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Weather Conditions, Wish we were there... Odd things and such things, as I feel appropriate, possibly relating to the war. Email me at jll3a@hotmail.com. Look below for links to good sites, ebooks and such. Jerry Lawson, Proprietor Check out my other two blogs at: Meatblog- fighting fat with fat OilBlog- it ain't dinosaur puree after all![]() GetHighTech.Com - Palm & Handspring Parts & Accessories. Books Worth Paying For ![]() ![]() ![]() Free E-Books Project Gutenberg eBooks.com Fictionwise Baen Free Library BlackMask Memoware Non-Free E-Books Palm Digital Media Fictionwise Baen Books ElectricStory.com Reader Software Mobipocket.com - Reader & Books for Palm/Handspring ISILO Document reader Good Links Spiced Sass EJECT! EJECT! EJECT! Jake Arnsperger's Log A Small Victory The Famous Instapundit The Dreaded Purple Master Lilek's Daily Bleat Ye Olde Blogge Sgt. Stryker's Daily Briefing U.S.S. Clueless Daimnation! Travelling Shoes DailyPundit Cranky Professor Comics Gene Catlow Freefall 1/0 - has ended, dang it.. Sandwich World Archives My Popdex Game Profile Popdex Metapop ![]() |
Comments by: YACCS
Friday, August 30
PARAMETERS, US Army War College Quarterly - Spring 1998 When you leave the classroom or office and go into the world, you see at first its richness and confusions, the variety and tumult. Then, if you keep moving and do not quit looking, commonalties begin to emerge. National success is eccentric. But national failure is programmed and predictable. Spotting the future losers among the world's states becomes so easy it loses its entertainment value.I love the internet. You run across the occasional referral to something else, which links to something else you're interested in, which in turn ends up with something like this. And the title of the piece is? Why, Spotting the Losers: Seven Signs of Non-Competitive States, of course. J. Thursday, August 29
de Atkine | Why Arabs Lose Wars It would be difficult to exaggerate the cultural gulf separating American and Arab military cultures. In every significant area, American military advisors find students who enthusiastically take in their lessons and then resolutely fail to apply them. The culture they return to — the culture of their own armies in their own countries — defeats the intentions with which they took leave of their American instructors. Arab officers are not concerned about the welfare and safety of their men. The Arab military mind does not encourage initiative on the part of junior officers, or any officers for that matter. Responsibility is avoided and deflected, not sought and assumed. Political paranoia and operational hermeticism, rather than openness and team effort, are the rules of advancement (and survival) in the Arab military establishments. These are not issues of genetics, of course, but matters of historical and political culture.If you're at all interested in aspects of Arabic military systems, this article will give you insight like you wouldn't believe. J. Tail-end trophy for Greenpeace Johannesburg - African and Asian farmers, and hawkers from across South Africa handed over a "Bullshit Trophy" (yes, that is the trophy's real name) to Greenpeace, the Third World Network and BioWatch for their contribution to the "preservation of poverty" in developing countries.Dang. Interesting when the folks you're supposed to be helping turn on you, isn't it? J. USS Clueless One of the reasons I am disgusted by a lot of multiculturalist rhetoric is because those mouthing it seem to have abandoned any kind of sense of moral outrage. That's not actually true, of course; they seem to have no difficulty being outraged at the US.Ah, he's in rare form tonight... Read, and shudder. Sharia is what the militant Islamists want us all to embrace. I, for one, won't. J. 'Semper Fidelis' saves a life Decades after his heroics in Vietnam, relatives and servicemen mobilize to help a dying vet. Enjoy. J. Muslimpundit has a very interesting bit up. One of his readers sent in the following: So here is my message to the Islamic world. I believe you need to do the following:I pretty much agree with the writer of the above. The Muslim countries do show a shocking amount of intolerance for other religions and their ideas of justice and concepts of appropriate punishment would have our left in fits in short order if they were applied here. (And for what it's worth, I'd be against them too.) It's time, I think, for the left to appreciate Islam for what it IS, not for what it says it is. To some, the words are more important than the actuality - the concepts espoused are more important than the actions of those practicing them. To me, the actuality is more important than the words. What is, is - no matter how much it's sugar-coated and spray-painted in happy colors. J. Weird hit on my referrer log... http://google.yahoo.com/bin/query?p=How+much+Aleve+would+it+take+to+kill+a+200+pound+person&hc=0&hs=0 Ummm, I haven't the vaguest, and don't want to know? Seek help, whoever you were... J. Wednesday, August 28
Winds of Change.NET Reality is often different than perception and my preconceptions of Sudan, from what I understood before coming here to what I understand now, have changed greatly. At the most basic, my going-in sense of Sudan was that of a very hostile, anti-American and dangerous place. Yet, two months into the assignment, I was attempting to bring my family for a one to three month visit, putting my daughters in the local Comboni School (Catholic – attended by Christians and non-Christians alike) for cultural immersion and experience. As it turned out, unfortunately, the visit could not be arranged, but the idea that I would be sufficiently comfortable with the security environment to even consider such a proposal shows how far my perceptions have changed.From an officer assigned to the Sudan. A very interesting read - well worth your time. You hear how the US is disliked by every other country on earth - but the reports seem a trifle exaggerated after reading this. Perhaps we need to dig deeper - and maybe we'd find that the hatred isn't coming from the people of the country after all... J. Miss World vs. Muslim law Aug. 28 — Nigeria’s capital is slated to host one of the world’s most glamorous beauty contests in November, but the event is mired in the country’s political tensions. After a Muslim court ruled last week in favor of the stoning death of a Nigerian single mother for having a child out of wedlock, some Miss World contestants have threatened to boycott the event. At the same time, Muslim groups in Nigeria are calling for cancellation of the event, which they describe as a costly and shameful “parade of nudity.”Wow. What a surprise. J. The Sun Newspaper Online - UK's biggest selling newspaper THE sickening champagne and caviar lifestyle being enjoyed by Earth Summit delegates was exposed yesterday.What a surprise. J. DRUDGE REPORT 2002® Margaret Beckett, the head of the British delegation to the U.N. development summit, told the ASSOCIATED PRESS Wednesday that the U.S. is being unfairly maligned by delegates and activists.What a surprise. J. Tuesday, August 27
Something Rotten in Denmark? - article by Daniel Pipes A Muslim group in Denmark announced a few days ago that a $30,000 bounty would be paid for the murder of several prominent Danish Jews, a threat that garnered wide international notice. Less well known is that this is just one problem associated with Denmark's approximately 200,000 Muslim immigrants. The key issue is that many of them show little desire to fit into their adopted country.Hmmm. Wonder how Denmark's going to handle the problem? What options are even open? J. Reuters | The World's Leading Provider of Financial Information and News LONDON (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden is firmly back in command of al Qaeda and the group is digging in for guerrilla attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, an Arab journalist with close ties to the militant's associates said on Tuesday.Uh, huh. Okay, how about a video, with him holding a current paper? Something like the AJC, with the headline "McKinney Wins!"? J. Sunday, August 25
USS Clueless We're less afraid of uncertainty, I think, because we're more used to improvising. The unexpected isn't a disaster, it's just something that has to be dealt with.Let's see. Status quo: Islamofacists who sell us oil and hate our guts. We take out them Islamofacists, and we end up with... possibly people who hate our guts because we beat on the Islamofacists? But we'll still get the oil, because they have no other market to absorb it - and if they don't sell it they get nothing as far as cash flow goes. J. Saturday, August 24
Times Online A TEAM of Americans and Russians have removed more than 100lb of highly enriched uranium from a nuclear research facility in Yugoslavia in a secret operation to prevent it being seized by terrorists.And it just gets MORE interesting, doesn't it? J. Read Reviews and Compare Prices on 2002 Honda CR-V at Epinions.com I buy a new car roughly every ten years. I bought a Renault Le Car in '82, I bought a Saturn SL in '92. This year, I bought a Honda CR-V.I've written a review for the Honda CR-V on Epinions.com. Also did one on the Saturn, which I drove for ten years. Read Reviews and Compare Prices on 1992 Saturn SL at Epinions.com I bought my Saturn SL in 1992. Without any hesitation, I'd say it was the best car I've ever bought. (At least, to this point) The interior was luxuriuous (especially compared to Toyotas and Hondas that cost more)and the engine was a good, strong puller. The air conditioning worked like a champ, and the car fit me like a glove.Why an SUV, or mini-SUV? I wanted something a bit larger. And the CR-V fit the bill. It is affordable, and low-emissions, and large enough but not too large. BTW, if you're a SUV hater - get over it. I didn't buy the thing for you, I bought it for my own use. You don't like it? Buy me something else. J. Thursday, August 22
Voice from the Commonwealth More signs? A formerly out of use air base in the UK is suddenly active again.We're deciding the schedule this time. There's time to get the training in, time to get equipment and forces prepositioned quietly. And time to leak enough 'official' plans that Saddam won't know which is the real one... It's gonna be interesting. J. NATIONAL POST As I understand it, the benefits of multiculturalism are that the sterile white-bread cultures of Australia, Canada and Britain get some great ethnic restaurants and a Commonwealth Games opening ceremony that lasts until two in the morning. But, in the case of those Muslim ghettoes in Sydney, in Oslo, in Paris, in Copenhagen and in Manchester, multiculturalism means that the worst attributes of Muslim culture -- the subjugation of women -- combine with the worst attributes of Western culture -- licence and self-gratification. Tattoed, pierced Pakistani skinhead gangs swaggering down the streets of Northern England are as much a product of multiculturalism as the turban-wearing Sikh Mountie in the vice-regal escort at Rideau Hall. Yet even in the face of the crudest assaults on its most cherished causes -- women's rights, gay rights -- the political class turns squeamishly away.And that, in essence, is what's wrong with multiculturalism - the assumption that not only are ethnic cultures to be cherished, they should never change except from internal forces. Anything external that attempts to change them is wrong, wrong. wrong. Of course, if the cultures they ostensibly cherish want to dismantle the culture that the multiculturalists come from, then multiculturalism has to decide whether it should commit suicide at the behest of that culture. My bet is the multiculturalists will figure out that some ideals just aren't worth keeping. J. ArabNews: Letters Your friendsWhoops. Track blockage... The Clue Train has been delayed... J. ArabNews: Letters All sides of tragedyDamn, maybe the Clue Train IS getting through! J. For those who are curious, I've decided to go ahead and get Sirius satellite radio for the Honda. Why? Just three little words - "Sci Fi Channel"... J. (Oh, and before you ask "What Honda?", we bought a new CR-V. In silver.) More to come... Wednesday, August 21
McKinney lost. Apparently, other 'colorful' personalities have lost too. It looks like the public is realizing that 'colorful' folk are all well and good when things aren't serious. It's entertainment - politics as theatre. Can anyone look at McKinney's actions in the last year, and not be entertained by them? (And I refer to the entire spectrum of feelings - down to and including disgust and concern.) But things are serious now. And we're going to require our politicians to have a sensible head on their shoulders, to be able to sort out what is true and what is false, what's relevant and irrelvant from the massive piles of info that demand their attention. And THAT is what must take precedence. Leave the personal stuff aside, and do what's best for the country, not your career. Shoving a personal agenda is one thing, but when the country is in danger, it's time to lay aside the theatrics and do what needs to be done. McKinney wouldn't do that. She figured it was better to play the game as always. She was wrong. Politics as entertainment only works when the audience isn't afraid for their survival. J. Tuesday, August 20
PhotoDude's Web Log: Brain Dump & Pixel Pile 11:25pm: The Fat Lady is warming up in the background. 87% of precincts have reported (151 of 174), Majette has 66% of the votes (49,063), McKinney has 34% (25,283).It's still not too late - I'm sure McKinney's stuffing the ballot boxes now. But how she's gonna get 25000 votes in 23 precincts... If she loses, as she might well, watch for the fireworks! I predict she'll be blaming everyone except... herself - in the most emphatic ways possible. J. Sirius Satellite Radio - How Does It Work? How Does It Work?versus XM Satellite Radio Why Reception Stays StrongBoth look like good services, but Sirius has the Sci-Fi channel. What do you think? J. 2002 GA Primary Race Results - FOX5 News - WAGA Atlanta Precincts Reporting: 121 of 174 70%Can Cynthia pick up 12%? Did she manage to bribe enough people? Scare them with phone messages? Oh, it's a nail biter... J. Pizza for Israeli Soldiers Following requests from many people around the world who want to share their feelings with our Israeli soldiers at this time in a tangible way, we at israelVisit have extended our service to give you the opportunity to send Pizza and Pepsi*, and now also ice cream, to active duty soldiers. These soldiers include those on regular military service as well as those who have left their homes, families and jobs to serve the Jewish people as Miluim (Reserve Duty) fighters.Now isn't this something... Think I'll send them a pizza on Friday night. J. 2002 GA Primary Race Results - FOX5 News - WAGA Atlanta U.S. House Dist 4 (D)Precincts Reporting: 80 of 174 46%It's getting closer. How well can she stuff the new electronic ballot boxes? J. Plan ahead for next meteor spectacle Forecasters generally agree that Earth will pass through two primary debris streams in 2002.The Leonids are coming! J. Atlanta, Georgia news | Atlanta Journal-Constitution U.S. House District 4 (Dem.)It's gonna be close. Keep your fingers crossed. Steven DenBeste is thinking, and wondering if the war has already started... Finally, there's the question of the apparent indecision and debate and confusion and dissent in Congress and within the various parts of the administration itself.The thought is that Bush is incompetent, that he has no plan. I'd prefer our enemies keep thinking that. Because it doesn't look to be true. J. Saturday, August 17
lgf: Dead Filth The referenced post on LGF refers to forensic folks being able to isolate 9 of the hijackers remains. The discussion was what to do with them. My reply follows after this:And they show no sign of it. Personally, I'm about bent out of shape over the whole mess. Why are WE the ones who must always accomodate the desires and prejudices of others? I hate to sound like a raving whiner here - but when's it OUR turn to get some damn respect and tolerance? J. Daniel Taylor is still in the hospital, AFAIK. And his situation is prompting me to re-examine a lot of things in my life. My position in the Reserves is being eliminated due to squadron reorganizations - so I've the choice of either cross-training to something else, getting into another squadron for the rest of my enlistment (22 months, or about 44 Reserve days) or taking retirement now. Won't get paid until I'm 55 or 60, but I could retire - spend more time with Sue and Aaron, and sit out what I see coming on the horizon... However. You know my thoughts on what's coming. It's not going to be pretty, I think. It's not going to be fast. It's not going to be like any war we've fought before, because we're not going up against a rational (if misguided) society or nation here as in WW2 with Germany & Japan, we're going up against folks who are almost literally delusional and not operating in what we'd think of as a rational warfighting mode. See "Al Qaeda's Fantasy Ideology" for further explanation of what I think their worldview is - and also a good indication of what their strategic objectives might be. And I'll be bluntly honest here - I haven't much enjoyed what I've been doing for the last 12 years in the Reserves. Personnel specialist is an important job, but you get to a point where you have Enron-style fantasies involving files and industrial-strength shredders. I'll do it out of duty, but if the job were to disappear (as it is) and retirement were to be offered (as it is) then the possibility is tempting to leave. And spend more time with Sue and Aaron. One weekend a month isn't all that much - but... Let me know what you think. I'll let you know how it goes. J. ArabNews: Letters Blaming the WestDang - is the Clue-Train finally pulling into the station? Of course, these are the English letters on the web - what's in Arabic may be very different. J. Tuesday, August 13
Iraqi official: Inspections are ‘over’ A top official in Baghdad said Monday that U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq were “over” — throwing cold water on hopes that the process would restart and avert a U.S. attack on Iraq. Meanwhile, the United States reportedly has started a military buildup in the region.Let's see. Last week they were going to let us look. Now, they won't. And we've started a buildup? JUST started a buildup? And are just now looking to move the hardware? Hmmm. Deceit & disinformation... I hope. J. Sunday, August 11
ArabNews: Letters Hatred for USI'm surprised they printed this in Arab News. Wonder if they're trying to hedge their bets? I'm sure they're not stupid, they're apparently able to get outside the blocks that Saudi's put up on their national routers - they CAN'T be so stupid as to believe that what they put out in Saudi Arabia will play in Peoria... to coin a phrase. Or are they? J. Saturday, August 10
FOXNews.com - Lessons From History By 1953, the English were effectively disarmed — and compounding the insult, courts began prosecuting people for previously legal (and even encouraged) acts of violence in defense of persons and property. In the future, only the police were to use violence, and even they tended to be quite lenient toward violent criminals.So much for guns causing crime. Dang - does this mean that flies DON'T cause garbage? J. ajc.com | Opinion | Cream of the crop in races for House In the 4th, incumbent Cynthia McKinney's irresponsible -- indeed, wildly irrational -- rhetoric has alienated many of her constituents. So it is no surprise that she has drawn a strong challenger, former DeKalb State Court Judge Denise Majette.The Atlanta Journal Constitution isn't supporting McKinney. This is actually a surprise. A pleasant one, but a surprise nevertheless. Perhaps Queen McKinney's days are numbered. "My Queen! The Peasants are revolting!" "They sure are! Simply disgusting! But draw the curtains - I don't want to look at them while I wait for my next check from out of state Muslims." J. Friday, August 9
Al Udeid Air Base - New Analysis New imagery from Space Imaging's Ikonos and DigitalGlobe's Quick Bird reveal continued construction at Al Udeid Airbase.The photos are a couple of months old. Still, you can see the difference between January and June. Quick test: Question 1: How much tonnage can 5 KC-10s carry in 6 months, assuming 1 round trip per day? Figure 160 actual trips per plane, the other 20 days being used for maintenance. Ready for the answer? Each KC-10 can haul a maximum of 170,000 lbs. Times 5, is 850000 lbs, or about 425 tons. Round down, for 400 tons/day. Times 160 days is... 68,000 tons. Question 2: 2 C-5Bs with 2 tanks land 5 days a week. How many weeks would it take to have two hundred tanks prepositioned in Kuwait? And the answer is - 10 weeks. There's no hurry like there was with the Gulf War. There's a plan, and my guess is that things are moving along according to it. When it's time, we'll know more. Until then - Well, enjoy what's left of the summer. J. Thursday, August 8
Food Porn This page contains food-oriented graphics. If you are under legal eating age, are offended by food, or if it is illegal to view or consume food in your community, please leave now. This site is not acting in any way to send you food; you are choosing to receive it. Continuing means that you understand and accept responsibility for your own actions, thus releasing the creators of this Web site from all liability including drooling and weight gain.Wonder how many google hits I'll get from having p0rn on my blog? J. FOXNews.com - Iraqi Groups Warn About Saddam's Speech But as Saddam takes a stand on the one hand, he also continues to offer a wilted olive branch by suggesting that U.N. weapons inspectors may be allowed back into his country.Frankly, we don't have much international support. The French and Germans have already said they don't support a non-UN sanctioned attack on Iraq. I'm reminded of an old car-care commercial I saw a few years back. A greasy mechanic talking about oil filters, I think, saying "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later." The price we'll have to pay if Saddam develops WMD (and he's apparently already stated he'll gladly pass WMD to the Palestinians) and deploys them, would be far too high. Same if he should happen to develop a working nuke, and pass it to someone else for deniable use. So we can pay the butcher's bill now, or we can pay it later when it'll be much higher. France and Germany are apparently figuring the US will pay the bill when it comes, so they can play the non-violent, diplomatic european role to the hilt. France also has a large, anti-semetic Islamic movement growing within it. War is coming. How messy it will be will be a direct function of how long we've been preparing (and I think we've been preparing in that area for quite some time) and how much force we're willing to use. This time, I don't think the job should be stopped before Saddam's dead - no matter how much Saudi Arabia or the other states in that area complain. J. Oaky - things are heating up in the ME. I've found an interesting set of photos (via Instapundit) of an air base in Qatar that's been significantly enhanced and had prepositioned equipment flown in. I've seen a number of links to articles that suggest (to me) that there's been a not-so-slow, but stealthy and steady buildup of equipment in staging areas over there. I haven't heard any news about ro-ro ships missing (the massive ships that carry and store great quantities of tanks and trucks and gear - Roll On, Roll Off - hence ro-ro) or docked anywhere in the ME. I've seen convoys on the roads and on base, staying for a few days then disappearing again. My guess is that there's a whole lot of equipment in the ME that's waiting, ready and stocked for war... When it's time, men are a lot easier to transport than materiel and the folks stepping off the plane will find their vehicles ready and waiting. Then the fun will really begin, and CNN will soar in popularity again. Buy your stock now... Anyway - it's quiet. Too quiet. Rather like the opening seconds of a football game. The kickoff's in the air - and when it lands, the carnage will start. Cheerful tonight, ain't I? J. On a related note, they've got brown handkerchiefs at Clothing Sales again. They stopped carrying them in '92. J. Wednesday, August 7
Occasionally you run across a site... Damn. Damn, damn, damn. Occasionally, you find a site which changes your worldview. That takes what you believed and destroys it completely. For many months now, since 9/11, I've been attempting to convince myself with fair sucess, that overall Islam is a peaceful religion. That it's practicioners follow many of the same things that I believe, that they would be tolerant of other religions as I am, that they love their children the way I love my son. This has been in spite of news from the ME, demonstrations by Palestinians showing that the tolerance of other religions that I'd like to believe was there - is not. I see Islamic mothers proud of their children killing themselves, proud of killing non-believers, proud of killing old people and babies. I see Islamic fathers urge their children to martyr themselves. And I try to convince myself that it's just a very, very small subset of Islam I'm seeing. That there is a vast, wide majority that DOES disapprove of this. And would be peaceful - if the extremists were not in charge. I'm having a great deal of trouble believing that any more. There's been a few, a very few voices speaking out against the hatred of the West that seems to permeate Islam. There's been a couple of sites I've seen that didn't support the Islamic Jihad crap, but they're few and far between. And then, last night, through the Little Green Footballs site, I found a reference to a site that had a thread that really changed how I look at the entire world of Islam. The site is "www.ClearGuidance.Com", and the thread name is "How many of you know how to use a gun?" And they're discussing snuff videos. < -----------------And the next post is the Rushthroat snuff video. I don't recommend you watch it. I wish I hadn't. Here you have a site for Muslim teenagers. And they're watching snuff videos and crowing how they'd like to do that to Jews and other unbelievers. And they're from the US. And the UK. And Canada. You tell me. Is this how a peaceful religion acts? Or is this an abberation? J. Update: They pulled the thread, and a lot of others, so the link to where they're discussing the snuff video doesn't work. And there's been some heavy sanitization of that site - a lot of threads are missing. Sorry, guys - we already saw it... Actually, I'm not sorry. If you're stupid enough to put up what death and destruction you're dreaming about causing on the internet, don't be surprised if someone thinks it's what you actually intend. Update 2: The site is now a member's only site, and they're carefully (apparently) screening those allowed to register. But the news is out there. It was on today's 'Best of the web', in fact, at http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/. Now, one of the things that people forget about the internet is that what you create and put out is capable of being seen by EVERYONE, unless you limit who can see it. These ... people ... didn't limit things to begin with, until someone noticed what they were talking about and what they said they were and were going to do. One other thing - the Internet never forgets. I'd be willing to bet that their ISP is currently having requests made to turn over backups of that site, both pre and post sanitization. And especially, their thread on enemies of Islam, promoting assasination of Pres. Bush. Peaceful religion? I don't think so any more. J. Fighting in Iran Getting news out of Iran is increasingly difficult. Not surprisingly, I have not heard from any of my more trusted correspondants in hours. The SMCCDI news page continues to provide brief updates, though.A while back, I likened Iran to a powder keg. Sound's like the fuse is lit, and there will soon be an explosion in the ME. If the Mullatocracy falls, it'll kick the props out from under Saudi Islamicism, and show the folks in Iraq that it's possible to rebel against an oppressive state. More interesting times ahead, I'm afraid... J. Monday, August 5
Sunday, August 4
Newsweek: Bush Administration Quietly Planning for Possible War Against Iraq; Rebuilding Arsenals of Smart Weapons, Personnel in Mideast Assessing Need for Airstrips and Wider Roads ---- Dept. Of Energy Working to Get Petroleum Reserve Up to Capacity in Event of Shortfall NEW YORK, Aug 04, 2002 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- As the debate about a U.S. invasion of Iraq continues in Washington, President George W. Bush's administration is quietly getting ready for a fight, Newsweek reports in the current issue. U.S. munitions plants have put on extra shifts to rebuild arsenals depleted during the Afghan war, and a few hundred uniformed personnel are working as advance teams in Jordan and elsewhere, assessing the need for new airstrips, wider roads and the like, Newsweek reports. And even before Saddam Hussein became a priority target, the U.S. Department of Energy was working to get America's strategic petroleum reserve up to its full capacity of 700 million barrels -- enough to meet U.S. energy needs for more than 80 days in a crunch, report National Security Correspondent John Barry and Diplomatic Correspondent Roy Gutman in the August 12 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, August 5).Guardian Unlimited Observer | Special reports | Focus: Amid the clouds of deception, US speeds along road to war There have been other signs and indicators suggestive of the timing of a campaign against Iraq. Manufacturers of cruise missiles and precision-guided munitions in the US have been working overtime to replace the weapons expended in Afghanistan. The American military transport fleet of trucks has been ordered in for rapid servicing. In Chicago last week a freight train loaded with military trucks, painted for desert service, passed through the city. Most tellingly, discreet inquiries have already been made about the availability of tankers to transport the fuel required for war.Biden: U.S. war with Iraq likely Aug. 4 — The United States probably will go to war with Iraq, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman said Sunday, unsure of the timing but certain that force must be used to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But Sen. Joseph Biden stressed the need for involvement of other nations in any military action and subsequent rebuilding effort. And in comments earlier Sunday, the chief U.N. weapons inspector said he wanted Iraq to agree to the return of U.N. inspectors before he accepted an offer to visit the country for technical talks.Want to know what I think? October, probably the end of it. Here's why. The temperatures will be dropping, for one thing. The projections are that we won't be doing a massive build-up of personnel and equipment, so there won't be much delay getting people and equipment moved into place that there were in GW1. If they start moving people in September, by the end of October everything should be in place. I know there's going to be a lot of diplomatic talk, I know a lot of folks will be going "We ought to talk, not fight! How dare we invade a soverign country!" Well, we dare deal with them the way we'd deal with a fire-ant nest. You don't ask the fire ants to be good little creatures and not sting horribly. You can't negotiate with them. We've tried talking with Saddam - the SOB lost GW1, but we didn't remove him from office. We should have. We didn't - and that counted as a 'win' in his eyes. We made the mistake of figuring our values would be his - that if he was beaten he'd accept it and try to make his country conform to our ideas of democracy. Instead, we gave him time to put the screws to his country further. We gave him time to rebuild his military, somewhat. We gave him time to develop WMD. We gave him time to prepare. Now, we've got two choices. We can attack, or wait for him to attack. Waiting for an attack is nothing new for us - the entire Cold War was predicated on waiting for the USSR to strike. But there was a difference - we knew where the attack would be coming from, and we knew (pretty much) what the form was going to take. We could prepare for it, build up to a point where the USSR knew if they attacked THEY would be the ones devastated. We'd be hurt, but they'd be killed. And they didn't want that. The terrorists in the ME (and I count Saddam as one) aren't worried about being killed, as long as their enemies die. And they'll use any means necessary to kill - even to the extent of hijacking our own airliners. Symbolically, Iraq is one up on us. They fought us, we didn't wipe them out in GW1, therefore they won according to their way of thinking. We squished a few ants around the edge of the mound, but left most of it intact after telling them to be good little fire ants and not trouble their neighbors again. This time, we're gonna use Amdro. J. BBC NEWS | Americas | NYC librarians reject 'prim' dress code Librarians in the New York borough of Queens are protesting at a new dress code being enforced by local officials which they say is old-fashioned and sexist.Oh, the sheer horror of not being allowed a nose-ring... J. DRUDGE REPORT 2002® BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S LENGTHY REVIEW PROCESS DELAYED U.S. PLAN TO ATTACK AL QAEDA -- UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATEThis... looks like a spin job of the first magnitude. "In fact, despite strong suspicion that bin Laden was behind the attack in Yemen, the CIA and FBI had not officially concluded that he was, and would be unable to do so before Clinton left office. That made it politically impossible for Clinton to strike—especially given the upcoming election and his own lack of credibility on national security. "If we had done anything, say, two weeks before the election, we’d be accused of helping Al Gore," a former senior Clinton aide told TIME."Let me rephrase this - Clinton fucked up his own reputation and credibility so badly in his tenure that ANYTHING he would have done would have been interpreted as ass-saving behavior - whether it was for the good of the country or not. So it was better for him to sit on his ass, pray that Al Gore got elected, and then turn it over to him. When Bush got into office, do you think that the plan developed by a President with the reputation for integrity and honesty that Clinton had would be seriously considered for action? Without a complete and thourough review? And it's not like there were other things going on... And then they damn themselves with their own words. "On Dec. 20, 2000, Clarke presented a strategy paper to Berger and the other national security "principals." But Berger and the principals decided to shelve the plan and let the next administration take it up. With less than a month left in office, they did not think it appropriate to launch a major initiative against Osama bin Laden. "We would be handing [the Bush Administration] a war when they took office on Jan. 20," says a former senior Clinton aide. "That wasn’t going to happen." "If we hadn’t had a transition,"(as in Al Gore winning) says a senior Clinton Administration official, "probably in late October or early November 2000, we would have had [the plan to go on the offensive] as a presidential directive." Now it was up to Rice’s team to consider what Clarke had put together." Pass the buck. Don't tarnish the legacy. God, crap like this just pisses me off. (As if you couldn't tell.) J. Saturday, August 3
USS Clueless Their leaders are (or were, since many are now dead) religious zealots. Their goal is to establish a world-wide Islamic republic, with everyone everywhere living according to the tenets of their faith. Their view of the world is the Islamic equivalent of millennialism; and in a sense they think of themselves as fighting a holy war.The Captain has a VERY interesting pair of articles up today. Go. Read. Now. Thought-provoking to the max... J. Fat suits: Who’s to blame for flab? “Obviously no one is saying the fast food industry is entirely responsible for the obesity epidemic, but they bear a significant piece of the blame,” Daynard said. “The idea is to find out really what conduct on their part has contributed to obesity, such as misrepresenting the healthiness of the foods they sell.”Ummm, the size 55 pants weren't a clue? 272 lbs at 5'10" is perhaps normal in his family? His doctor didn't counsel him about his weight after his FIRST heart attack? I think he knew - but preferred not to think about it. As it is, I'm hoping the judge will toss the case out. There's no merit to it, unless he can prove that McD's was pureeing the Big Macs and funneling them down his throat. J. Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society Practical Goals:Laudible ambitions. The question I've got, is it too late for these things? Will the Fundi's win in Islam, and trigger a global war in their quest for world domination? Okay - you might think I'm being a bit overboard by calling what the Islamic fundamentalists want "World Domination" - but it's pretty clear they believe in imposing THEIR ideas about how the world should work on non-Islamic peoples, by force if necessary, and are not interested in peaceful co-existance. J. Global Mind Control Slated For Humanity By 2004 By Spring 2004, an invasive mind control technology known as a "Frequency Fence" is slated for implementation onto global society. This Frequency Fence is a bio-neurological, electromagnetic induced form of mind control which will block your higher sensory abilities. A literal "perceptual harness" or "mental prison" will be built around you without you even knowing it is happening, and the scariest part is, your five senses will not alert to you that anything is wrong.It's gotta be true - I saw it on the Internet. Further invasive programming will be subliminally carried through all radio broadcasts, and through the cellular and digital telephone network of towers worldwide. This will serve to enhance this bio-neurological invasion even further. After 6 years, this Frequency Fence will cause a genetic mutation to manifest in the collective human gene pool which will be passed down through pro-creation, thereby permanently scarring humanity.It's GOTTA be true. I saw it on the Internet! The plot thickens, in that the instigators of this coming bio-neurological manipulation are counting on you to not even believe in their existence. They are depending on you to have a kind of mentality which suggests that what you can not see or perceive with your five senses does not exist, and therefore cannot affect you. If you do not know an enemy exists, you will not take measures to protect yourself from it. The reality of the situation is quite the opposite. These forces presently poised against you posses a level of technology which surpasses present earth science. Their bio-neurological invasion can definitely affect you and hinder your evolution as a species in more ways than you can presently comprehend, making them an absolute threat to your over all well being.IT'S GOTTA be... true? I saw it on the Internet... ummm.... What is really important now is understanding as much of the big picture that is possible. This way you can begin to protect yourself from the coming deceptions which are slated to begin in 2004. There is still time for you to intervene on your own behalf and literally make yourself immune to the coming Frequency Fence and Holographic Inserts. There is no known external technological defense, but there is a way that you can accelerate a natural process within your present genetic code so when the bio-neurological manipulations begin, they will not affect you. We posses the most powerful protective "weapon" of all the human mind/body/spirit organism. We simply need to learn how to use it properly.It's... gotta be true? I saw it on the Internet... The human DNA has a 12 strand potential. Most humans only have strands 1, 2 and 3 fully activated, and strand 4 partially assembled but not yet activated. In order to make yourself "invisible" to the coming bio-neurological invasion, you must have a minimum of 4 strands fully activated, and strand 5 at least half assembled. This will require a certain level of interpersonal development and acceleration on your part.It's... Ah, hell. I'm goin' back to the Enquirer for my facts... J. Friday, August 2
Sand in the Gears Quote of the Week:From Sand in the Gears - a worthwhile blog. And that quote from Rob Long has a good point. The multiculturalists haven't yet realized that the practioners of the fundamentalist strains of Islam (which they would argue as being as valid as, if not more so, than the others) not only would find their tolerance distateful to an extreme, but would be willing to kill the multiculturalists for perfectly valid and understandable religious reasons - like women going outside without a head covering and a male escort.... There is very little possibility of co-existance with people who would willingly destroy your country and everything it's built because it offends their religious scruples. There is no "Live and let live" concept embodied in Islam when it comes to folks and cultures who don't believe. They either convert, or they're killed. Pretty darn binary, I'd say. J. Thursday, August 1
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: Study: Yucca volcano would be destructive Study: Yucca volcano would be destructiveYou'll notice that the AGU folks don't give any odds on whether a volcano will possibly erupt - they write as if it's happening now. Makes me wonder how many editors picking up this story will convieniently leave off the 1 in 70 million chance of a volcano springing up RIGHT under Yucca Mountain. J. Individual Donations to a Politician 0 contributions from 8/25 to 9/10/2001. 24 on 9/11/2001. 0 on 9/12/2001 through 9/25. And there's sure a lot of Arabic names listed as donors on that day. In fact... (let me recheck) they all were. The politician in question? Cynthia McKinney, of course! So the question should arise - what did she know, and when did she know it? Why were 24 contributions deposited on that day, all from outside Georgia, a lot of them from Nevada - when there was nothing coming in before 9/11, and there was nothing coming in AFTER until 9/26. Thios looks suspicious. She ought to be investigated. She obviously knew something. J. PhotoDude's Web Log: Bombing Schools Although there probably should be no distinction, yesterday's attack at Hebrew University seems an escalation in a couple of ways. "More than 80 people were hurt in the lunchtime blast, which tore through one of the few places in Jerusalem where Arabs and Israelis still lived peacefully together after nearly two years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict."And we're supposed to understand, and be sympathetic, and help them along the way to true civilization. I'm sorry - but the only way the Palestinians are going to be able to civilize themselves is by expunging (with a bullet, if necessary) every member of every faction who believes that the only way to deal with Israel is by destroying it. Israel would like peace. The PA wants to kill the Israeli people. Middle East peace. It'll happen if each side sits down and talks - it won't happen if the explosions continue. J. |