COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

What is Obama Saying Here?

"We've asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," 


91 comments:

  1. Probably the only thing he can say.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder what Team 6 is thinking right now?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you think there's a chance he has enough balls to go for it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would ask Osama, but he doesn't seem to be around.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What if he went in to bomb it, and hit fifteen or twenty nuke factories by mistake? :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just after 6 a.m. on Dec. 5, under cover of darkness, nine Greenpeace activists cut through a fence at the Nogent-sur-Seine atomic plant 95 kilometers (59 miles) southeast of Paris and headed for a domed reactor building.

    They scaled the roof and unfurled a “Safe Nuclear Doesn’t Exist” banner before attracting the attention of security guards. Two remained at large for four hours. On the same day, two more campaigners breached the perimeter of the Cruas-Meysse plant on the Rhone, escaping detection for more than 14 hours while posting videos of their sit-in on the Internet.

    The security lapses, described as irresponsible acts by President Nicolas Sarkozy, come at a time when debate has intensified on France’s reliance on atomic power for three- quarters of its energy needs in the run-up to next year’s presidential elections. They also pre-empt next month’s release of the results of safety checks at France’s 58 reactors, commissioned in the aftermath of the Fukushima tragedy.


    French nuclear breach raises alarm

    ReplyDelete
  7. He'll send NASA on an outreach mission to the muzzies, they'll ask, pretty pretty please, give us back our drone, and say, remember Barak's wonderful Cairo speech...

    b

    ReplyDelete
  8. But, in the back of their minds will be "Seal Team 6," and an elderly gentleman that lived in a Villa next to the National Police Academy in Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  9. In the back of their minds, the question, "Was it a Bait?"

    ReplyDelete
  10. Recall, rufus, that a large segment of Seal Team 6 that took out Osama went down in that shithook, in Afghanistan.

    That may have given the President pause, before he sent them into Iran on a raid that could start a war.

    ReplyDelete
  11. No, allen, I did not "out" the "o", but let him know that who and where he is, that no longer is a question.

    He now knows that he carries no "shield" of anonymity.

    He may actually believe his lies and libels.

    Tread softly, but carry a big stick, that is what Mr Roosevelt advised.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That NASA outreach, may just be what closed that Boeing deal, in Islamic Indonesia, good for over 200 planes and 100.000 US jobs.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This news bit, too, could have given the President pause.

    (Reuters) - Two US Army helicopters crashed on Monday during training exercises at a Washington state military base, killing four aviators on board, the base said in a statement.

    Can we all say "Desert One"?

    ReplyDelete
  14. The President not looking for his "Carter Moment".

    Raiding Iran, a tougher nut to crack than Pakistan, at least historically.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Rat, it looks like they lost 15 men out of a total force of About 270.

    Of course, if I'm not mistaken, they draw from a total Seal Contingent of approx 2,400.

    I can't really imagine that they'd try to snatch it, though. It's probably being guarded a lot closer than that old hermit in the villa.

    ReplyDelete
  16. It was not the loss of the sailors, rufus, but the poor performance of the aircraft that would give the President pause.

    Obviously Seal Team 6 and the US Navy continues to function, within the capabilities of their supporting equipment.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Everybody overlooks Indonesia, and Malaysia. especially, Indonesia.

    From Wiki:

    Indonesia (i/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands.[5] It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's eighteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and fifteenth largest by purchasing power parity.

    The Indonesian archipelago has become an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity and fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change . . . . . . .



    238 Million people, and their economy is growing like a weed.

    They've never cared much for us, but maybe "brother Barack" can turn that around.

    ReplyDelete
  18. They lost a helo in Pakistan, at the villa. Then the shithook in Afghanistan.

    Then there were another two down, just Monday.

    The failure at Desert One, tied to the helicopters.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Helicopters are just a dicey way to go. And, them Chinooks/Sea Stallions probably killed more Marines than did Charlie.

    ReplyDelete
  20. It doesn't really seem at all likely that Bro B can do anything. A snatch would be almost completely out of the question. A bombing strike would probably be feasible at some point, but Lord knows how that would redound.

    But, on one level, the Iranians have to be thinking that they might have screwed up. They've kind of given him the "high ground" for some type of action.

    Always a dangerous thing to do in an election year, when the incumbent isn't "polling" well.

    ReplyDelete
  21. There is just not a lot of upside, to an incursion into Iran.

    ReplyDelete
  22. No, that is actually a damned fine place to "stay out of." :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. The 18th largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 78 million

    ReplyDelete
  24. 2.3 Times the size of Texas.

    And, Texas is a damned big place.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Not a threat, to US.

    Not even much of a military threat in their region.

    No capability of "Force Projection".

    Sanctions and Sabotage are still sufficient.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Rufus II said...
    What if he went in to bomb it, and hit fifteen or twenty nuke factories by mistake? :)

    Tue Dec 13, 02:51:00 AM EST


    A variation on the Trojan Horse? My thoughts exactly.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Leviticus 1: 17...it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

    God loves you, but prefers combustible flesh.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Rufus II said...

    2.3 Times the size of Texas.

    And, Texas is a damned big place.


    If you divided Alaska into two equally-sized states, Texas would be the third largest state in the United States.

    ReplyDelete
  29. DR,

    Re: outting WiO

    You are as despicable as the site that would allow your presence after such a crime.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Allen, leave it alone please. You are a man of reason. The offending comments have been removed. Charges, scurrilous charges, have been made and hothead foolishness got out of hand. I trust, if you think it through, you will agree with my reasoning.

    ReplyDelete
  31. In 2013 they are actually going to build a skyscraper in Seoul that looks like the WTC being attacked.

    Howard Roark would be spinning in his grave.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Prime Time Glick: At the end of 1920, the "Palestinian people" was artificially carved out of the Arab population of "Greater Syria." "Greater Syria" included present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. That is, the Palestinian people were invented 91years ago."

    Argumentum ad antiquitatem.

    The Israelite people were invented a bit earlier, but with the same process. Most of them were un-invented when Sargon II deported them wholesale to Medea in 720 BC and systematically eliminated their separate tribal identities.

    ReplyDelete




  33. : An MQ-9, seen here, also known by the military as "Reaper," crashed in the Seychelles Airport, the Air Force confirmed.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I still exist, but my wife is disappearing.

    Thought a month ago she should have been hospitalized to get over her esophageal problem that results in her starving to death.

    ...another Doc visit tommorrow, hopefully something will be done to cure the patient, however temporary that may be.
    (for all of us)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Good luck Doug. That is the saddest thing I've ever heard.

    I will say a prayer for her right now.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Count me in, with mel, doug.

    Keep your chin up.

    ReplyDelete
  37. An even sadder story.

    How can such parents continue to live?
    Must be love.

    ReplyDelete
  38. "There is no reason to think the people Lauren was last with, wouldn’t do everything in their power to help us find her.

    But, alas, there is deafening silence.

    That silence compounds our frustration, our desperation and our grief in not having found Lauren. It threatens to be our undoing but make no mistake, we will never give up."

    ReplyDelete



  39. (Bloomberg) -- Three of MF Global Holdings Ltd.'s top executives said they didn't know what happened to as much as $1.2 billion in client funds that went missing in the days before the New York-based brokerage

    ReplyDelete
  40. Smallwood


    Where Lauren lived/was last seen

    We lived in shit appartments compared to these, but abduction was never a concern.

    ReplyDelete
  41. "(Bloomberg) -- Three of MF Global Holdings Ltd.'s top executives said they didn't know what happened to as much as $1.2 billion in client funds that went missing in the days before the New York-based brokerage "

    Corzine was the driving force for investing in Euro Bonds.

    ...but he says none of those trades lost money.

    They just brought down the firm by creating a run from madness.

    ReplyDelete
  42. .

    Sorry to hear about your wife Doug.

    It's times like these you realize what is really important in life.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  43. Amen,
    Treasure life's pleasures,
    ...while we can.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Even if it was just five hours, the longest five hours I have ever spent in my life, I know the exact feeling of that empty pit you have deep in your heart over a lost child.

    It's something I would never wish, even on my worst enemy.

    ReplyDelete




  45. In a new USA TODAY/Gallup Swing States Poll, 54% of Americans nationwide and 52% in the nation's top battlegrounds agree that the two major parties "do such a poor job that a third major party is needed."

    In the dozen most competitive states, the political group most likely to back the idea of a third party are moderate and liberal Republicans — perhaps because they feel disenfranchised by the clout of a conservative Tea Party movement

    ReplyDelete
  46. Funny thing on today's Starbucks show ...


    They were floating the idea of a third party run, by Dr Pul, if Newt were the GOP nominee because, as Joe said, Newt is a "Big Government" man.

    As if Mitt were not.

    Then one of the other cast members opined that if it was a three way race, Obama, Newt and Dr Paul, that Mr Bloomberg would see a window of opportunity and would move to exploit it.

    Providing for a 4 way race.

    Which is how Abe Lincoln came to live in the White House, with about 32% of the popular vote.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Doug, the Prilosec isn't working at all?

    ReplyDelete
  48. Beats Dancing With Stars

    Having watched a thousand of these Native American dance videos I can say mostly they have a basic slap each foot down twice deal.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  49. Damn, you need butter for lutefisk.

    Butter, and .... lye.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  50. Someone on another blog came up with this idea -- let the Catholics bail out Italy.

    Don't know what I think of that....

    If Sweden were on the ropes, I'd be inclined to say, fug 'em.

    (why can't Norway get butter from Sweden? I don't believe that butter story)

    b

    ReplyDelete



  51. According to Reuters, the low quality of animal feed from an overly wet summer has resulted in 25 million fewer gallons of milk, and therefore less butter. The added strain of a fad diet was apparently more than the butter supply could bear, with demand for the creamy spread jumping 20% in October and 30% in November.

    The shortage has lead to an amazing mark-up on the price of butter. According to Reuters:

    Butter is now selling on Norway’s top auction website, with a 250-gram piece starting at around $13 (8.28 pounds), roughly four times its normal price.

    Importing butter has proven difficult as well, due in no small part to Norway’s high import tariffs.

    ReplyDelete



  52. On Tuesday the authorities went along with the request, slicing the tariff (called toll in Norwegian) from the usual NOK 25.19 per kilo to just NOK 4 for the entire month of December.

    ReplyDelete




  53. Axelrod described the former House Speaker as "the original Tea Partier."

    ReplyDelete
  54. No further need for NASA, private enterprise, capitalism is taking the lead in space travel, now.


    One of the richest men in the world is going to build the biggest airplane, ever.

    And then he is going to use it to launch rockets.

    At a news conference in Seattle on Tuesday, Paul G. Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, plans to announce that he is entering the rocket business with a concept seldom used until now: with a plane that can take off the conventional way, then, at 30,000 feet, launch a rocket to orbit.

    By getting rid of the specialized launching pads used by NASA and other space agencies, officials at Mr. Allen’s new company, Stratolaunch Systems, say they will be able to reduce costs, offer more flexibility and avoid bad weather by simply flying their airborne launcher to a patch of clear sky. They hope to begin flying in five years, first taking satellites and then, perhaps, people into orbit.

    ...

    The project reunites Mr. Allen with Burt Rutan, a legendary aerospace engineer who, among many triumphs, built Voyager, the first airplane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. The two teamed up a decade ago to create SpaceShipOne, the first private manned rocket to reach space, in 2004. That won the $10 million Ansari X Prize, which had been offered as incentive to push innovative space technology.

    ReplyDelete
  55. TEHRAN (Reuters) - A member of the Iranian parliament's National Security Committee said on Monday that the military was set to practice its ability to close the Gulf to shipping at the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the most important oil transit channel in the world, but there was no official confirmation.

    The legislator, Parviz Sarvari, told the student news agency ISNA: "Soon we will hold a military maneuver on how to close the Strait of Hormuz. If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure."

    Contacted by Reuters, a spokesman for the Iranian military declined to comment.

    Iran's energy minister told Al Jazeera television last month that Tehran could use oil as a political tool in the event of any future conflict over its nuclear program.

    Tension over the program has increased since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on November 8 that Tehran appears to have worked on designing a nuclear bomb and may still be pursuing research to that end. Iran strongly denies this and says it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

    Iran has warned it will respond to any attack by hitting Israel and U.S. interests in the Gulf and analysts say one way to retaliate would be to close the Strait of Hormuz.

    About a third of all sea-borne shipped oil passed through the Strait in 2009 . . . .


    Games

    ReplyDelete
  56. Deuce,

    You needn't worry. I'm one of those "hypenated" "dicks" who physically would defend the rights that others take for granted, including the rape of free speech. No report will be filed by me.

    Take care, lest you find yourself boiling in your own bile.

    ReplyDelete
  57. You need some work with your metaphors.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Ya, it is nice to know that allen would defend the right to rape free speech...

    ...where the heck would one file a report???

    ReplyDelete
  59. Seems like Lawyer Daggett set him straight.

    No harm, no foul.

    ReplyDelete
  60. You'd start with Google, if that failed to satisfy, the FBI and the Assistant US Attorney.

    But there needs to be a "crime", personalized attacks and/or fighting words.

    An aspect of "fighting words", they must be used to incite imminent violence.

    Those personalized attacks, do not include cut and pastes or transcriptions, of public records.

    ReplyDelete
  61. A link to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young along with another to Sammy Davis Jr, do not constitute a threat.

    Not at all.

    The mention of shooting sports and wolf hunting, not a threat.

    Not at all.

    The expression of acquiring a taste for kosher chocolate, tambien.

    ReplyDelete
  62. .

    Three of MF Global Holdings Ltd.'s top executives said they didn't know what happened to as much as $1.2 billion in client funds that went missing in the days before the New York-based brokerage



    The Justice Dept is thinking of charging them will fellony stupidity.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  63. .

    Trump Pulls Out of Moderating Newsmax Debate


    Trump is pulling out of moderating the Newsmax debate and his withdrawal statement is classic Trump.

    You will notice his reason wasn't that most of the candidates considered it a farce and refused to participate. Also not mentioned was that none liked the format: each candidate gets one minute to answer and then Trump gets 15 minutes to comment and promote his new Trump Feminine Hygiene Spray.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  64. Even when all are rolled up, together, there is no threat.

    A lot like Iran and Israel, boisterous bluster by both sides does not constitute a real threat.

    Nor legal rationale for sneak attacks.

    ReplyDelete
  65. But, historically, some folks behave as if they are not bound by legally recognized standards.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Like Mr Madoff and, seemingly, Mr Corzine & Company.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Story from a Kansas State Highway Patrol officer :

    I made a traffic stop on an elderly lady the other day for speeding on U.S. 166 Eastbound at Mile Marker 73 just East of Sedan, KS. I asked for her driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance. The lady took out the required information and handed it to me. In with the cards (I was somewhat surprised due to her advanced age) to see she had a conceal carry permit. I looked at her and asked if she had a weapon in her possession at this time.


    She responded that she indeed had a .45 automatic in her glove box. Something---body language, or the way she said it---made me want to ask if she had any other firearms. She did admit to also having a 9mm Glock in her center console. Now I had to ask one more time if that was all. She responded once again that she did have just one more, a .38 special in her purse. I then asked her what was she so afraid of. She looked me right in the eye and said, "Not a fucking thing!"

    ReplyDelete
  68. Doug,

    Hope everything works out well.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Newt Gingrich may be the better presidential candidate than Mitt Romney, making him the latest high-profile Republican to try to add credibility to Mr. Gingrich’s surge in the polls.

    ...

    The problem: The Romney campaign’s central argument that he is better able to beat President Barack Obama. Mr. Giuliani’s remarks, combined with those of former Vice President Dick Cheney that he would not “underestimate” Mr. Gingrich, could give some GOP primary voters a different impression.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Tensions between the United States and Russia have risen in the past month over several long-standing problems, including ballistic missile defense (BMD) and supply lines into Afghanistan. Moscow and Washington also appear to be nearing another crisis involving Russian accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

    ...

    The U.S. BMD scheme for Europe has long been a source of U.S.-Russian tensions. Washington argues that its European BMD program aims to counter threats emerging from the Middle East, namely Iran, but its missile defense installations in Romania and Poland are not slated to become operational until 2015 and 2018, respectively, by which time Russia believes the United States will have resolved its issues with Iran.

    ...

    The United States was expected to respond to Russia’s renewed strategy during the Dec. 8 meeting between NATO and Russian foreign ministers in Brussels. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton avoided doing so, however, reiterating that the BMD scheme was about Iran, not Russia.


    U.S.-European Relations

    ReplyDelete
  71. In their briefing on Tuesday, Obama aides lauded themselves for building what they said was a far superior ground organization than any GOP campaign was building. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said the president’s staff in Iowa was bigger than that of any of the leading GOP candidates, even though they are waging a competitive caucus contest there.

    Where the lengthy and heated Democratic primary battle four years ago between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton excited core voters and turned Obama into a more mature candidate, the GOP bout is instead harming that party this time around, Axelrod said.

    “The difference here is we weren’t being tugged to the left in our party,” he said. “They’re being tugged to the right every day.”

    ReplyDelete
  72. At the same time, officials have given no indication that they are ready to resume the discussions, suspended earlier this year, about when and how the central bank should begin to retreat from its existing efforts to stimulate growth.

    The Fed said that it would continue an effort to cut borrowing costs for businesses and consumers by investing in long-term Treasury securities, using proceeds from the sale of its existing holdings of short-term Treasuries.

    The December meeting convened on the third anniversary of the Fed’s decision to hold short-term interest rates near zero, a policy it has said that it plans to continue through at least the middle of 2013 and possibly longer.

    ReplyDelete
  73. At the National Art Gallery in Cardiff, a husband and wife were staring at a portrait that had them completely confused.




    The painting depicted three black men totally naked sitting on a park bench. Two of the figures had black willies, but the one in the middle had a pink one.

    The curator of the gallery realised that they were having trouble interpreting the painting and offered his assessment.

    He went on for over half an hour explaining how it depicted the sexual emasculation of black men in a predominately white, patriarchal society.

    "In fact," he pointed out, "some serious critics believe that the pink willie also reflects the cultural and sociological oppression experienced by gay men in contemporary Society".

    After the curator left, a Welshman, approached the couple and said,


    "Would you now like to know what the painting is really about?".



    "Why would you claim to be more of an expert than the curator of the Gallery?" asked the couple.



    "Because I'm the boyo who painted it!", he replied. "In fact, there are no black men depicted at all. They're just three Welsh miners. Him in the middle went home for lunch".

    ReplyDelete
  74. Europe’s president Herman Van Rompuy told the European Parliament that the “fiscal compact” agreed by EU leaders in Brussels could face delays amid tough legal hurdles, particularly in the wake of Britain’s veto. The need for an intergovernmental deal for 26 countries outside the normal EU treaty structures creates all kinds of headaches.

    ...

    In a separate speech, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said Britain’s demands in Brussels threatened the foundations of the EU system. “The UK, in exchange for giving its agreement, asked for a specific protocol on financial services which, as presented, was a risk to the integrity of the internal market.

    This made compromise impossible,” he said.

    ReplyDelete
  75. "I will say without hesitation that this is not something that anyone had anything to do with coming down with, other than a technical problem," US House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers was quoted as saying by AFP.

    ...

    ""The good news is, while they're spending time re-engineering, we will be spending time engineering, and that's the biggest difference," Rogers stated.

    "They're very proud that they're going to re-engineer this, and I hope they spend five, six, seven, eight years doing that, that would be great, because we'll be long past that," he added.

    ReplyDelete
  76. If you can't square your position on First Principles (ed: who owns you in a physical sense) with your political affiliations, I would argue that it is time for you to re-think those affiliations, and that it is impossible to take the first position as a matter of First Principle and still call yourself either Republican or Democrat.

    ...

    There is nothing, my friends, that prevents actual political change and the correction of what is destroying our nation, save one thing: Recognition of who it is that actually owns you, and a refusal to vote for any candidate, in any race, irrespective of party affiliation, that either has a history of denying this basic fact or, if they have no legislative history, will not swear on their sacred honor (and upon pain of losing their job) that they will uphold the most-fundamental of all rights.


    Question Before You

    ReplyDelete
  77. 740 acres for 240 million $$$ Quirk.

    That's nearly $325,000 an acre.

    Not bad, not bad at all.

    Nice view.

    b

    ReplyDelete
  78. Almost half of Democrats now say big government is the biggest threat to the nation, more than say so about big business, and far more than were concerned about big government in March 2009. The 32% of Democrats concerned about big government at that time — shortly after President Obama took office — was down significantly from a reading in 2006, when George W. Bush was president.

    By contrast, 82% of Republicans and 64% of independents today view big government as the biggest threat, slightly higher percentages than Gallup found in 2009.

    Lower percentages of Democrats, Republicans and independents are now concerned about big business than was the case in 2009.

    ReplyDelete
  79. :)

    Wonderful Video, Sam. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  80. :)

    Where did you park your car?

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  81. To recap: Congress subsidized a product that didn't exist, mandated its purchase though it still didn't exist, is punishing oil companies for not buying the product that doesn't exist, and is now doubling down on the subsidies in the hope that someday it might exist. We'd call this the march of folly, but that's unfair to fools.


    Ethanol Fiasco

    b

    ReplyDelete