All Posts Tagged With: "what"
Voters Voting What They Watch On TV
Forty-nine percent (49%) if voters believed that most reporters are trying to help Obama win the presidency. Only 14% thought they are trying to help McCain win.
Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Fox News viewers say they are likely to vote for John McCain, while those who watch CNN and MSNBC plan to support Barack Obama in November 65% of CNN viewers and 63% of MSNBC.
52% of Americans say they watch local television news for information on the campaign at least several times a week, including 37% who say they watch it every day. Half (50%) say they watch cable news for that information during the week, including 26% who watch daily.
Those who watch local news every day support Obama over McCain 52% to 42%. But for those who say they watch several days a week but not every day, it’s McCain over Obama 50% to 43%.
Those who read a print newspaper during the week are fairly evenly divided. Among those who read the same papers online, Obama has the edge as do those who get their campaign information from online sources in general, again time spent is the key. Those who go online every day are evenly divided, but over half of those who go online one or more times a week plan to vote for McCain.
Talk radio is also McCain territory. More than 60% of those who listen at least several times a week plan to vote for the Republican versus less than a third who say they will vote for Obama. National security also polls as a much stronger concern among those who listen regularly to talk radio than it does to voters overall.
Those who watch the the three major television networks support Obama as follows: 70% of those who watch CBS’ Katie Couric every day plan to vote for Obama, as do 71% of the daily viewers of ABC’s Charles Gibson and 67% of those watching NBC’s Brian Williams. The bad news for Obama is when asked specifically about the networks and their star news anchors, well over half of Americans say they rarely or never watch Couric or Gibson for information on the presidential campaign. Just under half (49%) say they rarely or never watch Williams.
What do you want to talk about?
Nuclear Power Conversations on an Airline
A stranger, new to flying, was seated next to a little girl on an airplane, turned to her and said, ‘Let’s talk. I’ve heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.’ The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the stranger, ‘What would you like to talk about?‘ ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said the stranger. ‘How about nuclear power?’ and he smiles.
‘OK, ‘ she said. ‘That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?’
The stranger, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, ‘Hmmm, I have no idea.’
To which the little girl replies, ‘Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don’t know sh*t?
What If Peace Is Breaking Out all Over - A World Tour.
While the mass media continues to feature wars and terrorism, the overall trend continues away from such unpleasantness.
Such stories are anathema to the mass media, because they do not attract eyeballs, and revenue.
That’s the way people are, and the result is a distorted view of trends in global violence.
Worldwide, violence continues to decline, as it has for the last few years. Violence has also greatly diminished, or disappeared completely, in places like Iraq, Nepal, Chechnya, Congo, Indonesia and Burundi. Even Afghanistan, touted as the new war zone, is seeing less violence this year than last.
All this continues a trend that began when the Cold War ended, and the Soviet Union no longer subsidized terrorist and rebel groups everywhere. The current wars are basically uprisings against police states or feudal societies, which are seen as out-of-step with the modern world. Many are led by radicals preaching failed dogmas (Islamic conservatism, Maoism), that still resonate among people who don’t know about the dismal track records of these movements.
The War on Terror has morphed into the War Against Islamic Radicalism. This religious radicalism has always been around, for Islam was born as an aggressive movement, that used violence and terror to expand. Past periods of conquest are regarded fondly by Moslems. The current enthusiasm for violence in the name of God has been building for over half a century. Historically, periods of Islamic radicalism have flared up periodically in response to corrupt governments, as a vain attempt to impose a religious solution on some social or political problem. The current violence is international because of the availability of planet wide mass media (which needs a constant supply of headlines), and the fact that the Islamic world is awash in tyranny and economic backwardness. Islamic radicalism itself is incapable of mustering much military power, and the movement largely relies on terrorism to gain attention. Most of the victims are fellow Moslems, which is why the radicals eventually become so unpopular among their own people that they run out of new recruits and fade away. This is what is happening now. The American invasion of Iraq was a clever exploitation of this, forcing the Islamic radicals to fight in Iraq, where they killed many Moslems, especially women and children, thus causing the Islamic radicals to lose their popularity among Moslems.
Normally, the West does not get involved in these Islamic religious wars, unless attacked in a major way. Moreover, modern sensibilities have made that more difficult. For example, fighting back is considered, by Moslems, as culturally insensitive (”war on Islam”), and some of the Western media have picked up on this bizarre interpretation of reality. However, some historians like to point out, for example, that the medieval Crusades were a series of wars fought in response to Islamic violence against Christians, not the opening act of aggression against Islam that continue to the present. Thus, the current war on terror is, indeed, in the tradition of the Crusades. And there are many other “Crusades” brewing around the world, in the many places where aggressive Islamic militants are making unprovoked war on their Christian neighbors. Political Correctness among academics and journalists causes pundits to try and turn this reality inside out. But a close look at the violence in Africa, Asia and the Middle East shows a definite pattern of Islamic radicals persecuting those who do not agree with them, not the other way around.
While Islamic terrorism grabs most of the headlines, it is not the cause of many casualties, at least not compared to more traditional wars. The vast majority of the military related violence and deaths in the world comes from many little wars that get little media attention outside their region. Actually some of them are not so little. While causalities from terrorism are relatively few (usually 5,000-,000 dead a year worldwide), the dead and wounded from all the other wars actually comprise about 95 percent of all the casualties. The Islamic terrorism looms larger because the terrorists threaten attacks everywhere, putting a much larger population in harms way, and unhappy with that prospect. But in the West, and most Moslem nations, Islamic terrorism remains more of a threat than reality.
Current wars are listed in alphabetical orders. Text underneath briefly describes current status. Click on country name for more details.
The Taliban attempt at a comeback has been reinforced by drug gang profits and al Qaeda choosing the Pakistani border area the location for their last stand. With all that, violence nationwide is still lower than last year. A sharp increase in Taliban activity in 2006 brought forth a sharp response from government and NATO forces. Independent minded tribes, warlords and drug gangs remain a greater threat to peace, prosperity and true national unity, than the Taliban (which is based across the border in Pakistan). The newly elected Pakistani government is reluctant to make on the pro-Taliban tribes and various Islamic terrorist organizations. That has increased the flow of gunmen from Pakistan into Afghanistan. But the violence inside Afghanistan is growing, largely because of the growth of the drug gangs, and their support for tribes (especially pro-Taliban ones) that oppose the national government.
A few hundred Islamic rebels persist, despite the hostility of most Algerians. The local Islamic terrorists have now officially become a part of al Qaeda, and have turned to suicide bombing. This kills a lot of civilians, and increases the hatred the population already feels towards the Islamic radicals. The level of terrorist violence is still much lower than it was a few years ago. The population is not happy, and a general uprising remains a threat because of dissatisfaction with the old revolutionaries that refuse to honor election results, share power or govern effectively.
The Greater Albania Movement is driven by part time Albanian nationalists, full time gangsters, political opportunists, Kosovo separatists and some Islamic radicals. West Europeans got their way, and Kosovo became independent. Serbia disagrees with that, and Big Brother Russia offers all manner of support, and threats. Bosnia continues to attract Islamic terrorists, despite the local government becoming increasingly hostile to these foreign troublemakers and alien Islamic conservatism.
Dictators brew rebellion by suppressing democrats and Islamic radicals. But not much violence, just a lot of potential.
Rebel movements grew and united, aided by Sudanese backed Arab militias from across the border. The Chad government gave refuge to Sudanese Darfur rebels. The government thought they had a peace deal, but it quickly fell apart. European peacekeepers are arriving, but are having problems obtaining sufficient helicopters and air transport. Much of the unrest along the border is caused by refugees from tribal battles in Sudan, who bring their feuds with them. Prospects for peace are not good.
The confrontation with Taiwan continues, as do hostilities with neighbors, separatists, dissenters and ancient enemies. A new government in Taiwan plays down independence, and China responds with soothing words. But also China speeds up modernization of its armed forces, but in ways Westerners have a difficult time understanding. China has developed a major Cyber War capability, and has been using it for over a year. The targets of this, in Western Europe and the U.S., have figured this out, and a new crises is born. China has become major secret supplier of cheap weapons to bad guys everywhere. World class weapons are planned for the future, some 10-20 years from now.
After over three decades, leftist rebels more rapidly losing support, recruits and territory. Even leftist demagogue Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has dropped support for the Colombian rebels, although he is still providing sanctuary for them and their cocaine producing allies. The drug gangs and leftist rebels have merged in many parts of the country, and war in increasingly about money, not ideology. The leftist rebels are definitly losing, but all that drug money will keep them in the game for quite a while.
Multiple tribal and political militias, plus an increasing number of bandits, continue to roam the countryside. Peacekeepers and army action have reduced the size of these violent groups, but not eliminated them. However, there are fewer places that the bad guys can roam freely. Attempts to merge rebels into the army has not worked well. The last major problem is a Tutsi militia in the east, which will not disarm until the government destroys Hutu militias built around Hutu mass murderers who fled neighboring Rwanda in the 1990s. UN peacekeepers criticized for not fighting more, but that’s not their job. Congolese army not up to it yet either, so there it simmers.
Border dispute with Eritrea festers, and invasion of Somalia bogs down in local clan feuds. Internally, rebellious Moslem groups are a constant threat, especially with more active support from Eritrea. Ogaden province, right on the Somali border, and full of ethnic Somalis, has rebelled again. Not a big deal, but one more hot spot that burns up troops and scarce cash. These two border wars have been around for centuries, and not likely to go away now.
Peacekeepers keep a lid on two century old violence between the rich and the poor, and the criminal and political gangs. Peacekeepers have busted up many of the gangs, and sharply lowered the crime rate. But the government is still corrupt and prone to breed lawbreakers and disorder.
Kashmir is but one of many rebellions that beset the region. India also has tribal and Islamic rebel in the northeast, and Maoist (communist) ones in between. Pakistan has Islamic radicals in the north, and rebellious Pushtun and Baluchi tribes along the Afghan border. The Taliban had become stronger in Pakistan, where it originated, than in Afghanistan. Newly elected Pakistani government wants to make peace with the Taliban and the Taliban is willing to pretend it is cooperating. India and Pakistan both have nukes, making escalation a potential catastrophe. As a result, recent peace talks have lowered the possibility of war, but both sides continue an arms race. Pakistani Islamic radical groups continue to support terrorism in India and Afghanistan, and are still threatening the Pakistani government with attacks. Pakistan has always been a mess, and does not appear to be getting better.
Basically at peace, but separatism, pirates, Islamic terrorists and government corruption create a volatile situation that could get hot real fast. Islamic terrorists have been greatly diminished, as Islamic moderates flex their traditional popularity. Aceh still has a few diehard separatist rebels. Newly independent East Timor has been unable to govern itself.
The basic problem is that an Islamic conservative minority has veto power over the reformist majority. The supply of peaceful solutions is drying up. After that comes another revolution. Half the population consists of ethnic minorities (mainly Turks and Arabs), and these groups are getting more restive and violent. Meanwhile, the Islamic conservatives are determined to support terrorism overseas and build nuclear weapons at home, rather than improving the economy and living standards. Unrest and terrorist violence becoming more common, and government seeks foreign adventures to distract an unhappy population.
The “surge offensive” last year capitalized on years of work, crushed the Islamic terrorists. Violence plunged by over 80 percent. More areas of the country are now at peace (as some have been since 2003.) The Sunni Arab minority has worked out peace deals with the majority Kurds and Shia Arabs. Some Sunni Arab Islamic radicals are still active, but are in decline. Some Sunni Arabs, who had fled the country, are returning, but nearly half the Sunni Arabs are already gone. The Shia militias have been defeated as well, mainly by Iraqi police and troops. Corruption and inept government continues to be a major problem.
Palestinians are trying to make some kind of peace, in order to reverse the economic disaster they brought on themselves because of their seven year terror campaign against Israel. Palestinians are tired of terrorism, even though they still support it. The Palestinian economy has collapsed, as foreign charity dried up because the people elected the Hamas (Islamic terrorists) party to power. Civil war between radical Hamas and corrupt Palestinian old guard (Fatah) has split Palestinians. Iran backed Islamic radicals (Hizbollah) in Lebanon have revived fears of civil war up there. Hizbollah threatens to drag Lebanon into another civil war, or another war with Israel. Meanwhile, Israeli economy booms as Israel continues its effective counter-terrorism campaign.
An uneasy truce continues. The north and the south finally make a deal over money, religion and power. All this is watched over by peacekeepers set up between the factions.
Growing unrest, corruption and privation threaten the iron control that has long kept the north peaceful. North Korea continues to destroy its economy, in order to maintain armed forces capable of invading South Korea and keep its own population in bondage. Continued famine in the north has prompted China to send more and more troops to the border to keep hungry North Koreas out. North Korean military declines in power, as lack of money for maintenance or training cause continuing rot. Government split into reform and conservative factions, making change difficult to achieve. South Koreans are growing tired of the madness that still reigns in the north.
Turkish aircraft and troops now operating on the Iraqi side of the border, seeking to either destroy Kurdish separatists, or push their bases further into Iraq. Kurds continue 5,000 year struggle to form their own country. Iran is cracking down on its Kurds, while Turkey threatens even more action if the Iraqi Kurdish government doesn’t get serious about the Kurdish separatists who operate inside Turkey, from bases in Iraq. Iraqi Kurds believe they will get control of some Iraqi oil fields, providing cash for all manner of opportunities. But that is opposed by Iraqi Arabs and other minorities.
The U.S. border is like a war zone. The passing of one-party rule, the growth of drug gangs, and increasing corruption in the security forces, has triggered growing violence and unrest. The government has gone to war with the drug gangs, and the outcome is still in doubt.
Radical communist rebels succeed in eliminating the monarchy, via an alliance with political parties. This has decreased Maoist violence, and caused a struggle for control of the government. All this has triggered uprising by other unhappy groups (more radical Maoists, hill tribes, ethnic Indians).
Too many tribes, not enough oil money and too much corruption creates growing violence. The tribes and gangs (both criminal and political) in the oil producing region (the Niger Delta) are getting organized, and a lot more violent. The northern Moslems want more control over the federal government (and the oil money). Local rebels threaten loss of most oil revenue, which is getting the governments attention.
Various places where the local situation is warming up and might turn into a war. Zimbabwe and Yemen are hot right now.
Islamic minority in the south wants its own country, and the expulsion of non-Moslems. Communist rebels in the north fight for social justice and a dictatorship. Both of these movements are losing and the Moslems are negotiating a peace deal that inches closer to a done deal. The communists are taking a beating, and not willing to talk seriously yet.
Rebuilding and reforming the decrepit Soviet era armed forces continues. The war against gangsters and Islamic radicals in Chechnya has been won, but the Islamic radicals continue to operate in other parts of the Caucasus. Russia returns to police state ways, and traditional threatening attitude towards neighbors.
War between better organized and more aggressive Tutsis and more numerous Hutu tribes. It’s been going on for centuries, but the latest installment has finally ended, with the last Hutu group in Burundi giving up, then changing its mind.
A failed state that defies every attempt at nation building. It was never a country, but a collection of clans and tribes that fight each other constantly over economic issues (land and water). The new “transitional” government, was nearly wiped out by an “Islamic Courts” movement (which attempted to put the entire country under the rule of Islamic clergy and Islamic law). When Islamic Courts threatened to expand into Ethiopia, Ethiopia invaded and smashed the Islamic Courts. The Islamic radicals have turned to terrorism, and Eritrea continues to provide support. The country remains an economic and political mess, a black hole on the map. Not much hope in sight.
Tamil minority (19th century economic migrants from southern India) battles to partition the island. A long ceasefire ends and fighting has resumed. Tamils (the LTTE) are losing this time. LTTE will not go quietly, even though they lose a little more each month.
Moslems in the north try to suppress separatist tendencies among Christians in the south and Moslem rebels in the east and west. All this is complicated by development of oil fields in the south, and Moslem government attempts to drive Christians from the oil region. Battles over land in the west pit Arab herders against black Sudanese farmers. Both sides are Moslem, but the government is backing the Arabs. The government uses Arab nationalism and economic ties with Russia and China to defy the world and get away with driving non-Arab tribes from Darfur. The government believes time is on its side, and that the West will never trying anything bold and effective to halt the violence. So far, the government has been proven right.
Malay Moslems in the south are three percent of the population, and different. Most Thais, are ethnic Thais and Buddhist. In the south, however, Islamic radicalism has arrived, along with an armed effort to create a separate Islamic state in the three southern provinces. Islamic terrorists grew more powerful month by month for several years, and refuse to negotiate. Security forces persisted and are making progress in rounding up the terrorists. Meanwhile, civil war brews between urban and rural segments of the population, under the leadership of political parties that differ on how the nation should be run.
Religion and tribalism combine to create a persistent rebellion in the north, which was aided by Sudan. But now the northern rebels have been worn down, and the unrest is just about done with. Final peace deal with LRA rebels being negotiated. It’s taking longer than expected, and the LRA may just fade away before a final deal is made.
International terrorism has created a international backlash and a war unlike any other. The only terrorist victories are in the media. On the ground, the terrorists are losing ground everywhere. Their last refuges are chaotic, or cynical, places like Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Somalia, Gaza, the Sahel, a few of the Philippine islands, and especially tribal regions of Pakistan (where al Qaeda is staging a last stand). They are being chased out of Iraq, Somalia and the Philippines. Iran continues to support terrorism in the face of much local disapproval. Syria and Lebanon are in chaos because of Iranian subsidized factions. Gaza went the same way. Islamic radicals are a traditional reaction to tyranny in their region, and the inability of local despots to rule effectively. Economic and diplomatic ties with the West are interpreted as support, leading to attacks on Western targets that created a devastating counterattack. The result of this in the Moslem world has been dramatic, finally forcing leaders and people to confront their self-inflicted problems. Al Qaeda is as self-destructive as its many predecessors. Al Qaeda suicide bomb attacks that continue to kill civilians, continues to turn Moslems against al Qaeda in a big way. But the terrorists justify such dumb attacks because their doctrine holds that Moslems who don’t agree with them, are not really Moslems. You can imagine how well that goes over with most Moslems. You can, but al Qaeda can’t, and that is what guarantees their demise.
What Americans Think About America
During the summer of 1776 a group of men risk being hanged by meeting in Philadelphia and daring to speak and write against the King. They declared independence from the English crown.
This is America’s 232nd birthday, half of voters (50%) think America’s best days have come and gone. Eight out of 10 Americans (82%) say they would pick the United States if they had the choice of living anywhere in the world, but half that number (41%) do not believe this is a country with liberty and justice for all. 10% of Americans say they would live in some other country if given the choice. Fifty-six percent think the U.S. has changed for the worse since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
According to a Nationwide Rasmussen Poll today, 85% of American adults agree with the first “self-evident” truth—that all men are created equal. Ninety-one percent (91%) agree with the second of those truths—that we are all are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
In a startling finding, only 56% agree with the Declaration’s assertion that governments derive their just power from the consent of the governed. Twenty-six percent (26%) disagree and 18% are not sure.
Earlier surveys have found that hardly anybody believes the government today reflects the will of the people. Solid majorities think the federal government has become a special interest group that looks out primarily for its own interests.
On a lighter note, 40% of adults were able to properly select John Hancock as the first to sign the document. Twenty percent (20%) thought it was Thomas Jefferson, the man credited with drafting the agreement.
Twenty-three percent (23%) thought George Washington was President of that Continental Congress and 19% said Jefferson. Again, the proper answer was Hancock and only 16% got it right.
Other recent surveys have found that, if an election were held today, 91% would vote for the Constitution as the fundamental law of the land. A majority continues to believe that there is more danger in giving government too much power than in giving it too little power.
A separate survey found that just 17% believe working for the government is more honorable than working in the private sector.
What is it that every President has done per CNN Report?
Let me guess, flop flop? Yes, but that’s not all.
According to the American Academy of Ambassadors says we are the only country in the world that sends out political appointments who are “unqualified” and which sends out a message of arrogance and “disrespect” to the host country.
Clintonite Leon Panetta, says such appointments are a political reality, a reward in exchange for campaign support and while reforms are necessary it is not going to go away.
A Bush State Department spokesman says it is probably a good idea to have a blend or something like that…my recorder stopped working.
A blend of what?
Of incompetence and competence, by design?
Ah, yes, like a blend of wine with some expensive grapes, some cheap grapes and there you have it, a fine foreign policy vintage in it’s own time
But is it possible the Academy has an agenda too?What is it about Democrats and Communist Dictator Hugo Chávez?
Chavez is trying to set the political and economic direction of Latin America.
The Wall Street Journal asks and explains this provocative question — What is it about Democrats and Communist Dictator Hugo Chávez? Even as the Venezuelan strongman was threatening war last week against Colombia, Congress was threatening to hand him a huge strategic victory by spurning Colombia’s free trade overtures to the U.S. Chavez is trying to set the political and economic direction of Latin America. He wants the region to follow his path of ever greater state control of the economy, while assisting U.S. enemies wherever he can. He’s already won converts in Bolivia and Ecuador, and he came far too close for American comfort in Mexico’s election last year. Meanwhile, Colombian President Álvaro Uribe is embracing greater economic and political freedom. He has bravely assisted the U.S fight against narco-traffickers, and he now wants to link his country more closely to America with a free-trade accord. As a strategic matter, to reject Colombia’s offer now would tell everyone in Latin America that it is far more dangerous to trust America than it is to trash it.
Yet Democrats on Capitol Hill are doing their best to help Mr. Chávez prevail against Mr. Uribe. Even as Mr. Chávez was doing his war dance, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus was warning the White House not to send the Colombia deal to the Hill for a vote without the permission of Democratic leaders. He was seconded by Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel, who told Congress Daily that “they don’t have the votes for it, it’s not going to come on the floor,” adding that “what they [the White House] don’t understand it’s not the facts on the ground, it’s the politics that’s in the air.”
Mr. Rangel is right about the politics. No matter what U.S. strategic interests may be in Colombia, this is an election year in America. And Democrats don’t want to upset their union and anti-trade allies. The problem is that the time available to pass anything this year is growing short. The closer the election gets, the more leverage protectionists have to run out the clock on the Bush Presidency. The deal has the support of a bipartisan majority in the Senate, and probably also in the House. Sooner or later the White House will have to force the issue. Our guess is that Messrs. Baucus and Rangel understand the stakes and privately favor the accord. The bottleneck is Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is refusing to allow a vote under pressure from her left-wing Members. These Democrats deride any link between Hugo Chávez and trade as a “scare tactic,” as if greater economic prosperity had no political consequences. “President Bush’s recent fear-mongering on trade shows just how desperate he is to deliver one final victory for multinational corporations,” declared Illinois Democrat Phil Hare, who is one of Ms. Pelosi’s main trade policy deputies.
These are the same Democrats who preach the virtues of “soft power” and diplomacy, while deriding Mr. Bush for being too quick to use military force. But trade is a classic form of soft power that would expand U.S. and Latin ties in a web of commercial interests. More than 8,000 U.S. companies currently export to Colombia, nearly 85% of which are small and medium-sized firms. Colombia is already the largest South American market for U.S. farm products, and the pact would open Colombia to new competition and entrepreneurship.
Which brings us back to Mr. Chávez and his many Democratic friends. Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd’s early support helped the strongman consolidate his power. Former President Jimmy Carter blessed Mr. Chávez’s August 2004 recall victory, despite evidence of fraud. And then there are the many House Democrats, current and former, who have accepted discount oil from Venezuela and then distributed it in the U.S. to boost their own political fortunes. Joseph P. Kennedy II and Massachusetts Congressman Bill Delahunt have been especially cozy with Venezuela’s oil company. If Democrats spurn free trade with Colombia, these Democratic ties with Mr. Chávez will deserve more political scrutiny.
If Obama wants to demonstrate Presidential qualities, he’d be privately telling Ms. Pelosi to pass the Colombia pact while Mr. Bush is still in office. That would spare either one of them from having to spend political capital to pass it next year.
Instead, both say they oppose the deal on grounds that Mr. Uribe has not done more to protect “trade unionists.” In fact, Mr. Uribe has done more to reduce violence in Colombia than any modern leader in Bogotá. The real question for Democrats is whether they’re going to choose Colombia — or Hugo Chávez.
Iran Has the Bomb - Now What?
Israel to Bush - Attack Iran Or we Must.
Israel’s message to President Bush was either attack Iran or we will. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen will hear the same simple message while he’s in Israel this week — : If you don’t, we have to - and will before the U. S. administration changes.
Frankly Israel’s fears an Obama Presidency could mean an Israeli-US rift, and that thinks Belgium born and International reporter for Newsmax Arnaud de Borchgrave could mean a bigger calamity than the 1956 Suez Canal crisis and the Soviet’s savage reconquest of Hungary. Those punctuated the earliest chapter in the Cold War moving the doomsday clock to a minute before midnight.
Simply put a conflagration in the Middle East that could spread across the world could be triggered by the outcome of America’s November Presidential election.
First, even if he wants to Bush can’t attack Iran before the November elections because it would be a political catastrophe domestically, and Israel knows that.
Second, Israel believes - I think knows - Iran is tantalizingly close to or already has a nuclear weapon. After all Iran has had 23-years since Pakistan’s nuclear midwife A. Q. Khan handed over a-bomb plans I agree with Arnaud that it would be a miracle if Iran doesn’t have at least one city busting nuke. But, using one A-bomb while useful for terror and wrecking Israel only ensures Iran ’s utter destruction.
Third, there is a chance the U. S. will not vote itself into oblivion and could elect an experienced moderate in the person of John McCain who has said “There is only one thing worse than bombing Iran, and that is an Iranian nuclear bomb.
Borchgrave says Israel is convinced it is living an existential crisis and that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s extremist threats to snuff out Zionism could destroy the Jewish state with one city-busting weapon in the nose cone of an Iranian missile. Obama says he will go to Iraq and Afghanistan but it will be nothing but a political press opportunity generating platitudes, and notable in its circumventing Israel.
U. S. and European diplomats say there is leeway for diplomacy coupled with increased sanctions pressure. Also says Arnaud verbal bomb-thrower Ahmadinejad does not control Iran’s nuclear establishment, which is in the hands of Supreme Religious Leader Ali Khamenei. Also encouraging is that one of Ahmadinejad’s bitter political opponents, former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, was recently elected to the powerful position of speaker of parliament and may unseat Ahmadinejad in 2009 elections.
Depending on an Iranian election and diplomacy as a last chance is twitchy at best. What’s excruciatingly clear is the whole game turns on what happens in America’s November election and relies on respecting the admonishment that diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggy until you find a big rock. But, you must have the big rock.
What? Me Worry?
Alfred E. Newman Notwithstanding Here It Comes.
A giant cloud of hydrogen gas is speeding toward a collision with our Milky Way Galaxy, and when it hits — in less than 40 million years — it may set off a spectacular burst of stellar fireworks.
The cloud, called Smith’s Cloud, after the astronomer who discovered it in 1963, contains enough hydrogen to make a million stars like the Sun. Eleven thousand light-years long and 2,500 light-years wide, it is only 8,000 light-years from our Galaxy’s disk. It is careening toward our Galaxy at more than 150 miles per second, aimed to strike the Milky Way’s disk at an angle of about 45 degrees.
The Movie CONTACT Set the Scene - Now What
Hello ET we are listening
Astronomical observatories are teaming up for an unprecedented quest to find out whether there is life in outer space.
The project, led by Japanese astronomers, will bring together a dozen or more observatories from all over the country to study one star that researchers see as a potential home to an extraterrestrial civilization. Their searches have not been too fruitful so far.
Multiple participants will observe one star, to check on whether the suspicious signals received are actually from the natural world adding that they have not decided on which star to observe. The nearest star is 45 light years away, one light year is slightly less than 7 billion miles, in any case a signal will take 45 year to get here.
Re: VP, Barack to Hill, “Divorce Bill,” what a Pill
Just the rumors of a staff member initiated but forgone Intervention with Bill Clinton up to a year and a half ago, over his “behavior” is enough to understand just one of the many reasons why the presumed Democratic nominee for President, Barack Obama wants no part in an Obama/Clinton administration.
One wonders if the pressures to make her VP are strong enough to eventually make an offer to her. Maybe he can get away with just offering to pay off her campaign bills (no pun intended, one if more than enough anyway) and let her have influence in the VP choice and maybe if he is elected, to influence his cabinet picks.
She wants to maintain the maximum position she can, maybe not number one in the Democratic Party but maybe number 1.5 to 2.5. And of course be a good soldier in case she gets a shot at 2012 or worse case 2016 but by then she will be approaching 70 years of age and the extra consideratons that causes.
Maybe in any case, it is time, as the late Johnny Cochrane might say, “To be at the top of the hill, Hill you must be rid of Bill”
“Change” Is Political Favorite But, Be Careful What You Get.
“Change” has been a mantra in political campaigns since ancient times. Change does not necessarily mean better - only different.
Chuck Muth reminds us that Americans voted for change in November 2006 and got it by electing a Democrat Congress: 1) Consumer confidence has plummeted; 2) The cost of regular gasoline has soared to over $4 a gallon; 3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase); 4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses); 5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars; 6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.
The only thing that has fallen farther and faster is America’s job approval rating of Congress itself — only 13% rate Congress as good or excellent.
What is Happening When & Where in the 2008 Primaries
For the lowdown on the 2008 Schedule of Presidential Primaries Click Here.
What do you make of this Noam Chomsky Vid?
Who is supporting who-Barack-Hugo Chávez or Hillary?