March 21, 2011

• Ignoring Real Problem: Bahrain
• Libya Attacked - AGAIN
• ‘Windtalker´Funeral: Rest Of The Story
• Obama Budget Adds $9.5 Trillion To Deficit: CBO
• China Thumbs Nose At Flaccid Obama
• Israel Critical Of F-35 May Delay Delivery.
• Franklin Graham: World’s Christians in Grave Danger
• China in Crash Program For More Nuke Weapons.
• Obama Secretly OK’D Iranian Nuke Weapons
• Syria Rocked By Protests
• California Least Business Friendly State: Study
• Obama’s Milk Carton Presidency
• Top Democrats Charged In Fake TEA Party Election Scam.

Just 31% rate Obama’s handling of economic issues as good or excellent. Forty-five percent (45%) say the president is doing a poor job handling these issues.

Attention has been diverted to Libya but the real danger and potential damage is Bahrain. Bahrain is the perfect example and test case for Iran to exert heavy sway contaminating the entire region, and endangering U. S. INTEREST. I have been seconded an interesting analysis about Bahrain, and surrounds with a comment from a Bahraining insider lamenting Obama’s and Clinton’s deficits on all things middle eastern.

I’ll edit it for Thursday.

Wearing Che Guevera T shirts and desecrating American flags that said Go Home Obama protesters in Rio threw Molotov cocktails at the US Consulate burning a guard. Ironically the protesters were socialist

Last Saturday ten dozen Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) cruise missiles launched from British and U. S. warships and submarines obliterated Syria’s weak air defense network Saturday as the precursor of enforcing a no-fly zone to be enforced by French, Canadien, Danish, likely British and U. S. warplanes in a long delayed plan to emasculated Ghadaffi’s air forces rendering him incapable for effectively waging was on rebel forces.

Since the Gulf War, the Navy has improved its Tomahawk missile’s operational responsiveness, target penetration, range, and accuracy. The 18 foot long, 21″ in diameter 9 foot wingspan 3,500 pound, air breating missile uses a conventional jet engine  to cruits up to 700 miles at 550 MPH and combined targeting radars, and GPS systems to hit a 3 foot target half a thousand miles away. Some models can be reprogrammed in flight.  And carries the WDU-36 warhead w/ PBXN-107 explosive;can carry a 200 kilton nuclear warhead, and various air to ground anti-tank missiles and submunition dispensers.  The 700 pound conventional warhead is a titanium encased, devbice with a depleted uranium nose that with two phase explosives allows it to penetrate hardened concrete and steel bunkers as well as buried targets before detonating.

As estim,ated 4,000 of the weapons have been produced at a $500,000 unit cost. About 2,000 have been employed in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere.

The USS Enterprise and French Aircraft Carrier Charles DeGaulle are believed to be on station off of Tripolt with other warships.

After December 1985 Rome and Vienna airport attacks, which killed 19 and wounded around 140, Gaddafi said he would continue to support the Red Army Faction, the Red Brigades, and the Irish Republican Army as long as European countries support anti-Gaddafi Libyans.

On 5 April 1986, Libyan agents bombed “La Belle” nightclub in West Berlin, killing three people and injuring 229 people who were spending the evening there. Germany and the United States obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany involved in the attack.

President Ronald Reagan ordered a strike on Libya on April 14. Eighteen F-111F strike aircraft of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying from RAF Lakenheath supported by four EF-111A Ravens of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing, from RAF Upper Heyford in England, in conjunction with fifteen A-6, A-7, F/A-18 attack aircraft and EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Saratoga, USS America and USS Coral Sea on station in the Gulf of Sidra, struck five targets at 02:00 on April 15, with the stated objective that their destruction would send a message and reduce Libya’s ability to support and train terrorists. France and Spain denied US WARPLANES TRANSIT.

On Wednesday 21 December 1988 Libyan agents blew up an airliner over Scotland killing 243 people on the plane and one the ground. Ghaddafi admitted the bombing and eventually paid retribution to victims.

On Aug. 20, 1998, then President Clinton ordered a cruise missile attack, which the White House claimed was in retaliation for terrorist attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa, came three days after President Clinton’s appearance before a federal grand jury investigating his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. That lead to allegation of a politically motivated attack to deflect attention from his assignation with White House felatrix Lewinsky.

This time it seems far less clear what the objective is or if there can be a decisive and desirable outcome in America’s best interest.

By Sunday the head of the Arab League criticized international strikes on Libya, saying they caused civilian deaths.The Arab League’s support for a no-fly zone last week helped overcome reluctance in the West for action in Libya. The U.N. authorized not only a no-fly zone but also “all necessary measures” to protect civilians.

Amr Moussa says the military operations have gone beyond what the Arab League backed an obvious reference to U. S. F-16 and F-18 ground attacks on Libyan formations.

.Many celebrities celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. Lindsay Lohan was even looking at a nice emerald necklace.– Leno

Funeral services were Saturday on Arizona’s Gila River reservation for Lloyd Oliver, a member of the elite group of Marines that developed a code based on their native Navajo  language. During World War II Navajo proved impenetrable to the Japanese.

Oliver’s death Wednesday means only one of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers is still living.

Few know that in World War I Choctaw code talkers were used  to foil German phone lines taps that before were able to decode every allied message. When World War I began Chocktaw were not considered citizens. But, so many of them and other native Americans volunteered to fight that was overlooked.

At first only a handful were used as code talkers but eventually 18 were deployed and credited with winning the Battle of Meuse-Argonne that ended on ARMISTICE Day, November 11, 1918.    91.2 million fought there for 47-days [26,277 killed, and 95,786 wounded )in that War's costliest battle. When the Germans' heard the Chocktaw language they simply gave up and took no action along the phone lines involved because they were simply flummoxed.

In World War II the code talker idea was resurrected, Navajo's were recruited and trained at California's Camp Pendleton north of San Diego. Hundreds of Navajos followed in the footsteps of the original 29, sending thousands of messages without error on Japanese troop movements, battlefield tactics and other communications critical to the war's ultimate outcome.

The 2002 movie Wind talkers dramatized the code talker saga.

There is nothing as eloquent as a rattlesnakes tail. - ancient Navajo saying

A new analysis by the independent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the 2012 U.S. budget as proposed by President Barack Obama would produce deficits of $9.5 trillion over the next 10 years - trillions more than if Obama's proposals are not adopted.

The CBO said Obama's budget would reduce the deficit in 2012 and reduce it further until 2015, but that after that the deficit would increase again.  The CBO predicted the national debt under Obama's proposals would double by 2021.

The U.S. government's overall accumulated debt now totals more than $14 trillion.  It is a figure that has risen rapidly as the government pumped money into the national economy and bailed out failing corporations in an effort to counteract the effects of the 2008 financial meltdown.

Iran will build its first Mediterranean naval base at the Syrian port of Latakia debkafile's sources reveal. It will include a large Iranian Revolutionary Guards weapons depot, anchorage for large warships and submarines and logistical infrastructure for incoming Iranian troops. The Syrian Navy chief said the move would "cripple Israel."

 It is unclear if this effort is coordinated with the Russians whose Navy desires permanent basing outside the Black Sea.

China continues to be a major source of arms proliferation around the world, according to an annual CIA report to Congress.

The report states that China, despite promises to revise export controls, continues to sell technologies and components to Middle East and South Asia states that are "dual-use and could support [weapons of mass destruction] and missile programs.”

The report contradicts repeated Chinese government denials that its state-run companies are engaged in arms proliferation to rogue states and regions of WMD development concern to U.S. officials.

The report said Chinese “entities” including private and state-owned firms “continue to engage in WMD-related proliferation activities.”

“The United States in recent years has imposed sanctions on several Chinese companies for sales of WMD- and ballistic missile-related technologies to states of concern,” the report said. “Although China has export control legislation that approximates Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) controls, enforcement continues to fall short.”

Additionally, Chinese entities continue to supply a variety of missile related items to Iran, Syria and Pakistan, the report said.

“Despite its MTCR-related controls, China is continuing to sell short-range ballistic missiles that fall below the 300-kilometer range/500 kilogram payload threshold for MTCR systems,” the report said.

“China remained the primary supplier of advanced conventional weapons to Pakistan, which still represents China s most important partner in military technology cooperation,” the report said.

Obama is seeking to avoid imposing sanctions on China for its sales of equipment to Iran, which is banned under U.S. anti-proliferation laws. Obama opposes sanctioning China for fear of upsetting its communist leaders, and otherwise has recently acquesed to a nuclear armed Iran making such sanctions meaningless and hypocritical.

Saturday, March 19, dawned to the most massive mortar attack in years on Israel - 50 rounds exploded in 15 minutes. Two civilians were injured and substantial damage caused to property. The terror group Hamas has unusually claimed responsibility, emboldened by the support it has won from a new ally, Egypt, which is also forging new ties with Syria and its Iranian sponsors

 Israel seized a Liberian flagged German owned freighter loaded with Iranian supplied arms and munitions destined for Hamas in Gaza lkast week.

Israel is having serious second thoughts about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter saying it  “lacks key capabilities” and it could delay the 2015 delivery. Israel wants to modify the F-35 first by installing its own radar package to be told by U. S. it can not do so. In fact Israel talks better of the F-16 than the F-35.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon, a 1974 American multirole jet fighter aircraft latest model is the F-16i. A squadron of the most recent updated F-16i of the Danish airforce landed in Italy Saturday apparently in preparation for a role in the no-fly zone being opposed against Libya.

Obama refused Israel’s request to buy F-22s and then Over concerns from the Pentagon cancelled production of the fifth generation fighter-bomber in favor of the less capable F-35 saying the F-22 was not needed. Within days of the cancellation it was revealed China will sortie its own fith generation, stealth earplane many years sooner than intelligence predicted.

Hours after Obama bragged about putting together a coalition against Libya he landed in Brazil that did not support the U. N. resolution. Obama family’s five-day vacation will also include stops in Chile and El Salvador in what is being billed as a job producing Latin America initiative that almost no one believes to be cradable. Brazil has dramatically expanded its oil exploration and production while Obama has eviscerated U. S. exploration and production. Obama did offer to buy Brazil oil.

France has taken over world leadership as Obama took a back row seat further deflating U. S. prestige and influence.

Rev, Franklin Graham accuses Obama of serious offenses against America and Christianity claiming the Muslim Brotherhood, with the complicity of Obama has infiltrated the U.S. government at the highest levels and is influencing American policy that leaves the world’s Christians in grave danger, warns internationally known evangelist Franklin Graham

“The Muslim Brotherhood is very strong and active here in our country,” Graham tells Newsmax. “We have these people advising our military and State Department. We’ve brought in Muslims to tell us how to make policy toward Muslim countries.

“It’s like a farmer asking a fox, ‘How do I protect my hen house?’ ”

That same Muslim Brotherhood is fomenting much of the rebellion and the deteriorating social order roiling the Middle East, forcing millions of Christians to flee for their lives, says Graham, son of beloved evangelist Dr. Billy Graham, and founder of The Samaritan’s Purse international charity.

A new report from the Roman Catholic aid agency Aid to the Church in Need supports Graham’s contention that the persecution of Christians world­wide has worsened exponentially in the past few years.

According to the report, Christians face increased suffering in 22 countries around the world, with Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Nigeria being among the worst countries to be a Christian in today.

The persecution has gotten markedly worse over the past two years according to the organization.

“The proportion of countries with a worsening track-record of anti-Christian violence and intimidation would be higher were it not for the fact that in many cases the situation could scarce­ly have been worse in the first place” the report’s authors wrote.

More than 75 percent of religious persecution in the world is currently being carried out against Christians, the report concludes.

The Vatican formed a special committee late last year to address the flight of Christians and the rise of militant Islam in the Middle East. In his New Year’s message, Pope Benedict XVI said Christians suffer more than any other religious group because of their faith

Asked if Obama was doing enough to protect Christians at home and abroad, Graham says, “No. If anything it’s the opposite.”

“Muslims are protected more in this country than Christians,” he says. “The president has made many statements but he doesn’t back them up. We have to do more to protect the Christians in the Muslim world. Their lives are in danger.”

In recent weeks, Obama administration officials have stepped up the defense of their inclusive stance toward Muslims in their ranks. Deputy national security advisor, Denis McDonough, said last week that President Obama is actually trying to prevent terrorism by “dispelling the myths that have developed over the years, including misperceptions about our fellow Americans who are Muslim.”

When it comes to preventing violent extremism and terrorism in the United States, Muslim Americans are not part of the problem, you’re part of the solution,” McDonough said at an interfaith forum in Sterling, Va.

Graham, however says what Obama is really doing is “giving Islam a pass” rather than speaking openly about the “horrific” treatment women and minorities receive.

“We certainly love the Muslim people,” Graham said in an earlier interview with Newsmax. “But that is not the faith of this country. And that is not the religion that built this nation. The people of the Christian faith and the Jewish faith are the ones who built America, and it is not Islam.”

Mosques across the U.S. continue to carry books and pamphlets describing non-Muslims as “infidels” and promoting intolerance against Western society, according to a study by Freedom House, a U.S. human-rights group.

Despite vows from American Islamic leaders after Sept. 11, 2001, to proselytize peacefully, New York based Freedom House researchers found 57 documents with incendiary material in more than a dozen mosques and Islamic centers in six states and Washington, D.C.,  A prior study found eighty percent of American mosques had extremist leadership.and it has yet to be effectively refuted.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says President Barack Obama’s reactions and actions during multiple world crises shows the United States has “a spectator-in-chief,” and the Obama presidency might be the most out of touch in modern U.S. history.

China’s communist government is continuing to spurn Obama overtures to join international arms agreements, favoring instead to use international arms control talks as a way to limit U.S. arms developments.

The problem was highlighted Feb. 23 in a speech by a U. S. assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification and compliance to a forum in Las Vegas that was part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on disarmament.

Obama’s  key official on arms control, made no mention of China in her remarks and instead praised the administration’s limited success in reaching a New START treaty with Russia.

The administration’s arms failures include three main areas that Beijing has refused to join in substantive negotiations: space arms control, fissile material limits, and arms-proliferation security.

“In all three areas, the Obama administration naively thought China would reach agreements,” said a defense official familiar with the arms control efforts. “Instead, they are now blaming the Bush administration” for the lack of progress.

On fissile material, China, alone among the U.N. Security Council permanent members is believed to be continuing to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons, while the United States, Russia, Britain and France are not. The cutoff of fissile material is one of the administration’s highest priorities because it is thought to be a prerequisite for for Obama’s ultimate vision of eliminating all nuclear arms. Most label thaty polyannish of nmot abjectly foolish and naïve.

China instead is in the midst of a major strategic nuclear-warhead buildup that has been largely ignored. By Obama’s Osttrich imitating policy.  .

A draft agreement being worked on for several years by the U.N. Conference on Disarmament on the prevention of an arms race in space has been blocked by China over its insistence on defining weapons in space in the agreement to include key sensors used by U.S. missile defenses.

China wants the Space Based Infrared Radar to be banned, something that would nullify multibillion-dollar U.S. strategic missile defenses. Beijing also opposes on-site verification, making any agreement a trust-but-don’t-verify accord.

China also continues to reject joining the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, a program developed under the George W. Bush administration to thwart transfers of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, mainly at sea. China rejected numerous invitations to join meetings of the initiative, which has been backed by 90 nations concerned about arms proliferation.

Saudi Arabia’s purchase of two nuclear warheads from Pakistan, wikth at least tacit U. S. acceptance is viewed as duplicitous and a failure.

Recently disclosed State Department cables have shown China, in fact, has assisted arms proliferation, specifically allowing North Korean missile-related air-transport shipments to transit China. “This is another example, like climate change, where China has refused to cooperate,” an official said.

The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency told Congress last week that China’s military capabilities are growing beyond regional power projection to developing forces with global power in less than 10 years.

Army Lt. Gen. Ronald L. Burgess Jr., told the Senate Armed Services Committee that, speaking of China’s military, “while remaining focused on Taiwan as a primary mission, China will, by 2020, lay the foundation for a force able to accomplish broader and regional global objectives.”

“The Chinese military continues to lack joint warfighting capabilities because of deficiencies in interservice cooperation and actual experience in joint exercises and combat operations.”

However, Burgess stated: “China’s leaders continue to stress asymmetric strategies to leverage China’s advantage while exploiting potential opponents’ perceived vulnerabilities.”

Burgess cast doubt on China’s stated position that its military buildup is defensive, noting that the doctrine calls for “seizing the initiative, including possible pre-emptive acts.”

“China continues to field new weapons and test doctrines to counter U.S. capabilities,” he said. “It increasingly can carry out military operations along its periphery.”

Other concerns about the Chinese military include growing weapons for space and cyber warfare, electronic warfare and long-range precision strike weapons. The new weapons “could enable Beijing to delay or degrade U.S. military forces entering the region during a conflict,” Burgess said.

Appearing with Burgess, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned about China’s growing cyber warfare capabilities. Beijing is working on computer-based cyberprobes into U.S. classified computer networks, Clapper said, noting that the cyber-activity is a “formidable concern.”

“The Chinese have made a substantial investment in this area, they have a very large organization devoted to it and they’re pretty aggressive,” Clapper said.

“This is just another way in which they glean information about us and collect on us for technology purposes, so it’s a very formidable concern.”

Obama threatened Libya with “consequences” is it does not stop military actions.and then said there would be no U. S. ground forces deployed.He then left for a taxpayer paid family vacation in Riodisguised as a diplomatic sojourn.

Oil lost $1.16 at $113.49 per barrel Friday on the ICE Futures exchange minutes after Libya announced a ceasefire. Retail U. S. gasoline prices nudged $4 per gallon creating hardship on many Americans.

During the four days between Thursday March 4 and Monday March 7, Obama   switched U. S. - Iran policy - confirmed the worst Saudi and Israeli suspicions that Obama had no intention of acting to stop the radical Islamic Republic from attaining nuclear weapons,. Obama held Israel back from destroying Iran’s nuclear weapon facilities  when it was more feasible. Saudi Arabia is known to have bought two nuclear warheads from Pakistan-apparently with U. S. OK. Touching off what many believe will become a nuclear arms race in the region with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Obama’s unilateral decision dealt America’s allies in Riyadh and Jerusalem their second letdown in three months, on the heels of White House encouragement of the uprisings against a select number of Arab rulers.

The White House laid the ground for its change of heart on Iran with public statements that drew little attention from international media during the Libyan crisis.

The Director of National Intelligence James Clapper presented the Senate Armed Services Committee this week with a “revised” version of the controversial 2007 National Intelligence Estimate which claimed orignally against all the evidence that Iran had halted work on nuclear arms in 2003.

It is now confirmed that the misinformation contained in the original NIE was the pretext for holding back - not only an Israeli attack on Iran but also direct American action for keeping nuclear arms out of Iran’s hands. By revising that erroneous estimate, the Obama administration shows it is willing to catch up and come to terms with the reality of Iran’s wide-open option to develop nuclear weapons. There is little doubt that this will embolden Iran’s radical anti-Western, anti-Semitic mullahs to greater adventurism in the face of U. S. weakness.

The world’s most expensive dog was sold for $1.5 million. This dog is so spoiled that his chew toy is a mailman.- Leno

Syrians have been battling police and security forces in the first such confrontations since the 1980s. They said demonstrators were calling for the ouster of President Bashar Assad in such cities as Aleppo, Damascus and Qamishli.

“This is the first time that Syrian citizens are calling for freedom,” Syrian opposition organizer Suheir Atasi said

The protest began on March 15 when an estimated 1,000 demonstrators poured into the market in Damascus. At least six people were arrested when Syrian anti-riot forces rushed the demonstration with batons.

“The protests show that recent predictions of the Assad regime’s immunity to the popular protests sweeping the Arab world were premature,” Andrew Tabler, a researcher for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said.

Similar demonstrations were reported in other cities. The opposition reported that security forces employed live fire, particularly in Aleppo.

“Dir Al Zour is surrounded like a ghetto by the Syrian army,” the Reform Party of Syria said. “No media or reporters are allowed.”

Protests continued on March 16 in Damascus. Anti-riot police charged about 150 demonstrators in downtown Damascus and arrested at least 15, including a leading opposition activist.

“Shop owners at Maraja square in downtown Damascus spontaneously confronted the instigators, chanting national slogans and rejecting any attempts to spread chaos and destabilize the homeland,” Interior Minister Mohammed Al Ali said.

In February, the Assad regime prevented mass protests inspired by those that toppled the regime in Egypt and Tunisia. But opposition sources said a series of protests were organized through Facebook and other social media Web sites.

“The opposition is using different tactics,” RPS said. “Instead of naming locations, they have assigned different numbers to streets, corners, and meeting places. It forces the regime to deploy a large number of security forces to cover a whole city.”

Sacramento’s Kings NBA franchise appears ready to bolt to Anaheim. Pretty much to nationwide yawns. Kings game tickets have been the easiest to get with 4,000 empty seats per game. The King’s had a miserable 16-50 record this season. Anaheim says it will issue bonds to upgrade its facilities for the NBA team. “Stupid is as stupid does,” Forest Gump.

The Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee wants to cut the top U.S. tax rate to 25% for individuals and corporations, and cut or eliminate many popular deductions.

The odds of quick action appear slender. But the move, from Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.), is significant as a marker in what will likely be a multiyear debate over revamping the tax code. The plan also provides Republicans with a position to pitch in the 2012 election, a campaign that promises to focus heavily on the economy and jobs.

Mr. Camp told The Wall Street Journal an overhaul of the unwieldy tax code is an essential element in stimulating both economic growth and job formation.

“America needs a tax code that promotes, not prevents, job creation,” he said. “Today’s code is simply too complex, too costly and too burdensome for families and employers of all sizes to comply with….We need to set ambitious goals and work toward those, because if we don’t try that will be the biggest failure of all.”

The top U.S. tax rate for both individuals and corporations has been 35% for most of the past decade since President George W. Bush pushed through his big tax cut for individuals in 2001. Previously, the top rate for individuals was 39.6%. Mr. Obama proposes to return the rate for individuals to 39.6%.An analysis by the conservative Heritage Foundation concluded that reducing the corporate rate to 25% would help generate more than 500,000 jobs a year over the coming decade.

A recently released report from the US Chamber of Commerce ranks California among the least hospitable business climates in the country. According to the report, no state could benefit from reforming its business environment more than California.

California’s “poor” ranking is the result of an analysis of 34 different business related criterion. Seven factors, in particular, where highlighted as significant factors in the ranking. That list includes complex wage and hour regulations, hostility towards non-competition agreements, and the anti-discrimination laws that exceed federal levels.

Also mentioned in the report were the difficult environment for job creation, budget woes, high taxes, and complex regulatory systems.

All of the states were divided into three categories: “Good,” “Fair,” and “Poor.” Not only was California in the lowest bracket, the state accumulated more than three times the average number of “Poor” ratings of any other state.
The dismal business climate, coupled with the possibility of an extension of the temporary tax increases and the dissolution of redevelopment and enterprise zones, could mean more bad news for Californians.

The report quotes Governor Brown from saying “There are hundreds of thousands of new jobs to be created, if California regulatory authorities make sensible and bold decisions.”

The question that must be raised is how do eliminating enterprise zones or redevelopment agencies - without a well thought out and turnkey replacement - qualify as a sensible or bold decision?

The answer is it doesn’t. Sensible is reform. Bold is drastic reform. Elimination is rash and messy.

The sensible decision that the US Chamber seems to seek in its report is a review of duplicative or detrimental regulations, and the streamlining of the business/government structure.

The report states, “A perfect score does not mean complete de-regulation of labor and employment markets… It is our hope that states will use this report as a roadmap to help in job creation and provide the right incentives for growth.”

Incentive for growth IS the purpose of a redevelopment agency. In areas of blight, their tax rebates and loans help develop a market for new business, provide an engine for natural gentrification, and rejuvenate an area. Opponents of redevelopment agencies can cite the faults of the system, but no system is perfect. Most systems are far from perfect. But the goals of a system cannot be achieved by eliminating the whole to correct a part. Those programs, like the regulations affecting business, must be reformed, boldly and sensibly.

When comparing the number of jobs that could be created in California reforming business regulations (138,001) to the next closet state (New York at 58,373) the number is stunning, if not unexpected. Similarly, when the number of new businesses that could be created in California (10,087) is compared again with New York (3,996), the result is disappointingly unsurprising.

What this report from the US Chamber achieved is an empirical quantification of the intangibles that affect California’s employment environment. By creating a statistical starting place, progress can be measured and regression can be identified.

In California, that’s easy. We scored “poor” in 23 categories, “average” in four, and “fair” in five. The state only managed to obtain two “good’s.” So for the sake of this study, there are few places to go but up.

For the factors not included in this study, including issues like redevelopment agencies and enterprise zones, the state has the opportunity to reform what is broken, and the responsibility to enhance what is working.

The study twice quotes President Obama from his editorial in the Wall Street Journal:

“Sometimes those rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business - burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs.” -and- “We can strike the right balance. We can make our economy stronger and more competitive, while meeting our fundamental responsibilities to one another.”

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy

As evidence of Obama’s failed Rodney King-like foreign policy the U.S. Navy is withdrawing from its facilities in Bahrain, diplomatic sources said. However a statement by the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command denied that an evacuation was underway. That duplicity is possible becaue in fact the Navy has already virtually left.

Western diplomatic sources said many or most of the navy’s Fifth Fleet has left Manama. They said many of the U.S. naval personnel were transferred to Oman, where a naval exercise was taking place.

“There is a skeleton crew left,” a diplomatic source said. Only several hundred U.S. Navy personnel were left at Fifth Fleet headquarters, Middle East Newsline reported. They said U.S. warships were no longer patrolling the coast of Bahrain.

The statement by the Fifth Fleet Public Affairs Office said that while the departure of family members and “non-essential civiliar personnel living in Bahrain” had been authorized, operations “at U.S. Fifth Fleet and NSA Bahrain remain “normal”, and U.S. service members and family members are not being evacuated.”

The sources said Obama appeared to be preparing for the collapse of the Sunni kingdom in Bahrain in yet another signal that Obama has lost the Middle East, in his failed Rodney King foreign policy. They said Washington does not intend to protect the regime of King Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa.

“The Americans have written off Bahrain and are believed to be working out some arrangement with the Iranians that will protect the Americans from the mobs,” the source said.

As late as 2010, the Fifth Fleet based about 3,000 personnel in Bahrain. The fleet had conducted exercises to respond to a mass-casualty insurgency strike by Al Qaida or Iran, but the sources said did not envision the current Shi’ite unrest.

On March 12, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Bahrain to review the security situation and the American naval presence in the Gulf Cooperation Council state. The sources said Gates warned Bahraini leaders not to use U.S. weapons to quell the Shi’ite protests.

“Gates said the U.S. equipment was meant to counter external threats and hinted that if Bahrain violates this, then Washington could block aid,” the source said.

On Feb. 25, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, toured the Fifth Fleet and was briefed on security arrangments. Mullen was told of security operations by the Marine Corps.

Obama has golfed a record 61 times since becoming a oarttime President. Last weekend he went to Rio on an extravagant family vacation

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

The 15-member U. N. Security Council voted 10 in favor; 0 to impose with 5 abstaining for a no-fly zone on Libya- China and Russia abstained. A key question if whether Russian designed and constructed military warehouses ensured the supply of Gadhafi’s military and security forces throughout Libya could be targets. That logistics infrastructure enabled the regime to recover from initial rebel successes in February.

The sources said NATO provided virtually no military support to the Libyan rebels. They said most of the alliance, including the United States, were restricted by international law as well as disagreements over strategy and general gutlessness.

“The revolt is essentially over,” the source said. “Gadhafi is again in charge of all energy assets and the rebels will lose their last major strongholds within a few days.” Syrian air defenses are ineffective.

On March 16, Gadhafi’s son, Seif Al Islam, said the military was moving toward Benghazi, the second largest city. Seif predicted the capture of Benghazi by March 19.

“The military operations are completed,” Seif said. “In 48 hours everything will be over.”

“Gadhafi established a formidable military infrastructure that allowed him to counter-attack even with limited forces,” an intelligence source familiar with Gadhafi’s security network said.

The sources said the Russian-built military logistical network, established over the last decade, enabled to maintain air, ground and naval strikes against the rebels throughout eastern Libya as well as along the coast. They said the rebels were unable to respond the increasingly withering firepower of Russian- and French-origin aircraft, artillery and main battle tanks.

The lethargy of Obama and ine U. N. gave Gadhafi plenty of time to prevail particularly as Obama dithered and lectured but didn’t act. Iranian backed Syria provided pilots for Libyan warplanes.

The U. N. approved “all necessary measures to protect Libyan civilians” bnegging the question how do you tell? Libya almost immediately declared a cease fire raising question of why Obama and the U. N. were so hesitant for so long as scores died and thousands were injured.

The first traces of radiation from the Japanese nuclear power plant accident arrived in California early Friday morning. The amount is less than the miniscule radiation dose from eating a banana. Banana’s are rich in potassium and a tiny portion of the earth’s natural potassium is slightly radioactive..

Two former high-ranking members of the Oakland County Democratic Party are facing various election corruption charges in a bogus tea party scheme,

There are at least 23 questionable election filings across Michigan - eight of them in Oakland County - involved an effort to create the illusion of an Independent Tea Party and its candidates on November’s ballot.

The goal was to woo away voters in local elections who might otherwise vote for other candidates, presumably Republicans, authorities allege. The charges include forgery of official election documents.

Russia’s oil ministry said oil could spike to $200 per barrel due to Mideast turnoil and the Japenese earthquake induced problems. In fact oil fell on news of the Libyan ceasefire.