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Israel Could Almost Certainly Devastate Iran’s Nuke Program But It Would Need Help to Keep It That Way

A new report titled “Can Military Strikes Destroy Iran’s Gas Centrifuge Program? Probably Not,” by The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) says the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program would require a sustained air combat campaign by the United States presumably because Israel couldn’t sustain it after its initial attacks. .

ISIS’s premise is that Iran’s nuclear program has been dispersed, concealed, and protected and this would rule out a limited air strike on Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities. Destruction it says “would need multiple strikes against many sites.”

ISIS said because Teheran’s uranium enrichment program is based on gas centrifuges, they could be dispersed throughout Iran. Conversely Iraq and Syria had sought to develop nuclear weapons based on reactors it made both vulnerable to pinpoint strikes.

ISIS thinks that “Following an attack, Iran could quickly rebuild its centrifuge program in small, easily hidden facilities focused on making weapon-grade uranium for nuclear weapons,” the report, dated Aug. 7, said.

The two leading Iranian nuclear facilities were identified as Isfahan and Natanz. ISIS said the destruction of these two facilities would require “far more military ordinance than that used” to bomb Iraq’s Osirak reactor or Syria’s Al Kibar. Israel destroyed Osirak in 1981 and Al Kibar in 2007. ISIS does not describe how or if Israel could wipeout Isfahan and Natanz.

Absent ISIS opinion on that subjects it is very likely that Israel has sophisticated ordinance that it could almost certainly deliver spot on target with devastating results.

Further ISIS infers that Israel has likely mapped Iran’s nuclear facilities in detail it, most probably with on-ground agents as it did in Syria last fall. It does not discuss what would be “ball bearing plant equivalent” for Iran’s or where it is making precision centrifuge parts. Once know that becomes equivalent to destroying Nazi Germanys ability to make ball bearings for it was those steel balls that literally propelled Hitler’s war machines - so it is with the centrifuge parts factories.

The report says Isfahan was said to contain more than 300 tons of uranium hexafluoride, or UF6, a feeder gas that could facilitate the production of more than 30 nuclear weapons. Clearly destroying that would create a significant contamination problem for Iran and set Iran back many months and it a priority.

ISIS’s contention that Iran can somehow establish a cottage industry of thousands of centrifuges and effectively serialize the sequential refinement of purer and purer uranium 235 feels far fetched.

Whether ISIS’s report is spot on, flawed or of limited efficacy it does underscore the complexities involved.

ISIS said Western intelligence remains uncertain of the precise locations and vulnerabilities of Iranian nuclear facilities.

Personally I have little doubt Israel has and can apply the tactics necessary to badly damage Iran nuclear ambitions, and unless Iran suddenly shows a hitherto unseen willingness to be reasonable it is going to be proved, and sooner than later.

A president’s pension currently is $191,300 per year, until he is 80 years old.

Assuming the next president lives to age 80. Sen. McCain would receive ZERO pension as he would reach 80 at the end of two terms as president. Sen. Obama would be retired for 26 years after two terms and would receive $4,973,800 in pension.

Therefore it would certainly make economic sense to elect McCain in November.

The shiny new basketball arena is a glittering achievement, more so when you step inside and realize they’ve imported everything you know about the West’s basketball product — including dancers and stunt teams — to Beijing. I elaborate in ESPN The Blog.

I was there for two sets of doubleheaders: Spain-China and South Korea-Brazil in the afternoon with Wang Kexue (which means “science”), U.S.-Czech Republic and Russia-Latvia for the nightcap with Zhang Peng.

Two thoughts that weren’t used in my ESPN entry:

1. Have you seen Brazil’s uniform? Let’s just say that when that team took on Australia a couple days later, it was a sight that could’ve made fashion designers blind.

2. For all the talk of this being a “sold out” Olympics, there were lots of empty seats for the opening of this basketball tournament. Granted, it’s women’s basketball, but still — I was surprised to see so many seats, especially for the Spain-China game, which turned out to be a thriller. In fact, three of our games were close — Brazil-South Korea went into overtime, and Latvia-Russia had several momentum shifts — and the other game, U.S.-Czech, was great for the way the Americans dominated.

Here was our view in the evening from our box seats:

Hypocrisy of obstructionist minority, egotists and “nimbyism” harming everyone else.

Fifty-one percent of Californians support drilling off its coast bringing to 49 states that do support it. Some want to pursue only alternatives and most say do it all.

The Electric Power Research Institute estimates enough wave power can be extracted from coastal waters to account for about 15 percent of California’s electricity production. Wind could provide up to 110 percent, according to a Stanford University study published last year. Wind and Wave generated electricity could replace 125% of California’s electricity.

Offshore wind and wave technologies are promising, but untried. But, current wave technology is mature enough for demonstration testing.

Even before there are concrete plans to do either obstructionist are swarming all over the idea. Speculating about potential damage to the coast’s prized vistas and fish industry.

Northern California’s biggest utility company, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., would connect such wind and wave produced electricity to the power grid.

The Recreational Fishing Alliance is skeptical. concerned wave power may interfere with fisheries as the buoys bob up and down in the waves. Their biggest complaint right now, however, is that local fishermen and residents have had no say in the planning. Fishermen Interested in Safe Hydrokinetics, or FISH is battling for a role in the planning.

Both group frittered for months and missed a federal deadline has passed for gaining an official voice in the legal planning for the wave projects, alongside PG&E and federal energy regulators.

My August 4th article entitled, “Deaffirming Action Tricky” reports on recent national polling on affirmative action.

Ward Connerly, the former University of California regent who is bankrolling the Arizona initiative and similar measures in Nebraska and Colorado to ban affirmative action is a black man who opposes affirmative action calling it counter productive.

The initiatives would amend the state constitutions to ban any hiring practices, university scholarships and other public programs that favor one group over others. Arizona and Nebraska officials are still verifying petition signatures while Colorado has the initiative slated for the November ballot.

Connerly’s group, the American Civil Rights Initiative, already has been successful with similar initiatives in California, Washington and Michigan. And he plans to continue four years from now in other states. Ultimately, Connerly said, “the goal is to try to get either the Supreme Court or the Congress to get the policy changed at the national level.”

Connerly said his ballot initiatives would attack programs like the Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise Program in Tucson. It allows minority and women-owned businesses to bid more for city contracts than other groups and requires prime contractors to make a serious effort to hire them for work.

“Those clearly would be outlawed,” Connerly said of the Tucson program. “Any standards that are applied to groups based on race. Any jobs where there are different standards for admissions.”

Connerly’s opponents in Arizona, Colorado and Nebraska criticize him for billing the initiative drive as a civil rights cause. They say thousands of voters were likely duped into signing petitions because the initiatives were described as a ban on discrimination instead of an attack on programs that help women and minorities.

Pro-affirmative action activists from Detroit have filed for an injunction in Arizona to keep the initiative off the November ballot.

Presumed Republican Presidential nominee John McCain focused national attention on Connerly’s efforts in late July, saying on ABC’s “This Week” that he endorsed the Arizona initiative — although he added that he had not read the details of the proposal.

I‘ll admit right up front that I’m no fan of John McCain. In fact, I find him to be a pretty repugnant character and not very impressive presidential material.

I know. He’s a war hero. However, even on this point he has his detractors. There are those who served with him in Viet Nam who call him ‘Songbird.’ Some accuse him of giving up information pretty quickly. There are others who tell a story about how he received preferential treatment because of his high-ranking Navy father. Then, there’s the issue of his disability payment of some $58,358 per year, tax free, because he can’t raise his arms above his shoulders. Really? I think I’ve seen him do that a few times. We could focus on the bush-league anti-Obama ads (no pun intended) he’s been running. First, there was the Britney Spears/Paris Hilton ad. Then, for lack of a better description, there’s “The One.” One would think that the American people would need something bit more substantive from McCain than what these ads provide. Both of these are pathetic and juvenile attacks. However, it could very well be that I’m overestimating the needs of the American people. It doesn’t end here. There are other concerns.

I’d be concerned about anybody who wants to be the ruler of the free world who just can’t seem to get his information straight. I’ve been reading a lot of articles. Some people are questioning his age. Some people are wondering if it’s Alzheimers. I’m just plain concerned because I don’t think it’s either of those things. I think it’s lack of knowledge. I think he just doesn’t get it and I’m doubtful that he cares about getting it. What he cares about is getting to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and, in some cases, the twisted facts help him make his case. Here are the things the media should be focusing on, rather than the trivia they are so fond of analyzing, such as what candidate doesn’t wear an American flag lapel pin.

It goes without saying that McCain’s famous confusion between Sunni and Shia is now treated quite lightheartedly. This is serious misinformation, given the circumstances in Iraq. This isn’t an isolated incident. He continually refers to the country of Czechoslovakia, which hasn’t existed since 1993. As documented by Media Matters for America, McCain made an errant claim that Iranian operatives were training al Qaeda members for fighting in Iraq three or four times over the course of two days - once on March 17 while speaking with radio host Hugh Hewitt and twice on March 18 while speaking to reporters to Amman, Jordan. It took yet another out-of-touch politician, Joe Lieberman (I-CT), whispering the correct information in McCain’s ear before he got it right. McCain corrected himself in Amman saying, “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al Qaeda.”

Still, other gaffes by McCain border on falsehoods. In defense of Bush’s Iraq escalation (called a “surge” for political expediency), McCain claimed that the Anbar Awakening was a direct result.The fact is that the Anbar Awakening began months before the surge in troops was even announced. This fact is confirmed by Colonel Sean McFarland and Major Neil Smith, who co-wrote a published article stating that most of the progress in Anbar province occurred between June 2006 and February 2007, months before the first troops ever arrived in Iraq. Misinformation such as this should be a concern when Mr. McCain boasts superior judgment to Barack Obama on all issues Iraq. McCain also embellished facts in response to the Supreme Court ruling that the U.S. Constitution’s habeus corpus protection extended to all persons being held in U.S. prisons, including those at Guantanamo Bay.

On June 17 of this year, McCain spoke at a Pemberton, New Jersey, town hall meeting: “By the way, thirty of the people that have already been released from Guantanamo Bay have already tried to attack America again; one of them just a couple of weeks ago as a suicide bomber in Iraq.” However, according to the Pentagon, only 13 former Guantanamo prisoners participated in some form of terrorist activity since being released. None have been confirmed to have attacked an American target. The Pentagon report went on to state that a handful of these former detainees have attacked “coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of the 13, were three Chechens who were transferred to Russia, where they were rearrested for terrorist activities.” That’s quite a bit different than what McCain was implying in his statement.

Okay, so let’s not call McCain a liar. Let’s assume these are mistakes that were come by honestly. Frankly, it doesn’t make me feel much better about his being elected president.

I must not have dreamed during a recent night of sleep because nothing was on my mind when I woke up.

Later, while sitting in a waiting room, I saw a title on an old Time magazine, “The Clean Energy Myth.” That jump started the blues.

Later, I head “Master Trader Sell High, Buy Low” Nancy Pelosi, repeatedly, on various 24/7 hypotainment channels, as if protesting in the 60s, chanting “FREE OUR OIL”.

After all, she says, drilling is a HOAX. Perhaps it’s just a case of mass hysteria that we think it goes on all of the time around the world.

Full fledged depression set in and I went to another Dr Office to pickup a stronger prescription and to take a look at the magazines there.

Here I digress: The obvious benefit of stealing magazines from waiting rooms is the cost savings.

Less obvious benefits are that this old “news” can be evaluated in light of subsequent new “news” or reformed “news” or more recently fictionalized “news”. After the passage of “time”, when we enter the historical phase of the “news”, which is supposedly the unemotional consideration of the surviving story (aka history), by non partisans, usually with a PhD for street cred.

Here I return: The glimpse of euphoria came when I read much of this Forbes article about a scientific breakthrough that may be a crucial part of a future solution to secure, local, clean energy, replicating photosynthesis. In my own way, I said a little prayer. For the future.

Then I remembered that no matter what we want or pray for, oil and coal are our only real bridge to the unknown future. The blues returned.

At some point, I remembered something a good friend told me a few years ago: “We should save some of this oil for our kids’ kids because we are going to run out of it.” Full fledged depression was again looming.

So I picked up the phone to see if my doctor had any new magazines in yet, while my mind relentlessly force rotated two thoughts in my head:

“Free Our Oil” and

my own dread that we may never run out of oil.

POSTSCRIPT: I throw the prescriptions away and keep the magazines. My insurance pays for the doctor. Cheap hypotainment if I walk to the Dr. BTW, if you have not read this Onion article about Al Gore, you will be glad once that is rectified.

“Oil (costs) is what is killing the world’s economy,” says Donald Trump.

“Frankly, I hear there are tankers all over the world that are loaded up to the gills with oil,” he told CNBC. “They have so much oil they don’t know what to do with it. It’s ridiculous what’s going on with OPEC and all of that.”

Trump blames major oil producing countries for the current recession and accuses large oil companies of “doing a major number” on everyone. He predicts that oil prices should drop a lot more from its $121 a barrel level after spiking near $150 a barrel in June and it should be priced around $50-60 a barrel.

“There’s a vast oversupply in the world. It’s all over the place,” Trump says.

Observers say if the U. S. would rattle its own domestic oil supply saber it would shock the market and costs would plummet. Oil experts say the U. S. could be free of Middle East imports in less than 3 years. But, progress is slowed by the November political race with Obama siding against more domestic supply to pander to radical environmentalists while McCain supports increased domestic production.

Hypocrites and Crooks Abound in Newark New Jersey

Adventures of the Senator Mayor. Special position for special people

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, 72, has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison on Tuesday for his role in the cut-rate sales of city land to his former mistress, 39 year old Tamika Riley, who got 15 months. James apologized to his wife of 44-years “for his human frailties.”

The judge in letting James skate, reduced his sentence from the requested 20-years said James “has accomplished much in his life,” and the prosecution request for up to 20 years “disappoints me and shocks me,”

James was the second African American Mayor of Newark and served five, four-year terms before declining to run for re-election. From June 1999 until leaving his position as Mayor in July 2006, James simultaneously served as Mayor of Newark and a Democrat New Jersey State Senator.

Sounds like there is plenty of hyprocirsy to go around in Newark, New Jersey.

Change Means Different Not Better

The German magazine Der Spiegel says of Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin: “Huge Crowds Left with Mixed Feelings.” CNN’s Candy Crowley reported an “absence of euphoria” at the event. A huge crowd showed up to see what all the falderal is about and to hear substance left scratching their heads. His kumbaya-like message: “The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down” didn’t ring true. His comparison to the Berlin Wall was vbery shallow — the Berlin wall was a political wall that divided one people. It separated Germans from other Germans, a far cry from distinctions between nations and religions that Obama apparently wants to obliterate. A “World government” thesis reflected in Obama’s desire and even plans to shovel a trillion dollars to a gigantic U. N. world plan.

For Obama, differences seem to be what cause the world’s problems. We endlessly hear the story of his mixed-race background and his translation of his personal history into a message of the meaninglessness of difference. There are vast differences and strong nationalism between the French, English and Germans who do not share common language or cultures unlike the U. S. For instance efforts for a European Union constitution that would establish links in Europe going beyond economics and extending to politics have thus far failed.

It may come as a surprise to Obama, but for Christians, for Muslims, and for Jews, their differences do not amount to barriers to a better world but sources of meaning that define themselves and the world, says Star Parker in a Monday article. That contradicts with Obama’s idea that a homogeneous, tan colored America. A politician with a unification agenda is the penultimate of arrogance believing he/she knows best.

Parker says, what Americans “should demand from Obama is clarification of what, if anything, he sees unique about the America that he claims to loves so much. For a man whose ideal seems to be the global village, with no barriers or differences, is there anything special about the United States that makes it distinct from other nations.” For two centuries diversity has been viewed as one of the greatest strengths of America. Obama seems to assert that was and is wrong.

What is the distinction between the “proud citizen of the United States” and the “fellow citizen of the world?” Those in Berlin heard none and many went home legitimately confused. So am I.

In an attempt to show Europe and the world that he has the gravitas, dynamism and commitment to be a world leader and capture the Presidency of the United States, Senator Obama took his campaign to Berlin.

There he delivered an unprecedented speech before a record crowd of more than 200,000, his previous record being 75,000 at a rally in western Oregon during the primary campaign.

He spoke eloquently, aristocratically and audaciously. He touched on every issue of concern, to a wide array of the populace. He spoke about nuclear proliferation, famine, poverty, global warming, the apartheid in South Africa, terrorism, irradiating AIDS, genocide in Darfur and a plethora of other issues. All to the chant of the throng, “yes, we can,” Obama’s mantra. He brought the crowd to a frenzy when he said, “the walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.” The largest clamor came when he said, “and despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.”

The biggest lull came when he brought the crowd to a somber silence with this statement. “This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.” This demonstrates Europe’s resolve to me. A true lack of consideration to confront world evil. An unwillingness to stand shoulder to shoulder with another to make the world a better place and to protect not only their own, but others.

But the preponderant issue for me appears to be the same for many others, as noted in a myriad of periodicals around the world. Obama’s speech was short on specifics and long on rhe