Israeli exists to show the world how wonderful it is to have a Jewish state. When the one state solution comes to pass, the world will see how wonderful it is to have a Palestinian state. This is what Israel fears more than anything else.
Christian LITERALISTS are unable to take responsibility for their own actions. One of their actions has been to systematically deny full personhood to women. Rather than face the consequence, they seek a divine solution(deus ex machina) for the crimes of violence against women.
The problem is, it was a great speech, but as comments above indicate, Obama (2012) has to show more than the great speeches from Obama (2004) and (2008).
Speaking as a disinterested (read non-religious) person, it seems to me that Islam demands fewer leaps if faith (credulity) than either Judaism or Christianity. Attacks on the faith probable stem from insecurity about Judaism's exceptionalism, or Christianity's "believe on me" easy road to salvation.
I rather like the part I read in one history of the Old Testament (didn't know they "expired" - I digress) which asserted that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, based on individual tribal myths, were later literally placed into a lineage to give the tribe out of the South of the Sinai more credibility.
Or, as Jesus said (in the Gospel of Thomas), "Render unto God what is God's, unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto yourself what is yours." That actually make sense.
Having heard part of the trailer, and speaking as one who holds no particular religion in special favor, the trailer was inflammatory. I was angered.
Perhaps we should be discussing why no one is talking about the abuse heaped upon persons of a certain origin, i.e. MENA, almost daily, whether it be through orientalism (Arabs do this, Arabs do that), excessive fear, failure to draw parallels between fundie-Xian law and fundie Islamic law ... and fundie Jewish law, failure to recognize and respect the cradle of civilization ...
Uh, we're still in an ice age, just a warmer phase called the Holocene.
The CO2 forcing will cause temperatures to rise faster than evolution can keep up. Many species will be pushed to the brink of extinction, including humans, especially those who deny it is happening.
BTW, Thank you for the link. When the video ends, there are many other videos. That and Real Player = many entertaining DVD's.
The Goddard center is where James Hansen is. He runs it, I think. He also wrote a nice book, "Storms of My Grandchildren." It's actually two books, much like LOTR split into two stories when Frodo and Sam went east, and Pippin and Merry got themselves abducted by orcs before the Riders of Rohan intervened. I digress.
So, it's like two books, "Storms" and "Grandkids."
'Storms' is about the stupid things Congress and the Cheney White House did to suppress knowledge about climate change. They also suppressed knowledge about Douglas Feith and other characters, but that's not in the book. I digress.
"Grandkids" is about the science. Money phrases: CO2 sensitivity and 1/2 watt.
No, but the salts it can heat remain molten and can be used to power steam generators. I think researchers at M.I.T. (irony) developed a method for thermal storage using molten salts.
Romney has wealth in the form of paper assets. Many of the non-aligned countries have wealth in the form of raw materials, and manufacturing, primitive by moon rocket robot standards, but considerable nonetheless.
A war on Iran would cause paper assets to evaporate and undervalued material assets to become quite valuable.
Overnight, the current run of the ECMWF shows landfall in Pensacola on the 31st, give or take 200 miles, as a Cat 1. Friday, the NHC will have enough info to narrow the cone of uncertainty, but it looks like Florida's panhandle is in for a wetting.
I just hope to be watching the convention when some pundit says "We approve of this panhandle."
What's notable about Isaac is the possible track northward off the west coast of Florida and then a recurve, driving the maximum possible storm surge into Tampa Bay. Most of the city's central business district would be under twelve feet of water.
The uncertainty is due to a low pressure trough currently in Canada that will determine how fast Isaac turns. The reason why Isaac would turn is that Isaac has been fueled by warmer than average ocean temps, and if it gets into the Gulf ...
I actually saw the original Megadeath, which was a skit by the National Lampoon traveling road show "Lemmings." Band members included Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Christopher Guest. They all died in the end .... of the skit. Sadly, I think that was the high point of my college career.
And too, Ted Nugent on stage at Elizabeth Hall, "not knowing" what the lyrics were really about.....
Professor, you are completely wrong. It is permissible for Great Britain to invade the Ecuadorian Embassy, because what the King says is right. Also, it is not permissible for Ecuador or any other 2nd tier nation to respond with reciprocity until the Northern European nations give them permission to do so.
An answer, if not THE answer is to demand accountability .... on the part of brain dead idiots (both sides of the aisle) who repeat sequences they have been taught by the spiritual leader du jour (again, both sides of the aisle) as if it were logic, without questioning their sanctified beliefs.
When we get into the habit of asking people "why" and demanding logical, factual responses, then obscene, and obscenely large, campaign contributions will become less important.
This requires effort. Excuse me while I continue my research in the current state of Egypt's constitution.
In a very unfortunate way, those are the top stories for the average brain. Evolved to keep track of 125 relationships +-, to remember where food is and to do whatever the silver back says. Oh yes, and to attack enemies from the other tribe.
I like Chick-Fil-A. I also liked the Flames, the Omni, and that nice Stew who lived above me. Bygone era, I guess, but is it allowed to eat there because you like the food?
Just as with sea level rise, people misunderstand the implications of even minor changes to climate stability. The world food supply is at its maximum production, and this is based on temperatures staying within certain ranges and rainfall staying within certain ranges. There is almost no spare capacity, so when drought and soaring heat come along, the US grain crops are reduced by (some estimates) half, and widespread famine follow six months to a year later. A few degrees here and there, and marginal changes have major impacts.
I mentioned sea level rise. A few inches here or there may be just enough to undermine foundation during storm surges where without the extra inch, the foundations would have survived. Marginal changes have major impacts.
A few percent difference in soil moisture can tip a forest from resilience to susceptibility when parasites invade, leading to dead trees standing, or when a brush fire finds enough fuel to reach the canopy. A few per dent difference in relative humidity can allow the brush fire to sustain itself long enough to reach the canopy. A few minor changes in forest parameters can allow the forest to undergo a permanent state change to grassland.
Although the big debate seems to be whether we are going to allow major changes to the driving functions, namely CO2, the debate should be how close do we let ourselves get to tipping points, irreversible but only recognizable after the tip, where marginals differences result in drastic consequences.
I think we need to make it clear that we have used up the buffer in our environment, and from now on, changes we make will have drastic consequences. Unfortunately, to have this discussion, we must have widespread acceptance that anthropogenic climate change is real, and the Kocks and Exxons oppose that discussion, presumably because it interferes with their accumulation of wealth. However, the joke is on them.
There is very little their money can buy that has any meaning in a depopulated planet.
Uh, the law says that when, in the course of ever more strident discourse, eventually one party or the other will be called a Nazi and compared to Hitler, and the party that invoked the name of Hitler loses and the game is over.
There is, apparently, a need for an exception to this rule, and it goes like this:
When discussing blatant racism, Anglo-Saxon purity, and feeble minded politicans, Godwin's Law does not apply. That would be like claiming you can't say "double fault" when playing tennis, love.
Actually, it will be an extremely hot day in North Dakota. Excess energy and food, a too stable climate to generate Darwinian thinning, and a mindless drum beat about how this is the greatest nation on earth, when it has mostly been the richest nation on earth with only superficial acknowledgment to the laws and constitution that would make it the greatest nation if only we were to pay attention to them rather than commercial television, are not eternal.
The comfy life may not last for even another ten years. Some people even think the Drought of 2012 will lead to the Food Shortage of 2013, the Financial Collapse of 2013 and the Winter Without Snow of 2014. Then, with overcrowded refugee camps on the US/Canadian border, you might choose to trade your weapon for porridge and a cot.
The Bill of Rights was a choice, wasting fossil fuels is a choice, and ignoring climate change is a choice.
A car is designed for a different purpose than a firearm. A small boulder is also lethal but only if used correctly. Thus, the degree with which an object is potentially lethal is not the same as whether it is a weapon or not.
Unless you intend to ban all firearms, you need a better definition of "assault" rifle. Then, if you try to define "full automatic" as an assault weapon, you need to realize that most armies direct their selective fire weapons to be used in single shot mode or in groups of three, to preserve ammunition and the weapon.
If you then intend to include semi-automatic weapons, you need to be clear whether you also want to include all auto-loaders, which includes double action revolvers.
I guess then you would also have to ban single shot rifles that are too accurate, because these could be used by snipers.
This is why I thought it was wise to concentrate on the ridiculously high magazine capacity of the weapon used in Colorado, and start a conversation on the juvenile mentality rather than weapon itself.
My point in recommending universal gun ownership by responsible adults, not the same as universal concealed weapons carry permits, is that the education and burden imposed results in a change of thinking by sane, emotionally mature adults. The realization of consequences is brought closer to home.
As for myself, I first used a firearm when I was a boy, for target practice, and the idea that this object causes permanent, destructive changes in whatever is hit became thoroughly internalized. It is not something I read about and formed an idea about based on words someone else has written. It is a personal experience.
I think much of the problem with gun ownership in this or any country is due to immaturity on the part of the people who buy and carry for ego gratification, and that would be alleviated by a more accepting stance towards gun ownership, and a less accepting stance towards gun use.
Examples of a less accepting stance towards gun use would be:
1) Iran might develop nuclear power in the future. Let's bomb them.
2) Saddam Hussein really pisses me off. Let's attack.
3) Send planes into Syria.
4) Anything Jon Goldberg has said. (Sorry about gratuitous Goldberg bashing)
Actual gun ownership, guidance by adults, and reflection on the meaning of using a gun for any purpose other than target practice, causes a change in attitude that might, collectively improve our national identity, and allow us to be more responsible towards each other and less willing to use a detached and largely unseen military that uses far more violent weapons on people whom our leaders (read industrial psychologists who manipulate and spin the news) have decided make good examples of “showing the world how tough and strong the United states of America” is.
So please, if you want responsible gun use to include prohibitions on irresponsible ownership, please remove guns from the hands of our military, and while you are at it, the land thieves in the West Bank (also known as settlers) and their posse, the IDF.
I think you were wise to take aim at the irrational 100 round drum magazine and other para-military attachments that are for sale to the untrained, civilian public. These things appeal to immature, Rambo wannabees.
I hope this nation is mature enough to understand that our Bill of Rights envisions an active, educated, informed, and responsible voting citizen that is willing to speak out against tyranny, and when necessary to protect oneself against oppression. I believe all adults should own at least one firearm, but they also should assume responsibility for knowing how to use and maintain it, and most important, when not to use or carry it.
We know enough about emotional maturity and psychology (for instance schizophrenia is not caused by demons) to identify those adults capable of responsibility. The permit to own a weapon could be based on sanity, rather than need, desire, wealth, or what most registration opponents fear, political connections.
I heard that Russian sources say Assad is ready to step down if it can be done civilly, but Assad denies saying this. The perception that the regime may fall is cause for worry among Assad's supporters, who may defect.
Is Russia trying to end the crises by ending the Assad monopoly, but still retain influence?
Interesting exchange. In my field(s) (science/engineering), we only carry so many significant digits. Three (3) usually is usually enough; I would guess then your error rate over the past ten years is about 0.00%
If you knew your ancient languages, professor, if you are really are a professor, you would know that in early Gibberish (or Gibberis), Bach was the name of the devil's left hand man, also known as "He who uses the wrong hand" and of course, the suffix -mann means "female with too much testosterone, but zero reasoning ability."
So, Michelle Bachmann is either the devil's left-hand, or an overreaching devotee.
I disagree with the assumption that Israel's policies will lead to its termination some decades from now. Israel's existence is a European artifact just as the boundaries of many other countries in the region are artifacts, or so I am told, and without daily influx of money and without political pressure on other nations based on either guilt for the holocaust or some form of blackmail (nuclear, Mossad, who knows), Israel would be in a very different situation.
Rather than being the institution that calls the shots, tells American presidents where to get off, demands that the UN sanction Iran for daring to advance technologically, Israel would become more like a summer camp for rich Americans that was mistakenly placed in the middle of a metropolis instead of a paradise. In other words, there would be no reason to go there or to have West Bank settlements or, dare I say, an "Israel."
Several other bloggers who follow such things as Hubberts Peak - and now the modified form that looks more like a breaking wave than a bell curve, climate change and things like the current, ongoing destruction of the US's corn crop and think of the famine and upheaval that followed the last food upsets, the curious developments in world monetary situations where there is apparently no place to invest that yields growth because with declining energy, there is a contracting rather than expanding world economy, oh and decades of resentment, distrust, and outright tedium directed at the Ariel Sharons and Beni Netanyahu's who demand that "Israel has the right to defend herself" mainly by preying on malnourished Palestinians, and one might come to believe the unthinkable.
Namely, that without constant, illogical support than no one can afford, Israel might just close up and go home like a dishonest shopkeeper facing an audit.
But what happens then to Israel's 400 nukes? Does Israel hold a yard sale?
A single extreme day can destroy (kill) an organism. Examples of organisms include people and the animals and crops they eat.
Marginal increases in average temperature, even with substantially increased rainfall, lower soil moisture enough to reduce crop yield. Reduced crop yield is another way of saying total collapse of societal restraints as one species, humans, eat anything, literally, to stay alive.
Someone should tell the Kochs that along with everything else that they are, they are also food if a starving mob ever got to them.
"But as you see the SCAF on television nad hear about their actions, you find it hard to escape the conclusion that yes, they aren’t being very bright, and appear unaware of how perilous their path is. "
They need real news to know how their individual actions affect the turn of events, and they need to be on the news to know they are operating in the open, not as before.
Intervention would require a massive shift in this country away from SUV's and other energy extravagances, and the power that oil money gives to Russia and Saudia Arabia, and to have the moral courage to oppose Israel.
Both actions would undermine the Assad story line about defending Syria against her enemies, but both actions would require moral courage which we in the US lack.
"Since at least 2005, our military has been there to occupy and subjugate,"
Afghanistan has unmeasured and unknown quantities of rare earth minerals necessary for the transition off oil and onto electrico-mechanical devices such as wind powered generators and storage batteries.
"I was told by an insider that one reason Washington analysts often read my blog in the Bush years was that I had a reputation for having an accurate bull crap meter, and thus my judgments on what was likely to be true helped them fight the tendency to believe our own propaganda!"
So, let's get this straight.
When various agents of a foreign government (AIPACish) opposed your move to Yale via intimidation of their administration and disinformastion, (for being insufficiently collegial, IIRC), and you merely kept this blog going among your other daily activities as a professor at UMich, one of the beneficiaries was the White House, indirectly, by having reports prepared by analysts who used your blog to filter through their own disinformation.
"And, of course, I’ve been saying these things for years and vilified for it, but this is the Israeli Army chief of staff speaking now."
One wonders whether the reality of can't_afford_gas (deliberately ambiguous) has changed their thinking. Israel has always been playing a game with facts on the ground; change the reality then dare the US to tell them to go back to the original state - to unsteal what they have stolen.
It appears that facts on the ground are now beyond Israel's control. OBL, with the willing help of GWB, sought to bankrupt the US with a pointless war in Iraq. Pointless except for the way it soothed Sharon's ego. (Mebbe Netanyahu's ego isn't big enough to take on Iran. heh heh)
Israel has to find another supplier for natural gas - paying a fair price, and the US has to deal with declining affordable oil. It is too costly to attack Iran.
"President Barack Obama ... has, however, gone out of his way to block victims of torture from launching legal actions, and has run interference for guilty officials, ensuring that there is no accountability for the torture programs."
Well, when the US does Israel's bidding and provokes war with Iran, and the price of crude doubles overnight, and the dollar collapses, and Israel needs money, they could always sell their nuclear weapons to the highest bidder.
Any country with plenty of sun and (whatever is the opposite of arable) land should invest in molten salt solar thermal electric generation. It does not require the use of rare earth elements. (So-called because they are rare - and found mostly in China, in mines in Australia that China owns, and n a few closed down mines in the western states.)
It is possible to store sunlight.
The technology is scalable, i.e. Iran could build small scale plants for starters.
The only positive thing I could say about the Santorum candidacy (not him, but the run) is it makes clear the choices between Obama and the former Senator from Pa.
The evil of Bush, the Lesser, was made possible by the spin doctors who convinced many people that there would be little difference between Gore and W.
When the money runs out, and the US has zero world influence, as we will because the world has no use for penniless debtors, then Israel will abandon us.
:\"Question – has Iran, or anyone, ever made this proposal:"
Yes, but all the MSM reported was the misstatement that Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map. Iran does not threaten to wipe Israel off the map, only to wait until the sands of time remove the Zionist regime. Their sands of time, my evaporation. Same concept.
"Then Stewart put her foot in it by saying what she really meant, which was that he was condemning Obama for his radical Islamic theology.
She called back to retract, but as Freud pointed out, sometimes these slips of the tongue are ways for a person’s subconscious to express itself publicly."
Is is possible she forgot that private conversations do not make good talking points? That in private, Santorum talks about Obama's Islamic stance, and that she forgot to edit his and her own conscious thoughts before talking?
"But Iranian saber-rattling about the Straits of Hormuz, for instance, along with Israeli and American warmongering rhetoric, has caused a 10 to 15 percent increase in petroleum prices on speculation over hostilities."
Perhaps we should impose a 15% "mouth tax" on AIPAC, whereas 15% of every dollar they spend lobbying congress goes towards some humanitarian need, such as food and shelter for Syrians.
"3. Turkey is also bucking US pressure to buy from Saudi Arabia rather than Iran. Some analysts doubt that Saudi Arabia can keep up its current 11.8 million barrels a day, and if the output fell,
Saudi Arabia over produces its wells. Someday, the fields will collapse. Production will not fall slowly, it will stop.
Oh! This devious Iranian plot, to destroy the US through financial ruin by forcing the US to surround Iran with expensive military bases, is far more nefarious than I had imagined.
It is now clear that Iranian Islamist fundamentalists have forced the US to intervene in nearly every country in the world, and to spend trillions of dollar borrowed from China, which we will never repay, all to prevent Iran from gaining permanent nuclear-based energy independence.
Write your congressman and tell them that Iran has beaten us, and that AIPAC should just shut up because Israel is destined to evaporate (my term for Israelis fleeing back to Long Island) when the money runs out.
Israel's continued belligerence is something we cannot, literally, afford.
I think it is likely any Republican can beat Obama in November if any of the following occurs:
1) Israel attacks Iran causing economic misery.
2) Another 'nation' stages a false flag black ops that leads to numerous American deaths and eventually economic misery
3) Economic misery.
Bases are located where they can be closer to future military conflict. The bases are close to Iran and the US/Israeli military complex threatens Iran daily.
You forgot to mention that the event gave Bobby Jindal airtime.
Israeli exists to show the world how wonderful it is to have a Jewish state. When the one state solution comes to pass, the world will see how wonderful it is to have a Palestinian state. This is what Israel fears more than anything else.
Ullman.
Actually, the best version belongs to Tracey Ulmann.
Christian LITERALISTS are unable to take responsibility for their own actions. One of their actions has been to systematically deny full personhood to women. Rather than face the consequence, they seek a divine solution(deus ex machina) for the crimes of violence against women.
Israel is a light unto itself.
For 800 mhz cell phones,
c = 2.998^8m/s
f = 800^10^6 hz
Therefore, wavelength = cf = mp = 0.375 m = 375 mm
The wavelength of a millimeter wave is about ... the same as what we call microwave.
So now, "the heat" actually is. Ha!
I guess Obama is unaware of this, which raises the question...
The problem is, it was a great speech, but as comments above indicate, Obama (2012) has to show more than the great speeches from Obama (2004) and (2008).
I'm having trouble reconciling the airplane window fail versus the Olympics. Is Mittens trolling us, and if so, why?
Maher would rather be cute than honest.
Maher is a tame rebel. He sounds outlandish things only if they are acceptable to his media bosses.
Speaking as a disinterested (read non-religious) person, it seems to me that Islam demands fewer leaps if faith (credulity) than either Judaism or Christianity. Attacks on the faith probable stem from insecurity about Judaism's exceptionalism, or Christianity's "believe on me" easy road to salvation.
So, never had a train set as a kid, eh?
Just to clarify, I don't tweet, and neither do I twit willingly, but it is a phenomenon of our times and should be referenced rather than ignored.
It always seemed to me that Jesus was a Buddhist.
I rather like the part I read in one history of the Old Testament (didn't know they "expired" - I digress) which asserted that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, based on individual tribal myths, were later literally placed into a lineage to give the tribe out of the South of the Sinai more credibility.
Or, as Jesus said (in the Gospel of Thomas), "Render unto God what is God's, unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto yourself what is yours." That actually make sense.
Having heard part of the trailer, and speaking as one who holds no particular religion in special favor, the trailer was inflammatory. I was angered.
Perhaps we should be discussing why no one is talking about the abuse heaped upon persons of a certain origin, i.e. MENA, almost daily, whether it be through orientalism (Arabs do this, Arabs do that), excessive fear, failure to draw parallels between fundie-Xian law and fundie Islamic law ... and fundie Jewish law, failure to recognize and respect the cradle of civilization ...
Uh, we're still in an ice age, just a warmer phase called the Holocene.
The CO2 forcing will cause temperatures to rise faster than evolution can keep up. Many species will be pushed to the brink of extinction, including humans, especially those who deny it is happening.
BTW, Thank you for the link. When the video ends, there are many other videos. That and Real Player = many entertaining DVD's.
The Goddard center is where James Hansen is. He runs it, I think. He also wrote a nice book, "Storms of My Grandchildren." It's actually two books, much like LOTR split into two stories when Frodo and Sam went east, and Pippin and Merry got themselves abducted by orcs before the Riders of Rohan intervened. I digress.
So, it's like two books, "Storms" and "Grandkids."
'Storms' is about the stupid things Congress and the Cheney White House did to suppress knowledge about climate change. They also suppressed knowledge about Douglas Feith and other characters, but that's not in the book. I digress.
"Grandkids" is about the science. Money phrases: CO2 sensitivity and 1/2 watt.
Global warming is a no brainer. CO2 is an insulator. (It blocks re-radiated infrared.) Thus, when CO2 rises, the planet warms.
Idiots who deny this probably think 2+2=4 because that's what they were taught, and not because
X X + X X = X X X X
i.e., they believe what they are told, or want, to believe, and not what is real.
It's that simple.
Just wait til the melt water and the warmer oceans get under the EAIS!
"the sun doesn’t shine at night,"
No, but the salts it can heat remain molten and can be used to power steam generators. I think researchers at M.I.T. (irony) developed a method for thermal storage using molten salts.
Romney has wealth in the form of paper assets. Many of the non-aligned countries have wealth in the form of raw materials, and manufacturing, primitive by moon rocket robot standards, but considerable nonetheless.
A war on Iran would cause paper assets to evaporate and undervalued material assets to become quite valuable.
pssst.....Bashar, Anna Chapman lives in Russia. ('nuf said)
Overnight, the current run of the ECMWF shows landfall in Pensacola on the 31st, give or take 200 miles, as a Cat 1. Friday, the NHC will have enough info to narrow the cone of uncertainty, but it looks like Florida's panhandle is in for a wetting.
I just hope to be watching the convention when some pundit says "We approve of this panhandle."
What's notable about Isaac is the possible track northward off the west coast of Florida and then a recurve, driving the maximum possible storm surge into Tampa Bay. Most of the city's central business district would be under twelve feet of water.
The uncertainty is due to a low pressure trough currently in Canada that will determine how fast Isaac turns. The reason why Isaac would turn is that Isaac has been fueled by warmer than average ocean temps, and if it gets into the Gulf ...
I actually saw the original Megadeath, which was a skit by the National Lampoon traveling road show "Lemmings." Band members included Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Christopher Guest. They all died in the end .... of the skit. Sadly, I think that was the high point of my college career.
And too, Ted Nugent on stage at Elizabeth Hall, "not knowing" what the lyrics were really about.....
Does Israel have a constitution?
Professor, you are completely wrong. It is permissible for Great Britain to invade the Ecuadorian Embassy, because what the King says is right. Also, it is not permissible for Ecuador or any other 2nd tier nation to respond with reciprocity until the Northern European nations give them permission to do so.
An answer, if not THE answer is to demand accountability .... on the part of brain dead idiots (both sides of the aisle) who repeat sequences they have been taught by the spiritual leader du jour (again, both sides of the aisle) as if it were logic, without questioning their sanctified beliefs.
When we get into the habit of asking people "why" and demanding logical, factual responses, then obscene, and obscenely large, campaign contributions will become less important.
This requires effort. Excuse me while I continue my research in the current state of Egypt's constitution.
Arabs need a better climate. I mean, literally, more water, less drought.
I think the complaint is that the biggest online search engine mostly presents trivial gossip on its "news" page.
In a very unfortunate way, those are the top stories for the average brain. Evolved to keep track of 125 relationships +-, to remember where food is and to do whatever the silver back says. Oh yes, and to attack enemies from the other tribe.
The BIG question, "Is Morsi acting completely within his constitutional powers?"
Isn't that the same as putting the cart before .... oh never mind.
Never saw the film, but in Blazing Saddles, Mongo sucker punched a horse.
Perhaps he is trying to emulate W on the theory that W got elected twice, so if he sounds like him, he'll get elected twice?
I like Chick-Fil-A. I also liked the Flames, the Omni, and that nice Stew who lived above me. Bygone era, I guess, but is it allowed to eat there because you like the food?
Just as with sea level rise, people misunderstand the implications of even minor changes to climate stability. The world food supply is at its maximum production, and this is based on temperatures staying within certain ranges and rainfall staying within certain ranges. There is almost no spare capacity, so when drought and soaring heat come along, the US grain crops are reduced by (some estimates) half, and widespread famine follow six months to a year later. A few degrees here and there, and marginal changes have major impacts.
I mentioned sea level rise. A few inches here or there may be just enough to undermine foundation during storm surges where without the extra inch, the foundations would have survived. Marginal changes have major impacts.
A few percent difference in soil moisture can tip a forest from resilience to susceptibility when parasites invade, leading to dead trees standing, or when a brush fire finds enough fuel to reach the canopy. A few per dent difference in relative humidity can allow the brush fire to sustain itself long enough to reach the canopy. A few minor changes in forest parameters can allow the forest to undergo a permanent state change to grassland.
Although the big debate seems to be whether we are going to allow major changes to the driving functions, namely CO2, the debate should be how close do we let ourselves get to tipping points, irreversible but only recognizable after the tip, where marginals differences result in drastic consequences.
I think we need to make it clear that we have used up the buffer in our environment, and from now on, changes we make will have drastic consequences. Unfortunately, to have this discussion, we must have widespread acceptance that anthropogenic climate change is real, and the Kocks and Exxons oppose that discussion, presumably because it interferes with their accumulation of wealth. However, the joke is on them.
There is very little their money can buy that has any meaning in a depopulated planet.
My bad, but I was thinking of the recent, not the classic.
Romney quoted from "The Wealth of Nations." Telling. Now we know what he would do with ethnic/racial groups in the US that don't meet spec.
The sophistication of the political satire expressed in MENA never fails to amaze me.
Uh, the law says that when, in the course of ever more strident discourse, eventually one party or the other will be called a Nazi and compared to Hitler, and the party that invoked the name of Hitler loses and the game is over.
There is, apparently, a need for an exception to this rule, and it goes like this:
When discussing blatant racism, Anglo-Saxon purity, and feeble minded politicans, Godwin's Law does not apply. That would be like claiming you can't say "double fault" when playing tennis, love.
Assumes the ability to delay gratification.
Actually, it will be an extremely hot day in North Dakota. Excess energy and food, a too stable climate to generate Darwinian thinning, and a mindless drum beat about how this is the greatest nation on earth, when it has mostly been the richest nation on earth with only superficial acknowledgment to the laws and constitution that would make it the greatest nation if only we were to pay attention to them rather than commercial television, are not eternal.
The comfy life may not last for even another ten years. Some people even think the Drought of 2012 will lead to the Food Shortage of 2013, the Financial Collapse of 2013 and the Winter Without Snow of 2014. Then, with overcrowded refugee camps on the US/Canadian border, you might choose to trade your weapon for porridge and a cot.
The Bill of Rights was a choice, wasting fossil fuels is a choice, and ignoring climate change is a choice.
A car is designed for a different purpose than a firearm. A small boulder is also lethal but only if used correctly. Thus, the degree with which an object is potentially lethal is not the same as whether it is a weapon or not.
Unless you intend to ban all firearms, you need a better definition of "assault" rifle. Then, if you try to define "full automatic" as an assault weapon, you need to realize that most armies direct their selective fire weapons to be used in single shot mode or in groups of three, to preserve ammunition and the weapon.
If you then intend to include semi-automatic weapons, you need to be clear whether you also want to include all auto-loaders, which includes double action revolvers.
I guess then you would also have to ban single shot rifles that are too accurate, because these could be used by snipers.
This is why I thought it was wise to concentrate on the ridiculously high magazine capacity of the weapon used in Colorado, and start a conversation on the juvenile mentality rather than weapon itself.
My point in recommending universal gun ownership by responsible adults, not the same as universal concealed weapons carry permits, is that the education and burden imposed results in a change of thinking by sane, emotionally mature adults. The realization of consequences is brought closer to home.
As for myself, I first used a firearm when I was a boy, for target practice, and the idea that this object causes permanent, destructive changes in whatever is hit became thoroughly internalized. It is not something I read about and formed an idea about based on words someone else has written. It is a personal experience.
I think much of the problem with gun ownership in this or any country is due to immaturity on the part of the people who buy and carry for ego gratification, and that would be alleviated by a more accepting stance towards gun ownership, and a less accepting stance towards gun use.
Examples of a less accepting stance towards gun use would be:
1) Iran might develop nuclear power in the future. Let's bomb them.
2) Saddam Hussein really pisses me off. Let's attack.
3) Send planes into Syria.
4) Anything Jon Goldberg has said. (Sorry about gratuitous Goldberg bashing)
Actual gun ownership, guidance by adults, and reflection on the meaning of using a gun for any purpose other than target practice, causes a change in attitude that might, collectively improve our national identity, and allow us to be more responsible towards each other and less willing to use a detached and largely unseen military that uses far more violent weapons on people whom our leaders (read industrial psychologists who manipulate and spin the news) have decided make good examples of “showing the world how tough and strong the United states of America” is.
So please, if you want responsible gun use to include prohibitions on irresponsible ownership, please remove guns from the hands of our military, and while you are at it, the land thieves in the West Bank (also known as settlers) and their posse, the IDF.
I think you were wise to take aim at the irrational 100 round drum magazine and other para-military attachments that are for sale to the untrained, civilian public. These things appeal to immature, Rambo wannabees.
I hope this nation is mature enough to understand that our Bill of Rights envisions an active, educated, informed, and responsible voting citizen that is willing to speak out against tyranny, and when necessary to protect oneself against oppression. I believe all adults should own at least one firearm, but they also should assume responsibility for knowing how to use and maintain it, and most important, when not to use or carry it.
We know enough about emotional maturity and psychology (for instance schizophrenia is not caused by demons) to identify those adults capable of responsibility. The permit to own a weapon could be based on sanity, rather than need, desire, wealth, or what most registration opponents fear, political connections.
I heard that Russian sources say Assad is ready to step down if it can be done civilly, but Assad denies saying this. The perception that the regime may fall is cause for worry among Assad's supporters, who may defect.
Is Russia trying to end the crises by ending the Assad monopoly, but still retain influence?
Interesting exchange. In my field(s) (science/engineering), we only carry so many significant digits. Three (3) usually is usually enough; I would guess then your error rate over the past ten years is about 0.00%
I just heard that dear leader is vacationing in a city on the coast. He probably wants to check on his new yacht, the Pyotr Velikiy.
If you knew your ancient languages, professor, if you are really are a professor, you would know that in early Gibberish (or Gibberis), Bach was the name of the devil's left hand man, also known as "He who uses the wrong hand" and of course, the suffix -mann means "female with too much testosterone, but zero reasoning ability."
So, Michelle Bachmann is either the devil's left-hand, or an overreaching devotee.
Oh, that's nothing. Dick Cheney and his neo-con handlers eradicated several nations, and the debt they created is about to eradicate civilization.
Assad has nowhere to go but down.
I disagree with the assumption that Israel's policies will lead to its termination some decades from now. Israel's existence is a European artifact just as the boundaries of many other countries in the region are artifacts, or so I am told, and without daily influx of money and without political pressure on other nations based on either guilt for the holocaust or some form of blackmail (nuclear, Mossad, who knows), Israel would be in a very different situation.
Rather than being the institution that calls the shots, tells American presidents where to get off, demands that the UN sanction Iran for daring to advance technologically, Israel would become more like a summer camp for rich Americans that was mistakenly placed in the middle of a metropolis instead of a paradise. In other words, there would be no reason to go there or to have West Bank settlements or, dare I say, an "Israel."
Several other bloggers who follow such things as Hubberts Peak - and now the modified form that looks more like a breaking wave than a bell curve, climate change and things like the current, ongoing destruction of the US's corn crop and think of the famine and upheaval that followed the last food upsets, the curious developments in world monetary situations where there is apparently no place to invest that yields growth because with declining energy, there is a contracting rather than expanding world economy, oh and decades of resentment, distrust, and outright tedium directed at the Ariel Sharons and Beni Netanyahu's who demand that "Israel has the right to defend herself" mainly by preying on malnourished Palestinians, and one might come to believe the unthinkable.
Namely, that without constant, illogical support than no one can afford, Israel might just close up and go home like a dishonest shopkeeper facing an audit.
But what happens then to Israel's 400 nukes? Does Israel hold a yard sale?
I periodically download your archive just to have a record of what has actually happened. Can't say that about many sites.
Neocons are cowards (Goldberg et al), stupid (Feith et al) and evil (that campus watch lizard et al).
Scientology, it's neither science, nor ology.
It would be nice to see a color-coded map showing the degree to which health care is for profit versus for health.
The situation is far worse than you have stated.
A single extreme day can destroy (kill) an organism. Examples of organisms include people and the animals and crops they eat.
Marginal increases in average temperature, even with substantially increased rainfall, lower soil moisture enough to reduce crop yield. Reduced crop yield is another way of saying total collapse of societal restraints as one species, humans, eat anything, literally, to stay alive.
Someone should tell the Kochs that along with everything else that they are, they are also food if a starving mob ever got to them.
I hate to say this, but Obama started out talking a good game, but has regressed to "slapping them silly."
Professor Cole,
Please do not publish videos depicting actual violence. Our arm-chair mentalities do not like it!
effect
Very informative. If you would allow...
Shorter Chase: Military ruling class allows Muslim Brotherhood to effects change in leadership that they, themselves, could not do.
"But as you see the SCAF on television nad hear about their actions, you find it hard to escape the conclusion that yes, they aren’t being very bright, and appear unaware of how perilous their path is. "
They need real news to know how their individual actions affect the turn of events, and they need to be on the news to know they are operating in the open, not as before.
Sadly, MSM is not up to the job.
Thank you Professor for filling the void.
I have a dog. Used to have a wife, but she dumped me for a writer/plagiarist. He left her. I still have the dog.
How is this not a war crime?
Intervention would require a massive shift in this country away from SUV's and other energy extravagances, and the power that oil money gives to Russia and Saudia Arabia, and to have the moral courage to oppose Israel.
Both actions would undermine the Assad story line about defending Syria against her enemies, but both actions would require moral courage which we in the US lack.
"Since at least 2005, our military has been there to occupy and subjugate,"
Afghanistan has unmeasured and unknown quantities of rare earth minerals necessary for the transition off oil and onto electrico-mechanical devices such as wind powered generators and storage batteries.
"I was told by an insider that one reason Washington analysts often read my blog in the Bush years was that I had a reputation for having an accurate bull crap meter, and thus my judgments on what was likely to be true helped them fight the tendency to believe our own propaganda!"
So, let's get this straight.
When various agents of a foreign government (AIPACish) opposed your move to Yale via intimidation of their administration and disinformastion, (for being insufficiently collegial, IIRC), and you merely kept this blog going among your other daily activities as a professor at UMich, one of the beneficiaries was the White House, indirectly, by having reports prepared by analysts who used your blog to filter through their own disinformation.
Boggles, yea verily.
Israel can't afford a war on its own, and the US is too poor to bail them out.
"And, of course, I’ve been saying these things for years and vilified for it, but this is the Israeli Army chief of staff speaking now."
One wonders whether the reality of can't_afford_gas (deliberately ambiguous) has changed their thinking. Israel has always been playing a game with facts on the ground; change the reality then dare the US to tell them to go back to the original state - to unsteal what they have stolen.
It appears that facts on the ground are now beyond Israel's control. OBL, with the willing help of GWB, sought to bankrupt the US with a pointless war in Iraq. Pointless except for the way it soothed Sharon's ego. (Mebbe Netanyahu's ego isn't big enough to take on Iran. heh heh)
Israel has to find another supplier for natural gas - paying a fair price, and the US has to deal with declining affordable oil. It is too costly to attack Iran.
Rubio is delusional.
"President Barack Obama ... has, however, gone out of his way to block victims of torture from launching legal actions, and has run interference for guilty officials, ensuring that there is no accountability for the torture programs."
He is a company man.
Couldn't some candidate try just to be the better leader/person rather than pandering to the narrow interests of various ethnic groups?
Well, when the US does Israel's bidding and provokes war with Iran, and the price of crude doubles overnight, and the dollar collapses, and Israel needs money, they could always sell their nuclear weapons to the highest bidder.
Any country with plenty of sun and (whatever is the opposite of arable) land should invest in molten salt solar thermal electric generation. It does not require the use of rare earth elements. (So-called because they are rare - and found mostly in China, in mines in Australia that China owns, and n a few closed down mines in the western states.)
It is possible to store sunlight.
The technology is scalable, i.e. Iran could build small scale plants for starters.
"Iran’s middle classes are already being deeply hurt by sanctions."
AIPAC's war is against the Iranian middle class just as it was against the middle class in Lebanon, Iraq and Gaza.
AIPAC's crimes against humanity target the middle class of Arab and now a Persian country/.
Added comment ...
Limbaugh, Hannity and others train their listeners to mis-think.
Limbaugh and other talk show talkers lie him
(oops - Freudian slip) indulge themselves and abuse their listeners with deliberate logical fallacies.
Who was Breitbartt?
Words fail me.
The only positive thing I could say about the Santorum candidacy (not him, but the run) is it makes clear the choices between Obama and the former Senator from Pa.
The evil of Bush, the Lesser, was made possible by the spin doctors who convinced many people that there would be little difference between Gore and W.
Santorum has learned to pay Caesar what is Caesar's, and to keep the rest for himself.
Grizzlies are fiercely independent.
When the money runs out, and the US has zero world influence, as we will because the world has no use for penniless debtors, then Israel will abandon us.
There has to be a way to make money off these people .....
Sounds lie a plan, if only Israel would let us use their airbases.
:\"Question – has Iran, or anyone, ever made this proposal:"
Yes, but all the MSM reported was the misstatement that Iran wants to wipe Israel off the map. Iran does not threaten to wipe Israel off the map, only to wait until the sands of time remove the Zionist regime. Their sands of time, my evaporation. Same concept.
Intentional irony?
If the US continues to do Netanyahu's bidding, it is equivalent to the suicide of our national identity.
If true, then why is Israel?
"Then Stewart put her foot in it by saying what she really meant, which was that he was condemning Obama for his radical Islamic theology.
She called back to retract, but as Freud pointed out, sometimes these slips of the tongue are ways for a person’s subconscious to express itself publicly."
Is is possible she forgot that private conversations do not make good talking points? That in private, Santorum talks about Obama's Islamic stance, and that she forgot to edit his and her own conscious thoughts before talking?
"But Iranian saber-rattling about the Straits of Hormuz, for instance, along with Israeli and American warmongering rhetoric, has caused a 10 to 15 percent increase in petroleum prices on speculation over hostilities."
Perhaps we should impose a 15% "mouth tax" on AIPAC, whereas 15% of every dollar they spend lobbying congress goes towards some humanitarian need, such as food and shelter for Syrians.
"3. Turkey is also bucking US pressure to buy from Saudi Arabia rather than Iran. Some analysts doubt that Saudi Arabia can keep up its current 11.8 million barrels a day, and if the output fell,
Saudi Arabia over produces its wells. Someday, the fields will collapse. Production will not fall slowly, it will stop.
Oh! This devious Iranian plot, to destroy the US through financial ruin by forcing the US to surround Iran with expensive military bases, is far more nefarious than I had imagined.
It is now clear that Iranian Islamist fundamentalists have forced the US to intervene in nearly every country in the world, and to spend trillions of dollar borrowed from China, which we will never repay, all to prevent Iran from gaining permanent nuclear-based energy independence.
Write your congressman and tell them that Iran has beaten us, and that AIPAC should just shut up because Israel is destined to evaporate (my term for Israelis fleeing back to Long Island) when the money runs out.
Israel's continued belligerence is something we cannot, literally, afford.
Don't cry for me Argentina, the US has never been here.
I think it is likely any Republican can beat Obama in November if any of the following occurs:
1) Israel attacks Iran causing economic misery.
2) Another 'nation' stages a false flag black ops that leads to numerous American deaths and eventually economic misery
3) Economic misery.
I think it means "Do not kill someone who likes/acts like us."
Let's compromise.
"Ring of US bases threatens US."
Bases are located where they can be closer to future military conflict. The bases are close to Iran and the US/Israeli military complex threatens Iran daily.
It's an ingenious plot by Iran to bankrupt the US.
I disagree. "Awesome" is more like it.