Personally, I could not care less if a particular nation was a friend or enemy of Israel, but for sake of the people, I would hope for developments to bring Syria closer to Turkey's style of government.
It would be nice if someone truly knowledgeable would comment on the software used in telecommunications equipment, and if it is true that every data packet has a unique identifier that can theoretically be saved forever.
Just think, during the time when all the talk in 2001 about exporting democracy and why do they hate us - they hate us for our freedoms, the real, behind the scenes issue was which oil company was going to get all that cheap oil. Ha! Apparently none of the above.
Now, to bring it all home, the NASCAR set, those God fearing (Southern, white, non-Allah god fearing) Christians (southern, white, only certain denominations) who supported the war when crude was $30/bbl now have to put up with $4/gallon gasoline. This is causing much weeping and gnashing of teeth here in the states, but wait, it could get worse.
What if the price of petrol got so high it seriously interfered with NASCAR? Now *that* would be a national tragedy.
Solar energy arrives surface of the earth in the form of electromagnetic radiation (photons), and can either be absorbed, in which case it will raise the energy of the surface, or be reflected back to space.
It can raise by surface energy either by raising the temperature, which is storage as thermal energy, or by pumping electrons to a higher energy level, which is storage of electromagnetic energy that can be tapped as electric current. The latter case is where photovoltaic cells come into play.
If the incoming radiation is stored as heat, it can used directly as heat energy in hot water heaters. Once upon a time, I asked an assistant/sub/undersecretary in the DOE about the energy usage profile in the US. He didn't know a lot (which makes me think he was a Bush era appointee), but he did know that hot water heating was a major component of residential energy usage (a rare example of an educated Bush era appointee).
SOLAR HOT WATER
Folks, it's low tech (which means recent high school graduates could do it) and it could land a serious dent our energy appetite. Solar hot water in every home by 2012!!!
It seems that most of the rhetoric here is based on emotion. When we wanted revenge for 9-11, we allowed a phony justification for a war on Saddam Hussein to replace reason and restraint, and now that we are tired of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, we allow for phony echoes of restraint to prevent a justified and well reasoned action. Professor Cole's addition to the argument is just to say that whenever "we" demand military action, then "we" should be willing to assume personal responsibility for dressing in a uniform, picking up a rifle. etc., lest we become replicas of the journalist also known as "doughy pant load."
Personal responsibility, i.e. the willingness to do military service, does not make an argument right, it only removes the hypocrisy given out by our leaders from 2001-2008.
There is an elephant in the room and it is this: All the worry about Muslims taking control of their own oil isn't really about them turning against the West, but a racist belief that Muslims can't handle the technology. That's why we oppose Iran's quest for nuclear power but overlook Japan's safety shortfalls.
I hope someone raises that issue. Is there opposition to Muslims acquiring technology that is coming from evangelical Christians who, incidentally, believe they will fly up to heaven when Jesus says so?
Al Gore wrote a great column about how we allowed fear to destroy our liberties, when that which we feared was so much less than the genuine terror experienced by people in other countries, and yet they managed to retain more liberty than we.
I wonder if the decision makers in Iran have the foresight to offer the following ultimatum:
"Allow us our nuclear fueled electricity generators, with which we provide electricity (and therefore water and therefore food to Iraq), and we will be able to pump more oil.
Deny us our electricity, and we will deny you your future civilization."
Or, perhaps Rumsfeld's decision maker, the esteemed Douglas Feith, will again convince the world (read the US and Northern Europe)that Iran's oil is ours for the taking, as easy as a piece of cake.
If there were justice, he and Wolfowitz would be made ambassadors to Lybia and Yemen (or any other country on the peninsula), and sent to their posts immediately.
I'm just a poor, simple minded country boy, but even the following, cyclic turn of events is obvious to me.
Back in 2005-2006, we had no doc mortgages that allowed everyone to buy a McMansion, for interest only, for the purpose of reselling it in 2009 at double the purchase prices.
In 2008, the US housing ponzi scheme collapsed.
In 2009, farmers could not borrow enough money to fertilize their wheat crops adequately, meaning there was less to export, and it had lower protein content.
In 2010, the people of North Africa got less to eat and it was lower in quality.
In 2011, food riots topple governments across N. Africa and threaten the stability of oil kingdoms on the peninsula, leading to oil price spikes that make it difficult for farmers in the Mid-West to get credit to ......
"Basically, the rule in politics is that you don’t raise people’s hopes if you aren’t prepared to follow through on your pledges."
Unless you are Israel, then the rule is that raise people's hopes, then you don't follow through, but you blame the other negotiating partner for the failure, and when they complain, you go to your American corporate media sock puppets and they tell stories favorable to you, then you tighten the crews on the people in your occupied territories by denying them food or water and when they commit any act of violence, you bomb the hell out them and call it fighting terrorism. That's how you do it in Israel.
I wonder of Mubarak is trying to do the same thing? If so, then Beck and his minions (Hannity and that other guy) need to read the script and get with Murdoch's program. Otherwise, the people in Egypt might not know that their demands are incompatible with the plans that have been made for them.
I was merely taking the opportunity to remind us all how bad the advice from that dual-citizen group had been. You suggest the neocons don't play hardball. Well, they do.
Advisers to GWB think they can maneuver witless
Arabs in to accepting a strongman du jour who will protect US interests. They were out maneuvered by neocons who seek to destroy every Arab and Muslim nation that might challenge the ascendancy of Greater Israel. If James Baker is playing hardball (major league baseball), then the neocons are playing Death Ball 2000.
Both groups are delusional, though.
The unrest might have its seeds in the colonialism of the US and its handlers in Tel Aviv, but there's a new game in town. It's caused by peak oil and climate change, and it's called Die-Off.
All the Arab nations are in peril, but Israel is doomed.
"In fact, Mubarak’s slap in the face of President Obama will not be punished and it is nothing new. It shows again American toothlessness and weakness in the Middle East, and will encourage the enemies of the US to treat it with similar disdain."
Perhaps Douglas Feith was right. Perhaps we should have bombed Paraguay to show the world how ruthless we are. (Or was it Uruguay? It was one of the -guays.)
Has anybody questioned any of the neocon geniuses about the current mess yet?
Professor Kolin writes, "The appearance and growth of democratic practices was perceived by elites as a threat to the expansion of state power."
and
In the early days of the Obama administration, the trend seemed to point toward an American police state that will be modified, but not eliminated.
Concentration of power requires a police state, but it also requires (a) a population that can not or will not think for itself, (b) refuses to accept an unpopular truth, and (c) that is married to and completely dependent on the system.
Look for central government planners to (a) support educational measures in the public school system that destroy critical thinking, (b) allow Fox news to broadcast the elite's "believe this or else you are a socialist" message, and (c) take a dim view of the self sufficiency movement, perhaps to the point of labeling off-grid farmers as terrorists, which would be very illogical, but if (a) and (b) were to be accomplished .....
It takes a special kind of evil person to torture an oppressed class for decades, all the while assuming the role of victim and blaming the oppressed for the problem. I offer this as one definition of Zionism.
It takes a special kind of fool to not have noticed over the past two decades that whenever Israel wants to stall the appearance of a peace process, they have the IDF or the settlers commit some atrocity upon Palestinians, who are essentially unarmed hostages, in the name of self defense and wait for the inevitable reaction which they will call 'terrorism' and which Fox News and its imitators, NBC, CBS and ABC, will pick up and trumpet. I define this type as fool as an American voter.
Now we have proof that Israel has never considered peace, but only intended to do what they appeared to do, which was to stall the process, steal all the land, kill whoever opposed them and blame their victims. What should we expect from Israel in the future? We can expect them to label these documents a "blood libel" (special thanks to Sarah Palin for cheapening that slur), commit some atrocity to prove how bloodthirtsy their opponents are, cry out how they are the victims of worldwide anti-semitism, and quietly start another settlement. In other words, we can expect them to stall, kill, blame and steal.
Expect Fox news to raise irrelevant issues or perhaps there will be the mysterious disappearance of a pretty, white, blond teenager and Fox will completely ignore this story.
I think we can also expect the US, as exemplified by Condi Rice, to become completely irrelevant unless, as Seymour Hersh almost joked, we finally get an angry black man as president just when we need one.
Yes, Professor Cole you said it. Cheney, Yoo, Rove and Bush committed crimes that have irreparably damaged this country, and it can be argued successfully that Manning did not. It is time we got past this "too privileged to be punished" mentality that protects political celebrities. I think France had some success in this regard.
We should be concerned that now, with peak oil (peak easy oil / plateau liquid fuels), grain reserves below 30 days and chaotic weather patterns destroying crops all over the world, an independent voice has been removed from sight.
I get BBC, DW, Al-Jazeerah etc. and so I do not watch corporate news, but the people next door are kept ignorant by their devotion to FOX.
I wonder if big changes are in store for us all, and if so, whether we will know what is happening?
At the Republican convention, Republicans arrested people who wore protest t-shirts. Following their lead, Beck deserves a life sentence in solitary confinement.
Seymour Hersh reports that high ranking members of the military (Joint Special Operations Command) are, essentially, agents of a particular denomination (Roman Catholic).
Whenever someone asks me if I believe in God or whatever, I respond by asking them to define God.
If the fool launches into a description of what God is and what God does and how much love God has for me (as exemplified by the ritual human sacrifice), I inform them that they must be greater than God because they just defined God, and therefore I should worship them, which is basically what religious people want.
Health in this country is a profit driven business enterprise.
The systems works; hospitals and insurance companies and other corporations make a ton of money.
In other countries, health care exists for the purpose of caring for the health of the people. There, it works, and there, it is less expensive.
Palin used the word 'purport.' Sarah Palin uses homey phrases such as 'mama grizzley' and there is a strong chance she had never heard the word 'purport' until now.
We should consider that not only did she not write her speech, but also the possibility that she doesn't understand what she said.
The Right's rhetoric is not about political freedom or conservative political values. It's about stuff; getting stuff, keeping stuff, getting more stuff and preventing immigrants (a code word for people of color) from getting stuff.
The people on the Right need stuff to be happy. If they don't have enough stuff, they feel as though they are lesser people,like all the immigrants who do not have stuff. The Right fears that immigrants will take their stuff away and use it to pay for medical care or education. To the Right, immigrants (remember, it's a code word) don't need medical care because they are workers who breed rapidly ("baby mama" "jokes")and are more productive when younger. Thus, if immigrants die early from preventable diseases, all the better because they will have many children who can work faster and better. This is good for the Right because it helps them get more stuff.
The right opposes education for immigrants because they might learn that they, too, can acquire stuff. The problem is not so much that there isn't enough stuff to go around, but more that if immigrants get stuff, then the Right has to get even more stuff to stay superior. It could turn into a never ending stuff acquisition contest.
Murdoch has a lot of stuff, but he wants more stuff. He is willing to give up some of his stuff so that Beck, Hannity and that other guy will go on the air and coach the Right on how to oppose letting immigrants get stuff. They convince the right to do what they want because the Right, even the old and impoverished Right who benefit from medical care, believe they are like Murdoch and the other guys like him who have a really, really large amount of stuff.
When a congressman is shot in the head, it is okay with Murdoch and his many mouths because that does not get in the way of all the stuff he gets.
A lawsuit that names Murdoch, Beck, Hannity, that other guy, that fat guy from the radio, that stupid female who quit her government job halfway through, and others (who say and do nasty things to get more stuff)would be bad for them because they might have to give up some stuff to stay out of the courts, or jail.
It might be good for the republic if people who abuse their rights to get more stuff had to stop getting stuff and start living like a hard working person who is paid what they or worth, or less, such as immigrants (code word for people who value people over stuff).
If that didn't work, we could take some of their stuff and stuff it where .... oops, almost slipped into nasty rhetoric. Sorry.
On an emotional level, the Right is disgusting. They are now all outraged that their "right to make jokes about violence" not be suppressed by the outcome - of violence.
It's like the drunk driver who after his third DUI manslaughter says, "I'm tired of you namby-pamby MADD people trying to control me."
It's less a question of whether we want Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and that other guy to talk on the airwaves, and more a question of whether we want their crude, animal behavior in our society. I believe their behavior fits the definition of 'anti-social.'
Wikipedia has a nice section on logical fallacies that I think could provide a framework for review of the wing-nut speech (itself a misnomer).
Their hate speech is firstly illogical, and because they have to force their sloppy thinking on their audience without allowing room for reflection, they must be forceful and unrepentant. It is easier to do so with hatred than it is with understanding.
Hate speech and bad thinking form a partnership, but just as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and others have shown, it makes more sense to attack the right's collective brain defect than it does to show talk about reasonable discourse.
I just think we should be more explicit about the logical fallacies Beck, Hannity and that other guy put forth and I believe it does get to them as the talking (little) head segment between Beck and that other guy, where they criticized Obama for (paraphrase) talking down to them as though they were children. Well, logical fallacies and magical thinking are characteristic of childish minds, illogic and magical thinking are the products they peddle to the right wing audience, and it is effective, over time, for us to devalue their product.
No wonder they defend their hate speech. Reasoned discourse destroys their hateful product.
Sarah "I quit" Palin lacked the courage to finish her term as governor. I think she would learn to keep her mouth shut if and when she is named in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Think about it, where would this country be if we allowed a big mouthed quitter to assume the highest office?
A necessary step before wholesale confinement and murder of political opponents can proceed unimpeded is to gain a measure of public acceptance. Thus, before red-haired people can be exterminated, red-haired people must be demonized.
Murdoch's minions (Beck, Hannity and that other guy) have been doing this for years. Feeble-minded political wannabees such as S. Palin picked up on the popular talk and added their own spin (cross-hairs).
This was clearly a hate crime, and perhaps it meets the legal standard for civil action, i.e. lawsuits by the families of the victims that might, just might, bypass the FCC and first amendment issues and go directly after the root cause, i.r. Murdoch's finances.s
Well, it is logical. The Zionist mantra is "A land without people ..." and so whatever exists in Palestine that is not a European or Russian Zionist immigrant is therefore not a person. I mean, they said so from the beginning and now we are to be surprised at the outcome?
Thank you professor for your forward thinking. I suspect the opposition to the concept of homosexuality stems from its natural inclusion in the human community, and thus, the need to exclude it from synthetic (read patriarchal) organizations.
I think the point here is that rigid, patriarchal society has no room in its philosophy for the concept that homosexuality is a normal part of society.
British Petroleum follows a different procedure than other deep water drillers, such as Shell, who grout the annular space between the well casing and bore hole in steps as they proceed. Thus, there never is a situation where the entire borehole could become a conduit for escaping fluids, and there is no possibility for a rupture in the casing to allow methane or crude to follow this path to the surface. The emergency shut off valve, which notoriously underperformed in the recent incident, is less critical and serves more of a control function than a fail-safe function.
BP's failure was less an accident than it was an event with a slight chance of occurring in each well.
It's all about money. If and when the US military finds itself so underfunded that it cannot buy fuel unless certain nations extend credit, and if a condition for that credit worthiness is the abstentions in the UNSC that you allude to, then that will happen. So long as the US continues to hold fantasies about government building with borrowed money, then that will not happen. I believe the appropriate phrase is "Excuse me, but did your karma just run over my dogma?"
The phonied up was against Iraq, and now the pointless conflict in Afghanistan are both pushing our credit past the limits. Odd, how Al Qaeda is able to advance the Palestinian causes, with the aid of Neocon warmongers, through expensive, pointless wars, and all with so little public discussion that our Fox news junkies will never know how or even know that we defeated ourselves.
The problem with unilaterally declaring the Palestinian state should be made Israel's problem the same way the blockade of Gaza should be made Israel's problem with the relief flotillas. Once declared, the political process to obtain UN recognistion becomes the issue of choice for Palestine, rather than letting the so-called Palestinian terrorism, which is Israel's issue of choice, dominate the discussion. Hopefully, Israel could then earn sanctions to be imposed against itself, which are of course non-starters until the day the US's creditors seek a politcal means to embarass us, at which time the whole dynamic changes, and rather suddenly I would guess.
Thank you professor for writing what I have been trying to post for several years. I understand that there is the smear "anti-Semitism" whenever any person criticizes Israel, unless the person is a so-called "self-hating Jew", but it has been at least a decade since the right thing to do has become to risk that smear, even to welcome it, until it becomes meaningless. If the loss of the defense of naming a truly hateful person an "anti-Semite" now means that Jews face exposure to unfounded criticism, then they can blame the Likudnik and Zionist zealots who have created the situation.
There are two, wholly separate yet rational reasons for Israel's abusive policies. One is due to the pervasive fear felt by the ethnic group that had survived pogroms, expulsions and finally the Nazi persecution. There would be a need for some sort of emotional realignment where the former victims no longer are victims, but are now perpetrators. So long as they can be perpetrators, then they cannot be victims.
The other reason would be the physical necessity of securing enough land and water to ensure a viable state that could exist without transfusions of people and capital from the U.S. and Europe. The unfortunate truth is that such a land was never available unless the physical existence of the Arab inhabitants and their humanity could be denied.
Both may be logical explanations for Israel's behavior, but both are also explanations for the unsustainable nature of Israel. Without a miraculous spiritual growth where the Arabs would have been incorporated into the infant nation as full partners, Israel was doomed from the start. It would have required a miracle for European refugees to have accepted themselves as equals to the indigenous Semitic people who populated Palestine.
There was simply never a justification for the theft of land and humanity, and without that justification, there was never an adequate political nor moral basis for the state of Israel. This lack of basis has resulted in decades of lies, manipulation and indifference.
With the three spectres of global climate change, peak oil and the looming judgment day for our centuries of financial folicy (a Palinism meaning folly riven policy), the justification for Israel's continued existence will evaporate only slight less rapidly than the means for its survival.
Or, as "I'm a dinner jacket" said, Israel's regime must eventually disappear.
The War Against Ghosts in Afghanistan exists because the former resident-in-chief and his Evil Sidekick figured the US needed to be on a war footing when Peak Oil, uh, peaked. All the better to force the hapless Arabs (anybody who wears head gear and speaks non-Europeanish languages is an Arab) to give us their oil in exchange for security and nation building.
Unfortunately, there was no Plan B. Just like it was with Bernie Made-off's hapless investors (I mean, who in their right mind would invest with some guy named Made-off???), we are screwed. Bernie is in prison. I think. Has anybody checked lately? Can we please put all Neo-cons ( I mean, who in their right mind would take the political advice of someone who calls himself a Neo-CON?) in jail with Bernie Made-off?
Shhhhh Professor Cole. We want all the stupid people who think that
global climate change will freeze the northern hemisphere (a la The
Day After Tomorrow) to move to the Southwest while we smart people
quietly buy up farmland in Michigan and learn to plow with oxen.
Homo sapiens sapiens is a failed species. Darwin defined natural selection in terms of species, and this species has overshot the carrying capacity of it's habitat. In this regard, a more apt name would be homo asapient runamuctus. I digress.
Fox News is doing its part to save other species on the planet by hurrying this species alongs towards self-anihilation along with Rogue State and it's political wing, aipactus inyourfaceus, which seems to have adopted a symbiotic relationship.
Honestly, my only hope is that web cams will be available to catch the last gasp.
Funny, isn't it, that conservatives believe in presidential presitge and respect for our institutions, but never extend these beliefs to the same offices when held by Democrats.
It's not stupidity. Rather, it's an extreme form of narcissism.
The wing nuts want control of the US. Their tactic is to criticize everything Obama does as WRONG. Thus, if he continues the Bush era TARP program, it's WRONG. If he pushes through a stimulus, it's WRONG. If he addresses the crises of unaffordable healthcare and corporate control of the medical service sector, it's WRONG. The mere mention of any of his successes was treated as some unspecified evil during the recent election cycle adverts.
Now, he is engaged in diplomacy. It's WRONG
These S***heads are not opposed to Obama's policies, they're opposed to Obama because he is WRONG.
The stupidity rests with the Republicans and their rebranded Tea party who believe that if Obama does it, it's WRONG.
1) Midterm elections have low turnout. The segment that beat the odds was the mis-named Tea Party. They voted non-Democrat whenever possible. That accounts for much of the turn around.
2) Obama is blamed for the poor economy. His actual failure was not having enough stimulus to make a noticeable difference, but look, he was blamed for having passed the stimulus and the health care reform.
3) Health care reform is now law. It will be the Republican's mistake to attack it because a) they will be seen as the party of NO and b) it will become more popular as their scare stories prove to be false. Health care reform is one of Obama's trump cards in 2012.
4) If the economy improves between now and 2012, it will be Obama's victory. If it worsens, the Democrat's job is to make it the Republican's fault. John Boehner (sp?) is the new Pelosi. What will the new Republican congress do if we need more stimulus? Will they betray their newly found principles, or will they stand in the way of progress.
For the Republicans to have "won" this midterm, they needed to gain control of both houses. They failed to do so because their message is flawed, and in some states, only seriously flawed candidates were willing to carry the message.
My hope is that Sarah "walking schizophrenic" Palin will speak louder and attempt to bend Boehner (sp?) to her will, whatever it may be on any particular day.
So, the US is sending millions and millions to overseas contractors who pay off the locals for protection. Yea, verily, we need to keep these jobs at home.
There are already well organized crime groups hire here in the US that need our tax dollars. We should be paying them off instead. It would lower the unemployment rate and simultaneously demonstrate to the world that America is truly the greatest nation on earth.
Shorter Netanyahu: Israel will steal all of Palestine no matter what happens during these phony negotiations, and so it makes no sense to halt the settlement process.
What should damn her is that she sought fundamentalism (read literalism since Fundamentalists lack fundamental principles but have a surfeit of beliefs that deny logic) and continues to seek beliefs to solve problems rather than employing logic and humanity.
What a shame it is today that people who value humanity (secular humanists) are despised by the crossy-nut cabal that values ritual cannibalism and instant gratification through instant salvation once they "believe on him," whatever that means.
A W. once observed, running a country is hard work. We need people willing to work for results rather than those who think Instant Karma will magically produce results, regardless of how it comes gift wrapped.
Obama needs to give up the fantasy that he can work with the Israelis. He also needs to return to his position that he would do the right thing even if it meant a one term presidency. He already has failure to wind down the war crimes in Afghanistan and he is leaving 50,000 troops in Iraq. His economic measures were sufficient only to forestall an immediate meltdown; he blew the chance to remake the economy through capital investment for manufacturing and investment in useful infrastucture, rather than what I call symbolic infrastucture, i.e. money that goes somewhere but not where it does real good.
Obama needs to become the first president to do what is necessary to achieve peace in Palistine, and that would be to force Israel to live by the same rules as all other nations. If Israel cannot do that and survive, then Israel should be allowed to fail. This is no time to prop up yet another failed political experiment.
It's just like the banks that were "too big to fail" but are even now even bigger - and more failure prone. Nothing is too big to fail nor too precious to fail. If it's not viable, that means it should be allowed to fail. This goes for Israel, the robber banks, and the Obama administration.
Jason Easley at PoliticusUSA theorizes that Stewart and Colbert are destroying Fox News by educating the under 50/not yet senile crowd about their illogic . Ergo (heh heh), as Fox steadily loses its viewing audience to dementia and stroke, there won't be sufficient numbers to replace them.
A conclusion would be that the Tea Party has become totally unhinged from reality as it tries to decide whether exploitation racism should be applied to President Obama as an example of a "failed leader," or whether competition racism should be the paradigm, hence the fascination with his birth status or his father's religion. I see this as a major problem for the Tea Party. It could be the issue that divides and destroys. Let's not help them sort it out.
I think you are correct in saying that Obama_as_Muslim is covert racism, and I also think that covert racism fuels the Tea Party gatherings. I read somewhere that hatred consumes (the haters).
Uh, on the record, Paris is burning. Figuratively speaking.
The extremes we are seeing are just the warm-up to the
main event, which will be crop failures due to inadequate
soil moisture without irrigation we can't pay for from
aquifiers that are being depleted.
Gainesville is near the northern boundary of an interdimensional weirdness convergence zone that runs across the state and extends southward to Kissimmee.
Weirdnesses poureth forth from the cornucopias of small denominations. My favorite personal experiences include the firm believer in Intelligent Design who was so morbidly obese he had his stomach stapled and the high school principle who declared "God will save us" from global warming, but is apparently powerless against low FCAT scores.
BTW, three of the four contenders for the senate seat made Raw Story's top ten corrupt list. Idiot wind plus corruption. Yea, verily, Florida is paradise.
I do not doubt the scenario, but I see a problem explaining it to the general public. The problem stems from the hysteria created by Beck, Limbaugh and all the other wing nuts. How do we tell the difference between their illogic and hysteria, and the plausible scenario describd above?
Thank you, Professor Cole, for your continued blogging for exposing the misinformation (lies and slander) certan political groups use to further their games at the expense of US.
A consumer boycott of all Fox News would be a good start, followed up by a return to the teaching of critical thinking skills in our schools.
I agree with you that Beck is dangerous to our constitutional government. One way he (and Mrdoch et al) might effect the destruction is by working the Tea Party group
into such a hysterical state that they actually break the law and commit violent acts against government entities they percieve (wrongly) as a threat.
Turkey is dealing with the reality of Israel's persistent faux peace propaganda correctly. I think the best thing would be to place Israel on conditional status, i.e. for every week where Israel actually does what Israel has promised to do, double i.e. actually allowing sufficient raw materials into Gaza and allowing export of finished quantities in in sufficient quantities to matter , then Israel would receive a week of normal diplomatic relations. Otherwise, they can go through the Swiss embassy like the rest of the world. (Irony intentional)
In some countries, the perpetrators of such an immense crime against nature would be arrested, tried, and executed, though not necessarily in that order. Tony Hayward wants his life back. So sorry, Tony, stand over there, please. I want my Gulf back.
Obama has no coherent Afghanistan policy. Before he fires McChrystal, and I agree he must, Obama needs to figure out what he is going to do. Biden's suggestion is sound if for no other reason than it gets most US troops out of Afghanistan.
Obama needs to decide a lot of things. I agree he needs to channel Truman, and deciding about Afghanistan would be a great start.
The blockade is illegal. Collective punishment is illegal, and in this case, for political purposes, collective punishment is vile.
That said, might I suggest the following?
Though cement is disallowed, would prefab emergency housing be allowed? Tilt-up panels, precast modules, roof sections? Anything to provide shelter? Ditto with portable water purification equipment as well as surface aerators for sewage detention ponds along with manuals for the construction of slow sand filters (mostly earth embankments with some piping).
If the Netanyahu nutjobs are so paranoid, let them require rf responders in the prefab modules so they can determine they have not been turned into bunkers.
None of this is any of Israel's business, because the occupation is illegal, not that they care. A light unto themselves rather than the world, apparently.
Loss of human life resulting from associated loss of the food chain in the Gulf will dwarf the loss of life in Iraq. It might take a few years, but with ecosystems already stressed, the impact is magnified. To think, Dick Cheney did more damage by accident than he could manage purposely. A truly world class screwup.
In the Bizzaro world of the Palestinian occupation, a statement by Israel, whether true or not, usually not, that Israel is lifting some oppression or otherwise not murdering civilians is greeted with worldwide (read US media) acclaim, whereas an act of violence by a single Palestinian is renounced as "absence of partners for peace."
Perhaps some aid organization could airdrop a few tens of thousands of disposable cameras and let the Palestinians document the occupation.
The root problem has been stated already by two eloquent speakers, Helen Thomas who told the European and Russian colonialists to "Get out of Palestine," and Stephen Colbert who told the Israeli dissembler/ambassador to US that the Palestinian refugees in Gaza "should just go home." Which of course means to the lands stolen from them by the European and now Russian colonialists who, themselves, should leave.
Depends on what the minerals are. If they provide a source for rare earth metals, needed for modern devices, then the story is about US sapping them up.
Collective punishment of occupied territories is a war crime. Shumer advovcates collective punishment of the refigees in Gaza to change their thinking. Therefore, Shumer is guilty of a war crime.
Israel has lost its way, it reverting to its own creation myth, i.e. the ruthlessly efficient killing maching that defeats the overwhelming numbers of Arab attackers. Except shooting nine unarmed aid workers doesn't measure up to an existential threat, so Israel must kill again.
Has it not dawned on most people, yet, that Israel is
(a) rudderless - no known national direction except for more settlements on Palestinian lands.
(b) totally corrupt - resorts to bald faced lies and fake photos to defend a murderous operation on the high seas
(c) completely incompetent - unable to storm a ship full of unarmed peace activists without killing and maiming dozens.
Exactly why is Israel allowed to .... do all this with impunity?
"Obama’s current Iran policy cannot be explained in the terms of US-Iranian relations. It must be driven by something else. The Israel lobbies and dealings with the Netanyahu government are the likeliest candidates in explaining the abandonment of a Realist approach."
This group should be known as the Delusionists. They believe a miitary strike against Iran will have no negative consequences and will deliver to Israel glory and prestige.
Continued sanctions against Iran may lead to increased conflict. Increased conflict will sink the US, mainly b sinking the dollar. The dollar is at the precipice, if it falls, then US support for Israel become meaningless. The US would then do whatever China tells it to do, and China may very well tell the US to drop Israel and seek peace with Iran.
China needs oil and unlike the US, China can pay for oil. Iran has oil. Go figure.
Somebody needs to lobotomize Netanhayu. The man is crazy.
"Obama’s current Iran policy cannot be explained in the terms of US-Iranian relations. It must be driven by something else. The Israel lobbies and dealings with the Netanyahu government are the likeliest candidates in explaining the abandonment of a Realist approach."
This group should be known as the Delusionists. They believe a miitary strike against Iran will have no negative consequences and will deliver to Israel glory and prestige.
Continued sanctions against Iran may lead to increased conflict. Increased conflict will sink the US, mainly b sinking the dollar. The dollar is at the precipice, if it falls, then US support for Israel become meaningless. The US would then do whatever China tells it to do, and China may very well tell the US to drop Israel and seek peace with Iran.
China needs oil and unlike the US, China can pay for oil. Iran has oil. Go figure.
Somebody needs to lobotomize Netanhayu. The man is crazy.
How about a cartoon of Sara Palin getting a lobotomy? What the heck, forget the cartoon, how about giving Sara Palin a lobotomy? And electroshock therapy?
Israel has built a wall part of the way ... around itself. It is only
logical that they receive help finishing it. A boycott, blockade,
and international shunning would be the next steps.
How ironic that so many escaped the ghettos of Europe only to build
another.
The only reason I can support for being in Afghanistan is that the President has real intelligence, not phonied up Scotter Libby fantasies, but verifiable info that there are Taliban and/or original Al Qaeda with nuclkear material.
"Iraq is still in the midst of attempting to form a government, and this sectarian violence is intended to disrupt that process."
Didn't you tell us several years ago that the Paul Bremer era constitution requires 2/3's majority to form a government, as opposed to the usual 1/2 in the rest of the world. (Except the US where, apparently, we need 60% in the Senate. I digress.)
"So unless Yunus Muhammad can find a group of armed individuals who aim at violently attacking Muslims en masse and trying to wipe out them and their religion, he should stuff a sock in it and go home."
Thank you Dr. Cole for raising this issue and keeping it current in our minds.
Opposing Iran is stupid. How stupid? George W. Bush stupid, that's how stupid.
Our own Pentagon has just released a report detailing the leveling off of crude production as early as 2012 (peak oil) with severe hardships as early as 2015.
2015 is the year the idiot Sarah Palin hopes to become president. Excuse me while I guffaw. ....... There now, I feel better.
Iran has oil and gas. Allow me to restate that for the hard of hearing.
IRAN HAS OIL AND GAS.
What idiot nation wants to alienate Iran if they can set up a deal to acquire oil and gas while the rest of the world marches into the 18th century? Stupid nations maybe, but not the smart ones.
© 2025 All Rights Reserved
Personally, I could not care less if a particular nation was a friend or enemy of Israel, but for sake of the people, I would hope for developments to bring Syria closer to Turkey's style of government.
It would be nice if someone truly knowledgeable would comment on the software used in telecommunications equipment, and if it is true that every data packet has a unique identifier that can theoretically be saved forever.
Just think, during the time when all the talk in 2001 about exporting democracy and why do they hate us - they hate us for our freedoms, the real, behind the scenes issue was which oil company was going to get all that cheap oil. Ha! Apparently none of the above.
Now, to bring it all home, the NASCAR set, those God fearing (Southern, white, non-Allah god fearing) Christians (southern, white, only certain denominations) who supported the war when crude was $30/bbl now have to put up with $4/gallon gasoline. This is causing much weeping and gnashing of teeth here in the states, but wait, it could get worse.
What if the price of petrol got so high it seriously interfered with NASCAR? Now *that* would be a national tragedy.
"a Koch-brothers-funded think tank..."
Please consider the following terminology:
"a Koch-brothers-funded parrot cage"
Solar energy arrives surface of the earth in the form of electromagnetic radiation (photons), and can either be absorbed, in which case it will raise the energy of the surface, or be reflected back to space.
It can raise by surface energy either by raising the temperature, which is storage as thermal energy, or by pumping electrons to a higher energy level, which is storage of electromagnetic energy that can be tapped as electric current. The latter case is where photovoltaic cells come into play.
If the incoming radiation is stored as heat, it can used directly as heat energy in hot water heaters. Once upon a time, I asked an assistant/sub/undersecretary in the DOE about the energy usage profile in the US. He didn't know a lot (which makes me think he was a Bush era appointee), but he did know that hot water heating was a major component of residential energy usage (a rare example of an educated Bush era appointee).
SOLAR HOT WATER
Folks, it's low tech (which means recent high school graduates could do it) and it could land a serious dent our energy appetite. Solar hot water in every home by 2012!!!
It seems that most of the rhetoric here is based on emotion. When we wanted revenge for 9-11, we allowed a phony justification for a war on Saddam Hussein to replace reason and restraint, and now that we are tired of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, we allow for phony echoes of restraint to prevent a justified and well reasoned action. Professor Cole's addition to the argument is just to say that whenever "we" demand military action, then "we" should be willing to assume personal responsibility for dressing in a uniform, picking up a rifle. etc., lest we become replicas of the journalist also known as "doughy pant load."
Personal responsibility, i.e. the willingness to do military service, does not make an argument right, it only removes the hypocrisy given out by our leaders from 2001-2008.
Touchy, are we?
There is an elephant in the room and it is this: All the worry about Muslims taking control of their own oil isn't really about them turning against the West, but a racist belief that Muslims can't handle the technology. That's why we oppose Iran's quest for nuclear power but overlook Japan's safety shortfalls.
I hope someone raises that issue. Is there opposition to Muslims acquiring technology that is coming from evangelical Christians who, incidentally, believe they will fly up to heaven when Jesus says so?
Al Gore wrote a great column about how we allowed fear to destroy our liberties, when that which we feared was so much less than the genuine terror experienced by people in other countries, and yet they managed to retain more liberty than we.
I wonder if the decision makers in Iran have the foresight to offer the following ultimatum:
"Allow us our nuclear fueled electricity generators, with which we provide electricity (and therefore water and therefore food to Iraq), and we will be able to pump more oil.
Deny us our electricity, and we will deny you your future civilization."
Or, perhaps Rumsfeld's decision maker, the esteemed Douglas Feith, will again convince the world (read the US and Northern Europe)that Iran's oil is ours for the taking, as easy as a piece of cake.
If there were justice, he and Wolfowitz would be made ambassadors to Lybia and Yemen (or any other country on the peninsula), and sent to their posts immediately.
I'm just a poor, simple minded country boy, but even the following, cyclic turn of events is obvious to me.
Back in 2005-2006, we had no doc mortgages that allowed everyone to buy a McMansion, for interest only, for the purpose of reselling it in 2009 at double the purchase prices.
In 2008, the US housing ponzi scheme collapsed.
In 2009, farmers could not borrow enough money to fertilize their wheat crops adequately, meaning there was less to export, and it had lower protein content.
In 2010, the people of North Africa got less to eat and it was lower in quality.
In 2011, food riots topple governments across N. Africa and threaten the stability of oil kingdoms on the peninsula, leading to oil price spikes that make it difficult for farmers in the Mid-West to get credit to ......
This just in....Apparently someone didn't get the memo. Mubarak has resigned. I wonder if he is knows, yet.
So, Suleiman takes over, and Mubarak has asked the army to take control. Things will be so different, now.
How often has there been a dance of musical dictators until some group previously ignored takes over?
"Basically, the rule in politics is that you don’t raise people’s hopes if you aren’t prepared to follow through on your pledges."
Unless you are Israel, then the rule is that raise people's hopes, then you don't follow through, but you blame the other negotiating partner for the failure, and when they complain, you go to your American corporate media sock puppets and they tell stories favorable to you, then you tighten the crews on the people in your occupied territories by denying them food or water and when they commit any act of violence, you bomb the hell out them and call it fighting terrorism. That's how you do it in Israel.
I wonder of Mubarak is trying to do the same thing? If so, then Beck and his minions (Hannity and that other guy) need to read the script and get with Murdoch's program. Otherwise, the people in Egypt might not know that their demands are incompatible with the plans that have been made for them.
I was merely taking the opportunity to remind us all how bad the advice from that dual-citizen group had been. You suggest the neocons don't play hardball. Well, they do.
Advisers to GWB think they can maneuver witless
Arabs in to accepting a strongman du jour who will protect US interests. They were out maneuvered by neocons who seek to destroy every Arab and Muslim nation that might challenge the ascendancy of Greater Israel. If James Baker is playing hardball (major league baseball), then the neocons are playing Death Ball 2000.
Both groups are delusional, though.
The unrest might have its seeds in the colonialism of the US and its handlers in Tel Aviv, but there's a new game in town. It's caused by peak oil and climate change, and it's called Die-Off.
All the Arab nations are in peril, but Israel is doomed.
"In fact, Mubarak’s slap in the face of President Obama will not be punished and it is nothing new. It shows again American toothlessness and weakness in the Middle East, and will encourage the enemies of the US to treat it with similar disdain."
Perhaps Douglas Feith was right. Perhaps we should have bombed Paraguay to show the world how ruthless we are. (Or was it Uruguay? It was one of the -guays.)
Has anybody questioned any of the neocon geniuses about the current mess yet?
Professor Kolin writes, "The appearance and growth of democratic practices was perceived by elites as a threat to the expansion of state power."
and
In the early days of the Obama administration, the trend seemed to point toward an American police state that will be modified, but not eliminated.
Concentration of power requires a police state, but it also requires (a) a population that can not or will not think for itself, (b) refuses to accept an unpopular truth, and (c) that is married to and completely dependent on the system.
Look for central government planners to (a) support educational measures in the public school system that destroy critical thinking, (b) allow Fox news to broadcast the elite's "believe this or else you are a socialist" message, and (c) take a dim view of the self sufficiency movement, perhaps to the point of labeling off-grid farmers as terrorists, which would be very illogical, but if (a) and (b) were to be accomplished .....
It takes a special kind of evil person to torture an oppressed class for decades, all the while assuming the role of victim and blaming the oppressed for the problem. I offer this as one definition of Zionism.
It takes a special kind of fool to not have noticed over the past two decades that whenever Israel wants to stall the appearance of a peace process, they have the IDF or the settlers commit some atrocity upon Palestinians, who are essentially unarmed hostages, in the name of self defense and wait for the inevitable reaction which they will call 'terrorism' and which Fox News and its imitators, NBC, CBS and ABC, will pick up and trumpet. I define this type as fool as an American voter.
Now we have proof that Israel has never considered peace, but only intended to do what they appeared to do, which was to stall the process, steal all the land, kill whoever opposed them and blame their victims. What should we expect from Israel in the future? We can expect them to label these documents a "blood libel" (special thanks to Sarah Palin for cheapening that slur), commit some atrocity to prove how bloodthirtsy their opponents are, cry out how they are the victims of worldwide anti-semitism, and quietly start another settlement. In other words, we can expect them to stall, kill, blame and steal.
Expect Fox news to raise irrelevant issues or perhaps there will be the mysterious disappearance of a pretty, white, blond teenager and Fox will completely ignore this story.
I think we can also expect the US, as exemplified by Condi Rice, to become completely irrelevant unless, as Seymour Hersh almost joked, we finally get an angry black man as president just when we need one.
But, we won't.
Yes, Professor Cole you said it. Cheney, Yoo, Rove and Bush committed crimes that have irreparably damaged this country, and it can be argued successfully that Manning did not. It is time we got past this "too privileged to be punished" mentality that protects political celebrities. I think France had some success in this regard.
We should be concerned that now, with peak oil (peak easy oil / plateau liquid fuels), grain reserves below 30 days and chaotic weather patterns destroying crops all over the world, an independent voice has been removed from sight.
I get BBC, DW, Al-Jazeerah etc. and so I do not watch corporate news, but the people next door are kept ignorant by their devotion to FOX.
I wonder if big changes are in store for us all, and if so, whether we will know what is happening?
At the Republican convention, Republicans arrested people who wore protest t-shirts. Following their lead, Beck deserves a life sentence in solitary confinement.
Seymour Hersh reports that high ranking members of the military (Joint Special Operations Command) are, essentially, agents of a particular denomination (Roman Catholic).
Whenever someone asks me if I believe in God or whatever, I respond by asking them to define God.
If the fool launches into a description of what God is and what God does and how much love God has for me (as exemplified by the ritual human sacrifice), I inform them that they must be greater than God because they just defined God, and therefore I should worship them, which is basically what religious people want.
Health in this country is a profit driven business enterprise.
The systems works; hospitals and insurance companies and other corporations make a ton of money.
In other countries, health care exists for the purpose of caring for the health of the people. There, it works, and there, it is less expensive.
Palin used the word 'purport.' Sarah Palin uses homey phrases such as 'mama grizzley' and there is a strong chance she had never heard the word 'purport' until now.
We should consider that not only did she not write her speech, but also the possibility that she doesn't understand what she said.
The Right's rhetoric is not about political freedom or conservative political values. It's about stuff; getting stuff, keeping stuff, getting more stuff and preventing immigrants (a code word for people of color) from getting stuff.
The people on the Right need stuff to be happy. If they don't have enough stuff, they feel as though they are lesser people,like all the immigrants who do not have stuff. The Right fears that immigrants will take their stuff away and use it to pay for medical care or education. To the Right, immigrants (remember, it's a code word) don't need medical care because they are workers who breed rapidly ("baby mama" "jokes")and are more productive when younger. Thus, if immigrants die early from preventable diseases, all the better because they will have many children who can work faster and better. This is good for the Right because it helps them get more stuff.
The right opposes education for immigrants because they might learn that they, too, can acquire stuff. The problem is not so much that there isn't enough stuff to go around, but more that if immigrants get stuff, then the Right has to get even more stuff to stay superior. It could turn into a never ending stuff acquisition contest.
Murdoch has a lot of stuff, but he wants more stuff. He is willing to give up some of his stuff so that Beck, Hannity and that other guy will go on the air and coach the Right on how to oppose letting immigrants get stuff. They convince the right to do what they want because the Right, even the old and impoverished Right who benefit from medical care, believe they are like Murdoch and the other guys like him who have a really, really large amount of stuff.
When a congressman is shot in the head, it is okay with Murdoch and his many mouths because that does not get in the way of all the stuff he gets.
A lawsuit that names Murdoch, Beck, Hannity, that other guy, that fat guy from the radio, that stupid female who quit her government job halfway through, and others (who say and do nasty things to get more stuff)would be bad for them because they might have to give up some stuff to stay out of the courts, or jail.
It might be good for the republic if people who abuse their rights to get more stuff had to stop getting stuff and start living like a hard working person who is paid what they or worth, or less, such as immigrants (code word for people who value people over stuff).
If that didn't work, we could take some of their stuff and stuff it where .... oops, almost slipped into nasty rhetoric. Sorry.
On an emotional level, the Right is disgusting. They are now all outraged that their "right to make jokes about violence" not be suppressed by the outcome - of violence.
It's like the drunk driver who after his third DUI manslaughter says, "I'm tired of you namby-pamby MADD people trying to control me."
It's less a question of whether we want Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and that other guy to talk on the airwaves, and more a question of whether we want their crude, animal behavior in our society. I believe their behavior fits the definition of 'anti-social.'
Wikipedia has a nice section on logical fallacies that I think could provide a framework for review of the wing-nut speech (itself a misnomer).
Their hate speech is firstly illogical, and because they have to force their sloppy thinking on their audience without allowing room for reflection, they must be forceful and unrepentant. It is easier to do so with hatred than it is with understanding.
Hate speech and bad thinking form a partnership, but just as Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and others have shown, it makes more sense to attack the right's collective brain defect than it does to show talk about reasonable discourse.
I just think we should be more explicit about the logical fallacies Beck, Hannity and that other guy put forth and I believe it does get to them as the talking (little) head segment between Beck and that other guy, where they criticized Obama for (paraphrase) talking down to them as though they were children. Well, logical fallacies and magical thinking are characteristic of childish minds, illogic and magical thinking are the products they peddle to the right wing audience, and it is effective, over time, for us to devalue their product.
No wonder they defend their hate speech. Reasoned discourse destroys their hateful product.
Sarah "I quit" Palin lacked the courage to finish her term as governor. I think she would learn to keep her mouth shut if and when she is named in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Think about it, where would this country be if we allowed a big mouthed quitter to assume the highest office?
A necessary step before wholesale confinement and murder of political opponents can proceed unimpeded is to gain a measure of public acceptance. Thus, before red-haired people can be exterminated, red-haired people must be demonized.
Murdoch's minions (Beck, Hannity and that other guy) have been doing this for years. Feeble-minded political wannabees such as S. Palin picked up on the popular talk and added their own spin (cross-hairs).
This was clearly a hate crime, and perhaps it meets the legal standard for civil action, i.e. lawsuits by the families of the victims that might, just might, bypass the FCC and first amendment issues and go directly after the root cause, i.r. Murdoch's finances.s
Their treatment5 of Gazans is a war crime that should be referred to the Security Council, the General Assembly and the ICJ.
Well, it is logical. The Zionist mantra is "A land without people ..." and so whatever exists in Palestine that is not a European or Russian Zionist immigrant is therefore not a person. I mean, they said so from the beginning and now we are to be surprised at the outcome?
Thank you professor for your forward thinking. I suspect the opposition to the concept of homosexuality stems from its natural inclusion in the human community, and thus, the need to exclude it from synthetic (read patriarchal) organizations.
I think the point here is that rigid, patriarchal society has no room in its philosophy for the concept that homosexuality is a normal part of society.
British Petroleum follows a different procedure than other deep water drillers, such as Shell, who grout the annular space between the well casing and bore hole in steps as they proceed. Thus, there never is a situation where the entire borehole could become a conduit for escaping fluids, and there is no possibility for a rupture in the casing to allow methane or crude to follow this path to the surface. The emergency shut off valve, which notoriously underperformed in the recent incident, is less critical and serves more of a control function than a fail-safe function.
BP's failure was less an accident than it was an event with a slight chance of occurring in each well.
In other news .... I like your new website.
It's all about money. If and when the US military finds itself so underfunded that it cannot buy fuel unless certain nations extend credit, and if a condition for that credit worthiness is the abstentions in the UNSC that you allude to, then that will happen. So long as the US continues to hold fantasies about government building with borrowed money, then that will not happen. I believe the appropriate phrase is "Excuse me, but did your karma just run over my dogma?"
The phonied up was against Iraq, and now the pointless conflict in Afghanistan are both pushing our credit past the limits. Odd, how Al Qaeda is able to advance the Palestinian causes, with the aid of Neocon warmongers, through expensive, pointless wars, and all with so little public discussion that our Fox news junkies will never know how or even know that we defeated ourselves.
The problem with unilaterally declaring the Palestinian state should be made Israel's problem the same way the blockade of Gaza should be made Israel's problem with the relief flotillas. Once declared, the political process to obtain UN recognistion becomes the issue of choice for Palestine, rather than letting the so-called Palestinian terrorism, which is Israel's issue of choice, dominate the discussion. Hopefully, Israel could then earn sanctions to be imposed against itself, which are of course non-starters until the day the US's creditors seek a politcal means to embarass us, at which time the whole dynamic changes, and rather suddenly I would guess.
Thank you professor for writing what I have been trying to post for several years. I understand that there is the smear "anti-Semitism" whenever any person criticizes Israel, unless the person is a so-called "self-hating Jew", but it has been at least a decade since the right thing to do has become to risk that smear, even to welcome it, until it becomes meaningless. If the loss of the defense of naming a truly hateful person an "anti-Semite" now means that Jews face exposure to unfounded criticism, then they can blame the Likudnik and Zionist zealots who have created the situation.
There are two, wholly separate yet rational reasons for Israel's abusive policies. One is due to the pervasive fear felt by the ethnic group that had survived pogroms, expulsions and finally the Nazi persecution. There would be a need for some sort of emotional realignment where the former victims no longer are victims, but are now perpetrators. So long as they can be perpetrators, then they cannot be victims.
The other reason would be the physical necessity of securing enough land and water to ensure a viable state that could exist without transfusions of people and capital from the U.S. and Europe. The unfortunate truth is that such a land was never available unless the physical existence of the Arab inhabitants and their humanity could be denied.
Both may be logical explanations for Israel's behavior, but both are also explanations for the unsustainable nature of Israel. Without a miraculous spiritual growth where the Arabs would have been incorporated into the infant nation as full partners, Israel was doomed from the start. It would have required a miracle for European refugees to have accepted themselves as equals to the indigenous Semitic people who populated Palestine.
There was simply never a justification for the theft of land and humanity, and without that justification, there was never an adequate political nor moral basis for the state of Israel. This lack of basis has resulted in decades of lies, manipulation and indifference.
With the three spectres of global climate change, peak oil and the looming judgment day for our centuries of financial folicy (a Palinism meaning folly riven policy), the justification for Israel's continued existence will evaporate only slight less rapidly than the means for its survival.
Or, as "I'm a dinner jacket" said, Israel's regime must eventually disappear.
The War Against Ghosts in Afghanistan exists because the former resident-in-chief and his Evil Sidekick figured the US needed to be on a war footing when Peak Oil, uh, peaked. All the better to force the hapless Arabs (anybody who wears head gear and speaks non-Europeanish languages is an Arab) to give us their oil in exchange for security and nation building.
Unfortunately, there was no Plan B. Just like it was with Bernie Made-off's hapless investors (I mean, who in their right mind would invest with some guy named Made-off???), we are screwed. Bernie is in prison. I think. Has anybody checked lately? Can we please put all Neo-cons ( I mean, who in their right mind would take the political advice of someone who calls himself a Neo-CON?) in jail with Bernie Made-off?
Shhhhh Professor Cole. We want all the stupid people who think that
global climate change will freeze the northern hemisphere (a la The
Day After Tomorrow) to move to the Southwest while we smart people
quietly buy up farmland in Michigan and learn to plow with oxen.
Mr. Bush could try his hand at chamber debating in the Oxford Union.
I think weekly "Wear a kilt and refuse scanning" events will be enough to reverse the policy.
Homo sapiens sapiens is a failed species. Darwin defined natural selection in terms of species, and this species has overshot the carrying capacity of it's habitat. In this regard, a more apt name would be homo asapient runamuctus. I digress.
Fox News is doing its part to save other species on the planet by hurrying this species alongs towards self-anihilation along with Rogue State and it's political wing, aipactus inyourfaceus, which seems to have adopted a symbiotic relationship.
Honestly, my only hope is that web cams will be available to catch the last gasp.
It's pronounced "Juh-ay'-sus" with three syllables.
MSNBC is run by cowards.
Funny, isn't it, that conservatives believe in presidential presitge and respect for our institutions, but never extend these beliefs to the same offices when held by Democrats.
It's not stupidity. Rather, it's an extreme form of narcissism.
The wing nuts want control of the US. Their tactic is to criticize everything Obama does as WRONG. Thus, if he continues the Bush era TARP program, it's WRONG. If he pushes through a stimulus, it's WRONG. If he addresses the crises of unaffordable healthcare and corporate control of the medical service sector, it's WRONG. The mere mention of any of his successes was treated as some unspecified evil during the recent election cycle adverts.
Now, he is engaged in diplomacy. It's WRONG
These S***heads are not opposed to Obama's policies, they're opposed to Obama because he is WRONG.
The stupidity rests with the Republicans and their rebranded Tea party who believe that if Obama does it, it's WRONG.
Things to remember:
1) Midterm elections have low turnout. The segment that beat the odds was the mis-named Tea Party. They voted non-Democrat whenever possible. That accounts for much of the turn around.
2) Obama is blamed for the poor economy. His actual failure was not having enough stimulus to make a noticeable difference, but look, he was blamed for having passed the stimulus and the health care reform.
3) Health care reform is now law. It will be the Republican's mistake to attack it because a) they will be seen as the party of NO and b) it will become more popular as their scare stories prove to be false. Health care reform is one of Obama's trump cards in 2012.
4) If the economy improves between now and 2012, it will be Obama's victory. If it worsens, the Democrat's job is to make it the Republican's fault. John Boehner (sp?) is the new Pelosi. What will the new Republican congress do if we need more stimulus? Will they betray their newly found principles, or will they stand in the way of progress.
For the Republicans to have "won" this midterm, they needed to gain control of both houses. They failed to do so because their message is flawed, and in some states, only seriously flawed candidates were willing to carry the message.
My hope is that Sarah "walking schizophrenic" Palin will speak louder and attempt to bend Boehner (sp?) to her will, whatever it may be on any particular day.
Do not be fooled by the small (30%) overshoot. Corrections are messy.
It would be so much easier if the great speaker-outers on race relations would just tell us which groups it is okay to hate and which it is not.
But W. Himself Proposed Ruse
Perhaps we should have painted W blue, tied him to a blimp, and floated him over Sadr City.
Palin might be a witch. We should dunk her.
So, the US is sending millions and millions to overseas contractors who pay off the locals for protection. Yea, verily, we need to keep these jobs at home.
There are already well organized crime groups hire here in the US that need our tax dollars. We should be paying them off instead. It would lower the unemployment rate and simultaneously demonstrate to the world that America is truly the greatest nation on earth.
Shorter Netanyahu: Israel will steal all of Palestine no matter what happens during these phony negotiations, and so it makes no sense to halt the settlement process.
What should damn her is that she sought fundamentalism (read literalism since Fundamentalists lack fundamental principles but have a surfeit of beliefs that deny logic) and continues to seek beliefs to solve problems rather than employing logic and humanity.
What a shame it is today that people who value humanity (secular humanists) are despised by the crossy-nut cabal that values ritual cannibalism and instant gratification through instant salvation once they "believe on him," whatever that means.
A W. once observed, running a country is hard work. We need people willing to work for results rather than those who think Instant Karma will magically produce results, regardless of how it comes gift wrapped.
Obama needs to give up the fantasy that he can work with the Israelis. He also needs to return to his position that he would do the right thing even if it meant a one term presidency. He already has failure to wind down the war crimes in Afghanistan and he is leaving 50,000 troops in Iraq. His economic measures were sufficient only to forestall an immediate meltdown; he blew the chance to remake the economy through capital investment for manufacturing and investment in useful infrastucture, rather than what I call symbolic infrastucture, i.e. money that goes somewhere but not where it does real good.
Obama needs to become the first president to do what is necessary to achieve peace in Palistine, and that would be to force Israel to live by the same rules as all other nations. If Israel cannot do that and survive, then Israel should be allowed to fail. This is no time to prop up yet another failed political experiment.
It's just like the banks that were "too big to fail" but are even now even bigger - and more failure prone. Nothing is too big to fail nor too precious to fail. If it's not viable, that means it should be allowed to fail. This goes for Israel, the robber banks, and the Obama administration.
It appears he also fooled John Conyers, who asked him to leave but then recanted after he had been updated by fellow Democrats.
Jason Easley at PoliticusUSA theorizes that Stewart and Colbert are destroying Fox News by educating the under 50/not yet senile crowd about their illogic . Ergo (heh heh), as Fox steadily loses its viewing audience to dementia and stroke, there won't be sufficient numbers to replace them.
A conclusion would be that the Tea Party has become totally unhinged from reality as it tries to decide whether exploitation racism should be applied to President Obama as an example of a "failed leader," or whether competition racism should be the paradigm, hence the fascination with his birth status or his father's religion. I see this as a major problem for the Tea Party. It could be the issue that divides and destroys. Let's not help them sort it out.
There are so, so many ways Beck could emulate King.
Beck, get thee to Memphis.
I think you are correct in saying that Obama_as_Muslim is covert racism, and I also think that covert racism fuels the Tea Party gatherings. I read somewhere that hatred consumes (the haters).
One can only hope.
Uh, on the record, Paris is burning. Figuratively speaking.
The extremes we are seeing are just the warm-up to the
main event, which will be crop failures due to inadequate
soil moisture without irrigation we can't pay for from
aquifiers that are being depleted.
Have you considered the possibility that Dennis Miller isn't evil, merely quite stupid?
Gainesville is near the northern boundary of an interdimensional weirdness convergence zone that runs across the state and extends southward to Kissimmee.
Weirdnesses poureth forth from the cornucopias of small denominations. My favorite personal experiences include the firm believer in Intelligent Design who was so morbidly obese he had his stomach stapled and the high school principle who declared "God will save us" from global warming, but is apparently powerless against low FCAT scores.
BTW, three of the four contenders for the senate seat made Raw Story's top ten corrupt list. Idiot wind plus corruption. Yea, verily, Florida is paradise.
[satire mode on] You are obviously using anti-Asianism as a cover for your covert hatred of Israel. [satire mode off]
Perhaps DSM-V will include a sub-category for "Closed Minded Zionism" as part of "Militant, Closed Minded National Socialist Democracy."
Constitutional Crisis Unfolds
Mission Accomplished, ha! Perhaps we could drop the former commanderincheif onto an aircraft carrier again to reinforce that message, sans jet.
On the other hand, if the situation spirals out of control and oil deliveries to the US are reduced by too much, then the US ceases to function.
I do not doubt the scenario, but I see a problem explaining it to the general public. The problem stems from the hysteria created by Beck, Limbaugh and all the other wing nuts. How do we tell the difference between their illogic and hysteria, and the plausible scenario describd above?
Thank you, Professor Cole, for your continued blogging for exposing the misinformation (lies and slander) certan political groups use to further their games at the expense of US.
A consumer boycott of all Fox News would be a good start, followed up by a return to the teaching of critical thinking skills in our schools.
I agree with you that Beck is dangerous to our constitutional government. One way he (and Mrdoch et al) might effect the destruction is by working the Tea Party group
into such a hysterical state that they actually break the law and commit violent acts against government entities they percieve (wrongly) as a threat.
While it's true the tweeters might not be able to engage Professor Cole, there's always the hope they might try.
Yea, verily, these are the end times.
I mean, death threats against an octopus? What's next, an organized campign to outlaw cuttlefish?
Oh, I get it, it's the octopus's fault. Let's amputate all of his tentacles, making him a non-pus, just like my ex-wife. I digress.
Turkey is dealing with the reality of Israel's persistent faux peace propaganda correctly. I think the best thing would be to place Israel on conditional status, i.e. for every week where Israel actually does what Israel has promised to do, double i.e. actually allowing sufficient raw materials into Gaza and allowing export of finished quantities in in sufficient quantities to matter , then Israel would receive a week of normal diplomatic relations. Otherwise, they can go through the Swiss embassy like the rest of the world. (Irony intentional)
In some countries, the perpetrators of such an immense crime against nature would be arrested, tried, and executed, though not necessarily in that order. Tony Hayward wants his life back. So sorry, Tony, stand over there, please. I want my Gulf back.
Dr. Cole, your post said it all.
Obama has no coherent Afghanistan policy. Before he fires McChrystal, and I agree he must, Obama needs to figure out what he is going to do. Biden's suggestion is sound if for no other reason than it gets most US troops out of Afghanistan.
Obama needs to decide a lot of things. I agree he needs to channel Truman, and deciding about Afghanistan would be a great start.
Brands Lebanese Women's Aid Mission 'Hizbullah'
The blockade is illegal. Collective punishment is illegal, and in this case, for political purposes, collective punishment is vile.
That said, might I suggest the following?
Though cement is disallowed, would prefab emergency housing be allowed? Tilt-up panels, precast modules, roof sections? Anything to provide shelter? Ditto with portable water purification equipment as well as surface aerators for sewage detention ponds along with manuals for the construction of slow sand filters (mostly earth embankments with some piping).
If the Netanyahu nutjobs are so paranoid, let them require rf responders in the prefab modules so they can determine they have not been turned into bunkers.
None of this is any of Israel's business, because the occupation is illegal, not that they care. A light unto themselves rather than the world, apparently.
Bombings Rock Helmand Capital
UN: Roadside Bombings Double
Obviously the Israelis are terrified of everything. I propose a new game. Try to think of as many terror related uses for banned items. I'll go first.
Rice - used to gum up the treds on the Merkava tanks.
(Memo to the Prez)
Dear Prez,
Afghans are people. They object to random maimings.
Just hoping you might be down with that.
Your friend,
James Speaks
Bloody Friday in Iraq Leaves 27 Dead, over 80 Wounded
Loss of human life resulting from associated loss of the food chain in the Gulf will dwarf the loss of life in Iraq. It might take a few years, but with ecosystems already stressed, the impact is magnified. To think, Dick Cheney did more damage by accident than he could manage purposely. A truly world class screwup.
In the Bizzaro world of the Palestinian occupation, a statement by Israel, whether true or not, usually not, that Israel is lifting some oppression or otherwise not murdering civilians is greeted with worldwide (read US media) acclaim, whereas an act of violence by a single Palestinian is renounced as "absence of partners for peace."
Perhaps some aid organization could airdrop a few tens of thousands of disposable cameras and let the Palestinians document the occupation.
The root problem has been stated already by two eloquent speakers, Helen Thomas who told the European and Russian colonialists to "Get out of Palestine," and Stephen Colbert who told the Israeli dissembler/ambassador to US that the Palestinian refugees in Gaza "should just go home." Which of course means to the lands stolen from them by the European and now Russian colonialists who, themselves, should leave.
Depends on what the minerals are. If they provide a source for rare earth metals, needed for modern devices, then the story is about US sapping them up.
Collective punishment of occupied territories is a war crime. Shumer advovcates collective punishment of the refigees in Gaza to change their thinking. Therefore, Shumer is guilty of a war crime.
Israel has lost its way, it reverting to its own creation myth, i.e. the ruthlessly efficient killing maching that defeats the overwhelming numbers of Arab attackers. Except shooting nine unarmed aid workers doesn't measure up to an existential threat, so Israel must kill again.
Of course, the Palestinians should go back to where they came from. It's called the right of return and Colbert threw Oren when he suggested it,
Natural gas was discovered 20 nm off the coast of Gaza. Israel closes off sea access. Go figure.
How can the US pursue peace in the region if Israel insists on committing piracy and other sabotage?
Turkey is a member of NATO. Israel is not.
NATO members pledge to defend each other.
The US has an obligation, therefore, to use force against Israel to defend ships flying the Turkish flag.
NATO HQ Seething
Turkey is severing ties to Israel. Big deal, except for this:
Israeli jets now have nowhere to practice their bombing runs.
What a bunch of morons. Thet felt it was more important to sabotage peace than to keep relations with their lone ally in the region.
Well then, "that" should be what we work on. Either the political aspect or the financial aspect.
Has it not dawned on most people, yet, that Israel is
(a) rudderless - no known national direction except for more settlements on Palestinian lands.
(b) totally corrupt - resorts to bald faced lies and fake photos to defend a murderous operation on the high seas
(c) completely incompetent - unable to storm a ship full of unarmed peace activists without killing and maiming dozens.
Exactly why is Israel allowed to .... do all this with impunity?
Exactly why is Israel?
Why Israel?
wound over 50 as they Board, Capture Gaza Aid Flotilla
Israel is a nation state that murders peope carrying food to starving children.
"Obama’s current Iran policy cannot be explained in the terms of US-Iranian relations. It must be driven by something else. The Israel lobbies and dealings with the Netanyahu government are the likeliest candidates in explaining the abandonment of a Realist approach."
This group should be known as the Delusionists. They believe a miitary strike against Iran will have no negative consequences and will deliver to Israel glory and prestige.
Continued sanctions against Iran may lead to increased conflict. Increased conflict will sink the US, mainly b sinking the dollar. The dollar is at the precipice, if it falls, then US support for Israel become meaningless. The US would then do whatever China tells it to do, and China may very well tell the US to drop Israel and seek peace with Iran.
China needs oil and unlike the US, China can pay for oil. Iran has oil. Go figure.
Somebody needs to lobotomize Netanhayu. The man is crazy.
How about a cartoon of Sara Palin getting a lobotomy? What the heck, forget the cartoon, how about giving Sara Palin a lobotomy? And electroshock therapy?
Israel has built a wall part of the way ... around itself. It is only
logical that they receive help finishing it. A boycott, blockade,
and international shunning would be the next steps.
How ironic that so many escaped the ghettos of Europe only to build
another.
The only reason I can support for being in Afghanistan is that the President has real intelligence, not phonied up Scotter Libby fantasies, but verifiable info that there are Taliban and/or original Al Qaeda with nuclkear material.
Everythng else is not important.
"Iraq is still in the midst of attempting to form a government, and this sectarian violence is intended to disrupt that process."
Didn't you tell us several years ago that the Paul Bremer era constitution requires 2/3's majority to form a government, as opposed to the usual 1/2 in the rest of the world. (Except the US where, apparently, we need 60% in the Senate. I digress.)
"So unless Yunus Muhammad can find a group of armed individuals who aim at violently attacking Muslims en masse and trying to wipe out them and their religion, he should stuff a sock in it and go home."
(shhhh .... Don't tell him about the Tea Party.)
Thank you Dr. Cole for raising this issue and keeping it current in our minds.
Opposing Iran is stupid. How stupid? George W. Bush stupid, that's how stupid.
Our own Pentagon has just released a report detailing the leveling off of crude production as early as 2012 (peak oil) with severe hardships as early as 2015.
2015 is the year the idiot Sarah Palin hopes to become president. Excuse me while I guffaw. ....... There now, I feel better.
Iran has oil and gas. Allow me to restate that for the hard of hearing.
IRAN HAS OIL AND GAS.
What idiot nation wants to alienate Iran if they can set up a deal to acquire oil and gas while the rest of the world marches into the 18th century? Stupid nations maybe, but not the smart ones.
Capice?