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.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Scary? Even Communists Surprised at ‘Radicalization’ of Wis. Dems
The heated rhetoric and aggressive attitude of some Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin has surprised many, even revolutionaries, says a leader of the Communist Party USA.
Obama says too much testing makes education boring
Iranian Video Says Mahdi is 'Near'
It describes current events in the Middle East as a prelude to the arrival of the mythical tweflth Imam or Mahdi -- the messiah figure who Islamic scriptures say will lead the armies of Islam to victory over all non-Muslims in the last days.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Energized Muslim Brotherhood in Libya eyes a prize
Largely drawn from the devout educated middle classes and university campuses in Tripoli and Benghazi, the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood was founded in the mid-1950s.
In February, as protests in Libya began, Yusuf al Qaradawi -- an Egyptian preacher in Qatar widely viewed as the Muslim Brotherhood's chief spiritual guide -- issued a fatwa or religious ruling obliging any Libyan soldier who had the opportunity to do so to assassinate the leader.
‘Get Out of Darby!’: Video Captures Physical ‘Cop-on-Cop Confrontation’ in Philly Suburb
Bad blood spills over between cops in neighboring Delaware County towns, who are caught on camera in a cop-on-cop confrontation.
Fox 29 has new video tonight of a confrontation between police officers in Darby and Colwyn boroughs.
The county District Attorney is looking into the case, after a Colwyn officer accused Darby’s police chief of assaulting him.
Now its Not Days, Not Weeks but Libya Op To Last Months
The lack of clarity on that question reflects a worry for lawmakers clamoring to hear fuller explanations from the administration on why the U.S. was embroiling itself in another Muslim conflict and what the ultimate goals of the intervention are.
"When it comes to Libya, we started hearing from the U.K., France, Italy, other of our NATO allies," she added. "This was in their vital national interest."
Clinton declined to say if the U.S. might be willing to enter other conflicts where governments attack their own people. She told CBS'"Face The Nation" that it was too early to talk of intervention in Syria, where security forces have opened fire on protesters amid nationwide unrest. Unlike Gadhafi, Syrian President Bashar Assad is a "different leader" and many members of Congress who have visited the country "believe he's a reformer," Clinton said.
Asked about Yemen, where the embattled U.S. ally Ali Abdullah Saleh was just barely holding on to his 33-year-old grip on power, Gates cited grave concerns.
International cooperation took place in “record time,” Hillary said, adding that the 1990s bloodshed in places like Rwanda, the Balkans and Kosovo taught the world the dangers of delay. “I’ve never seen anything like it, where the world spoke so unequivocally,” she said on ABC.
The gist of Libya seems to be the preoccupation with the Islamic Middle East as a top priority for Obama and issues of genocide are now considered the top foreign policy focus.
Defense Secretary: Libya Did Not Pose Threat to U.S., Was Not 'Vital National Interest' to Intervene
During his campaign for the Presidency, in December, 2007, Barack Obama told The Boston Globe that “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.”
Earlier in 2007, then-Senator Hillary Clinton said in a speech on the Senate floor that, “If the administration believes that any -- any -- use of force against Iran is necessary, the President must come to Congress to seek that authority.”
Tapper asked Clinton, “Why not got to Congress?”
“Well, we would welcome congressional support,” the Secretary said, “but I don't think that this kind of internationally authorized intervention where we are one of a number of countries participating to enforce a humanitarian mission is the kind of unilateral action that either I or President Obama was speaking of several years ago.”
“I think that this had a limited timeframe, a very clearly defined mission which we are in the process of fulfilling,” Clinton said.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Studies shows the wealthy in America pay more of the nation's tax burden than in any other industrialized country
Giving the U.S. "the most progressive income tax system" in the world.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Time-lapse video captures rare views of Northern Lights
The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.
Norwegian landscape photographer Terje Sorgjerd spent one week around Kirkenes and the Norway-Russia border, in -25 Celsius temperature, to make this magnificent time-lapse video of the Aurora Borealis.
WAR POWERS RESOLUTION and NATO
The War Powers Resolution (WPR) states that the President’s powers as Commander in Chief to introduce U.S. forces into hostilities or imminent hostilities can only be exercised pursuant to (1) a declaration of war; (2) specific statutory authority; or (3) a national emergency created by an attack on the United States or its forces.
It requires the President in every possible instance to consult with Congress before introducing American Armed Forces into hostilities or imminent hostilities unless there has been a declaration of war or other specific congressional authorization.
It also requires the President to report to Congress any introduction of forces into hostilities or imminent hostilities; into foreign territory while equipped for combat; or in numbers which substantially enlarge U.S. forces equipped for combat already in a foreign nation.
Once a report is submitted, or ‘required to be submitted’, Congress must authorize the use of force within 60-90 days or the forces must be withdrawn.
The North Atlantic Treaty provides guidance on the operations of its members. Article II of the Treaty states that its
…provisions are to be carried out by the parties “in accordance with their respective constitutional processes”, implying that NATO treaty commitments do not override U.S. constitutional provisions regarding the role of Congress in determining the extent of U.S. participation in NATO missions.
Section 8(a) of the WPR states specifically that authority to introduce U.S. forces into hostilities is not to be inferred from any treaty, ratified before or after 1973, unless implementing legislation specifically authorizes such introduction and says it is intended to constitute an authorization within the meaning of the War Powers Resolution.
Obama advisor calls for the invasion of Israel: Power and Soros
Power was as an Obama adviser from 2005 until the “monster” comment about Hillary Clinton in March of 2008; she is back now on Obama's National Security Council.
Dem: Obama Told Me We Would Be "In And Out" Of Libya
"Everything that the President has indicated to me is that we expect to be 'in and out' very quickly. The reason why we started is because we have the technology that the other countries don't have but after the first week or so we're expecting the British, the French and the other NATO countries to really take over for us," Rep. Engel Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) told ABC News' "Top Line" program.
Engel said that Obama needs to address the nation on Libya. Engel says Obama also needs to talk to Congress if the operation in Libya "lasted a few weeks."
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
He won, but for what?
Maybe the fundamentalists were right all along: "I looked up and saw a white horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory" (Revelation 6:2). The bible seems to prophesy a man of peace who will be hailed by the world. He did escalate the war in Afghanistan by increasing American presence there by 21,000 troops; and, more Americans have died there this year, by October, than have died there in 2001, '02, '03, and '04 combined. Maybe the committee in Norway (the Swedes award the other prizes) forgot about the dead.
Camp Lejeune Marines To Libya
About 2,200 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit will take part in support operations based aboard USS Kearsarge at sea. Those support operations have thus far included air strikes and one rescue operation. The overall mission is to help end the violence directed at the Libyan people.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tom Lehrer - Send the Marines
Recording date: September 11th 1967
Format: Ampex Quadruplex PAL 4:3
Status: A very rare recording
Storage: Sony Digital Betacam
Production and preservation: The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation - the NRK, Norway.
Japan Nuclear Emergency: Experts from Univ. of Michigan Discuss Critical Issues
While exposed spent fuel rods at the failing nuclear reactors in Japan pose new threats, the worst-case scenario would still be unlikely to expose the public to catastrophic amounts of radiation, says a University of Michigan nuclear engineering professor who is an expert on this particular kind of reactor.
"For the public, I don't believe it would be much higher than two additional chest x-rays," said John Lee, a professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, citing the results of the Three Mile Island accident.
While the event appears to have progressed beyond Three Mile Island, Lee said that during that 1979 incident in Harrisburg, Penn., two chest X-rays were the worst radiation exposure experienced by plant workers. The public was exposed to much less.
Lee worked at General Electric during the time the company was making the type of boiling water reactor at the Fukushima plant. His book, "Risk and Safety Analysis of Nuclear Systems," will be published in May.
Spent fuel, which is fuel that has already been used but still retains a level of radioactivity, is a new concern, says Thomas Downar, a professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences.
"The worst thing that could happen now is the fuel rods could be exposed to the air and that could be, then, down to our last barrier," Downar said. "We could not have a recriticality, or a nuclear explosion. It's physically impossible in this kind of system."
Lee and Downar are among the professors in the No. 1-ranked University of Michigan Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences who are studying the technical issues involved in the emergency situation in Japan.
While the researchers understand that the situation is serious, they stress that a "meltdown" does not necessarily mean a major release of harmful radiation, and that the situation, while dire, is still more a kin to Three Mile Island than Chernobyl. A Chernobyl type of explosion is impossible in these plants, Lee said.
The new generation of nuclear reactors in the United States, the researchers say, are equipped with "passive" technologies that allow them to be cooled even during power blackouts. Water does not need to be pumped in, which has been a challenge in Japan.
Experts from the department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at Michigan Engineering discuss some of the critical issues surrounding the nuclear emergency in Japan.
19,000 Jobs Worth $1.1 Billion in Wages Lost Nationally Since Offshore Drilling Moratorium Imposed
Joseph Mason, author of “The Economic Cost of a Moratorium on Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration to the Gulf Region,” estimated that the new regional job losses due to the moratorium on offshore oil production in the Gulf region is now 13,000 – up from his original estimate of 8,000.
Mason also estimated the national job losses to have increased from 12,000 to 19,000; regional wage losses to be $800 million, up from $500 million; national wage losses to be $1.1 billion, up from $700 million; lost tax revenues on the state and local level to be $155 million, up from $100 million; and lost tax revenues on the national level to be $350 million, up from $200 million.
9/11 Military Case Has Stalled as White House Pushes for Civilian Trials
Libya: Who is providing what in the war effort
The Left’s Economic Terrorism Playbook: The Chase Campaign by a Coalition of Unions, Community Groups, Lawmakers and Students to Take Down US Capitalism and Redistribute Wealth & Power
Full version
The former SEIU official, Stephen Lerner, spoke in a closed session at a Pace University forum last weekend.
[...]
Lerner said that unions and community organizations are, for all intents and purposes, dead. The only way to achieve their goals, therefore--the redistribution of wealth and the return of "$17 trillion" stolen from the middle class by Wall Street--is to "destabilize the country."
Lerner's plan is to organize a mass, coordinated "strike" on mortgage, student loan, and local government debt payments--thus bringing the banks to the edge of insolvency and forcing them to renegotiate the terms of the loans. This destabilization and turmoil, Lerner hopes, will also crash the stock market, isolating the banking class and allowing for a transfer of power.
Lerner's plan starts by attacking JP Morgan Chase in early May, with demonstrations on Wall Street, protests at the annual shareholder meeting, and then calls for a coordinated mortgage strike.
Lerner also says explicitly that, although the attack will benefit labor unions, it cannot be seen as being organized by them. It must therefore be run by community organizations.
Lerner was ousted from SEIU last November, reportedly for spending millions of the union's dollars trying to pursue a plan like the one he details here. It is not clear what, if any, power and influence he currently wields. His main message--that Wall Street won the financial crisis, that inequality in this country is hitting record levels, and that there appears to be no other way to stop the trend--will almost certainly resonate.
Update: Florida Goes Sharia Law
Monday, March 21, 2011
Brazil Petrobras gets permit for U.S. deep waters in Gulf of Mexico
U.S. Congressman Bill Flores (R-TX) serves as a Member on the House Budget and Natural Resources Committees. Before retiring to pursue public service, Flores served as CFO for a number of successful energy companies and ultimately became the CEO and president of Phoenix Exploration Company. He has 30 years of experience in the energy industry, including oil field services, as well as exploration and production.
Floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) systems have become regular features of oil drilling.
Dilma Rousseff, a former guerrilla leader, and current Brazilian president, spent nearly three years in jail in the early 1970s.
Kucinich: Obama Ignored Constitution, Own Advice With Libyan Strikes
"If this was so grave, Congress is still in session. The President could have said 'don't go home, I've got to talk to you about what's happening here. I may need your approval.' This is about the Constitution and if we don't abide by our Constitution, everything falls apart here. This is about the Constitution, not about whether you like President Obama or not. I like President Obama, but I love the Constitution," Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said on FOX News this morning.
Kucinich quoted President Obama from 2007, where he said the President "does not have the power," according to the Constitution, to attack without Congressional approval:
"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," Obama said in 2007.
Dem Congressman: "We're In Libya Because Of Oil"
"Well, we're in Libya because of oil. And I think both Japan and the nuclear technology and Libya and this dependence that we have upon imported oil have both once again highlighted the need for the United States to have a renewable energy agenda going forward," Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) said on MSNBC.
US Army 'kill team' in Afghanistan
posed for photos of murdered civilians
Commanders brace for backlash of anti-US sentiment that could be more damaging than after the Abu Ghraib scandal.
US Army apology for photos of soldiers with Afghan body
US Army Apologizes for Horrific Photos from Afghanistan
Only a story and no video here.
Nothing really at:
Sunday, March 20, 2011
KT McFarland and John Bolton on Libya
“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.
BushObama on War
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
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Update Libya
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).
Florida Goes Sharia Law
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.
Update Brazil Racist and Communist Protests Against Obama
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.
Libyan Theater
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
Friday, March 18, 2011
Obama Understates Deficit by $2.3 Trillion
The Congressional Budget Office estimate says that if Obama’s February budget submission were enacted into law it would produce deficits totaling $9.5 trillion – an average of almost $1 trillion a year.
Obama’s budget foresaw deficits totaling $7.2 trillion over the same period.
The difference is chiefly because CBO has a less optimistic estimate of how much the government will take in from tax revenues, partly because the administration has rosier economic projections.
The Senate is also worried about the president’s budget numbers.
This exchange between Jeff Sessions, the Republican Senator from Alabama, and Heather Higginbottom, the new nominee for Deputy Director of OMB, is from Higginbottom’s confirmation hearing, which took place yesterday.
Israeli PM Slams European ‘Fusion’ of Radical Islam, Far Left
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.
Racist Brazilians Greet Obama
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
Amphibious assault ship USS Bataan sent to Libya
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.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Japan Update
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
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
This is what a wi-fi network looks like
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.
Heated Fox Debate Breaks Out as Scientist ‘Redoubles’ Claim of ‘Overblown’ Nuke Concerns
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.
U.S. in Afghanistan past deadline
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
‘This Panic Has Been Horribly Overblown’: Scientist Decries Nuke ‘Fear Mongering’
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.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Ides of March: 15 March
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.
Michigan Unions Use Astro-Turf Protests to Intimidate Businesses
The Carpenters Union is using astro-turf tactics, hiring non-union day laborers, paying these workers less than union wages and not offering benefits.
Niall Ferguson- By 2021 There Could Be A Restored Middle Eastern Caliphate
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
Andrew Klavan: Behold! Your Public Sector Unions at Work
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.
Japan Update
Since 2008, "Previous studies have documented that dust from Asia — especially from deserts and industrial regions of China — routinely crosses the Pacific Ocean on prevailing winds to sully the air over the western U.S."
WHAT HAPPENS IN A NUCLEAR MELTDOWN?
The Japanese reactors work by harnessing the energy of thousands of nuclear fuel rods, that are normally kept submerged in water to keep them cool.
But if the cooling system fails, the heat generated by the nuclear reaction increases uncontrollably.
If that continues for long enough, the nuclear fuel can melt, forming molten pools on the floor of the reactor at thousands of degrees celcius.
This is a meltdown.
These pools of molten fuel can melt through the reactor safety barriers - there is an inner and outer shield.
The worst case scenario is that the protective shield around the reactors is melted away, resulting in a serious leak of radioactive material.
U.S. NAVY FLEES RADIOACTIVE PLUME FROM REACTOR BLAST
The United States Navy has moved its Seventh Fleet away from an earthquake-stricken Japanese nuclear power plant after detecting raised radiation levels.
The fleet said today that the radiation was from a plume of smoke and steam released from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which has been hit by two explosions since Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, pictured, was about 100miles (160km) offshore when its instruments detected the radiation.
But the fleet said the dose of radiation was about the same as one month's normal exposure to natural background radiation in the environment.
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?
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Chart Topper March 14th, 1969...Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone
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