I woke up one morning and all of my stuff had been stolen ... and replaced by exact duplicates. -- Steven Wright
Monday, August 28, 2006
Interrogative Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Over
Military phonetic spelling of “WTF?”
What in Sam Hill are the dumbasses in Sacramento doing now? It seems they think that the California voter is too stupid to make up his or her own mind about Presidential elections, so they want the people of the other 49 states to make up our mind for us!
But last week the California Senate passed legislation to award the state’s Electoral College votes to the candidate who has received the most popular votes nationally--whether Californians chose him or not. A similar bill passed the Assembly on May 30, so it will soon be up to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign or veto the bill. Such a bill also passed the Colorado Senate in April, part of a national to change the way we choose our presidents. The mandate doesn’t take effect until enough other states sign on to provide a majority of electoral votes. If it were in effect in 2004, George W. Bush would have taken California’s 55 electoral votes, even though John Kerry carried the state by a margin of nearly 10%.
If you live here in California, it’s too late to bitch at your State Senators and Assemblymen, but if you don’t like the idea of some yahoo living half a continent away overriding your Presidential vote, then you need to call Governor Scwarzenegger’s office right away and let his staff know what you think. (He has branch offices in most main cities - I called the one in Riverside - so check with the phone book for the closest number.)
If you don’t live in California, you should check with your State legislatures to make sure that no one else is attempting such a power grab in your state.
If you don’t vote, you don’t get to bitch, but this bill would take away what little power you had in favor of the heavily urban areas throughout the nation.
(h/t Cold Fury and Daily Pundit)
Sunday, August 27, 2006
On this first anniversary of Katrina….
...I decided to post my entry about the ‘timeline’ of events. In the article, I opined that there were ‘2000-6000 deaths’, and the total to date stands at 1,836. However, what I think is important is to look at the events as they were presented at the time....before all the media-induced haze that formed as the BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) kicked in full throttle.
I put the full entry under the fold, and the link to it (when originally published on Drumwaster’s Rants) is here.
Read and comment on what you remember of that storm, and your memories in general..
...and that is disagree with someone I admire....that person being Lee at Right-Thinking.com. He is very upset at the federal response to the hurricane, and I completely understand that. However, I think we need to look at some things first.
THURSDAY 6:36 PM EDT: UPDATE: After you read the entirety of what I have said, please read the afterword. Maybe for a bit, the Great Drumwaster could let this stick at the top for you to see the update I have entered in.
We have to look at the timeline of events....what happened when, where Katrina was concerned. We have to be dispassionate...and that is hard, with 2000-6000 dead in the ravaged areas. However, to see the real story, we should go over the timeline.....
The current levee system in New Orleans was built in 1966, and have been improved regularly since then. They were built and maintained to withstand the force of a Catagory Three hurricane. Why? Because, according the article, New Orleans has never been struck by a Catagory 4 or 5 hurricane. Of the 553 Atlantic hurricanes measured since 1886, 34 have struck within 100 nautical miles of New Orleans. That means that there is a 6% chance that a hurricane will strike within 100 NM of New Orleans in a given year. Within 50 NM, the chances are 4%.
83% of all the hurricanes measured since 1886 have been Catagory 1, 2, or 3 storms. So, the chance of a catagory 4 or 5 hurricane striking New Orleans is 17% of 4%, or .68%. That works out to one chance in 147. Since 13.5% of all hurricanes are Catagory 4, and the remainder are Catagory 5, that puts the odds at one in 197, and one in 588, respectively. So, in a given year, the chance of the levees holding is 99.32%. With no history of a Catagory 4 or 5 storm hitting the area, the cost-benefit analysis had shown that the investment in Catagory 4 or 5 levees was not required.
Before people start complaining about funding, it needs to be noted here that funding for the New Orleans levees had been dropping since at least 1998. This was not a new crisis, caused by the current administration. In fact, the section of levee that failed was new.
Moving forward, let’s skip ahead to two weeks ago.
On August 27th, NOAA issued the first advisory that Katrina had a 25% chance of striking the area around New Orleans. At that time, it was a Catagory 3 storm. The mayor of New Orleans had, as part of his plan, a 50-hour window in order to put together his plan. He scheduled a meeting with his emergency preparedness team at 5:00 CDT on Fridaythe 26th. After that meeting, Nagin (the mayor) said he would make a decision at noontime on Saturday whether to call for an evacuation. At 12:47 AM on Sunday the 28th, he was “...exploring the idea...” of a mandatory evacuation. At that point, Katrina striking within 100 miles of New Orleans was a forgone conclusion....it was going to happen.
It wasn’t until Sunday that Nagin, after ignoring pleas from the Governor and the President for hours, finally gave the order for a mandatory evacuation. It was 12 hours before the hurricane was to hit. Now, the Hurricane Warning was issued at 10:00 pm the preceding day....there was no way that New Orleans could be evacuated in that time.
Now, as for the Governor...she had not declared a state of emergency as of the 26th, but, to her credit, she did make a formal request for federal aid on the 27th, at 7:00 PM local time. Bush granted it. Once that came through, the parishes surrounding New Orleans began their mandatory evacuations.
The President, for his part, issued the emergency order that allowed FEMA to aid the storm victims on the 27th. That night, he also urged Mayor Nagin to evacuate New Orleans. That call was not heeded until the next day.
Now, it is important to know that 4000 Louisiana National Guardsmen were pre-staged in Baton Rouge before the hurricane made landfall. They were there....but the hurricane and the flooding delayed their entry into New Orleans.
Also, there was a major breakdown of the local law enforcement. The New Orleans police department, usually 1500-strong, disintigrated. By 9-3-2005, their forces were down by two-thirds. Their commander in chief was Mayor Nagin. That was a total breakdown of civilian authority....and that is, without a doubt, the fault of the city leadership. Neither the President, nor the Governor, can be held responsible for that. The looting that occurred happened during that 48 hours before the federal and state troops arrived in force. That was the point where the ‘delay’ occurred. During that power vacuum.
The AP reported at 7:39 PM on the 29th that, “...The federal government began rushing baby formula, communications equipment, generators, water and ice into hard-hit areas, along with doctors, nurses and first-aid supplies.” That was the day of the storm. The same article mentions that there were search-and-rescue teams from the Pentagon there as well before nightfall on the 29th....why werent they used? Well, they were, but there was little or no security for them. So, they couldn’t be used to their full potential.
As the week went on, let’s look at the federal response:
On the 30th, FEMA teams from around the nation were moving into the area. Inherently, given the early estimate of 40,000 people in shelters, the ”500 trucks of ice, 500 trucks of water and 350 trucks of military meals ready to eat scheduled for distribution over the next 10 days.”, that was not going to be adequate. However, as the number of displaced started to grow exponentially, it was woefully poor.
The movement of people to Houston was basically a clarion call that FEMA couldn’t do it’s job on-site, due to both the security situation, and because of the inability to get resources to those who needed them. Communications between local and other authorities broke down, and repair people were turned away. All these things served to to two things....it hid the fact that the United States Navy and Coast Guard were out saving thousands of lives each day, and it put Michael Brown, the head of FEMA, into spin-mode. That was a mistake that brought a lot of attention onto himself, and exacerbated the problems at hand.
As FEMA has noted before, it takes three or four days for the main thrust of aid to enter an affected area. An area the size of Katrina’s swath will take longer. It took until Wednesday for the security situation to be calmed, then another full day for the busses and trucks and tools needed for the mass evacuation to arrive. Concurrently, by Saturday, massive amounts of food and water were arriving from FEMA.
The Governor, for her part, was unwilling to cede control of the situation to the federal government. She had not utilized a multi-state compact that would have freed up those states to send NG troops and aid until Wednesday. As of the Saturday after the storm, she had not declared a state of emergency in Louisiana. Even though the President had requested the authority to federalize all the police and LNG troops in the area, she balked, not wanting to give up the power she had over the LNG and the local police.
Since the situation on the ground was turned over to General Honore, the situation has become much, much better, with people having access to food and water. That all happened after the local authorities were supplanted by the military leader, who reports to the President.
OK....all that being said....
It is obvious that the majority of the problems were caused by the local reaction to the storm. People think that Michael Brown is an idiot.....but he’s not. He was, however, not prepared for this, and even admitted so. In that case, and though not as vociferously as Mr. Loy puts it, Mr, Brown does need to be reassigned. His failure to attack the problem until it was too late didn’t help save anyone.
However, it is abundantly clear that Bush acted accordingly this week. The military arm of the federal government served spectacularly, and many more lives would have been lost if it wasn’t for the military.
However, on the local level, the whole thing broke down. The civil infrastructure broke down. The fabric of New Orleans broke down. That isn’t the fault of the President, or the Governor, but Mayor Nagin. His leadership, and lack thereof, led to the incapacitation of the NOPD, and showed the true characteristics of local New Orleans politics. It was the opposite of 9-11, where that mayor charged into the center of it all in order to rally his safety forces. Nagin failed to act in a timely manner, and was immediately overwhelmed by the situation. he couldn’t handle it emotionally or politically, and he had spent much of the last week attacking other politicians and entities, then awkwardly praising them.
The Governor, while strong in some areas, was weak in others. I believe she was motivated by the seriousness of the situation, then acted, sadly, so that if the situation turned for the better, she could get the lion’s share of the credit. It was so obvious that Louisiana was completely overwhelmed, she should have quickly ceded authority to Washington. Had she done that earlier in the week, order may have been restored earlier, and the needed food and shelter could have been put into place 24-36 hours earlier.
OK...that’s my piece. I’ll ping Lee, and weblogs, and I welcome commentary.
AFTERWORD: As time goes on, the Governor is slowly descending into her own niche of idiotarianism...one that is terrible to behold.
First the story from Major Garrett, and the Red Cross being stopped by the Louisiana National Guard. Then, the political history, described by the Mudville Gazette. Folks, I am really, really trying to see the good side of this Governor’s actions since the storm passed, but it looks to me as if she is now acting just to shore her own political standing up....at the expense of the lives and health of the people in New Orleans.
That is low. That is murder, if that is what she is doing. With the abovestated refusal to federalize the rescue, the refusal to allow food and water and supplies into the New Orleans area, and the refusal to allow the multi-state pact to be initiated, it is looking more like that.
What changed? Why is she doing these things? Nothing she has done since the hurricane passed has been helpful to the people of Louisiana....but they sure have either protected her political power, furthered her interests, and limited what the President could to to help, since she has to OK any further federalizing of the rescue and repair effort. Is this a question of political payback, or someone that just doesn’t want anyone else getting the credit when New Orleans re-opens for business? This says it’s political....
What I think we need is her side of the story....her explanation as to why she is doing what she is doing. Mayor Nagin? He’s way over his head, and simply not able to handle this. Plus, he lacks the foresight needed to evacuate his citizens. The first 6o hours of this debacle rest on his ineffectiveness. However, I am leaning towards the Governor....she is starting to do things that seem more and more crass and politically motivated than anything else.
Also, for more of the political monster that has surfaces, and the Left’s psychotic need to ignore facts and blame Bush (note not FEMA, but Bush himself....just go and read some left-leaning blogs and thread barons), go here. Will Collier and Stephen Green are treasures of the Blogsphere for entries like this.
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Saturday, August 26, 2006
Disease from the South
I hope you’re taking your Centrum.
Go read this article, and then head back here. Done? Okay, now if you notice, all of the confirmed cases of the plague are in border states, such as California, New Mexico, and Texas, with the exception of Colorado, but we’ll get to that in a second. All of these states border with the filth from the south, also known as the third world country of Mexico, where disease runs and rampant as corruption. Colorado is a special case, because its illegal immigrant population is building faster than hell.
Now, common sense is telling me this - the plague hasn’t existed in civilized countries for hundreds of years. But due to the fact that we refuse to secure our borders, thus allowing thousands of born-in-the-dirt illegal immigrants to pass through it every year, not only are our ghettos growing and our population busting at the seams, but we’re getting diseases in our country that shouldn’t even exist anymore.
Can someone please tell me why we’re putting up with this crap?
Posted by
Helo at
09:57 PM |
License and Registration, Please
Blasted technology!
Is anyone having problems registering on the site? If so, shoot an e-mail to helo (at) drumwaster (dot) com and I’ll forward them to the boss.
{Or, conversely, they could e-mail the Boss directly at drmwstr-at-gmail(dot)com.} 
Posted by
Helo at
09:38 AM |
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Say it with me
What liberal media?
Let’s see the MSM explain this one away…
(hat tip to Mike at Cold Fury)
Open letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Well? Is that the best you’ve got?
In other news, I’d like to wish my older brother a happy birthday.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Found around the web
The World’s largest web page.
Literally.
Q: How BIG is this page?
A: This page is 9 quadrillion pixels wide by 9 quadrillion pixels tall. Thus it contains a large number of pixels:
8,100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
otherwise known as 8.1 nonillion. In scientific notation, that’s 8.1x10^30, hereafter shown in the form 8.1e30.
This means that the repeating background image has 5.4e28 stars on it-- about as many as there would be if our universe was multiplied to a million times it’s current observable size.
Futhermore, at 77 pixels to the inch, this page takes up 3.4e18 square miles and is 1.844 billion miles on a side-- an area roughly equivalent to a section of the plane of our Solar System with the sun at the center and the orbit of Saturn on the outside edge (a square 22 AU on a side). That’s about 17 billion times the surface area of the Earth.
Worth a few minutes, just to play around with it…
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Israel, Lebanon, and the rest of this junk…..
In my last column on the subject, I said the following:
“This begs the question as to what Iran’s goal is. Well, I believe it is three-fold...first, Iran wants Israel to attack these Muslim groups, because the UN will quickly and predictably blame Israel for the conflict, and the heat that was on Iran and her nuclear program would dissipate. Secondly, there is now a reason to attack Israel that is easily explainable to a restless Iranian population.....Iran herself being at risk from Israeli militancy. As I have said before, the population of Iran is not about to join the mullahs and their own personal Hitler on a war of conquest. The dictatorship would need to galvanize the population behind the government, and an Israeli attack would to that.
However, there third reason is not so clear. It stems from the fact that the other Arab states are starting to see Iran as a threat. They are seeing this for a host of reasons...the erratic diplomacy coming from Tehran, the aspirations for nuclear weapons, the preponderance of Sh’ia (Persian) Islam in Iran, and the fact that Iran is the center of the terrorist world. They all know that Iran is the top funding and logistics provider for terrorist groups (especially now that Afghanistan and Iraq have been overthrown), and they all know that Iran is the regional power to be reckoned with, especially now since Iraq was invaded and the Ba’ath regime incapacitated.
Iran might be able to bear up under the glassy and unfocused eye of European diplomacy, but would suffer if the United States and the nearby Arab (Sunni) nations came to agreements about the expansionistic nature of the Islamic Republic. Those kind of agreements would enable the Americans to push a deterrent force forward towards Iran, and Tehran could do nothing against that. It might be able to in the still-unstable Iraq, but it couldn’t to the established nations around her. Therefore, she needs a situation or an occurance that would unite the Islamic nations of the Middle East against a common enemy...Iran needed Israel to go to war against an Arab nation, in order to get the growing heat off of her, and to divert world ‘opinion’ .”
Emphasis added.
What is the body of the Resoution itself? Well, let’s read...with more emphasis:
The Security Council,
Recalling all its previous resolutions on Lebanon, in particular resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 520 (1982), 1559 (2004), 1655 (2006), 1680 (2006) and 1697 (2006), as well as the statements of its president on the situation in Lebanon, in particular the statements of 18 June, 2000, of 19 October, 2004, of 4 May 2005, of 23 January 2006 and of 30 July 2006;
Expressing its utmost concern at the continuing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since Hezbollah’s attack on Israel (1) on 12 July 2006, which has already caused hundreds of deaths and injuries on both sides, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons;
Emphasising the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasising the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis, including by the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers;
Mindful of the sensitivity of the issue of prisoners and encouraging the efforts aimed at urgently settling the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel;
Welcoming the efforts of the Lebanese prime minister and the commitment of the government of Lebanon, in its seven-point plan, to extend its authority over its territory, through its own legitimate armed forces, such that there will be no weapons without the consent of the government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the government of Lebanon(2), welcoming also its commitment to a UN force that is supplemented and enhanced in numbers, equipment, mandate and scope of operation, and bearing in mind its request in this plan for an immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces from southern Lebanon;
Determined to act for this withdrawal to happen at the earliest;
Taking due note of the proposals made in the seven-point plan regarding the Shebaa farms area;
Welcoming the unanimous decision by the government of Lebanon on 7 August 2006 to deploy a Lebanese armed force of 15,000 troops in south Lebanon as the Israeli army withdraws behind the Blue Line and to request the assistance of additional forces from Unifil as needed, to facilitate the entry of the Lebanese armed forces into the region and to restate its intention to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces with material as needed to enable it to perform its duties;
Aware of its responsibilities to help secure a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to the conflict;
Determining that the situation in Lebanon constitutes a threat to international peace and security;
1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;
2. Upon full cessation of hostilities, calls upon the government of Lebanon and Unifil as authorised by paragraph 11 to deploy their forces together throughout the South and calls upon the government of Israel, as that deployment begins, to withdraw all of its forces from southern Lebanon in parallel;
3. Emphasises the importance of the extension of the control of the government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory in accordance with the provisions of resolution 1559 (2004) and resolution 1680 (2006), and of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, for it to exercise its full sovereignty, so that there will be no weapons without the consent of the government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the government of Lebanon;
4. Reiterates its strong support for full respect for the Blue Line;
5. Also reiterates its strong support, as recalled in all its previous relevant resolutions, for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized borders, as contemplated by the Israeli-Lebanese General Armistice Agreement of 23 March 1949;
6. Calls on the international community to take immediate steps to extend its financial and humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people, including through facilitating the safe return of displaced persons and, under the authority of the government of Lebanon, reopening airports and harbours, consistent with paragraphs 14 and 15, and calls on it also to consider further assistance in the future to contribute to the reconstruction and development of Lebanon;
7. Affirms that all parties are responsible for ensuring that no action is taken contrary to paragraph 1 that might adversely affect the search for a long-term solution, humanitarian access to civilian populations, including safe passage for humanitarian convoys, or the voluntary and safe return of displaced persons, and calls on all parties to comply with this responsibility and to cooperate with the Security Council;
8. Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution based on the following principles and elements:
* Full respect for the Blue Line by both parties;
* security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL as authorised in paragraph 11, deployed in this area;
* Full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state(3);
* No foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its government;
* No sales or supply of arms and related materiel to Lebanon except as authorized by its government;
* Provision to the United Nations of all remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israel’s possession;
9. Invites the secretary general to support efforts to secure as soon as possible agreements in principle from the government of Lebanon and the government of Israel to the principles and elements for a long-term solution as set forth in paragraph 8, and expresses its intention to be actively involved;
10. Requests the secretary general to develop, in liaison with relevant international actors and the concerned parties, proposals to implement the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), including disarmament, and for delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including by dealing with the Shebaa farms area, and to present to the Security Council those proposals within 30 days;
11. Decides, in order to supplement and enhance the force in numbers, equipment, mandate and scope of operations, to authorize an increase in the force strength of Unifil to a maximum of 15,000 troops, and that the force shall, in addition to carrying out its mandate under resolutions 425 and 426 (1978):
* a. Monitor the cessation of hostilities;
* b. Accompany and support the Lebanese armed forces as they deploy throughout the South, including along the Blue Line, as Israel withdraws its armed forces from Lebanon as provided in paragraph 2;
* c. Coordinate its activities related to paragraph 11 (b) with the government of Lebanon and the government of Israel;
* d. Extend its assistance to help ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the voluntary and safe return of displaced persons;
* e. Assist the Lebanese armed forces in taking steps towards the establishment of the area as referred to in paragraph 8(4);
* f. Assist the government of Lebanon, at its request, to implement paragraph 14;
12. Acting in support of a request from the government of Lebanon to deploy an international force to assist it to exercise its authority throughout the territory, authorizes Unifil to take all necessary action in areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities, to ensure that its area of operations is not utilised for hostile activities of any kind, to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its duties under the mandate of the Security Council, and to protect United Nations personnel, facilities, installations and equipment, ensure the security and freedom of movement of United Nations personnel, humanitarian workers, and, without prejudice to the responsibility of the government of Lebanon, to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence;
13. Requests the secretary general urgently to put in place measures to ensure Unifil is able to carry out the functions envisaged in this resolution, urges member states to consider making appropriate contributions to Unifil and to respond positively to requests for assistance from the Force, and expresses its strong appreciation to those who have contributed to Unifil in the past;
14. Calls upon the government of Lebanon to secure its borders and other entry points to prevent the entry in Lebanon without its consent of arms or related materiel and requests Unifil as authorised in paragraph 11 to assist the government of Lebanon at its request;
15. Decides further that all states shall take the necessary measures to prevent, by their nationals or from their territories or using their flag vessels or aircraft;
* a. the sale or supply to any entity or individual in Lebanon of arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned, whether or not originating in their territories, and;
* b. the provision to any entity or individual in Lebanon of any technical training or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of the items listed in subparagraph (a) above, except that these prohibitions shall not apply to arms, related material, training or assistance authorised by the government of Lebanon or by Unifil as authorised in paragraph 11;
16. Decides to extend the mandate of Unifil until 31 August 2007, and expresses its intention to consider in a later resolution further enhancements to the mandate and other steps to contribute to the implementation of a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution;
17. Requests the secretary general to report to the Council within one week on the implementation of this resolution and subsequently on a regular basis;
18. Stresses the importance of, and the need to achieve, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, based on all its relevant resolutions including its resolutions 242 (1967) of 22 November 1967 and 338 (1973) of 22 October 1973;
19. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
There are some points that I would like to review, and they are numbered above:
1. It is very clear here that the blame for this whole mess rests on Hizbollah. Not Israel....Hizbollah attacked Israel, and it is clear here that the Israelis had the right to respond. This is important, becuae it does cast blame.
2. The Lebanese government has the right to bann the weaponry that Hizbollah now has. In effect, this resolution calls upon Lebanon to disarm the militias. It is specific...Lebanon asked for it, and they got it.
3. This states very clearly that Hizbollah is not the supreme authority in Lebanon. It is also clear that if Lebanon asks for aid to disarm Hizbollah, that help would be authorized...if one was to take this document at face value.
4. This referes to UNIFIL....this force, as authorized in this resolution, has the power and scope of operations needed to aid the Lebanese in disarming Hizbollah.
All that being said....this resolution did two things.
First, it proved that the nation-states involved in this have no stomach for the political risks involved in disarming Hizbollah. Olmert in Israel was afraid of losing, so he didn’t try hard enough to win. Lahoud (the Lebanese president) is afraid of disarming Hizbollah because he fears losing the next election a la Fatah and the Palestinian government, and civil war when Hizbollah fights against him militarily. The UN and the West fear terrorism enough to not push the issue, afraid that they will anger the NUTCASE in Tehran....in between his obvious periods of worship by Mike Wallace.
Second, it sets up a second war. This time, however, Israel will have learned it’s lesson, and so will the United States.
That lesson? As in Iraq, half-measures against Islamofascists are worse than doing nothing. I am surprised that this battle isn’t being called Israel’s Somalia....they are doing exacty what they shouldn’t. If Olmert would have been more forceful and taken a bit more of a risk (because, given the go-ahead, the Israelis would have been in Beruit in a few days fighting), Hizbollah would have been seriously crippled. Now, they are bruised, but they are filled with a new vigor, believing (like their parent governments in Damascus and Tehran) that they took on Israel and won. They scarcely got out with their skin, and it was only Israeli caution that saved them. Next time, the leadership of Israel will not be so understanding of international feelings.
Like we weren’t with Iraq. Our mistake in Iraq at this time is that we’ve sold out to the PC-Media crowd. Bush has become like he was before 9-11...a ‘compassionate conservative’, and it is reflected in his poll numbers. Americans would stand behind him if he would commit to a forceful stance against terror, no matter the international storm that would be created. We did before, and we would again. But neither he nor Olmert seem to have the energy or will to do that at present.
With Bush, I think it is both fatigue (he has prosecuted an active overseas war longer than any other American President) and the spectre of losing his Republican advantage in the Congress. With Olmert...I think it is a European-like urge to look for any other option first. However, as we saw in 1939 and countless other times, that approach is not effective in every case. Nations cannot look at expansionistic powers and assume they want peace..especially if those enemy powers state clearly, by word or deed, that they crave war.
OK...comment as much as you like.
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Saturday, August 12, 2006
Thank to JimK
We have a new quiz…
He was Captain Jack Sparrow, but mine is much cooler…
 | You scored as Maximus. After his family was murdered by the evil emperor Commodus, the great Roman general Maximus went into hiding to avoid Commodus’s assassins. He became a gladiator, hoping to dominate the colosseum in order to one day get the chance of killing Commodus. Maximus is valiant, courageous, and dedicated. He wants nothing more than the chance to avenge his family, but his temper often gets the better of him.
Maximus | | 75% | James Bond, Agent 007 | | 71% | William Wallace | | 67% | Neo, the "One" | | 67% | Batman, the Dark Knight | | 58% | El Zorro | | 50% | Lara Croft | | 46% | Indiana Jones | | 46% | The Amazing Spider-Man | | 42% | The Terminator | | 38% | Captain Jack Sparrow | | 29% |
Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com |
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Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Liveblogging the Election….?
Uh...well, two races, to be exact. Connecticut and Georgia. Let me break this down a little more clearly....
Connecticut: This is the Senate Primary, between Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman. This race is being played as if it is the Moderate, pro-WoT Democrat against the Left, Kos-based, MoveOn.org type of Democrat. Lieberman is the underdog here.
Georgia: Georgia 04....this is a runoff with Cynthia “I slugged a cop, screamed ‘RACE!!’ and got out of it” McKinney against the more moderate Hank Johnson. This is a race that might either break right down the middle, or be a landslide for the challenger because of disgust with the antics of McKinney.
Let’s get it a-going, shall we?
UPDATE: HUGE and heartfelt thanks to Captain’s Quarters, Instapundit, and Michelle Malkin for linking to this liveblogging. These three persons are, without a shadow of a doubt, the best of the Blogsphere, and I give them my personal thanks.
8:27 EST: right now, there are very early results in the Georgia runoff. With 1300 votes counted, Hank Johnson was up 76%-24%. Still too early to count at this time...5% of all precincts reporting in. As of right now, I can’t get the Connecticut Senate results. Kudos to the Georgia SOS website, and “BOO!” to the Connecticut SOS.
8:37: Georgia 04 to 6% reporting, still 73.3% to 26.7% in favor of Johnson. I am sure everyone knows about the antics of Cynthia McKinney by now...the constant screeching about race, her anti-Bush stands on everything, her father blaming her last defeat on Jews....she is a racist member of Congress, and is an abuser of power. She asked the head of the DHS, “Mr. Secretary, if the nursing home owners are arrested for negligent homicide, why shouldn’t you also be arrested for negligent homicide?” after the Katrina response. She is a co-sponsor of a bill that would create a committee to look into impeaching President Bush. And, a quote from Wikipedia, “More recently, McKinney sponsored H.R. 4279, which would rename the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building after Frank Church, and H.R.4968, “To provide for the expeditious disclosure of records relevant to the life and death of Tupac Amaru Shakur.” And she is in Congress. Was your question about if she was losing, or WHY she was losing?
8:46: Connecticut SOS site is trash. Georgia’s most famous race is 12% counted, and Johnson holds a 73.9%-26.1% lead on McKinney. That is going to close up a bit as the night wears on, so don’t pop the bubbly yet. Looking for Connecticut Senate results so far has been frustrating, but this site
came through for me...as of right now, Lieberman is trailing 44.8%-55.2%. It’s early enough (this is all the Democratic voters in the state voting here) to not make a real hard judgement, but this does not bode well.
8:54: No real update, but an opinion. the anti-War, anti-Bush Left has finally gotten the right place (Connecticut, where Kerry won by a 54%-44%), the right candidates (Lieberman, a moderate pro-WoT Democrat and Ned Lamont, an anti-WoT Democrat) and the right time (war in Lebanon, anti-Bush coverage dominating the press, low approval ratings for both Bush and House/Senate Republicans). If Lamont wins, the Hard Left will go nuts, and the mechanics of the mid-terms will change. If Lieberman wins, then the status quo will not be so upset as it could have been. This is another situation where the margins will be almost as important as the victory.
9:00: Update on Lieberman and Lamont...Lieberman has 14,870 votes to Lamont’s 19,258. That works out to a 43.7%-56.3% ratio, and the sky got a little darker for Joementum. At this rate, with 11% of the votes counted, Lieberman has to win the rest of the remaining precincts by more than 2%, at a minimum. In Georgia, the site is still at 12% reporting, with Johnson leading McKinney 2466 votes to 873 votes...again, still low, but McKinney has to with the rest of the votes by 7.5%, or at leat 54% to 46%. I don’t know if that is probable, but it is possible.
9:11: Liberman’s deficit is steady and troubling. As of right now, with 52,361 votes cast, Lieberman is trailing 43.7%-56.3% Lieberman has to win the rest of the election by 2.2%...or 51.3% to 48.7% in his favor. it doesn’t look very good. As for our Georgia friends, 13% have reported, and it’s still a Johnson walk; he leads 73.8% to 26.2%.
9:20: Connecticut is one quarter counted, and Lieberman is trailing, and in real trouble from a statistical standpoint. 44.8% is where Lieberman stands right now, and Lamont is at 55.2%. That differential is 10.4%, and Lieberman’s only change is to beat Lamont in the remaining count by more than 3.5% now...51.8% to 48.2% in his favor. No new news in Georgia-04 yet. I’ll check on them, the kids, and come back in a jiffy.
9:27: 38% of the votes cast in the Connecticut primary, and Ned Lamont is leading 53.5% to 46.5% for Lieberman. Lieberman did better in that cohort of votes, but he still has to make up 7%. With two-thirds of the votes remaining (roughly), he has to win 52%-48% from here on out to have a chance. (For your information, that last 21% of votes was 49.42% for Lieberman, 50.58% for Lamont.) Georgia voting stats are still where they were at thirty minutes ago...at 13% counted, Johnson leads 73.8% to 26.2%.
9:40: Finally! Two big things...I linked to Captain’s Quarters, where the good Captain is also live-blogging the elections. Secondly, Georgia updated their election results. With 18% of the vote counted, Johnson leads with 5,193 votes to McKinney’s 1,648. Again, that means that 2/11ths of the vote has been counted, and fair Cynthia has to make up 58%. That means she has to win the remaining votes by 6.6%, or 53.3% to 46.7%. Again, not impossible, but statistically improbable. In Connecticut, it’s 64,056 for Joe, 69,466 for ned, translating into a 52.02%-47.98% lead for Nedrenaline. Oh...and that is the worst campaign slogan...ever. Lieberman’s made up a percent, but that might have been a precinct that was heavily pro-Lieberman, and may not be indicative of his support statewide. Or, it might be a trend. We’ll see.
9:50: WSB-TV has 21% numbers for the McKinney/Johnson race, and it’s 70%-30% for Johnson. Her chances now are even smaller. To make up 40%, she has to win 60-40 the rest of the way in. I can’t see that...in other words, she has a very rough road to hoe now.
9:54: Halfway home, and the Connecticut race stands as follows: Lieberman has 72,243 votes, or 47.835% of the vote. Lamont has 78,780 votes, or 52.165%. As it stands now, Lieberman trails by 4.33%. He has to win by that much, or get 5,540 more votes than Lamont in the coming hours.
9:58: Captain’s Quarters is reporting that Joe Lieberman has closed to within two points with 65% reporting. If that is the split with two-thirds reporting in, he has to win the remainder by more than four percentage points. If it’s 51%-49% in favor of Lamont, Lieberman needs to win 52% of the remaining votes. In Georgia, McKinney is climbing back slowly. With 35% of the precincts reporting, Johnson leads 61.5% to 38.5%. Obviously, some deeply pro-McKinney precincts came to the booth and were counted in that period...but she still has to wil the remainder of the votes by 13% in order to have a chance to win. Also, the good Captain is reporting that McKinney’s people are starting to complain about ‘voting irregularities’. Puh-lease....
10:04: Connecticut remains tight, with Lamont leading still by seven thousand votes. The percentages are 48.06% for Lieberman, 51.94% for Lamont. That’s with 68% of precincts counted, and that means that Joementum has to beat Nedrenaline (shudder) by 8%, or 54-46, in order to have a real shot at catching him and winning.
10:10: Listening to the Captain on 770 CHQR. If you are following live, click on over (open a new window, so you can also stay here!) and listen.
10:14: With 76% of precincts remaining, it’s 48.29% for Lieberman and 51.71% for Lamont. The percentage needed for a Lieberman win is now 10.26%....it doesn’t look good at all for this primary, but it does make an independent run look a little more tasty. In Georgia, they are reporting 51% of the votes, with Johnson still winning in fine fashion...58.1% to 41.9% For McKinney to win, she has to win the remaining votes by 17%. Very unlikely.
10:21: WELCOME INSTAPUNDIT READERS!! I always welcome Instalanches. Right now, I’m waiting for a general update in Connecticut. It’s still close...48.3% to 51.7% for Lamont right now, with 76% of precincts reporting. In Georgia, it hasn’t been that close, with Hank Johnson leading by over 16% with over half the votes counted.
10:24: New numbers from New England. With 81% reporting, Lieberman trails 48.72% to 51.28% It’s almost official at this pont, with Lieberman needing over 56% of the remaining vote to make up the difference. In Georgia, McKinney is trailing by 16% with 51% reporting.
10:28: 84% of the vote counted, and Lieberman trails 48.124% to 51.876% At this point, this 3.75% deficit can only be matched with Lieberman winning 17.5% more votes than Lamont. This one is in the bag for Lamont at this point...I’m going to call it for him at this point....but the massive lead he had just a week and a half ago quickly evaporated under scrutiny.
10:33: In Georgia, with two-thirds of the precincts reporting, Hank Johnson leads 58.2% to 41.8% for McKinney. This 16.4% lead means that McKinney has to win the remaining votes by a whopping 33%, or 67% to 33%. That isn’t going to happen.....in my humble opinion. We’ll stay with this one for a while, but I can’t see McKinney recovering from this. Look for her hyperbole tomorrow in the news. Maybe, like my kids, she needs to learn how to keep her hands to herself.
10:39: A little time to breathe and think. McKinney’s local career is done...after her second loss to good alternative candidates (remember, she lost a primary in this district in 2002 as well), I can’t see her being able to climb back into the saddle, especially after the year she has had. The police assault, then her reaction to it, and her complete distain for the primary election as it occurred (her no-shows for the debates, to be specific) have united people against her. Maybe she has a future in another office, but I can’t see it. Comment on that...could she run for Senate?
10:45: Waiting for updates on both races. Finishing a Diet Sprite. Life is good.
10:52: With 89% of the votes counted, Lamont leads 51.6% to 48.4% Lieberman has lost this primary, but he has shown good strength within his party. MoveOn will claim a huge victory, but, as I said before, this was their Perfect Storm. In other areas of the country, they will not have so much going for them. Lamont’s not as strong as he was, thanks to a little media look-over (how about that Wal-Mart stock, Ned?) and the common-sense stance Lieberman has on the WoT. I say that Joe has a pretty good shot as an indy candidate. Better than I thought he had three weeks ago.
10:56: I think they are walking the votes to the counting station in Georgia. We have been stuck on 67% of the precincts counted for the better part of a half hour now. Then, as I say that, the numbers change....with 89% of the precincts counted, Hank Johnson has 36,853 votes, or 58.9%, with McKinney having 25,683 votes, or 41.1%. That means that there is no way that McKinney can catch up, even if she wins the rest of the votes up for grabs. She’ll have a long time to think about her actions. It will be interesting to see how she behaves for the rest of her term. Maybe like a car wreck, maybe humble...? Not humble? OK....
11:00: OK...what did we learn? Nothing we didn’t already know. The Northeast produces staunchly anti-Bush, anti-war candidates, and that they are favored over moderate Democrats. The South is still a conservative region, with conservative politicians winning over the liberal ones. In Georgia, name recognition wasn’t enough to overcome the self-promoting and leftist stances of Ms. McKinney. Lieberman’s name recognition wasn’t enough to protect him (in this primary) against a liberal, anti-WoT candidate. But this was the left of the left voting in this election, so it won’t be indicative of the general Senatorial election.
All in all, about what I expected. A Lieberman win would have been a pleasant surprise, but it wsn’t the end of his story. McKinney’s demise was a satisfying thing to see, to be honest, if only because of her pompous arrogance and belief in demanding favorable treatment because of her race and position.
So...good night everyone. Comment freely, and thanks for coming to Drumwaster’s rants. Come early and often for commentary.
11:16: WHU-WHU-WAIT!! With 94% counted, Lieberman has closed to 49.14% to 50.86% That means that he has to win the remainder of the votes by 30-35% I hate to say this, because it’s pretty much over, but it isn’t quite over. If we come across a Lieberman area....this might become interesting. The difference is 1.72%
11:24: Well..that was fun. Lieberman concedes, and priomises an Independent run. Good for him. With 97% of the votes in, Lamont extended his lead to 51.65%-48.35%. That finishes it.
11:25: And now, for real, I am going to bed. Good night!!
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Cravings
All I want is a hot salami with cream cheese on rye.
Today is the first day that I get an extra two or three hours of rest from the excruciating five months of training that I’m not even halfway done with. Of course, there is nothing you crave more after you’ve been kicked, beat, and yelled at for seven weeks than a good meal (except for the love of your family, but that’s a different essay for a different day). I decided that a hot salami with a thick slab of cream cheese on a fat slab of rye bread would hit the spot, and there’s no better place in downtown Los Angeles to get it than Eastside Market and Deli.
Typical of my luck, they’re closed on Sunday. Arg!
Posted by
Helo at
11:27 AM |
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Found in my mailbox
From Loyal Reader Nick Stewart (who also forwarded it to JimK and Lee), and presented as it should be - without comment, but with VERY minor typos corrected.
The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year. Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.
Israel the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world’s population, can lay claim to the following:
The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.
Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.
The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel.
Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in Israel.
The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in Israel. Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.
Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in Israel.
The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.
Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S., Russia and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel’s air force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16’s. This is the largest fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.
Israel’s $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate neighbors combined .
Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita.
According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry’s most impenetrable flight security. US officials now look (finally) to Israel for advice on how to handle airborne security threats.
Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in the world.
Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people --as well as one of the highest per capita rates of patents filed.
In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S. (3,500 companies, mostly in hi-tech).
With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world—apart from the Silicon Valley, U.S.
Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind the U. S.
Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of NASDAQ listed companies.
Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.
On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.
Twenty-four per cent of Israel’s workforce holds university degrees, ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.
Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.
In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews (Operation Solomon) at Risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.
When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world’s second elected female leader in modern times.
When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli rescue teams were on the scene within a day—and saved three victims from the rubble.
Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship—and the highest rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.
Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union)
Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an international standard that certifies diamonds as “conflict free.”
Israel has the world’s second highest per capita of new books.
Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.
In the field of medicine, Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment mistakes.
Israel’s Given Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the inside, cancer and digestive disorders .
Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with heart failure. The new device is synchronized with the camera helps doctors diagnose heart’s mechanical operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.
Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over 70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as well.
A new acne treatment developed in Israel , the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct—all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.
An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern California’s Mojave desert.
All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other country on earth.
AND THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR IN ENGLAND SAYS: “ISRAEL IS NOTHING BUT A SHITTY LITTLE COUNTRY”
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