA is correct, we are experiencing increased disparity between the top 5% and the bottom 50%, both in wealth and capability. This is a fact, and not to be dismissed as envious whining.
We are now divided into a small class of makers and a large class of users, who have only the vaguest idea of how their computer or car or financial system actually works, and no ability to fix any of them. And believe me, the people in government are in the user class.
So, it seems there are two roads: once McDonalds develops the burger flipping robot, etc., much of the "service" industry will turn into Eloi. Socialism is appropriate for this road, because the bulk of the people in this country won't have anything useful to do. The economics of how a few truly productive people can support a mass of dead weight via free markets is mystifying. It's still working, but just barely.
The other road is to pull up the gangplanks, fire our government, promote local government, families, and free enterprise.
Example. I have a pair of hiking boots made in NH. They were custom made for me 30 years ago for $350. They are an amazing product, and nearly as good as new, though well broken in and ready for new Vibram. That's about $10 per year. How many $100 - $200 pair from Singapore would I have used by now?
Currently, these boots sell for $600 and the maker has an 18 month backlog. They frequently repair boots made in the '60s. Quality is a bargain.
Get back to doing things ourselves! We will be happier and strategically stronger. Tell me what the downside is. What will we be missing?
#61
All this educated for the new economy stuff is BS!
Depends on the sort of education you're talking about.
In the late 80s it was obvious to me that electronics & software were going to run for a while so I became an engineer specialized in those areas. Worked for a while, loved building things, was very successful but saw the writing on the wall.
In the late 90s it was obvious to me that we were headed down a road that was leading inexorable to the parasite (government and associated leeches like lawyers) killing the host (private industry). The most profitable parasitic profession seemed to be law so off I went to retool and participate. Worked for a while, was very successful, didn't particularly like it and saw the writing on the wall.
Now it seems obvious to me that the government bubble must burst but equally obvious that the ruling class and their attendant parasites will not allow it to do so until they've maneuvered the US private sector into an irretrievable death spiral. Before it's over (mid-century I think) we'll have irreversibly given up every competitive advantage we once had. Thus I'm brushing up on non-English language skills, investigating emigration options, reading the classics (amazing how relevant many are) and sharpening my standardized test-taking skills in preparation for a run at a spot in a top-shelf MBA program. I firmly intend to be among those running the Nike sweatshop from my plantation in my own little third world hellhole as that's probably where the highest standard of living will be to be found over the remainder of my working life (which is to say until the day I die).
SEOUL -- A North Korean mine which drifted along a river into the neighbouring South killed a man and badly injured another when it exploded, military officials said Sunday. Several wooden box mines have been retrieved by South Korean soldiers and police, but it was not immediately clear how the mines ended up drifting into the South.
The explosion was reported shortly before midnight Saturday in a restricted border area in Yeoncheon, 60 kilometres (35 miles) northeast of Seoul, the defence ministry said.
A 48-year-old man died and a 25-year-old man was seriously injured.
"Han was killed by one of the North Korean wooden box mines which had drifted south along the border river," a ministry spokesman told AFP.
Apparently these mines are of a Russian design; they have little metal inside and are supposedly a bastard to detect.
South Korean soldiers and police have retrieved 29 boxes of North Korean mines in their joint search which began on Friday along all streams connected to the Imjin River, he said, of which 18 boxes were empty.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Jesus H. Christ. Why? Are these leftovers, or a recent provocation just for the sake of being butts?
#2
Obviously released as a plausable denial for the Cheonan sinking.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/02/2010 0:11
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When I served in Korea in the 1970s, we had to help the South Korean military check the banks of the rivers every spring because the North Koreans floated down several hundred wooden shoebox mines every year, during the spring flood season. And if you did not catch them on the banks and the spring flood crest was high enough, the South Korean farmers would get blown up in the rice paddies later in the summer. One of the on-going North Korean minor acts of terrorism against the South.
WASHINGTON - The top U.S. military officer says the Pentagon is trying to protect Afghans who may be at risk from Taliban retaliation following the publication of tens of thousands of secret war documents.
Item one in the docket against PFC Manning ...
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the U.S. is duty-bound to try to shield informants who were named in the documents.
Taliban spokesmen have said that their organization will use the material to try to hunt down people whove been cooperating with what the Taliban considers a foreign invader.
The website WikiLeaks posted nearly 77,000 secret documents a week ago, leading to wide condemnation from U.S. officials.
Mullen was interviewed on CBS televisions Face the Nation and NBCs Meet The Press.
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Thank God.
I wonder who directed the Pentagon to do this, or if they took it upon themselves.
#2
I wonder what US troops who are currently working with Afghans & trying to secure their cooperation think of the Wikileaks disclosures. Think it affects their morale?
#3
Maybe the Aussie troops could be tasked with taking care of those whose identities were revealed. At the end of their stint in the military, I'm sure they'd be real happy to stop by Ass-hang's house and have a little chat with him.
#4
IIRC, something like this happened in South Vietnam, also, and several hundred people were rounded up and shot after the South fell. The donks are doing everything in their power to turn Afghanistan into another Vietnam. If Manning really did "leak" the documents "outing" those Afghanis that are helping us, he should be hung with a slow rope. I hope there's a hacker out there that will take on Wikileaks and ensure it never works again.
Some people think we have too much classified material - including me. That doesn't mean it should be deliberately spread across the world on the Internet. When you put the lives of others in jeopardy, you need to pay a stiff price. There were enough clues available about Manning to know he shouldn't have been trusted with classified material. The Army needs to look into that part of this fiasco, and tighten up their rules.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/02/2010 12:43
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OP, I don't think the North Vietnamese were very particular about who they rounded up and shot in the south.
When I was at Navy OCS in 1970, there were a group of Vietnamese office candidates. They had special classes to teach them how to run the river boats, etc. I sometimes wonder how many of them are alive today. I remember hearing stories about how the Communists were rounding up any officers - and their wives - and shooting them.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/02/2010 22:13
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stressed during a meeting with a U.S. White House delegation on Sunday that the decision to form a new government would be purely Iraqi away from any foreign interferences, according to a statement by his office.
Prime Minister Maliki received today (Aug. 1) a White House delegation and had talks over bilateral relations between the two countries and means to activate the strategic framework agreements, read the statement as received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The delegation expressed the United States readiness to back the efforts exerted by the Iraqi political blocs to form a government, it added.
The political chessboard in Iraq has been experiencing non-stop differences among the key blocs that won seats in the March 2010 legislative elections over the premiership and the government formation, namely between Malikis Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) and former Premier Iyad Allawis al-Iraqiya bloc.
Several parliament sessions were postponed while the set constitutional deadline to election a new speaker and a president of a republic was breached.
The elections saw al-Iraqiya winning 91 seats, followed by Malikis State of Law with 89 seats, the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which comprises Ammar al-Hakims Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), Muqtada al-Sadrs Movement and Fadila (Virtue) Party, with 70 seats and the Kurdistan Alliance (KA) with 57 seats.
The results prompt coalitions of several parties to guarantee a required majority at the 325-seat parliament in order to form a government.
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The linked article is well written and should e-rinsed through Google Translate. Rewriting a summary...
For a map, click here
Structural problems with the Mexican Federal, state and local police apparatus has led the government of Mexican president Felipe Calderon to press ahead with the unique solution of using private security firms to enhance government organized crime fighting operations, according to a published report.
An agreement between the Mexican Federal Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP) and Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Privada (CNSP) will add 40,000 people to the fight against crime, including guards, security escorts, investigators and some of the most advanced forensic equipment available.
The decision to go this route addresses several problems with the Mexican law enforcement system: poor education and next to no training, low pay, lack of intelligence standards among the several agencies, and physical limitations of the officers currently employed by the governments in Mexico.
The SSP also reports of 783,000 municipalities, 410,000 have less than 100 police.
Additionally 62 percent of those police are paid less than $4,000 pesos a month, while 68 percent do not even have a primary education. Also, 42 percent of municipal police are performing tasks for which they are considered too old because they are between 36 and 55 years old.
Obesity is a factor as well. Many of the gummen hired by gangs are between 18 and 24 years old. When street police respond to a shooting call they are less likely to deal properly with the situation than a younger officer. For example, the Mexican Distrito federal police officer has a ratio of 62 percent of officers who were between eight and 25 kilograms overweight. Snacking is an issue with police as well as with the population.
One official quipped: "An offender may escape our officers, but never a taco."
According to one officials seven of ten officers are unable to run longer than 100 meters.
A week old but we didn't take sufficient note of the story.
Burma is working on a nuclear weapons programme, experts have concluded, after its existence was exposed by leaked photographs. Intelligence monitoring of the country's arms purchases from North Korea has been intensified as a result.
Satellite tracking and electronic surveillance in particular have been stepped up. Concerns over the regime's attempts to develop a nuclear bomb prompted the US State Department to demand last week that the ruling junta disclose an inventory of its nuclear technology.
How exactly do we plan to back up our demand?The world has figured out that there is no penalty for opposing Barack Obama ...
Secret documents and hundreds of photographs smuggled out of the country by a defector indicated that it was intent on developing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. Jane's Intelligence Review published a separate batch of photographs showing similar activities in buildings and behind security fences near the capital, Naypyidaw.
Fears that Burma had joined a clandestine nuclear network linking North Korea, Iran, Pakistan and Syria have been growing for some time, but there has not been hard evidence until now.
More than just those four countries, as A. Q. Khan demonstrated. What are the Saoodis doing in this? How about Malaysia?
Is Libya interested in getting back into the game? President Bush isn't around to give them nightmares any more...
Sai Thein Win, the defector, is an army major who trained as a defence engineer and missile expert. He said he had access to two secret nuclear facilities including a "nuclear battalion" north of Mandalay, "charged with building up a nuclear weapons capability".
Robert Kelley, an American former senior weapons inspector with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the evidence was the most compelling yet.
The photographs, which were passed to the Democratic Voice of Burma, part of the Burmese opposition, showed components built with German machine tools imported through Singapore, which Mr Kelley believed indicated "nefarious purposes".
They included a fluidised bed reactor that is used to turn a powdered form of uranium into a gas that can then be enriched to weapons grade. "They are either trying to make reactor fuel which they could buy for nothing from another country, or they are trying to make a weapon clandestinely," said Mr Kelley.
"There is just not much point doing that unless it is for a bomb."
Intelligence agencies are seeking to provide the IAEA with proof of a clandestine programme in the hope of a formal inquiry. Regular shipments of rocket platforms and missile technology between North Korea and Burma, as well as other clandestine links, are under scrutiny.
"There are strong suspicions over the contents of shipments, including a delivery of rockets within the last month," said one international nuclear expert.
Washington has told Burma's ruling generals that "they have international obligations we expect them to heed", a State Department official said. He said the Burmese relationship with North Korea was "something that we watch very, very carefully".
Oh great, another 'strongly worded statement'. That'll show 'em ...
Burma, which its generals have renamed Myanmar, has made clear its nuclear ambitions by agreeing terms with Russia for the sale of a light-water research reactor. But the deal is on hold after the generals refused to update its "small quantities protocol" with the IAEA, which exempts it from regular inspections.
The Burmese government has dismissed the latest claims as "accusations based solely on the fabrications of deserters, fugitives and exiles".
Mr Kelley, a veteran of inspections in Libya, Iraq and South Africa, said that the machines photographed by Win were all prototypes.
"The quality of workmanship is extremely poor and their expertise is poor. I am not saying that this is a nuclear weapons programme that is about to scare us tomorrow," he said. "What I am saying is the intent to build nuclear weapons is much more clear now."
Burma has signed a memorandum of understanding with North Korea to build Scud missiles, a conventional medium-range weapon. North Korea has also offered assistance with underground facilities and to develop missiles with a range of 1,860 miles.
So they're going to develop a nuke program and missiles to deliver nukes. Nothing to see here, move along.
It's practically a turnkey operation, now. It was only a few years ago that Israel destroyed Syria's, with North Korean engineers and scientists included.
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PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > COMMUNISM RETURNS TO BANGLADESH?
The Pakistan Defence Forum is behind the times, JosephM. A great many stories of the Rab involve communist miscreants, each with a criminal record as long as your arm.
Julian Assange, the Australian founder of Wikileaks, has said he has been warned by "inside sources in the White House" not to return to the US as he could be arrested.
That's one way of solving the problem ...
The 39 year-old told journalists at the Frontline Club last night that US government insiders had informed him about discussions to charge him as a co-conspirator to espionage. The discussions were later dropped.
US government insiders are talking with Assange? Who, exactly, and who authorized them to do so? Assange is putting the lives of Americans and our friends at risk. We shouldn't be talking with him, we should be hunting him down.
Mr Assange says despite this he still fears he is at risk of being forcefully detained by the US government as a material witness in the prosecution of US intelligence analyst Bradley Manning.
Mr Manning, 22, was arrested in Baghdad in May and charged earlier this month with multiple counts of mishandling and leaking classified data, after a computer hacker turned him in.
In the United States an authority has the right to detain and hold a material witness for an indefinite period to ensure they give their testimony in a criminal investigation.
The Wikileaks founder said: "Today the White House put out a private briefing to reporters about Wikileaks and me and it quoted a section from an interview with me in Der Spiegel saying that I enjoy crushing --------.
"Somehow the White House finds that offensive.
"In terms of returning to the United States I don't know. Our sources advise from inside the US government that there were thoughts of whether I could be charged as a co-conspirator to espionage, which is serious.
"That doesn't seem to be the thinking within the United States any more however there is the other possibility of being detained as a material witness and being kept either in confinement or not being allowed to leave the country until the Manning case is concluded."
Again, who in the US government is talking with him? Names, please.
He also claimed that Bradley Manning is being held in a secluded facility in Kuwait which he says is like "a second Guantanamo Bay".
Sucks to be a traitor, huh ...
He also accused the US government of doing this to "hide" Mr Manning from effective civil representation.
He's a soldier. He'll get a military trial.
If convicted Bradley Manning, who is also awaiting court martial, faces a maximum of 52 years in jail.
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#1
If convicted Bradley Manning, who is also awaiting court martial, faces a maximum of 52 years in jail.
Can someone explain why this traitor isn't facing a firing squad?
He should worry about being Killed, he pissed off alot of folks who don't pay any attention to laws.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/02/2010 1:27
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According to Wikipedia, Wikileaks has published a 'poison pill' On July 29, 2010 Wikileaks added a 1.4 GB "Insurance File" to the Afghan War Diary page. The file is AES encrypted and has been speculated to serve as insurance in case the WikiLeaks website or its founder Julian Assange are incapacitated, upon which the passphrase could be published.[142]
#8
Hello Glenmoore,
Going to be hot all week at Ft. Meade. 90's for most of the week and dry. Maybe a shower or two Monday or Tuesday. The air conditioning will be running hard there. Few trees for cover.
#9
there's a lot of negative press out there painting wikileaks as putting US forces in danger.
But there is much to like about wikileaks. It protects sources with encryption.
In this bureaucratised world where the government tries to choke off all independent sources of information and tries to control what you know with spin, wikileaks is one of the few ways we will find out about the bad shit going on
wikileaks is very important.
I just wish the Chinese whistleblowers would discover the site and start posting classified documents... and the Russians, Iranians and North Koreans
then we would be well on the way to knowing what is really going on in the world
i'll put it this way: in Australia the Federal Gov ernment wants to censor the internet. IT wants to block Wikileaks. A document listing proposed sites for banning was leaked to... wikileaks.
communications minister Stephen Conroy said he would call in the australian federal police to hunt down the leak.
that is totally against the idea of democracy and freedom of speech - and it's happening in AUstralia.
we need more freedom of speech and protection of whistleblowers, not less.
otherwise we can win the war but lose our own country
#10
I just wish the Chinese whistleblowers would discover the site and start posting classified documents... and the Russians, Iranians and North Koreans
oh please. Why don't you get back on the hippie bus, smoke another joint and wonder what would happen if we had a war and no one showed up. (answer: women and children get raped and wealth pillaged)
Would we really benefit if your wish came true? Would you really like Iran, Al Qaeda, mobsters and crazy nuts next door to you had easy access to the secrets of the brave people who allow us to sleep soundly in our beds?
The reason we have a word called "civilization" is because it acknowledges that not everyone is good and is going to share their last apple with you when they are hungry. Thus we belong to and participate in families, tribes and nation states, with the idea that these associations will protect us against the harm that others wish to inflict.
So what next, should we out all of the undercover agents and set them up for mahem too? If you are such a big fan of open secrets, why don't you post your credit report, social security, bank accounts and favorite porn sites online If everyone did it, what could be the harm?
Posted by: Martini ||
08/02/2010 9:48
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Wasn't it Winston Churchill who said the truth is so important it must be protected with a body of lies?
#13
He can't be a traitor if he's not American. Still his actions are the equivalent of a spy. Spy's are often shot or locked up for decades until a prisoner swap can be arranged.
The problem with the idea that Iran and company will have whistleblowers is the West is less likely to punish whistleblowers so our secrets are much more likely to be exposed. The constant chipping away of these sort of thing weakens us.
"But there is much to like about wikileaks. It protects sources with encryption."
So, it's important and praiseworthy for wikileaks to keep its own secrets, but also importan and praiseworthy for national defence secrets to be distributed freely to murderous enemies? Are you really so dense that you didn't see the contradiction here?
Evidently you are:
"I just wish the Chinese whistleblowers would discover the site and start posting classified documents... and the Russians, Iranians and North Koreans"
If Assange were Russian, he would already be in jail. If he were Chinese, he would already have gotten the proverbial noodle. If he were North Korean, he would simply have disappeared.
In fact, even from the safety of Australia, Assange would probably be afraid to publish Chinese and Nork secrets even if he had them. The same, of course, is true of Hezbollah and Hamas, though it's unlikely Assange would want to do anything to damage their interests.
#15
He is a traitor rjschwarz. Australian troops, including SAS operators, are fighting in Iraq. They and the usual sources special operators develop locally are both in danger from these revelations. Besides the direct damage done by these documents, what are the betrayed sources likely to reveal under torture once the Taliban have them? That may not even be necessary in many cases. How many will spill their guts from simple outrage that a two bit media droid could sell them out with impunity?
On the one hand, Assange and his murderous crew of hackers and homicidal geeks can assassinate dozens or hundreds of allied soldiers and Afghan patriots and get away scot-free. Indeed, they are rewarded with effusive praise and status from the degenerate media culture for their actions. It's not hard to imagine that there might be otherwise hard-to-get sexual privileges as well.
Otoh, any American or Australian patriot who chose to assassinate the bastard would become the object of the greatest manhunt in history, tracked to the ends of the earth by the full resources of either federal government and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
#18
The funny part is that this weener doesn't realize that by US law, federal marshals can hunt him down and kidnap him in foreign countries, and have done so to other villains.
Suddenly he would find himself in the loving care of say, a federal judge in Oklahoma, with a nickname like "Hanging John".
#19
The Russian mafia and its business fronts also have good reason to hate and fear Assange and his media-sponsored espionage ring. So far, they have had little luck in shutting him down, legally or otherwise, but with western authorities equally pissed at him, now might be the time for the Russians to act. They might well see it that way in any case.
It should also be noted that wikileaks receives legal support from such media organizations as such as the Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association. source
#20
Traitor to Australians yes. I was being a bit American-centric there. Interesting how an Aussie and an American-Britt are at the center of this. Anglosphere has it's share of scum.
#21
With the Russians mightily pissed at Assange themselves, and now much less worried about offending the west, Assange might finally get the point; say, of a radioactive umbrella.
#22
I'd like to point out that there is *nothing* 'whistleblower' about this. These weren't 'whistleblower' documents.
These were ongoing classified documents in a time of war - the release of which will probably mean that a number of people will be killed - and killed dead. Not just Afghans but Americans and Australians.
There is nothing 'heroic' about Assange just as there is nothing 'heroic' about script-kiddies who spread computer viruses. The media and hollywood types may depict him as some sort of 'folk hero hacker type' - but to me
And you won't see Chinese or Iranian or North Korean or Russian's 'whistleblow' to wikileaks because, unlike here in the USA there won't be a worshipful talk show tour or book deal involved - the E-X-E-C-U-T-E you. Game Over Man!
Is the WH supporting them in this? Sounds like it or some people in the WH - how high does it go?
#23
Hey crazyfool cocksucker if you dont like the WH policies go to Africa. astard like you in time of war are seditious bastards and have to be executed Real American are tankful to mister Assange for exposing your dear American military incompetence
#25
Assange isn't anti-war. He's anti-US. He says he's anti-"capitalism" but somehow he's failed to take note that the world's most ruthless and larcenous capitalists are now in Russia, an authoritarian state with a massive, completely unchecked military and security apparatus that has slaughtered over 100,000 innocent Chechen civilians in a war whose brutality makes any recent US engagement look like a stroll in the park.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2010 13:12
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Yow-za! Tim musta been filming that lame "The Blind Side" flick just about that time...If all else fails, Tim and Sandra might be able to cobble together a meager mutual-admiration thingie some day. (Naw! Faith is too high-maint...)
Criminy. Even the Castros get it. When will Bambi?
Raul Castro said Sunday that his government will scale back controls on small businesses, lay off unnecessary workers and allow more self-employment -- significant steps in a country where the state dominates nearly every facet of the economy.
While the American administration is looking to stamp out self-employment ...
Cuba's president, however, squashed notions of a sweeping overhaul to the country's communist economic system in response to the financial crisis it faces. "With experience accumulated in more than 55 years of revolutionary struggle, it doesn't seem like we're doing too badly, nor that desperation or frustration have been our companions along the way," the president said.
Never mind all the boat people and the swimming Buicks ...
Castro spoke before parliament, which opened its biannual session without Fidel Castro, who has made a slew of recent public appearances of late but missed another chance to share a major public stage with his younger brother.
"Nurse, we need another colostomy bag!"
Instead, lawmakers got Raul, who said authorities will "update the Cuban economic model," suggesting reforms could be on the horizon. Cuban officials plan to reduce state control of small businesses, authorize more Cubans to become self-employed and build a new tax structure that will compel state employees to contribute more.
About 95 percent of all Cubans currently work for the government and Castro has suggested that as many as one in five state employees are redundant. He promised job cuts, calling for "the reduction of work forces that are considerably bloated in the state sector."
Castro said those left out of work would be retrained or reassigned so as not to stay unemployed, but also said warned that few sectors would be immune to job-cuts. While he offered no specifics, his comments on economic and employment reform could mean a lot in Cuba, where many had hoped the government of Raul Castro could embrace small economic openings after he took power from his brother, first temporarily, then permanently, in July 2006.
The 'update' has to be managed to keep the current political and military parasites in power. If the Cubans, a naturally industrious people, start to do things for themselves, sooner or later they will turn to their 'leaders' and ask the obvious question:
"Say, you guys are kinda stupid. Who put you in charge?"
At that point 'la revolucion' is over.
Communist China went through several such loosenings of power. Let's give Mr. Castro the Younger a little time before believing it will last.
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AFP - An elite US cyber team that has stealthily tracked Internet villains for more that a decade pulled back its cloak of secrecy to recruit hackers at a notorious DefCon gathering here Sunday.
Vigilant was described by its chief Chet Uber as a sort of cyber "A-Team" taking on terrorists, drug cartels, mobsters and other enemies on the Internet.
"We do things the government can't," Uber said. "This was never supposed to have been a public thing."
Vigilant is an alliance of slightly more than 600 volunteers and its secret ranks reportedly include chiefs of technology at top firms and former high-ranking US cyber spies. The group scours Internet traffic for clues about online attacks, terrorists, cartels and other targets rated as priorities by members of the democratically run private organization.
"Intelligence is a by-product of what our research is," Uber said. "Our research is into attacks, why they happen and how we can prevent them."
Vigilant shares seemingly significant findings with US spy agencies, and is so respected by leading members of the hacker community that Uber was invited to DefCon to recruit new talent.
Uber said that Vigilant came up from underground after 14 years of operation in a drive to be at "full capacity" by adding 1,750 "vetted volunteers" by the year 2012.
"We are good people not out to hurt anybody," Uber said. "Our one oath is to defend the US Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic."
#1
Article from Threat Level about Chet Uber's relationship with Adrian Lamo, who blew the whistle on Bradley Manning's claims of pilfering classified documents.
Lamo has admitted Uber was a 'crucial mover' in this. Uber said Lamo told him that Manning had used steganography the science of cryptographically hiding content within another file to send him the documents, and that they were hidden in either a movie file or a music file. Uber says he doesnt remember some of the exact details clearly as a result of a mini-stroke he suffered in the past. Lamo told Uber the documents had markings indicating they were classified and that they were a threat to national security.
#3
ION WAFF > YOUTUBE VIDEO > [Sam Solomon] ISLAMIC/MUSLIM MOSQUES ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY SCHOOLS, MILITARY BASES, SEATS OF GOVERNMENT, AND COURTS.
VIDEO > SOLOMON argues that Islam is a [Totalitarian] TOTAL SYSTEM ... RELIGION + LIFE [God + Govt-Politics + Civilization + Ordinary Human Struggle, etc.] are NOT SEPARATE ... THERE IS NO CONCEPT OF PERSONAL FREEDOM ... PEOPLE LIVE BY PRESCIPTION [NOT by Personal or Individual Choice].
and
* SAME > ATLAS SHRUGGED > [Congressional Candidate Viljay Kalmer] MUSLIM MOSQUE: A STATE WITHIN A STATE.
That'll sure spike the old appetite...
An Iranian official says cigarettes smuggled into Iran have been tainted with pig blood and nuclear material as part of a Western conspiracy.
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quotes Mohammad Reza Madani from the Society for Fighting Smoking as saying contraband Marlboros have been contaminated with pig hemoglobin and unspecified nuclear material.
Madani claims Philip Morris International, which sells Marlboro outside the U.S., is "led by Zionists" and deliberately exports tainted cigarettes. He provided no evidence or information about the confiscated cigarettes. Friday's report also gave no details on how the contamination was discovered.
Tehran, which often alleges Western conspiracies, says 20 billion cigarettes are smuggled into Iran every year.
#1
ION TOPIX > IRAN MILITARY OFFICIAL: IRAN WILL RESPOND TO ANY ATTACK BEYOND ITS GEOGRAPHICAL BORDERS.
and
* NEWS KERALA > [Muslims agz Crusaders] NEW MUSLIM TERROR GROUP THREATENS TO UNLEASH TERROR ATROCITY SIMILAR TO 07/7 IN UK, andor 9-11 as occurred in the US but now agz Britain.
SRINAGAR: Four people were gunned down on Sunday by the Indian armed forces who opened fire on thousands of protesters and five civilians were killed in a blast at a police station, bringing the death toll from weeks of clashes in increasingly violent Indian-held Kashmir to 31.
The explosion happened after the police station was set on fire by residents angry at two deaths in Khrew, a town near Srinagar where hundreds had been protesting against India, a top police officer said. At least five people were killed and dozens of civilians were injured in the blast, the officer said on condition of anonymity, as he didnt want his name to be used.
There were no casualties among the police officers who fled the area as the mob attacked the police station, which also housed a state counter-insurgency police force, the officer said. A lot of explosive material used in quarry blasting was stored in the police station as the town is known for its cement industry and it might have triggered the blast, he said.
A deafening blast shook the earth beneath and a flying brick hit my head, said Muhammed Yousuf, an eyewitness. We dont know what happened inside the premises, but outside many were left injured, he said. Earlier, demonstrators started hurling stones after government forces tried to prevent them from marching in Pampore, another police officer said.
He said that the armed forces opened fire, killing two of the protesters. Another two people were killed and five others injured in firing by the government forces in nearby Khrew, where hundreds of people marched through the streets chanting pro-independence slogans, the officer said. As night fell, thousands of Kashmiris held protest marches across the state and clashed with the forces.
Many injuries were feared in the violence, police said. Hundreds of residents of Pampore and nearby villages had joined demonstrations and set government buildings and vehicles on fire after hearing about the shooting deaths of two people on Saturday, police and witnesses said.
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India should march all these "protesters" to the Pakistani border and force them to cross - with no return possible, ever. Since most of these troublemakers are working for the Pak government, they should have to live under it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/02/2010 12:13
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JERUSALEM - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has expressed concern over Turkey's appointment of a new spy chief he called a "supporter" of the Jewish state's archfoe Iran, army radio reported Sunday.
NATO should be just as concerned: the new spy chief could give Iran all sorts of information, and not just about Israel.
"Turkey is a friendly country, a strategic ally, but the nomination in recent weeks of a new chief of the Turkish secret services who is a supporter of Iran worries us," he told a meeting of his centre-left Labour party.
Barak added that the appointment could result in "the Iranians having access to secret information," in a recording of his remarks broadcast by military radio.
The Turkish official, Hakan Fidan, 42, was appointed to head the National Intelligence Organisation, known by its Turkish acronym MIT, on May 27 after serving as undersecretary for foreign affairs to the prime minister and representing Turkey at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The latter position placed him at the forefront of Turkey's efforts to resolve the international standoff over Iran's nuclear programme, according to the Turkish press.
Israel has viewed Turkey's efforts with suspicion, especially a deal brokered with Iran and Brazil in May that would have seen Iran ship some of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for high-enriched uranium. The deal was promptly rejected by other world powers, which backed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran on June 9 over its refusal to halt its controversial uranium enrichment programme.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/02/2010
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On the one hand, if secret information were leaked by Turkey to Iran, which the rest of NATO will be watching for like hawks, then Islamic Turkey proves our lack of trust in it correct.
Turkey would fail to get brought into Europe (definitely) and would also get side lined by NATO (possibly). Quite a lot would be at stake.
On the other hand, Iran with nukes is a proper threat. When the Iranian religious dictators and the poodle Iranian government have too much pride in their throat (especially with talk of military action from the Pentagon and Israel coming out every other day) this appointment may be a precursor to Iran swallowing that pride and backing down gracefully.
Posted by: Bacon in the Mosque horror ||
08/02/2010 8:33
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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.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said Sunday that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) has "the cojones" that President Obama "does not have" to take on illegal immigration. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Palin blasted Obama for suing Arizona to block the state's controversial new law without addressing "sanctuary cities" -- in which local law enforcement are prohibited from asking people about their immigration status.
Chechnya's guerrilla chief and self-proclaimed "Emir of the Caucasus" Doku Umarov announced he was stepping down in a video posted on YouTube. "We have unanimously decided that I shall leave my post today," said the bearded rebel fighter who claimed to be behind the Moscow suicide attacks in March.
PESHAWAR: The death toll from devastating floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has risen to 1,300, followed by the outbreak of waterborne disease that have added to the misery of the people affected by the flood.
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Four Iraqi army soldiers were wounded on Sunday when a roadside bomb went off in eastern Mosul city.
AFP - An elite US cyber team that has stealthily tracked Internet villains for more that a decade pulled back its cloak of secrecy to recruit hackers at a notorious DefCon gathering here Sunday.
