29
Nov
A few weeks ago, stories started popping up about some power players in Israel wanting to attack Iran’s missile program.
It kind of shook the media circles for a week or so, then kind of faded away as it always does. Today I read this tho:
A Washington-based research group has released a satellite image showing an “extensively damaged” Iranian missile base two weeks after an explosion at the site was reported.
Right about the time media quits talking, it blows up. Coincidence?
Right as Obama is gearing up for another round of stimulus funding, Germany’s Angela Merkel blindsided him some of the craziest advice Obama’s probably heard since the last Tea Party rally:
It was immediately repeated by the German Chancellor. Now, before delving too deeply into the how’s and why’s of why Germans suddenly feel compelled to quit spending money we don’t have like drunken sailors, one pic that I enjoy:
Obama’s response will be that this is Bush’s fault.
But, for the time being, I’m all for the Germans’ suggestion. My peave of late has been foreign aid. As much money as we dole out all over the planet to people who never pay taxes on anything, or even return the goodwill for the most part, they don’t do what we tell them to. The ROI for most of the world is nill. Germany can freely dish out this advice, they don’t anything from the US directly. However, some countries wouldn’t be too happy with Germany’s suggestion at all. Right at the top would be Iran. That $65,000,000 just doesn’t seem to be doing much good at all. Next in line on my chop list, North Korea’s $2,000,000. Axe it. Next, Sudan’s $332,630,000. Wasted. And until Chavez cans his mouth and stops destroying Venezuela, strip that $5,000,000. For that matter, this list should be trimmed back, if not eliminated entirely:
| Angola | 42,107 |
| Benin | 11,958 |
| Botswana | 79,100 |
| Burkina Faso | 15,250 |
| Burundi | 30,254 |
| Cameroon | 1,785 |
| Cape Verde | 600 |
| Central African Republic | 150 |
| Chad | 7,475 |
| Comoros | 150 |
| Cote d’Ivoire | 103,600 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 95,119 |
| Djibouti | 6,394 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 45 |
| Ethiopia | 472,704 |
| Gabon | 200 |
| Gambia | 120 |
| Ghana | 48,962 |
| Guinea | 20,462 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 800 |
| Kenya | 569,440 |
| Lesotho | 8,950 |
| Liberia | 179,076 |
| Madagascar | 34,526 |
| Malawi | 76,306 |
| Mali | 53,246 |
| Mauritania | 6,950 |
| Mauritius | 340 |
| Mozambique | 290,197 |
| Namibia | 103,800 |
| Niger | 18,505 |
| Nigeria | 486,722 |
| Republic of the Congo | 100 |
| Rwanda | 161,648 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 175 |
| Senegal | 49,993 |
| Seychelles | 100 |
| Sierra Leone | 23,650 |
| Somalia | 40,330 |
| South Africa | 575,527 |
| Sudan | 332,630 |
| Swaziland | 8,500 |
| Tanzania | 335,730 |
| Togo | 220 |
| Uganda | 345,778 |
| Zambia | 296,328 |
| Zimbabwe | 45,433 |
| Africa Regional – State | 43,125 |
| Africa Regional – USAID | 151,805 |
| Central Africa Regional | 12,300 |
| East Africa Regional | 32,985 |
| Southern Africa Regional | 19,600 |
| West Africa Regional | 56,482 |
| Burma | 15,850 |
| Cambodia | 45,371 |
| China | 7,000 |
| Indonesia | 186,304 |
| Kiribati | 40 |
| Laos | 4,250 |
| Malaysia | 2,690 |
| Marshall Islands | 60 |
| Mongolia | 10,440 |
| Nauru | 40 |
| North Korea | 2,000 |
| Papua New Guinea | 2,780 |
| Philippines | 99,221 |
| Samoa | 40 |
| Singapore | 500 |
| Solomon Islands | 150 |
| Taiwan | 575 |
| Thailand | 11,100 |
| Timor-Leste | 9,450 |
| Tonga | 695 |
| Tuvalu | 40 |
| Vanuatu | 115 |
| Vietnam | 99,515 |
| East Asia and Pacific Regional | 11,821 |
| Regional Development Mission -Asia | 32,800 |
| Albania | 25,035 |
| Armenia | 27,900 |
| Azerbaijan | 24,700 |
| Belarus | 10,000 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 37,845 |
| Bulgaria | 11,000 |
| Croatia | 2,800 |
| Cyprus | 11,000 |
| Czech Republic | 5,050 |
| Estonia | 4,000 |
| Georgia | 67,050 |
| Greece | 100 |
| Hungary | 3,100 |
| Kosovo | 127,670 |
| Latvia | 4,050 |
| Lithuania | 4,150 |
| Macedonia | 23,773 |
| Malta | 150 |
| Moldova | 16,950 |
| Montenegro | 8,700 |
| Poland | 29,200 |
| Portugal | 100 |
| Romania | 16,900 |
| Russia | 56,300 |
| Serbia | 50,524 |
| Slovakia | 3,000 |
| Slovenia | 1,200 |
| Turkey | 18,710 |
| Ukraine | 86,475 |
| Eurasia Regional | 26,643 |
| Europe Regional | 29,953 |
| Algeria | 2,265 |
| Bahrain | 20,950 |
| Egypt | 1,505,400 |
| Iran | 65,000 |
| Iraq | 397,000 |
| Israel | 2,550,000 |
| Jordan | 535,441 |
| Kuwait | 15 |
| Lebanon | 142,430 |
| Libya | 1,100 |
| Morocco | 28,505 |
| Oman | 14,400 |
| Qatar | 15 |
| Saudi Arabia | 365 |
| Tunisia | 4,387 |
| United Arab Emirates | 940 |
| West Bank and Gaza | 100,000 |
| Yemen | 33,753 |
| MERC – Middle East Regional Cooperation | 3,000 |
| MFO – Multilateral Force and Observers | 21,750 |
| Middle East Regional | 5,500 |
| Near East Regional | 87,000 |
| TSCTP – Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership | 4,917 |
| Afghanistan | 1,053,950 |
| Bangladesh | 106,835 |
| India | 77,382 |
| Kazakhstan | 18,950 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 27,565 |
| Maldives | 195 |
| Nepal | 38,182 |
| Pakistan | 826,255 |
| Sri Lanka | 6,500 |
| Tajikistan | 28,582 |
| Turkmenistan | 9,475 |
| Uzbekistan | 7,940 |
| Central Asia Regional | 6,607 |
| South and Central Asia Regional | 5,500 |
| South Asia Regional | 2,700 |
| Argentina | 1,655 |
| Bahamas | 775 |
| Belize | 865 |
| Bolivia | 100,399 |
| Brazil | 8,647 |
| Chile | 1,575 |
| Colombia | 542,863 |
| Costa Rica | 660 |
| Cuba | 20,000 |
| Dominican Republic | 32,164 |
| Eastern Caribbean | 2,150 |
| Ecuador | 32,536 |
| El Salvador | 36,950 |
| Guatemala | 62,260 |
| Guyana | 24,780 |
| Haiti | 245,876 |
| Honduras | 49,128 |
| Jamaica | 10,564 |
| Mexico | 500,995 |
| Nicaragua | 38,071 |
| Panama | 8,200 |
| Paraguay | 8,406 |
| Peru | 103,023 |
| Suriname | 380 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 600 |
| Uruguay | 250 |
| Venezuela | 5,000 |
| Caribbean Regional | 12,060 |
| Central America Regional | 16,696 |
| Latin America and Caribbean Regional | 34,098 |
| South America Regional | 4,200 |
| Western Hemisphere Regional | 142,786 |
| Coordinator for Counter-terrorism | 46,200 |
| Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor | 60,000 |
| International Narcotics and Law Enforcement | 129,333 |
| International Organizations | 276,900 |
| International Security and Nonproliferation | 183,900 |
| Oceans and International Environment and Scientific Affairs | 62,250 |
| Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons | 14,950 |
| Political-Military Affairs | 247,737 |
| Population, Refugees, and Migration | 809,000 |
| Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator | 1,411,421 |
| Asia and Near East Regional | 36,558 |
| Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance | 998,150 |
| International Disaster Assistance | 298,050 |
| Transition Initiatives | 40,000 |
| Office of Development Partners | 11,050 |
| Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade | 122,300 |
| Global Health | 410,048 |
| Global Health – International Partnerships | 156,912 |
| Capital Investment Fund | 171,000 |
| Development Credit Authority Admin | 7,600 |
| Inspector General Operating Expense | 40,600 |
| Operating Expense | 767,184 |
| Export-Import Bank | 2,500 |
| Export-Import Bank offsetting collections precluded from obligation | -41,000 |
| Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) | -170,000 |
| Trade and Development Agency | 50,800 |
| Peace Corps | 343,500 |
| Inter-American Foundation | 20,000 |
| African Development Foundation | 30,000 |
| Millennium Challenge Corporation | 2,225,000 |
| Treasury Technical Assistance | 29,000 |
| Debt Restructuring | 141,000 |
| Global Environment Facility (GEF) | 80,000 |
| Fund | 400,000 |
| African Development Fund | 156,055 |
| Asian Development Fund | 115,250 |
| Enterprise for the Americas Multilateral Investment Fund | 25,000 |
| International Development Association | 1,277,000 |
| International Fund for Agricultural Development | 18,000 |
| Arrears | [42,000] |
Now I’m sure Los Angeles will boycott me for suggesting it. But, it serves no real national interest whether Iran is communist, democratic, dictatorial, or whatever Sharia law makes them. If they don’t mess with us, there’s nothing to defend. If they do mess with us, use that $5,000,000 in technology to remind them why they should not mess with us. That’s defense. What’s going on now is just very expensive and unrewarding meddling.
There ya go Obama. Saved ya $27,000,000,000 and no one lost their job domestically.
Next we’ll straigthen up the United Nations.
Iran is one of the most notoriously bigoted countries on the planet. Just this week the whole world hada chuckle at how stupid they can be. A cleric decided women were the cause of earthquakes. They’re so sexist women pretty much have to cover themselves head to toe when in public. The Dark Ages have nothing on these people.
One of the places worse than Iran is The Congo. In 2007, this amazing report was released:
26 October 2007 – The scale and brutality of the sexual violence currently faced by women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, an independent United Nations human rights expert has told the General Assembly.
Yakin Ertürk, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, told the Assembly’s Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (Third) Committee yesterday that the international community needs to intervene urgently to stem the widespread sexual violence.
Ms. Ertürk spent 12 days in the DRC in July, speaking to Government officials, UN agency staff, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and many female victims of violence.
She said she found that the perpetrators include armed militiamen, members of the Congolese armed forces, national police officers and, increasingly, civilians.
“The situation is most acute in South Kivu, where non-State armed groups, particularly foreign militia, commit sexual atrocities that are of an unimaginable brutality and aim at the complete physical and psychological destruction of women with implications for the entire society,” she said.
“In many cases, the scale and brutality of the violence amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
The Special Rapporteur said the problem was not confined to the far east, which has been the most unstable and violent part of the DRC in recent years and the scene of mass displacement this year because of renewed clashes between the Government, breakaway sections of the military and armed militia.
In Equateur province, near the centre of the DRC, soldiers and police officers have also carried out systematic reprisals against local civilians, including mass rape.
Ms. Ertürk said a climate of impunity for crimes against women predominated across the country.
“Security and the justice system fall short of addressing the problems of sexual violence and women survivors of rape lack sufficient care. Survivors are often also socially stigmatized and they are systematically denied the compensation to which they are entitled under international and Congolese law.”
So, after releasing this incredibly damning report, what do you suppose the United Nations does? It adds the Congo to The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Here’s this year’s list of the new memebrs:
- Iran
- Belgium
- the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Estonia
- Georgia
- Jamaica
- Liberia
- the Netherlands
- Spain
- Thailand
- Zimbabwe
Only one of the new members makes the “best places to be a woman” list. It’s not in the Middle East or Africa. What makes it amazing to me is they will be joining China, Pakistan, and Iraq, THREE other members of the worst places to be a woman list. Now, I’m pretty sure the UN is rewarding women who have struggled in those countries. But, that’s not how those governments are using it, and that’s not how the United Nations is presenting it. Here’s their member list:
Membership of the Commission on the Status of Women at its 55th session ( 2011 )
They’re specifically promoting the countries.
Have I ever mentioned how useless I think the UN is any more?
Obama assured us that although he opposed everything Bush had done for national security for the previous eight years, he would be strong on national defense. Now, this is how things shaped up in just one week while I was on vacation.
- Obama tells the world he won’t use nukes unless attacked by nukes.
- Al Qaeda says they would be moer than happy to nuke us.
- Iran’s still more than happy to nuke Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu apparently saw no need to attend Obama’s nuclear summit.
The scenario as I see it is if Iran nukes Israel, Obama would effectively do nothing since we were not attcked by nukes.
The PLO sees no need for peace. Turkey and Greece are prepared to argue that Israel needs to abide by the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty, but could care less about Iran.
Netanyahu I’m sure feels like at this point he has to protect Israel all by himself since Obama’s not going to.
And, Obama appealed to the countries that are coming to the nuclear meeting not to let terrorists get ahold of their stockpiles.
Most industrial nations didn’t show up.
Iran didn’t show up.
Israel didn’t show up.
So, we’ve got a situation where Iran is pointing nuclear missiles at Israel, Israel’s pointing them at Saudi Arabia, Iran, and a few other places, North Korea’s selling them to whoever wants them, Russia’s pointing theirs at most of eastern Europe, the US, and Asia. Russia is modernizing their nukes while Obama is destroying ours. And no one is listening to Obama because he’s screwed his own allies repeatedly.
Yeah, we are SOOOO much safer than we were before.
21
Jan
Pat Robertson blamed the Haiti earthquake on their pact with the devil. That seemed kinda crazy to me.
Danny Glover one-upped Robertson by claiming it’s because we didn’t do enough at the COP15 meetings. You know, mother nature’s pissed and she’s not going to take it any more. That seemed kinda crazy to me as well.
But, they were just the warm-ups for the king of crazy, Mr. Hugo Chavez. Now, without being able to cite the source, since it’s Spanish, I’ll have to paraphrase. It goes something like this:
The US has an “earthquake weapon”. It’s like a super-duper sonic weapon. It also affects weather, causing droughts and stuff. This is apparently being developed by the HAARP program. Having laid the Haiti military to waste, the US has moved our military in to occupy Haiti. Previous warm-ups were the earthquake in China that killed 90,000 people in 2008, and of course, the earthquake everyone remembers most, the one in Eureka, California. This test-run invasion of Haiti is the preparation of the invasion of Iran to topple the Islamic regime. The evidence of course, is the 3,000 US marines in Haiti now. They are of course, under cover. They’re not there to help the Haitians, they are occupying Haiti.
Got all that?
Famine, drought, earthquakes, floods, you name it, the US did it.
Venezuela, your leader is absolutely certifiably crazier than a fruitcake. You all really need to do something before he gets you all hurt. I mean, if we can send earthquakes to Haiti, China, Iran, and even California, sending one to Venezuela would be a snap dontcha think? Shut the guy up before we have to shake you all up real bad.
TMZ.COM is running a very peculiar picture:
In case it’s not too clear, that’s SUPPOSEDLY John F. Kennedy chillaxin while FOUR, count em, FOUR, babes frolicking naked. Cool huh? Well, under some circumstances it would most definitely be. However, SUPPOSEDLY, at this time, his wife was in the hospital struggling to deliver a still-born baby. The baby died August 23, 1956. This does look like summer. And, JFK did return to be with her from a yacht vacation in the Mediterranean. This rumor is not new. The pic is. How the pic wound up with TMZ is vague. But, it certainly looks sorta kinda like JFK, and the boat definitely resembles the Honey Fitz ( Manitou ).
The trim, the glass front, the framing. It fits. Given his reputation, that fits too.
I would have tucked this away on Moonagewebdream, but the ramifications of what might have been if this pic had surfaced at the time are too immense. Think about it.
For starters, JFK was not well liked within his party. He was not their chosen son. He was not their preferred presidential candidate. He was up and coming in 1959. Emboldened by being young and brash, JFK, pretty much the face for Robert Kennedy, took on the established Democrat leadership in a move they didn’t expect. Emboldened by his increasing popularity, Robert Kennedy made a gamble that probably cost him and John their lives. He offered the VP spot to Johnson.
Now, if this picture had been floating around at the time, things probably would have been a lot different. And, I do mean a LOT. Given Massachusetts’ odd penchant for adoring bad characters, he would have probably stayed in the Senate. There he would have continued to have been a junior senator throughout the 60′s.
Some things would have been a LOT different. Some people speculate that the election was stolen from Nixon and that if anyone other than Kennedy had run they would have lost to Nixon. I don’t think so. This would have predated the primaries, and therefore the primaries most likely would not have split the Democrat party as bad as it did. In the Democrat primary, Kennedy only got about 62% of the vote. In the general election, he only got 49.7%. If the Democrat party had been more unified, it would have been a wide margin. This was due in some part to Kennedy’s religion. Being a non-factor if Johnson had led the ticket, I think Johnson would have won handily. However, you would not have had the famous Kennedy-Nixon debate. Maybe Nixon would have done better without that. But, toss in 10% boost in Democrat support and I think Nixon would have been toast.
Lyndon Johnson would have been President 1960-1964. Things would have been a LOT different.
- Kennedy tried to policy-wonk Vietnam and got us into an arrangement that was unwinnable by relying on the South Vietnamese government to control our troops. I don’t think Johnson would have ever gotten himself into that predicament. My gut feeling is he would have been more compelled to fight a war to win from the start. If that’s true, 1968 would have been a hell of a lot different.
- Kennedy wasn’t the only champion of minority rights. A lot of people were. The deaths of John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr. sparked riots and distrust that last a generation. This picture could have prevented all of that and allowed the process that Johnson was already supporting to continue peacefully and at a controlled pace. Instead, their deaths ignited a powder keg that no one had an answer to.
- Kennedy ignored white racism. Johnson went after it. He confronted the KKK on national television and outed them for what they were. The effect of what the Kennedys did was it pushed minorities into a position they weren’t comfortable with, and whites resented. It didn’t address the wrong attitudes of the whites or blacks. It just forced them into situations of confrontation. Johnson’s allies were addressing the attitudes of whites and blacks. I think things would have progressed a lot smoother, and more amicably if Kennedy had never been president.
- Johnson had pushed through Medicare and Social Security. Public health care was being debated when Johnson chose not to run in 1968. Health care, due to the Vietnam War, Cold War, and other issues, became a distraction to Nixon. If Johnson wasn’t so demoralized by the protests of a war that might not have been happening, we might very well have had public health coverage already.
- Following up on the previous paragraph, Nixon and Gerald Ford would never have been President.
- If Ford had never been President, Jimmy Carter would have lost.
- If Jimmy Carter had lost to a more conservative president, Ronald Reagan would never have replaced Carter in 1980. And, we would never have had the Iran Embassy takeover or the Community Reinvestment Act.
- If Ronald Reagan hadn’t been President, George HW Bush would never have been Vice-President, and therefore President.
- Bush begat Clinton due to his political ineptness. We would never have had the internet since Al Gore would never have been VP without Clinton. Additionally, I’ve argued that if a more security minded person had been president as opposed to a policy wonk and social liberal, 9/11 would never have happened along with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Both were our “friends” until Clinton.
- Clinton begat George W. Bush due to his, well, Kennedyesque actions with women.
- And, George W. Bush begat Barack Obama because he became such a lightning rod for liberals, following his perceived efforts to emulate a Reagan that never would have occurred.
Pretty heavy stuff huh? Instead of all that happening, this pic apparently became a joke for a car dealer for 40 years.
OK.
Ohh-kayyy was right:
No sooner than TMZ ran the story, The Smoking Gun fired right back with the original, confirmed by Playboy. Most reports are quick to point out that it wasn’t JFK on the boat. He was shot in 1963, the pic in 1967. No word yet on how much TMZ paid for the crinkled up Playboy spread. I’m scouring Hustler for Ronald Reagan look-alikes tho.
19
Nov
Iran has been less than cooperative with Obama’s administration. They weren’t too cooperative with Bush’s either. For that matter, they haven’t been terribly cooperative since the Shah left. So, given the thirty year history of lying, antagonism, and developing weapons of mass destruction, Obama put his foot down last night:
Now, Obama announced that in his usual cool, calm, political voice. It didn’t fly too well and some people are making fun of it. He is a student of presentation, he knows he could have done better. Now, I’m no ventriloquist, surprised I can even spell it, so, I’m not going to help him much here other than just give suggestions.
First suggestion, take a cue from Christopher Walken, preferably in Pulp Fiction. Put some swagger in those tough words. Put an emphasis on the unexpected. “Our, expectation is that over the next several weeks we will…… be developing a package of potential, steps that we could take that will, indicate our seriousness……” You get the picture.
Or maybe a Dirty Harry? Grit a little. Chomp on a cigar. “You gotta ask yourself, Ahmadijad, do you feel lucky? Huh punk? Do ya? Our expectation is, is that over the next several weeks we will be developing a package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness.”
Scary huh?
The Joker? “Our expectation is, is that over the next several weeks we will be developing a package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness to Iran. Why so serious? Because my daddy carved this smile on my face.”
Jack D. Ripper?
General Jack D. Ripper: Ahmadinejad?
Ahmadinejad: Yes, Jack?
General Jack D. Ripper: Have you ever seen a Commie drink a glass of water?
Ahmadinejad: Well, I can’t say I have.
General Jack D. Ripper: Vodka, that’s what they drink, isn’t it? Never water?
Ahmadinejad: Well, I-I believe that’s what they drink, Jack, yes.
General Jack D. Ripper: On no account will a Commie ever drink water, and not without good reason.
Ahmadinejad: Oh, eh, yes. I, hmm, can’t quite see what you’re getting at, Jack.
General Jack D. Ripper: Water, that’s what I’m getting at, water. Ahmadinejad, water is the source of all life. Seven-tenths of this earth’s surface is water. Why, do you realize that seventy percent of you is water?
Ahmadinejad: Uh, uh, Good Lord!
General Jack D. Ripper: And as human beings, you and I need fresh, pure water to replenish our precious bodily fluids.
Ahmadinejad: Yes. (He begins to chuckle nervously)
General Jack D. Ripper: Are you beginning to understand?
Ahmadinejad: Yes. (More laughter)
General Jack D. Ripper: Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad, have you never wondered why I drink only distilled water, or rainwater, and only pure-grain alcohol?
Ahmadinejad: Well, it did occur to me, Jack, yes.
General Jack D. Ripper: Have you ever heard of a thing called fluoridation. Fluoridation of water?
Ahmadinejad: Uh? Yes, II have heard of that, Jack, yes. Yes.
General Jack D. Ripper: Well, do you know what it is?
Ahmadinejad: No, no I don’t know what it is, no.
General Jack D. Ripper: Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?
General Jack D. Ripper: Ahmadinejad, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk… ice cream. Ice cream, Ahmadinejad, children’s ice cream.
Ahmadinejad: Lord, Jack.
General Jack D. Ripper: You know when fluoridation first began?
Ahmadinejad: I– no, no. I don’t, Jack.
General Jack D. Ripper: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. Nineteen forty-six, Ahmadinejad. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? It’s incredibly obvious, isn’t it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That’s the way your hard-core Commie works.
Ahmadinejad: And, you think Iran is going to poison our water too?
General Jack D. Ripper: Yes, Ahmadinejad. I do.
Ahmadinejad: So, you will stop drinking the water?
General Jack D. Ripper: No, Ahmadinejad. Our expectation is, is that over the next several weeks we will be developing a package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness to Iran.
I can think of a few other personnas that might have put some ooomph to those words. Maybe steal a character or two from The Holy Grail? As it is, it just doesn’t seem terribly forceful to me. Maybe it’s just me.
The last couple of days have pretty well illustrated the Obama/Pelosi administration’s stance on national defense. Obama promised the voters he’d be firm on national defense, and he is. In almost simultaneous moves, Obama has expressed concern about Iran developing nuclear weapons:
Obama is so concerned about the threat of Iran’s nuclear weapons program he ordered the removal of our missile defense systems in Eastern Europe:
He is so concerned about ballistic missiles, he feels we don’t need ballistic missile defense in Europe. Obama assured us he consulted with the Poles, Czechs, Russians, and others affected. Obama I’m sure was re-assured by the words of Jan Vidim, a Czech lawmaker:
“If the administration approaches us in the future with any request, I would be strongly against it,” said Jan Vidim, a lawmaker with Czech Republic’s conservative Civic Democratic Party, which supported the missile defense plan.
And, in a second development, Nancy Pelosi was reduced to tears at the thought that some people are using bad words when protesting health insurance and warned us all that violence may follow on the levels of the 60′s protests if we continue to use bad words:
I’m going to guess those missile defense systems that were meant to protect us from Iran will now be placed in San Francisco to protect Nancy Pelosi from voters. There’s your national defense for ya. They are much more concerned about protecting themselves from us than they are protecting us from our enemies. And, if Iran does start threatening us or anyone else with ballistic nuclear missiles, we’ll just tear up and tell them to quit talking so badly and use nicer words. That’ll stop any aggression dead in its tracks for sure.
While running for President, Obama promised pretty much everything to everyone. In Ohio, he promised to support loan guarantees for uranium enrichment. A cornerstone for the US to ween itself from oil and coal. The promise was convincing, it made logic. It would not only assist in the pursuit of cleaner energy, it would create jobs in a state that had been hammered by job losses. McCain didn’t make any such promises. In the end, Ohio bucked their Republican trend and went for Obama. Barely. 2,940,000 to 2,670,000. The argument can easily be made that the 6% officially unemployed won the state for Obama. Ohio set the stage for the rest of the country. Obama, with the huge momentum from Ohio, pulled away and won the election.
Six months later, things have only gotten worse in Ohio. Unemployment has gone from 6% to over 11%. The company Obama promised to guarantee a loan for to develope the uranium enrichment plant was a big hope for turning the economy around in Ohio. Obama had made a big deal about it during the race. So, it was pretty much accepted this very routine process would work itself out even more quickly as Obama pushed hard to turn around the faltering economy.
Then a rather strange thing happened. The Department of Energy denied USEC’s loan guarantee. They will still have to purchase uranium. But, that uranium will be processed either by Areva or Urenco. Neither of which is based in the US. USEC has announced that layoffs will begin in August. This is truly pathetic.
Now, the crux of the biscuit here is that from what I can tell, the DOE does not want to guarantee the loan USEC would have to secure in order to meet the terms of this contract. As such, they are not qualified via the financial guidelines of the award. My take on this is a little different than the DOE’s. My take is that there is no better situation for any US federal agency to secure a loan. None. They will be creating jobs and allowing a US based company to pay taxes in the US rather than allowing another company to take US money out of the US to be taxed in another country. How did Areva or Urenco get to the point they are now financially? Was it totally through the private sector, as USEC is having to do. Or, were they subsidized by their countries? If USEC were to bid against Areva or Urenco in Brittain or France, would they be allowed to compete with the local companies?
Bottom line here, the promise has been made repeatedly by Obama both as a candidate and a president that the path to future economic prosperity is by going green. Sending all our money and higher level jobs to other countries will have the exact opposite impact. It will make us as beholden to European, and Iranian, processed uranium as we are to oil now.
Appeals have been made to Obama to intervene in the DOE’s decision. He needs to do it now. What I personally will be watching is how receptive to an obviously horrible situation that is easily corrected Obama is when it’s on behalf of a Republican Congresswoman.
10
Apr
We have a few international issues going on right now. North Korea basically ignoring everyone and launching yet another missile/rocket, Iran developing nukes/nuclear power, Somalia hosting pirates attacking everyone, Israel and Palestinians going at it, and the ongoing genocides in Africa.
Pretty serious stuff all over the place. Per top respected sources, I have been given an inside look at how the UN ( that’s United Nations ), handles these situations.
You might think I’m joking here, but I’m not. This is truly how I think the UN operates.
H/T: Michelle Malkin
