Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
“It’s a slippery slope that does set a precedent.”
So says Fox News contributor and foreign policy expert KT McFarland about Obama’s decision to intervene in Libya and not other countries experiencing unrest.
According to McFarland, the action could mark the start of “a new kind of war,” in which the U.S. inserts itself into a “civil war” aimed at changing not a government in general but rather its policies.
MARCH 19, 2003
BUSH: 'American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.'
MARCH 19, 2011
OBAMA: 'Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people. And we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world.'
Ralph Nader calls for impeachment
Once and future Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein shake hands December 20, 1983 in Baghdad, Iraq. Rumsfeld met with Hussein during the war between Iran and Iraq as an envoy for former US President Ronald Reagan. (Photo by Getty Images)
Obama and Muammar Gaddafi in 2009.
“The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”
— Senator Barack Hussein Obama, December 20, 2007, Boston.com
James Madison was very clear on why the founders vested the Legislature and not the Executive with the power to declare war:
"The Constitution expressly and exclusively vests in the Legislature the power of declaring a state of war [and] the power of raising armies. A delegation of such powers [to the president] would have struck, not only at the fabric of our Constitution, but at the foundation of all well organized and well checked governments. The separation of the power of declaring war from that of conducting it, is wisely contrived to exclude the danger of its being declared for the sake of its being conducted.”
Author, Samantha Power, and her husband, Cass Sunstein, wrote a book which may provide insight into Obama's war escalation. Power currently sits on the National Security Council, and she was counseling Obama this week when he decided to take action in Libya. But nine years ago she wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “A Problem From Hell: American and the Age of Genocide.”
Power describes America’s (and then President Bill Clinton’s) early approach to the mid-90s conflict in Bosnia:
But American resolve soon wilted. Saving Bosnian lives was not deemed worth risking U.S. soldiers or challenging America’s European allies who wanted to remain neutral. Clinton and his team shifted from the language of genocide to that of “tragedy” and “civil war,” downplaying public expectations that there was anything the United States could do. Secretary of State Warren Christopher had never been enthusiastic about U.S. involvement in the Balkans.
As hinted in that passage, and as is made clear later in the book, Power scoffs at the idea that committing U.S. forces, and risking U.S. soldiers, may not be in the best interest of the United States.
In her conclusion, she writes:
The United States should stop genocide for two reasons. The first and most compelling reason is moral. When innocent life is being taken on such a scale and the United States has the power to stop the killing at reasonable risk, it has a duty to act. It is this belief that motivates most of those who seek intervention. But history has shown that the suffering of victims has rarely been sufficient to get the United States to intervene.
The second reason, Power continues, is a round-about form of “self interest.” Channeling the advice of others before her she says, “They warned that allowing genocide undermined regional and international stability, created militarized refugees, and signaled dictators that hate and murder were permissible tools of statecraft.”
From the sound of Obama’s speech on Friday, it is evident Power has his ear. His reasoning for Libyan intervention was a paraphrase of Power’s conclusion:
Now, here’s why this matters to us. Left unchecked, we have every reason to believe that Qaddafi would commit atrocities against his people [Power's first point]. Many thousands could die. A humanitarian crisis would ensue. The entire region could be destabilized, endangering many of our allies and partners [Power's second point]. The calls of the Libyan people for help would go unanswered. The democratic values that we stand for would be overrun. Moreover, the words of the international community would be rendered hollow. [Emphasis added]
There are those who disagree with Power and her interventionist doctrine. There is a balance between protecting U.S interests and going “in search of monsters to destroy,” as John Quincy Adams once put it.
Daniel Ellsberg's anti-war speech
Anti-war activist Daniel Ellsberg, author of the Pentagon Papers, arrested.
Navy Releases First Video of Tomahawk Missiles Launched at Libya
Libya and the Left's Sickening Hypocrisy on the Use of Military Force By Michael Filozof
Democrat Woodrow Wilson sent American forces to Europe in 1917 not for concrete American interests but for the hazy notion of making the world "safe for democracy." 100,000 were killed.
Democrat Franklin Roosevelt wanted involvement, but public opinion would not allow him to send troops when the British were being bombarded by the Luftwaffe in 1940. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Congress rightly declared war on them; but commander-in-chief Roosevelt committed American forces first to North Africa, then to Italy, then to Germany. Japan, the only Axis power to actually attack the U.S., was defeated last. 400,000 Americans were killed.
Democrat Harry Truman sent American forces to defend South Korea after communist North Korea invaded in 1950. The communists believed they had a green light to attack when Truman's Secretary of State Dean Acheson failed to include South Korea in America's defense "perimeter." Truman refused to use nuclear weapons to save American lives. End result: 50,000 American dead for a stalemate. Sixty years later, communist North Korea is still there, and now it has nuclear weapons.
Democrat John Kennedy began American involvement in Vietnam, and Democrat Lyndon Johnson escalated the war, sending 500,000 American troops. End result: 58,000 American dead, and a humiliating withdrawal.
Democrat Bill Clinton sent American warplanes to bomb Serbia, which never attacked us; and on Dec. 16, 1998 (which just happened to be the night before he was to be impeached) Clinton ordered four days of bombing missions against Iraq.
Bush continued Clinton's policy against Iraq and Congress approved the Iraq War. The Iraq Resolution or the Iraq War Resolution (formally the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, Pub.L. 107-243, 116 Stat. 1498, enacted October 16, 2002, H.J.Res. 114) is a joint resolution passed by the United States Congress in October 2002 as Public Law No: 107-243, authorizing the Iraq War.
Cf. http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2011032096335
Arab League condemns broad bombing campaign in Libya.
Cf. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/02/25/world/middleeast/map-of-how-the-protests-unfolded-in-libya.html
Creedence Clearwater Revivial, Bad Moon Rising, 2:16
The BGM-109 Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a submerged submarine. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures and acquisitions, is now made by Raytheon. Some Tomahawks were also manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security).
Ulama (Arabic علماء, ‘Ulamā, singular: عالِم, ‘Ālim, "scholar"), also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law. While the ulama are well versed in legal fiqh (jurisprudence) being Islamic lawyers, some of them also go on to specialize in other fields, such as hadeeth or tafseer.
Bullets Fly at Anti-Obama Protest In Rio.
A manifestação contra a vinda do presidente norte-americano foi duramente reprimida pela Polícia Militar no Rio de Janeiro, no final da tarde e início da noite desse 18 de março.
Sigonella's size and close proximity to Libya makes it an obvious staging point for any military action, but other bases were being readied as well, including the U.S. air base at Aviano in northern Italy.
Witnesses reported Saturday that five American F-18s, two C-17s and a C-130 cargo plane landed Saturday at Aviano, which is home to the 31st Fighter Wing.
Two U.S. officials said U.S. forces are not involved in the military operation at this point. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets (F/A for Fighter/Attack). The F/A-18 was derived from the YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations. It has been the aerial demonstration aircraft for the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, since 1986.
The fighter's primary missions are fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), air interdiction, close air support and aerial reconnaissance. Its versatility and reliability have proven it to be a valuable carrier asset, though it has been criticized for its lack of range and payload compared to its earlier contemporaries, such as the F-14 Tomcat in the fighter and strike fighter role, and the A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair II in the attack role.
Footage of two F-18s flying over Kirkland, WA during Seafair 2010.
Warplane Goes Down in Flames
In an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan Thursday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took aim at what he called Europe’s “strange fusion” of radical Islam and the far left.
“There is a new boiling anti-semitism of radical Islam that sweeps Europe as a whole, and there’s a strange fusion – it’s the only word I can use to describe it — a fusion with the anti-semitism of the radical far, far left,” Netanyahu said.
“This is the strangest union you could possibly contemplate,” he added, “because radical Muslims — they stone women, they execute gays, they are against any human rights, against feminism, against… what have you. And the far left is supposed to be for these things.”
“There’s a difference in the way that Europeans views Israel and Americans view Israel,” the prime minister said. While the United States maintains historically favorable views toward Israel, the Jewish state has become increasingly unpopular in Europe, the Washington Times adds. Most surveys across the continent show far greater support for Palestinians compared to Israelis.
A banner depicting Obama covetous of Brazil's pre-salt oil is seen during a protest against his visit to Brazil, at Candelaria square in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 18, 2011. Obama has cancelled a public speech he was scheduled to deliver Sunday in a square of Rio during his upcoming visit to Brazil, the US embassy in Brasilia said.
Demonstrators protest against Obama at Candelaria square in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on March 18, 2011. Obama has cancelled a public speech he was scheduled to deliver Sunday in a Rio square during his upcoming visit to Brazil, the US embassy in Brasilia said.
Getty Images, The Times of India
An amphibious assault ship (also referred to as a commando carrier or an amphibious assault carrier) is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from the helicopter carrier, but includes support for amphibious landing craft, with most designs including a well deck.
The role of the amphibious assault ship is fundamentally different from a standard aircraft carrier: its aviation facilities have the primary role of hosting helicopters to support forces ashore rather than to support strike aircraft. However, they are capable of serving in the sea-control role, embarking aircraft like Harrier fighters and ASW helicopters. Most of these ships can also carry or support landing craft, such as air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) or LCUs.
Cf. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/science/plume-graphic.html?ref=science
Status of the Nuclear Reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant
None of the six reactors at the plant have operated since the earthquake. But explosions have damaged four of the buildings, and fuel in the reactors and spent fuel stored in the buildings is in danger of melting and releasing radioactive materials.
Cf. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/world/asia/reactors-status.html?ref=science
How a Reactor Shuts Down and What Happens in a Meltdown
Cf. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/12/world/asia/the-explosion-at-the-japanese-reactor.html?ref=science
U.N. Scientists Project Path of Radiation Plume
Immaterials: Light painting WiFi from Timo on Vimeo.
This creative video traces the wifi strength of a city, in long exposure photographs, using a 4m rod with various points of light. It’s a beautiful look into the invisible Wifi patterns that can be found in most urban spaces.
Heartland Institute science director Jay Lehr is not backing down from his claim that the media has “overblown” concerns of nuclear catastrophe in Japan. That didn’t make fellow guest Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental research, too happy. He argued that even low-level amounts of radiation are cause for concern.
Jay Lehr, science director at the Heartland Institute, has some advice for those wondering if radiation from the crippled Japanese nuke plants could mean massive local deaths and even cross the Pacific and reach America.
In an interview on Fox News, Lehr told host Bill Hemmer that not only is the U.S. not at risk of experiencing nuclear fallout, but he also drew stark differences between atomic bombs and nuclear reactors.
“We only have to look at the worst nuclear disaster in history, that was Chernobyl, where there was no containment structure,” he said. “10 years later when all the facts were in there were less than 10 fatalities from that explosion — only people right near the plant were affected by the radiation, 1,000 people got leukemia, 998 were cured … . It was predicted that tens of thousands of people would get cancer … [but] this never happened. This is not an atomic bomb and people don’t understand a nuclear reactor is something very different than an atomic bomb.”
“There are horrible, horrible problems in Japan and the stress that this is creating is unwarranted, unnecessary,” he added, even going as far as to call stories about a possible meltdown — which he says won’t produce massive destruction — “fear mongering”:
Lehr’s comments come as the AP reports dangerous levels of radiation in Japan. A U.S. nuclear industry official says there is evidence that the primary containment structure at one of the stricken Japanese reactors has been breached, raising the risk of further release of radioactive material.
In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Julius Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and 60 other co-conspirators.
The Carpenters Union is using astro-turf tactics, hiring non-union day laborers, paying these workers less than union wages and not offering benefits.
In a 2011 interview Niall Ferguson spoke with The Telegraph about what he believes the world may look like in ten years.
Key points:
China will be the largest economy in the world by 2021
No guarantees the euro will still exist
The U.S. could europeanize itself, or it could revitalize itself
Tiny possibility we get western-style democracies in the Middle East
More alarming to think about a "restored caliphate"
Germany's love of European integration under threat
Everywhere you turn these days, your public sector unions are hard at work, protesting cutbacks to public sector unions. Andrew Klavan exposes the charming charm of your unionized civil servants.
Petrie Says Japan Nuclear Damage Emphasizes Need for LNG (Liquefied natural gas)
Cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRTtmz_tcYI
March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Thomas Petrie, vice chairman of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, talks about the potential impact of the earthquake and nuclear reactor damage in Japan on the oil and alternative energy markets. Petrie, speaking with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness," also discusses political unrest in Bahrain and its effect on oil prices. (Source: Bloomberg)
Brown Says Japan Investors' `Home Bias' on Debt May Fade
Cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQvZ8bgZPW0
March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Brendan Brown, chief economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International Plc, discusses Japan's fiscal situation in the aftermath of the nation's strongest earthquake on record. He speaks with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
How Will the Disaster in Japan Impact the World Economy?
I think that I have already answered the first question adequately. In the present state of affairs I am convinced that we cannot possibly dispense with the trades unions. On the contrary, they are among the most important institutions in the economic life of the nation. Not only are they important in the sphere of social policy but also, and even more so, in the national political sphere. For when the great masses of a nation see their vital needs satisfied through a just trade unionist movement the stamina of the whole nation in its struggle for existence will be enormously reinforced thereby.
Before everything else, the trades unions are necessary as building stones for the future economic parliament, which will be made up of chambers representing the various professions and occupations.
-The rapid social and technological gains western civilization was making in the 19th century before…
-…The arrival of Marx, Nietzsche, and other nascent “progressives,” to upset mankind’s Etch-a-Sketch.
-Nietzsche’s 1882 “God is Dead” aphorism, which ol’ Friedrich definitely considered to be a two-edged sword.
-How World War I set the stage for the rest of the horrors of the 20th century, via a quote from Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism.
-A la Woody Allen in Annie Hall, an awards ceremony for the most bloodthirsty leftwing tyrant of the 20th century.
-How the Bauhaus and other elements of the Weimar Republic were helping Germany “Start from Zero,” even before the Nazis arrived.
-A mournful 1966 Time magazine cover echoes Nietzsche, followed by more sixties reprimitivization, Haight-Ashbury style
When the Muslim apologist tries to point out the peaceful verses of the Koran, and they are there, you need to respond that those are the abrogated verses cancelled out by the later, and authoritative passages when Mohammed created a military force to slaughter his opponents. The point is well documented and indispensable.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is seen here in a situation that took place on the Senate floor in 2008 when current Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was a Democratic senator from Colorado and gas was $4-per-gallon in many areas of the country.
McConnell offered a measure to open up off-shore areas to new oil and natural gas drilling when the price of gas reached $4.50-per-gallon. Salazar objected. So McConnell changed it to $5-per-gallon. Salazar still objected.
And so on and so on it went until McConnell said $10-per-gallon. Salazar continued to object, at which point it was clear that, as the Democratic spokesman in that particular discussion, the Colorado senator would not allow America to produce more oil and gas even if Americans had to pay more than double what they were paying then for a gallon of gas.
"We believe that -- or rather we do not support calls to eliminate funding for National Public Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. As is evidenced by -- we think they're -- they are worthwhile and important priorities as our budget makes clear," White House press secretary Jay Carney said today.
The mission of the sting group is to promote sharia and NPR readily agreed.
WTC Attack September 11, 2001 from New York Police Helicopter
Video obtained by FOIA to NIST by an anonymous person who directed it be sent to Cryptome. Excerpt of the NIST letter.
Quote: These electronic files image were provided to NIST by the New York Police Department. The City of New York has provided NIST with the following notice:
"Please take notice that the City of New York ("City") has asserted that the contents of the enclosed DVD-ROM is protected under tbe Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. sections 101 et seq. Tbe City expressly reserves its rights in these materials, and requires that you obtain the City's permission prior to any reproduction, modification, adaptation, recompilation, or other derivative use of each DVD-ROM or portion thereof, including any still image extracted or derived therefrom, and that the City's permission be obtained prior to the commercial distribution of any video footage and of still or moving images extracted or derived therefrom in any medium, by sale, rental, lease, lending or other means. The City requires that the instant notice accompany any moving or still images that you disseminate for any reason, including dissemination that complies with the fair use authorized by section 107 of the Copyright Act, and requires that each recipient of these materials comply with the instant Notice. Moreover, the City requires that a summary statement of its copyright be embedded in any moving or still images extracted from the enclosed DVD-ROM that are broadcast in any medium for any purpose. This summary statement shall read as follows: "Copyright (c) NYPD." Please write to the New York City Police Department, Legal Bureau, 1 Police Plaza, Room 1406, New York, N. Y. 10038, for information about obtaining an appropriate license." Unquote
The video has been uploaded as provided by NIST without modification. Original in VOB format, 700MB.
A related collection of 153 still photos from another NYPD helicopter:
http://cryptome.org/0001/wtc-nist-gjs/wtc-nist-gjs.zip (64MB)
Overview
1. WWI: Beginnings & Progression
2. Symbols of the Stalemate
3. No One Spared
4. Killing Fields
5. Breaking Point
6. World War I Ends
7. The "Failed Peace"
8. The Legacy of the "Great War"
In her first appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee since Democrats’ health care overhaul law passed last year, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius responded to a line of questioning from Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., about whether the estimated $500 billion in Medicare cuts were to be used in sustaining the program or paying for the law.
The Medicare actuary shed light on this so-called “double counting” last year in an April 22 memo. “In practice,” he wrote, “the improved Part A financing cannot simultaneously be used to finance other Federal outlays (such as the coverage expansions under the PPACA) and to extend the trust fund, despite the appearance of this result from the respective accounting conventions.”
In other words, the money can only be used once. However, during her testimony Friday, Sebelius finally acknowledged that the Obama administration had misrepresented its accounting:
“There is an issue here on the budget because your own actuary has said you can’t double-count,” Shimkus said. “You can’t count — they’re attacking Medicare on the CR when their bill, your law, cut $500 billion from Medicare.”
He continued: “Then you’re also using the same $500 billion to what? Say your funding health care. Your own actuary says you can’t do both. … What’s the $500 billion in cuts for? Preserving Medicare or funding the health-care law?
“Both,” Sebelius replied.
This is the promo and video footage from the EDL demonstration in Rochdale. The second video features a very vociferous group of what were ostensibly UAF counter-demonstrators, but as can be heard from repeated references to the MDL (Muslim Defence League) as well as chants of ‘Allahu-akbar!’, their Islamic affiliation clearly trumped any other political position. This follows the pattern set by a UAF contingent that morphed into supporters of Muslims Against Crusades at a London demo last summer (once again with chants of ‘Allahu-akbar!’).
“The judge in this particular case in my view is wrong," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. “And we will argue the case because I don’t believe that the court has the jurisdiction to basically tell the Department of Interior what my administrative responsibilities are.”
Candidate Obama has already voted for Romney. The Establishment has weighed in already and they favor a Romney vs. Obama campaign. This decision has come early in the campaign cycle but it looks like who the favored candidates are the difference between tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum.
A stunning revelation contained in the report is that two unnamed and untraceable investors were the number one traders in all financial companies that collapsed or are currently being propped up by the U.S. Government.
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CIO and Strategy & Business magazines
Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science
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