Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Missing from that Berlin speech
BARACK OBAMA had ample reason to recall the Berlin Airlift of 1948 during his dramatic speech in the German capital last week. The airlift was an early and critical success for the West in the Cold War, with clear relevance to our own time, the war in Iraq, and the free world's conflict with radical Islam. But having reached back 60 years to that pivotal hour of American leadership, Obama proceeded to draw from it exactly the wrong lessons. [snip]
Yet the pressure to abandon Berlin persisted. The CIA argued that the airlift had worsened matters by "making Berlin a major test of US-Soviet strength" and affirming "direct US responsibility" for West Berlin. The airlift was bound to fail, the intelligence analysts warned. Truman didn't waver. "We'll stay in Berlin - come what may," he wrote in his diary on July 19. [snip]
Obama's speech was a paean to international cooperation. "Now is the time to join together," he said. "It was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in the sky above our heads."
No - it was an American president named Truman, who had the audacity to order an airlift when others counseled retreat, and the grit to see it through when others were ready to withdraw...
[Recommended > ]
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A Truman for our times
[HT:GP]
Until 9/11, Islamic militants, including violent jihadists of every sort, from al Qaeda to purely local outfits, enjoyed much public support—either overt or tacit—across most of the Muslim world. From Morocco to Indonesia, governments appeased militants at home while encouraging them to focus their violent activities abroad. Some, like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) funded both militant preachers and armed jihadists... [snip]
All this came to an abrupt end after 9/11. Sophisticates everywhere ridiculed the uncompromising Bush stance, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," as a cowboy stunt, but it was swiftly successful. Governments across the Muslim world quickly changed their conduct. Some moved energetically to close down local jihadist groups they had long tolerated, others were initially in denial... [snip]
Denial did not last. As they saw American special forces and long-range bombers smashing the Taliban, the Saudis began to admit responsibility for having spread extremism through the thousands of schools and academies they financed at home and abroad. ... More than a thousand Saudis have been arrested, dozens have been killed while resisting arrest, and Saudi banks must now check if wire transfers are being sent to Muslim organizations on the terrorist list...
[Recommended > ]
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The Goodwill of Nancy Pelosi
For all appearances, Nancy Pelosi is establishing herself as a bona fide advocate of Iran’s terrorist regime. This is not to say that the Speaker of the House endorses Khomeinist terrorism, but rather that she is among those who believe the mullahs to be “saber rattlers,” not saber users. Nevermind that the saber has been dripping blood for thirty years.
This morning, NBC aired footage of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during which the president of Iran claimed to see “new behavior shown by the United States and the officials of the United States,” and stated “if the [American] approach changes, we will be facing a new situation, and the response by the Iranian people will be a positive one.”
Soon afterward, Pelosi appeared on NBC’s “Today Show” and said Ahmadinejad’s comments “represent an opening in terms of him saying he’ll try to find common ground.” Pelosi’s statement reveals nothing less than a humiliating level of gullibility in a public servant of her stature.
Ahmadinejad’s remarks are merely the most recent offering in the mullahs’ ongoing strategy of alternating apocalyptic threats with fake diplomatic overtures so they can buy time to develop weapons. But taken in concert with her full-throated appreciation of the Islamic Republic’s kindly actions in Iraq, today’s sunny review necessarily raises questions about Pelosi’s fundamental understanding of the Iranian threat...
[this is how Iran succeeds - via 'useful idiots' - at the highest levels]
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'Secret Nuclear Weapons Plant Reported in Iran'
A secret nuclear bomb manufacturing center at Al-Zarqan Area in Al-Ahwaziya Region, which was first established in 2000, was discovered recently, highly reliable sources told Al-Seyassah. Sources from Al-Ahwaziya claimed Tehran has started building a secret nuclear plant for manufacturing atomic bombs in Al-Zarqan Area near Al-Ahwaz City in southwest Iran and its border with Iraq.
Sources said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not aware of this plant since it was not included in negotiations with Iran held in Geneva at the beginning of this month.
Sources revealed Iran started implementing the project some time between 2000 and 2003, which led to the evacuation of a large number of Arab tribes from the area to Al-Zarqan. Sources added the Tehran administration vacated the location, destroyed all the houses, wells and farms, and started full implementation of the project in 2007...
[they're playing the West for fools - as the clock ticks...]
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Breeding Evil: Hezb'allah's Children
The malignancy of Hezb'allah has finally destroyed any hope for a Lebanese democracy; each negotiation was a tool, every cease-fire, all the feigned diplomacy mere opportunity to maneuver... playing the UN for the fools they are, and the US for time.
There is no elected government. The Associated Press misrepresents Hezb'allah as a "militia and political force," unable to label them the terrorist organization they are, and as they steal the legitimacy their crimes should deny them, the AP codifies it and millions in the West are duped.
UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon said he was encouraged by the "prisoner swap" and hoped it was the first of many more. As only the Hezb'allah prisoners happened to be alive, I'm sure he does. UN troops saluted the terrorist remains as they passed into Southern Lebanon; it was a minor appeasement in all that the UN does to undermine lasting peace, but a horrible foretelling...
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Venezuela's Chavez seeks arms deals in Russia
[HT:MD]
MOSCOW: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez will seek to buy Russian diesel submarines, mobile missile systems and tanks, this week during a trip aimed at boosting 'trade'.
A self-styled socialist revolutionary who frequently baits the United States, Chavez has made regular visits to Russia, the world's second biggest oil exporter, and praised Moscow for standing up to Washington.
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PetroChina taps into Chavez's rage at U.S.
A little-noticed piece of news: A few weeks ago, Venezuela announced an agreement with PetroChina to build a large refinery in Guangdong province capable of refining Venezuela's unique heavy oil. At first glance that looks like very bad news for the United States.
Right now, Venezuela refines nearly all of its oil in the United States, about 1.2 million barrels a day, and then sells it here. What would happen if, one day down the road, Venezuela simply cut off the supply? At the very least, that would cause severe market disruptions, leading to a large jump in the price of gas.
That's the stated aim of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president.
[what need for more domestic oil resources?]
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Our Earth cools slowly while professor babbles
Global warming theory is that the 25 years of warming to around 1998 was almost all caused by man's greenhouse gases, and the more gases we pump out, the more the world must warm.
Well, we've kept pumping out more gases faster than ever - 3 per cent more every year so far this century, thanks mainly to booming China and India - and here's the odd thing. The world hasn't warmed for a decade.
That contradicts the predictions of the influential International Panel on Climate Change, as well as of Professor James Hansen, Al Gore's climate change guru. (To see how their predictions failed to match the real weather, see my blog [Recommended] for graphs.)
But the point remains that all the models were supposed to have factored in such natural variables, yet couldn't predict the world's temperature a few years out while claiming to predict frighteningly high temperatures as far out as 2100.
So the question isn't why I won't put faith in the man-made global warming theory, but why Brook still does...
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A Country At Mercy Of Environmentalists
[HT:GS]
... There's a hateful side to cap and trade that's revealed by asking the question: How will it be decided who received how much allowance to emit greenhouse gases? Congress could sell the allowances and/or give them away to favorite constituents. You can bet the rent money that a new army of lobbyists, with special pleadings, will descend on Washington to lobby Congress.
And you can be sure that campaign contributions and favoritism will play an important role in the decision of who receives what allowances. Much worse than that is the massive control government would have over our economy and lives. Congress might decide that since tobacco use is unhealthy, it might not issue allowances to tobacco companies.
While many Americans might applaud that, how many would like Congress to refuse to issue allowances to companies that produce food that some people deem unhealthy such as french fries, sodas, canned soups and potato chips? Congress might deny, or threaten to deny, allowances to companies that in its opinion didn't hire enough women and minorities.
The possibilities for control over our lives would be endless and could include nuisance-type edicts such a requiring us to buy a permit to barbecue in our backyard. The thirst to wield massive control over our economy helps explain the near religious belief in man-made global warming and the attacks on scientists and others who offer contradictory evidence...
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Report: Arctic Has 90 Billion Barrels of Oil
The area north of the Arctic Circle has an estimated 90 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, says the U.S. government.
There's also 1,670 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of technically recoverable natural gas liquids in 25 geologically defined areas thought to have potential for petroleum. [snip]
"Before we can make decisions about our future use of oil and gas and related decisions about protecting endangered species and the health of our planet [?], we need to know what's out there. With this assessment, we're providing the same information to everyone in the world so that the global community can make those difficult decisions." [snip]
In August 2007, Russian divers in a mini-sub planted a titanium flag of their country under the North Pole, on a seabed 14,000 feet down. Canada immediately criticized the implied claim of control...
[looks like Russia's already made its 'difficult decisions'. Does anyone really believe that the US's declining to exploit energy resources leads to more responsible development by those who will in our absence? Like Russia? China?]
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Majority of Congress wants to drill
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Congress is ready to lift the ban on offshore drilling but is being blocked by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The Ohio Republican argued that lawmakers are ready to sign off on lifting the ban in order to increase fuel supplies to lower record high gas prices.
“There’s a majority of the House and Senate who are for more drilling. We have to produce more supply if we’re going to bring down the price,” Boehner said, but “Nancy Pelosi and the liberals here in the Congress, they worship at the altar radical environmentalism...
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Pelosi: 'I'm trying to save the planet'
With fewer than 20 legislative days before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, the entire appropriations process has largely ground to a halt because of the ham-handed fighting that followed Republican attempts to lift the moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration.
“I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet,” she says impatiently when questioned. “I will not have this debate trivialized by their excuse for their failed policy.”
“when you win the election, you win the majority, and what is the power of the speaker? To set the agenda, the power of recognition, and I am not giving the gavel away to anyone.” [I.e., no voting]
And after promising fairness and open debate, Pelosi has resorted to hard-nosed parliamentary devices that effectively bar any chance of allowing a vote on lifting drilling restrictions...
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Governor vetoes climate change curriculum
California public students will stick to reading, writing and arithmetic, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided as he vetoed a bill late Friday that would have required climate change be added to schools' curriculum.
The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, also would have required future science textbooks to include climate change as a subject.
In January, the state Senate approved the bill, SB 908, by a 26-13 vote. Only two Republicans supported the proposal.
In his veto statement, Schwarzenegger said he supported education that spotlights the dangers of climate change. However, the Republican governor said he was opposed to educational mandates from Sacramento.
[really. He mandates everything else. Could it be that adding it to textbooks would require an above-board review of their content? after all, this blog has had numerous briefs detailing how teachers are already indoctrinated their students with alarmists theory - why risk a good thing? {do you know what your child is being 'taught'? ask them...}]
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the good, bad, funny...
.
House Majority Whip: Climate Change Hurts Blacks More
Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue. It’s now an issue of race, according to global warming activists and policy makers. “It is critical our community be an integral and active part of the debate because African-Americans are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change economically, socially and through our health and well-being,” House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said July 29.
[with the unraveling of this scam accelerating, the scamists evidently are adding a second front to keep the emotional fires burning hot]
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CARBON HOOFPRINT
Producing milk uses large quantities of land, energy and feed, but rbST -- the first biotech product used on American farms -- has been in agricultural use for nearly 15 years. Now it is found to reduce the carbon hoofprint by easing energy, land and nutritional inputs necessary to sustain milk production at levels sufficient to meet demand, according to a Cornell University study.
• Compared to a non-supplemented population, giving rbST to one million cows would enable the same amount of milk to be produced using 157,000 fewer cows.For every one million cows supplemented with rbST, the reduction in the carbon footprint is equivalent to removing approximately 400,000 family cars from the road or planting 300 million trees.
• The nutrient savings would be 491,000 metric tons of corn, 158,000 metric tons of soybeans, and total feedstuffs would be reduced by 2,300,000 metric tons.
[this will be entertaining: watch the environmoralists in Europe completely squash the idea, as bio-engineering is generally considered evil by the chattering classes. Their only solution will be 'conservation' - never mind that we're talking about our food.]
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An e-mail from Ireland
[HT:GC]
An email from Ireland to all of their brethren in the States...a
point to ponder despite your political affiliation:
'We, in Ireland, can't figure out why you people are even
bothering to hold an election in the United States.
On one side, you had a pants wearing female lawyer, married to
another lawyer who can't seem to keep his
pants on, who just lost a long and heated primary against a
lawyer, who goes to the wrong church, who is
married to yet another lawyer, who doesn't even like the country
her husband wants to run !
Now...On the other side, you have a nice old war hero whose name
starts with the appropriate 'Mc' terminology,
married to a good looking younger woman who owns a beer
distributorship !!
What in God's name are ya lads thinkin over in the colonies.....
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