U.S. in Afghanistan past deadline

Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy and Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday that the Obama administration is planning to maintain “joint” U.S.-Afghan military bases in Afghanistan after 2014 and it plans to conduct what Flournoy described as “joint counter-terrorism operations” with the Afghan military after that date.

FOOD PRICES JUMP MOST SINCE 1974

Wholesale prices rise 1.6 pct. due to biggest jump in food costs in more than 36 years

Kids Manipulated for Union in Wisconsin

‘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.

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.

Income Tax Cut, JFK Hopes To Spur Economy 1962/8/13

Nukes: China Syndrome

The China Syndrome (1979) HD trailer, 2:04

Michigan Unions Use Astro-Turf Protests to Intimidate Businesses

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, has brought to light the attempted strong-arm tactics of the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters in a story by Ken Braun.

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

This is not an Islamic revolution Olivier Roy

End of the old Arab strongman Olivier Roy

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

N.Y. Times: Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami

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.

Japan's nightmare gets even WORSE: All THREE damaged nuclear reactors now in 'meltdown' at tsunami-hit power station

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?

Chart Topper March 14th, 1969...Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone

Chart Topper March 14th, 1969 Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone

Energy from Quake Could Power L.A. for a Year: Japan Quake Moment #6

What passport did you use to go to Pakistan?

Hitler did not ‘Abolish Unions’ he Augmented them

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.

Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler, Volume Two - The National Socialist Movement Chapter XII: The Trade-Union Question

Silicon Graffiti, “Start from Zero

-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

Tell Maher to Use the Word: Abrogated

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.

MSNBC's Ratigan Admits Left is Scared to Criticize Obama Because He's a Black Liberal

Secret Service Releases Tape of Reagan Assassination Attempt

Incredible Audio

Obama's Oil Lies

Documentation