What is this.. a Post?

Yes Larry has decided to post after a while. (and Wordpress and its Epic Fail is why I'm here.)

But the crisis in Georgia has given me a motive to post.

I have talked to people and said the future of the world was a rebirth of the pre-WWI era.

That new age has started today. If we let the Georgians die the war of the Sphere's of influences will occur.

The Level -1 Sphere of Influence of the US is now going to be challenged (and some times assisted) by some of these other Spheres of influence

Your Level 2's in China and Russia

your level 3 in Europe as the EU

Your level 4 with India, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Chile, Japan, France, U.K., and Australia

and your level 5 with countries like Cuba, Venezuala, Turkey, Egypt, and Iran

These sphere's of influence will start to spread out and form alliances and patterns of alliances in the world.

if Georgia falls because the US and the EU won't stand up it means states like Georgia will start to gather other major States with them to form alliances and divide the world.

We may not be lucky to have a new Central powers or alliance. It may be more fissures and divisions in the world.

I blame George W. Bush and Bill Clinton for this

Passing the International Test?

We here a lot of folks saying we need more International support for our actions in Iraq. Well Al-Reuters shows us why that might not be such a good idea

Nov 26 (Reuters) - NATO commanders in Afghanistan say the battle against Taliban insurgents is being held back by restrictions placed by alliance nations on what their troops can do on the ground........

GEOGRAPHICAL CAVEATS - Germany, Italy, Spain and others declined calls in September by NATO to move troops based in calm areas to the violent south to help with fighting. Berlin has insisted the parliamentary mandate covering its 2,900 troops stipulates they remain in the north, apart from one-off forays.

Another example concerns troops based in districts around the capital Kabul. Alliance sources complain that some refuse to go outside their assigned patches, reducing ISAF's ability to respond to incidents on the ground.

CONSULTATIONS - Most national forces can only do certain tasks after consultation with their capitals -- a process that slows down reaction times. At least one government insists on being consulted before its troops are despatched to within one km (half a mile) of the restive border with Pakistan.

OPERATIONAL RESTRICTIONS - National contingents may refuse to carry out operations above a specified altitude because they are not properly equipped: some helicopters, for example, cannot be used above a certain height; another's troops have limits on what tasks they can perform at night; one NATO source said some south European nations unused to tough Afghan winter conditions have a caveat against fighting in snow, while others ban theirs from riot control operations.

FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS - Nations have deployed aircraft to help NATO operations but in reality keep a tight grip on how such valuable assets are used, allied sources complain. An ally may pledge to allot a given number of hours per month to ISAF operations "subject to availability"; when alliance commanders seek to draw on that resource, they are all too frequently told the aircraft are not available, runs the complaint. At least one nation will not let troops from other nations travel in its aircraft, according to another alliance source.

Now next time you hear that we are on the cusp of losing afghanistan... here is part of the problem. And when you skim through old Iraq stories I want you to ask yourself this question: How, if NATO a unified organization can't operate security in Afghanistan could a lack of organization, a coalition of the willing, do it in Iraq without common organizational backbone.

I might go dig some of the posts and news articles I saw pointing to the problems of our allies. But I think in this age our country may stand alone at the gate.... though truthfully I am not certain we won't run either

Intresting info from Transperancy International

BRUSSELS: Indian, Chinese and Russian exporters pay bribes more often than companies from other countries, according to a survey released Wednesday that ranked Italian businesses as the most inclined to pay bribes among European Union countries.

The findings, covering 30 leading exporting countries, were released by Transparency International, a nongovernmental monitoring group. The survey found that companies from Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Austria and Canada bribed the least to win foreign business. Britain ranked 6th; Germany 7th; the United States 9th, along with Belgium; and Japan, 11th.

arrrr Bribe Me

What makes this intresting is countries with cultures that accept bribary happen to bribe more often then those that don't.....

Which should shock no one.

Ok this has Cajones

Seems the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has found a way to get good media coverage fir his side of the case

... "Let in the tourists"

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran’s hard-line president has ordered nuclear facilities opened to foreign tourists to prove that the nation’s disputed atomic program is peaceful, state-run television reported on Wednesday.

“After an order by the president ... foreign tourists can visit Iran’s nuclear facilities,” the head of Iran’s tourism division, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, was quoted as saying.

Mashai said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued the order to show that Iran’s nuclear program it aims to generate fuel, not weapons.

Oh Honey... Lets go see the Nuclear Reactors in Iran.....

funny dodge of the issue, but not an effective ploy for long

Alienating our Allies

In a world thats much more thoughtful, and sensitive world our metrosexual priesthood tells us “Our allies would support us.... and in the world of unintentional ironies their words end up being as ignorant and foolish as the path they decry...

First we must define the word allies a bit, and I will get into some international relations theory here (but thats ok it will not be painful). The Realist school of International policy has one ultimately valid point, beyond all others. That point is nations do ultimately what is in their self interest, and best interest. During what we saw during the Second World War and the Cold War (up until the late 60s to early 80s) was keeping America part of the international system, and happy was in their best interest. Young men from Omaha to Nassau were ready to put their lives on the line to defend Belgium, Tokyo, And Sydney from Communist and Nazi death. But the problem is with best interest.... like any kind of interest the rates do change.

In the late 60s to the early 80s a school of thought came onto the stage which was known as Detente. In the world of detente getting huggly and snuggly with the Russian bear will protect us. Taking the red hordes and encouraging them to join the family of nations and then (later) peace and capitalism will come. Detente only worked because Nixon punched a wedge in the communist alliance by brining a strong relationship with the US to Mao's most self oriented self interest. And when the idea came that we should be thoughtful and sensitive when dealing with the red hordes did we find ourself in a problem that is most familiar.

With an unpopular war, and the costs of that war leading to a weakening American economic position the nations of the world found their best interests were not in aggression... indeed they felt aggression was the opposite of their best interest. These nations clothed themselves in Socialism, they challenged the rectitude of the US position. They called for Pacifism and engagement.

Then came some great titans. Folks like Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, Margie Thatcher, and some heads of state who realized that communism was a moral evil. They realized that communism dehumanized and brutalized people who lived under it. And so they challenged communists and their proxies around the world. This shadow war through the prism of the cold war was very ugly, and many more problems were caused but in the end the other nations came along because it was in their best interest to.

Being a leader is hard. No one wanted to save Czechoslovakia when Hitler came. No one wanted to save Austria. A world tired of War did not want to stand up for the rights of the people under the Iron Curtain. The path of acceptance is very easy, the path of diplomacy is very easy. But diplomacy to have any meaning at all must have a final line that cannot be crossed.

Otherwise, how can we know our own interest, and make it the interest of others?

Our allies will not come until they see it is in their interest and they see some one will lead the fight. So lets put aside the metrosexual talk and lets talk like men who live in a real world.

More Democratic Electoral Doom

Oil Speculators are going to soak it to the democrats by leading to low oil prices

Oil traders bet that such worrisome developments would drive up the future price of oil. Oil is traded in contracts for future delivery, and companies that take physical delivery of oil are just a small part of total trading. Large pension and commodities funds are the big traders and they're seeking profits. They've sunk $105 billion or more into oil futures in recent years, according to Verleger. Their bets that oil prices would rise in the future bid up the price of oil.

That, in turn, led users of oil to create stockpiles as cushions against supply disruptions and even higher future prices. Now inventories of oil are approaching 1990 levels.

But many of the conditions that drove investors to bid up oil prices are ebbing. Tensions over Israel, Lebanon and Nigeria are easing. The hurricane season has presented no threat so far to the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. peak summer driving season is over, so gasoline demand is falling.

With fear of supply disruptions ebbing, oil prices began sliding. With oil inventories high, refiners that turn oil into gasoline are expected to cut production. As refiners cut production, oil companies increasingly risk getting stuck with excess oil supplies. There's already anecdotal evidence of oil companies chartering tankers to store excess oil.
.....

This was all part of Bush's Master Plan

Should oil traders fear that this downward price spiral will get worse and run for the exits by selling off their futures contracts, Verleger said, it's not unthinkable that oil prices could return to $15 or less a barrel, at least temporarily. That could mean gasoline prices as low as $1.15 per gallon.

Other experts won't guess at a floor price, but they agree that a race to the bottom could break out.

"The market may test levels here that are too low to be sustained," said Clay Seigle, an analyst at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a consultancy in Boston.
.....

"That takes six to nine months. If we don't have a really cold winter here [creating a demand for oil], prices will fall. Literally, you don't know where the floor is," Verleger said. "In a market like this, if things start falling ... prices could take you back to the 1999 levels. It has nothing to do with production."

Hmmm this is intresting

Reporters are always awesome when they tell you information inadvertantly

-observe-

The new measures took effect immediately upon being issued by the state Xinhua News Agency. The regulations give Xinhua broad authority over foreign news agencies, requiring them to distribute stories, photos and other services solely through Xinhua or entities authorized by Xinhua.

The rules would affect The Associated Press, Reuters and other foreign news agencies seeking wider access to the rapidly expanding Chinese market. It was unclear how other news organizations would be affected.

So China is Censoring things, so what I bet you say. But then you would not have learned the most important rule of Al-Press

the meat is always later in the article

Under a decade-old set of regulations, foreign news agencies were allowed limited distribution of financial data and other information — deals that the new rules appear to rule out

hmmm Financial Data

President
Hu Jintao's leadership has sought to rein in state-controlled media that have strayed from party dictates in search of profits and market share. Journalists and editors have been fired and arrested.

Hmmmm

As part of its new powers, Xinhua also will police the distribution of news in the mainland by agencies from Hong Kong, a former British colony now ruled by China but that operates under separate laws and with a free press. It also affects agencies in Taiwan, which Beijing claims but does not control.

Under the rules, any reports that disrupt "China's economic and social order or undermine China's social stability" will be banned as will news that undermines the country's "national unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity," Xinhua said.

hmmmmm

Other news banned by the rules includes information that may "endanger China's national security, reputation and interests," violate "China's religious policies or preach 'evil cults' or superstition," or "incite hatred and discrimination among ethnic groups" or undermine their unity.

Also forbidden is "other content banned by Chinese laws and administrative regulations," it said.

From an older post I found this gem

In 2003, a boom year, their median rate of return on assets was a measly 1.5 percent. More than 35 percent of state enterprises lose money and 1 in 6 has more debts than assets. China is the only country in history to have simultaneously achieved record economic growth and a record number of nonperforming bank loans.

In other words..... Their is bad economic news in China. Foriegn press not only can't report it internally in china this deal also effects their ability to get it internally from china and express it to the outside world.

I will see if when I get home I can dig up some of my other Red Dragon related posts

5 years later......

This is the third time I have started this post over from scratch, though while this time occurred because of technical difficulties I think this was for the best as on my way to school the barrage of stuff hit me and gave me more fodder for thought.

Where was I 5 years ago….

5 years ago I was working at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. I was getting in about 9 o’clock then with my schedule (which was highly flexible at the time), I remember most the stream of wild and crazy news stories... Everyone at that time had a different rumor or story before the second plane hit. My first thought was when I heard that a small passenger plane hit that it simply was not right. It did not make sense. I heard some one else say they heard the small plane had a missile on it. In this world where we have instant 24 hour news what struck me (mutedly then) and still does today was how in this time of crisis it was like a giant game of telephone.

The President was in my town, reading my Pet goat in that famous picture we all seem to remember. I remember how after the visit he gave some encouraging words to the students and teachers at Booker Elementary before heading off. This speech really makes me to this day remember that Bush could speak well if he spoke to his strengths.

I was not afraid or even all that shocked, though I must admit I to was struck by the images and how they seemed so unreal, so much like some fancy movie special effect.

I made my choice about what I wanted to do with my life then, something I have modified somewhat and may modify again now that the wheels have turned. I had gotten myself on a decent financial footing and god knows when I will see that again with my re-entry as a college student.

People talk about the World Changing on 9-11… the world did not change and we as Americans did not really change all that seemed to happen was we hit a snooze alarm. We have had 5 years of searches of every passenger to try to restrict weapons, as numerous new acts have happened where spotting the suspect –not a suspect device- proved those ideas as faulty.

We got into the politics of the Islamic world, it seems by its nature Bin Laden, and his top echelons are now sitting comfortably in Pakistan in a region their government can’t control.

On Glenn Beck I heard a woman say that our freedom is why they are beating us. Glenn argued (and rightly so) it is not our freedom that holds us back but it is our fear…. The only fear I think I can find in this situation

…our fear of ourselves.

We have as a society done truly awful things to racial and ethnic minorities, and as such, we are unable to risk the possibility that we would do it again. And we have created through our politics a power in being the victim, a power that people lacking in a certain sense of ethic and morality exploit.

That’s not our freedom, that’s our folly.

In my college paper I see this folly again and again

The fact that 19 hijackers could alter American foreign policy so drastically is still a bit overwhelming. These attacks created a new era - a War on Terror that would root out terrorists and their appeasers.

But the nation's success in this endeavor is highly debatable. Violence in Afghanistan - you know, that place the United States originally invaded seeking to crush the Taliban and Osama bin Laden? - is escalating. The Iraq war has cost too much in terms of American lives and money, and the Iranians continue to defy calls to halt uranium enrichment (though a hefty dose of skepticism is warranted for intelligence estimates of anything).

Oh, and don't forget those North Koreans; they round out the "Axis of Evil" of unresolved crises.

Their is a critque that is legitimate in all these words


and yet look at those words. The kind of Marxist societal divisions which failed in Marx's time (as good socialists and communists fought and died for their country in WWI and WWII) seem to be born out in our own age.

-though in the authors defense he eventually gets to the point that "they are all bumbs" but thats not his lead and in the papers its the lead that matters not whats bellow the fold-


again from my school paper

Hundreds of millions of Americans will spend the rest of their lives coping with the havoc 19 determined individuals wreaked on this society five years ago. Remember the day's events as they happened, not as someone wants you to believe they happened. Everybody's experience on that day was unique.

Don't let anyone sell you your memories or manipulate them for personal or political gain.

These are the people who felt the world changed for them, yet they end up doing what they always did

9-11 was an awful thing because some 3000 people or so lost their lives, but what we saw in just a flicker for hardly a year... that is at the core of who we are as americans at our own deep level.

and sadly two so is what we see represented by the folks in my school paper.

I was a militia sympathizer back in the 90s but let me say this

When you focus to much on the wrongs of your country you lose the ability to see the big picture

You lose it to when you focus to much on the good

and this War on Terror, this generational war, is all about the Big Picture.

Red Ken Strikes again

This time in the likes of John McCain and Trent Lott he strikes out at bloggers. Alek from Publis Pundit puts the focus where it belongs

Mayor Livingstone went further yesterday and read to London’s assemblymen from some articles written and posted by me in this website, where I argued that once all democratic tools had been sequestered by a criminal State the only recourse left to regain the lost liberties was violence.

It was I, who conspired for many years with fellow military men to overthrow democratically elected governments.

It was I, who led a coup d’etat in 1992 against a democratically elected president, causing numerous deaths.

It was I, who, whilst safely sheltered from bullets in the Military Museum, ordered the assassination of the democratically elected president of Venezuela and that of his family.

It was I, who promised to the people of Venezuela that I would fry the heads of political opponents upon reaching power.

It was I, who assured to the people of Venezuela that under my government corruption, crime, unemployment and poverty would be made history and the thousands of street children would be saved from such horrendous life conditions or else I would change my name.

It was I, who in 1999 violated all constitutional precepts to summon a National Constituent Assembly.

It was I, who using the supra-constitutional mechanism mentioned gave the first democratic coup of the Americas, dissolving, illegally and unconstitutionally, all elected powers and institutions of Venezuela.

It was I, who ordered my lackeys to write a constitution that allows to disown regimes that encroach upon human rights.

It was I, who exacerbated the hatred amongst Venezuelans.

It was I, who aligned one of the most stable democracies in South America with the continent’s oldest dictatorship.

It was I, who sistematically destroyed the only source of income of Venezuela by provoking, with televised dismissals, an oil strike.

It was I, who prevented my countrymen to improve their lot by plundering and giving away Venezuelan resources.

It was I, who expelled counter narcotics agencies from Venezuela.

It was I, who ignored factual reports of Colombian narco-guerrilla camps and operations in Venezuela.

It was I, who granted protection to internationally wanted criminals, such as Vladimiro Montesinos.

It was I, who permitted the presence in Venezuela of terrorist FARC leaders, such as Rodrigo Granda.

It was my Minister of Interior, who opened the door to the families of wanted terrorists.

It was my identification office, that confered Venezuelan citizenship to terrorists.

It were my presidential guard, that failed to capture sharp shooters who assassinated 23 people and wounded hundreds on April 2002.

It were my Bolivarian supporters, who opened fire to unarmed civilians on April 2002.

It was I, who ordered the implementation of a military contingency plan to dissolve with tanks and weapons of war a rally of unarmed civilians.

It was I, who rigged an election on August 2004.

It was I, who ordered the construction of a database of the entire Venezuelan electoral roll for political prosecution purposes.

It was I, who allowed thousands of anti-democratic Cuban operatives into Venezuela to repress and spy upon my countrymen.

It was I, who jailed in trumped up charges union leaders and political foes.

It was I, who allowed Venezuela to be turned into a narco terrorist State.

It was I, who gave explicit orders to Venezuela’s diplomatic corps to side with the fundamentalist regime of Iran, voting in lockstep in favour of its nuclear programme.

It was I, who embraced Saddam Hussein, Muammar Khadafi, Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Robert Mugabe.

It was I, who sent the military to expropriate private property.

It was I, who shredded contracts with Venezuela’s commercial partners.

It was I, who masterminded the international isolation of a once respected, democratic, well meaning and sovereign nation.

It was I, who embarked Venezuela, a country that has not seen armed conflict in more than a century, in an arms race.

It was I, who militarised Venezuela’s public administration.

It was under my tenure, that Venezuela broke all records of deaths for violent causes.

It was under my tenure, that Venezuela joined the club of nations where human rights are sistematically abused as part of the State’s policy.

It was I, who turned Venezuela’s oil income into the source of South America’s destabilization.

And lastly, -I could go on for days, it was my comrade the Mayor of London, who, in keeping with his democratic foreign policy agenda, invited an Islamic fundamentalist who openly called for the execution of gay men and implementation of barbaric practices upon women in London’s City Hall.

Certainly I did not expect this, but as someone aptly put it the other day, one should never underestimate the militancy of the radical left. Bloggers are indeed a menace, whether in Iran, China, Venezuela, Cuba or London. What’s next; a lawsuit? Deportation to Venezuela? Stay tuned.

Putting Chavez and his good buddy Red Ken into perspective

I really want to not do this

But the urge to do it is to good

"Get your stinking paws off me you D@mned Dirty Ape"

The socialist PSOE party is apparently intent on introducing a bill aimed at giving apes the same rights as man, "and the immediate inclusion of these animals as people." As a result, the bill adds that apes "should have the same moral and legal protection that humans currently enjoy."

Fernando Sebastian, the bishop of Tudela has termed the measure as "making oneself looking ridiculous in the name of progress, and then what about the rights of the fighting bulls?" Meanwhile, other political commentators have stated that as a result of these measures, it will not be long before apes names will start appearing on the electoral rolls.

I feel dirty now I really do

More Sanity in the middle east

Borat has a defender

Dariga, one of the three daughters of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said Kazakhstan's furious reaction to Cohen's alter-ego Borat character hurt the nation's image a lot more than the jokes themselves.

"This Web site (www.borat.kz) damaged our image much less than its closure which was covered by all global news agencies," Dariga said in an interview published Friday in Kazakh newspaper Karavan.

"We should not be afraid of humor and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think," added Dariga, an influential politician who once headed the country's main TV channel Khabar.

people like this are part of why I tell people in 20-30 years the region is going to be all right....because people there do get it

First lets laugh at the EURO

The Brussel's Journey continues their very low workload job of kicking the EU while it's down.

oaquin Almunia, the EU’s monetary affairs commissioner, who “told a group of City bankers and fund managers that the markets were ‘not properly pricing the risk’ of Italian sovereign debt. He also raised concerns about Greek debt. […] The spread between German and Italian 10-year bonds has already jumped from 20 to 31 basis points in recent days as rising global interest rates make investors more sensitive to risk. […] Mr Almunia said the spreads may widen further to reflect the default risk in Italy, which has the world’s third biggest stock of public debt after Japan and the United States.”

So whenever you hear moonbats talking about Iran or other states selling their oil in Euro's...

just snicker a lot