Arizona Tea, al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, Chinese Navy Exercise

Dana Milbank
John Dickerson

"The problem for the White House is that it's way too early -- about 2 a.m. in this economic recovery. The neighbor's cat is howling, somebody's car alarm is going off, and the nation is irritable and disoriented." - Dana Milbank

"We all know that the rate of job growth is too slow to bring down the unemployment rate, and the continued weakness in the job creation remains a major challenge. Most Americans, at least in the neighborhoods I grew up in, don't feel GDP growth. They don't sit around the table if they've lost their jobs and talk about how the Nasdaq is climbing." - Joe Biden

"Banking is founded on a moral basis and not a financial basis. The trouble today is that you bankers are too narrow-minded. You don't know the country or what is going on in it and the country doesn't trust you. You are not interested in the development of the country. … You take no interest in the small borrower and the small enterprise which affect the future of the country, but you give every attention to the big borrower and the rich enterprise. … You bankers see nothing beyond your own interests. … You should be broader minded and see what is best for the country in the long run." - Woodrow Wilson

It looks like Obama will get his wishes on financial reform, and the resulting packages and votes will be a bipartisan effort, as more Republican Congressmen are making public statements to that effect. Even though the lobbyists for the banking industry and Wall Street firms are pouring millions of dollars into bribes, er, influential meetings with the Senators, public opinion is highly in favor of reform. Anyone who has had to pay a bank fee or late payment interest fee on a credit card, which is just about everyone, would like to see those ripoff policies changed. Yep, soon we will become more like Europe, where they  never had many of the crooked banking fees to begin with...

Banks that trade in derivatives have already seen about $30 billion of potential investment deals pull out of the market since the SEC announced its indictment. The big boys are worried that if more regulation takes place and they have to have a level playing field, more money could be lost. Morgan Stanley estimates that their annual revenues will go down by $3 billion, worst case scenario. The SEC began investigating Goldman Sachs back in 2008, and notified the bank several times on the development of its case, so the Republican claims that the timing of the case was a bit curious doesn't hold up, another incident of wild speculation...

arizona tea...
Arizona has always been a squirrely state, famed for a desert wasteland transformed into a place where old Mafiosa could retire, a place famed as a breeding ground for right wing political thought before hippies began scurrying about the desert looking for peyote; think of Barry Goldwater basting in the hot hot desert sun, feverishly scribbling notes by the backyard swimming pool, and this was in a time before the mass prescriptions of neuroleptic drugs...

Now, the Arizona legislature has passed an immigration bill that has caused its Hispanic Senator, Raul Grijalva, to call for a boycott of his state : "The bill, which would require police officers to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're not here legally, has been approved by the state House and Senate, and will become law if Gov. Jan Brewer (R) signs it. "We're codifying into law, if the governor signs this, racial profiling, discrimination under the Constitution," he said on MSNBC last night, adding that the bill is "fundamentally racist."


"The consequences we can only bring up right now is economic sanctions," Grijalva said. "We're asking organizations -- civic, religious, labor, Latino, organizations of color -- to refrain from using Arizona as a convention site, to refrain from spending their dollars in the state of Arizona until Arizona turns the clock forward instead of backwards and joins the rest of the union." 

al-qaeda in the maghreb...
First came the fatwa issued by a Pakistani cleric against all forms of violent terrorism. It seems to have spurred an opposite reaction, with the Taliban  murdering a popular Kandahar politician while he was kneeling for prayer at a mosque, and Iraqi insurgents  murdering families inside of their homes, including small children, like the serial killers they are... Then came the announcement that al-Qaeda was hurting for money and may have to file for bankruptcy... Now the Saharan countries of Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger are joining forces to battle the al-Qaeda groups, who have joined with the Toureg and have become well entrenched:

"We have decided to strengthen our intelligence co-operation against all forms of insecurity and, therefore, plan to move towards joint military operations against terrorism, kidnappings and the trafficking of drugs and weapons,"

This has been a desolate, rough terrain, unhospitable to Western aid workers, tourists travel at their own risk: "Al-Qaeda fighters last year killed a British man, Edwin Dyer, who was kidnapped on the border between Niger and Mali... They also shot dead a US aid worker in Mauritania's capital last June, and carried out a suicide bombing on the French embassy there in August that injured three people... Two Spaniards are believed to be in al-Qaeda's hands after they disappeared in November last year from a humanitarian aid convoy in Mauritania... An Italian husband and wife who were seized in Mauritania last year were last week freed in Mali."

Of course, it remains to be seen how serious they are in mounting a successful campaign. Usually, ethnic rivalries and govermental bickering has broken up all past attempts at solidarity. And it may be just a scam to get some attention from the press and more foreign aid from Western countries, especially after the success of the Yemeni government in cutting itself a large piece of the greater economic and military pie... It might also help them if they could get a couple of American-born Muslims to emigrate and set up shop...

in the navy...
Peter Brown reports in the Asia Times that: "Aggressive Chinese war gaming near Okinawa has led to Japanese complaints, particularly after the Suzunami destroyer was buzzed by a Chinese navy helicopter operating from a fleet of warships and submarines. The Chinese exercise, which may have used five surveillance satellites, seems a clear statement of Beijing's intent in securing Taiwan and important lines of trade and communication." Or, it could have been a result from last week's meeting between China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Barack Obama. It might scare the Japanese so much that they will forget all about trying to get the American military base off of Okinawa, heh, heh, heh. Maybe we can renegotiate our contract for the base, and get them to store some of our spent nuclear warheads there. Cruel joke, yes, I know...

Depression and Anxiety in Israel, Iran No Longer Needs Imported US Wheat, DOD Microchips

David Brooks
Martin Indyk
Reza Aslan

"Hey, you probably heard about this on the news. Now being reported that the terrorist organization Al Qaeda is in financial ruin. To give you an idea what bad shape they're in, today I saw a terrorist buying a shoe bomb at Payless." – Jay Leno

"Sarah Palin got an iPad and she was complaining that it's not really that absorbent." –Bill Maher

"These people wake up angry. Glenn Beck today is furious about the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland. He knows it's Obama's fault, he just can't figure out how." –Bill Maher

David Brooks's opinion piece deals with people who regularly surf the Internet, the other two are about Israel, Iran, and relations with the US. They flesh out the brief arguments that I have made on the subject, especially Martin Indyk, who was ambassador twice to Israel, and is probably the most knowledgeable person in the US on this subject. Neatly summed up, the current situation is: "That an issue of as much strategic import to Israel and the United States as Iran could be subordinated to the demands of Netanyahu’s right-wing government underscores the growing divide between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government.


The president views curbing Iran’s nuclear program and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as two sides of the same coin. In order to isolate and pressure Iran, he believes he needs to unite Israelis and Arabs with the rest of the world in a grand international anti-Iranian coalition.


The common threat is there — Arab leaders are at least as concerned as Netanyahu about Iran. But the inability to make progress on the Palestinian issue enables Iran’s leaders to play to the Arab street, claiming they are the real supporters of the Palestinian cause through sponsorship of violence and terrorism and threats to destroy Israel. The tension also gives Iran the opportunity to use Hamas and Hezbollah proxies to provoke conflict with Israel, with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seen as the hero.


Netanyahu rejects these linkages. He argues that resolving the Palestinian problem won’t change Iran’s intentions or placate the Arabs; that it is Israel’s use of force that deters Hamas and Hezbollah; and that the split with the United States over building in East Jerusalem only encourages Tehran to believe that Obama will restrain Israel from striking Iran’s nuclear facilities.


Whoever is right, there is no denying the reality of a fundamental disagreement, one that has poisoned relations between the American and Israeli leaders."

"How do you know when there’s a real crisis in U.S.-Israel relations? It’s when the president of the United States convenes a nuclear security summit to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the Israeli prime minister declines the invitation." - Martin Indyk

And an article in today's NY Times on celebrating Israel's Independence Day in Jerusalem illustrates how the current impasse is affecting the mood of the country: "But there is something about the mood this year that feels darker than usual. It has a bipartisan quality to it. Both left and right are troubled, and both largely about the same things, especially the Iranian nuclear program combined with growing tensions with the Obama administration.


“There is a confluence of two very worrying events,” said Michael Freund, a rightist columnist for The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview. “One is the Iranian threat, an existential threat. Add to that the fact that for the first time in recent memory there is a president in the White House who is not overly sensitive to the Jewish state and its interests. You put the two together and it will affect anyone’s mood, even an optimist like me.”

Personally, I think this is a good thing. Living under the threat of nuclear annihilation produces a sense of anxiety. Many people in the US and Russia have grown up with it and have since dedicated themselves that nuclear weapons need to be contained, if not eliminated from the world. Hopefully, both people in Israel and Iran will come to the same conclusions, and that it not take 50 years to get there.

My other contention is that people with right wing ideologies are good to hear from as a reference source, as a direction we do not want to go, and that they never should be allowed to be in charge of a government, as Benjamin Netanyahu is finding out. In the US we were supposed to have learned that lesson from the last Bush administration, but a vocal minority is trying to reverse course, stepping way, way back into an imagined history...

Someone in Iran released the news about the latest efforts the government is using to crack down and further limit the reformer's voices, how they are preparing for the anniversary of last year's fake election: "The Iranian authorities on Monday suspended two prominent opposition political parties, banned a newspaper and handed down prison sentences to three reformist political figures, in the latest sign that the country’s hard-line rulers aim to crush any official political representation by the reformist movement...  The move was widely understood as a precursor to a full legal ban... The suspension was not a surprise, as many of the parties’ members had already been arrested or jailed. But it suggested that the authorities might be moving more aggressively to stamp out reformist political groups as the anniversary of last June’s election draws closer." This news item is a companion piece to the post from yesterday, helping to illustrate my point, and came out right after I had some readers from Tehran, which I thank them and welcome them to come back. Now, I'm not saying that this tiny blog has any international influence, merely pointing out the coincidence that took place in my imagination...


Because a bad piece of news should be balanced by something good, Iran also announced that it is able to export a few million tons of wheat to the Arabian Gulf states, which, hopefully, will help feed people who are starving in places like Yemen. I also wrote yesterday about the UN announcing that it was going to stop a lot of food aid because of lack of funds... During the last two years, there was a serious drought in Iran and they had to import wheat, mostly from the US. Evidently, there are no sanctions on food going to Iran, and this little known fact wasn't widely reported. Food is a secret form of diplomacy, do not listen to the rants being broadcast from that man behind the curtain...

News of the weird today comes courtesy of TPM and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Because sometimes you just can't make this stuff up, even while wearing our tinfoil hats: "The Georgia House Judiciary Committee took up a bill last week that would "prohibit requiring a person to be implanted with a microchip," and would make violating the ban a misdemeanor.


A woman who described herself as a resident of DeKalb County told the committee: "I'm also one of the people in Georgia who has a microchip." Apparently no lawmaker took this as a warning sign, and she was allowed to continue her testimony.


"Microchips are like little beepers," the woman told the committee. "Just imagine, if you will, having a beeper in your rectum or genital area, the most sensitive area of your body. And your beeper numbers displayed on billboards throughout the city. All done without your permission."


"Ma'am, did you say you have a microchip?" state Rep. Tom Weldon (R) asked the woman.


"Yes, I do. This microchip was put in my vaginal-rectum area," she replied.


No one laughed. State Rep. Wendell Willard (R), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asked her who had implanted the chip.


"The Department of Defense," she said.


Willard thanked the woman for her input, and the committee later approved the bill.

See? Life is not like a box of chocolates, it is more like a body full of microchips, transmitting away...

Paul Krugman, Bill Clinton, World Hunger, the Mental Illness of Tom Tancredo

Paul Krugman
E J dionne Jr
Bill Clinton

"Much of the financial industry has become a racket — a game in which a handful of people are lavishly paid to mislead and exploit consumers and investors. And if we don’t lower the boom on these practices, the racket will just go on." - Paul Krugman

"Criticism is part of the lifeblood of democracy. No one is right all the time. But we should remember that there is a big difference between criticizing a policy or a politician and demonizing the government that guarantees our freedoms and the public servants who enforce our laws." - Bill Clinton

Paul Krugman weighs in on the Goldman Sachs indictment, he is always easy to read, unlike most other economists. I notice that many of the more conservative blogs are saying that the indictment comes at just the right time to influence public opinion in favor of the financial reform bill now in consideration by the Senate. Well, duh, Sherlocks, of course it is. But it is also the SEC finally bucking up and doing its job, which it let slide for the past nine years. The rightys are trying to have it both ways, crying about how Washington never does its job, which is why we need less of it, then crying foul when the SEC actually tries to do its job, violating poor Goldman Sach's rights.

If the SEC is correct, and it looks pretty obvious that packaging securities that specifically are bound to fail so that one of its managers can bet that they will fail, while selling it to others as an investment package to beef up the amount of money to be made when it does fail, is pretty crooked and a premeditated rip-off. Yet this comes from the most respected and largest company on Wall Street. If you are someone who thinks that this is OK to do in a free market environment, then you are either just as criminal or are incredibly naive. Here in Colorado, my fellow bloggers talk about purity and adherence to ideals an awful lot, I guess the rarified mile high air affects the ability to reason, plus shrivels up the sense of humor...

oklahoma bombings...

Today is the anniversary of the Oklahoma bombings and the torching of the Branch Davidians in Waco. There will be celebrations by extremists who will be wrapping themselves up in the flag as an excuse to march and protest. Bill Clinton, our next Secretary of State, addresses this. Every time I open the newspaper there is at least one more bombing that kills the lives of innocent people. It is such an overkill that it churns my stomach to see each new headline. I cannot in good conscience promote an ideology that condones the use of bombings to make a political statement. Our soldiers are facing these kinds of dangers every day, and have come back missing limbs and with brain injuries. Our government has tried to keep this kind of terrorism from migrating to our shores, the last thing we need to do is glorify it from within.


haiti, and world hunger...

Another bummer is that Hurricane season is quickly coming to the Caribbean, meaning that there will be more tragedies from Haiti. There never was enough aid provided to feed everyone who needed help, so there are still close to a million people living on the edge of starvation.

The world's population is increasing, and in the marginal, developing countries, there is not enough food for everyone. It's estimated that 53% of the world's population doesn't have enough food and water. So the children end up dying, one every six seconds. Every time the cost of food goes up, millions more are in jeopardy.

The World Food Programme has seen donations shrink this year, and they are going to be cutting back on providing aid to places like Yemen, in essence, choosing who lives and dies. The US has been the largest donor to the food aid program in Yemen, other countries that traditionally help, like Great Britain, Germany,and Saudi Arabia, haven't given any money because they don't like the corrupt government. Ahh, this is too depressing, maybe I can find something to change my mood...


sieg, vile! Seig, vile!...

And of course, the good old USA won't let me down, at least as far as tea party madness is concerned, always cheerful as long as I'm far, far away from the maddening crowd... TPM reports on a rally in South Carolina over the weekend, where Colorado's own resident wacko Tom Tancredo seems to be kicking it up a notch: "The event was hosted by the Upcountry Conservative Coalition, a local South Carolina conservative group that describes its mission statement as:


We the People...are coalescing to reclaim our God given rights by restoring our Constitutional Republic."

The link provides videos, but some of the fun quotes that got applause from the crowd are:

Tommy T -"Americans are going to have to pray that we can hold on to this country."


He added, referring to President Obama: "If his wife says Kenya is his homeland, why don't we just send him back?"

Pastor Stan Craig, of the Choice Hills Baptist Church, was particularly angry about the state of Washington, saying he "was trained to defend the liberties of this nation." He declared that he was prepared to "suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do."

Another speaker, who claimed Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is gay, noted:

"I'm a tolerant person. I don't care about your private life, Lindsey, but as our U.S. Senator I need to figure out why you're trying to sell out your own countrymen, and I need to make sure you being gay isn't it."

As for good ol' Tom Tancredo, ex-Congressman, the son of Italian immigrants, who is out trying to make up the ton of money he lost last year in a hedge fund account, one of the TPM readers dug up this psychological revelation which may explain why he is so vitriolic: "As a Viet Vet I took interest in this because I can't take the wrapped-in-the-flag chicken hawks.


A "Rocky Mountain News" article recounts:


It was reported that in 1970, after Tancredo's student deferments ran out, he appealed his 1-A draft status, which would have put him at the top of the list for draft eligibility during the Vietnam War.


Tancredo said he didn't remember it that way. But he said he was given a 1-Y status, which put him at the bottom of the list, when he reported that he had been treated for mental illness as a teenager.


Tancredo said he was diagnosed with depression when he was 16 or 17 and received medication for five years for panic attacks and bouts of anxiety and depression....


In a radio interview, Tancredo was quoted saying "I did not serve. I could not serve, but I certainly wish that I had that opportunity." So, Tom illustrate my argument that many of the right wing are mentally ill. Another theory why we have seen Tom so much lately, is that perhaps he has gone off of his meds...

And jep07 sums it up nicely: "The more the public leaves them behind, the more desperate their rhetoric becomes. Thy think they are winning back converts, but they are really distilling it all down to the worst elements, down to that lawless mob that has always been there for people like Tancredo." All in all, I wish I had attended. Our rallies in Colorado springs are so docile and politely attended in comparison...

What's So Funny About Iran's Army Day of Peace, Love, and Understanding

Bono

I thought this was going to be a quiet weekend, watching the volcanic ash drifting along the slipstream, wondering if all of the fake anger has died down and I can enjoy a nice cup of afternoon tea. In the afternoons I prefer Iron Buddha, in the evenings I like something with mint and Chinese licorice in it to help with digestion. I was shocked and awed to see the incredible parade of military might that was displayed by Iran this morning! "To cries of "God is Great" Iran showed off its military might, warning potential aggressors that the Islamic state would vigorously repel any attack, state television reported.


Missiles, armored personnel carriers, unmanned surveillance aircraft and small submarines with men wearing aqua-lungs standing next to them were also part of the parade. Some carriers bore banners proclaiming "We will trample America under our feet". Man, ya gotta be impressed with those mini subs and guys in aqualungs! Yes there were anti-American signs! Yes, there was anti-Israeli speeches from Ahmadinejad! He also blamed all of their problems on the US! "The presence of foreign forces is the cause of conflict in our region. They must leave," he said, adding that Iran's military might was enough of a "deterrent" for any "enemy" of the Islamic republic." And just yesterday I thought Iran was hosting a summit focusing on peace, love, and understanding... Perhaps they were discouraged because only 6 out of 67 invited countries bothered to RSVP...

"They must leave the region and this is not a request but an order, and the will of the regional nations"

Where to begin? Iran has been awfully busy lately, planning back to back events that constantly gives Ahmadinejad press time. One might think that it was designed so that the Arabic press won't have any time to dwell on the fate of the Green opposition movement and the new receptions that Iranian prisons have devised for them. The political propaganda people in the revolutionary Guard have come to the conclusion that a lot of shrill condemnation of their old arch enemy the US will create a patriotic fire that will burn away any anti-government sentiments. Will it work? Well, who doesn't love a parade...

Iran is also sending a message to its Iraqi Shiite brethren, that after the US leaves, we will willingly come to your aid if you will let us. And to all Sunni Arab states, listen, we are major players in this region, quake at our might, join in our cause, let us lead you in a new Persian empire that will sweep across the Middle East and harbor in a new dawn, tossing aside that pesky illegitimate state of Israel.

What this vigorous display of nostalgic, Communist-inspired song and marching madness will actually do, is convince Russia and China and India to agree to sanctions against them, sooner if possible. If it only would convince Israel to sit down and negotiate instead of whine a lot about being threatened and persecuted... I know, our new foreign policy should be based on regime change, to get rid of both Ahmadinejad and Netanyahu, get some sane people in charge, someone who can be reasonable and can play well with others...

Sadly, the response in the Arabic press is often a prayer for violence. As long as negotiations establishing a Palestinian state are purposely stalled, the typical response in the street will be similar to this:

"Inshallah God is great America and Israel think that they can stay afloat the international laws by bringing out evil foreign policies towards the middle east,the time is coming when Israel will be wiped out of the world map and a country from the far east will take over.Long live Iran,long live Ahmedinajan.Ameen"

The biggest fear the US has is that if we leave Iraq and Afghanistan, will a religious civil war break out that will cause greater warfare and bring us back into a region that has lost all stability... Iran would like that, apocalyptic Christians would like that, and maybe George Bush would like that, secretly believing that he set events in motion for Armageddon and the return of the Christ by 2012... or maybe it's all a moot point as the water table in the Mid East is drying up, Lebanon is predicted to go dry by 2015, Egypt won't share the dwindling potable water in the Nile delta, and the Red Sea will have become permanently parted... so if religion doesn't spark a few more wars, fighting over water rights will...

New Cause Of Iranian Earthquakes, Grandfather Barred From Bar Mitzvah

Kathleen Parker
Patrick Jansson

"Fears that anger could escalate into action beyond the ballot box are not misplaced. Ninety-nine percent of angry Americans might be perfectly satisfied to rail at their television sets -- or to show up at a Tea Party rally -- but it takes only one." - Kathleen Parker

Iran's diminutive President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad isn't the only one in Iran who acts silly and talks off-kilter. Nope, there is also Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi , who recently proclaimed that: "Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes,"

Further proving that you evidently don't need to be very smart or educated to become an Ayatollah in Iran: "Calamities are the result of people's deeds. We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers." Just for fun, we should all write to the good cleric and ask him to explain more causal relationships in our world. I'd love to hear him elucidate on quantum physics... Although I think I already know the answer - we have no way but conform...

Oh yeah, Mahmoud is calling for the US to be kicked out of the IAEC because we are the only country to have used an atomic bomb, including depleted uranium in bomb casings in Iraq and Afghanistan. I keep hearing that depleted uranium is supposed to be harmless and to ignore those increased birth defects, but so far no proponent has ever volunteered to take the test - to sleep with five pounds of depleted uranium in their pillow for three months to demonstrate how safe it really really is...

The problem with the US and Iran ever reducing hostilities between them, is which one will be seen to have the dominant role in the relationship. The US would like Iran to cooperate with us and not be so overtly pig-headed in addressing the rest of the world. Iran would rather have the US cooperate with them and agree with all of their stated intentions to the world. The question is, who is being more honest with their explanations, and whom could you trust? Too bad we will never get to one of mutual trust and admiration - well, we can't even get our Democrats and Republicans to get to that point, how can we ever base a foreign policy on it? Damned idealist drinking too much much coffee...


I used to think that it was only Pakistan who was the paranoid one in their relationship with India, but now I see that it is definately a two way highway, from the Asia Times: "Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with United States President Barack Obama this week in Washington came as Delhi strategists were fuming at Obama's policies for South Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Let down by America's closer ties to Pakistan, India is also not happy with US plans to talk with the Taliban or Obama's embrace of China. - M K Bhadrakumar " To make Mr Singh a happy man, we will sell him some more war toys, like we did the last time. Those negotiations always take place behind closed doors, and for Mr Singh to come back to the US so soon after his last visit, there must be something specific and nuclear on his mind...

Another story involving silly, hypocritical human behavior comes from South Africa, involving one of its most respected jurists, who evidently came to a wrong conclusion, one that involved leveling some criticism at Israel : "For the past few days, many South African Jews have concerned themselves with a question perhaps better put to Talmudic scholars: Is it ever right for protesters to keep a grandfather from his grandson’s bar mitzvah?


That grandfather is Richard Goldstone, one of this nation’s most eminent jurists and head of a United Nations investigation that said it found evidence of war crimes during Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Many of his countrymen not only took issue with the findings, they called the judge a traitor who had sold out his Jewish brethren." The synagogue where his 13 year old grandsone is going to have his bar mitzvah is debating whether to allow it to be held there, or to just allow protesters outside the synagogue when its being held. As of this moment, Mr Goldstone has elected not to attend so that the ceremony will go ahead smoothly.

"In early 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council selected him to lead an investigation into possible violations of international law during the three weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009. He said he was “shocked, as a Jew” to be chosen.


The Goldstone Report, released last September, concluded that, based on the available evidence, both Israel and Hamas had taken actions amounting to war crimes. But the findings focused mostly on the Israelis." The reason there was more emphasis on Israeli actions is simple, the UN had access to more information from the Israelis than from Hamas. To have a respected Jewish judge go over the information is actually to Israel's benefit, unfortunately, the right wing wackos in Israel howled more loudly than Michelle Bachmann at a tea party rally... Hey, it's not like he published a report critical of the Pope or anything like that...

Hillary Tilts At Israeli Windmills, Afzali Was Screwed, Guns On Campus

Dana Milbank
Benjamin Sarlin
John Hughes

“OK, you cunts, let’s see what you can do” - Hit Girl

The first two opinion pieces are about the tea party rally in Washington DC, the third is a rah-rah column on David Petraeus as a presidential candidate in 2012. General Petraeus actually would make a great candidate, and the intellectual debates between himself and Barack Obama would be wonderful, worth taping every one. Even if he declines to become a candidate after he retires, a series of debates or filmed discussions with Obama would be a ticket worth paying for...

The US has been trying to broker peace talks beetween Israel and the Palestinian Authority for over a year now, with no luck. We've been ridiculed and ignored, and even President Obama was bummed out and frustrated. Today, Hillary Clinton, our next Supreme Court Justice, stepped up and took another swing at it: "In a speech marking the opening a new Middle East think tank Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged both parties to prove they are committed to reaching a resolution of the conflict. She also urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take risks for peace and warned that failing to do so would destabilize the region with tragic costs."

"Israelis and Palestinians alike must confront the reality that the status quo has not produced long-term security or served their interests, and accept their share of responsibility for reaching a comprehensive peace that will benefit both sides." 


"Israelis must see, too, that pursuing the path of progress and diplomacy can and will lead to peace and security. As a result, some in Israel have come to believe that, protected by walls and buoyed by a dynamic economy, they can avoid having to do anything right now," she said.


"But that would mean continuing an impasse that carries tragic human costs, denies Palestinians their legitimate aspirations, and threatens Israel's long-term future as a secure and democratic Jewish state."

What's so frustrating is that a Palestinian State could be created within the next two weeks if both sides sat down and actually got it done. Hundreds of thousands of lives could have been spared the poverty, starvation, anger, and hatred that they have been exposed to for so many years. A couple of days ago I suggested that the US stop all foreign aid to Israel, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority until they sat down and hammered out an agreement, sent a copy to the White House. If I ever get a written response I will share it here. Anyway, good luck Hillary, I hope you find the stick to whack the donkey right between the eyes, to get it's attention, first...

I admit to feeling sorry for Ahmad Wais Afzali, the Afghan born Imam who was raised in New York, lived and married in New York, hoped to die in New York, and now is being deported from New York and has 90 days to leave the US or be deported to a country of his choice.

“I’m standing in front of you as a convicted felon, a lying imam, which is a physical, emotional and spiritual burden far greater than any sentence you could impose,”

"Mr. Afzali, an imam who was also an infrequent police informant, was sentenced in United States District Court in Brooklyn in connection with a plot to set off bombs in the subway, a scheme that would be described as the most significant threat to national security since 9/11.


The imam essentially warned Najibullah Zazi, the admitted organizer of the plot, that he was under surveillance and — failing to grasp the significance of what he stumbled into — urged him to stay out of trouble. Mr. Afzali would plead guilty to lying to federal officials about the phone conversations he had with Mr. Zazi. But Mr. Afzali said that even in that criminal act, he was a victim of his desire to serve as a bridge between his country and his community. And in trying to please competing constituencies, he ended up failing both."

“Honest to God, it was never my intention to help those idiots for what they do in the name of Islam.”

It seems that Mr Afzali was being used by the New York Police Dept, and he tracked down Najibullah Zazi, who was living here in Colorado and driving an airport shuttle, and talked to him on the phone. While talking to him he also told him that the police were interested in him and that he should stay at home with his father. The phone conversation was taped by the FBI, who then questioned Afzali about it.

The NYPD had never told Afzali how important the Zazi case was, kept him in the dark. The FBI didn't know that he was being used as an informant by the NYPD as an informant, who reported everything he had learned about Zazi back to them. Afzali lied to the Feds that he had warned Zazi when he talked to him, and the charge of lying to federal agents is what got him deported.

“I cannot express my feelings in words, but I’m going to try: Violated. Betrayed. Used to the highest degree. Treated worse than a dog.”

Regardless of how one feels about Zazi and his stupid bomb plot, this is more of a case where two competing law enforcement agencies do not share information in real time and the little guy trying to help gets screwed. like a bad TV show. Even stranger, Mr Afzali loves this country, does not want to leave it or his community in New York, and is forced to become a lonely expat. And the press and white guys everywhere might have some sympathy if he were not Afghan born and a Muslim. So much for touting this country as a land of liberty with justice for all... And he will probably end up in Yemen, where he will then be accused of recruiting for al Qaeda...

The news from Colorado, even more important than the tailings from old uranium mines are leaching into the water table and may affect Denver's drinking water, is that all Colorado University student can now legally carry guns to school, reversing a previous ban by the regents: "The CU Board of Regents adopted a ban on all guns on campuses, believing the statewide Concealed Carry Act (CCA) did not apply to universities.


But the court found that the legislature, in standardizing the rules governing concealed weapons from county to county through the CCA of 2003, specifically intended the act to apply everywhere in the state except in a handful of places listed in the statute, like K-12 schools."

The gun advocates say that carrying their guns to school would help prevent crazed campus killings by some lone wingnut, like what happened on the Virginia Tech campus. Opponents say that having their fellow students strutting around with their guns on campus is intimidating and inviting one of them to shoot somebody in an argument. I say that having a kid in the middle of puberty alone with a firearm is an open invitation to a funeral. That's why soldiers are not allowed to bring their own guns onto an Armed Forces base. Having some wannabe or dropout going all Colorado cowboy in some alcohol fueled situation is all it takes for the next Columbine to make next day's headlines. People with guns tend to use them, whether you are a soldier, cop, or drive-by rapper...

Pentagon's New Big Talking Head, GOP Merry Prankster Strikes Again

David Broder
Fara Warner
Obama's Tax Returns

"We are beginning to learn that the Obama presidency will be an era of substantial but deferred accomplishments -- perhaps always to be accompanied by a sense of continuing crisis." - David Broder

Here is a link to a taped interview with the head of Iran's nuclear program. It's about 5 minutes in length and pretty interesting viewing. If he can be believed, Iran is ready to immediately swap uranium for nuclear reactor fuel, and willing to let the IAEC monitor its use. If that is true, then what is the information that the US is using to convince Russia and China that Iran is being recalcitrant? There is not enough transparency of information in our world, too many secrets are being withheld from us for the sake of political one-upmanship.

Take the case of Israel complaining that Syria has obtained some long-range SCUD missiles for Hezbollah. They complained to the US and France after the missiles were delivered, yet never shared any information to verify their claim. If they had given the info to either the US and France ahead of time, some backdoor diplomacy may have stopped the shipment, much in the way Russia stopped sending missiles to Iran after Netanyahu went there and convinced them not to. Just like on the Internet, information needs to be shared. The more information shared, the better decisions can be made.

More distressing to me, is the Pentagon's creation of an Office of Cyberwarfare, and the load of crap that it's proposed director is telling Congress. Lt General Keith B Alexander acts more like an Army intelligence bureaucrat than someone who is intimately familiar with network security.He told Congress that: "... computer network warfare was evolving so rapidly that there was a “mismatch between our technical capabilities to conduct operations and the governing laws and policies. As he prepared for a confirmation hearing on Thursday as the first head of the Cyber Command, he pledged that the White House and Pentagon were “working hard to resolve the mismatch.”

It used to be that the computer technology developed by the DOD was at least ten years ahead of what was released to the public, but now that time lead is much shorter. Still, Gen Alexander is concentrating on securing laws and policies that will give him the OK to attack anywhere at will, if it is needed. This would include a neutral country or even any network inside of the US. Hey, if a mistake was made, we're sorry and you can't legally hold us responsible for your losses. At least families in Iraq and Afghanistan are given $50 if we kill someone in their family... We already have computer security departments in every military branch, the FBI, NSA, and Homeland Security that monitors constantly for cyber-attacks, adding an office in the Pentagon that won't coordinate information with these other groups, and is a recipe for disaster. The General is just a big talking head passing out more paranoid sounding threats to members of Congress. Jeez, they barely got Twitter figured out...

and how do you like your blue-eyed boy...

We can all be proud of that Tennessee woman and her mother, who bravely sent an adopted 7 year old boy on a plane back to Russia with a note pinned to his chest, saying that he has too many problems for them to handle and they are giving him back. Of course, it might have been better if any one of the myriad social service groups involved with the adoption, from the county social services department, to the company that helped facilitate the adoption, to the State department, had been given the tiniest inkling of what they were about to do.

Headlines in Pravda read: Woman Throws Away Russian Boy Like An Old Shoe... An international incident has ignited, and even today Russia has said that all adoptions in progress of children bound for the US have been frozen, yet the US State Dept said that it is not true. Oh, who to believe? What is true, is that 3,500 current adoptions are being put in jeopardy, and our source for blue-eyed, blond haired children may dry up. And, what's worse, Russians are asking, why haven't we adopted our orphans?

Russia is the second largest country for adopted children for couples in the US, popular even before Angelina Jolie and Madonna made it cool. Taking first place is China, then Russia, and then is Ethiopia, which caught me by surprise. So far, I haven't heard if any charges will be brought against the abandoner, but the blogs have been heating up in trashing her. Another person who used the same agency to adopt a child from Russia, said that explicit warnings were given to parents that there may be psychological problems, especially with older children who experience a parent dying or were a product of an orphanage. There are an estimated seven million homeless children in Russia, and right now, none of them will be coming home to America...

the merry prankster strikes again...

TPM has a story about the latest problems of Michael Steele, that probably answers a question I had, namely who has been orchestrating the embarrassing leaks about Michael and his organization? It seems that it is Karl Rove! The GOP Merry Prankster himself: "Republicans told me in interviews that Rove's team got cozy at the RNC during the eight years of the Bush presidency, and feathers were ruffled when Steele was elected and cleaned house. They admitted Steele has dug himself into a deep hole, but the spate of recent death watch stories on national television and gracing the nation's front pages seemed like a calculated effort to trash the chairman as revenge.


The GOP universe isn't huge -- consultants who worked with the RNC decades ago are bound to pop up again and hop from campaign to campaign. But some people tied to Rove, George W. Bush's right-hand man, were "badly, badly hurt when Michael came in," an RNC member told me in an interview. "It's no surprise he's got a collection of enemies." Good to know that Karl has jumped back on the horse after his divorce, writing those boring articles for the Wall Street journal wasn't cutting it for him. His mentor, Lee Atwater, apologized for all of the people he hurt on his deathbed. I wonder if Karl has enough conscience to ever look back in remorse? NAHH, party on, dude!


I guess I should say something about the tea party rallies now that the NY Times has a latest poll out saying that they are mostly my age and better educated, just a lot more conservative than I am. Ok, enjoy your day in the sun, you angry, latent hippies. This is also the age group that is mostly taking advantage of medical marijuana, but if the tea partyers did partake, they wouldn't be so angry and would be shouting for the speakers to play White Rabbit!