#1
How many times has Pakistan gone to war with India and lost? Four? Five?
If whenever he gets drunk, some clown goes hunting to get into a brawl with a cop, and gets thumped with a billy club, his protestations that he is being "persecuted" ring hollow.
#2
How many times has Pakistan gone to war with India and lost? Four? Five?
Something like the same number of times the Arabs have gone to war against Israel with the same result... and in about the same time period. One gets the sense Allah prefers the Jews and the Hindus to his sworn believers.
Excerpt: The big thing that the American electorate has learned during 2009 is that Obama is all talk. There are many little things that annoy voters: special treatment for trade-union health plans, a Treasury secretary who seems to have given special treatment to Goldman Sachs in the rescue of the insurance giant AIG, and a confusing foreign policy. But the idling of one-fifth of the population overwhelms every other issue. Tens of millions of families that only two years ago felt affluent and secure are now anxious and impoverished. And Obama can do nothing about it.
#3
For those old enough to remember the meme is a repeat of what was the refrain in the mid-70s, upon the bug out from Vietnam, the Arab oil embargo and its impact upon the economy, and the infamous Carter malaise. We've seen the best times already, yada, yada, yada.
#5
Our institutional structures are fine. Our society is at peace-- race relations are better than they've ever been in our history-- and our fundamental economy is dynamic, resilient, flexible, entrepreneurial.
Our problem is simple: we have an incompetent, corrupt and shambolic political class that's in hock to oligarchic moneyfiddlers and asset-flippers. Fix that, and the economy will soar again.
#6
Yup, yup, yup, and yup. If one gets out of the political cocoon of Washington, the country is O.K. We have survived a Revolutionary War, world wars, a Civil War, other wars, the Great Depression and we will survive Washington and its bumbling and over-reaching. Now we need to get Washington off our backs.
We need to shift the tax burden, moving it away from savings and investment and toward consumption. We should replace individual and corporate income taxes with consumption-based taxes.
#15
What was wrong with 1968? Government sent me on a vacation, gave me room and board and all the beer and bullets I needed. Nirvana.
Got a point, I was in the NAVY with Air Conditioning, Clean water and good food from 66 to 69 and all the bullshit I could stand,
Catch here is I had the job of keeping the Machinery running, I nursed it, fixed it and repaired it as needed, as I was on a huge floating Machineshop, Fixing it often included making the parts myself when needed.
I was bored shitless while a war raged elsewhere
(I was in the Atlantic Fleet, Bad mistake, I understand now the Pacific fleet is Laid back, and the Atlantic fleet is 90% Assholes (Yes I met quite a few))
Long story short, the sheer number of assholes in power is the main reason I got out and didn't re-up
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/20/2010 14:45 Comments ||
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#16
The real Key to Human Advancement is reciprocity via Comparative Advantage.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/20/2010 14:27 Comments ||
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#2
From the article: Massachusetts passed a prototype of the Obama plan in 2006, and residents have since watched as their insurance premiums have risen to the highest in the nation, budget costs have soared, and bureaucrats are planning far more draconian regulation of medical practice. I wonder how many Massachusetts voters NOW paying a penalty for NOT having the state insurance plan voted for Coakley?
#3
I read elsewhere that in 2008 Massachusetts voters approved of their new health plan by 70%, but the approval rate has dropped to something like 32% in recent days.
#6
I was listening to a radio talkshow on Sunday eve. A caller from Mass was talking to the host.
This Mass resident premium the first year was just shy of $300/month.
His premium for the 2nd year was just under $600.
And the 3rd year his premium Rose to just under $1000/month.
Ultimately, they're going to have to cut some services out/ration.
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
01/20/2010 19:42 Comments ||
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The final percentages aren't in as this is written, but it's plain that Republican Scott Brown defeated Democrat Martha Coakley by a substantial margin in the race for the remainder of the late Edward Kennedy's Senate term. In Massachusetts. The state that in the last four presidential elections has voted on average 61 percent Democratic and 33 percent Republican. That's a bigger margin than in any other state.
If a Republican can win there, he (or she) can win anywhere. That's a message that is not lost on anyone whose name is on the ballot later this year.
A lot of attention over the next several days will be focused on health care legislation. Liberal bloggers and think tank denizens have been demanding that Congress pass a health care bill, by slow-walking Scott Brown's swearing-in and slamming a compromise through the Senate, or by having the House pass the Senate bill, or by using the reconciliation process that would require only 51 Senate votes.
Have any of these people ever worked a precinct?
The slow-walk tactic is probably illegal, as Fred Barnes has argued in The Weekly Standard; there don't seem to be 218 votes in the House for the Senate bill (because of the abortion issue and the Cadillac tax on union health care plans); the reconciliation process is not available for many of the key features of the Democratic bill.
Plus, the Massachusetts vote is a loud and clear signal that the American people hate this legislation. Barack Obama came into office assuming that economic distress would move most Americans to favor big-government legislation. It turns out that's not so. Not when Democratic bills would take away the health insurance most of them are content with. Not when it's the product of backroom deals and blatant political bribery.
But Scott Brown's victory was not just a rejection of Democrats' health care plans. Brown also stoutly opposed the Democrats' cap-and-trade legislation to reduce carbon emissions. He spoke out strongly for trying terrorists like the Christmas bomber in military tribunals, not in the civil court system where lawyers would advise them to quit talking. He talked about cutting taxes rather than raising them as Democrats are preparing to do.
Brown's victory represents a rejection of Obama administration policies that were a departure from those of the Bush administration. In contrast, on Afghanistan, where Obama is stepping up the fight, Brown backed Obama while his hapless left-wing opponent Martha Coakley was forced (her word) to oppose it to win dovish votes in the Democratic primary.
Democrats will be tempted to dismiss Brown's victory as a triumph of an appealing candidate and the rejection of an opponent who proved to be a dud. But Brown would never have been competitive if Americans generally favored the policies of the Obama administration and congressional Democratic leaders. In that case, even a dud would have trounced the man who drives a truck.
Unfortunately there was no exit poll (because news organizations didn't think this would be a seriously contested race until 10 days ago), and so we can't be sure whether, as at least one pre-election poll indicated, Brown swept young voters in a state where they voted 78 percent to 20 percent for Obama.
But a look at the incoming election results in Massachusetts' cities and towns shows the depth and breadth of his support. Brown ran especially far ahead of John McCain's 36 percent in blue-collar areas, and turnout was sharply down in inner-city neighborhoods of Boston and old mill towns. In other words, those who are supposed to be the beneficiaries of the Democrats' health care and "spreading the wealth around" either trended Republican or stayed home.
Brown's gains were not as great in areas dominated by what the New York Times' David Brooks called, perhaps archly, "the educated class." Cambridge and Amherst remained solidly monopartisan. But in suburbs with many upward strivers, people who (like Scott Brown) have worked their way from the economic margins to some comfort, turnout was almost as high as in November 2008. Towns that split evenly in the presidential race went 2-to-1 for Brown.
Obama and "the educated class" think they know what is best for the little guy. The voters of Massachusetts (Massachusetts!) beg to differ. Is anyone in the White House listening? No.
#1
I believe there is huge support for a National Health Care program - just not this one, or at least not this one as it has been handled. We have, as a people, decided we prefer security to liberty. We have, as a people, decided we have a right to be taken care of, out of the pockets of others. We seem to miss the fact that in the end each of us will pay for everybody else's 'rights', with a 'commission' on the top for the government.
I don't know about the rest of Rantburgers, but there is an incessant drumbeat of "give, give, give" around here, to the point of badgering and denigration. Sorry...as un-PC as it is, the obvious NEEDS to be stated, despite the fact that they are still in rescue mode. Below is my statement of accountability on Haiti. Good day. Enough is enough: A Statement of Accountability on Haiti
Haiti has been the recipient of HUNDREDS of Millions of dollars of aid (if not Billions) in the past 20 years, plus numerous efforts at sending the nation on a course of self-reliance...all for naught. Measured against the Dominican Republic 'next door', the nation of Haiti is an abject failure and the people of Haiti have no one but themselves to blame.
Is this (the earthquake aftermath) a humanitarian crisis? Yes. We (the US) will help...we always do.
The US government (remember: OUR money) will end up rebuilding the country, the UN and USAID will see to it that food, water & medical gets to the people and the NGOs & civilian search & rescue will wrap up their 'rescue' efforts in the next couple of days (despite problems with the initial response and apparent ongoing organizational problems and what appears to be a turf battle between the UN & US).
If you really want to make a difference, donate as your wallet & conscience allow to a US national organization DIRECTLY (NOT text, twitter or the like) via their websites and tell your congressman how much you believe the US should do for Haiti before turning it back to the Haitians. If you are able-bodied, suitably well-off, retired or the-like and in the business, go there and help rebuild.
However, with US obligations already weighing down MY children and grandchildren, and the economic crisis FAR from over, I REFUSE this to be a drumbeating, open-ended, no-limits exercise of aid. I also refuse to be criticized for EXPECTING people to show appreciation for our help by helping themselves after the humanitarian crisis has subsided. By the way, reports are already coming in of the Dominican Republic trying to seal off its border to prevent a corollary humanitarian crisis in THEIR country from migrating illegal Haitians. Haiti is likewise not the Dominican Republic's fault, but they will assist as they are able, but not at the expense of their own population.
Do not BADGER me to give; do not expect me to give 'unendingly' (that includes of my government). I have a limit with welfare/aid of ANY kind when it comes to people that REFUSE to help themselves.
If some object to my 'early' critiquing of the Haitians while they are still in shock, that's just tough. Get over it. Get real. This isn't conservative; rather, this is PRAGMATIC.
Support the military, support your local first-responders, support your favorite domestic and Int'l charities but, most of all, support those that help themselves. Money won't solve Haiti's problems and never will.
Oh...and for those angrily reaching for the phone or hitting the comment button, if I had a need, I would accept help 'to a limit' and would REFUSE more than I needed.
I believe that is a HUMAN trait, as is, unfortunately, its antithesis.
#2
While we're at it, please someone "prepare statements of accountability" on California, Detroit, Atlanta, and New Orleans.
Exactly what I was thinking. Here, here!
Did anyone catch the HeadStart report from Health & Human Services? (you have to really dig on the HHS website to find it...not sure if anyone posted in regards to it yet) Damning footnote on yet another liberal social experiment...
For those of you who didn't, the report notes that while Head Start programs provide a measurable improvement to children in kindergarten, the measured benefits disappear by the end of the first grade.
Two ways to read that:
1) Head Start isn't worth doing since the improvement isn't long-lasting
2) Head Start is useful but first grade is dropping the ball.
I'm inclined to #2. That doesn't mean I want a 12 year Head Start program, but only that I'd like to see public education do the job it's paid to do.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/20/2010 13:31 Comments ||
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#5
My personal "Head Start" program consisted of My mother reading aloud children's big print books
then buying a shelf full of the Classics ( I was reading well long before first grade) and read King Arthur and the Knights of the round table, Robin Hood, 20,000 leagues under the Sea, and so many others considered High School Books today as I(We actually, 2 brothers and I)went through grade School. I tested Super Genius (140 IQ) in grade school (I suspect the test is flawed) and got a lifetime devotion to Science Fiction, when others were learning "This is an Atom" I was reading about atomic reactors (They got most things right), Terrorists willing to murder Millions by bombing a reactor was not considered, Nor was the need to armor and protect Nuclear Reactors, they were considered as Dams and other power plants, guarded in wartime, but not otherwise.
To this day I despise Terror and other, Slasher film/books deliberately mis-labeled Science fiction.
ALIEN was one such.
Star Wars Is pure SF (And much loved for it)
My dad taught me to handle tools safely, and we built a few things together as well (More Teaching) a Dog house, a very large workbench
A HUGE Lionel train set with it's own specialised Over and under loops, (Dad loved trains too)
How to ride and more importantly how to fix Bicycles, dad said "Bicycles were the most efficient form of transportation on earth"
My fingers are beginning to hurt, I have so many "Head Start" stories they overlap
But the thrust is simply this.
"By the time you get to school, it's too late"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/20/2010 15:22 Comments ||
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#6
I realize this is off-topic but since Head Start was mentioned I will opine. My Mother was the first Head Start director in Henry County, Alabama. I visited her classes as often as I could to do music related things. Those were children who had never been exposed to any type of constructive learning. They were, for the most part, sponges. Head Start employees are not members of any Union. The program may have been a failure on the National level but on the local level there was some success. Once those children got to First Grade they were wards of the Teachers' Union and Political Correctness. It is the School system that has failed.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/20/2010 20:28 Comments ||
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#7
Watching the videos coming out of Haiti of the many able bodied Haitians standing around not attempting to help dig out those buried or seem to help out in any way angered me.
While help is obviously needed, I would like to see them at least try to help themselves and not expect to have everything done for them.
Obviously they need help, and am glad that we're able to get help to them, but I agree that the amount should be scrutinized.
Posted by: Jan ||
01/20/2010 21:52 Comments ||
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#8
#1, you can add safely WISCONSIN to yur list, courtesy of FREEREPUBLIC this AM.
* OTOH, DAILY TIMES.PK > [200]US TROOPS LAND AT HAITI PRESIDENTIAL PALACE.
Haitian Quake Survivor FEDE FELISSAINT [hairdresser] > "US CAN LONGER THAN IN 1915 IFF IT WANTS".
SAME > Haitian Police Officer -"THATS HOW IT IS. THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO [stopping hoarders, thefts, other post-Quake local violence]".
ARTIC > infers that MANY HAITIANS HAVE NEVER LEARNED TO TRUST, DEPEND, OR RELY ETC. ON THEIR OWN LOCAL/MAIN GOVT FOR ANYTHING [since forever, past + Prees + future]???
#9
Iff the MMGW + "Peak Oil-Resources" Perts are to believed, the MSM-Net-verified Economically trubled-and-likely-to-stay-that-way-for-Decades USA will only see MORE + WORSE NATURAL CRISES IN HAITI, ETC. IN FUTURE.
AND, the above is exclusive of Radical Islam exploiting Haiti's chaos to set itself up in the Caribbean.
On the eve of a four-day visit to the United States, hawkish Likud MK Danny Danon on Monday launched a blistering assault on President Barack Obama's Middle East policies, declaring that he would give Obama "a failing grade" for his first year in office.
"I would give Obama an 'F' for serious lack of knowledge or understanding on topics related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," said Danon, speaking to The Jerusalem Post ahead of his US trip.
A longtime fierce critic of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's more conciliatory policies toward the Palestinian Authority, the Likud freshman turned his rhetoric on Obama, and promised to use his US visit to urge Obama to ease the pressure on Israel.
"His serious error during his Fox News interview in China, in which he called to freeze construction in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, unified the Israeli public around Netanyahu's leadership while weakening Obama's position in Israeli public opinion," Danon asserted. "Even [Kadima opposition Leader] Tzipi Livni was forced to defend our rights to Gilo."
Israeli public opinion, said Danon, should matter to Obama.
"Anyone who wants to be a fair moderator must enjoy the trust of both sides. In the past, the Arab side argued that the Americans are prejudiced in favor of Israel, but now we see that Israelis do not believe that Obama is a fair negotiator, and yet he still has not garnered the faith of the Arabs either. As a result, we see the difficulties in even initiating negotiations between the sides."
The president had also proved wanting on Iran, Danon continued.
"He promised that by the end of the year, he would publish his opinion on Iran. The year is over and the only threats that have been heard are regarding Israel."
Without action, including "significant sanctions," Danon warned, Obama's statements would be rendered "insignificant."
Danon said he would spending most of his time in New York, meeting with Jewish organizational leaders as well as with Democratic donors and candidates in the upcoming congressional elections. He said that "the goal of the meetings is to pass on messages that the guilt for the failure of peace doesn't lie in the hands of the Israeli government and that the pressure placed by Washington on the government and especially on the PM is not the right direction."
The Americans should internalize that Israel "has no real partner," Danon said. But "instead of recognizing the reality, the government in Washington is making the Israeli government give in on significant topics, when it is clear that the government doesn't get anything from the other side."
Danon said he would encourage Democratic candidates to express their stance on Israel "even if they are members of Obama's party."
He said he hoped that pressure from donors and members of Congress could help enable "decision makers to understand that as long as there is no real partner, American pressure just strengthens Hamas and other supporters of terror."
The freshman Likud MK, who has already spoken out against his party chairman's recognition of "two states for two peoples" and against the 10-month settlement building freeze, emphasized that he was not going tothe United States to deliver official messages from Jerusalem.
"I am passing along what I think, and it's not necessarily in coordination with the prime minister."
Nevertheless, he said, "I think that the prime minister also understands the importance of expressing these positions, which represent large parts of the population, if not the majority of the Israeli public."
Danon emphasized that his stance on the Obama administration was not a reflection of anti-American sentiment, but rather a response to American policy.
"I think that if the president of the United States tells Jews not to build in Jerusalem, and his representatives send threatening messages, the message that we need to be very clear in our response. We love the American people. We have a brave and longstanding alliance, but when there is a policy that is not correct, and that could harm our security interests, we must say so clearly."
#4
NEWS KERALA says the Bammer is getting slightly better grades in foreign policy than Bill Clinton did.
OTOH BHARAT RAKSHAK > AFTER THE FIRST YEAR: NOT SO TALL.
ME + GUAM > ARTIC - among other problematic issues for POTUS Bammer, CHINA is asserting that the WESTERN PACIFIC + INDIAN OCEAN is within its SPHERE OF INFLUENCE [read, US GET OUT = WITHDRAW TO HAWAII + US WEST COAST].
#5
WMF > POLL: OVER 90% SURVEYED BELIEVE THE US-JAPAN SECURITY TREATY = + hence strategic alliance] IS A DE FACTO THREAT TO CHINA. SUBSTITUTION OF COLD WAR-ERA SOVIET UNION THREAT FOR POST-SOVIET THREAT FROM CHINA.
[Asharq al-Aswat] At the UNESCO palace in Beirut, Arab resistance groups were reunited, and each resistance leader was able to recall his heroism [during the Forum of Arab and International Support for the Resistance]. The leader of Lebanese resistance, [Hezbollah chief] Hassan Nasrallah attended the conference via a video-link, while Iraqi resistance leader Sheikh Harith al-Dari, and Palestinian resistance leader Khalid Mishal attended in person, along with other figures such as [Lebanese politician] Selim al-Hoss, whose resistance affiliated is not yet known.
The word resistance has become obsolete with time and as a result of misuse, and so this word has lost its sanctity. How can someone respect the resistance in Iraq when witnessing thousands of innocent victims killed as a result of the deliberate targeting of schools, markets, residential areas, and civilian and governmental areas? How can the resistance be sacred in Palestine when on the one hand the Palestinians are fighting against one another, whilst at the same time [one Palestinian faction] is guarding the Israeli borer against infiltration by other resistance elements? Why is it that today in Lebanon, the resistance is not playing this role, but is ruling the people of Lebanon by force, and this is almost nine years after Israeli troops withdrew from the country?
This is the state of the resistance today. This is the state of any type of resistance that passes its expiry date, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon whose resistance became an internal problem after the movement was practically transformed into a local militia [following the Israeli withdrawal]. The resistance is just a title, and it seems that its real job is to dominate the internal situation through force of arms and by silencing the opposition in the name of confronting the enemy. In Palestine, where there is occupation and an armed enemy, some resistance factions have become foreign tools.
They now seem to epitomize retired war generals in their military uniform and with their medals. Those active in the resistance know that this word lost its sanctity after it lost its job. In fact the meaning of this word had reversed and now has bad connotations when it is purposefully imposed as is the case with Hezbollah today which has become a movement that signifies sectarianism, or the Senior Council of Islamic Scholars, which is not a Council and has no scholars, but in fact is a façade to justify violence in Iraq.
Let's take the Algerian resistance for example, this ended in all practicality in 1962 after a ceasefire agreement was signed with the French, however the resistance leaders considered themselves to be above the fray. The resistance continued to remind the public of its efforts to win them liberation, therefore allowing it to rule the country and enjoy special privileges even 30 years after the country was liberated from French colonial rule. Nobody dared to voice opposition to this until the early 90s following the initiation of a political open-door policy. I have heard criticism against the privileges enjoyed by resistance members, such as a monopoly on certain jobs, like taxi driving, as well as monthly expenses between $80 and $800. Criticism of this reached the point that doubts were cast on the veracity of resistance members and it was rumored that some resistance members only entered the records [as being resistance fighters] after the war ended. After this, resistance fighters had to have three witnesses if they wanted to be included on the governmental list, which is an attractive prospect due to the financial privileges offered to resistance members.
The Palestinian resistance in Lebanon, like Hezbollah today, was also like something sacred that could not be criticized. However the opposite applies today and the Lebanese leadership raced to warn against the Palestinian presence in Lebanon, regardless of whether these Palestinians are armed or unarmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
wow
that's a whole lot of bullsh!tery
even for this blog
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
01/20/2010 0:15 Comments ||
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#2
At the UNESCO palace
What does UN Charter says about aiding and abetting violence against its member states?
I think that it is poorly written (translated?)
but it makes a lot of sense.
The conclusion is one that applies to many single purpose organizations. Once they have won do they then disband? Look at the Feminazis, the greenies and most of the "civil rights" orgs. They won, they got their way but they can't shut up and go away; they have to keep pushing farther and farther into radicalism.
[Asharq al-Aswat] It seems that the process of democratization in Iraq is evolving quickly; however, without doubt, it is evolving in the wrong direction. What does it mean when the Debathification commission, or what is now known as the Justice and Accountability Commission, is trying to break up all Iraqi political blocs that disagree with the Iranian program in Iraq, or oppose Tehran's allies in Iraq who have power and authority, before the upcoming Iraqi elections? The accusation that is always on hand is affiliation to the Baath party or sympathizing with it, call it what you like. Or [the commission just] carries out arrests and raids [against them].
After head of the National Dialogue Front Saleh al Mutlak and his bloc was targeted and banned from taking part in the forthcoming Iraqi elections on the pretext of sympathizing with the Baathists, (and this was said to be based on a joke between Mutlak and someone else), around 500 Iraqi figures were also banned [from participating in the forthcoming elections] including the Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader Obaidi. Dr. Iyad Allawi considers this political, and expansion of the circle of revenge, as this will lead to a state of chaos, not a state of law.
Therefore, when we say that the process of democratization in Iraq is evolving quickly but in the wrong direction [it is because] it is clear to us today that the Debathification commission, or the Justice and Accountability Commission, has come to resemble Iran's Guardian Council, which approves who is eligible to run in Iranian presidential elections. The difference is that the Iranian Guardian Council says whose nomination it accepts on an individual basis, whereas the Iraqi Commission is more comprehensive as its task is to tighten the grip on political blocs as well as on Iraqi political figures. It would have been easier for the Debathification commission, or whatever it's called, to say who can run in the upcoming elections instead of [letting] the list of banned [candidates] accused of being affiliated or sympathizing with the Baathists in Iraq reach a number that may exceed thousands.
This is not sarcasm but the truth. The ongoing process of banning Iraqi entities and figures has become barefaced political maneuvering, and widening of the circle of revenge and deepening the authority of a group at the expense of all Iraqi components in the name of democratization. This kind of democracy only resembles the kind of distorted democracy that we are seeing in Iran; the results of which have led to oppression of the people, killing and imprisonment of women not to mention men and youth, and the accusation of being an agent for Israel and the West that is cast against anyone who challenges the authority. [They are also accused of] being against God and religion if they go against the instruction of the Supreme Guide to the extent that in Iran it is now against the law to use mobile phones or email to demonstrate opposition against Ahmedinejad's regime. The difference between the Guardian Council and the Justice and Accountability Commission, which is entrusted with uprooting Baathism, is that the latter wants to learn from the mistakes made in Iran by carrying out pre-emptive operations before the upcoming Iraqi elections to hunt down those who oppose Iran's influential allies in Iraq today before they succeed at the ballot box, which would make the process of removing them more difficult. Otherwise, Iran's allies in Iraq would be forced to pursue their opponents on the streets just as the Mullahs are doing today to the opposition in Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Iraq is rapidly becoming Iranian satellite. That was a foregone conclusion [1,2]once Iraqis were allowed to vote.
#2
grom,
I don't see Iraq as an Iranian satellite. Too big, for one. And a stronger (or soon to be stronger) economy - which the greater Iraqi freedom will ultimately strengthen even further. Plus the need the rest of the Arab world has for a buffer (and tribes trump sects.) Good chance Iraq has more oil too (hard to say for sure.) Then there's the whole Iranian nuke thing - at some point that's likely to blow up in Iran's face (so to speak.)
The only thing I see favoring the Iranians is that the Iranian people have a more recent history of intelligent behavior (inventions, cities, universities, etc. - of course many of those very things seem to be at the core of most of our own problems!) Recent developments in Iran might make one concerned about Iran ultimately becoming a satellite of Iraq!
#3
There are two ways to look at this, if what being done is unfair. This is one angle, but the other is not pro-Iranian, but anti-Sunni. Just because Shiites don't like Sunnis doesn't mean they like Iranians.
And there are a heck of a lot of Iraqi Shiites who clearly see the Iranians as the enemy. To the point where it's not about the Iranian government, but the Iranian people.
Finally, the sword cuts both ways. Every Iranian who visits Iraq, unless he is a hard liner, gets to see a form of government better than that of the Mullahs back home. And back home in Iran, he probably tells all his friends how much better it is. This is deadly to the reign of the Mullahs.
#7
Glenmore: an Arab has family loyalty and loyalty to Islam (because it fits his kin advantage instincts perfectly). The pertinent consequence in this particular instant is that there is a very intense competition for domination among prominent Shia clans---the prize, in their eyes, is dominance of Iraq for ever. In that competition:
(i)These who have Iranian backing have an immense advantage (Because USA refused to interfere, or even acknowledge the true state of affairs---Bush & co never bothered to learn anything about Arabs).
(ii) Know that Iranians can easily find a replacement, should they prove unsatisfactory. Of course they plan to betray Iran in the future. But, meanwhile, when Ahmi says frog...
p.s. What economy? Iraq has no economy. It has a lot of oil---underground. Getting it to markets (no money otherwise) may prove a, tad, difficult.
#8
Iraq will never be a superpower. At best they will be a regional power, second to Israel. But more likely, it seems to me, Iraq and Iran will continue their rivalry.
If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom'. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Excerpt: If you want to get an idea of where the U.S. is headed, go spend a few days in Detroit. Once one of the shining examples of the American Dream, today many areas of Detroit resemble a war zone. The real unemployment rate in Detroit is somewhere up around 45 or 50 percent and the crime rate is shooting through the roof. Vandalism is rampant and some houses in the worst areas are virtually unsellable because they aren't even worth the taxes that must be paid of them.
When people get desperate, their true character comes out. When the U.S. financial system completely fails one day, the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted will evaporate in a matter of days.
At that point we will all wish that we had paid a lot more attention to teaching our kids about "character" and "morality".
#2
Check out the video...really sad that the pussified men are like a deer in headlights...20 yrs ago, before the NOW crowd de-balled the men, this guy would have been jumped within 5 seconds. Even after he hits the gal with the monitor the pussies just watched.
#4
I am 71. I was born in Detroit. As a young kid, I remember the tail-end of the Great Depression and World War II. This too will pass.
In many ways Detroit is like Haiti. The following was obtained Googling "Why is Haiti so poor." Replace "Haiti" with "Detroit" and you have
The role of Haiti's rulers leaders.
The elite's protection of its wealth. Haitian Detroit corruption.
Add a few more reasons.
Failed Federal government policies of social engineering.
Union stranglehold on the automotive industry.
Poor leadership in Michigan and Detroit.
A one industry economy in Detroit.
Too many trial lawyers--lawyers valued more than engineers. Lawyers don't create anything.
CEOs getting paid far more than they are worth.
#5
Society and economics was a whole lot different back then.
To start with, what were the real problems of the GD?
Even with the Dust Bowl, there was an overabundance of food at the same time people were starving. We still have an overabundance of food, but not a huge overage, and we can quickly get it to those who need it if we choose to. It's cheaper to give it away than to warehouse it until it rots.
We have a lot more housing, and much of it is empty. If we choose to, we can easily put homeless families in these homes, starting with no equity, but when they do get jobs, they will gain equity until they own the home on a low interest lease. In exchange for their maintaining the home.
Major deflation just kicked America's butt back then, because nobody had any money. This could savagely hit us again if there was a collapse in the viability of electronic money, which could happen several ways. There just isn't enough paper money and coins to go around.
The way around this is for each State to issue plain paper scrip, with encrypted dot matrix bar code on the back of each bill, as individual identification, associated with the note holder. A simple scanner is required for a legal transfer of the note. This means there is enough currency, of *some* kind, to support the markets, until the dollar is stabilized.
Scrip is carefully controlled, so it seriously inhibits black marketeering, hoarding, and prices, values and taxes are controlled and automatic as well. Stable as a glacier.
This also concentrates dollars at the State level, so that the State can import critical goods (like pharmaceuticals), not manufactured in that State.
Other things we have now is a lot more urbanization, better transportation, mass transportation, superb communications, and lots of technological innovation.
In many ways, the way to transcend a depression is to do exactly the opposite of what was done in the GD. That is, less national government, and more State and local control. Cash only medicine, no insurance, no government medical, and little or no malpractice, except for criminal malpractice.
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.
On the eve of a four-day visit to the United States, hawkish Likud MK Danny Danon on Monday launched a blistering assault on President Barack Obama's Middle East policies, declaring that he would give Obama "a failing grade" for his first year in office.
