Monday, June 30, 2008
Brave New World?
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But 2008 will also prove in part to be a decisive political contest between the Old America and the New America. Between the thing we were, and the thing we have been becoming for 40 years or so. (I'm not referring here to age. Some young Americans have Old America heads and souls; some old people are all for the New.)
Mr. McCain is the Old America, of course; Mr. Obama the New.
* * *
Roughly, broadly [select few]:
In the Old America, love of country was natural. You breathed it in. You either loved it or knew you should.
In the New America, love of country is a decision. It's one you make after weighing the pros and cons. What you breathe in is skepticism and a heightened appreciation of the global view.
Old America: Tradition is a guide in human affairs. New America: Tradition is a challenge, a barrier, or a lovely antique.
The Old: Smoke 'em if you got 'em. The New: I'll sue. [snip]
I weigh this in favor of the Old America. Hard not to, for I remember it, and its sterling virtues. Maybe if you are 25 years old, your sense of the Old and New is different. Fair enough. As to its implications for the race, we'll see.
America is always looking forward, not back, it is always in search of the fresh and leaving the tried. That's how we started: We left tired old Europe and came to the new place, we settled the east and pushed West to the new place. We like new. It's in our genes. Hope we know where we're going, though.
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Iraqi Army, Coalition Troops Provide Medical Care at School
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More than 200 adults and 80 children received medical care June 21 during a combined medical engagement at the Al Herea School in Farisiyah, Iraq.
“It always puts a smile on my face to see people in need receive proper care,” said Army Staff Sgt. Luke Henry, “I believe these combined medical engagements are what we need to keep doing, because it’s these children that we treat who will remember us when they’re older and in a position to make decisions.”
In addition to the medical care, the Iraqi medics provided preventive medical classes on the importance of washing hands, boiling water and personal hygiene. [snip]
Members of the civil affairs team from Forward Operating Base Iskan also handed out Beanie Babies to children and distributed more than 500 humanitarian aid packages to families.
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Progress in Asia in GWOT
.[HT:MD]
The most dangerous terrorist networks in Southeast Asia are on the run thanks to multinational cooperation, good police work, good intelligence, and well executed military operations:
Three years after the region's last major strike - the attacks on three restaurants in Bali that killed three suicide bombers and 19 other people - American and Asian intelligence analysts say financial and logistical support from Al Qaeda to other groups in the region has long dried up, and the most lethal are scrambling for survival. [snip]
It isn't necessarily a question of "military first" or last or when military action is appropriate. It is the willingness to use it against well armed networks that makes the difference. The school of thought that eschews the military as an anti-terrorist organization generally doesn't advocate attacking terrorists in their camps.
There's a long way to go yet. There have been Muslim guerillas in the Phillipines for a hundred years so they are not going away anytime soon. And Indonesia still must deal with a revolt that threatens its stability. But progress is progress. And considering where we were just a few short years ago, what progress has been made has been remarkable.
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US military shoots down separating missile in test
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Kapaa, Hawaii -- The military's ground-based missile defense system destroyed a missile launched from an airplane in the first successful test of the system's ability to destroy a warhead that separates from its booster, the Missile Defense Agency said. The interceptor missile launched off Kauai on Wednesday had to differentiate between the warhead and the body of the missile before destroying the warhead above the Pacific Ocean...
['waste of time', 'waste of money', 'like hitting a bullit with a bullit', 'it can't be done'.
Wrong again. The steps to success: 1) Try...]
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Rocket hits Israel, second violation of Gaza truce
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Jerusalem - Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel on Thursday, further straining a shaky, week-old truce as Israel kept Gaza border crossings closed in response.
Palestinians charged that the continued closure of crossings violated terms of the cease-fire...
[typical]
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Russia's New World Order
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Traveling to Berlin early this month on one of his first trips as president, Medvedev stressed the need for "a new world order."
Leaders call for the founding of a new world order only when they are convinced that their nation will dominate it. [snip]
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a June 20 speech and a follow-up conversation I had with him here, outlined an ambitious agenda of change in a new era of "multipolar cooperation . . . and collective leadership" in international affairs.
A "new world order" cannot be based on "an Anglo-Saxon pattern that some have tried to establish for the rest of the world," Lavrov said. It would involve doing away with "the Cold War architecture for the security of Europe."
He proposed a European Security Conference to bring together the United States, Russia, the European Union and other regional organizations, such as NATO, to establish new controls on armies and alliances in the "Euro-Atlantic space." [snip]
But it does reflect a realization by Russian leaders that they are now seen by the rest of the world as a "veto power" to NATO... [snip]
[How did Russia get so influential?] Energy exports have earned Russia massive foreign reserves, and it is now intending an effort to bring other natural gas exporters into an international cartel similar to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Venezuela and Iran are also said to be pushing the cartel idea for an October unveiling...
[Europe will fold. Our energy insanity is handing influence to our enemies the world over.]
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"What will it take for Congress to enact comprehensive energy policy that includes increased domestic production of oil and gas, renewable and alternative energy, and conservation? It seems to us outside of the Capitol Beltway that virtually every effort to accomplish this is met with criticism and failure. In my opinion, the debate about energy policy is no longer theoretical and abstract. Our failure to enact an energy policy is having real consequences for every American in their daily lives and has begun to affect America's place in the world."
Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK), Writing to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in Support of ANWR and Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil Exploration and Development.
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State renews 'climate battle'
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California's next great experiment [in fleecing the public] starts today.
The state Air Resources Board will outline this morning a plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2020 and prepare the state for much deeper cuts in the years beyond.
The bottom line for consumers, according to the agency's analysis: Electricity and fuel prices will rise.
The cuts to climate-warming emissions are required under Assembly Bill 32, a state law passed in 2006 that committed California to the nation's most aggressive global warming strategy.
Industry groups say the plan will dramatically drive up the cost of doing business. [snip]
To get the last 20 percent of the emissions cuts, the board has called for the creation of a market that would put a price on the right to produce greenhouse gases.
The "cap and trade" system, set to begin in 2012, would allow firms to buy and sell emissions permits. The state would control the volume of permits available, and ratchet down the supply over time.
Industry groups argue the permits amount to a heavy tax that will hurt businesses and increase prices for consumers.
[the scam begins. What could we possibly do between now and 2012 - 4 years - to forestall this scam? We could elect non-Democrats...]
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HOW ABOUT A CAP-AND-TRADE DIVIDEND?
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... the real action on climate control commences on Jan. 20, 2009, when a new administration takes over. Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are on record in favor of cap and trade; the main difference between their proposals is how the carbon permits would be allocated:
- McCain's proposal would initially give out most of the permits for free to the nation's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases; however, he has not completely ruled out a carbon auction.
- Obama has proposed allocating the permits through an auction; every company -- large or small -- would have to buy the rights to emit greenhouse gases.
- If the carbon auction yields $150 billion in the first year, for example, each of America's 150 million adult citizens should receive a Treasury check that year of $1,000.
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GENEROUS TO A FAULT
California
How can cities escape the crushing burden of overly-generous benefits packages for city workers and retirees? Declare bankruptcy...
Vallejo, a mid-sized California city home to nearly 120,000 people, can no longer afford the jaw-dropping salaries it has provided city workers. For example:
• Last year, 292 out of 411 Vallejo employees were paid more than $100,000.
• Vallejo's city manager earns nearly $317,000, more than even Vice President Cheney.
• A police captain earns $306,000 a year in pay and benefits (six times what the average Vallejo schoolteacher earns).
• A police lieutenant earns $240,146 a year.
• The average firefighter earns $171,000 a year.
• When public safety workers retire after age 50, they receive 90 percent of their top salary.
• Wages and benefits swallowed more than 75 percent of what was available in the city's general fund in 2007.
• Vallejo is currently facing a daunting deficit of nearly $17 million dollars.
Experts agree that other state and local governments may face a similar predicament in the future. Judging from the ominous mix of mounting costs for energy and food; declining property-tax and sales revenue, and astoundingly generous pension and health-care commitments to public workers.
[of course, they're all unionized]
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Inaction in boy's killing called justified
The town of Turlock and much of the rest of the nation was shocked when a 27-year-old man beat and stomped his 2-year-old son to death on a rural road. But what was nearly as stunning for many people was that none of the motorists and their passengers who stopped and saw the attack tried to tackle the man.
Police officers and psychologists familiar with violent emergencies, however, said they weren't surprised at all.
A volunteer firefighter and at least five others saw Sergio Casian Aguiar assaulting his son Saturday night on the road west of Turlock (Stanislaus County), but it wasn't until a police officer arrived in a helicopter that the attack finally ended.
Bystanders are justifiably scared and confused in such situations, the experts said Wednesday, and they lack the experience needed to respond with force...
[utter bullshit. this moral vacuum is a consequence of the government {like the moronic 'experts' above} telling us for so long that it's to take care us us and that we're helpless without 'professionals' that some people have come to believe it.
You don't wait, you run over there and do what you can. It's scary, you may get hurt. You accept that risk to minimize the harm being done a child. Any man that doesn't, isn't, period. You don't 'need' any experience to respond with force, you need courage.
we're becoming a nation of sheep]
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'I decided to die like a man',
says tycoon who took on 'armed gang who threatened to kill his daughter'
Armed gang learns; Don't mess with Dad
A millionaire yesterday told how he fought off three armed burglars who were holding a knife to his daughter's throat, saying he "would rather die like a man than a dog". Bernard Dwyer, 51, was convinced he and his family were about to be killed so he chose to take on the men - hours after they had allegedly killed a restaurant owner, a court heard.
[from January, but Recommended - one of those 'wow' stories > READ MORE ]
State offers free replacements for ''WTF'' license plates
Raleigh - Thanks to some text message-savvy grandchildren, North Carolina drivers whose license plates have the potentially offensive ''WTF'' letter combination can replace the tags for free. The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Tuesday the state Division of Motor Vehicles has notified nearly 10,000 holders of license plates with the letter combination. Officials learned last year the common acronym stands for a vulgar phrase in e-mail and cell phone text messages.
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