Nuclear Weapons Tests

Maryellen sent this astonishing short video.  It’s a light flash on a world map every time a nuclear weapon is exploded from 1945 to 1998.  Did you know there had been 2,053 detonations as of 1998 and some are still going off?  The video is just 7 minutes – if you’re really pressed, just watch the last minute.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=the-bomb-a-scary-light-show-video-2011-03-30

Very interesting but it got me thinking.

By official count America has exploded 1,151 devices, 331 of them atmospheric – the others would be underground with some underwater.  Most of the tests were at the Nevada Test Site and the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands but 10 other tests took place in the United States, including Amchitka Alaska, Colorado, Mississippi, and New Mexico.

A CDC/ National Cancer Institute study claims that nuclear fallout might have led to approximately 11,000 excess deaths, most caused by thyroid cancer linked to exposure to iodine-131.  UN experts say Chernobyl caused perhaps 6,000 extra deaths – the anti-nukes want to claim double that.

When you compare these deaths to other causes – such as cars, smoking, heart attacks, diabetes – one could ask, what’s the problem?  Don’t get me wrong, airplane crashes get investigated until we find the cause and suggest future prevention.  Nuclear incidents should get at least that attention but we shouldn’t stop flying. 

Some folks want to blame cancer on nukes and chemicals – also coffee, coke, wine, burnt hamburger, trans fats, anything bioengineered, etc.  We know lot of bad stuff does cause cancer if you get too much of it but it’s my understanding that if you get old enough you will get cancer anyway.  It’s not that bombs and nuclear plant problems and chemicals aren’t dangerous it’s that the biggest cancer problem is from the sun – our DNA gets damaged every single day and sooner or later that causes trouble. 

A lot of smart people are reminding us that we’ve become risk adverse.  For some reason we’re becoming a nation of Luddites.  A lot of people make a living “protecting” us as well as our flora and fauna – they need dragons to slay.  I think they pedal more hyperbole than science.

Bombs and reactors are different for certain.  Radioactivity at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was over 90% gone one week after the bombings and was less than the background level after one year.  Within 1.5 miles of Chernobyl, farming would be dangerous and completely inappropriate for at least 200 years.  And it will be 20,000 years before the entombed reactor will be safe. 

On the other hand, 800,000 conscripted Soviet soldiers were used for years to “clean” the site – none of them has been killed.  There are health complaints now after 25 years but no definitive science – the debate reminds me of Agent Orange.  Reporters and scientists visit the site often, without risk.  Some people have refused to leave their homes in the exclusion area – lucky us, we get to study them.  Locals want to make the place a tourist destination.

Some Americans hate nuclear energy and the Japan incident is threatening to bolster them for a generation.  But if we think about electric plant accidents – Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Japan – those emissions are nothing compared to one bomb in the atmosphere. 

What are we so afraid of?

At this moment worldwide, there are 441 nuclear power plants, 58 more under construction, 152 planned for operation within 10 years and 347 more proposed for operation within 15 years;  plus 250 “research” reactors [we need bomb fuel] and 180 reactors on ships and submarines.  That’s 971 reactors running now with an expected 57% increase to 1,528 within 15 years.  America gets 20% of its electricity from nuclear plants and we haven’t built one since the 70s.

This is a technology we invented.  The world would buy American before Chinese, Russian or even French if they could.  We should expand this research before high speed trains.  Congress should get nuclear regulators and law suits back in their boxes and guarantee construction loans for this industry for a while.  Congress should open Yucca Mountain over the President’s Executive Order and tell the NRC to start building a second repository for spent fuel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster_effects

http://www.rerf.or.jp/general/qa_e/qa12.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing

Nuclear means research, good jobs, clean air and growth.  If we box up the lawyers, it would mean cheap energy too.  What are we thinking?

Goodbye Fannie and Freddie but What’s Next?

If you don’t care about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or their boring true life story, I have a couple reasons why you should.  These companies were formed, starting with Fannie, by FDR in order to support home ownership in America – that means subsidize folks and every year since 1938.

1.      Tax payers now own Fannie and Freddie because they could not be allowed to fail.

2.      The bailout cost stands at $130 billion and counting, more than all the other bailouts combined.  And in this case, we won’t be getting our money back.

3.      Unless there is a miracle, Congress will abolish these two mistakes and then create a new company just like them.  Congress has already done it with college tuition loans.

4.      The subsidies to these companies were entirely absorbed by the shareholders;  there was never any additional home ownership created.

Folks, the cause of this great recession may have been greed but that is just people legally being people living the American Dream.  That cannot be fixed – not in America and in the end, nowhere else either.  The real causes, the ones we can control, were Fannie and Freddie, combined with completely failed government regulation.  [Of course we need regulation but only transparency, not management because management entails guarantees.]

Here is the very best reporting I’ve seen on the subject.  It’s a three part series by NPR which you can read or listen to at the links below – about 7 or 8 minutes each.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/03/29/134863603/kill-them-bury-them-the-rise-of-fannie-and-freddie

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/03/29/134863767/self-fulfilling-prophecy-the-bailout-of-fannie-and-freddie

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/03/30/134863027/whats-next-life-after-fannie-and-freddie?ft=1&f=1001

People have been arguing that these companies were wrong headed for decades – that government was the only lender in a market it shouldn’t be in at all.

I have a love/hate relationship with the finance fairy, Barney Frank – strictly platonic though. 

The long standing Democratic Chairman of the House Banking Committee said this in 2003:  “There is no guarantee.  There's no explicit guarantee.  There's no implicit guarantee.  There's no wink-and-nod guarantee.  Invest and you're on your own.  Nobody who invests in them should come looking to me for a nickel.  Nor anyone else in the federal government.

Barney wasn’t any more in denial than most others at that time but now he says this:  "I think they should be abolished.  The only question is what do you put in their place?"

Something in their place other than private banking?  Nuttin’ honey.

The Housing Industrial Complex – realtors, home builders, mortgage bankers, et al – want more of the same and they will push hard. 

Do our idiot legislators understand that government cannot be allowed to run anything?  Does $130 billion dollars leave a mark?  Do they have the balls to do the right thing?  Will progressives walk the walk and block subsidizing big corporations?  Remember, there is no benefit to home buyers.  Will righties walk the walk and keep government small and out of markets?

Fannie and Freddie were a bipartisan supported source of ideological battle and partisan fund raising.  These guys will do it again. 

As I said, Congress has already nationalized tuition loans while private industry is offering “higher education” to high school dropouts with no jobs and no assets at $30,000 and more per year.  Does no one see the parallel?  How do you think this will end?

We should be watching closely and voting accordingly.

Canadian Government Collapses

A lot of Canadians don’t know this nor do they realize that their Head of State is now the Queen of England.  This may be because 85% of these sensible people do not pay attention to politics.  [A word of caution, eh?  Your American cousins felt that way throughout our history too.] 

As with other parliamentary systems, Canada has many political parties but in Canada, business is done by four – Conservatives, Liberals, separatists [Bloc Québécois] and commies [New Democratic Party].  The majority party selects the Prime Minister/Executive. 

Nothing much happened to cause collapse;  the conservatives and liberals had a snit so they decided to bring down the government.  The last snit was in 2008, the Conservatives proposed ending public subsidies for political parties.  In response, the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois tried to form a coalition government.  That backfired when PM Harper suspended Parliament.

Harper argued that toppling the winner of an election was undemocratic.  He said that his rivals were betraying the country by allying with separatists.  The opposition called the Conservatives, “Republican Party North” – ouch.  Harper won that one.

Meanwhile, I imagine that Governor General David Johnston, Queen Elizabeth II’s representative, is a good guy and won’t start any wars or run off to see a lover somewhere while Canadians wait for elections in May.  Could this be why the Australians opted out of this bit of The Commonwealth?

When elections come, everybody expects Canadian voters to do exactly what they did last time.  The odds are that Harper will stand pat but could pick up a majority in the Commons.  Liberals hope to defy the polls.

Harper has managed to govern effectively despite not having a majority.  Glancing south, Canadian voters are likely to leave well enough alone.  We Americans can only wish we had it so good.

Canadian Government, Beset by Scandal, Collapses      by Ian Austen      NYT, March 25, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/world/americas/26canada.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=ian%20austen&st=cse

Here We Go Again      Economist, Mar 24th 2011

http://www.economist.com/node/18443422?story_id=18443422

SCOTUS on Campaign Finance – Again

This time the law in question is Arizona’s.  It’s ironic that one state can create a law hated by progressives everywhere and also create one loved by progressives everywhere. 

Arizona offers government financed campaign funding – nobody is challenging that.  The argument is about a refinement that allows the capped government funds to be tripled if a non-participating candidate raises more money than the state cap and/or is supported by campaigning paid for by others.  That, opponents claim, is unConstitutional.  I hope so.

In my view, the SCOTUS decision already made, regarding spending by groups and corporations, had meritorious arguments on both sides.  This one does not.  This part of the law suggests the sloppiest of thinking – perhaps that is what it has in common with that immigration law.

Think about it.  If supporters are wild about a candidate and contribute generously to her campaign, why would we voters want the state to give our tax money in equal amounts to her competitor? 

Think of all those groupies that contributed their internet dimes and nickels to Barack Obama at the height of his campaign – what if Uncle Sam had matched their efforts by giving John McCain dollar for dollar? 

In my glorious Red state, a mentally handicapped, unemployed crazy paid the fee and became the Democratic candidate for US Senator running against an incumbent with $millions in his war chest.  Absolutely nobody, on any side, would want to have given even one tax payer dollar to this guy.

Without apology to progressives and commies, government simply cannot legislate behavior or ever “level playing fields” without making things worse.  Suck it up folks.  And “conservatives”, apply this immutable law to your own nonsense.

Hopefully, SCOTUS will do the right thing.

http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-28/us/scotus.arizona.election.law_1_arizona-election-citizens-clean-elections-commission-public-financing?_s=PM:US

Coalition Partners

Countries in the coalition for each war.

 30   Gulf War I

 28   Balkans

 48   Iraq

 16   Libya

US Senate Calls for No-Fly Zone on Libya

I keep forgetting to mention this. 

Congress keeps calling for the President to seek their permission for his actions in Libya.  But on March 1^st – a month ago – the Senate passed Resolution 85, a non-binding demand for a no-fly zone over Libya, by unanimous consent.  No reason to go to Congress, they already voted.

We should keep that in mind when the Republicans and progressives start politicizing this war.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167797.html

http://nationaljournal.com/congress/senate-passes-resolution-calling-for-no-fly-zone-over-libya-20110301

By the way, try finding any reference to this action on any major news site – it’s not there.  Hillary said it Sunday and it’s on the Senate site but not reported by the press.  Why?  I know it’s just grandstanding but it’s noteworthy grandstanding.

An Argument for Corporate Tax Reform

This should make you furious at government.  Ignore the typical CBS progressive rhetoric and hyperbole about the running dog capitalists “saluting foreign flags” and focus on legislators who would create this situation.

The New Tax Havens      60 Minutes, March 27, 2011      13:35 minutes

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7360932n&tag=related;photovideo

Interestingly, you’ll have to watch a one minute commercial in addition to the commercial lead in order to see the segment.  At home, I record these things and skip the commercials but if I make the internet my sole source, I may be watching more commercials. 

Lefties will hate corporations for “gaming” and “cheating”.   Normal people will wonder how we elect legislators who could write a law that charges the highest rates in the world but makes loopholes that defy all common sense and bring in nothing.  Why can’t we all keep our reasons to ourselves and work together to change the law:  lower the rates, eliminate loopholes [no exceptions], and raise revenue.

How can our government continuously do nothing about this – except for occasionally making it worse?  Throw the bums out.

Oh yeah.  As part of reform, I would absolutely cut a deal to get companies to repatriate profits.  I’d be reasonable – or it wouldn’t happen – and these companies would bring back the jobs, research and patents as well.

Slap Stick Morning from Paul

Not all new but all funny.

Stupid Alarm Clock?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3MNXI0phaw

Snow Covered Car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCLvu1mD0Fo

Free St John Ambulance First Aid Kit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY--O0-uUZ4

 

If You’re a Republican or Democrat, You’re Part of the Problem

Here’s a little story about what legislators and people willing to serve have been facing for decades.  The problem is only growing worse.

Hardly Settled in House, but Already in Hot Seat      by Jennifer Steinhauer      NYT, March 27, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/us/politics/28freshman.html?_r=1&scp=9&sq=steinhauer&st=cse

Representative Bobby Schilling has left his wife and 10 children and his Moline, Illinois, family pizza business to join Congress.  He defeated a two-term Democrat, Phil Hare, with 53 percent of the vote, becoming the first Republican to represent this district in the House in nearly three decades.   

·         Already, just a few months into his term, Schilling is under heavy fire from all sides.  

·         Many of his constituents are angry because he voted against federal money for a local rail project.   

·         Democrats have run radio ads and made automated calls accusing him of supporting a “partisan plan” to raid public education funds.  The Democratic National Party is taking aim at 14 freshmen Republicans in the House, of 87 elected, whom it deems the most vulnerable.  Schilling is one of the 14.

·         Meanwhile, the Tea Party is watching closely.  “We supported him,” said an activist from Moline.  “We watch these guys, we monitor them, and if they don’t fulfill what they said they’re going to do, well ... ”  The radicals hold the omnipresent threat of someone more to the right waiting in the primary wings.

It’s the same for Democrats who are serving in Red or Purple districts – as we saw in November.

No one I know would vote for a legislator that received either a zero or a “100” from any of the loonies that rate legislators.  Never the less, more and more, the people active in political parties have total control of the persons presented to us in elections and demand absolute lock step to every aspect of their agenda regardless of merit. 

Support people you like but never ever give a dime to a political party or an advocate.  Vote and vote in the primaries.  Work for open primaries. 

Will the President Pay for His War?

The hypocrisy of this President and his Secretary of State is breath taking and for me, sickening.  Both of these people condemned every aspect of their current actions when they were in the Senate opposing Bush.  If your actions are warranted and/or your convictions virtuous, then tell the truth.  No one in the world is fooled by their ridiculous rhetoric. 

I’ve taken some of the merciless parodies from the online wags and doctored up a photo.  The signs just don’t carry the same ring as ours did in the 60s.

On the Administration’s side is the threat of a lunatic to hunt down and kill insurgent citizens but little else.  Never the less, America is now engaged and government should finish what it started without making things worse.

There is much that the President cannot say tonight.  He cannot aid the enemy by explaining our strategy, options and limits in any detail.  The President cannot negotiate a settlement on American TV.  But there is absolutely one thing he could do tonight and certainly will not.  He could tell us that he will demand that Congress pay for this war by raising taxes, specific to that purpose alone.

George Bush had a chance to pay for his wars but did not.  “He never asked Americans to sacrifice,” screamed the Democratic chorus with Obama, Hillary, me and N in their numbers.  Now it’s Obama’s turn but this time we are facing the greater urgency of catastrophic deficits. 

Be reasonable, we cannot expect a Democrat to reduce expenses, especially entitlements, to pay for a war.  But he can certainly demand that taxes be levied to pay for this great humanitarian effort.  I’d hope that he would ask Congress to pay for Iraq and Afghanistan as well but I’d settle for just paying for Libya.  Small steps.

Does the President have the courage to lead?  Yes in war making but no at home.

This Libya thing is a mess that will certainly get worse.  Here is yet another depressing column from a conservative – worth a read.  Liberals are lining up with conservatives this time while progressives are hanging in there with the Prez.

A War by Any Name      by Ross Douthat      NYT, March 27, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/opinion/28douthat.html?ref=rossdouthat

Speaking of depressing, we are thinking of arming the rebels and hoping they can kill Gaddafi but who exactly are the rebels?  The French have acknowledged them and we are leaning that way but:

·         They have already filled what used to be Qaddafi’s prisons with “enemies of the revolution” – mostly black Africans.  These were rounded up under suspicion of being mercenaries and are awaiting revolutionary justice. 

·         Immediately southeast of Libya is the Sudan.  Do we remember how good Muslims treat native black Africans there?

·         The rebel front-line forces include what one rebel commander calls the “patriots and good Muslims” who fought American forces in Iraq.

Douthat demands that the President defend his adventure tonight.  That will be quite a task. 

Another thing that the President cannot discuss tonight or any time is the possibility of a deal.  Thinkers – people who you won’t see on cable TV and whose names you mostly don’t know – are urging a deal, ASAP.  Offer Gaddafi this:  leave Libya for good and go to Venezuela.  As long as you leave now and stay there, we offer:

·         Immunity from the world court.

·         You can keep your bank accounts [up to say hundreds of millions].

·         No extradition to anywhere, including Libya.

·         Let him take his family if they want to go.

N threw up but we need calmer heads to prevail.  The alternative in my mind is to put the CIA on the ground there and kill him – probably with a missile that wipes out dozens or hundreds of others that are housed with him.

The 17th at Sawgrass – From Paul

A golfer now into his golden years had a lifelong ambition to play the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Verde, Fla. exactly the way the pros do it.

The pros drive the ball out over the water onto the small green that is on a small spit of land.  It was something the golfer had tried hundreds of times without success.  His ball had always fallen short, into the water.  Because of this, he never used a new ball on this particular hole.  He always picked out one that had a cut or a nick, as did many other "average" golfers when negotiating very challenging holes.

Recently he went to Sawgrass to try again.  When he came to the fateful hole, he teed up an old, cut ball as usual and said a silent prayer.  However, before he could hit the ball a powerful voice from above which seemed to be booming out from the cloud said, "Wait!  Replace that old ball with a brand new one."

The golfer complied with some slight misgivings, despite the fact that this same force seemed to be implying that he was going to finally achieve his lifelong ambition.  This could be “divine guidance”.  As he stepped up to the tee once more, the voice came down again, "Wait.  Step back.  Take a practice swing."

So he stepped back and took a practice swing, certain now that this heavenly force was going to make his dream come true.  Then the voice boomed out again, "Take another practice swing."  Dutifully, he did and then stopped expectantly and waited.  A long silence followed...

Then the voice again, “Use the old ball."

Libya and Gaddafi

Here are two George Will columns on our actions in Libya and one from David Brooks on Gaddafi.  These are worth the time.

On Libya, Too Many Questions      by George F. Will      Washington Post, March 8, 2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/08/AR2011030803149.html

Another Exercise in Regime Change       by George F. Will      Washington Post, Mar. 23, 2011

http://www.thestate.com/2011/03/23/1747136/will-another-exercise-in-regime.html#storylink=misearch

The Ego Advantage      by David Brooks      NYT, March 24, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/opinion/25brooks.html?_r=1&ref=davidbrooks

As the coalition frays at the seams, the Secretary of State has been the only American official to address the nation since we went to war in Libya – President Obama will finally speak Monday night.  She didn’t take any questions.  I think the nation deserves better.

Will says, “The world would be better without Gaddafi.  But is that a vital U.S. national interest?  If it is, when did it become so?  A month ago, no one thought it was.”  His other questions in the first column deserve answers.

Will also made these observations:

·         No-fly zones do not bring down regimes.  Regime change happens when there are boots on the ground.

·         President Obama has “made it clear” that Gaddafi must go and that there will be no American troops on the ground.

·         President Kennedy reluctantly ordered the Bay of Pigs invasion which was planned by the Pentagon under President Eisenhower.  In a precursor to war with restraint, Kennedy denied the invaders the intended American air and naval support.  The Cubans were slaughtered.

·         On Dec. 29, 1962, in Miami’s Orange Bowl, President John Kennedy addressed a rally of survivors and supporters of that exercise in regime change.  Presented with the invasion brigade’s flag, Kennedy vowed, “I can assure you that this flag will be returned to this brigade in a free Havana.”  We’re at 48 years and counting.

·         A year later, the Kennedy administration was complicit in another violent regime change – the coup against, and murder of, South Vietnam’s President Diem.  The Saigon regime was indeed changed but Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh City [and 153,303 American servicemen died].

A couple of things seem pretty clear at this point:  Gaddafi isn’t leaving and the no-fly zone won’t change his mind.  The apparent next step is to arm the rebels while taking out all the ground based Gaddafi heavy weapons we can see.  Gaddafi forces will retreat to the cities and use citizens to shield his guns.  We have entered a civil war and it won’t be over soon.

We armed the Afghans against the Soviet invaders in 1979 and after nine years, it worked.  But when the Soviets left, so did we.  The Taliban murdered the Mujahideen, took over the country and welcomed al Qaeda training camps.

President Obama instructed the military that he wanted the Libyan conflict to last days not weeks – he told the world that Gaddafi must go.  Coalition members and NATO leaders are now one-upping each other saying the struggle will go on “for a while” and some venturing “at least three months.”

America is now at war in yet another Muslim nation.  Despite all the rhetoric, we are and have been leading the effort which is very certainly going to continue for some time while most probably getting worse before it gets better.

Finally, we have David Brooks wondering how Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, “a guy who seems to be only marginally attached to reality” manages to stay in power for 42 years.

·         Gaddafi has called for the elimination of Switzerland.

·         He has compared himself to Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad and has written the Green Book of his teachings which he says is “the new gospel.”

·         In the Green Book, he reveals that women menstruate and men do not.

·         Early on he expelled the Italian community, forcing its members to exhume the bodies of Italians from Libyan graveyards to take home.  He broadcast the exhumation live on state TV.

Brooks says that crazies of Gaddafi’s ilk believe they possess absolute truth. They are motivated to fulfill their World Historical Mission and have no interest in retiring peacefully to some villa.  An ominous conclusion for us.

If you read the Brooks column, you’ll see that he closes with a somewhat obscure article by a great woman, Jeane Kirkpatrick.  That totalitarian regimes, which control everything, are more difficult to replace than authoritarian ones, which tolerate some independent institutions, seems obvious enough.  Or perhaps Brooks means that one man governments controlled by a maniac are the hardest to displace – not so obvious.  There’s a link there to the excellent [long] 1979 article that became the “Kirkpatrick Doctrine.”   Anyway Brooks lost me there.

Jeane Kirkpatrick is worth remembering.  She was a Democrat-turned-Republican that was the first woman to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  She was an ardent anticommunist in Ronald Reagan's Cabinet, known for her "Kirkpatrick Doctrine," which advocated U.S. support of anticommunist governments around the world.

In 1988 she said, “Russia is playing chess, while we are playing Monopoly.  The only question is whether they will checkmate us before we bankrupt them.”  Go capitalism.

Personally, I’ll be tuning in to the President on Monday night.

From Bud

Boogie Woogie

Paul sent me this great cut by Tommy Johnson [not the original old timer].  He cost me hours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHmmid1pLi8&feature=related

One of the pop music genres that seems to be missing in the latest generation is boogie woogie.  It seems to have been retired with Jerry Lee Lewis.  It was the rage when my parents were teenagers in the late 30s and lasted through the war.  I believe that it is physically impossible for a human being not to tap a foot if this music is played.  Here is a collection of instrumental greats from the 30s on Amazon – you can listen to a few seconds each of 19 cuts.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/recsradio/radio/B000001N3U/ref=pd_krex_listen_dp_img?ie=UTF8&refTagSuffix=dp_img

Nancy’s dad was nuts for this music.  His crowd didn’t have television or internet but here, grandchildren, is a music video from before your grandma was born.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfCFU3Mqww

For my South Carolina crowd, do you remember Rudy Blue Shoes in his prime?  [He played in the local bars and we hired him for a company social event one time.]  I couldn’t find any video from the days where he did it standing up and screaming but he’s still doing his thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAtefp8cToE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkMzL_IS7cE&playnext=1&list=PL36CBC1A2B99B6B5E

And finally, we have to look to the great of my generation’s young years.  My grandchildren might not recognize either the iPod device or the media chip in this video but the music has to be timeless. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmkeeItjFk

Technology rolled along rapidly in those days;  soon we could get the entire cut on a disk a third that size. 

I had to find a cut of Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On from Jerry in his prime – jumping around and pounding on the piano.  This 1957 version is perfect but I had to pick the extended 6 minute cut from the Steve Allen show, complete with commercials.  People younger than N and I may not recognize Steve Allen but we were in 8^th grade that year and this is how parents tried to keep up with their children before Facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrA91CuWbbM

Warning, do not start listening to these boogie woogie, YouTube links if you’re in the middle of anything – once you start, one cut leads to another.

Hamas is Shooting from Gaza Again

Hamas fired 50 mortar shells into Israel over the weekend – two people injured and a home damaged.  This isn’t really new;  stuff is lobbed into Israel from Gaza all the time.  What’s new is that Hamas admits to the attacks this time.  As always, Hamas claims it is retaliating.

Hamas Fires Mortars at Southern Israel      by Edmund Sanders      Los Angeles Times, March 20, 2011

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-hamas-mortars-20110320,0,848642.story

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/16/us-palestinians-israel-idUSTRE72F2C720110316

Perhaps with Arab governments murdering everywhere, Hamas feels a need to keep its hand in.

Israeli officials warned that they would not stand by and endure the kind of rocket barrage that occurred in 2006-08, and they threatened to launch another ground offensive if necessary.

What would we do?

International Space Station

This is cool from Paul.  It’s much updated since I last saw it.  Be sure to click on the right hand bullets at the site.

From USA Today

http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm

The last vehicle in the animation is the Jules Verne ATV from the European Space Agency.  This 5 minute video shows how the Automated Transfer Vehicle moves 7.7 tons of supplies to the station, helps maneuver the station as needed and then carries away the garbage to burn up in the atmosphere – greens, turn away for the last minute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKX1cCiY0jI&feature=fvwrel

Arab League Already Critical of Libyan Action

Congressional Democratic leadership and Republicans are supporting the President regarding Libya.  The Congressional left is predictably against the action.  On the Sunday shows Democrats stressed that this is not war and that the Arab League supports the action “which makes all the difference” [as compared to Iraq].

By Sunday evening, less than two days after operations began, Secretary-General Amr Moussa said he was calling for an emergency Arab League meeting to discuss the situation in the Arab world and particularly Libya.

"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," he said.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/arab-league-chief-condemns-killing-of-libya-civilians-by-western-powers-1.350608

Apparently the Secretary General didn’t read the UN resolution which provided for “all means necessary” or listen to Obama when he said that Gaddafi had to go.  In any case, so much for Arab support.

Even earlier Moscow demanded an end to the “bloodshed” in Libya asking Britain, France and the United States to stop air strikes against what it said were non-military targets in Libya, saying the attacks had caused civilian causalities.

China and India issued statements condemning the intervention and complaining about civilian casualties.

http://www.huliq.com/12179/moscow-demands-dialogue-end-%E2%80%9Cbloodshed%E2%80%9D-libya

It remains a mystery how and when France will begin criticizing American actions in Libya but as I see it, it’s only a matter of time.

In this column, Douthat correctly points out that we are witnessing “liberal war”.  The hallmarks of such would be that we are preventing genocide, have the whole world on our side and we are exercising restraint.  We are not leading an attack on a sovereign nation;  we are doing our part at the just request of the United Nations.  Oh, and we deny that this is war.

A Very Liberal Intervention      by Ross Douthat      NYT, March 20, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/opinion/21douthat.html?_r=1&ref=rossdouthat

The President has gone further;  he’s pretending that we did not lead the coalition building at the UN and that we are not leading the military effort;  he is ostentatiously playing golf, discussing his bracket and traveling in South America.  But Susan Rice is credited with twisting the last arms at the UN and our Secretary of State brought home the Arab League approval [now clearly fragile].  An American General and Admiral are very much in charge of the entire military operation – “due to our special capabilities”.  Not to worry, we’re told, operational control will soon be turned over to others.  Who’s worried?  But how are we not leading if we’re in charge?

How will we convince anyone of this hypocrisy?  President Bush senior, conducted a similar operation in Iraq with far better cause and far greater support.  But the world exercised restraint and left Saddam in place.  We left, he murdered, we came back, and after twelve years of enforcing a no-fly zone, we invaded – we must learn from that experience.

Once the first shot was fired, my position changed from opposition to this operation to support.  I do not retract my original opposition – I wish we hadn’t done this – but now we’re in and I’m an advocate of winning.  We have committed an act of war – who are these people kidding?  “Restraint” in war is mostly nonsense.  We have wounded the bear and he must now be killed or captured.

Gaddafi is not just a bad guy, he’s nuts.  This guy spent a fortune blowing up an airplane full of innocent civilians from many nations because he was pissed at America.  There is no way for sanctions to stop Libya from selling its oil – China will buy it and so will the Europeans if the price is right, remember Saddam?  If Gaddafi remains, he’ll be rich, pissed off and nuts.  Unacceptable.

By the way, after the Lockerbie bomber was released by the Scots about four years ago – the dying man who miraculously recovered upon setting foot on the tarmac in Libya – European nations sold Gaddafi $1.3 billion in arms;  everything from planes to small arms.  How’s that for double hypocrisy?  What is a dictator to think these days?  Arms dealers must be pissed.

Finally, speaking of policy and hypocrisy.  Bahrain which is governed by a minority Sunni monarchy is killing its majority Shiite demonstrators with the help of troops from a neighboring Sunni monarchy [the Saudis].  The Sunni Yemeni dictator is doing the same to his Shiite demonstrators.  Gaddafi’s opposition was armed, these demonstrators are not.  The spent tear gas canisters in both Bahrain and Yemen are stamped “Made in America”.  A few years ago we determined that the Sudanese government was committing genocide – we urged the government to behave and sought sanctions.

Is there a rule book explaining when we protect civilians?

Do we really think we’re going to positively impact the militant Muslim narrative with these actions?  [The narrative is that America is out to destroy Islam.  And people in the street believe it in growing numbers.]

There is a certain sickening plausibility to the idea that Bush wanted to finish what his father started and that Clinton, Clintonites and progressives still sting from their inaction in Rwanda.  That would be no way to run a railroad folks.

The only good thing going on at the moment is that Republicans and Democrats are supporting the President.  We must not politicize foreign policy, let alone wars.  Congress should now immediately figure out how to pay for this action.  

And when the dust settles, we need an honest foreign policy conversation led by the President and supported by experts. 

·         Attacking foreign nations from the air is war – so are blockades and many types of sanctions.

·         Only Congress should be able to attack another nation unprovoked, regardless of the cause.

Right, that’s a likely event.