Copenhagen Bar-B-Q or Does the Earth Fry When Environment Talks Fail?

More comments on Copenhagen later, but i found this article of great interest.

The failure in Copenhagen clearly seems to fall into the lap of China. While some might be surprised at this development, I am not. China is too dependent on its environmental suicide-particularly in the form of coal fueled electric plants-as a foundation for its economic power and world leadership, status which its leaders believe to be its manifest destiny in the 21st century.

Chinese leaders have learned well the dictum of Mao Tse Tung, "Talk, Talk. Fight, Fight". Their aim is to sit at negotiating tables without actually accomplishing anything of mutual benefit while simultaneously pursuing their own interests away from negotiations.

It is a hallmark of negotiations with the Chinese that one must be ready sit at the table with them knowing that they are prepared to sit and stall and talk in circles until, to quote Adlai Stevenson, "hell freezes over" or they accomplish all of their goals. Only in regards to the Copenhagen talks, hell won't freeze over. In this case, the earth will have the biggest bar-b-q ever.

Tea Time's Over..

Sometimes you just have to take a break and step back and take things in . Or, to quote that great sage, Yogi Berra, "You can observe a lot by looking". And listening.

It's been almost one year since Barack Obama became president. How is he doing? How are we doing? How is the world doing? In traditional journalism, a synopsis and assessment at the end of a calender year is called a "year-ender". I'll have a lot to say in the coming days as I go through my "year-ender"

A parting note. I welcome any well developed position and I have posted opinions that vary widely from my own. But a note to those people who try to send all sorts of spam through this web site. Notice that none of it gets posted as I moderate all comments and I refuse to post your nonsense. So give it up. You will not succeed.

Thanks, Ziporah!

Thanks to reader Ziporah for suggesting that I try a translator site for those messages that I was receiving in Chinese. As you know ,I refused to post those items until I found out what they said. It turned out that they were written in Japanese and they were promoting sex sites. You will not see such promotional material here. Period.

New York, New York 2

Monday- PCU New York enters the harbor

Tuesday- World Series game at Yankee Stadium

Wednesday- New York Yankees defeat the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 7-3 to win the 2009 World Series

Thursday- (sleep)

Friday- New York Yankees honored with a parade up Broadway, the so-called "Canyon of Heroes", and ceremonies at City Hall

Saturday- Commissioning ceremony of USS New York.


So how are things where you live?

New York, New York

I was on the Hudson River shore this past Monday to welcome what was called PCU New York , and is now USS New York.

Just before the ship arrived at the North Cove area just adjacent to the World Trade Center site a few showers passed through the area. Then the above.

Soon enough, New York appeared:




And there was a brief ceremony as the ship stopped to dip its colors and to fire a 21 gun in salute to the WTC dead.

Today, I attended the commissioning of this ship and I found it to be a very meaningful and emotional event. The remnants of the World Trade Center contained the essence of its inhabitants; their desires, their dreams , their hopes. It was so gratifying, so satisfying, to see the World Trade Center alive in some form. The USS New York is imbued with these spirits, as well as the determination, vigor, pride, and desire of New Yorkers in general. They call USS New York "America's ship". To be truthful, she is New York's ship. We are part of her and she is now part of us.

In her peaceful missions, may the USS New York be welcomed by all and may she serve as a source of aid and healing. When she is sent into harm's way, may our enemies tremble in fear at her presence.

Fair winds and following seas to USS New York and to all who sail on her.

Airlines- What a Joke

Let's talk about airlines. Frankly, I am quite tired of being abused by these consumer hostile entities. I frequently used Northwest and since the merger with Delta have been exposed more and more to the Big D. Northwest was a lot better than Delta! Northwest had better service, better club facilities, older airplanes. On Northwest I did not have to endure ATL torture. Northwest's Memphis hub was quite pleasant.

The World Keeps Turning

It's good to be back, friends!

Your friendly Radical Moderate needed to take some time off to allow his brain to decompress from the heavy political load during the last year and a half. I fail to see how so many pundits constantly vomit out such drivel on an almost daily basis. I can't do that. And since I have a regular job in addition to this blog, it just makes more sense to take a mini vacation, take the time to think about things, and then jump back into the fray.

First up.. FOOD! The Radical Moderate's spouse, Miss Oklahoma, has decided that she wants to expand her culinary repertoire, so your correspondent has been growing fat on delicious home made pizzas, Indian cuisine , and Moroccan chicken with olives, preserved lemon and pine nuts.

Radical Mod and Miss Oklahoma have taken several short trips, about which I will post more--and pictures-- in another entry.

One most important note-- The Radical Moderate has received two e-mails in CHINESE based on my postings concerning the desire of the government of PRC to use the so-called "Green Dam" to censor the internet to an even greater degree and to stifle internal and external communications between the people of China themsemselves and between the Chinese people and the rest of the world. As Chinese is a language I do not understand, I am waiting to get a translation before posting these comments.

TRM and Miss Oklahoma currently are on Georgia and headed back shortly.

More later!

Di Farra Pizza, Brooklyn, NY- Food Review

Pizziola Dominick DeMarco finishes a DiFarra Pizza

Di Farra pizza, Brooklyn, NY. Tried it today for the first time. Some people say it's the best in the city. It is excellent of its type. Zagat rates it a 27 of 30. Some of the pies came out of the oven nicely charred but mine wasn't . First rate ingredients were used and I loved the fresh basil, Parmesan cheese and olive oil that was added to the pizza after it was baked, making the hot pie exude a delicious aroma.

The sauce was excellent with chunks of plum tomato, excellent texture and a wonderful natural balance between tart and sweet. Far too many places use sauce that is overly sweet. Paper thin crust that could have used a few more minutes in the oven to obtain a nice char. As I said previously, some pies were nicely charred mine needed some extra time. Fine quality mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, oilve oil, and that fresh basil, cut onto the pie with scissors, was excellent!

Di Farra is one of the few places that turns out excellent pizza by the pie or the slice. I'd give Di Farra a 24 out of 30 for food as the pie should have been baked a bit longer, 4 for decor-it's a great hole-in-the wall, and 4 for service. There is none! You come here for the pizza!!!!

To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator : I'll be back!

Green Dam- DAMN!

The Chinese governments insistence that Western computer manufactures build in approved censorship software under the guise of protecting the populace from pornography is laughable on several accounts. First, the Chinese people themselves have an incredible history of erotica and to claim that they are trying to keep out immoral material is laughable. Second, everyone knows that it is an attempt but eh government o control everything that is communicated via the internet by and to Chinese citizens.

Totalitarian regimes are like that. Any thought that is contrary to those of the ruling powers is to be stamped out, crushed and eliminated. What is most disturbing is the number of companies that have, to date, been willing to roll over and play lapdog to this brutal regime. I suppose profits uber alles is a near universal concept. Whether it was American companies who did business with the NAZI government, a la IBM, for example among others, or GOOGLE, which currently assists the Chinese government in filtering websites available in that nation ( hey, Sergei, didn't your parents escape from a totalitarian regime?).

As events in Iran show, it may be possible to circumvent government restrictions on access, but only to a degree. What i find beneath contempt is the willing compliance of entities that need to fatten their bottom lines. It sort of reminds me of that line by Nikita Krushchev to the effect that the west will sell the Soviets the rope by which they hang us. I must note that there is some degree of push back by some western entities against supplying the Green Dam censorship software. Good Show!

Another good piece of news is the President's decision to create a Cyber Warfare command to monitor and counter the myriad probes and attacks that the US has been subjected to recently. Who is doing this "probing"? Well, it ain't space aliens looking for some Saturday night fun. Think Al Queada, various criminal elements in lawless regions, Russia, and especially China. We will have to decide whether and when to just monitor, counter probe, or take aggressive actions against those who are seeking out or weak points.

The Silence is Deafening

The silence is deafening from the American left regarding Iran. I suppose there is no fun for them if they can't parade behind a banner that says "U.S. OUT OF (fill in the blank)" and burn an American flag. Truly brutal totalitarian regimes seems not to bother them.

Bertrand Russel Is Your Waiter This Evening

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."- Bertrand Russell

Your faithful correspondent is back after a brief respite. It's always a good idea to take some time out to observe before opening ones mouth. I've observed.

Cold Fusion:Power to the People or False Hope?

It's baaack! That dream of clean, cheap, nearly limitless power through the magic of cold fusion.

An engineer friend sent me this clip from a recent edition of the CBS program 60 Minutes that examined what it purported to be recent advances in the development of cold fusion, or, as it is currently being called, a "nuclear event" in a bottle.

I have reasons to call into question many of the elements used in this show. Reporter Scott Pelley says that the Fleischmann/Pons experiments were replicated in laboratories around the world. However, it is not sufficient to say that laboratories have obtained quirky and possibly interesting results from varied experiments. Replication, by definition, means that laboratories around the world have used the exact same apparatus and that they have obtained the exact same results. In the scientific research model, any other use of the term "replication" is not valid.

Furthermore, it is not up to 60 Minutes to give its imprimatur to "cold fusion" by shipping one scientist to a laboratory for two days to inspect their work. Scientific progress is achieved by a much slower and more deliberate process. A laboratory or a researcher publishes work that is subject to peer review. The work is then presented to allow other researchers, irrespective of their location, to use the same materials to arrive at the same, consistent results. Absent these conditions, there is no claim to scientific validity.

It could be, as one of the programs' participants stated, that variances in the quality of palladium used in the experiments varied widely and thus is responsible for the inconsistent results. That hypothesis can easily be tested by supplying researchers with the exact same materials with which to conduct their experiments.

While that work goes on behind laboratory doors, I would advise a lot of starry-eyed futurists whoa re ready to buy the cold-fusion theory to heed the words of the old Frank Sinatra song and "put your dreams away for another day."

Coming Attractions

OK. I have been away for a bit but it is time to start typing again. Here are some things to look for in the next few days:

FUSION : Is that back?

A SAUDI PRINCE TAP DANCES !

CYBERWAR! COMING TO A COMPUTER NEAR YOU!


And a big "Hello!" to all the intelligence agencies who follow this blog. Sorry to have left you hanging, boys and girls!

Chinese Cyber War

From The Times of London here:

A spy network believed to have been controlled from China has hacked into classified documents on government and private computers in 103 countries, according to internet researchers. The spy system, dubbed GhostNet, is alleged to have compromised 1,295 machines at Nato and foreign ministries, embassies, banks and news organisations across the world, as well as computers used by the Dalai Lama and Tibetan exiles.

The work of Information Warfare Monitor (IWM) investigators focused initially on allegations of Chinese cyber-espionage against the Tibetan exile community, but led to a much wider network of compromised machines. IWM said that, while China appeared to be the main source of the network, it had not been able conclusively to identify the hackers. The IWM is composed of researchers from an Ottawa-based think-tank, SecDev Group, and the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto.

They found that the foreign ministries of Iran, Bangladesh, Latvia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Barbados and Bhutan had been spied on remotely, and the embassies of India, South Korea, Indonesia, Romania, Cyprus, Malta, Thailand, Taiwan, Portugal, Germany and Pakistan hacked.

and this:

The IWM report said: “GhostNet represents a network of compromised computers in high-value political, economic and media locations in numerous countries worldwide. These organisations are almost certainly oblivious to the compromised situation in which they find themselves. The computers of diplomats, military attachés, private assistants, secretaries to prime ministers, journalists and others are under the concealed control of unknown assailant(s).

“In Dharamsala [the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile] and elsewhere, we have witnessed machines being profiled and sensitive documents being removed. Almost certainly, documents are being removed without the targets’ knowledge, key-strokes logged, web cameras are being silently triggered and audio inputs surreptitiously activated.”

Chinese hackers are thought to have targeted Western networks repeatedly. Computers at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and other Whitehall departments were attacked from China in 2007. In the same year, Jonathan Evans, the MI5 Director-General, alerted 300 British businesses that they were under Chinese cyber-attack.

and this scary paragraph:

British intelligence chiefs have warned recently that China may have gained the capability effectively to shut down Britain by crippling its telecoms and utilities. Equipment installed by Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, in BT’s new communications network could be used to halt critical services such as power, food and water supplies, they said.

Of course, the Chinese take offense at being accused and try to deflect the blame back towards the accuser (a very old interrogation technique, guys!):

The Chinese Embassy in London said that there was no evidence to back up the claim that the Chinese Government was behind GhostNet and alleged that the report had been “commissioned by the Tibetan government in exile”.

Liu Weimin, a spokesman, said: “I will not be surprised if this report is just another case of their recent media and propaganda campaign. In China, it is against the law to hack into the computers of others, and we are victims of such cyber-attack. It is a global challenge that requires global cooperation. China is an active participant in such cooperation in the world.”

What is the proper assessment of these Chinese actions? Are they just performing normal intelligence gathering and probing for weak spots? Are they preparing to aid some entity in a manner which benefits their ultimate goals? Is a cyber cold war underway? What it is not, is an episode from "24".

We Were Soldiers Once...

I hope you use the link on the right side of this page to check out Joe Galloway's column in the McClatchy news organization. If you didn't catch this one, well, I'm posting it here. (As always, support your local newspapers: Take a subscription!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Joe Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers

FORT BENNING, Ga. — It was a great day for the infantry and for the U.S. Army, and it was one for the history books, as well.

On a bright, sunny spring day in Georgia, Fort Benning and the National Infantry Museum dedicated a new parade ground, and the first of what will be thousands of basic training companies broke it in by marching in review for their graduation.

Before the 125 newest soldiers in the Army set boots on that field, though, it was consecrated in a ceremony that saw veterans and descendants of veterans of eight of America's wars spread soil collected from their battlefields on the new parade ground.

Douglas Hamilton, a fifth generation descendant of Alexander Hamilton, sprinkled soil gathered from the decisive battlefield of Yorktown in the Revolutionary War.

Former Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, a great-grandson of Pvt. Charles Kempthorne of the Union Army's 3rd Wisconsin Infantry, and Henry B. Pease Jr., a descendant of Henry Lewis Benning, the Confederate commander at the Burnside Bridge, spread soil from the blood-soaked Civil War battlefield of Antietam, or Sharpsburg, as Gen. Benning probably called it.

Soil from World War I battlefields in France was spread on the parade ground by George York, son of the legendary Sgt. Alvin York, and Samuel Parker Moss, grandson of Samuel Parker of the 28th Infantry. Both York and Parker earned the Medal of Honor during World War I.

World War II was represented by soil collected from the beaches at Normandy and those of Corregidor and Guadalcanal in the Pacific. Theodore Roosevelt IV, grandson of Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who earned the Medal of Honor on D-Day at Normandy, and by Kirk Davis, son of Charles Davis, who earned the Medal of Honor at Guadalcanal, spread soil from those battlefields.

Two legendary warriors from the Korean War — Col. Ola Lee Mize, who held Outpost Harry against overwhelming odds and earned a Medal of Honor, and Gen. Sun Yup Paik, who at age 30 commanded both a division and a corps in the South Korean Army — sprinkled soil from their war's battlefields.

Then it was time to honor the infantrymen who fought in Vietnam, and two legendary old soldiers marched onto the field wearing their black cavalry Stetsons. Lt. Gen. (ret.) Hal Moore and Command Sergeant Major (ret.) Basil Plumley carried jars bearing soil collected at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley and on other Vietnam battlefields.

In the stands, a dozen or more Ia Drang veterans and other 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) veterans, most wearing the same black hats, stood at attention as Moore, 87, and Plumley, 89, carried out their mission and then saluted them.

Command Sergeant Major Marvin Hill, the senior enlisted adviser to Gen. David Petraeus at the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, spread soil collected from battlefields in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan during Operation Desert Storm and Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Actor Sam Elliott, who portrayed Sgt. Maj. Plumley in the movie "We Were Soldiers," narrated the ceremony. (Full disclosure: The movie is based on a book that Gen. Moore and I wrote.)

The program began and ended with some spectacular flying demonstrations using helicopters of the Vietnam War era, and Fort Benning once more heard distant echoes of the blades of Hueys, OH-6s and Cobra gunships.

This week's ceremony marked a partial opening of the new $100 million National Infantry Museum that adjoins the parade ground. The grand opening of the entire facility is scheduled for June 19. Fort Benning's hometown, Columbus, Georgia, provided more than 200 acres of land at the gates of the fort for construction of the Infantry Museum, and Columbus citizens, foundations and companies donated almost half the money needed to build it.

The Infantry Museum Foundation is busy rounding up the last $10 million to complete work on the displays that will fill the museum's galleries on America's wars and the infantry battles that distinguished them.

The new soldiers graduating from basic training with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry marched past the stands, which were filled not only with their proud parents and siblings, but also with the assembled VIPs and such legendary infantrymen as Gen. (ret.) David Grange and Gen. (ret.) Ed Burba and Col. (ret.) Ralph Puckett.

In the infantry and in the Army, there are good days and bad days, and a few great days. This was one of the great days.

Cyber-War (continued)

Regular readers of this blog (Which I suspect includes members of various national intelligence services. Welcome, guys!) know that I write frequently about the dangers of the current and ongoing "cyberwar" being conducted by various governmental and non-governmental entities, such as China and Al Qeada, respectively.

Therefore, I am not shocked by this MSNBC story headline:

TORONTO - A cyber spy network based mainly in China has tapped into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of Tibetan exiles, Canadian researchers said Saturday.

The work of the Information Warfare Monitor initially focused on allegations of Chinese cyber espionage against the Tibetan community in exile, and eventually led to a much wider network of compromised machines, the Internet-based research group said.

"We uncovered real-time evidence of malware that had penetrated Tibetan computer systems, extracting sensitive documents from the private office of the Dalai Lama," investigator Greg Walton said.

and this:

In an online abstract for "The Snooping Dragon: Social Malware Surveillance of the Tibetan Movement," Shishir Nagaraja and Ross Anderson write that while malware attacks are not new, these attacks should be noted for their ability to collect "actionable intelligence for use by the police and security services of a repressive state, with potentially fatal consequences for those exposed."

They say prevention against such attacks will be difficult since traditional defense against social malware in government agencies involves expensive and intrusive measures that range from mandatory access controls to tedious operational security procedures.

When you combine China's active cyber warfare efforts with the recent determinations by our government of Chinese military buildups here and here and the Secretary of Defense's Annual Report to Congress :Military Power of the People’s Republic of China here, one is forced to conclude that the Chinese government is in the midst of a long-term and well thought out campaign to construct a modern military force that includes air, naval, space and cyber capabilities with long range and international capabilities.

GarryOwen!

(Giving credit where credit is due: Here)

Just because I can!

AIG-RIP

Like a Mafia capo who just joined the federal witness protection program AIG is in the process of undergoing cosmetic surgery and disappearing from view.

This almost universally known t.v. scene-setter is no more.





As you can see in this story, AIG wants to undergo a metamorphosis into AIU Holdings Ltd. and disappear from the news.

I took this picture of the AIG/AIU building in Manhattan today and you can see that they have already stripped the American International logo from the awning.

Cramer vs. Stewart

First round knockout by Stewart. No doubt about it. Watch Wall Street shill Jim Cramer take it on the chin here.

Come to think of it, wouldn't Jon Stewart make a terrific senator?

Another Conversation with a Friend

Friend's e-mail-a vicious little piece filled with lies:

There was a Pied Piper who said We live in the greatest country in the world. Help me change it!

*And the people said, Change is good!

Then he said, We are going to tax the rich fat-cats,

*And the people said, “Sock it to them!”

and redistribute their wealth.

*And the people said, “Show me the money!”

And then he said, Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody

*And Joe the plumber said, “Are you kidding me?”

And Joe's personal records were hacked and publicized.

*And one lone reporter asked, “Isn't that Marxist policy?”

And she was banished from the kingdom!

Then someone asked, “With no foreign relations experience, how will you deal with radical terrorists?”

And the Pied Piper said, Simple. I?ll sit down and talk with them and show them how nice we really are and they?ll forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!

Then the Pied Piper said, I'll give 95% of you lower taxes.

*And one, lone voice said, “But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes!”

So the Pied Piper said, Then I'll give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!

*And the people said, “Show me the money!”

Then the Pied Piper said, I'll tax your Capital Gains when you sell your homes!

*And the people yawned and the slumping housing market collapsed.

And he said, I'll mandate employer- funded health care for EVERY worker and raise the minimum wage.

*And the people said, “Gimme some of that!”

Then he said, I'll penalize employers who ship jobs overseas.

*And the people said, “Where's my rebate check?”

Then the Pied Piper actually said, I'll bankrupt the coal industry and electricity rates will skyrocket!

*And the people said, “Coal is dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we don't care for that part about higher electric rates.”

So the Pied Piper said, Not to worry. If your rebate isn't enough to cover your expenses, we'll bail you out. Just sign up with ACORN and your troubles are over! Then he said, illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let's grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing

*And the people said, “Ole`! Bravo!” And they made him King!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others simply gave up and went out of business and the economy slowed even further. Then the Pied Piper said, I am the Messiah and I'm here to save you! We'll just print more money so everyone will have enough! But our foreign trading partners said, "Wait a minute. Your dollar isn't worth what it was. You'll have to pay more."
*And the people said, “Wait a minute. That's not fair!”

And the world said, "Neither are these other, idiotic programs you've embraced. You've become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you'll play by our rules!"

*And the people said, “What have we done?”

But it was too late.
If you think this is a fairy tale, open your eyes and ears. Its happening RIGHT NOW!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TRM RESPONSE:


Well, let's look at reality. The Chinese OWN around ONE TRILLION DOLLARS worth of our debt, debt that was rung up during the BUSH PRESIDENCY. They could start dumping these notes and really screw us. The fact is, they own us. They have us by the short hairs and they are telling us what to do. And all this happened during the last eight years.

China Article

So stop living in your little fantasy and see that the Republicans are NOT your friends. You don't have millions of dollars. They have screwed you and destroyed our economy. Check the record. When Carter left office for Reagan , Carter turned over a surplus. 12 years later Bush 1 turned over a deficit to Clinton. Eight years later, Clinton turned over such a surplus to Bush 2 that the Treasury was considering no longer selling certain debt instruments BECAUSE WE DIDN'T NEED THE MONEY. Then Bush and the Republicans, who controlled the presidency and BOTH houses of congress got us into this mess by too many acts of greed and stupidity. The gutted the SEC and made it a useless agency, no longer able to properly supervise the markets. too many phony securities were created that no one understood.

So pull your head out of your ass and see the light.

Love,

TRM

Why I Hate "24"

Once it was a fun show,and it brought us a hero when we sorely were in need of one, but "24" has, as they say "jumped the shark." In no specific order, here is a list of why "24" is unwatchable:

1. Cell phones always work. Never a dropped call. Never a garbled transmission. Never, "Can you hear me now?" Never out of power.

2. Jack Bauer is released from a Chinese prison, obviously a victim of torture, unshaved, ragged. After a commercial break he is fit as a fiddle and rarin' to go. Damn, the man doesn't even get a debrief, or even a meal and a drink.

3. Come to think of it, Bauer never needs to eat, or drink, or sleep, or take a piss.

4. His teammates are always in contact and ready.

5. All computer equipment works first time, every time. No need to call India and speak with "Fred" for technical support. Come to think of it, maybe this show is really a long-running advertisement for HP and Dell and Microsoft (no Macs ever seen!)?

6. A nuclear weapon explodes in Los Angeles. Ho hum. Life goes on. Traffic moves on freeways. All stores are open. People stop at Starbucks for their lattes (well, it IS L.A.!)

7. Tony was brought back from the dead.

GOLLLLY! What a Surprise! Gates Says Obama More Analytical Than Bush

Did you catch this on Meet the Press this morning. MTP Host David Gregory asked Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about the differences between President Obama and "W":

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Follow this link to read the story on MSNBC.COM

Thanks, Bill Gallo

I've been a fan of New York Daily News sports cartoonist Bill Gallo for nearly 50 years. One of the first things I look for in the New York Daily News is his cartoon, which is always on point and a true work of the newspaper cartoonists' art. ( Here is where I insert my usual supplication that my readers support their local newspapers by taking a subscription. Do it today!)

On Sundays, Gallo writes a column that usually is about sports but today he delves into the world of politics. I would like to share it with you in part and I ask that you follow this link to read it in its entirety.

President Obama said something in his speech to Congress the other night that should've gotten the attention of every American who served in uniform beginning with WWII.

I know that one paragraph grabbed me when he delivered it because I lived it.

Just a little into his speech, the President said: "In the wake of war and depression, the GI Bill sent a generation to college and created the largest middle class in history."

Hearing that I jumped up from my couch and said to my wife, "WOW! That's where we are now!" Do we now have a depression (or what else can we call it?) and aren't we presently engaging in a war? Damned if that isn't the awful truth?

The GI Bill of Rights was a godsend for all who returned home after WWII and was said to be one of the most important pieces of legislation that Congress ever passed.

BILL GALLO, THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR GREAT WORK OVER THE YEARS. IT HAS BEEN GREATLY APPRECIATED!

Cyber War

Those music file sharing site may be used for more hostile purposes. Check out this story on how the plans for the President's helicopter, Marine One, wound up in the hands of Iranians.

NBC News and msnbc.com
updated 8:55 p.m. ET, Sat., Feb. 28, 2009

A company that monitors peer-to-peer file-sharing networks has discovered a potentially serious security breach involving President Barack Obama's helicopter, NBC affiliate WPXI in Pittsburgh reported Saturday.

Employees of Tiversa, a Cranberry Township, Pa.-based security company that specializes in peer-to-peer technology, reportedly found engineering and communications information about Marine One at an IP address in Tehran, Iran.

Bob Boback, CEO of Tiversa, told WPXI-TV: "We found a file containing entire blueprints and avionics package for Marine One, which is the president's helicopter."

I continue to point out the dangers of our reliance on cyberspace. Improperly secured government offices and careless individuals open the door to cyber attacks from those who intend to do us harm. The pleasures and advantages of what "W" called "The Internets" also make us vulnerable in ways that we can not imagine. To quote one of the lead characters of a famous t.v. show of years past, "Let's be careful out there."

Battlin' Barry

Every basic management class will tell you that when you step into a new position the time to make changes is sooner rather than later. President Barack Obama apparently sneaked into a few management courses while he was getting his law degree because his action plan comes right from the management textbooks. Obama is riding high in the polls and he has not yet been sucked into the Washington political and bureaucratic mechanisms that grind up the newcomer and which prevent even the slightest element of change to breathe.

Today, Obama let us know that he expects a battle from the entrenched interests that will be threatened by his vision for the American future. And Obama basically quotes W.'s immortal words, "Bring it on!"

"These steps won't sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business. I know they're gearing up for a fight as we speak. My message to them is this: So am I.

Play this and wait until the last minute or so for the good stuff.

Obama Errors

Sure he gives a good speech, but not everything he says is true. I was shocked when he said that Americans invented the automobile (most credit can go to the Germans for that. Henry Ford is credited with inventing the production line, which made cars cheaper and more affordable).

As always, FactCheck.org is invaluable. Read their fact assessment of Obama's speech to Congress here.

If you are not familiar with FactCheck.org, let me quote from their mission statement:

We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels.

The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.

Captives of Technology

We all love the Internet. We all love technology , and sure do love all the toys and games and other voltage vampires that with which we can clutter up our lives. But our love of technology can also have its downside. It can make us fragile and dependent and ultimately fragile and brittle.

Let me give you an example. Yesterday, I had a meeting scheduled in my office with an attorney who needed to travel from midtown Manhattan to the downtown area. An hour before the meeting she called me and said her internet had crashed and wanted to know which subway to take. When she finally arrived, I said,"you know, not too long ago people would have known to just look at the subway map in the station." She was stunned as the thought never occurred to her. She was totally dependent on her electronic life and once it crashed so did some of her ability to interact with the world. We are not talking calculating orbital mechanics, just looking at a map, and in that, her mind collapsed on itself.

Think of it. We need GPS units where once road maps were sufficient. We need individual cell phones , and in some cases multiple cell phones, to stay in touch at all times. Blackberries that keep you tethered to work 24/7. And god help the "crackberry" addict who can't get a fix.

Our military has become increasingly dependent on technology do to the level of the individual infantryman and researchers are trying mightily to hook him into an ever increasingly web of electronic complexity. I find it interesting to note that the people we currently are fighting are for the most part living a less complicated, in fact almost pre-industrial existence in mountains, and they themselves realize that their weak point is their reliance on technology, such as the internet and easily intercepted electronic communications.

Written materials exist for millennia. People still read and interpret ancient Sanskrit on written on clay tablets and Egyptian hieroglyphics on stone and parchment. Please tell me the shelf life of a book downloaded onto a Kindle? If your hard drive has ever crashed or your IPod battery died, you know the answer.

Technology makes us smarter but not wiser. We live in the milliseconds and ignore the moments. As we access a world of knowledge we lose contact with our neighbors and ourselves.

Quo Vadis?

A New Low at High Altitude.

I just knew it was going to happen. I knew it. An airline is considering installing pay toilets in its airplanes. Read this article then tell me the options if you don't have the correct change.

DUBLIN - When nature calls at 30,000 feet, is $1.40 a wee price to pay? Or could it force passengers without correct change into a whole new kind of holding pattern?

The head of budget European airline Ryanair unleashed a flood of indignation and potty humor Friday when he suggested that future passengers might be obliged to insert a British pound coin for access to the lavatory to get some in-flight relief.

Airline chief Michael O'Leary suggested that installing pay toilets would lower ticket costs and make flying, somehow, easier for all.

It's a neat trick when he says that he is doing it for the benefit of the passengers.

I still think that ultimately the airlines will address their costs and security in a manner that requires that the passengers be handled pretty much like cargo. You want to travel. Great. Get to the airport, remove all of your clothes, go through security, don a one-time-use paper gown and take enough airline supplied Valium to put you out for the duration of the flight. You'll be packed into a "personalized travel pod" (which resembles a cheap coffin) and stacked like palletized cargo in the airplane's interior, which is now entirely outfitted as a cargo carrier. Arrive at your destination, wake up, get dressed, and leave.

The airlines would love to do this. No more flight attendants to pay and pension off. An airplane packed to the gills. No Complaints. No meals, no beverages, no movies, and no crying, cranky babies (some passengers might like this, too, especially if you have every had to sit in front of a crying baby who persists in kicking your seat for 6 hours!)

Coming soon to an airline near you!

A Conversation with a Friend on the Constitution and Obama

The following is an e-mail conversation TRM had with a friend:

From: Friend
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009
To: TRM
Subject: FYI



Second Amendment Absent in Supreme Court Gun Ruling

Tony Mauro
02-24-2009

In spite of its recent support for an individual right to bear arms, the Supreme Court on Tuesday adopted an expansive reading of the federal law that bans possession of firearms by those who have been convicted of felonies or of "a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence."

The meaning of the phrase about misdemeanors was the issue in United States v. Hayes, decided by a 7-2 vote in a decision available here.

West Virginia resident Randy Hayes was prosecuted under that section of the law in 2005. The predicate crime that triggered the law in his case was a 1994 state conviction on charges of battery, where his victim was his wife.

But Hayes claimed that since the crime was simple battery, and was not specific to battery against a family member, it should not have triggered the firearm possession law. Hayes lost at the district court level, but the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, finding that the law comes into play only when the predicate crime has "as an element a domestic relationship." In other words, even though Hayes' victim actually was his wife, the appeals court said it does not count as a predicate crime because the crime was not specific to domestic violence.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the majority, said the 4th Circuit's approach would "frustrate Congress' manifest purpose" in including domestic violence crimes among the crimes that would result in loss of firearms. "If the Fourth Circuit were right in its analysis of the controlling legislation," Ginsburg said in announcing the ruling from the bench, "Congress' enactment would have been a dead letter in the majority of states from the very moment of its passage." Congress added the domestic violence provision in 1996.

In dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, said that "right off the bat," the law should be read to require that a domestic relationship be an element of the predicate offense. Roberts also said that implementing the majority's view will entail "significant problems," requiring prosecutors to research the relationships in past crimes, rather than simply going by the category of the crime.

The case drew interest in part as a test of the strength of the right to bear firearms in the wake of D.C. v. Heller, last year's landmark declaration of an individual right to bear arms. The Second Amendment Foundation filed a brief in the Hayes case, urging the Court to adopt the narrower interpretation and to allow states leeway in defining crimes.

But, as Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman points out on his Sentencing Law and Policy blog, neither Heller nor the Second Amendment played a role in Hayes. "The Second Amendment and Heller do not even get mentioned by the dissenters, even though the majority's ruling would seem to provide a green light to jurisdictions looking for pretty easy ways to functionally work around the rights supposedly championed in Heller."

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence applauded the decision. "In its first gun case since the landmark Heller decision, the Court wisely upheld this reasonable restriction, said center president Paul Helmke. "Today's ruling is the right one for victims of domestic abuse and to protect law enforcement officers who are our first responders to domestic violence incidents."

This article first appeared on The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: TRM
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009
To: Friend
Subject: RE: FYI





And this is news:



http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-administration-revives-assault-weapons-debate-2009-02-26.html


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


From: Friend
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009
To: TRM
Subject: RE: FYI



This further confirms that despite all that blather about Obama being a “centrist,” he remains the same far-left ultraliberal that his voting record shows he’s always been. His honeymoon will, I think, prove very brief as his lack of any true leadership or managerial experience in an executive capacity becomes more and more clear to more and more people. And despite all that hurrahing about the Democrats being in control in Congress, a significant number of them come from the more conservative states and are not going to blindly follow the other lemmings as Obama leads them over the cliff to sure defeat in the next Congressional election, at which point my prognostication is that the economy will still be in the toilet, except that we’ll owe trillions more than we do now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: TRM
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009
To: Friend
Subject: RE: FYI



First, I do not share your total pessimism about the economy (In fact, if I had any money, I would start to invest in the market at this point for long term purposes. As Baron Rothschild is reported to have said, “The time to buy is when blood flows in the streets.”). But this is an area where every “expert”, regardless of philosophy or party affiliation, is only guessing. There are very good reasons why economics is called “the dismal science”.



Second, Nancy Pelosi said that the House will not take up the issue of automatic weapons controls precisely because she does not want to force the more conservative Democrats into a comfort zone with the Republicans, who may be their more natural allies. She knows that would be the beginning of a political disaster.



Third, if Obama does turn out to be swimming outside the political mainstream, then the electorate will have to wait just about 20 months for mid-term elections to let him know what they think.



So cheer up!

Skelator Speaks

Did you catch Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's Republican response to President Obama's address to Congress? Wow! What a disaster. Not only did Jindal look like death warmed over, but he spoke in this weird sing-song kind of voice that made me think he really wanted to replace the late Mr. Rogers in his neighborhood. "Can we say government is bad, boys and girls?" "Who needs to monitor those silly volcanoes that might blow up and kill a couple of people? Not us! We can take our train to fantasy land."

From a political perspective, Jindal's argument left me wondering just where the hell this guy has been living for the past few years? Doesn't he think the federal government is needed to warn people of major dangers, like approaching hurricanes? Or does he think that individual citizens can band together to do that sort of stuff themselves. Oh, wait. They have. It's called a "government". There was just too much evidence last night that Bobby Jindal has quaffed the Nancy Reagan "Just Say No!" Kool-Aid. Hell. even Republicans thought that he was a disaster:



Paul Krugman also was less than impressed by the Louisiana governor-here:

February 25, 2009, 11:08 am
What should government do? A Jindal meditation

What is the appropriate role of government?

Traditionally, the division between conservatives and liberals has been over the role and size of the welfare state: liberals think that the government should play a large role in sanding off the market economy’s rough edges, conservatives believe that time and chance happen to us all, and that’s that.

But both sides, I thought, agreed that the government should provide public goods — goods that are nonrival (they benefit everyone) and nonexcludable (there’s no way to restrict the benefits to people who pay.) The classic examples are things like lighthouses and national defense, but there are many others. For example, knowing when a volcano is likely to erupt can save many lives; but there’s no private incentive to spend money on monitoring, since even people who didn’t contribute to maintaining the monitoring system can still benefit from the warning. So that’s the sort of activity that should be undertaken by government.

So what did Bobby Jindal choose to ridicule in this response to Obama last night? Volcano monitoring, of course.

And leaving aside the chutzpah of casting the failure of his own party’s governance as proof that government can’t work, does he really think that the response to natural disasters like Katrina is best undertaken by uncoordinated private action? Hey, why bother having an army? Let’s just rely on self-defense by armed citizens.

The intellectual incoherence is stunning. Basically, the political philosophy of the GOP right now seems to consist of snickering at stuff that they think sounds funny. The party of ideas has become the party of Beavis and Butthead.

So, Bobby Jindal, go stand in the corner for five years.

Nancy Reagan Republicans

Did you see the President's address to the joint session of Congress? Did you notice that their Republicans were so partisan in their response to his address that they sat on their hands almost every time an applause line came up? So much for President Obama's attempt at bipartisanship and healing the antagonism that has corroded political discourse since Newt Gingrich and his "Contract with America" days (when he also shut down the government because he wasn't asked to sit up front with President Clinton during a ride on Air Force One!.

So here we are at the economic precipice and the Republicans can offer nothing more constructive than their basic " No!" .

"No!" to the stimulus bill.

"No!" to bank bailouts.

"NO!". "NO!" "NO!" They sound like a two year old in the middle of a tantrum. I sort of expect them to threaten to hold their collective breath until they turn blue if they don't get their way.

The Republicans need to be reminded of two facts. First, a Democrat was elected President. Second, the Democrats control both houses of Congress. Being out of power usually means being "the loyal opposition" but Gingrich taught his Republicans that "opposition" is better than "loyal opposition" and his particular brand of acid corroded political discourse for almost two decades.

Maybe the Republicans can't help themselves. To all intents and purposes they have controlled either the presidency or congress or both for more than 20 years. They are exhausted, corrupt, and totally devoid of ideas. They are forced to resort to the old Republican standbys of cutting taxes and small government when clearly some new thinking is called for. Ask the voters for confirmation of that fact.

But the Republicans are totally out of gas and following the lead of Nancy Reagan. All they can do at this point is just say "NO!"

On Becoming an American

A reliable corespondent conveyed the following to me:

I was departing the federal courthouse in Brooklyn this morning and I ran into a smiling, obviously happy, polyglot group; Asians, Latinos, Caucasians, males and females from every continent. I had an idea as to what brought them to the steps of the courthouse, but, nosy person that I am, I sidled up to one man and asked why they were there.

"We have just been sworn in as citizens," replied the middle aged, obviously Latin man. I couldn't resist and I asked, "Oh, and how do you feel?"

With a huge smile he replied,"I feel very proud and I feel safe."

The Warrior Obama

Previously, I wrote about the Obama administration's position regarding prisoners held in Bagram. Obama is prepared to substantially increase American troop strength in Afghanistan with a concomitant draw down in Iraq. Now readthis article, which indicates that Obama might be widening the scope of US Predator attacks and covert operations against Al Qeada and Taliban forces in Pakistan.

Throughout his campaign Obama stated that the war in Iraq took our eye off the prize in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real center of Al Qeada and its threat to the United States.

Obama seems to be concentrating efforts on the real bad guys now. Will he press the attack? Will he risk Pakistani objections to American incursions into Pakistani territory in order to kill Al Qeada and Taliban? Will he send covert ground forces into Pakistan?

Pakistan is a dangerous enigma. It allows Al Qaeda and the Taliban to take control of the province of Swat. It withdraws its troops from a battle against the militants. Its intelligence agency, ISI, plays all sides simultaneously (and was it involved in the Mumbai terrorist attack?).

How will Obama make his bones as commander in chief in this battle? Will be be a leftist warrior? Obama has some complicated political calculations to consider. He always said he would withdraw from Iraq and his leftist supporters cheered. Will they still cheer his beefed up military effort in Afghanistan/Pakistan or will they turn on him in short order? And if they attack him on his military stance in the subcontinent, will he deplete his political power at home to the extent that his domestic program grinds to a halt?

Just asking.

Liberal Tears

The Obama administration continues to set its own course, often to the consternation of its liberal supporters. Right now, liberals are donning ashes and sack cloth as the Obama administration decided to continue a policy established by the Bush administration, specifically, the denial of United States constitutional rights to combatants being held in Afghanistan. See this.

An administration spokesperson explains the difference between this position and the status of Guantanamo prisoners thusly:

The Justice Department argues that Bagram is different from Guantanamo Bay because it is in an overseas war zone and the prisoners there are being held as part of an ongoing military action. The government argues that releasing enemy combatants into the Afghan war zone, or even diverting U.S. personnel there to consider their legal cases, could threaten security.

I'm shocked, shocked, that the American Civil Liberties Union is having a hissy fit:

"They've now embraced the Bush policy that you can create prisons outside the law," said Jonathan Hafetz, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who has represented several detainees.

I would like to hear how the ACLU would handle those folks in Afghanistan who are hiding among the indigenous population and firing weapons at American troops. They are not constituted as uniformed army representing an established state so they can't be considered soldiers in a traditional sense and thereby be accorded the rights of the Geneva Convention. Would ACLU prefer that these guys be handled like common street criminals and accorded all of the constitutional protections? Should they be read their Miranda rights? Would they like US forces to collect physical and testimonial evidence to be presented in a court of law?

Please, ACLU, tell me how you would like to handle these people.

Obama Wins / Obama Loses

I'm tired of all of the professional pundits who are trying the score the twenty-five day old Obama administration like some sort of Olympic ice skating event. He won in the stimulus bill because he got almost $800 BILLION dollars passed by the House and Senate He lost with the stimulus bill because he didn't get everything he wanted. He was too bold. He was too timid.

BASTA! ENOUGH!

Even Roosevelt has 100 days to give some direction to the country when he took office. But our insane 24/7 cable news cycle requires instantaneous assessment of every administration twitch with a twitters tweet and a pundits palaver.

For the past few weeks I was tempted to join in the chorus of the chattering class with my own assessments, but each time I moved to the keyboard I found myself saying, "But he's only been there a week (or two weeks.. or three weeks)".

It will take time to turn around the economy and you must admit that his team has hit the ground running. Think of the chaos and confusion that reigned just weeks ago when W was still in charge. Now we have a President who can put together a cogent argument while 30 days a go we had someone in charge who stumbled over a simple sentence.

So try to relax, gang. This is not the end of the world. With time, money and effort things will get better. Promise.

Religion and Politics

Religion and politics. Always a toxic mix. It happened when New York Governor Al Smith ran for President in 1928. When John Kennedy ran for President in 1960 many people launched the canard that he would take orders from the Vatican. He counterattacked and said that he would not take orders from religious officials and that he would abide by the separation of church and state.

It seems that some people on the political side are getting it right, but some religious powers might need a lesson in how we do things in this democracy. take a look at this.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict, underscoring the Vatican's ruling on an issue that divides Americans, told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday that Catholic politicians and legislators cannot back abortion rights.

Pelosi, a powerful U.S. politician who is Catholic and pro-choice, has been accused by U.S. bishops in the past of misrepresenting Church teachings on abortion.

"His Holiness took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural and moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death ..." a Vatican statement said.

Senatorial Power

Until the mess in Minnesota is resolved and that state can finally seat either Democrat Al Franken or Republican Norm Coleman as its senator, major power resides in the hands of two ladies from Maine. Read this piece from the Washington Post.

The Dictator's Dream

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can now change his title to "Dictator" or "President for Life" or something suitable after that country's referendum removing term limits passed. I'll leave it for the Latin America experts to figure our why the people voted for it, if in fact the election wasn't rigged, but what I do know is that another dictator has been permanently empowered in the region.

Republican Suicide

With the results of the last election so devastating to the Republican party, it seems that they have taken the role of the loyal opposition a little too literally. Their straight party "nays" on the stimulus bill in the House shows without a doubt that they value their own political solidarity more than they value the people who are losing their jobs and home at an ever increasing rate.

Saturday Night Live hit the nail on the head last night.

Best Headline Ever

Here.

Childish Behavior

I've been saving this one for when I ran a little dry ( I prefer a nice cabernet--in a glass!).

Obama in Vegas

Just contemplating the political world and mixing in a little nonsense. Let's play Vegas odds-maker:

The odds of:

Obama being impeached in his first term. Let's see, I think three presidents were impeached: Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. (That's impeached by the House of representatives, not convicted by the Senate). So that is a startling 3 out of 44. But Nixon and Clinton were impeached in there second terms,so the odds drop to 1 in 44 for first term impeachment.

Obama being impeached in his second term.. oops. 2 out of hmm.. how many president have had second terms? I seem to count 15. Of these, two, Clinton and Nixon were impeached. How about those odds? So , let's say his odds of being impeached, if he gets a second term are 8-1.

Odds of Obama getting a second term..1 in 2 chances. figure its slightly higher than 50% unless he is an utter disaster. But when you look at W., who was an utter disaster, and the fact that the got a second term (hell, he never should have had a FIRST term!), well, maybe 60%.

Odds of Obama getting the economy going in the first year of his presidency 4-1. second year- even.

Odds of Obama dealing with inflation in his first term: 2-1. In his second term- even.

Odds that Obama will achieve his goal and bring a new kind of civil politics to Washington- zero!

Odds that Obama will get a stimulus package through congress and on his desk in February-2-1. In March-even.

Odds that Obama will get to select one Supreme Court justice- prohibitive favorite at 1-2. Two justices-even. Three justices 3-1. Four justices- 10-1.

You can play his game at home, too or join the fun here!

Camp GITMO

It is an interesting position President Obama now finds himself in regarding closing the detention facility (prison/interrogation center) at Guantanemo. Yes, president has ordered that the facility be closed within a year. And yes, news that person released from GITMO have gone back to the Al Queda front lines sort of argues strongly against releasing a lot of these folks.

The question before our constitutional law professor of a president is: How to handle these guys within the structure of American and international law when they don't abide by law. Repatriation to their"home countries" does not seem like a solution designed to keep the bad guys from getting back into the fight. Transferring them to American prisons might be an option, but what is their status? They have not been tried or convicted of crimes nor are they being considered prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.

So Obama did fulfill his pledge to order the closing of GITMO, but he has so far failed to come up with a viable plan as to what to do with these guys. Look for GITMO to stay open a little longer than expected as "unforeseen" problems delay GITMO's closing.

The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is..

running out of money.

Government printing presses will be turning red-hot as they crank out all those dollars to stimulate the American economy and, by extension, the world economy.

They say there is no movement in the credit markets. Now, I don't know too much about economics, and I suspect that even folks with a lot of initials after the names don't really know all that much either, but when you have no movement, a high colonic is the answer. For the economy that comes in the form of dollars.

Personally, I think one of those high colonics should be delivered on an hourly basis to all those smart boys and girls, investment bankers all, who brought down our economy with their boundless greed and unsurpassed inventiveness. I mean, you really have to be inventive to create and buy into a financial instrument you don't even understand. The banker and securities dudes and dudettes didn't even know what they were buying and selling.

I mean, how smart can an MBA be? George W. Bush got one from Yale, fer crisakes! And did Bush EVER do anything good? This is a guy who failed upward! From pilot to oil to baseball to governor to president. I challenge you to name one endeavor where he succeeded!

I would never hire anyone with an MBA. Personally, I believe that a smart liberal arts guy can run rings around an MBA simply because the liberal arts guy, like a history major, would be smart enough to ask, "what does this mean?" and wait for a decent explanation.

I can't stand all these media types who are so eager to report that we are in a second "Great Depression." One was enough, please! Besides, we have so many more market safeguards and government mechanisms in place that didn't exist in the 1930s. The FDIC, that agency that insures your bank deposits to $250,000, didn't exist back then so there was a run on the banks as people tried to get out their cash before the bank collapsed. Now if a bank collapses, basically the depositor's money is safe and they just deal with a different corporate entity. And unemployment is absolutely nowhere near the tidal wave it was in the 1930s. So to all the hyenas clamoring about another Great Depression, two words: "SHUT UP!"

So it is left for the Obama administration to print a ton of money to goose the economy so that it starts running, but then to throttle back in time to prevent runaway inflation, which is what you have when a lot of dollars start chasing fewer goods (which is what will happen with all the manufacturers laying off people and cutting production). This is what happened in the 1970s when the Johnson administration decided not to raise taxes to pay for the Vietnam war and decided instead to run the money presses. These measures eventually inflated the economy to the point where credit card interest rates were running at 25%. Remember when Nixon ineffectively implemented price and wage controls? Remember Gerald Ford's "WIN" button, "WIN" standing for "Whip Inflation Now"? Not a pretty sight!

The Obama team has to have a deft sense of the economy to know when to floor it and when to ease off the gas and not to overshoot the target. Obama has to steer a course cleanly between the Scylla of recession/depression and the Charybdis of inflation.

Oh, George W. Bush actually did do one thing right. He finally left Washington.

OBAMA - Day One- Sorta

To quiet the paranoid and insane the president retook the oath office office. Perhaps Chief Justice Roberts used a script this time. He screwed up last time. And it is only 35 words. Mark it down to the Chief's hubris.

Fist day in office: no torture, transparency in government. George Mitchell as Mid-East envoy. FOIA executive order. closing CIA secret prisons. freezing senior staff salaries. Rules against conflicts of interest and revolving door service between government and lobbying.

Not bad for "day one."

Change you can believe in. I'm impressed. My hope for a better country increases.

Did you see Moammar Kadaffy's op-ed piece in the New York Times today where he calls for a one state solution in Israel-Palestine, an Israstine? I was struck by his almost reasonable tone, his sense of place for Jews , as well as his great degree of naivete. But still, it was a worthy effort from someone who once inhabited Bush's "Axis of Evil". I would love to talk to him about his change of direction from terrorist supporter to a visionary of peace. Remember, this is a guy Reagan tried to kill.

There is always hope. And where hope exists the possibilities are endless.

Have faith. Work hard.

Inauguration Thoughts

I still believe Obama's speech was lackluster but when you consider how momentous this day was, could any speech live up to the occasion?

Obama's speech was of a perfect length. Americans are in no mood for a reprise of William Henry Harrison's oratory.

What the hell was that "poem"? I know what she was trying to do, but she did not carry it off with skill or any degree of emotion. Grade of "F", Teach!

I enjoyed Yo Yo Ma and Itzack Perlman's performance. I was wondering how these musicians were able to finger their instruments in the cold.

Barack Obama can not change the world overnight.Heck, the only thing he can change overnight is his underwear. But I feel confident that we have a president who has a great degree of political acumen, a matching amount of political capital to spend, is capable of analyzing the condition of this country, and that he can put forth a full effort to solve these problems. We are all in a better place tonight.

The stock market dropped more than 300 points today. Every passing day proves the market movers and shakers are less intelligent than the dirty water hot dog vendors on the sidewalk outside the NYSE.

I hope Obama's first executive order bans those endless telephone voice mail systems with the endless loops designed to prevent you from talking to a real, live person.

Obama's election proves that the United States is not a racist country, but do not doubt that there still are plenty of racists out there.

I hope Obama's election lifts the vision of countless black children who mistaken thought that education and proper speech was too white and not "keepin' it real". I hope the kids pull up their pants, turn off the hip hop and open a book. I hope some of them think that they can be like Barack Obama if they follow that path. I hope the black male prison population drops precipitously.

Hope will not change the world. But you can't change the world without it.Tonight, so many of us have it.

Alex Disagrees

Alex writes:

D+? I Disagree. I thought it was a good speech that set the tone for what will be required in the future. While certainly not as good as his acceptance of the nomination in Denver, it was both sobering and inspiring without being cliched. B.

Anyways, maybe you'll get your memorable lines at the State of the Union...

I thought it was primarily a political stump speech that started to roll at the 3/4 mark. I did like his message about putting away childish things and changing the political climate in Washington. But you must remember that political disagreements have often gotten out of hand. In the 1800s one member fired a gun at another on the floor of the Congress. So what we have witnessed during the past sixteen years has been well within the pattern of business as usual, disgusting as always, in D.C.-TRM

Cafe Paris Says...

Anonymous café paris said...

Big day for america, I hope Obama will change the world !

January 20, 2009 1:43 PM


Well, it is a pleasure to have a president who knows how to use a subject and verb in a sentence. That's a great change! But I hope that President Obama will change the United States, and by doing that, perhaps he will have a positive influence on the world. We need peace. We need hope. Let us take our first steps towards those goals today. Thanks for your response! TRM

Obama Speech

President Obama's inauguration speech was less a call to action than a campaign speech. As such it was lacking and disappointing. I suppose the sobriquet "No Drama Obama" was well earned, however I found his speech on election eve to be more memorable but there were no memorable lines in this one.

On the whole, he earned a "D+".

Hail to the Chief!

Congratulations to President Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America.

Once again, not with gunfire but with cannon salutes, power changes hands in this experiment in democracy.

Hamas's Disproportionate Response in Gaza

I would love to hear and see some protests about the Hamas torture of Fatah-men in Gaza, including the blinding of alleged Fatah supporters, or as the reports iv'e seen state "putting their eyes out."

Look here and here.

And if you looked at the pictures in your newspaper you saw "brave Hamas fighters" standing on the corner, in uniform, now that Israel is gone. But when it came time to confront their sworn enemy, those uniforms disappeared under the rest of the dirty laundry, and if they did fight, they fought behind a shield of civilians.

The tragedy of civilian deaths must not be underestimated. However, Hamas must shoulder its war crimes responsibility responsibility for firing unguided rockets from civilian areas in Gaza into Israeli civilian areas. The terror that Hamas sowed was reaped tenfold. Unfortunately. Check out this BBCsite.

Another pictures that sticks in my mind deals was one where three or four dead babies were paraded through Gaza . The picture showed that those who carried the babies and those marching along were all young men in civialian garb. I have no doubt that most if not all of these men were Hamas. Hamas. Hiding behind dead babies.

Janury 19,2009-January 20,2009

The remarkable juxtaposition of the celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday with the inauguration of the nation's first black president is overwhelming.

Let's look forward to tomorrow, but let's also take a look back.And try to read this while you have Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" playing in the background. And try to do both without crying.

Here is the text of Dr. King's speech of August 23, 1963, with a bit more than the famous "I have a dream" quotation:

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

From Martin Luther King to Barack Obama. Some say this is a span of 40 years. Some say it is almost 400 years. Some say the time span is irrelevant. Some say every second was counted with a drop of blood.

Here we stand as a nation, on a mountaintop. Few thought it would happen, many doubted it would happen, but at least one man dreamed it would happen.

Allow yourself to shed a tear.

John Boehner, How Can You Look at Yourself in the Mirror Each Morning

Congressman John Boehner (R-OH), the current minority leader, has probably reached personal; political depths that are beyond comprehension. Elected in 1990, Boehner started out as a true maverick, uncovering myriad little Congressional perks and schemes and demanding change in the manner of an old-time conservative. But since 2000 Boehner has been a staunch Bush ally, going along with the President's budget-busting "no tax and spend like a drunken sailor" policies that have left this country bankrupt, to all intents and purposes.

So now Boehner rediscovers his small "c" conservative background to lead the charge against Barack Obama's plans to get this economy rolling again with the lame charge that Obama wants big Liberal government. take a look at this:

(T)he president understands that we need to stimulate the economy, not stimulate our government. And, if you look at the over $500 billion worth of spending, a lot of it's going to fix up federal buildings, and -- and $6 billion to community action programs to do weatherization programs.

It's just more of the same kind of wasteful spending that we have seen in the past. I was really -- I was shocked.

MARGARET WARNER: But you have...

HOUSE MINORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER: And that's what why I said what I said.

MARGARET WARNER: You have picked out fairly small little pieces of this. What about the big, broad categories? I think there are $90 billion for infrastructure, roads and sewers and bridges.

HOUSE MINORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER: No, no, no, well, there's $30 billion for -- for roads.

John Boehner, how can you look at yourself in the mirror each morning and not let that razor blade slip just a little?

Like a Dose of Salts

I sort of long for the days of Lyndon Johnson and his fondness for "jawboning", a kind of Texas arm-twisting, with people to get them to do what he wanted. Ol' Lyndon would get someone in his office or on the phone and say something like, "Your president needs you to do this, son, your country needs you!". Pretty soon the object of Lyndon's attentions would find himself with his arm twisted up behind him, his shoulder almost out of its socket, yet thinking he was patting himself on the back for doing something good for the country.

Now comes news, here, from Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod, that the President-Elect wants the banks to stop pocketing the money they are receiving from the government for bail-out purposes, and to start getting credit flowing again. Said Axelrod on ABC's "This Week" today:

"I think he is going to have a strong message for the bankers. We want to see credit flowing again. We don't want them to sit on any money that they get from taxpayers,"

As you know, the banks have been using the money to buy other banks, or to put the government dollars onto their books to make their P/L statements look rosier than they are. What they are not doing is getting the money onto the street and into the pockets of lenders to start the economy.

I close my eyes and I can see it clearly. LBJ calls a summit meeting with all the top bankers."Now boys", he says, "Your country is in a desperate time and you have the power to make things right. We gave you boys billions of dollars to put on the street and you boys are just sitting on it. Now the way to solve this problem is to start making those loans that industry and people need so much to get folks back to work and buying things and we need to do it now! Today!It's your patriotic duty! And I'm sure you boys don't want to have to use a lot of your office space for all of those federal auditors and FBI agents that I can have placed in your banks in 24 hours, now do you?"

Pretty soon those banker types would be saying, "well yeah , it's for the good of the country", and LBJ would start slapping some backs and then there would be a news conference in the Rose Garden with the President and the bankers announcing that, yep, there was a problem and they were there to solve it, with smiles and handshakes all around.

President Obama needs to get a little LBJ in him, have a confab with the bankers to apply a dose of salts in the way of government enforcement actions and get those dollars moving through the system.

Middle East Madness 4

Step right up and become a martyr. Don't worry about the innocent people who might be in your way. From the New York Times's reporter in Gaza, read this report

January 9, 2009
Fighter Sees His Paradise in Gaza’s Pain
By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY

GAZA CITY — The emergency room in Shifa Hospital is often a place of gore and despair. On Thursday, it was also a lesson in the way ordinary people are squeezed between suicidal fighters and a military behemoth.

Dr. Awni al-Jaru, 37, a surgeon at the hospital, rushed in from his home here, dressed in his scrubs. But he came not to work. His head was bleeding, and his daughter’s jaw was broken.

He said Hamas militants next to his apartment building had fired mortar and rocket rounds. Israel fired back with force, and his apartment was hit. His wife, Albina, originally from Ukraine, and his 1-year-old son were killed.

“My son has been turned into pieces,” he cried. “My wife was cut in half. I had to leave her body at home.” Because Albina was a foreigner, she could have left Gaza with her children. But, Dr. Jaru lamented, she would not leave him behind.

A car arrived with more patients. One was a 21-year-old man with shrapnel in his left leg who demanded quick treatment. He turned out to be a militant with Islamic Jihad. He was smiling a big smile.

“Hurry, I must get back so I can keep fighting,” he told the doctors.

He was told that there were more serious cases than his, that he needed to wait. But he insisted. “We are fighting the Israelis,” he said. “When we fire we run, but they hit back so fast. We run into the houses to get away.” He continued smiling.

“Why are you so happy?” this reporter asked. “Look around you.”

A girl who looked about 18 screamed as a surgeon removed shrapnel from her leg. An elderly man was soaked in blood. A baby a few weeks old and slightly wounded looked around helplessly. A man lay with parts of his brain coming out. His family wailed at his side.

“Don’t you see that these people are hurting?” the militant was asked.

“But I am from the people, too,” he said, his smile incandescent. “They lost their loved ones as martyrs. They should be happy. I want to be a martyr, too.”

Middle East Madness 3

A new Israeli weapon, meanwhile, is tailored to the Hamas tactic of asking civilians to stand on the roofs of buildings so Israeli pilots will not bomb. From the New York Times here.

Yep, that sure is a callous disregard for civilian life. Oh, and sending leaflets that they might be in danger. Yep. Yep. Callous disregard for civilians. Now tell me again about homicide bombers and rockets "aimed" at civilian areas, George.

Middle East Madness 2

Why is the world silent when Muslim crazies set off suicide(homicide)bombs that result in the murder of innocent civilians in A. Iraq B. Afghanistan C. Indonesia D. All of the above ? ANd why are simultaneous protests held in European capitals when Israel asserts its right to defend itself from rocket attacks?

Please read this story by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic here.

Okay, yesterday I was depressed. Today, I'm just pissed off. It's absolutely astonishing to me how interested the world is in Israel's failings. This is the source of a bitter but hilarious observation I once heard a Kurdish leader make: He was complaining to me that his people were cursed, and I asked him what he meant: Cursed by geography, cursed by their proximity to Kurd-hating Arabs, what? He said the Kurds were cursed because they didn't have Jewish enemies. Only with Jewish enemies would the world pay attention to their plight.

For the record: I defend Israel's right to defend itself, but I fear that Gaza will quickly become a quagmire. I fear for the lives of Israelis, obviously, but I also fear for the lives of Palestinian civilians -- I have friends there, in harm's way -- in part because the Israeli army (and I say this from personal experience) can be a big, rough bulldozer of an army, and in part (large part) because Hamas terrorists unblinkingly and ostentatiously use their own civilians as human shields. I've seen this up-close, and it's repulsive. One story the media isn't telling, because it's impossible to get this story in these circumstances (especially because Israel stupidly won't allow foreign reporters into Gaza) is how much resentment the Hamas policy of using Palestinians as human shields causes among Gaza civilians. Early reports indicate that Hamas mortar teams were firing from the UN School. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

One more thing, speaking of pornography -- we've all seen endless pictures of dead Palestinian children now. It's a terrible, ghastly, horrible thing, the deaths of children, and for the parents it doesn't matter if they were killed by accident or by mistake. But ask yourselves this: Why are these pictures so omnipresent? I'll tell you why, again from firsthand, and repeated, experience: Hamas (and the Aksa Brigades, and Islamic Jihad, the whole bunch) prevents the burial, or even preparation of the bodies for burial, until the bodies are used as props in the Palestinian Passion Play. Once, in Khan Younis, I actually saw gunmen unwrap a shrouded body, carry it a hundred yards and position it atop a pile of rubble -- and then wait a half-hour until photographers showed. It was one of the more horrible things I've seen in my life. And it's typical of Hamas. If reporters would probe deeper, they'd learn the awful truth of Hamas. But Palestinian moral failings are not of great interest to many people.

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