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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Middle East Madness 1

From a friend:

No explanation needed ~

Future War, Cyber War

Once again another part of the middle east has armies marching. Once again innocent civilians suffer. At this time, I won't debate the merits of the Israeli action against Hamas in Gaza. What i find interesting is combat in another sphere- cyberspace.

I believe that I have reached the point of annoying some friends in the military by focusing to such a great degree on cyberspace.Unfortunately, it seems that most of the military is pre-occupied with fighting the last war, no matter how they determine what the last war might have been. For example, was the last war the surge in Iraq? The failures in Afghanistan? Arab-Israeli conflicts? Panama? Vietnam? For the professional military, the question is, "What was the last war and what are the lessons to be learned?" While this certainly is a valid exercise, the real question is, "What is the next war and what do we have to know in order to win it?"

In my estimation, the next war will occur in cyberspace, specifically the control of information via electronic means, especially the internet. By necessity, this is a broad definition of the battlefield but let me give some examples. Today, one of the web sites that I view regularly Debka.com, which specializes in Israeli affairs, reported that it was "off the air" yesterday because it was under cyber attack. In the past few months, I reported on suspected Chinese penetration of computers belonging to members of the United States Senate. Further Chinese penetration occurred to computers that were taken into that country during the Beijing Olympics. Unknown entities have penetrated systems used by the the Department of Defense, which relies heavily on cyberspace for everything from internet e-mails to combat operations and communications. NASA systems have been penetrated. Al Qeda and other terrorist organizations use the internet to disseminate information. It was reported that Russia penetrated and blocked Georgian cyber systems during their recent war.

Infantry, and assault weapons and field guns and fighter jets will always be needed, and I have no doubt about the value of "lessons learned" sessions. I just hope that some quality theoretical thinking is taking place and practical applications are being developed to ensure our superiority in the next battlefield-cyberspace.